Canadian Caching Adventure!

Can you believe we’re on another adventure?  Just returned from the Chicago weekend, and TaGeez & I packed our… well… lunch bag and headed to Windsor!

Geographically, the river walk of Windsor is less than a mile from the river walk of Detroit.  Throw in Belle Isle, and it’s just spitting-distance away.  (Trivia: Did you know there is a group in Texas called the International Society of Bridge Spitters or ISOBs?  Look it up!)  With passports or enhanced licenses in hand, we paid our $4.50 to tunnel over to the Canadian side.

Funny money!

Where to start?  How about the Mayor’s office?  There’s a really cool letterbox called Welcome to Windsor GCT6TY.  We didn’t get to meet the Mayor but his secretary gave us pins & brochures.

Letterbox complete!

It was at this point that we were in a little bit of a pickle.  You see… we were using smart phone apps that had offline maps.  For my iPhone, turning off my data plan (so I wasn’t charged by Canada’s ROGERS), I could see the maps but couldn’t track my location (using either GeoSphere or the official Groundspeak app).  TaGeez could track his location, but the GZ maps were very fuzzy on his Android.  I’m sure if we tweaked and fiddled, we could’ve figured out how to get around this, but it started to rain.  We put our phones away & pulled out the good old GPSrs. 

Luckily, we didn’t need the GPSrs at the R910.28579 COU GC1KJX1 stop.  I LOVE library caches!  The exterior of this library was a little drab, but we enjoyed ourselves inside.  One good thing to note: we discovered that many of the downtown parking meters accepted both Canadian and American change!

After a few urban caches downtown (boy, are we out of practice urban-caching with a GPSr!), we decided to toddle on over to a nearby Windsor Grove Cemetery.  Fun!  Two really nice caches in there and many older stones – such peace in the middle of the city.

Nearby - SQ Hail Mary GC4ZZ2X

Nearby at a road intersection
SQ - Rock of Ages... Can you see her? GC2WG3F

Enjoying this experience, we filtered our stored caches and found this lovely series of caches in two related Windsor cemeteries.  Team Wiji placed 10 bird-theme caches around 2 cemeteries, each containing a code for the “Nest” final: SQ – SPBH – The Nest GC4FCJE.  

What a lovely way to spend a now-sunny afternoon.  Although these weren’t the historic monument-and-pillars-type cemeteries, they had some interesting features around their flushed headstones.  We even stopped halfway to enjoy our lunch near a pond.

SQ - SPBH - Monkey GC4FCKM

After that, time to head back into downtown.  I’ve been itching to take TaGeez to Jackson Park/Victoria Gardens on Ouellette Blvd. to see the Ontario SQ and those interesting park gates.  We spent quite a bit of time snapping pictures and wandering the gardens.  

TaGeez grabbed Ontario Spirit Quest #1 – Lest We Forget GCNF63 and Gates to…. GC211RB.

After that, we headed a little closer to the Ambassador Bridge to pick up some fast caches and easy puzzle finals like SQ – Assumption GC3QK2M, Wiji Chemistry GC2FKC5, and International Mystery GC31MDY.

SQ - Assumption GC3QK2M

I love this park system along the river.   

There are sculpture gardens and topiary gardens and even a park with a train. Unfortunately, it’s getting dark and the wind is whipping. 

Time to end the day with two more, the Earth Cache Detroit River Watershed GC33MW1 

and a fun Traditional Whimsical Cache #16 – In the Shadow of the Tower GC4YQTB.

 We can't wait to come back when we have a little more time and a lot more sunlight.  In the end, I found 24 and TaGeez logged 26 caches, qualifying us for Team B's Another COUNTRY Cache Challenge GC4MHC9.

Chicago Geocacher Podcast - Spectacular Weekend (part 2)

Continued from CGP - part 1
_______________________________________________________________

Main event: Chicago Geocacher 100^th Episode LIVE Spectacular! GC4Z6NX at the Penny Road Pub (Barrington).  Feeling a little tired and ready for the next event, the four of us arrived to find approximately a hundred other cachers in the Pub’s basement (coded for about 50 people).  Perfect party atmosphere!

The LIVE taping of the show was a hoot!  You’ll have to listen to it yourself.  I enjoyed everyone doing their own milestones and the out-of-towners making stage appearances (I didn’t go up – I finally got my hands on some grub).  My favorite part of the show was finally seeing, for the first time, the “friends from the show”: Toppercat, Dinaworks, Brandon, Shortyknits and Action Rick Jackson.  None of them looked as I expected them!

Dynamic Duo

Darryl, Walt & Scott

For the last time, we heard about Scott & Walt’s Recent Caches, TopperCachesÔ, Caches of the Show.  They wrapped up after the broadcast with CGP trivia and raffle prizes.  Fearing I would win a packet of “Cock Soup”, I was ever so glad to pickup my new flashlight from GXProxy.

We rounded out the night with my new Geocoin (with a slight error – notice the blank blue field across the top? It’s missing “The Chicago Geocacher”) & commemorative patch.

Final event: The Day After the Big Event – 100^th Podcast GC503Y6 at the IHOP next to our hotel, the La Quinta (Hoffman Estates).  Darryl messaged early – he needed a few more caches to reach a milestone by the event so we hit a few in the parking lot.  My favorite was called Follow That Swans GCNCJN – as we were nearing, the swans came over for a visit!  Lovely stroll.

The breakfast was relaxing – first time I’ve been to an IHOP in a decade.  The guests-of-honor sat with us. At our table was Scott Berks, Jessie Brown, Walt Grogan, Jeremy Collins, Scott Thompson, Darryl Wattenberg and, of course, Caching Fire. 

As we were leaving, we caught sight of this… not sure what to make of it.

Saying goodbye to Scott and Jeremy, Darryl and I headed towards Beverly Lake.  It’s SO close to the hotel – how could we leave without it?  Beverly GC28 is the third oldest active cache in the world!  With a posted date of 05/13/2000, at the moment it boasts 585 favorite points.

Darryl "waiting" at Beverly

We found Beverly GC28!

Just as exciting were the caches we found along the way: Little Diversion GC2JM5E, I found WHAT at Beverly? GC390RX (SO fitting after doing the RRR yesterday!), and Blammo! GC1VTYY.  I think one of the things I’ll remember most is the soot, though.  They were doing controlled burns along the paths near Beverly lake within the last week, and the trails were a fascinating patchwork of blackwatch (burned areas), green (new growth) and yellow (trails).  With the overcast weather, I couldn’t get a decent picture to share.

We rounded off the trips with another find for my Jasmer (Cache in the Woods GCE979), a webcam (Visions of Salt Creek GCGVRN) and several other random beauties that crossed our paths.  I ended the day with “most states in a day”: 3.  I’m hoping to break this stat when I return this year with TaGeez to grab the Chicago Virtuals, more caches near Beverly Lake, and finally hit Wisconsin.

I’ve spent the last few days reading Discover logs for Fire (nicknamed “Fire Paws”) and accepting friend requests from Illinois.  Hopefully, I’ll meet them again at one of the Megas.

Thank you, Walt & Scott, for 4 fabulous years of podcasts.  I can’t wait to see what you do next.

Chicago Geocacher Podcast - Spectacular Weekend (part 1)

I had a ridiculously fun time this weekend in Northern Illinois!

The Chicago Geocacher Podcast (hosted by Scott Berks and Walt Grogan) celebrated it’s 100^th – and last – episode with a series of events near Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates, Illinois.  Now, if you’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to their broadcasts <ding> you would understand both the joy and sorrow I’m feeling.  Around twice a month for 4 years this pair sat down and bantered the thrills & weirdness experienced in their corner of the geocaching world and the news at large.  And this show isn’t for children.

It’s not something you can describe here….. take a moment (or two hours) and shoot over to iTunes.  Download their Episode 97: Jewish Boy Scouts & Lab Caches and give it a listen.  This is a typical broadcast with the distinction of being the only podcast EVER to make me swerve off the road, in full belly laugh, and almost hit a guardrail (with, probably, one of those rare geocaches).

It feels like your best drinking buddies were just relocated overseas after completing a major project. You are excited they reached their goal, but you’ll miss them at the bi-weekly Poker party.

To celebrate this milestone, DarrylW4, Caching Fire and myself trekked West for one last drink goodbye.  Yes, I brought the Detroit Dragon – don’t judge me, monkey!

Starting off before dawn struck, we made our way towards Western Michigan and the Indiana border without event.  I found my first Indiana cache at the Visitor Center (Crossroads GC12GGE).  Funny thing is…. It had an old, damaged Cache-a-Maniacs logbook in it!  (Cache-a-maniacs was one of Darryl’s podcasts).  I logged the find quickly and received my Indiana souvenir. 

No other thing to note except Darryl’s GPS is ‘possessed’.  Just as we accessed the Indiana Toll Road 90, it directed us to exit just in time to grab a train cache (EJE 765 GC1VPVD) and then re-enter the toll road.

Making good time (and passing all those glorious VIRTUALS in downtown Chicago), we found ourselves at the La Quinta Hotel (Hoffman Estates) where we met up with Jeremy Collins (WyoKrewe from Wyoming) and Scott Thompson (Firesafe from South Australia).  After a quick check-in, we were off to cache the area while on the way to the first event. 

Firesafe, WyoKrewe, DarrylW4, Caching Fire, and scrapcat

Hamming it up at Walt's Microphone

Enjoyed a Quaint Cemetery, too

First event: Chicago Geocacher 100^th Episode Lunch Spectacular GC4ZP1N at the Billy Goat Tavern and Grill (Mount Prospect).  What a fabulous crowd!  We started with meeting Walt Grogan at the logbook, and then over to the counter for some pretty tasty cheeseburgers.  Everyone recognized DarrylW4, Firesafe, and WyoKrewe from the podcasts.

Sitting at the table, Scott showed me the geo-art (Signal) he made for the Oz Mega in South Australia – so cool!

Not one to be shy, I left the guys to chat while I visited table-to-table, snapping pictures of Fire with the locals and trading path tags.  Fire is photogenic and a great ice breaker. My favorite log was from Teper129, “This is undoubtedly the coolest trackable I’ve found.  Being a dragon myself (I breathe fire), I felt a connection with this guy.  Hope to see him again!”  He even included a picture of himself breathing fire in his log!

Teper129 - Kindred Spirits!

Here are a few of the pictures I took at that event.  There are more attached to his log.

Our hosts have a good sense of humor, too!

Scott Berks

Walt Grogan

Can't forget the group shots!

Jeremy, Scott, Fire, Darryl, and Elisa

The out-of-towners

After a group photo, we were off to do the Randall Road Romp!  It is approximately 200 caches within a 10-mile stretch of Randall Road.  Due to time constraints, we only managed about 75 of these park-and-grabs before the main event.  Darryl did an excellent job driving & navigating, while Jeremy, Scott and I were runners.  We used the “Scott & Walt” method – don’t completely unroll the logs!  There’s caches to be had!  Darryl made these awesome GGH (GeoGearHead) stickers to quicken things up.  This worked as long as Firesafe didn’t spot a Munzee nearby – LOL.

Of the approximately 75 caches, there were two stand-outs:

Cachesaurus Rex GC427P4 – LOVED it!  We had fun taking pictures and a breather here.  I made the find – it was nice finding one NOT located under a lampskirt.

Randall Road Romp #16 GC3Y610 – it might have only been a P&G, but (contrary to what geocaching.com says) it was my 4000^th find (on day #772 of my caching streak).

(To be continued..... part 2)

Snow? Sounds like NIGHT CACHING weather!

What do you do when it snows in April in Michigan?  NIGHT CACHE!

Tarabusi Creek Group Photo

Sitting with TaGeez (Steve) before last night’s night cache (GC4THAD Night Caching Tarabusi Creek), I asked him his favorite ‘night caching’ tips.  Together, we’ve probably found over a dozen of them.  This is a brief list of tips we came up with.

• Best to go in early Spring or late Fall.  There’s less muck & mud, vegetation is dormant (to navigate and to see reflectors), the sun sets earlier, less bugs out and snakes are dormant.
• Buy a headlamp.  They are relatively inexpensive and widely-available.  Using a headlamp keeps your hands free for blocking tree branches, climbing over logs, and searching.  We recommend using it on a lower setting or angling it slightly down so you don’t blind the other Cachers.
• Even with a headlamp, keep a spare flashlight in your pocket.  This is particularly useful when searching the final GZ or if something happens to the headlamp.
• Wear safety glasses because branches aren’t easy to see in the gloom/dark.
• Wear long sleeves, long pants & (optional) gloves to protect from the thorns.
• Read the cache page for special equipment.  We recently did an older night cache that required a strong, older flashlight.  New-fangled LED lights weren’t powerful enough to set off the beacon.  In addition, we’re seeing more demands for UV flashlights in our area.
• Bring glow sticks.  If you get separated from your group, hang glow sticks from nearby branches and stay by that tree as you call someone for help.
• If using a Smartphone for navigating, dim your light so it doesn’t effect your night vision.
• Waypoint your car before setting off because landmarks are harder to see on that return trip.

Consider these (plus basic safety tips) next time you go out and night caching will be less scary!

Chicago Geocacher Podcast

I'm heartbroken and elated at the same time.

I love the Chicago Geocacher Podcast.  So far, 99 episodes (plus tangents) of geocaching and laugh-out-loud fun.  Scott & Walt make me laugh so hard I'm swerving off the road in my daily commute.

Heartbroken?  Because this Saturday is their 100th - and final - episode!  They will be taping it LIVE at the Spectacular event.  And then after that?  No more appearing in my playlist?  

Elated?  Although late to the party, I was able to buy the commemorative geocoin and will pick it up in person!  

Going to Chicago with DarrylW4.  We will be meeting Firesafe and WyoKrewe to target the Randall Road Romp and grab Beverly GC28 - the 3rd oldest active cache in the world.  Then, off to 3 events: the luncheon, the LIVE taping, and the morning after breakfast!

I can't wait to post pictures!

Flappy Cache GC507NW

Have you seen this? My friend Ben shared this online.

Play it here: http://geocaching.bitballoon.com

Ticks – a Geocacher’s Bane

Rumor has it that 2014 will not be a bad year for ticks.  It has something to do with late frosts in 2013 and a tick’s 2-year life cycle.  Plus the extreme cold this Winter.  Either way, it’s best to stay cautious.  TaGeez and I have spent a lot of time in the woods already.

A friend posted on Facebook a remedy for removing ticks involving dish soap and cotton swabs.  Unfortunately, another friend immediately debunked it using Snopes.com as a reference.

Reaching out to that second friend, Ben of theGrundalows, he said, “The ONLY way to safely remove a tick is tweezers at the mouthparts/your own skin and pull.”  He also advised, “Do not remove a tick in any way that will kill/injure the tick in the process.  If you do, it is more likely the tick with spew its nasty diseases into your bloodstream.” I trust Ben’s knowledge in this area – he and Amanda are hikers and spend a great deal of time outdoors.

Scary, right?  I’ve come across ticks twice – one embedded in my cat’s eyelid (I cried the whole time I was tweezing it out) and one on myself (discovered during a shower).  I screamed (and almost took out the shower curtain) as I scrambled to get it off.  This year I bought myself and TaGeez a Tick Key – we’re carrying them in our special essentials kits I mentioned back in October.

I must remember to pack it when I head off to Beverly GC28 this month.  Brad Paisley’s song, Ticks, is cute but the real thing is not.