Geo-Hauntingly Good TIme!

If anything, Michigan LOVES Halloween. 

And Michigan geocachers even more! Why? Because our local hiders host amazing events! TaGeez and I made it to three of them yesterday!

A Haunting Saturday Morning At The Cider Mill GCAYJFN

First up? Team Gates hosted a Cider Mill event in Rochester! Great way to kick off in the morning with cold apple cider and warm donuts - we tailgated in the parking lot!

Saturday Afternoon Spooktacular Matinee 3 GCAXJ0H

Then Harley822 had his classic Halloween movie showing at the Brandon Public Library.

Three guesses for this year's selection! Not only did we get treat bags, but I won a year's premium membership as a door prize! Treat not Trick!

After group solving a new puzzle based on the movie we watched, we trekked over to the cache for a group FTF. No surprises who we found in the casket... er... box!

HH24 - Haunt in Halmich XIII GCAVV11

Finally, the event we look forward to all year! Hosted by Bobo's Dad, we spent an evening at Halmich Park!

TaGeez and Scrapcat, again.

Do you recognize 3/4 of Southeastern Michigan
Geocaching Community FB Admins? 

Meeting in a pavillion, we start the Haunt in Halmich greeting and sharing tall tales with friends we haven't seen in a year!

TaGeez with our host

RayQix made an appearance

Then we trek out into the darkness of the park by flashlight to find the new dozen Halloween-themed caches hidden in the park!

So did ProBob!

It's a fabulous walk and the weather held out for us. Plus 12 FTFs! That puts you in the Halloween "spirit", doesn't it? 👻

Congratulations to Team Gates on your 19,000 find last night!

MSPCGT: Gluttons for Punishment

What were we thinking?!?

2019 is ticking down, and the team had hoped to finish the Michigan State Parks Centennial GeoTour (MSPCGT) during the centennial year. So that means finding caches in all season - including the unseasonable weather that has rolled in.

Starting at Holland State Park (time to get the "sand dune" wherigos over with), we began on the beach where the water was frigid and the the wind carried ice pellets! BRRRR!

The MSPCGT: Holland State Park cache is an 18-stage tour of the beach area, nearby town, up 200 steps, along the top of a sand dune, and, eventually, to a cache final. We've been dreading it all year, but we're determined to finish all 100 caches in the series. 

Waiting until Fall, we hoped to avoid the heat on the sand, the EEE mosquitoes in the woods, and the Muggles on the beach. It did that, but we weren't accounting for the freezing wet feet and chapped cheeks. 

Up! Up! Up, we go! Summer crowds are so numerous there are signs that the stairs must be taken single-file and NO STOPPING! 

Look! Atop the dune and heading down!

I won't spoil the final. So, instead. here's a lion. After making the find, we headed downtown to see the new Wizard of Oz statues outside the library and for a little shopping downtown. If you get a chance, the art made from recycled materials along the main road are fun!

Holland State Park

Reprieve over... time to tackle another dune.

MSPCGT: Saugatuck SP is down the road from Holland.  This is another lengthy wherigo. This time touring the Felt Mansion....

... along the property into the nearby state park....

... and taking trails up the side of hills, along ridges, and over the dunes.

Yet another view of the beautiful and frigid Lake Michigan. The final was just a few hundred feet further on the trail. It was purported "so hard to find", but I think all three of us tripped on it almost immediately. WOW! Two multi-mile wherigos involving steps, trails & sand dunes -- I felt it for days afterwards.

Last find of the day was MSPCGT: Van Buren SP. I gave the letterbox container & special stamps a favorite point, but, if I'm being honest, the short walk to the cache was a major influence.

Our reward for our perseverance was an amazing sunset in South Haven and then dinner at Clementines! Look at these amazing photos! It's one of my favorite places in Michigan <3 

Thank you, ShelleyJean, for this favorite photo!

Sadly, we turned away from Lake Michigan Sunday morning and started heading home. Our next three MSPCGT caches were ammo cans on the pole.

MSPCGT: Grand Mere

MSPCGT: Warren Dunes

You would'a thought the word "dunes" in the state park name (Warren Dunes) would've clued me into the possibility of more sand and sandy heights. Oi! Luckily SJ and TaGeez powered on!

We pulled up to the gates of MSPCGT: Warren Woods and found a surprise - a locked gate with a sign stating "Closed until April".  Not deterred (we came so far) we hefted our packs and headed a half mile down the road. Nearing the final, we spied a group looking as guilty as we were. 

Team Stone's Throw was a group of muggles we hopefully converted. They were fascinated by the cache and the idea of caching. They are a beautiful group of women who actually hike for fun! I hope we see them on the trails again.

And now... off to my favorite road, U.S. Route 12 in Michigan. I swear, one day I'm going to drive it from Detroit to its final in Aberdeen, Washington. In Michigan, U.S. 12 takes you through quaint town squares and along the railroad. We visited historic cemeteries, stopping at several Virtuals.

Hero's was one of my favorite Virtuals on the trip. It's in a little downtown park filled with many, many, many ducks! Excitedly we paid out our quarters and fed the ducks until they stormed us! A single-minded flock of feathery evil! Luckily, I saved enough feed to make it to the Virtual and back. I distracted the swarm with the last of the bird food and raced to my team, pinned in the car! Adventure!

Last stop of our tour was MSPCGT: Coldwater Lake SP. We were warned that it was an undeveloped slight of land with no amenities. To gain the cache you had to wade through waist-high grass. Ok, let's get this over with before it gets dark. 

Amish speeding by

93 caches completed - 6 weeks to complete 7 more!

Update on my state park journal - I've kept on this. I have seven pages for seven parks to go! 

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.