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

A Different Kind of Emergency Kit

If you've been to one of gsix5666 Happy New Year's event, everyone wins a door prize. This is a popular prize for "those in the know".

But what kind of "Emergency Kit" is it? 

Have you ever been caught out in the woods for a bio-emergency and have been unprepared? Keep these kits in your caching bag. So, what is it? Yes, 5 rolls of dehydrated toilet paper - just add the included water!

And before you ask, yes, gsix does work with the scouts!

My 2025 Puzzle Resolution

I'm normally not one for resolutions, but I made a geo-resolution last year. We started to notice that more and more of the caches on our "solved-but-not-found" list were getting archived. 

Geo-resolution? To find 75% of the puzzles on our list by New Year.

How'd we fair? After removing caches that were archived during the year, we finished the year with approximately 53% found, and we're happy with that. My guess is about 200 of the remaining puzzles are part of geoarts, and we just didn't have the time during crazy last year for that kind of commitment.

⁉️

So, are we going to do it again? Yes. With 237 still unfound, we're going to shoot for finding 50% of them this year.  This may not seem like such a mean feet, but remember - like last year - we continue to add new puzzle solves throughout the year.

Phoenix or Bust! A Trackable's Adventure

You know how it is? I was sent to Phoenix for work in December, and I decided at the last minute not to carry my new trackable with me. As our Engagement Summit was in downtown, I assumed I wouldn't have access to a cache large enough for a trackable. 

WOW! I was wrong! I Waymo'd to a fabulous cache in the Phoenix suburb called the Bookworm's Haven. My adventure was my favorite part of my trip!

Now I've decided this trackable needs to visit, too!

Sending this out with the mission to visit Bookworm's Haven (GCAANNB) in Phoenix, AZ. 

After I meet its mission, I hope it continues to travel to other libraries, too. 

 

It wouldn't be New Year's Day without a geocaching breakfast at Hope Lutheran Church.  About 100 Cachers (some coming as far as Hamilton, Ontario) converge for food, chatter, and door prizes!

HNY26-17th Annual Geocaching Breakfast Event

Bobo's Dad, Bobo, TaGeez and Scrapcat

Then 11:00 AM strikes, and it's time to geocache! 433 geocaches hidden by 17 Cachers from Commerce Township to Harsen's Island - Romeo to Detroit. Traditionals, Mysteries, Wherigos, Multis and Letterboxes. 

It was cold (19°) but glorious to be out! TaGeez & I did a great job picking our area to cache - we scored 34 FTFs out of 37 finds! SO many animal tracks and quiet roads. We love caching BWY Gand and Ramblin Rumble caches.

We jokingly called this picture 'Scrapcat finally climbs a tree!'

Last year was such a hard year so I'm taking this a sign of a good start to a fresh year. Looking forward to many more caches, more souvenirs, and more time outside. 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Have you ever Waymo'd to a Cache before?

I’m in Phoenix for an Engagement Summit, and I arrived with a baggie of trackables. Unfortunately, there are no sizeable caches near my hotel, so I started looking further out…

Wait! What’s this? Is this… a Waymo?! 

OMG! A driverless car???? Saw this on CBS Sunday morning, but we don’t have these in the (currently) frozen tundra of Michigan! WOW! That made heading out for a cache even more irresistible! Where can I go and when can I find time to get there? 

Searching "nearby", I spy the Bookworm's Haven about 6 miles from downtown. OK, so that makes this a double puzzle cache because you can’t plug coordinates into the Waymo app, so I had to solve that first. Luckily the CO confirmed the address for my peace of mind.

Thursday afternoon arrives, and I found free time during a quiet lunch to head on out! What a hoot! LOVED the ride! And Waymo’ing to a cache should be a square on a geo-Bingo card!

I arrived within 16 minutes to the cache, and then I watched as my car just drove away... I could've booked this as a stopover in the Waymo app, but it would've only stopped for 5 minutes, and I didn't know how long it would take me to solve the puzzle to unlock the cache.

 Residential caches are always awkward, but me, in business casual, standing alone with a Ziploc full of trackables? Luckily, the container was obvious, and the puzzle was quick.

This was a fun, well-maintained cache! I enjoyed it immensely. I signed the log, swapped trackables, and left a path tag for the CO.

❤️ Fave point for such a nice cache and fun puzzle.

Then I had to stand around for another awkward 8 minutes until a new Waymo could arrive. I love to drive, but I really want a driverless car now!

Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Upper Peninsula Adventure 4

It's amazing how time flies!

TaGeez and I are on the last day of our Michigan State Parks Upper Peninsula GeoTour. We started our day in Sault Ste Marie and am heading towards home. 4 days of fabulous weather and happy memories!

MSPGT2-UP: Brimley State Park GCAPW31

First cache of the day, and I love it when you can see the dew glistening on the grass.

The volunteer at the ranger station said she watched other caches jump down the embankment and cross the little creek for the cache. We decided to mosey around the corner from the station and take the easy way in. 

MSPGT2-UP: Straits State Park GCAPW3N

Last of the UP GeoTour caches! We finished our region! 

Although we passed this crossing over the Mighty Mac, we didn’t grab this that first day because we crossed in the dark. If I had any regrets from the last geotour, we didn't spend enough time here to enjoy the views so we saved this for last.

What a fun way to end this tour. Container is already showing some wear, but it did make us chuckle… and crave S’Mores! 

Now off to the scenic overlook! 

[SIGH] Now to turn towards home. Always sad to cross back over this bridge.

Follow-up note: deep respect to the hider. They reached out to us, asking for more details on the wear of the container. What a class act!

MSPGT2-NL: Pigeon River Country State Forest GCAPW47

“Hello, dirt road, my old friend.

We’ve come to bounce on you again”

[TaGeez singing this to the music of the Sound of Silence]

This was a pleasant detour from the freeway to the cache, even if our windows are painted in sand!

Nice work on the pole! We saw several of these on the last tour, but this was a first for us this time. 

Afterwards, we headed down to the lake for the view before heading to the quilt shop and lunch in Gaylord! This day is going too fast!

MSPGT2-NL: Hartwick Pines State Park GCAPW3Y

Last cache of this adventure and what a place to end it! LOVE the old growth forest at Hartwick Pines! Sad to see Visitor Center is closed for renovations, but we enjoyed the hunt for this cache.

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Michigan State Parks GeoTour 

Upper Peninsula Edition [GT4F8]

We spent 4 Pure Michigan days traveling 1,727 miles to grab a total of 25 caches, 18 from the GeoTour. The skies were blue and the 3 Great Lakes even bluer! Contrast that to sandy roads and changing leaves - pure joy! We can't wait to grab the remaining 10 tour caches we need!