MWGB19: Knights That Go Nano

In town with my knight-in-shining armor, TaGeez, for a wonderful weekend at Midwest GeoBash (15 years - congrats!) We enjoyed 3 days of camping, seeing old friends, finishing 45 Adventure Labs, attended 5 events and finding 31 geocaches. 

TaGeez had to work Friday morning so we didn't arrive and setup camp until Friday afternoon. Making short work with camp, we were soon off to explore and make great memories!

I think the theme this year lent to some pretty fun geocaching! We expected Medieval Renaissance, but it actually followed the lines of Monty Python!

We met many knights seeking the reward in the field...

scrapcat - ProBob - ACLCoordinator - TaGeez

This was our first Favorite -- it took more than the knights of the round table to figure this out. There were like 20 of us :)

Excalibur

Dragon's Breath

HE SAID HE'D SHARE! TaGeez found the food trucks! Excited to find that Outlaw Smokehouse opened a brick-n-mortar in Napoleon, OH. Oh, so dangerous!

He promised to share!

Did someone say "Tin Foil Hat Night"?

Fire made a friend

Saturday morning found a big surprise - friends from Chicago! ShortyKnits and ScottBerks swooped in on their bikes and stopped for a hug, a picture and some trading. Have you checked them out? They did an episode on the Midwest Geobash here. I'm a proud Patreon member!

ShortyKnits - Scrapcat - ScottBerks

Besides many creative geocaches, MWGB created 50 (yes, 50!) Adventure Lab Caches this year! They created 3 (sets of 10) featuring the Fairgrounds, 1 (set of 10) on the history of Wauseon, and 1 (set of 10) for the Poker Run. We arrived at the end of the run, but we managed to grab a few of those before heading home.

The Knights who say ni

If it's Saturday then it's Treasure Hunt! Purchase a ticket and try your luck in the show ring. Each ticket earns you a few minutes with a metal detector. Listen for the beep to win a t-shirt trackable and a raffle ticket. Show your trackable to the nice people at the table and you could win again! AND WE DID! A Garmin Vivofit 4!

As the heat rose on the fairgrounds, we decided to head into town (and the glorious AC in the car). Time for the History of Wauseon Adventure Labs and highly-favorited geocaches. Oh, I LOVED this first one!

Take And Read Diverse Intriguing Stories

Do you have NANOCACHEPHOBIA? This will either cure it or make it worse!

NANOCACHEPHOBIA

Back in time for some vendor shopping, finishing our Adventure Labs and closing ceremonies. TaGeez couldn't help making a new friend.

Official Midwest GeoBash Photo

This is genius! We bought this battery-powered Ryobi fan during our power outage several weeks earlier. TaGeez packed this - thankfully! Spangler Arena during closing ceremonies was in the high 90's + humidity. Pack hundreds of bodies in the stadium seating with no air movement is normally Hell! Now we had friends stopping by and standing conveniently behind us to cool off. 

Closing ceremonies were over, but the day was not cooling as the sun was going down. With only 10 minutes to get there, we made a break to the local movie theater for the latest Spiderman movie and AC. Made it! And we had time for popcorn & drinks, bathroom breaks, and sitting our butts in the best seats! We saw the last Spiderman in this same theater, too.

Sunday arrived to a deflated (and dead) air mattress, a pancake breakfast and packing our wet camping gear. With the day already getting steamy, we headed for a final cache and then home.

Not before stopping (again) at Mama C's Donuts in Maumee! On the way in to Bash, we had stopped at the Quilt Foundry when we had a sudden urge for donuts. Lo! Here's a donut shop near the highway so we decided to give them a chance. HEAVEN! The freshest, tastiest donuts! So turning out  of the fairground gates, our car magically headed back that way for a dozen more. 

Mama C's Donuts - Maumee

We decided to make an adventure of our trip home by grabbing a few more caches and a stopover at Libbey's Glass Outlet in Toledo! Later that night, I finally succumbed to watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail -- now some of those caches made sense!

MWGB 2019 swag

Hard to believe I've logged 8 Midwest Geobashes so far! 

But here's another one in the books! 

You heard it here second.. or third.. or fourth...

Interesting geocaching bits from social media or the blogsophere...

I admit that I love geocaching blogs, podcasts and social groups. There's just something about being around other LMW's (Like Minded Weirdos). Here's a collection of interesting tidbits from this week.

• I read on a group site that this guy read elsewhere that this other guy from Houston attended an event in Kansas where a Lackey was present. The Lackey said Challenge caches are coming back, and that he's on the group hammering out the details. Crossing my fingers.

• The new site for Midwest GeoBash is online and usable. Just 6 more months until Bash!

• Don't forget two new CITO souvenirs! Attend a CITO event the weekend April 16-24 and another the weekend of September 17-25 to earn them. Check out this cool site by the A-Team of upcoming souvenirs.

• NPR posted an interesting article about The Best Way to Keep Mosquitoes from Biting? Rates the different  sprays and how to effectively use them. Interesting, though, that they left off the surest way to avoid mosquito bites - just cache with me! They LOVE me - ugh.

• The 104-stage D/T 5/5 Multi (L.E.G.O. - Mega Multi: The Devils Run) in Canada was archived for for lack of maintenance. I can't imagine how much room that will free-up for new caches. 

• Speaking of maintenance, this is my pick for funniest maintenance log I've ever read.

Midwest Geobash 2015: Superheroes I

My internet is now intact so I can finally share our latest adventure with you!

Midwest Geobash 2015 GC5D6Dk

Ah, the annual pilgrimage of most of southeastern Michigan's geocachers down to cornfields in mid-Ohio! July 23-26 found TaCat plus 1500+ of our closest friends at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon, OH. Have you ever been to a MEGA?  This was our fourth Midwest Geobash with the family (Team Free Range Lobsters) and it was an absolute hoot!

DAY 1 - The journey and the night cache

Last year it took us 11 hours to drive 77 miles.... we journeyed to Geobash via Indiana, but this year we had to take a more leisurely pace with TaGeez recovering from surgery.  On our journey down, we enjoyed a peaceful ride along the Maumee River.  There just happened to be 5 Virtuals along that route.  Coincidence? I don't think so!

scrapcat and TaGeez at the Roche de Boeuf GC9D31
You can tell from scrapcat the weekend was a high humidity nightmare

Stop number one was fascinating! The Roche de Boeuf is a big limestone outcrop which forms an island near the center of the Maumee River.  It was the location for councils for the Miami, Shawnee and Lenape Indians.  "It was used as one of the supports for the now abandoned interurban bridge... was the largest bridge that was filled with earth and reinforced by concrete."  According to the historical marker, "About one third of the rock was destroyed when the railroad bridge was built causing great controversy."

Now it stands in ruins.  Beautiful, isn't it?

Roche De Boefu was also the starting point for the
Drive-By "Grizz Tour" GC9F32

After enjoying multiple Virtual caches (most stops of the Virtual "Grizz Tour" were virtuals caches themselves), several cemetery caches, the lovely town of Grand Rapids and an enjoyable lunch at Mom's Diner in Archbold, we finally made it to Wauseon for the weekend!  Boy, the humidity was oppressive!

Caching Fire is ready for GEOBASH! 

The theme of the weekend was "Superheroes" and we really got into the spirit while setting up camp! 3inaTree won Honorable Mention in the campsite decorating contest again!

Oh, this can't be good!

Congrats to 3inaTree for winning Honorable Mention in the
campsite decorating contest for their superhero clothesline

After an enjoyable dinner cooked by TaGeez (hmmmm... brats), we set off for the group cache Justice League of America GC5X1CJ.  I put out a call for as many cachers to join us because minimally 20 had to log onto a special site online to get instructions for the find. There must've been hundreds who showed! And many sporting their superhero capes!  We nailed it. And then afterwards we were off for the night cache.

If you invite them, they will come.
Justice League of America GC5Z1CJ

BSW told me it was too early to night cache, but we had read this year's cache was a killer and we needed every advantage we could get.  We've been in those woods - daylight doesn't penetrate once you enter that tree line!

The Dark kNIGHT GC5ZDBZ Is a D/T 4/5 cache.  The terrain rating was for the knee-deep water, downed trees, swamp, poison ivy and nettle patches.  The difficulty rating was for the mosquito population (no kidding! I wore a head net!) and the red herrings -- there were three sets of trail markers.  You had to pick the right color to follow or start all over again.  Several friends later reported they bushwhacked the length of the woods and forged a swamp only to see the dreaded "frowny face" and having to start all over again.

TaGeez was exhausted from the day's adventures so he stayed back at the campsite.  I tackled this monster with Mr. and Mrs. Ratspazum and Mr. HookedOnYou.  On the down side, we were one of the first groups to do it so there were no geo-trails to help us out.  On the plus side, I was engulfed in mosquitoes in my entirety.  I looked like PigPen on Charlie Brown.  And when I'm attacked, I become really, really focused. 

Ratspazum, Mr HookedOnYou and screpcat after completing
the treacherous The Dark kNIGHT cache GC5ZDBZ

With Mr. R. close at my heels, I barreled through thorns, hopped logs, and waded through swamp in a bee-line to the cache, shouting directions and swear words behind me.  It's amazing we found the smiley face on the log and the cache with our first attempt.  The moment I spotted it I shouted out to the others and then headed for the treeline, leaving skeeters in my wake. Brutal but another square on the Fizzy filled!

DAY 2 - Poker Run

Even though we had hours before the Poker Run, TaGeez and I are in the habit of awaking early.  Being the coolest part of the day we took the opportunity to complete the 10 LAB caches that were released the night before and then do some early morning caching.

The Hulk cache was the best one on the grounds! The green container fits snugly into the bird feeder and only appears when you push the smiley face.  I heard Mrs. Ratspazum jumped because they experienced it at night and the flashing lights were more visible. We enjoyed bringing the family back here later to experience it.

Best cache of the weekend! Incredible Hulk GC5XTQN

So, I mentioned the LAB caches.  10 more to add to our totals!  For months we've been watching the cache pages and forums to see if there would be LAB caches this year - nothing.  Then Thursday night the announcement came out that the LAB caches were released!

10 new LAB caches were released Thursday night
TaGeez and I were #17 & #18 of 903 completions

Five LAB caches (Superheroes) were onsite puzzles that TaGeez & I enjoyed the night before while the others were at Area 51.  The remaining ones (Villains) were on Wanted posters throughout the fairgrounds. The family really enjoyed those!

WikidKriket gathering clues for the LAB caches

Friday of 'Bash is always Poker Run.  You take your Poker Card and visit 7 local establishments for bar-coded stickers.  Upon returning to the grounds, you turn them in to be scanned.  The top and bottom hands win GPRs units - mine came in at #29 this year!

We had a hoot on the Run with Ratspazum and the family.  The stops included the Brown Bag (we revisited this specialty food shoppe the next day), a winery, an Antique store, a general store with ice cream (built before the Civil War), and the Historical Museum.  Conveniently, one of our stops was right near Mom's Diner again so we had to stop. Yum!

Family antics during the Poker Run
We may've scared away Ratspazum for next year!

Back to Spangler Arena to see our cards scanned, do a little vendor shopping, and hang out with the family. SnakeyLicks and his friend did well at the geocoin poker game held by Team Maltese. And TaGeez ran across the Groundspeak Lackey, Bri (Sassy Bandit), who gave out free trackables - score!

Here's MY superhero!

After dinner made by 3inaTree, the family decided it was cool enough to walk the fairgrounds and grab some of the local caches.  It was peaceful, and we enjoyed the banter and horseplay.  Reality had no place here.

Sunset over the campground

Lovely sunset near the Gerald Grain Center.

_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_

Return tomorrow to see if our heroes survived the weekend!

Did they escape Joker's net?

Did they event Loki's army?

Did they ever get relief from the humidity and bugs?

Same bat time.... same bat channel.

2015 Midwest GeoBash Announced!

Just spotted this on MidwestGeobash.org -FABULOUS!  Falcon superhero theme!

Midwest GeoBash 2014 - 10 Years of Goodness!

GeoBash happened over 3 weeks ago, but life when topsy-turvy upon a return so I'm late in logging this awesome adventure!

This pictorial essay picks up where On the Read to GeoBash ended: the arrival and enjoyment at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in Wauseon, Ohio!  This was the 10th Midwest GeoBash, running from July 24th - July 27th.

Although there was some coming and goings due to Scout camp and work, many of the Team Free Range Lobsters "usual suspects" were able to attend.

3inaTree, scrapcat, TaGeez, WikidKriket, SnakeyLicks
Caching Fire around the team banner

My first time camping in 36 years, and it was a hoot!
Couldn't have enjoyed it without TaGeez

This year's Bash included 10
Winter Wonderland-themed LAB caches

Up very early Thursday morning, TaGeez
trying to get Rudolph out of the chimney

Kriket and Fire playing with Trippy's balls

3inaTree and theGrundalows joined in!

Funny how Peppermint Stick stumped so many!

10 for 10 LAB caches!

Friday morning also brings Poker Run!  You take this card to 7 locations around Wauseon and environs.  At each stop you get a sticker for the back of the card.  Return to the fairgrounds by 3pms to see if you have a 'winning poker hand'.  We never do, but we enjoy the adventure.  Because of work, only 3inaTree, scrapcat and TaGeez were able to enjoy this year's excursion.

1st stop: TaGeez and 3inaTree at the Historic Museum

In-laws bonding 

MamaTree made a friend

Lunchtime at Mom's Diner in Archibald

So much to see and good eats!

scrapcat hamming it up!

TaGeez and scrapcat

After each excursion (Poker Run and Treasure Hunt), TaGeez and I would explore the local countryside completing several challenges including the Old Timers of Fulton County (visiting rural cemeteries) and the local Wauseon challenges (found on the Wabash Cannonball Trail).

We weren't expecting donkeys to stare us down at the cemetery

Love the Wabash Cannonball Trail
We spent many peaceful hours there.

Grabbing some caches in town

Late Friday evening brought great joy...er... or my sister and brother-in-law.   Gang all together, and we grabbed the night cache on Friday and were able to spend most of Saturday up to the closing ceremonies together. 

Traditional banner picture at the front gates

Fire is loving Christmas in July

We ran into many friends on the Midway before the Treasure Hunt.

DarrylW4, Fire, RayQix, GeoBirdie,
WikidKriket and Snakeylicks outside the store

Never met these people before, but they were
new cachers and thrilled to meet Fire

The Geocaching Vlogger met Caching Fire!
His son and DarrylW4 having a good time, too.

TaGeez finding his trackable during the Treasure Hunt at the
Horse Rink. Kriket is digging it out for him.

 Each evening was spent grabbing some of the 30+ geocaches around the Fulton County Fairgrounds.  This run was especially fun as the gang was all together.

There was no cache here, but SnakeyLicks and MamaTree
couldn't resist the traditional climb!

Can't go to GeoBash without a visit to Area 51.  As expected,  we were tripping over friends!

Snakey, TaGeez, RayQix and afishoutawater

A2Queen, Snakey, afishoutawater, and RayQix

TaGeez with A2Queen's Dad

MSU Couple in the house!

We were a little slow-moving, breaking camp Sunday morning.  Even so, WikidKriket and TaGeez were game to grab the last few caches in the wooded area.  The humidity and the skeeters were horrendous!

Kriket and Snakey

TaGeez and I had no set plans for the drive home.  Exhaustion and humidity were a deterrent.  We decided to forgo a list of Virtual caches to save as the basis for next year's adventure.  We did stop at the Swan Creek Candle Company in Swanton, OH. Afterwards, 1 last Virtual and 1 puzzle final.

Virtual - Just Ducky GC9DC1

We rolled into Michigan just as a major thunderstorm hit the Midwest.  As with the whole weekend, timing was everything!

We returned home with major swag, too!  We each had a complete set of event path tags, a lackey's tag, the t-shirt from the Treasure Hunt, the event coin and a MWGB ornament!

 

The final, unofficial count came out to:

• 7 Free Range Lobsters
• 82 caches found including
• 12 cemetery caches
• 10 LAB caches
• 8 challenges completed
• 8 Virtuals
• 1 Jasmer filler
• 1 Night Cache
• 1 Poker Run
• 1 Treasure Hunt

We're already making plans for next year!