GeoWoodstock or Bust! Going GIGA

They did it! With over 5,000 Will Attends, GeoWoodstock went GIGA this year and members of Team Free Range Lobsters were there in Cincinnati!

TaGeez, scrapcat, WikidKriket, and SnakeyLicks

We headed down to Cincinnati, the Queen City, on Friday. Can you believe it? All those magical stops like Shawnee Look-out, the Earth Cache tour, new Virtuals in Louisville, and we managed just ONE CACHE on the way down! Luckily it was a hoot!

Ah, I can't compliment the staff and volunteers enough. We headed right to registration and didn't even stand in line! Quick in & out and off to the hotel. I heard rumors in past events the line could've taken hours.

As a special treat we reserved a table at the Montgomery Inn Boathouse. It's a double-decker restaurant that overlooks the Ohio River.  Sitting at our table next to the windows we watched riverboats and loaded barges meander up and down the waterway. 

I can see Kentucky from here!

The next morning the view was another classic instance of Americana. Alongside 7,500 other cars we pulled into Coney Island for the largest geocaching event in North America!

The weatherman had predicted thunderstorms all day, and yet we found plenty of sunshine (and humidity) until almost 3 pm. That gave us plenty of time to explore and pose with friends!

Mr and Mrs Yellowjeeperman

ProBob, A2QueenCacher, Lincoln's Aunt and ACL

GeoConsumer, ProBob, Detour, ACL and Lincoln's Aunt

Along the way we enjoyed vendor booths and Lab Caches. 

There were vendors from as far as Norway.

Reps from several GeoTours and Mega Events.

Special tables for Vloggers and Podcasters.

There were 30 Lab caches around the grounds.

10 Augmented Reality like the one below.

10 Coney Island History

10 Gadget caches

Continue down the midway and there were more geocaching delights. One geocacher recreated Cincinnati landmarks in Legos. We walked around snapping pics of Lego brick trackables on many of the buildings.

Across the way was a Lego landscape. I was most moved by the recreated historic cemeteries including Arlington.

No major geocaching event is complete without the appearance of the Original Can of Beans! Hey, did you know it has it's own Facebook page???? What a hoot!

AND SIGNAL!  Why does a grown adult go ga-ga over a fake-furred, 6-foot frog? Because he's cute!

It was an amazing day! Coney Island was a brilliant choice with amusement rides and wave pools for all ages. Friends, snow cones, geocaches and geotours, giveaways, swag bags, and photo booths. Top it with a Giga icon and a virtual souvenir. 

Da Finns, SnakeyLicks, Prong and WikidKriket

Rumor has it that 5,000 Will Attends and 7,500 parked cars could actually turn out to be 10,000 geocachers in attendance. Let's do this again next year!

Do you see us????