Walking In Memphis - April 26, 2008

Today I decided to take advantage of the cool weather to walk over to Audubon Park. This would have been a great day for a cache run, but I wasn't in the mood. There were two unfound (by me) caches in the park so I figured I'd try to get those. The route I took to the park was a familiar one as I often run out that way. I even knew from experience how long it would take to get there. I left my house around 8:30am and skipped getting my usual morning fountain drink so I wouldn't be needing a restroom stop. The walk itself was largely uneventful.

One area I always make a point to pass through is the University of Memphis campus. I am always flooded with memories while walking past buildings I spent many hours in as an undergrad and later as a graduate student. One thing I noticed this time was an increase in the number of security cameras. Work on the new University Center is progressing... I spent a little time trying to imagine the logistics of a proposed underground walkway by the railroad tracks. There is a lot of construction going on in the areas around the outskirts of campus.

Around 10:30, I arrived at Audubon Park. My first attempt of the morning was Trolling For That Darned Treasure! by itcomagic (GC1BBBT). It is a two-stage hunt and I was very familiar with the area of the first stage. I did some looking, but there were muggles congregated nearby so I moved on.

Twofer - Audubon Park by cgeek (GC1B2ZD) was a little over a half of a mile away, so I went after it. It was a relatively easy find though it took some effort to get it out of its hiding spot. I liked the scarceness of muggles at this spot. The Twofer series area caches are placed near benchmarks. I'm not into benchmarks, so I didn't look for any near this spot.

I walked back over to "Trolling For That Darned Treasure" and there were even more muggles and plenty of loud hip-hop music, so I decided to save that cache for another day...

Since it was lunchtime, I decided to stop by the Highland Sub Shop for a sandwich. My friends and I often used to eat there a lot during our college days and it has changed relatively little in the last 20+ years. They long ago discontinued my favorite sandwich, the "Argentine Grinder" so I ordered the closest kind of sandwich I could get. After lunch, I made the long walk back home where I dropped off my GPSr before heading in to work.

Update: 4/28/2008

Itcomagic changed the difficulty and added hints for Trolling For That Darned Treasure! .

Caches From A to Z

I was just looking through my "My Finds" GPX file to see if I met the requirements for logging Caching A,B,Z's by tinksdad01 (GC1A3WP). I figured that I would be missing a "Q" cache or an "X" cache or a "Z" cache, but I have them all (with plenty of Q's to spare). I also have found caches whose names start with numbers 1-7.

The requirements for logging the above cache include creating a public bookmark with a cache name for each letter. I don't really like "special" logging requirements, but I'll probably do this one since there are three other caches I can log within a mile of GC1A3WP.

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For what it is worth, this is my 100th blog post.

Puzzle Caches

Well, another beautiful weekend has ended and I spent most of it indoors. I did hunt one cache on Saturday: Easy Pawn by OneTemplar (GC14M00).

It was on my way to work (sort of). The most interesting part of the hunt was the walk to the area. Walking up Cleveland Avenue between Madison and Poplar Avenues is almost like being in a third-world country. I thought one "lady" was going to slash me with a knife or something. She came at me screaming some nonsense, but then just kept walking.

On Sunday, I spent some time working on some unsolved (by me) puzzle caches. There are around 30 puzzle caches within 50 miles of me that I haven't yet solved. Some are just tedious (itcomagic's Word Games caches) and others are a mystery as to even how to begin.

One cache that falls in the latter category is: FTF All Star #3: Between The Two by cgeek (GCZPTA). It is rated a 5/3 and I know the 5 part is right. When I first saw the puzzle for this one, I just accepted defeat and moved on. However, after cgeek posted a basic algorithm for attacking this puzzle on the GOWT website, I decided to give it a shot. It probably took me 30 minutes or so to work it out and I had a bit of a headache afterwards.

Another cache puzzle I worked out Friday afternoon was: Follow The Arrow by Chance Encounter (GCTJ73). I enjoy these types of cryptographic puzzles, but for some reason when it first came out, I was completely lost. On Friday, I worked it out fairly quickly.

I have quite a few more puzzles to tackle including the Flip Dizzy series and a few more of the FTF series. Hopefully I won't require reading on-line hints for too many of these puzzles...

Other May 10th Events

For those of you who may have tried to get 2 events hosted in the same park on the same day and failed, here are two events hosted by the same folks on the same day roughly 512 feet apart in the same park (Langan Park) and approved by the same reviewer. The start times are even only 30 minutes apart.:

Lower Alabama Meet and Greet by Rick345, Wyleone and FamilyinFilm (GC1AHAB)
Gulf Coast World Wide Flash Mob Event (WWFM #3) by The FamilyInFilm Crew (GC1B31R)

It looks like Alabama's reviewer is a little more flexible than Tennessee's reviewers. Of course, nowhere in the guidelines does it say that events like the two above can't be approved.

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And now for your moment of Zen:

This is my good friend JoGPS attending 5th Annual Haunted Hayride & Caching Cookout by Scoot the Good Frog of the North (GC15QEE) which apparently had a "Wizard of Oz" theme. Actually I think the Scarecrow would have been a more appropriate costume choice for him.

Worldwide Flash Mobs

On May 10th there will be another coordinated effort to get geocachers from all over the world to attend simultaneous "Flash Mob" events. Most of the events I have looked at for this date are occurring at 12pm (CST) and have names prefixed with WWFM (World Wide Flash Mob). Ok... I have no problem with that even though the appeal of such events escapes me.

So what exactly is the deal with Chattanooga, TN (via members of GETGC) hosting 7 of these events spaced an hour apart and all well within a 20 square mile area??? "WWFM" implies that all events should be coordinated to start at the same time unless I am completely misunderstanding the definition/intent. As a side note: All but one of the below events was approved by Tn Cacher. Hmmmm.

WWFM Event- "10am" Starting The Day Off Right!!! by NickTnReb (GC1AZXP)
WWFM-"11 A.M." Stop At The Blue Bridge by omalyn (GC1AT52)
WWFM ~ Southeast, TN (World Wide Flash Mob Event) by BackBrakeBilly (GC1A80D)
WWFM - 1:00 p.m.RED BANK, TENNESSEE by SCOUTFROG (GC1AYTG)
WWFM - "2PM-2:15PM" Chattanooga River Front by Better Half (GC1ABNX)
WWFM- "3:00" Beneath the Great Pumpkin by Craziecacher (GC1AWPV)
WWFM - "4:00 pm" Harris Park - Dunlap by smallpackage (GC1B2CA)

The last one on that list is in Dunlap, TN which is just barely outside of Chattanooga. Most of the others appear to be inside the Chattanooga metro area. To each their own, I guess.

I am fortunate enough to have a Memphis WWFM event hosted just over a mile from my house - WWFM - Memphis, TN (World Wide Flash Mob Event) by minismiths (GC19JW1). Unless I have a caching trip planned, I may walk over to it for a quick and easy smiley.

Update: 4/19/2008

WWFM: TAG* Style (8am ET - 7am CT) by David (GC1B9GR) was added to the day's events for Chattanooga. Now all they need is one for 9am...

Update: 4/26/2008

And here it is, published just under the wire: WWFM III ~ Calm Before The Storm by Optimusboy (GC1BCDE) - 9am

I almost missed this one...: WWFM III ~ Nightfall Comes by Squad 51 (GC1BF6K) at 9 PM.

Nightmare on Elzey Street

I started running again recently after a long layoff and Wednesday I planned to hunt a cache during my afternoon run. I didn't have a working GPSr to take with me so I figured I'd at least check out the area and hope I got lucky.

After I had run just over a mile, my legs began to feel like bags of sand. Since I wasn't too far from the cache I planned to hunt, I decided to abandon my run, hunt the cache and then walk back home.

The cache, CCS est.1906 by Andy/Memphis (GC16E38), was near the northern border of the Cooper-Young neighborhood in Midtown Memphis. I had met the owner last year at an event in Munford. I wasn't in a hurry to hunt this cache because of the nearby residences, but since I read it was about to be archived, I figured I would give it a shot. I got to the area of the cache around 6:00pm and the cache was in the first place I looked. Naturally, the house next door had a barking dog - the only one I encountered in the area. There was a definite historic feel to the area as it appeared to have been missed by the neighborhood rejuvenation effort. There was a closed-up church nearby and several closed-up business structures. It was kind of a creepy street in an eclectic neighborhood. I was glad to get out of there, although I wish I could have snapped a few pictures.

Virtually Visiting Nashville

I have been planning to take a trip to Downtown Nashville for a while now. My plan is to take a bus from Memphis and get there early and walk to the Capitol and down towards Vanderbilt and Music Row. Of course, when planning a walking tour of the downtown area of a big city its important to know not just where the cool sites are, but the safe ways to walk.

Thanks to Google Maps, I can take a virtual tour of the places I want to visit and get a virtual feel for the areas.

Here is what the bus station in Nashville looks like. Using the Street View navigation, I can pretty much go down the streets that interest me and see what the area is like. I might even spot a place to eat this way.

Of course, it also occurred to me that I could do some recon of some of the 22 or so virtual caches in the downtown area so I checked some of them out. There were a few that you could get the answers for with this method, but overall it doesn't work well for the vast majority. It doesn't matter though, since I will pass by the virtuals on my way to other caches. I'm still trying to decide whether to make a trip a one-day or two-day event.

Have Event, Need Cachers for Group Photo

I have been reviewing the Geocaching.com event calendar and have noticed several Tennessee events on the horizon. One event being held this coming weekend is GOWT High Noon Brown Bag Lunch Break by GOWT (GC1ABQV). The location is a large, beautiful park (Natchez Trace State Park) just east of Jackson, TN. I have cached in this park before and it has a nice trail system as well as great caches. Several new caches have been added since I last visited this park (roughly 2 years ago). At this point, roughly 4 days before the event, a grand total of 3 GOWT members have signed up. A handful of JAG "individuals" have signed up as well, quite possibly motivated by the need to defend their "territory". Maybe someone from GOWT can bring a large box of Krispy Kremes as a peace offering.

In regards to other upcoming events, I read the following in the April GOWT newsletter:

"Other events are in the planning stages, especially those commemorating 1K milestones. As soon as they are established, there will be further information available. Your Leadership Committee seeks your assistance in making these events, as well as others that are scheduled in areas around West Tennessee, successful. That can only happen with your participation."

Unfortunately the GOWT "Leadership Committee" doesn't appear to seek member input regarding GOWT's non-milestone events. I doubt the "Advisory Committee" consults with the general membership either. By "assistance" they simply mean just show up at events scheduled at the convenience of the LC. I certainly hope that they get the amount of "assistance" they deserve.

Update: 4/5/2008

Chibongo posted the following note to the event page:

"Very cool seeing all the names signed up for this one. GOWT and JAG meeting to socialize...I love it! Unfortunately, I can't make this one. Hope everyone has a blast!!!"

It made me laugh to see one of the primary contributors to the split of GOWT posting a note like this. They are far better off without her and her insincerity showing up at that event.