A Colorful Windsor Adventure

Saturday was a beautiful day for a sendoff for our good friend, Othum. We celebrated his memory the same way he celebrated life: we had an adventure with friends. And Windsor was at its colorful best!

ALLEY ART WALK - START AND END GC6N7EM & GC6N7F0 

When you exit the tunnel, take a left and a left. Find yourself a nice parking spot on Ouellette for a fabulous urban art exhibit!

A SHOCKING CACHE - WINDSOR GC6AWTC

After the funeral, LadyB4T, DeRock & the Psychic Cacher, TaGeez and I cleaned out the cemetery and then headed over to eM-BURR's house for a fabulous take on a WVTim cache! The CO also gave us a tour of his bountiful garden in back - the first time I've had snap peas off a vine!

How do you keep a Reviewer busy?

eM-Burr and DeRock

WHERIGO WINDSOR QEII GC5Y83M

It's been a lovely afternoon, but the others had to return home. DeRock and the Psychic Cacher had hours to drive. TaGeez and I turned to my favorite park, Jackson Park in downtown Windsor, for a wherigo tour.

NOT AS SOLID AS IT SEEMS GC5Z52B

No trip to Windsor is complete without a visit to one of the riverside parks. I LOVE the Sculpture Gardens - we visited the half we hadn't been yet. Beautiful day, warm sun, powerful breeze.

We will be back next week. It's closer to drive to Canada than to work so it only makes sense to attend a Canada Day event (for a souvenir!) right in Canada! Hopefully the day is just as gorgeous. Maybe Othum will be watching over us.

Thanks for the Adventure!

Farewell Sendoff to an Old Friend

RIP Steve Elsbrie
"Othum"
1960 - 2017

RIP old Friend

On Saturday, TaGeez and I crossed the mighty Detroit River to send off a helluva good guy. Dear Othum was laid to rest at his final GZ.

It was a Geocacher's funeral, and Othum thought of everything! There was a separate room for geocaching friends to socialize. Friends from as far away as Grand Rapids descended to pay their final respect.

In the geocacher's room were a log book made by his friend, Yeti. Othum had bid on a similar one at the Winter MIGO Social but lost out so Yeti made a personalized one for him. Yeti did a fabulous job!

Geocachers have signed the logbook at the memorial and then the family handed it to eM-Burr to take around to the events. eM-Burr has added a trackable as a final memento of this great man.

It was a highlight seeing the ammo can created by Carl for Othum. We dropped trackables, signature items and swag into the box for Othum's send-off. TaGeez and I added our signature card and MWGB path tags. 

At the altar in the main room, Othum, a retired Sargeant in the Canadian military and passionate geocacher, was laid to rest with his ashes in an ammo can. I was fine until I saw Othum's signature hat resting next to it. 

It was a lovely and lively funeral service. The Father was a hoot. I suppressed giggles as the two soloists had a go at Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds  (the audience hefted lighters in appreciation). After a few more words and prayers and a group Amazing Grace, former members of his military unit gave Othum a military send off. 

It was a beautiful blue day as we drove a dozen miles to the cemetery. I teared up to see oncoming cars pull off to the side of the road in respect for this total stranger. I've never seen that before.

The final service was brief and loving. He was sent off with a final reveille. It wasn't until the group disbursed that I could see his headstone - it has the geocaching logo on it! He planned it to the end! A great man. I'm so glad we were able to send him off. 

It was quite the novelty as the other cars pulled out of the cemetery. We, the geocachers, didn't have to slip off quietly to the nearest caches. Othum was a geocacher - I'm sure we had his blessing, LadyB4T, DeRock and the Psychic Cacher, TaGeez and I spent the rest of the afternoon geocaching together in his honor.

Othum, thanks for the adventure!

Who Let the Geo-Dogs Out?

With some recent changes in the neighborhood, TaGeez and I had a brainstorm about a new geocache hide.

Who Let the Geo-Dogs Out? GC77K1N

Oh, I wish there would always be…

Endless days caching with you and me!

Leave all your worries behind…

As I will make your geo-find.

Our caching count will go up-up-up!

Thanks to your loving geo-pup!

It was a lot of fun collecting photos from our geo-friends of their furry buddies.

ShelleyJean cracked me up with her comment about Chloe (lower left corner below). She said for a geo-dog, she was not very observant!

Makes you all warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

Even Assassins Have Birthdays

WE PULLED IT OFF!!!

 WHAT.A.HOOT!

Two weeks ago I received a message from the cAche ssassin (further called TCS) of San Diego. Half of Team Assassin, Ezio Cachitore, had moved to Troy and TCS wanted to surprise his buddy for his birthday. As my geocache was closest to Ezio's house, TCS wanted to know if we'd tuck a picture from a very special trip in there. TCS would send Ezio a bottle of Scotch, same as the one they enjoyed on their trip.

What fun! Well, TaGeez and I couldn't let it stop there. Let me introduce you to Even Assassins Have Birthdays GC76NPF.  It sounded like a good excuse for a party and a new geocache!

With very little time to spare, messages and calls went flying! The geocache contained a gift from TCS (an End-of-Days spinning geocoin and a photo album), a special logbook and lots of new toys for interested girls and boys! TCS even sent along Team Assassin stickers for the container.

I can't believe we found this great spot! Public enough not to draw suspicion being in the area but private enough to duck in and make the find.

TaGeez hiding it between the retaining pond and freeway

The big day arrived way too quickly. Ezio received his bottle of Scotch days before his birthday with coordinates on the label. Then the wait began. With the cache publishing the evening of June 15th, we had no clue if Ezio had visited or not. He didn't even know it was a cache - just coordinates on the label!

Mission from the Geocache page

TaGeez and I were in the area Thursday night, and I couldn't wait any longer. Let's go see if he found it! We happened to be standing at the opening of the geotrail when the email notification pinged and the cache was live. Ducking in, we pulled out the container and found....

FOUND! Pre-publication FTF. Not only did he grab his Birthday gift, Ezio left a signature item, 3 trackables, and an Assassin's Creed video (snagged by the post-publication FTF, Team Lareau).

Ezio left a great log!

I want to tell you about the time I almost was outgifted. I never thought it would happen to me. Not at this age. Beaten. Outsmarted. How did I get into this fix? How did it all begin? No, no, no. If I go back to the beginning that will take forever. 

Earlier this week, a courier enticed me with his suspicious looking container, if only I would exchange my signature. A 15-year scotch was revealed. What good taste, this one has! Conspicuously affixed where one might expect branding, a clue was to be discovered. GPS coordinates and vehemently urging to hurry. 

Use the key 

Miniature as it were, but nonetheless of great importance. Existing obligations made tardy my journey. Was it weeks that passed, or merely days of anticipation, rolling the key between fingers and pondering what fate awaited? Eventually, destiny allowed for a journey on one muggy, overcast June evening. In what one might describe as the La Jolla Business Park of Oakland County, fear instilled that perhaps some Katz desired new cabling and this key was merely weak protection for a plastic box in the MPOE. Abated quickly, horrible feeling, as approach to the GZ lifted one's spirits. 

HOW IN THE WORLD DID HE PULL THIS OFF? 

Yes, in a never-ending competition to do better by one another, the cachin assassin had managed to coordinate an exciting scavenger hunt halfway across the country through enigmatic finagling and a most honourable assistance from Team TaCat, cachers of a level one truly aspires to reach. Thank you both for making this the most wonderful surprise an assassin could never ask for. This was likely the most thoughtful thing anyone could put together for me and on such short notice, even more impressively executed. My hood pulled back to the cachin assassin. 

An assassin always pays his debts, and now this one owes you. 

The cache contents made me feel like the center of attention (normally avoided) but for such an honor so great, this time I reveled immensely. TB's swapped and a few assassin-themed swag items were placed for the first non-assassin to discover this cache, along with one of my signature bills. Happy birthday, everyone!

I was geeked to see an appreciator of the Assassin's Creed was the next finder. Loved seeing the cache on @Lareau67's daily Instagram post.  Great log, too!

Ezio added a sticker

Very fun adventure, and I'm looking forward to seeing the future finds.

Welcome to Michigan, Ezio!