Logs for whistler & co. 

This is the former Olyphant Junior High School, located at 211 Susquehanna Street, in Olyphant, PA. It is now part of the county's housing authority, which provides low income housing. Currently, the building is the Lackawanna Heritage Apartments. In the back, there are two entrances with "girls" carved into the masonry above each one. The former "boys" entrances were at the front and are gone now, since the building has been remodeled to meet housing codes. While I was trying to take these photos, there were carloads of elderly people sitting the the parking lot (at 8:00 a.m., in 5 degree weather) waiting for a bus to take them on a day trip somewhere. Of course, they were all watching me to see what I was doing. This is why the photos are from a farther distance than I would have liked! 

I can't believe no one logged this one yet! This Doughboy is located nar the intersection of Harrison Avenue and Moosic Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania. We must have passed it five times before it clicked that this was "the" Doughboy. I almost expected it to be a copy, until I saw the inscription on the back. Although all that is here on this narrow, unlandscaped scrap of ground is this statue, the plaque on the front identifies it as the Colonel Frank J. Duffy Memorial Park, and states that it was dedicated on Memorial Day (May 30th), 1940. It was erected by the local VFW post "as a memorial to those who have entered into a more beautiful life" (inscription on lower plaque). 

The people at the CVS One-Hour Photo booth must think we are REALLY thrilled to be entering Pennsylvania, because this is the 3rd or 4th time I had a photo of a "Welcome to PA" sign developed there. Unfortunately, they were all signs that had been logged by other cachers. This time, we found one that no one has logged yet, but the GPSr is right in the way! Well, the cache description DOES say that "if there is no GPS in the shot, your log will be deleted," so I guess we've got that angle covered! This sign is located at the border between PA and NY, on Route 167. As you can see from the "Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful" sign in the background, this is the sign welcoming drivers into Pennsylvania. TFTC, it was a doozy! 

This garage door at the Valley Detailing Carwash in Olyphant, Pennsylvania, is painted to look like the interior of a mechanic's garage. We found it after completing an interesting multi-cache called "The Secret of Olyphant" (this garage is relatively near the final cache for that one). Thanks for the cache! Whistler & Co., Simpson, Pa. 

This is a rather dim photo of the big archery target on the side of Altier Archery MFG. on Route 6 in Honesdale, PA. The little yellow thing I am holding up is the GPSr, but it's hard to see. There is another similar target on the other side, but the arrow is broken off. 

This is the final resting place of Gino J. Merli, a local war hero. It is located in Mother of Sorrows Cemetary in Finch Hill in northeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Merli received the Medal of Honor in recognition of his actions during combat in Belgium during WWII. In the town of Peckville in Lackawanna County, there is a nice cache (GCMKEK) that pays tribute to Mr. Merli by taking you to some sites that commemorate his deeds, such as the Gino Merli room at the Peckville library and to a location on Gino Merli Drive. We also have a local park, Merli-Sarnoski Park in northern Lackawanna County, named in his honor, as well as a VFW post honoring his name. 

This is Stillwater Dam. It is located on Route 171 near Union Dale in northeastern Pennsylvania. The dam was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers in 1958-1960 to control flooding in the Lackawanna Valley (from Forest City south to Scranton). Access to the top of the dam is denied, but the elevation at the control station is 1689 feet. Although the water is low now (we are in the height of summer, and there has been a drought), if there is a big spring snow melt, the water often reaches the top of the dam. Photos are of Whistler and Little Whistler (holding GPSr's), the spillway near the control station, and a broad view of the dam.

 

Greetings from Simpson, Pennsylvania (USA). This was a very interesting and informative caching experience! My husband (a mechanical contractor) just used his GPSr to program a "whole house" computer in a new home he's working on. Thanks for increasing what we know about our world.