Ringing In the New Year

Having a great time at the Frito Bandito's New Year Eve's event! 

Jigsaw puzzles, origami geo-puzzles and appetizers in a big, cozy library. After we ring in the new year, we will run for the event Cache, earning us our first FTF and a souvenir for 2018!

Happy New Years Eve!

Frigid cold but great energy on the City of Warren Plaza! Another memorable event by Team Gates!

Afterwards a group of us headed to Hope Lutheran to setup for tomorrow's HNY-18 breakfast event. We rewarded ourselves with Green Lantern's Pizza - YUM!

Now off to Frito's to ring in the New Year! Happy New Years everyone!

Refections & Resolutions

It's the cusp of a new year. There are events scheduled and souvenirs to be had these two days. In the spirit of reflections and resolutions:

Reflections: What was your favorite Cache find last year and why?

Resolutions: Which cache do you hope to find in 2018?

Grand Winter Adventures

Seriously, dude. If you don't see adventure around you, you aren't looking for it. It's truly right around the corner, and Winter doesn't put a stop to it.

Take our trip to Warren on Christmas Eve. We wanted a quick park-and-grab to keep the streak going. Here's one that piqued my interest - I don't know why because it only had 1 favorite point, but there you go. Locate a block north of I-696 near Schoenherr (pronounced Shane-her), we found a little pull-off and a log (the wooden kind). So, in our pajamas (it's Christmas Eve, remember?) we started shoveling snow aside looking for this. Frustrated, I turned around to see this:

OMG - isn't this precious?

This guy was watching us, too....

And these guys moseyed along to cheer us on, too! Can you believe this is a business park in an industrial area? 

Shetland Pony and a Donkey

Speaking about being watched, I felt eyes on me in Detroit this week, too.

How cool are they? TaGeez and I were moseying from Eastern Market (oh, sweet memories of Devries & Co 1887) to Belle Isle, and we decided to take the very indirect route. Somehow we happened on this park with these amazing heads! 

Kiwanis #1 Park: Head to 6531 Kercheval at Concord Street to see "Reading Room," three 10-foot heads sculpted from a boulder that encompass a small circular plaza with stone seating, courtesy of CPAD. Though they assumed the land where the sculptures reside was a vacant lot, they later discovered it was an overgrown city park. Since CPAD artists, residents and volunteers cleaned up the park and added the art features, Bresee said, the Detroit Parks and Recreation Department is again mowing the lawn and residents are using it for events. [Crains Detroit]

After hiding a geocache there, we continued down Grand Boulevard to Belle Isle (45+ new geocaches hidden there every Spring). 

Breathtaking.

Peaceful.

Flipping cold.

More adventures ahead this weekend. We have four geocaching events including Visitors from Rhode Island, Gate's HNYE Freeze-a-thon, New Year's Eve in Frito's Library, and gsixx's Happy New Year Event.  TaGeez and I hid 16 caches for that last one.

We should have no problem earning our two Geocaching.com souvenirs for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

As I said, adventure is just around the corner.

Sprocket and Our Adventure Book

Does WikidKriket know me or what?!?

For Christmas, she bought me an HP Sprocket (Bluetooth-connected) printer! 

Admittedly, I had been drooling over hers when she used it at my nephew's wedding in October. Imagine this: family members spread out throughout the wedding to take candid shots and family photos which we messaged directly to her. She printed them right at the table, peeled off their sticky backs and assembled a scrapbook on the spot! Very slick! Each of us had a chance to sign our love and well-wishes to the happy couple. And the bride and groom left the hall with an amazing keepsake. (Score one for Auntie Lorna - she rocks!)

Fast forward three months, and we found a Sprocket under the Christmas tree! And just when I think it can't get any better... I open her second package. 

This one included Our Adventure Book - a replica of the scrapbook featured in Pixar's UP. Ellie and Carl remind me so much of the fun I have with TaGeez. I love that movie, and I love our many adventures!

She saw it and knew it would be a perfect for us! I'm so excited about printing pics from our favorite adventures. Can you believe it's been 5 years already? So glad the scrapbook is expandable :)

And, of course, there's many other ways to use this! We always use the same log book when we host events - it's kinda a scrapbook which includes event and event cache information. Now we can paste our group photos in there! Too cool!

LOVE LOVE LOVE this gift, and we'll see what other fun we can have with it!

Santa has Coordinates

Found this floating around the Internet and thought it was perfect! LOL

Also, if you have not seen it yet, check out the Geocacher's Guide to Surviving Christmas - it's a hoot!
http://thegeocachingjunkie.com/2017/12/21/a-geocachers-guide-to-surviving-christmas-the-geocaching-junkie/

Holly Jolly Holiday Trackable

The response has been great! I've asked my online geocaching friends to wish us a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays in their native language and they are!

My first log came from Abigeo in Polish: "Zdrowych, spokojnych i radosnych świąt Bożego Narodzenia!"

It's just as much fun as receiving greeting cards in the mail!  Feel free to discover it, too!

Gems Around the Corner - Detroit Urban Art

Even the simplest park-and-grab can have it's rewards.  TaGeez and I had just grabbed a skirt lifter in Detroit when we passed this abandoned retail shell. Love what they did with it!

Every day can be an adventure if you keep your eyes open!

I'm a #MTGIX #MTGGeocacher

Lookie what came in the mail!!!

I was bummed when I wasn't selected to receive a free Trackable in the first round of the Magic: The Gathering Trackable promotion.

I told TaGeez it was fate that I received this one this time around. Merpeople? We're both Pisces!

I will send this one out to bring happiness to those that cross paths with it. It's mission is to visit and be photographed around bodies of water and other fantastical places!

I hope it makes it past it's first drop!

Gearing Up for HNY18

TaGeez and I were making rounds last night in preparation for HNY18 GC7DCAT.

This 9th annual event is held on New Year's morning, where Cachers from as far as Windsor and Ohio will attend. 

TaGeez and I annually hide 16 of the 300+ geocaches that are released that day. After a breakfast (proceeds go to charity) and a raffle (including several kayaks), attendees are released into the world to seek a day adventure of FTFs. 

Sometimes we're out all day with friends and sometimes we grab a few & head home to snuggle.

Last night we went for a several mile walk (can you believe it was 46° in December in Michigan?) and checked our caches in the area. All set for a good geo-holiday!

Toledo Holiday Lights

Oh, the joys of having so many fabulous caches nearby. In a 10 mile radius of my house is over 2,300 geocaches. So when TaGeez and I travel, we like to find memorable geocaches to remind us of our travels.

On Sunday, TaGeez and I traveled to Dundee Michigan for Cabela's and Swan Creek Candle Company. Then we moseyed over to Toledo to tour the Old West End, shop at the Libbey Glass Factory Outlet, and then dinner at Ye Olde Durty Bird (sadly, Cilantro's is closed on Sundays).

In Toledo we made two primary holiday stops and selected nearby caches to commemorate our adventure. 

Tall Tall Trees GC5RFZ7 marked a grove of tall trees on the West end of Promenade Park. Promenade Park runs along the riverfront with views of the Maumee River, two individual bridges, a 40-foot Christmas Tree and Echo, "a 22-ton sculpture crafted from 11 steel rings reclaimed from the former steam plant’s smokestacks when they were taken down last year for safety reasons."

Promenade Park

Inside Echo

Tageez and I were so good we didn't find one but TWO containers at the GZ - one on top of the other. Can you say "throw down"? We signed both and replaced as found.

It's not a trip to Toledo unless you stop at Mud Hens Stadium GC74Q2V in Hensville! I had visited several weeks ago with WikidKriket to view their holiday lights and brought TaGeez back. 

After dinner at Ye Olde Durty Bird, we moseyed down North St Clair Street to watch the lights blink to the music.

It was fabulous to see the glowing colors. Similar to the Big, Bright Light Show in Rochester, MI except no teeming hordes of tourists!

Mud Hens Stadium

In celebration, we found the geocache and then enjoyed the light show one last time.

North St Clair Street

Now, whenever we see the smilies on the map or scroll through our found geocache list, we will remember the fabulous time spent in the "City of Glass".

Little Caesars Arena - and she scores!

Awesome day in downtown Detroit today!

Our Sales Enablement Team went on a tour of the new Little Caesar's Arena  - home of the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons - as part of our end of year holiday celebration!

An hour and a half of visiting boxes, exploring new heights at the gondolas and walking the concourse - a little village. Some of the boxes are the same square footage of my house!

Unfortunately, it wasn't a home game so we didn't get to see the Red Wings practice and today the ice was covered for a concert, but it was still an excellent time.

Afterwards we moseyed to Kid Rock's Made in Detroit eatery for some Michigan goodness. This restaurant is built into the Little Caesar's complex.

After a heavenly Corned Beef Reuben and fried McClure pickles, Krissy Lou and I had to take the stage to celebrate the end of another successful year!

After everyone headed home, I double backed for my cache-a-day. This one was released 15 months ago and only had a shared first-to-find! Luckily construction is now minimal, and I was able to mosey over for a quick second-to-find - woot! Perfect cache for today, eh?

I spied this new mural on my way back to the car.

Let's go Red Wings!

Geocaching Road Trip 2015 Trackable

They say the uglier the trackable the less likely it will go missing...

TaGeez and I were doing maintenance and found this lonely in one of my geocaches. It had been there for quite awhile so we took pity to move it along. It looks small in the picture, but it's a 6" 6 pound pulley. Holy crap! What do we do with it now?

I may be in need of an adventure soon....


#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#!#

NEW GEOCACHING FB GROUP ALERT!

For you, is it sometimes about the numbers? Join Carni Grewal's

You Might Be a Geocaching Stats Junkie if... group.

Share your passion with a group of like-minded numbers weirdos.

Cache Maintenance Musings

It's 9pm and 63° in Michigan! I'm not complaining. It's perfect weather for TaGeez and I to take a stroll. Goal for tonight is cache maintenance between 11 and 12 Mile. We also need to plan for HNY18.

Interesting, though. We've trekked up and down Campbell, maintaining a stretch at a time. Several times we've found throw-down containers right next to our originals. Several times the containers are entirely new to us.

I know some cache owners are too uptight - they check the paper logs against the online logs and will delete "couch Cachers". Life is too short for that for me. I figure everybody plays the game their own way.

I guess my only pet peeves are new caches logging "it must be missing." That experienced, eh? I have over 8,000 finds and rarely blame the cache. It normally takes another trip or two before I acknowledge it.

Groundspeak made some changes to their dashboard which is supposed to help hiders. I miss the old old dashboard that listed caches the Needs Maintenance. Don't make me hunt through the attributes. What are you hiding?

Oh, well. It was still a good night for a walk. I hope we have a few more before we settle in for the Winter.

TB Scan - iPhone App

Cleaning out my blog folder I realized these images have been sitting in my to do file for too long...

Have you heard of the TB Scan app?

I believe it was DarrylW4 who shared this with me back in the summer. It's a free iPhone-only app that allows you to scan and mass log trackables and geocoins.

I was very interested in this app as I'm a bit of a trackable fanatic. How cool to scan and go, eh? Sometimes afishoutawater, CITOcacher or The Frito Bandito will show to an event with a bagful? How awesome to go to Midwest Geobash and log as you go? 

First things first... download the app and sign in using your geocaching.com credentials. Once you login, you can Discover or Log trackables.  Discover allows you to lookup/Discover scanned trackables and Log allows you to lookup the mission and log (Retrieve, Discover, Grab, or Write Note) individually.

DISCOVER AWAY!

You can scan or manually enter the trackable code. On the plus side, when it recognizes a code, it is awesome! On the down side, I found that it didn't recognize most. According to their help page, contrast, font and character spacing can inhibit code recognition.  Out of the 10 I tried (dog tags and geocoins), the app only scanned 3.

I do like how clear the mission information appears (though if I'm scanning a lot of them, who has time to read them for a Discovery?). When ready, click Log.

Options, where applicable, under Log include Discover, Retrieve, Grab and Write Note.

One thing that gets my geek on is the ability to save a log template under Settings. Unfortunately....

.... that nifty feature is only part of the PRO version. 

Not sure with the scan fail rate I would be willing to pay to dole out $3. Have you tried it?

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I'm not quite to that episode yet but check out afishoutawater and DarrylW4 discussing trackable tools on a recent GeoGearHeads episode 307.