Clark the Wonder Cat

I received notice today that Clark the Wonder Cat has reappeared! He went missing from Midwest Geobash 2014!

FOUND 3 YEARS LATER!

The River Rages

You Might Be a Geocacher If.... you cross this raging river in 20 degree weather for a DNF. 

Harold Figgins joked, "It's a good thing you're wearing your survival kit!"

Thank you, ShelleyJean, for the laughter and the fresh air!

Footprints in the Snow

Oh, joyous! I had a little time during my lunch and decided to grab The Birthday Cache GC6H6WT.

You may think a D/T 1.0/2.0 Regular might not be a big deal, but it was so refreshing! Stepping off the sidewalk onto the abandoned golf course, footsteps crunching in the new snow, ammo can at the final. After a month of park-and-grabs, it felt great to have the crisp air on my cheeks again!

THIS IS WHY I GEOCACHE!

It was nicely maintained inside, too. This can had this cool little CITO kit inside. I've seen a version of this stuffed into film canisters, but this one had gloves and paper towels - winner!

I think I may borrow this idea, labeling it "Keep America Beautiful"!

Free 2017 Canadian Discovery Park Passes!

Scrolling through my recent posts I realized I told everyone about the free Canadian National Park Discovery passes but you!  Celebrating 150 years of Confederation, these passes give unlimited opportunities to enjoy National Parks, National Marine Conservation Areas and National Historic Sites across the country!

It's not too late to sign up still - takes 6 weeks to receive! And then you can visit the amazing Point Pelee this summer, too!

Amazing sandy beaches, wetlands for kayaking, wildlife plus nature center just 40 minutes outside of Detroit!

I still used a GPSr.... well, sort of.

TaGeez broke his leg.

Now, that sounds like the ending of an epic adventure. But it is not. It has been our reality for almost two weeks now. So, today found me out running errands by myself. A little bit of groceries and then my cache-a-day. I'm less than 6 weeks from realizing my goal of cache-a-day streaking for 5 years straight.

Five years of streaking is within my reach!

In this time, I went a month without a car, dealt with -26 degree temps, and cached on my way home from the hospital. But TaGeez laid up has not been enjoyable, especially dealing with... da da DA! MY PHONE!

I love my iPhone, but more often than not lately it's a paperweight (and not a paperweight I can afford to replace). My iPhone 5 has the dreaded 'battery issue' (my diagnosis - according to Apple there is nothing wrong with it). I could be sitting a 74% battery with no apps running, no background refresh, Bluetooth off, and drop in seconds to 1% - CRASH! Shuts down completely. But when I plug it in, I'm at 53% battery. Heaven help me if I don't have a power source nearby.

Hey! Any of you know... is it worth paying to replacing the battery?

I'm getting mixed answers, but there's nothing otherwise wrong with it.

So imagine today... I'm exiting the grocery store to see my battery at 4% (WTH?!?! It was almost charged when I entered. Damn potatoes! They are the culprits! Those eyes always watching!)

Source: Unknown

Crap. Ok, time to reach for an alternate power source because TaGeez will be waking from his nap, and I need to be home. I plugged my phone into my car charger - nada. Sigh - the Ford Sync system. And I only have one external battery with me... and it's dead, too. 

Well, Hell.

Trek all the way home, grab a battery and back out today? It's getting late. Grrrrr!!!!! It's been a long week.

As I pulled out of the lot, I recalled a cache belonging to afishoutawater that I had to skip earlier in the week. On Wednesday, as I pulled up near the GZ, a construction crew renovating a nearby hotel exited for the day and caught sight of me. Thinking about it today, can I remember how to get back there? Not on my normal side of town and in an area I frequent. Risk it not being there? Or revisited by the crew? Could the gates be locked?

I made it back to Telegraph and then was a little lost. Where is this place? Last time I had approached from the backside. Surely there can't be THAT MANY hotels under construction??? Looking up at my car GPSr, which is always on, I broke out into a smile. Breadcrumb trails.

The little blue line on my screen led me back to the spot from whence I came once before. This time the gates were open and the lot empty. I headed to the North side of the lot. Eagerly, I pulled up to the general area, got out and started my search. After a few minutes I came up empty. DRAT! So darn close! 

Pulling out of the lot, I looked over my right shoulder to make sure all was clear, and what did I see about 20 feet away? 

That's right. I had left last time without getting a close look at the GZ. And now I have a log in hand. Sweet! The things we do for a smiley.

Now, how do I get home?

Dream Big Trackable - Free!

I admit - I'm in the winter doldrums. It's a wet Winter in Michigan. My Love and geocaching Yang to my Yin has broken his leg, and our newest buddy was off having fun in Chicago. So there hasn't been much to write about... until today!

ShelleyJean messaged about the latest free trackable promotion:

The Dream Big Catch-M trackable. You have just 13 more days to enter for one of 1,400 free trackables.

Geocachers are invited to join the Dream Big movement. With a CATCH-M trackable, a magical character from the book, share your “big geocaching smiles” on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter using the hashtags #GeocachersDreamBIG #contest. From February to October 2017, three photos that best capture smiley geocaching adventures will be selected each month to win an autographed 1st Edition of Dream Big. Those winners will also be entered to win the Grand Prize of $1,000 cash and three additional autographed 1st Editions of Dream Big. The Grand Prize winner will be announced on World Smile Day, October 6, 2017.

Heck! I want a trackable, but I wouldn't mind a copy of the book, too. Good luck, everyone!

Pssst! Shoes Off!

Cutting Edge Technology (Circa pre-2000)

Have to laugh... RayQix brought this baby to the Livonia Traveling Meet. He said he found it in a resale shop mixed in with the kids toys. It's from the era of Selected Availability before the government flipped the blue switch, but Ray said it works.

Waiting to play...

Speaking of dreaming, Phiona Phrog wants to go out and play, too.

Picked her up at the HNY event as well as about 19 others. I didn't want Glenn to get stuck with them so TaGeez and I will move them along to one of our large caches.

Is It Spring Yet?

Lordy, it's cold outside.

#MichiganDreaming

Happy New Year (Events)!

New Years is a fabulous time in Southeastern Michigan!

Wrapping up the year with a bang is Frito Bandito's Ring Out the New Year. Finger foods and desserts, puzzle-building and card playing, geocachers and friends. And to top it off, we rung in the new year with a sparkling toast and a First-to-Find puzzle.

Ring Out the Old Year GC6XVJ7

One of the highlights was SCOOK and CITOcacher's gingerbread ammo can! What an absolute hoot! And they filled it with handmade fortune cookies with geocaching fortunes! Mine said You will find another cache within an hour. Well, I solved a puzzle cache within an hour - close enough!  At midnight, the youngest attendees were allowed to smash this sweet treat with a mallet!

Amazing ammo-can Gingerbread house by SCOOK and CITOcacher!

With a few hours sleep under our belt, TaGeez and I headed off to gsix5666's HNY17-8th Annual New Years Day M&G. Breakfast, raffles, and socializing at the Painted Turtle in Roseville. WOW! So many faces I hadn't seen in awhile. Everyone was out because it was a sunny, warm Winter Sunday. Alas, I didn't win one of the kayaks, but, otherwise, the day was perfect.

Around noon, we were sent out into the world to hunt for the 275 brand new caches. TaGeez and I contributed 11 of them: the John R Jumble.

HNY17 - John R Jumbles

 The hint is in the name: HNY17 - John R Jumble: Fartfic Loep = Traffic Pole

TaGeez and I enjoyed a leisurely run that included 16 finds including 10 FTF's and lunch at the fabulous Green Lantern pizza on Utica. Perfectly fabulous!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!