Mama Joe's Italian Grill and Geocaching

Early this morning the wind must have shifted since we could smell the smoke from the Slide wildfire.  It wasn't that bad and cleared up later.  As of today the fire is burning over 11,000 acres and is 5% contained.

I had downloaded a number of geocaches and we decided to head east out of Camp Verde on US 260 heading for Strawberry, AZ.  We managed to pick up 9 caches along the way and had a great time looking for them.   One cache was at a marker on Crook highway ( US 260 ).  General Crook forged a trail through the wilderness in 1874 to provide a supply line between forts. 

The caches were a little more difficult to find than an urban cache where you can almost drive up to it.  Also, they were placed higher up the mountain around the 7,200 ft level where the air is thinner.  Yep, it was hard breathing at that altitude and climbing hills, but we enjoyed the exercise and a chance to see some new areas.  

We were almost to Pine, AZ when we decided it was time for some food.  By chance we stopped at Mama Joe's Italian Grill and had a great meal.  I ordered spaghetti and Gerry had lasagne and a glass of wine.  I managed to finish my meal while Gerry brought almost half of hers home.

 
The diners next to us ordered the large Supreme pizza with 6 toppings and it looked super.  We may have to make the trip back there in the future to see if it tastes as good as it looks.

We topped the meal off with a trip to the Dairy Queen in Camp Verde for a couple blizzards.  They tasted great as usual and we were able to finish them off.  It's been a while since Gerry got her DQ fix and she is one happy girl now.

Oh, it rained on us while we were geocaching and when we stopped for dinner.  The temp dropped down to 45 degrees at one point and Gerry turned on the heater in the car.  It sure was refreshing moving around in that nice cool air.

A couple of the caches were in Forest Service areas that looked like dry camping sites.  They had huge fireplace rings in place and the grass was cut short.  We did see a number of RVs in a couple of these areas with trailers to haul ATVs around.  Maybe next fall Gerry and I will head up there with our unit and relax for a week or so.  Maybe!

That was our enjoyable day, we hope you had a nice one, also.  I know my FSILINC had a nice day, since he told me so.