SQ - Wandering Historic Woodlawn Wherigo

I did it!  Another milestone for me: Wherigo Author!

I LOVE Wherigos, but there haven’t been too many new ones recently.  That changed when Commander Overlord released 4 within a few weeks.  I talked to Bob, and he said he found this really easy Wherigo interface for cartridge creation called Wherigo\\kit. 

Wow! With a click of the mouse, you “drop zones” on a Google map, tweak the name and coordinates a bit.  Upload some pictures. Add some information (messages) and an (optional) question. Repeat. Voila!  Very user-friend overlay where you can plan routes, download to your phone or GPSr for a test spin, and easily upload to the official Wherigo site.

Before I knew it, I had a 12-stop plus final historical tour of nearby Woodlawn Cemetery!  It is the 210^th Wherigo in Michigan!

This Wherigo will take you on a tour of Detroit's Historic Woodlawn Cemetery. The cemetery was established in 1895 and immediately attracted some of the most notable names in the city. The grounds encompass 140 acres, but this tour will only cover some of the more architecturally interesting gems in the Historic section.  You will visit 12 sites of interest. You can walk it or drive; many of your stops are grouped together. The final cache is not at the posted coordinates.

What a rush!  With the help of TaGeez, WikidKriket and SnakeyLicks (Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!), we took this cartridge on a spin using an iPhone3G, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, Samsung Galaxy 3G, and a Garmin Oregon 450T.  It was wonderful! I did have a glitch with some blank screens for the iPhones, but Ranger Fox was SO quick to respond with advice and answers. 

After taking the cartridge for a final spin early Saturday morning, I submitted it for publication and it went live almost immediately - DeRock was quick! And I can’t believe there wasn’t already a cache in this awesome spot!  With nervous excitement I waited for the verdict on the cartridge, the tour, and the final.  Happily, I received big thumbs up and Fave points from the FTF group (RayQix, PaRaDiZ, Kachehuntr, and BarGoofy – his first cache!) and from the STF, my Wherigo mentor, Commander Overlord!

RayQix is a local history buff who specializes in Detroit history and cemeteries.  From his log: “Wonderfully constructed whereigo, learned some things today that we didn’t already know, and had a blast on this nice late summer Saturday.” 

Commander Overlord wrote: “Very well done.  I had to come out and see how my pupil did on her first Wherigo.  The pupil is now the master. Learned more about the history of early Detroit.”

I’m sad that I had to omit many important historical figures to make this Wherigo a manageable length, but I wouldn’t change anything out it.  What a fabulous first experience!

I’m already brainstorming my next Wherigo.  I think in one of my next blog posts I’ll create a quick draft on using the Wherigo\\kit (if just for my own memory).  I think it’s a good idea to continue to include my Wherigo tips in my future Wherigo cache pages.