I still used a GPSr.... well, sort of.

TaGeez broke his leg.

Now, that sounds like the ending of an epic adventure. But it is not. It has been our reality for almost two weeks now. So, today found me out running errands by myself. A little bit of groceries and then my cache-a-day. I'm less than 6 weeks from realizing my goal of cache-a-day streaking for 5 years straight.

Five years of streaking is within my reach!

In this time, I went a month without a car, dealt with -26 degree temps, and cached on my way home from the hospital. But TaGeez laid up has not been enjoyable, especially dealing with... da da DA! MY PHONE!

I love my iPhone, but more often than not lately it's a paperweight (and not a paperweight I can afford to replace). My iPhone 5 has the dreaded 'battery issue' (my diagnosis - according to Apple there is nothing wrong with it). I could be sitting a 74% battery with no apps running, no background refresh, Bluetooth off, and drop in seconds to 1% - CRASH! Shuts down completely. But when I plug it in, I'm at 53% battery. Heaven help me if I don't have a power source nearby.

Hey! Any of you know... is it worth paying to replacing the battery?

I'm getting mixed answers, but there's nothing otherwise wrong with it.

So imagine today... I'm exiting the grocery store to see my battery at 4% (WTH?!?! It was almost charged when I entered. Damn potatoes! They are the culprits! Those eyes always watching!)

Source: Unknown

Crap. Ok, time to reach for an alternate power source because TaGeez will be waking from his nap, and I need to be home. I plugged my phone into my car charger - nada. Sigh - the Ford Sync system. And I only have one external battery with me... and it's dead, too. 

Well, Hell.

Trek all the way home, grab a battery and back out today? It's getting late. Grrrrr!!!!! It's been a long week.

As I pulled out of the lot, I recalled a cache belonging to afishoutawater that I had to skip earlier in the week. On Wednesday, as I pulled up near the GZ, a construction crew renovating a nearby hotel exited for the day and caught sight of me. Thinking about it today, can I remember how to get back there? Not on my normal side of town and in an area I frequent. Risk it not being there? Or revisited by the crew? Could the gates be locked?

I made it back to Telegraph and then was a little lost. Where is this place? Last time I had approached from the backside. Surely there can't be THAT MANY hotels under construction??? Looking up at my car GPSr, which is always on, I broke out into a smile. Breadcrumb trails.

The little blue line on my screen led me back to the spot from whence I came once before. This time the gates were open and the lot empty. I headed to the North side of the lot. Eagerly, I pulled up to the general area, got out and started my search. After a few minutes I came up empty. DRAT! So darn close! 

Pulling out of the lot, I looked over my right shoulder to make sure all was clear, and what did I see about 20 feet away? 

That's right. I had left last time without getting a close look at the GZ. And now I have a log in hand. Sweet! The things we do for a smiley.

Now, how do I get home?

Taking One For the Team

Welcome to Michigan!

Poor, TaGeez. We had our first snowstorm of the year.

I think that lamp post cache needs a new terrain rating!

Can You Spot The Cacher?

Can you spot the cacher?  Can you?

Ok, I'll walk around the snowbank.  See him now?  By the time I arrived, TaGeez had already cleared away a few feet of snow from the skirt top.

So, how useless do you think a terrain rating in this weather is?  Detroit received about 16.7" of snow over 24 hours - third snowiest day in our history.

And it looks like we're not the only crazy people.  Doug's log is a hoot!

Another example of not underestimating the challenges of an LPC cache!