PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU GET OFF THE EDGE OF THE ROAD ON THIS ONE! This highway can be busy at times and when those trucks top the hill from the west, they're not lookin' to slow down much!
You've heard the story of Johnny Appleseed right? Maybe you've even seen the Disney Cartoon? Well, Johnny himself must have passed this way. Why else would there be an apple tree right here alongside Hwy 40? Don't believe me? Stop and have a look!
Did you know that to produce apples, there has to be another apple tree in the nearby country side? A single apple tree will not produce apples. So where is the other one? The tree that is just east of here doesn't seem to ever produce blooms or apples, so although we've never stopped and checked it out - up close and personal like - that one seems to not be this one's mate!
We've watched this tree for years of driving by, but never stopped until today when we were placing this cache! I remember the first time my husband told me it was an apple tree... close to 30 years ago... and I told him he was crazy! Today when he asked his parents if they knew it was an apple tree, they had no idea either... and they've been driving this road for years and years also!
Today, the tree had already dropped many apples, fed many critters, and yet the branches were still loaded down with fruit! We picked an entire bag full to make pies, but there's still plenty to be had! Maybe we shouldn't have pointed it out to you... we'll probably never get to harvest her fruit again! ha!
We've left a critter behind to help guard the tree year round! Hope he brings you a smile! Please help keep him here by securing the wire back in place!
10/16/21 - unfortunately our "critter" was muggled.... hopefully not with malicious intent as it seems the poor apple tree has also suffered a "loss" since we placed this cache! Someone "pruned" it, and not in a nice way either!
8/21/23 - for unknown reasons - but we're assuming "safety", the apple tree has been cut down in it's prime, and almost all evidence of it's existance removed :-(
12/30/23 - with the tree gone, there doesn't seem to be much reason to stop, but we wanted to keep the memory of this special tree alive, so decided to hide the cache again! Maybe the old stump with follow the spirit of the story of Shel Silverstein's "The Giving Tree" and allow a weary traveler a place to sit someday.