I needed to get out of the house today. I don’t mind being home most of the time, but I do need those times I get out and explore the world. We have a stay-at-home order in the state, but Governor Sununu admitted they can’t stop people from leaving their homes. I planned out geocaching in Page Pond Forest in Meredith, NH, which has a series of trails that I didn’t think were too well-known. That was a good choice. When I arrived at the parking lot for the trails, there was one other car in the lot. They left while I was putting my things together for my hike. When I got back to my Wrangler, there were two other cars besides mine. I heard other people while I was walking on the trails, but managed to avoid seeing them.

I wasn’t as successful with the geocaching as I would have liked. Two of the geocaches were down a side trail that was only marked with red ribbons tied on the trees. At times, this trail was more like just an animal trail through the woods. It went up and down a lot. It was only about a half mile off of the main trail and back, but that took its toll on me. I decided to leave the other geocaches in this area for another day.

I ventured into the town of Meredith, NH after that to see if I could find a couple of other caches there while the place wasn’t too crowded. Despite the stay-at home order, I saw people out in groups. One of the drive-up restaurants actually had quite a crowd gathered outside. This is where my Libertarian side comes in. I don’t like laws that are “for your own good.” I object to seat-belt laws. I’m an adult who can decide for myself whether I want to wear one. While I do see the point to trying to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed by patients, people are going to get sick from this virus. Short of spending your life in your own home and not going out at all until a vaccine is developed, there’s a good chance you’re going to get it. If I want to go out and take my chances now instead of huddling in my home afraid, that should be my choice, just as it should be someone’s choice to stay in their home if they want to. On the way home I saw a house with four cars parked outside of it. Kids and adults were all congregated on the lawn; obviously several families interacting. That’s their choice and they should be allowed to make it.

In Meredith, I found a geocache that was at the Archie statue shown in the picture. Archie is wearing a mask which is cute and funny. The artist who created the Archie comics lived in Meredith for much of the latter half of his life. Local newspapers have often said he modeled Riverdale on Meredith. I found that hard to believe. Riverdale seems like a much bigger town than Meredith ever was, and I can remember coming here going all the way back into the 1970’s. I researched it when I came home and apparently Haverhill, Massachusetts was the model for Riverdale, not Meredith. That makes more sense to me. It’s still nice to honor his memory with the statue in Meredith.

I walked 4.1 miles on the trails and had a good day. When I came home, I learned one of my fellow New Hampshire geocachers died from Corona virus. He was in his 80’s and was one of the top geocachers in the area.