Nothing like 3 Slices of Pi!

Ah, spring must be around the corner when a plethora of events and puzzles pop up in our Inboxes! 

Yesterday was the Welcome to HNY26 Flash Tag Event on Pi Day up in Macomb Township. TaGeez and I had planned to go, and we were even more enthusiastic once we lost power at home. A warm restaurant with food? Check!

You could tell that others were excited for the chance of spring, too, as there was quite a turnout from all directions. Donuts, coffee, and Flashtags!

A Flashtag is a new type of custom trading token offered by Pathtags.com. It shares many characteristics with the original (OG) Pathtag but features key innovations in production and design. Flashtags are 23mm round and 2mm thick, maintaining the iron core and nickel plating for magnet compatibility. [They] are printed rather than enamel like traditional pathtags.

Like OG Pathtags, Flashtags are left as signature items by some geocachers and are fully integrated with the pathtags.com website for collection management and trading. [source]

Our score from the event

We liberally gave away our new one, too!

After the event, Paldog0603, released 15 puzzles that sent us scurrying into the cold. It was a lovely day to go for a walk along the river (and earning 3 Pi Day souvenirs!). All event puzzles found that day (including a bonus one from Ramblin' Rumble) earned attendees first to finds - nice!

Team TaCat ran into GeoPanda!

My 1,000th first-to-find!

TaGeez for the find!

MrandMrsMan

Truly, the best part of the day, however, were the many, many friends that came out of hibernation. See you at the next event!

✨Final totals for the day✨

17 smilies
16 first-to-finds (one being my 1,000th!)
7 Flashtags
3 new souvenirs 

3 miles walked
1 free trackable
1 HQ Treasure Collection completed

With a double click of our (geocaching) shoes...

Just what the Doctor order, a little bit of weirdness and wackiness in Western Michigan!

Saturday found us in Holland, Michigan, where a tree tried to eat TaGeez's head while the flying monkey egged him on! (Sculptured II Adventure Lab)

While hunting out more lab locations, Scrapcat was finally able to put her feet in the water (this isn't what I meant, TaGeez!)

90+ degrees and baking outside, we decided baking was a good eye. Can't go to Holland and not shop for gadgets in Teerman's!

And then back to the Adventure Labs - great way to experience downtown (and avoid the Muggles, COVID-safe). 

DUDE! Where's your mask? 

Too cool to care!

Aw, this was unexpected but one of my favorite parts of the trip. I started this picnic quilt 20+ years ago. It laid in pieces until March, when we started working from home. We brought it to Holland and then decided on a spontaneous PB&J picnic in Centennial Part. Perfectly built for two!

Speaking of Centennial Park, have you followed the yellow brick road? Leads you from here to the Wizard of Oz bronzes across the road at the public library.

After sanitizing our room (the new Staybridge in Holland is NICE!), we needed a little water fun at Holland State Park.

Plus this GLORIOUS sunset!

The next morning brought us back for another Adventure Lab (Tip Toe Through the Tulips) and Big Red. 

The winds were kicking it!

And the parasurfors were having a blast! I could sit and watch them for hours.

We wrapped our stay in Holland with a puzzle final and visiting an old friend...

Which led us to Saugatuck/Douglas for the Singapore No More Adventure Lab. And, as we're cruising down the road, what do you think we spied? The Douglas Root Beer Barrel! 

TaGeez had a Pepper & Onion hot dog, and I had a Sauerkraut dog. But it was the root beer! Oh, SO smooth! TaGeez downed his large plus half another growler!

Energized, we continued the tour of Douglas/Saugatuck to complete the Adventure Lab. I would've said it was the best one we've done so far, until we hit the undecipherable bonus final.

Saugatuck Art Center

Herbs grown in old gutters

The highlight is seeing the Saugatuck Chain Ferry, which transport passengers across the river between vacation cabins and the bustling downtown shops.

Saugatuck Chain Ferry: The only remaining chain driven ferry in the country. It has been in use since 1838. Three pullies keep it in line as it is being pulled across the Kalamazoo River.

We love to learn new things and were surprised the Kalamazoo River starts in Douglas/Saugatuck and ends in Michigan's Irish Hills! Yes, we're the type to stop and read the plaques!

We ended the adventure with a quick detour down in South Haven for a little caching....

... and a final farewell to Lake Michigan.

What a View GC6PFRV

Just enough wackiness, wonderfulness for us to face the insanity of 2020.  Thank you to the Western Michigan cachers for the very fun Adventure Labs. 

Memorial Day Moments During a Pandemic

Memorial Day is normally the kickoff for summer vacations, but, for TaGeez and I (and ShelleyJean), it's normally the start of the Summer Geo-Road trips. Not this year.

With Michigan's COVID-19 stay-at-home order, there was no spur of the moment trips to the Thumb or hunting a geotrail in an Ohio county. So, we decided to keep our adventures closer to home.

First stop, Belle Isle for Commander Overlord's new Adventure Lab. Sometimes I skim through these write-ups, but the CO included just enough history to keep me focused. Unfortunately, we had to stop at 3 sites as the roads for the Eastern half of the aisle were closed due to water over the roads.

Next stops were garden centers North of Shelby Township. That area is filled with historic roadside cemeteries and delightful puzzles by our Geo-buddies. It was a great way to get out in 89° sunny weather, hopping from puzzle final to puzzle final, while sipping cold drinks in the cooled car.

It may not sound like much, but, after 2 months of confinement, you learn to appreciate the little things.

Happy caching & keep safe!

Treasure Chest Geo-Art

Look what's publishing now! Commander Overlord published a new GeoArt near Superior Township.

Here's cache #1. TaGeez and I are enjoying solving them at our leisure.

World Turtle is in the Bag!

TaGeez and I decided not to mess around. We wanted our 13 souvenirs from Geocaching.com's Hidden Creatures challenge, and we wanted them now! Ok, maybe not that forceful, but we've had busy lives and a run up to Ortonville for a little geoart fun seemed just the ticket!

Our original intent was to complete both Syfun's Honeybee and Honeycomb, but the U.S. was under a heat advisory so we scaled back our efforts and left home before sun-up on Saturday to beat the heat!

As you can see, we were victorious! We needed 88 caches to earn all 13 souvenirs, and we came home with 90 including 85 puzzles and 5 high-favorited ones.  

Lovely tour of country back roads, mainly dirt. In addition to 85 power drink containers, there were over a dozen wild turkeys, deer, horses, swans, chipmunks, blue jays, cardinals, biting deer flies and one pissed off next of hornets (TaGeez was attacked and two made contact - ouch!) There was also lots and lots and lots of poison ivy.

Not much Roadside America in this region of the state - all we saw was the Statue of Liberty north of Milford. There were, however, a number of historic cemeteries and one pioneer home site.

This one was quite sad. Dozens of victims of a cyclone at the turn of the last century. Poor little pup-pup waiting for a young master who will never return home.

This was  the 88th find of the day and the one that earned us the World Turtle souvenir! Woot!

But my favorite was the TB Hotel near Highland.  We didn't want to leave it empty and had no trackables to leave so we just discovered the trackables and left them behind. 

It was a lovely tour of the countryside, and we enjoyed earning every last souvenir. With weather "feels like" 105 degrees and the poison ivy so lush, maybe we'll wait until Fall for the Honeycomb. Victory dinner at Buddy's Pizza in Novi - yummy!

NECT: North Central Massachusetts Cemetery Series

Well, talk about a mystery.... Two weeks ago ShelleyJean and I wrapped up a 4-month long odyssey that ended in an amazing tour of old Massachusetts cemeteries and finding gold at the end of the tombstone.  How do you describe the experience that involved progressively harder puzzles plus many onsite twists and turns masterfully interwoven with a common theme that led to several more puzzles to find the final.... and not give anything away? Hyliston has a lot to answer for.

This is the North Central Massachusetts Cemetery Series created in 2012 by Hyliston.

I believe Shelley first discovered this small series of 9 puzzles that led to a gold coin at the final (she has a thing about geotrails with rewards).  I became fixated after seeing Slamere72 and +Mo's geocoins at a local event. With its Edward Gorey/Masterpiece Mystery feel in an antique gold, the etching of a cemetery on the horizon behind a pair of cemetery gates, the rarity of only 100 coins produced and the need to pit your brain against progressively harder puzzles, the urgency was overwhelming. Add to that the road trip itch and the finals surrounding cemeteries near my old stomping grounds, there was no question we would be going.

Near mad with theories
I've passed each test
& completed this series
so here let it rest.

(Epitaph on the geocoin)

Now, here's the rub. The series is still ongoing and there are currently 4 precious coins left. So I can't give anything away. Not the brilliance and fun of each of the first 8 published puzzles. Not the work at each final. Not the twists and turns and head-scratching and crowing as each onsite puzzle was solved. Nor the surprises at the end. Nothing. Nada. No way. 

So what can I share? Shelley was brilliant and tenacious at solving the puzzles before we left. And, once we arrived, I really feel I stepped up to the plate and owned my end. The CO (plus a few sitting angels) was generous and patient with help. And the cache containers and locations were quality. 

I can also share the wonderful things we saw after a long drive across Canada and a good night's rest. This is day #2 on our adventure: completing the NCMCS and experiencing central Massachusetts.

First stop was in Gardner aka "Chair City".  They were everywhere! On the street signs, municipal garbage cans, streetlight banners. It was Shelley's favorite little town. We took our first break there after having a minor anxiety attack at the first NCMCS puzzle of the morning and the second find.

No stop in Gardner is complete without stopping at the Gardner Museum. Yes, that's a chair in front. It matches the contemporary chair facade at the local police station. Here, Shelley and I took a break for a rather fun puzzle involving several local landmarks. Can you guess what object they all centered around?

Sit Back and Relax GCXTGX

Roadside America at its best! Typical of us, we had poured over RA, AtlasObscura and Waymarking.com before the trip commenced. Get ready for a lot of kitsch!

Famed Bicentennial Chair

Not giving anything away, but if you can find this little guy you are near the final of the Sit Back and Relax puzzle. You can thank me later.

We headed out to Fitchburg called "Rock City". Why? They have a big rock in their town center. In fact, it is so precious to them and they were so determined to preserve it, they blew it up. Yep. And put it back together again. The Rollstone Boulder is in a cute downtown on Boulder Drive, across from Boulder Realty and Boulder Antiques.

scrapcat calculating the circumference for the Earth Cache
Glacial Erratic GC16HW9

The fascinating part of the NCMCS finals were their proximity to some fascinating cemeteries. I've toured cemeteries from Detroit to Atlanta and Boston to Colorado Springs. This is the first time I've seen black slate headstones. So thin (and hard to photograph) and yet in pristine condition. 

With the sun beating down hard it actually made photographing these tall but thinly-etched headstones difficult, but Shelley can attest I made my best attempt! I came home with over 1700 photos on this trip. You will see quite the funeral art evolution over the next few posts.

OOH! This was cool! Meet Joseph Palmer! His marker is inscribed "Persecuted for wearing the beard". Funny side note: a friend posted later this same day that he was having a "bad beard day" so I shared this picture - Chef Curt lost.

Several more roadside stops!

Tomb of Johnny Appleseed - Leominster

Mary and her lamb actually lived in Sterling and her 1st grade classmate wrote the poem. Rub the lamb's ears for luck!

Mary Had a Little Lamb - Sterling

In case you were wondering, we did still find time to do the cemetery series. Look at this view!

Ok, whatever you do, don't show this to Portah. If my Mainah friend found out I had a Lobster Roll at McDonald's she would flip! But, damn, it was good! And we greatly needed a break at this point.

Ok, I've shared some interesting photos around the NCMCS series, but I'm going to blatantly admit it.... 4/10th of a mile down this trail in one of the eight finals. The reason for my look of panic is they were coming for me! Big, bad, biting flies! One so large it looked like a broach on my chest! #leastfavoritespot

Things got a little spacey when we pulled into one cemetery and spied these metal monuments. Cool, eh? Quite different from the slate ones, right?

Did you see one of the local Keepers of the Cache?

He can't read signs. He missed this one by 100 feet.

I think he was heading here...

Many more finds, many more puzzles, and mix in one more minor panic attack... and we had the final in hand. With so many intricacies, even with the final log, we were hesitant to hoot in celebration. Was there one more stop? Another clue? We even messaged the CO.

WE DID IT!

How do you celebrate the end of an awesome day? Selfie with the Mohawk Motors Indian (Muffler Man)! SCOOK would be so proud!

ShelleyJean and scrapcat

Thank you, Hyliston, for creating this fabulous experience! And thank you for the beautiful geocoin!

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