It's hard to believe we are at the end of another year. It's even harder to believe that it has been an entire month since I hunted a geocache. On this day, I was fortunate to be able to get together with my geocaching buddy jbgreer for a nice hunt in a nice Collierville park. Almost all of the caches we hunted on this trip were placed this year and I had been waiting for cold weather to hunt them.
After enjoying a nice breakfast, we headed to Collierville, TN and made it to W. C. Johnson Park by 10:30am. We headed out on the boardwalk into the woods and it started to sprinkle almost immediately. We had also made the decision not to wear waterproof boots, which on this day turned out to be an excellent decision.
We found ten caches in the woods - nine were by peanutpapa and one was by tiger130. All were great caches and easily findable. After leaving the woods we decided to tackle one more cache - Johnson Park Pavilion
by rebeldawg
|
GC47KDY. This one had evaded me over the summer and on this day as well. Fortunately, jbgreer did a better job of searching the hiding spot than I did. We were done by 2pm or so and headed back to Memphis.
[I'll flesh this out a little more - maybe tomorrow.]
Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, November 30, 2013
9 Years of Geocaching - 11/26/2013
This week was not only Thanksgiving week, but it marked the end of my ninth year of gecaoching. I 'celebrated" by hunting a couple of caches on my way to Thanksgiving dinner, becuase I mistakenly thought the anniversary date was 11/28. My bad.
I had plans to get 4 caches. including a puzzle cache I had solved earlier. I managed to leave home without my GPSr so my phone had to do for navigation. I missed the first two caches on my list because I missed a turn and I was running a little behind schedule. The two caches I did manage to get to were worth the hunt event though I found both fairly quickly.
THE WRATH OF ROCK by magicrock | GC4NYQJ - The puzzle was based on Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan trivia. Some answers I knew, others were found on the internet. Since I didn't have my GPS, I couldn't enter new coordinates on my phona app (as far as I know), so I have to guide myself with the tiny numbers on the app that show current location. Excellent cache - as anyone who has hunted magicrock caches can attest to.
Rocky Branch by sailemstable | GC2582B - I used Google Street View to look at the cache area and a spolier pic to identify the cache. Still, it was a cool cache! The dog mentioned on the cache page didn't come out, I imagine because he was too busy begging for turkey scraps.
I'm sure I have mentioned this somewhere before, but my first cache find was on 11/26/2004 and was Overton Park Magnetic Wood!? by Spencersb | GCKAX7. I found it with my caching buddy jbgreer and without the benefit of my own GPS unit.
I had plans to get 4 caches. including a puzzle cache I had solved earlier. I managed to leave home without my GPSr so my phone had to do for navigation. I missed the first two caches on my list because I missed a turn and I was running a little behind schedule. The two caches I did manage to get to were worth the hunt event though I found both fairly quickly.
THE WRATH OF ROCK by magicrock | GC4NYQJ - The puzzle was based on Start Trek II: The Wrath of Khan trivia. Some answers I knew, others were found on the internet. Since I didn't have my GPS, I couldn't enter new coordinates on my phona app (as far as I know), so I have to guide myself with the tiny numbers on the app that show current location. Excellent cache - as anyone who has hunted magicrock caches can attest to.
Rocky Branch by sailemstable | GC2582B - I used Google Street View to look at the cache area and a spolier pic to identify the cache. Still, it was a cool cache! The dog mentioned on the cache page didn't come out, I imagine because he was too busy begging for turkey scraps.
I'm sure I have mentioned this somewhere before, but my first cache find was on 11/26/2004 and was Overton Park Magnetic Wood!? by Spencersb | GCKAX7. I found it with my caching buddy jbgreer and without the benefit of my own GPS unit.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Caching in Union City, TN - 9/15/2013
Most of my recent excursions have been to Arkansas to the west or Mississippi to the south. It has been a while since I visited northwest Tennessee. The first thing I had to do was adjust my pocket query for that area because it has a lot more caches to pick from since my last visit. The second thing to do was target a specific area. I have cached in Union City once before along with the surrounding towns and enjoyed my visit. This time I wanted to focus on Union City itself because it had close to 40 caches in a relatively small area.
{ Beautiful day for geocaching ]
I set out early Sunday morning, just before sunrise. The weather was nice and cool. The one thing I did not expect, though, was fog. It slowed me down a bit and I had to be really careful until after the sun rose and the fog burned off.
I made a few stops along the way. Because I took Hwy 51, there is only one rest stop near Henning that I used to organize my maps for the day. I found ROOTS' --easy micro
by lookingUPward
|
GC4099P in Henning shortly after. A police car parked by me as I was about to leave the cache site, but he didn't stop me for anything.
I stopped to get an easy cache at a Confederate memorial site in Trimble that had some of the nicest scenery on the trip. After I signed the log, some dude in a pickup parked near me and sat there while I walked around the area taking pictures. Creeped me out a bit.
Continuing north, I picked up two caches in Troy before arriving in Union City around 9am - at least an hour later than I had planned.
I hit all of the caches from west to east along Reelfoot Avenue early, which was good because later the traffic was crazy. I then found most of the caches in the center of town before going after the caches in the Veteran's park at the north end of town.
[ I turned my phone back on for a moment to take this one picture of the Veterans Park. ]
I started running into one technical problem after another as the day progressed. Because my GPSr maps chip is damaged, I was using my phone for autorouting. Before I covered a third of the caches, my battery was down to 11 percent and I ended up turning it off. This also cost me the ability to read cache descriptions and logs. My GPSr, a Garmin 60csx had no maps, so I had to rely on the compass - like I did as a beginner. I had paper maps to help me a little, but I didn't have many notes written because I was becoming more reliant on my phone. I didn't have my camera along because I had started to rely more on my phone to take pictures. Lessons learned for sure on this trip. These things slowed me down a little, but I still had a lot of fun. Most all of the caches were low difficulty/terrain so I didn't get too frustrated. I also got talk to a woman about geocaching. She had seen many people visit a particular spot looking for something, and she picked this day to finally ask somebody what was going on. I dislike encounters like that normally, but we had a nice talk before I had to move on.
I had a late lunch at a Subway before heading back south the same way I came in. I picked up a few more caches in Dyersburg before ending my day.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Caching in Holly Springs, MS - 9/1/2013
I've been waiting for cooler weather to make a cache run on Oxford, MS. Holly Springs is a small town that is on the way to Oxford rom Memphis. It had seven caches that looked like park and grabs, so I made plans to go early Sunday morning before it go too hot and clear out these caches, so I wouldn't need to hunt them on my Oxford trip.
I arrived in Holly Springs around 7am and hit the southern most cache first and worked my way north.
Sounds Of Thunder by Hammer Down | GC24TP7 - was just outside of a race track. I resisted a sign's invitation to race around the track and just hunted the cache.
Next up - the town Wal Mart cache.
Wally Micro by Riverwolf | GC1FQ2V - a guardrail cache that I found on the ground after almost giving up the search. Its hide spot had a holder for the cache, but it wasn't effective.
Starving To Death V2 by lacey38655 | GC27268 - Easy Park and Grab that was just out of the way enough to not have to worry about watchers.
A cemetery cache was next.
Hillcrest Cemetry of Holly Springs, MS by Scooby-Doo Crew | GC2RGXR - This was a beautiful cemetery with a cache near an entrance. The hint confused me at first but the container was actually big enough to spot once I interpreted the hint correctly.
The South Reporter by moondg | GC1FM75 - Simply awesome and the best part of the trip! The cache page has spoiler pictures, but seeing the cache itself was cool.
Mississippi Blues Trail : Hill Country Blues by MS Blues Trail Geocache Committee | GC2TD3K - The cache was missing so I attempted to replace it because I am trying to log at least 25 Blues trail caches around the state.
Marshall County Historical Museum by Scooby-Doo Crew | GC2T03Z - Nice easy hide to end the morning on.
I wasted no time after getting back to my car and made it home well before lunch time. I hardly broke a sweat for a change.
I arrived in Holly Springs around 7am and hit the southern most cache first and worked my way north.
Sounds Of Thunder by Hammer Down | GC24TP7 - was just outside of a race track. I resisted a sign's invitation to race around the track and just hunted the cache.
Next up - the town Wal Mart cache.
Wally Micro by Riverwolf | GC1FQ2V - a guardrail cache that I found on the ground after almost giving up the search. Its hide spot had a holder for the cache, but it wasn't effective.
Starving To Death V2 by lacey38655 | GC27268 - Easy Park and Grab that was just out of the way enough to not have to worry about watchers.
A cemetery cache was next.
Hillcrest Cemetry of Holly Springs, MS by Scooby-Doo Crew | GC2RGXR - This was a beautiful cemetery with a cache near an entrance. The hint confused me at first but the container was actually big enough to spot once I interpreted the hint correctly.
The South Reporter by moondg | GC1FM75 - Simply awesome and the best part of the trip! The cache page has spoiler pictures, but seeing the cache itself was cool.
Mississippi Blues Trail : Hill Country Blues by MS Blues Trail Geocache Committee | GC2TD3K - The cache was missing so I attempted to replace it because I am trying to log at least 25 Blues trail caches around the state.
Marshall County Historical Museum by Scooby-Doo Crew | GC2T03Z - Nice easy hide to end the morning on.
I wasted no time after getting back to my car and made it home well before lunch time. I hardly broke a sweat for a change.
Friday, August 30, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Days 29 - 31
It's almost over. I think I'll do something else in Septermber.
Day 29
I went to Shelby Farms after work to get a cache at a spot I had been to before. The traffic getting there was terrible and it took almost twice as long as it would had I visited in the morning. I had to go home by a different route and got a chance to see the area around the Delta Fair that starts soon.
ACME-Geocaching Can Be Fun by Giardia_Boy | GC45AGA - I knew what to expect here, but it was still a fun cache.
Day 30
It was an easy choice and fairly close to home, so I set out early in the morning to hunt my last streak challenge cache.
The CCC 30 by Wrath557 | GC3XY0G- Easy find. The challenge, of course, was to have a 30-day geocaching streak.
Day 31
I got up early and tackled some caches around Tunica, MS. There were several Mississippi Blues Trail caches and since I am working on that series, it was a good opportuinty. I found several excellent caches with dry logs to finish out my 31 day streak.
Bullseye by jht1212 | GC4KQYA - Appropriate get get the day's first cache at a Target, since I hit my target of a 31 day geocaching streak. At this point, I seriously considered turning around and going home.
Hurricane Creek #2 by DUCKMAN63 | GC1JZAD - Quick find, foggy in the area.
Hurricane Creek #1 by DUCKMAN63 | GC1HAXP - Quick find on Fogg Rd.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Highway 61 Blues by dameetro | GC3PYCQ - I loved everything about this cache. I also relished in the fact I got here so early I had no people to worry about.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Son House by dameetro | GC3PYC5 - Another interesting out of the way spot.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Abbay & Leatherman by dameetro | GC39F66 -Nicely done guard rail cache.
Mississippi Blues Trail: James Cotton by ADS1 (adopted by Lacey38655) | GC3137D - I almost gave up on this one, but it was there and should have been easier for me.
H'way #1 Power Trail: 1 at 49 by ButchCardfamily | GC34HXZ - Wow! A power trail where you actually have to search to find the caches. Better come back in weather that is much cooler.
Delta Bridges#44 Ms. River Helena by ButchCardfamily | GC4FAC8 - Easy and cool.
I-69's First Cache Updated by DUCKMAN63 | GC1JZA7 - Great cache in poor condition. The only wet log I signed today. I tried to clean it up a bit, but without a new box...
At some point. I will summarize what geocaching for 31 days straight meant for me. I don't want to think about how much it cost in time and gas...
Day 29
I went to Shelby Farms after work to get a cache at a spot I had been to before. The traffic getting there was terrible and it took almost twice as long as it would had I visited in the morning. I had to go home by a different route and got a chance to see the area around the Delta Fair that starts soon.
ACME-Geocaching Can Be Fun by Giardia_Boy | GC45AGA - I knew what to expect here, but it was still a fun cache.
Day 30
It was an easy choice and fairly close to home, so I set out early in the morning to hunt my last streak challenge cache.
The CCC 30 by Wrath557 | GC3XY0G- Easy find. The challenge, of course, was to have a 30-day geocaching streak.
Day 31
I got up early and tackled some caches around Tunica, MS. There were several Mississippi Blues Trail caches and since I am working on that series, it was a good opportuinty. I found several excellent caches with dry logs to finish out my 31 day streak.
Bullseye by jht1212 | GC4KQYA - Appropriate get get the day's first cache at a Target, since I hit my target of a 31 day geocaching streak. At this point, I seriously considered turning around and going home.
Hurricane Creek #2 by DUCKMAN63 | GC1JZAD - Quick find, foggy in the area.
Hurricane Creek #1 by DUCKMAN63 | GC1HAXP - Quick find on Fogg Rd.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Highway 61 Blues by dameetro | GC3PYCQ - I loved everything about this cache. I also relished in the fact I got here so early I had no people to worry about.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Son House by dameetro | GC3PYC5 - Another interesting out of the way spot.
Mississippi Blues Trail: Abbay & Leatherman by dameetro | GC39F66 -Nicely done guard rail cache.
Mississippi Blues Trail: James Cotton by ADS1 (adopted by Lacey38655) | GC3137D - I almost gave up on this one, but it was there and should have been easier for me.
H'way #1 Power Trail: 1 at 49 by ButchCardfamily | GC34HXZ - Wow! A power trail where you actually have to search to find the caches. Better come back in weather that is much cooler.
Delta Bridges#44 Ms. River Helena by ButchCardfamily | GC4FAC8 - Easy and cool.
I-69's First Cache Updated by DUCKMAN63 | GC1JZA7 - Great cache in poor condition. The only wet log I signed today. I tried to clean it up a bit, but without a new box...
At some point. I will summarize what geocaching for 31 days straight meant for me. I don't want to think about how much it cost in time and gas...
Friday, August 23, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Days 22 - 28
We are coming into the home stretch now. Just a few more days and I can start sleeping in again - or at least not wasting as much money on gasoline driving as much as 50 miles roundtrip for one or two caches a day.
Day 22
I found a cache here at this Veterans Memorial site years ago. There was a puzzle involved for this newer one and I had solved it a long time ago. On this trip, I actually brought the coordinates with me for a change.
Fallen but NOT Forgotten by bnctich575 | GC4320P - New container that is in good shape considering where it is.
Day 23
I made a quick trip to Shelby Farms for a rare Park and Grab cache. I did have a short hike to make but its relatively peaceful in the mornings.
Andy's Fishing Hole by fshacktn | GC4F5XC - Nice view of a fishing lake.
Day 24
I drove to Brinkley, AR to tackle the easternmost portion of the Americana Hwy 70 Series. I arrived in town just as the sun rose and found a cache in a park to start out the morning.
Best Park Ever! by AR Cachers | GC1XC5F - magenetic key holder - goo no swear cache to start with.
I found 20 of 21 of the series caches that are located just east of Brinkley. Afterwards, I got back on I-40 West to tackle more of these caches from the west. I found a bunch (22), but also had an overly high DNF count for what were supposed to be simple hides. Compounding this problem were caches that were practically buried and soggy logs in almost half of the caches. I ended up coming home around noon.
Day 25
I left after lunch to hunt a few caches on east east end of Collierville that I knew I couldn't do during the week. The first cache turned out to be at a church in Piperton. I picked up an ammo can cache in a Collierville park and as a bonus I picked up an extra on the way home in Germantown.
Cedrus Libani by SegmacGraham | GC3G9W3 - Park and grab in front of a church. I like the name, though.
Out of the Ball Park by Little Peanut | GC3NQZK - An ammo can barely in the woods near a park in Collierville.
Clay's way or no way by fshacktn | GC4F5W5 - My favorite cache of the day! Nice camo that I can't secribe here, but its well worth the hunt.
Day 26
I had to wait until after dinner to hunt this day's caches. I decided to go after a cache in Raleigh that I skipped on a trip many months earlier because of no off-road parking on what can be a busy street. I got to the spot before dark and set a land speed record for grabbing the cache, signing the log and returning it well before the gentlemen on foot approaching from the south got near me.
platinum 45 by crownjewel | GC29Y60- pill bottle with fresh dry log. I've never moved so fast when grabbing a cache.
Flush with success, I decided to head to Germantown to see if I could find another cache that I had earlier today solved the puzzle for. When I got to the area, I managed to overlook the cache and wandered around aimlessly for a bit when bevofan showed up and found it for me.
Welcome to Initech - Michael Bolton's Revenge by steph&herboys, adamorobertson | GC4KJKA - I need a month long rest. August is too hot for an old man like me to be wandering outside. Nice cache, though.
I picked out 6 more caches to hunt between Tuesday (27) and Friday (30) that should be easier for me to get. I should probably stick to one a day until Saturday, though.
Day 27
Once again, I had to wait until after dinner to hunt the day's cache, so I wanted a good one that was quick. I picked out two in Germantown with close parking and away from muggle traffic.
GPS Confidence by TNLarry4 | GC3RBMN - I've never been disappointed by a TNLarry cache. I liked this one, and started to go after his two-stage multi in the same area, but there were people sitting at a table near the first stage.
Bear Left by MorWoods | GC4614W - Less than a half mile from the last cache, I couldn't pass it up. Easy find in an easy spot.
It was hard to believe that I found both caches without breaking a sweat in the 90+ heat.
Day 28
I got up early and took a nice long drive on the interstate to Arlington to hunt a newTB hotel. When I got to the spot, I found the coolest TB hotel I think I have ever seen. It was stocked with really neat TBs as well.
Arlington TB Rest stop by dneedham, TNSteeler, GeoBender25 | GC4K40M - If I ever have bugs going east, I will definitely use this hotel.
Day 22
I found a cache here at this Veterans Memorial site years ago. There was a puzzle involved for this newer one and I had solved it a long time ago. On this trip, I actually brought the coordinates with me for a change.
Fallen but NOT Forgotten by bnctich575 | GC4320P - New container that is in good shape considering where it is.
Day 23
I made a quick trip to Shelby Farms for a rare Park and Grab cache. I did have a short hike to make but its relatively peaceful in the mornings.
Andy's Fishing Hole by fshacktn | GC4F5XC - Nice view of a fishing lake.
Day 24
I drove to Brinkley, AR to tackle the easternmost portion of the Americana Hwy 70 Series. I arrived in town just as the sun rose and found a cache in a park to start out the morning.
Best Park Ever! by AR Cachers | GC1XC5F - magenetic key holder - goo no swear cache to start with.
I found 20 of 21 of the series caches that are located just east of Brinkley. Afterwards, I got back on I-40 West to tackle more of these caches from the west. I found a bunch (22), but also had an overly high DNF count for what were supposed to be simple hides. Compounding this problem were caches that were practically buried and soggy logs in almost half of the caches. I ended up coming home around noon.
Day 25
I left after lunch to hunt a few caches on east east end of Collierville that I knew I couldn't do during the week. The first cache turned out to be at a church in Piperton. I picked up an ammo can cache in a Collierville park and as a bonus I picked up an extra on the way home in Germantown.
Cedrus Libani by SegmacGraham | GC3G9W3 - Park and grab in front of a church. I like the name, though.
Out of the Ball Park by Little Peanut | GC3NQZK - An ammo can barely in the woods near a park in Collierville.
Clay's way or no way by fshacktn | GC4F5W5 - My favorite cache of the day! Nice camo that I can't secribe here, but its well worth the hunt.
Day 26
I had to wait until after dinner to hunt this day's caches. I decided to go after a cache in Raleigh that I skipped on a trip many months earlier because of no off-road parking on what can be a busy street. I got to the spot before dark and set a land speed record for grabbing the cache, signing the log and returning it well before the gentlemen on foot approaching from the south got near me.
platinum 45 by crownjewel | GC29Y60- pill bottle with fresh dry log. I've never moved so fast when grabbing a cache.
Flush with success, I decided to head to Germantown to see if I could find another cache that I had earlier today solved the puzzle for. When I got to the area, I managed to overlook the cache and wandered around aimlessly for a bit when bevofan showed up and found it for me.
Welcome to Initech - Michael Bolton's Revenge by steph&herboys, adamorobertson | GC4KJKA - I need a month long rest. August is too hot for an old man like me to be wandering outside. Nice cache, though.
I picked out 6 more caches to hunt between Tuesday (27) and Friday (30) that should be easier for me to get. I should probably stick to one a day until Saturday, though.
Day 27
Once again, I had to wait until after dinner to hunt the day's cache, so I wanted a good one that was quick. I picked out two in Germantown with close parking and away from muggle traffic.
GPS Confidence by TNLarry4 | GC3RBMN - I've never been disappointed by a TNLarry cache. I liked this one, and started to go after his two-stage multi in the same area, but there were people sitting at a table near the first stage.
Bear Left by MorWoods | GC4614W - Less than a half mile from the last cache, I couldn't pass it up. Easy find in an easy spot.
It was hard to believe that I found both caches without breaking a sweat in the 90+ heat.
Day 28
I got up early and took a nice long drive on the interstate to Arlington to hunt a newTB hotel. When I got to the spot, I found the coolest TB hotel I think I have ever seen. It was stocked with really neat TBs as well.
Arlington TB Rest stop by dneedham, TNSteeler, GeoBender25 | GC4K40M - If I ever have bugs going east, I will definitely use this hotel.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Days 15 - 21
I'm starting to think about how much it is costing me to drive all over the place for one or two caches a day. Now that I'm halfway through the month, the nearest caches are more than 10 miles away and traffic is tough for daytime driving.
Day 15:
Another relatively easy day in that I was able to find a nice cache inside the I-240 loop for a change. Nice cool morning for caching made it all the more enjoyable.
Bear Crawl and Duck Walk by Wrath557 | GC45HN3 - Audubon Park cache. I was expecting it to be harder for some reason, but it was a nice cache that was set up really well.
Day 16:
I took an early and very long drive to Johnson Road Park to hunt two caches. Found one, but ran out of time to search heard for the other. I like this park and wish I could have relaxed on a bench and watching the ducks swimming in the pond.
No Place To Hide by prontopup | GC39QGG - Easy to find after a walk around a pond.
Tomorrow is International Geocaching Day for what that's worth.
Day 17:
I celebrated International Geocaching Day by hunting six caches at Lichterman Nature Center. It rained a little while I was there, but the tree canopy kept me dry. All six caches were extremely well done.
Walk on the Boards by Prontopup | GC47EH5
Lichterman Trail by prontopup | GC47TRM
Near the Stair Steps by prontopup | GC47HHP
Out of Place by prontopup | GC47TTC
Bridge? by prontopup | GC47TTK
Another Split by prontopup | GC47TT0
Day 18:
I ran in a 5k race in the morning, so it was nearly noon before I set out geocaching. I decided to go after some caches in Hernando, MS. It was a little warm and I lost my internet connection on my phone during a multicache, but other than that it was a fun trip. Lots of walking.
Lee's Summit #2 by Cfuller5 | GC42HCA - I liked the work on the camo for this one and left a USA Geocoin here that I picked up the day before.
Floats like a butterfly, looks like a bee by dameetro | GC4264H - Surprised I spotted this one without the hint.
Lee's Summit #1 by Cfuller5 | GC3XZPE - Tough to retrieve from its spot. Relaxed at the nearby lake for a moment and drank the rest of my Powerade.
DC - Standing Guard #4 - Yes one is here by zom4live | GC41N9V - Walmart. Great spot, though. No cameras watching.
Tanks for the Cache by dameetro | GC345VK - Wasps and spider webs were all over this thing. The cache itself stood out once I finally saw it.
Gnarly Tree by Cfuller5 | GC42HCW - I almost left this one alone after looking at the tough terrain. Found a hole in the vegetation and ended up in an interesting spot. A surprise favorite cache.
Springhill Historic Memorial Garden by chimps8mybaby | GC2ZG16 - I've been looking forward to hunting some of chimps8mybaby's caches. This was a three-stager that was complicated by my lack of internet reception at this spot. I had to drive 1/2 mile east (to another cache) to get reception. At that point, I wrote down on paper what info I needed to get to complete the cache and went back.
Day 19:
I had a Park and Grab in Southaven, MS that I couldn't get earlier because of construction. This time I used Google satellite imagery to find a good way in, then I got up early to make the find.
DC - Standing Guard #2 - K-Rogers by zom4live | GC3YPJ3 - construction maze forced me to park a distance away and hike in.
Day 20:
I made a quick run east on I-40 to Germantown where I found a nice nano cache away from muggles. I had some difficulty removing it from its hiding spot, but fortunately my rarely used caching bag had the right tool for the job.
Crawdad! by nelms3 | GC1PF99 - A nice nano that evaded extraction for a bit.
Day 21:
I drove north to Millington, TN (about 15 miles) to grab two quick Park and Grabs located a short distance apart from each other.
Just Another Light Post by titaniumman06 | GC46J5Y - Like the name says. Easy to find, though. Good when you are short on time.
Wish I had a Tractor by titaniumman06 | GC46J5D - Nice hide and tied so it can't get away. I like that.
Day 15:
Another relatively easy day in that I was able to find a nice cache inside the I-240 loop for a change. Nice cool morning for caching made it all the more enjoyable.
Bear Crawl and Duck Walk by Wrath557 | GC45HN3 - Audubon Park cache. I was expecting it to be harder for some reason, but it was a nice cache that was set up really well.
Day 16:
I took an early and very long drive to Johnson Road Park to hunt two caches. Found one, but ran out of time to search heard for the other. I like this park and wish I could have relaxed on a bench and watching the ducks swimming in the pond.
No Place To Hide by prontopup | GC39QGG - Easy to find after a walk around a pond.
Tomorrow is International Geocaching Day for what that's worth.
Day 17:
I celebrated International Geocaching Day by hunting six caches at Lichterman Nature Center. It rained a little while I was there, but the tree canopy kept me dry. All six caches were extremely well done.
Walk on the Boards by Prontopup | GC47EH5
Lichterman Trail by prontopup | GC47TRM
Near the Stair Steps by prontopup | GC47HHP
Out of Place by prontopup | GC47TTC
Bridge? by prontopup | GC47TTK
Another Split by prontopup | GC47TT0
Day 18:
I ran in a 5k race in the morning, so it was nearly noon before I set out geocaching. I decided to go after some caches in Hernando, MS. It was a little warm and I lost my internet connection on my phone during a multicache, but other than that it was a fun trip. Lots of walking.
Lee's Summit #2 by Cfuller5 | GC42HCA - I liked the work on the camo for this one and left a USA Geocoin here that I picked up the day before.
Floats like a butterfly, looks like a bee by dameetro | GC4264H - Surprised I spotted this one without the hint.
Lee's Summit #1 by Cfuller5 | GC3XZPE - Tough to retrieve from its spot. Relaxed at the nearby lake for a moment and drank the rest of my Powerade.
DC - Standing Guard #4 - Yes one is here by zom4live | GC41N9V - Walmart. Great spot, though. No cameras watching.
Tanks for the Cache by dameetro | GC345VK - Wasps and spider webs were all over this thing. The cache itself stood out once I finally saw it.
Gnarly Tree by Cfuller5 | GC42HCW - I almost left this one alone after looking at the tough terrain. Found a hole in the vegetation and ended up in an interesting spot. A surprise favorite cache.
Springhill Historic Memorial Garden by chimps8mybaby | GC2ZG16 - I've been looking forward to hunting some of chimps8mybaby's caches. This was a three-stager that was complicated by my lack of internet reception at this spot. I had to drive 1/2 mile east (to another cache) to get reception. At that point, I wrote down on paper what info I needed to get to complete the cache and went back.
Day 19:
I had a Park and Grab in Southaven, MS that I couldn't get earlier because of construction. This time I used Google satellite imagery to find a good way in, then I got up early to make the find.
DC - Standing Guard #2 - K-Rogers by zom4live | GC3YPJ3 - construction maze forced me to park a distance away and hike in.
Day 20:
I made a quick run east on I-40 to Germantown where I found a nice nano cache away from muggles. I had some difficulty removing it from its hiding spot, but fortunately my rarely used caching bag had the right tool for the job.
Crawdad! by nelms3 | GC1PF99 - A nice nano that evaded extraction for a bit.
Day 21:
I drove north to Millington, TN (about 15 miles) to grab two quick Park and Grabs located a short distance apart from each other.
Just Another Light Post by titaniumman06 | GC46J5Y - Like the name says. Easy to find, though. Good when you are short on time.
Wish I had a Tractor by titaniumman06 | GC46J5D - Nice hide and tied so it can't get away. I like that.
Saturday, August 10, 2013
Arkansas Highway 463 Series - 8/10/2013
I spotted this series while looking for out-of-town caches to hunt this weekend. There are 20 caches in this series, starting with Arkansas Highway 463 Series #1
by HippyChick79
|
GC4E143.
There was a 60% chance of rain today, so I got up early and made the drive to Marked Tree, AR. I arrived at the site of the first cache around 6:30am with dark clouds and a relatively cool 81 degrees.. Caches are on either side of the road, but roadside parking is extremely tight with the west side of the highway having a bit more room. There was no traffic this morning and I found all 20 of the caches within 45 minutes.
After I was done, I picked up a few more in the area and left as the rain started.
There was a 60% chance of rain today, so I got up early and made the drive to Marked Tree, AR. I arrived at the site of the first cache around 6:30am with dark clouds and a relatively cool 81 degrees.. Caches are on either side of the road, but roadside parking is extremely tight with the west side of the highway having a bit more room. There was no traffic this morning and I found all 20 of the caches within 45 minutes.
After I was done, I picked up a few more in the area and left as the rain started.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Days 8 - 14
After a few hit and miss strategies for picking caches to hunt, I decided to make a pocket query containing geocaches that have been found within the last 7 days. Surprisingly, this produced a list that should be good enough to get me through 31 days.
Day 8:
I picked a cluster of four caches in Southaven, MS to get early in the morning before work. Two were ammo cans chained to trees in non-wooded areas, so I quickly made all finds without any troubles or DNFs.
Lets do the Twist by wilbur8869 | GC3P6K3 - Beautiful park that had a lake and exercise equipment in it. The container was clever, but I had trouble retrieving the log.
"Blues" Lodge by Nature's_Wonderful | GC4CCAW - Ammo can near a lodge - quickest find of the morning.
DeSoto Trail New #2 - Horn Lake by SoDeSotoMS | GC3QVB4 - Ammo can in front of a library.
DC - Standing Guard #6 - DCSA by zom4live | GC41NA2 - Guard rail micro, almost skipped because I was short on time.
Day 9:
I spotted last night two caches close together with one being a park and grab, so they were my early morning targets for day 9. I got to use a newer version of the geocaching app on my phone which works a lot better.
West of Orleans by zambodia || GC445G4 - This was a great cache! I had seen several like it before, so it was an easy find, but it was well-constructed.
Welcome to Initech by steph&herboys, adamorobertson | GC4H2YW - Park and grab just across the road from the previous cache.
I made it through Friday, so finding a least one cache on Saturday and Sunday shouldn't be too much trouble (even if it rains). I'll probably go out of town, though, to save the local ones for weekdays.
Day 10:
I planned to do the Arkansas Highway 463 Series on Saturday and was concerned about the 60% chance of rain for the day. I got up early and not only beat the rain but logged a total of 25 caches and made it home by 9am.
Besides the 20 cache series, today I found:
Skye The Parrott Travel Bug Hotel by HippyChick79 | GC2YVX9 - better found in winter, but a nice spot.
Too Little Horse Ranch by HippyChick79 | GC49PXG - Rain would have made this a tough drive, but on this morning, it was nice. A memorial just off of and out of sight of the main road.
Too Little Tulot Cemetery by HippyChick79 | GC49PWT - Cemetery cache!
Ghost Busters by HippyChick79 | GC3QZGA - Cemetery cache that I only found because of my direction of approach.
Welcome Home by HippyChick79 | GC49PPW - Last find of the day (Welcome to Marked Tree).
Day 11:
I had a road race in the morning in Bartlett, TN, so I hunted the nearest park and grab nearby that would work out best for a Sunday morning hunt. Since I was stopped by Germantown police on the previous cache in this series, I was concerned to see on the cache page that security hangs out nearby. No body was around on this early morning, though.
Changing Expectations #2 by Balls2thefloorgeocacher | GC3X967 - Nice, easy LPC.
Day 12:
With rain promised once again for later in the day, I decided to get up before sunrise to hunt a park and grab or two. I headed to Olive Branch, MS which is a straight shot down Hwy 78. I managed to get my intended cache plus one other nearby.
Guest Parking by BillyDalton | GC3GQK5 - At a motel. Quick find not far from where I found another a while back.
One Degree of Seperation - Olivebranch, MS by WillG_R7 | GC2GQ2P - Park and grab with an offset, I just happened to park 10 feet from the cache.
Day 13:
I had plans to hit Southaven, MS again for two caches after work. Driving in Southaven is a nightmare at times - particularly rush hour. The first cache I had planned to get was at a Kroger. It should have been an easy grab, but construction prevented me from getting near it. That is why I had two backup caches picked out. Most of my future weekday caches will be in Germantown and Collierville. It also looks like the rain is gone for the next week.
Defence by dameetro | GC33D2W - Nice little cache just south of Snowden Grove Park. I've cached here twice before and think this is a really cool place.
DC - Standing Guard #7 - Speed Limit 35 by zom4live | GC3YPK2 - Easy Park and Grab, but my autorouting failed me getting in and out of the general area and I spent much more time on the road than I thought I would.
Day 14:
Easy day today.
The CCC 14 by Wrath557 | GC3XY0A - guard rail, no muggles, relatively close to home.
Day 8:
I picked a cluster of four caches in Southaven, MS to get early in the morning before work. Two were ammo cans chained to trees in non-wooded areas, so I quickly made all finds without any troubles or DNFs.
Lets do the Twist by wilbur8869 | GC3P6K3 - Beautiful park that had a lake and exercise equipment in it. The container was clever, but I had trouble retrieving the log.
"Blues" Lodge by Nature's_Wonderful | GC4CCAW - Ammo can near a lodge - quickest find of the morning.
DeSoto Trail New #2 - Horn Lake by SoDeSotoMS | GC3QVB4 - Ammo can in front of a library.
DC - Standing Guard #6 - DCSA by zom4live | GC41NA2 - Guard rail micro, almost skipped because I was short on time.
Day 9:
I spotted last night two caches close together with one being a park and grab, so they were my early morning targets for day 9. I got to use a newer version of the geocaching app on my phone which works a lot better.
West of Orleans by zambodia || GC445G4 - This was a great cache! I had seen several like it before, so it was an easy find, but it was well-constructed.
Welcome to Initech by steph&herboys, adamorobertson | GC4H2YW - Park and grab just across the road from the previous cache.
I made it through Friday, so finding a least one cache on Saturday and Sunday shouldn't be too much trouble (even if it rains). I'll probably go out of town, though, to save the local ones for weekdays.
Day 10:
I planned to do the Arkansas Highway 463 Series on Saturday and was concerned about the 60% chance of rain for the day. I got up early and not only beat the rain but logged a total of 25 caches and made it home by 9am.
Besides the 20 cache series, today I found:
Skye The Parrott Travel Bug Hotel by HippyChick79 | GC2YVX9 - better found in winter, but a nice spot.
Too Little Horse Ranch by HippyChick79 | GC49PXG - Rain would have made this a tough drive, but on this morning, it was nice. A memorial just off of and out of sight of the main road.
Too Little Tulot Cemetery by HippyChick79 | GC49PWT - Cemetery cache!
Ghost Busters by HippyChick79 | GC3QZGA - Cemetery cache that I only found because of my direction of approach.
Welcome Home by HippyChick79 | GC49PPW - Last find of the day (Welcome to Marked Tree).
Day 11:
I had a road race in the morning in Bartlett, TN, so I hunted the nearest park and grab nearby that would work out best for a Sunday morning hunt. Since I was stopped by Germantown police on the previous cache in this series, I was concerned to see on the cache page that security hangs out nearby. No body was around on this early morning, though.
Changing Expectations #2 by Balls2thefloorgeocacher | GC3X967 - Nice, easy LPC.
Day 12:
With rain promised once again for later in the day, I decided to get up before sunrise to hunt a park and grab or two. I headed to Olive Branch, MS which is a straight shot down Hwy 78. I managed to get my intended cache plus one other nearby.
Guest Parking by BillyDalton | GC3GQK5 - At a motel. Quick find not far from where I found another a while back.
One Degree of Seperation - Olivebranch, MS by WillG_R7 | GC2GQ2P - Park and grab with an offset, I just happened to park 10 feet from the cache.
Day 13:
I had plans to hit Southaven, MS again for two caches after work. Driving in Southaven is a nightmare at times - particularly rush hour. The first cache I had planned to get was at a Kroger. It should have been an easy grab, but construction prevented me from getting near it. That is why I had two backup caches picked out. Most of my future weekday caches will be in Germantown and Collierville. It also looks like the rain is gone for the next week.
Defence by dameetro | GC33D2W - Nice little cache just south of Snowden Grove Park. I've cached here twice before and think this is a really cool place.
DC - Standing Guard #7 - Speed Limit 35 by zom4live | GC3YPK2 - Easy Park and Grab, but my autorouting failed me getting in and out of the general area and I spent much more time on the road than I thought I would.
Day 14:
Easy day today.
The CCC 14 by Wrath557 | GC3XY0A - guard rail, no muggles, relatively close to home.
Friday, August 2, 2013
31 Days of Geocaching: Days 1 - 7
I doubt I can cache every day during the month of August, but it's a stressful time for me these days, so I'll give it a shot. Anyways, I'll use this space to document caches found in August regardless.
Day 1:
Pocket Charm by sswindle (GC31YFE) - I made a short trip to the Ornamental Metal Museum near downtown after work. I researched the directions this time, which prevented me from missing the turn and driving to Arkansas.
Fort Pickering by Dan84CJ7 (GC4C6T7) - A pill bottle across the park from the museum. No reason to just get one cache, even if it makes it more difficult to get 31 local caches in 31 days.
Day 2:
I tried to get a cache in North Memphis, but couldn't find it. So I headed to get three in West Memphis.
Nurse4Life by LostandFound28 GC3Z1VQ) - nano with a tight-fitting log.
West Memphis Welcomes You by Nolang1213 (GC22765) - second time hunting was the charm. I walked right up to it. Another nano.
Welcome to Arkansas! by KesselRun (GC4FCWR) - keyholder at a new rest stop. I figured this would be the easiest find of the day.
Went to Dairy Queen for dinner and headed home. I saved at least two caches in the Marion area for another trip.
Day 3:
In the morning, I managed to break off the door handle on my car, which of course only slightly hindered accomplishing any caching. Instead, I walked to a cache near where I work.
Leonarda 6 by LeonardaDaArtsi (GC34WNR) - Flashback to a time where Altoids tins were more popular.
Day 4:
I went to Collierville early in the morning to hunt three caches along the Greenbelt trail. Found two, both ammo cans. Muggles prevented a thorough search of the third spot, which was near good parking, so I can easily come back at some future point. It was a damp and humid day, so after these two finds, I needed a shower.
Whodunit - In the Middle of Collierville by tiger130 (GC3PXPG) - This cache was the recepient of two travel bugs I need to move. One I took out of a rusty cache last week, and the other one I picked up in Arizona two months ago.
Pond View by Little Peanut (GC43NAY) - Damp ground and thick bushes meant I missed checking for the cool geocoin that was supposed to be in this cache.
I noticed while logging these that I am getting an individual "souvenir" for each day I cache this month.
Day 5:
The weather forecast shows a good chance of rain for the next ten days. Today, I go out before work (and rain) and found a quick park and grab. Not many of those to choose from in my area that I haven't already found.
The Cornerstore by Shakybird (GC48XJY) - Walgreens, but at least I saw no cameras around.
Day 6:
I had an early morning appointment in Bartlett, TN, so I picked out two of the nearest caches I could find. The first one was a miss, in part because the area was to damp to search. The second took me further out of my way than I had expected, but was worth it.
She Said Yes! by SniperGuy (GC3PRDJ ) - Nice walk around a lake at a nice park. Too humid to really enjoy, but I've been here before and I'm sure I'll be back.
Day 7:
A lot of the caches I have to choose from are more than 10 miles away from home and the traffic is pretty busy before and after work. I found a challenge cache series devoted to "streaks" and one luckily met my needs for the day. It was also pretty close, so it made a quick morning hunt.
The CCC 7 by Wrath557 (GC3XY06) - I almost had this series on my ignore list because I don't do "streaks", but looks like I'll be back for The CCC 14 and The CCC 30 maybe.
Day 1:
Pocket Charm by sswindle (GC31YFE) - I made a short trip to the Ornamental Metal Museum near downtown after work. I researched the directions this time, which prevented me from missing the turn and driving to Arkansas.
Fort Pickering by Dan84CJ7 (GC4C6T7) - A pill bottle across the park from the museum. No reason to just get one cache, even if it makes it more difficult to get 31 local caches in 31 days.
Day 2:
I tried to get a cache in North Memphis, but couldn't find it. So I headed to get three in West Memphis.
Nurse4Life by LostandFound28 GC3Z1VQ) - nano with a tight-fitting log.
West Memphis Welcomes You by Nolang1213 (GC22765) - second time hunting was the charm. I walked right up to it. Another nano.
Welcome to Arkansas! by KesselRun (GC4FCWR) - keyholder at a new rest stop. I figured this would be the easiest find of the day.
Went to Dairy Queen for dinner and headed home. I saved at least two caches in the Marion area for another trip.
Day 3:
In the morning, I managed to break off the door handle on my car, which of course only slightly hindered accomplishing any caching. Instead, I walked to a cache near where I work.
Leonarda 6 by LeonardaDaArtsi (GC34WNR) - Flashback to a time where Altoids tins were more popular.
Day 4:
I went to Collierville early in the morning to hunt three caches along the Greenbelt trail. Found two, both ammo cans. Muggles prevented a thorough search of the third spot, which was near good parking, so I can easily come back at some future point. It was a damp and humid day, so after these two finds, I needed a shower.
Whodunit - In the Middle of Collierville by tiger130 (GC3PXPG) - This cache was the recepient of two travel bugs I need to move. One I took out of a rusty cache last week, and the other one I picked up in Arizona two months ago.
Pond View by Little Peanut (GC43NAY) - Damp ground and thick bushes meant I missed checking for the cool geocoin that was supposed to be in this cache.
I noticed while logging these that I am getting an individual "souvenir" for each day I cache this month.
Day 5:
The weather forecast shows a good chance of rain for the next ten days. Today, I go out before work (and rain) and found a quick park and grab. Not many of those to choose from in my area that I haven't already found.
The Cornerstore by Shakybird (GC48XJY) - Walgreens, but at least I saw no cameras around.
Day 6:
I had an early morning appointment in Bartlett, TN, so I picked out two of the nearest caches I could find. The first one was a miss, in part because the area was to damp to search. The second took me further out of my way than I had expected, but was worth it.
She Said Yes! by SniperGuy (GC3PRDJ ) - Nice walk around a lake at a nice park. Too humid to really enjoy, but I've been here before and I'm sure I'll be back.
[ Davies Park ]
As a side note, I tied my previous longest caching "streak" of 6 days (from back in 2005).Day 7:
A lot of the caches I have to choose from are more than 10 miles away from home and the traffic is pretty busy before and after work. I found a challenge cache series devoted to "streaks" and one luckily met my needs for the day. It was also pretty close, so it made a quick morning hunt.
The CCC 7 by Wrath557 (GC3XY06) - I almost had this series on my ignore list because I don't do "streaks", but looks like I'll be back for The CCC 14 and The CCC 30 maybe.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
2013 Summer Road Trip Part I - East to West
{ I will fill this in with more details and pictures hopefully soon. ]
I just got back from my annual summer road trip to Oregon. In terms of geocaching, it was largely a success in that I found geocaches. My goal on this trip was to continue to fill in contiguous counties on a map from my place of origin to my destination. I have been working on this for a few years and this trip was mostly just filling in a few gaps. I needed to find caches in counties in Oklahoma (6), Texas (1), New Mexico (2), Utah (4) and Missouri (lots). The east to west part of the trip would take me through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. Most of the trip was on interstate highways.
I started out in West Tennessee on June 15 heading west. The only cache stop I made in Arkansas was a rest stop on the west end of the state (for two caches). Oklahoma started out well, but I was unable to get to caches near the interstate in two counties due to muggles. I also realized about midway across the state that my GPSr lost all of my city map data. I found out later this was due to the SD chip not staying in place, and this was a major problem I had to deal with for the whole trip. In Oklahoma, I began to use my smartphone for caching and my GPSr for a general idea where caches were along the interstate. I made it to east Texas (Shamrock) by the end of the day and managed to get the one county I needed to complete the route for Texas. I also managed to lose my sunglasses in Shamrock, but the cache I lost them at was near my motel, so I recovered them to start the second morning.
I made no more stops in Texas, since I had found all of the rest stop caches and spent most of the second day in New Mexico. My first cache find in New Mexico was at Cline's Corner where I typically eat. My second cache was in Grants, just east of where I leave I-40 to head north. On this day, I proceeded east into Arizona where I got my first Arizona cache just across the border. I then backtracked to Gallup and headed north.
I needed a cache in the northwest corner of New Mexico and had to deviate 10 miles of route to find one. I'm glad it was an easy one because I was getting tired by this time. I headed north to Cortez, Colorado to stay the night and because I got there a little before sunset, I was able to walk around town and find a couple of caches before bedtime.
I got a good night's sleep in Cortez, and in the morning learned that I had lost my sunglasses again. I wore them driving into town, so I didn't have a clue what happened to them. I backtracked the caches I did in Cortez the night before with no luck. After this disappointment, I headed north into Utah, passing up lots of roadside caches along the way.
Once in Utah, I needed a cache just inside the border. Since it was a cool morning, I got several between the border and Monticello. My next stop was Provo. Provo is the largest city I cached in during the trip. It was a very busy town and very hot. I looked for a number of caches before I finally found one. When I went to take a picture of it, I leaned that my camera was not in the case I have hanging from my belt. Needless to say, I got back on the road and headed north to Idaho, making no more of my planned stops in two of the northern Utah counties I needed. I drove to Twin Falls, Idaho where I stayed the night. While organizing my stuff, I found my camera in my pants pocket. Nice!
The last day of the trip had no planned stops. I did get two at a rest stop east of Boise, but the last day was mostly driving.
I just got back from my annual summer road trip to Oregon. In terms of geocaching, it was largely a success in that I found geocaches. My goal on this trip was to continue to fill in contiguous counties on a map from my place of origin to my destination. I have been working on this for a few years and this trip was mostly just filling in a few gaps. I needed to find caches in counties in Oklahoma (6), Texas (1), New Mexico (2), Utah (4) and Missouri (lots). The east to west part of the trip would take me through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Oregon. Most of the trip was on interstate highways.
[ My east to west route is shaded with green .]
I started out in West Tennessee on June 15 heading west. The only cache stop I made in Arkansas was a rest stop on the west end of the state (for two caches). Oklahoma started out well, but I was unable to get to caches near the interstate in two counties due to muggles. I also realized about midway across the state that my GPSr lost all of my city map data. I found out later this was due to the SD chip not staying in place, and this was a major problem I had to deal with for the whole trip. In Oklahoma, I began to use my smartphone for caching and my GPSr for a general idea where caches were along the interstate. I made it to east Texas (Shamrock) by the end of the day and managed to get the one county I needed to complete the route for Texas. I also managed to lose my sunglasses in Shamrock, but the cache I lost them at was near my motel, so I recovered them to start the second morning.
I made no more stops in Texas, since I had found all of the rest stop caches and spent most of the second day in New Mexico. My first cache find in New Mexico was at Cline's Corner where I typically eat. My second cache was in Grants, just east of where I leave I-40 to head north. On this day, I proceeded east into Arizona where I got my first Arizona cache just across the border. I then backtracked to Gallup and headed north.
I needed a cache in the northwest corner of New Mexico and had to deviate 10 miles of route to find one. I'm glad it was an easy one because I was getting tired by this time. I headed north to Cortez, Colorado to stay the night and because I got there a little before sunset, I was able to walk around town and find a couple of caches before bedtime.
I got a good night's sleep in Cortez, and in the morning learned that I had lost my sunglasses again. I wore them driving into town, so I didn't have a clue what happened to them. I backtracked the caches I did in Cortez the night before with no luck. After this disappointment, I headed north into Utah, passing up lots of roadside caches along the way.
Once in Utah, I needed a cache just inside the border. Since it was a cool morning, I got several between the border and Monticello. My next stop was Provo. Provo is the largest city I cached in during the trip. It was a very busy town and very hot. I looked for a number of caches before I finally found one. When I went to take a picture of it, I leaned that my camera was not in the case I have hanging from my belt. Needless to say, I got back on the road and headed north to Idaho, making no more of my planned stops in two of the northern Utah counties I needed. I drove to Twin Falls, Idaho where I stayed the night. While organizing my stuff, I found my camera in my pants pocket. Nice!
The last day of the trip had no planned stops. I did get two at a rest stop east of Boise, but the last day was mostly driving.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Geocaching FUNdamentals Class - 3/2/2013
Geocacher Prontopup holds at least one geocaching fundamentals event every year at Cameron Brown park in Germantown, TN. I usually go to see old friends and enjoy the park. On this day, it was tough with the weather being cold with a little snow falling, but I made it to Geocaching FUNdamentals Class
by Prontopup (GC44HKB). At first, it looked like only a few folks would make it, but more showed up as the morning progressed.
However, we only had one new cacher attend. Hes got to hear plenty of caching stories durning the two-hour event. Afterwards, I headed into work to warm up.
by Prontopup (GC44HKB). At first, it looked like only a few folks would make it, but more showed up as the morning progressed.
However, we only had one new cacher attend. Hes got to hear plenty of caching stories durning the two-hour event. Afterwards, I headed into work to warm up.
GOWT Anniversary Event - 2/23/2013
The Geocachers of West Tennessee had an anniversary event in February - The 2013 Annual GOWT Gathering
by Geocachers of West Tennessee (GC44V8J) after missing one the year before. It was a nice day, and I'm not sure why I didn't hunt ant physical caches on that day. The event, itself, held in Mason, TN was smaller than those in the past, but there was a still a good crowd.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Selmer, TN to Bolivar, TN - 2/3/2013
I arrived back at Selmer around 1pm and headed for a Wal-Mart to load up on some supplies, including batteries. Before going shopping, I hit two caches to the south that were part of the Selmer 45SB series by lookingUPward.
I actually found several things I needed at Wal-Mart and took my time hitting the road again. I had decided not to hunt caches in Selmer in order to finish my goal for the day of the two power trails. After leaving town I headed west to complete a series that started with Selmer-Bolivar 64WB 01 by lookingUPward (GC3994C). It was much like the previous series, but there was more roadkill spotted near the cache locations. There were 27 in this series and I found 24. As a bonus, Selmer-Bolivar 64WB 21 by lookingUPward (GC39A96) was my 4000th find. After finishing the trail, I headed home. I had more time, but my pocket query had no caches west of Bolivar.
I only took a couple of pictures on this trip, as I was in a hurry. Roadkill doesn't make for an attractive blog entry so, I am leaving them out.
I actually found several things I needed at Wal-Mart and took my time hitting the road again. I had decided not to hunt caches in Selmer in order to finish my goal for the day of the two power trails. After leaving town I headed west to complete a series that started with Selmer-Bolivar 64WB 01 by lookingUPward (GC3994C). It was much like the previous series, but there was more roadkill spotted near the cache locations. There were 27 in this series and I found 24. As a bonus, Selmer-Bolivar 64WB 21 by lookingUPward (GC39A96) was my 4000th find. After finishing the trail, I headed home. I had more time, but my pocket query had no caches west of Bolivar.
I only took a couple of pictures on this trip, as I was in a hurry. Roadkill doesn't make for an attractive blog entry so, I am leaving them out.
Selmer, TN to Adamsville, TN - 2/3/2013
Having finally gotten my car fixed the week before, I was now ready to hit a couple of power trails. There are actually quite a few now that are a relatively short drive from Memphis. For this first run, I decided to visit Selmer, TN and make quick work of two east-west power trails.
On Saturday, the 2nd, I left home around 7am eager to get the job done. I hadn't paid much attention to the weather, but after seeing more than a dozen accidents between Memphis and Arlington along the interstate, realized that this would be a good day to stay at home. I turned around at Arlington and carefully made my way back to Memphis.
On Sunday, the 3rd, I decided to sleep in a bit and leave home around 9am. That way, I was sure I wouldn't run into any leftover ice slicks from the day before.
This time, I took Hwy 64 out to Selmer instead of using an interstate route. This meant risking speed traps, but I do a fairly good job of watching my speed.
I got to Selmer around 11am and decided to eat lunch at the local Hardee's before starting out. My first find of the day (and name of the series) was Selmer-Adamsville 64-EB 01 by lookingUPward (GC38WP4). There were 29 caches in this series, and were simple hides at signposts and bridge guard rails. There was not much traffic to speak of and I only ran into one couple who were looking for the furniture store that is in selmer. I found all 29 caches and 1 extra signpost cache before reaching Adamsville. There were a few other caches along this route, but I had no cache page data on them and didn't want to risk being slowed down. The cache containers were all film canisters and as such, some were in better shape than others. My gel pen worked well on amy wet logs I came across. At some point on this run, I found my 2000th Tennessee cache.
Anyway, I turned around just before getting to Adamsville, so I didn't get to visit the grave site of Sheriff Buford Pusser of "Walking Tall" fame, but I had found a cache at that site a few years ago. It was a quick drive back to Selmer where I needed to buy batteries before continuing on.
On Saturday, the 2nd, I left home around 7am eager to get the job done. I hadn't paid much attention to the weather, but after seeing more than a dozen accidents between Memphis and Arlington along the interstate, realized that this would be a good day to stay at home. I turned around at Arlington and carefully made my way back to Memphis.
On Sunday, the 3rd, I decided to sleep in a bit and leave home around 9am. That way, I was sure I wouldn't run into any leftover ice slicks from the day before.
This time, I took Hwy 64 out to Selmer instead of using an interstate route. This meant risking speed traps, but I do a fairly good job of watching my speed.
I got to Selmer around 11am and decided to eat lunch at the local Hardee's before starting out. My first find of the day (and name of the series) was Selmer-Adamsville 64-EB 01 by lookingUPward (GC38WP4). There were 29 caches in this series, and were simple hides at signposts and bridge guard rails. There was not much traffic to speak of and I only ran into one couple who were looking for the furniture store that is in selmer. I found all 29 caches and 1 extra signpost cache before reaching Adamsville. There were a few other caches along this route, but I had no cache page data on them and didn't want to risk being slowed down. The cache containers were all film canisters and as such, some were in better shape than others. My gel pen worked well on amy wet logs I came across. At some point on this run, I found my 2000th Tennessee cache.
Anyway, I turned around just before getting to Adamsville, so I didn't get to visit the grave site of Sheriff Buford Pusser of "Walking Tall" fame, but I had found a cache at that site a few years ago. It was a quick drive back to Selmer where I needed to buy batteries before continuing on.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Wrath557's 1K Celebration - 1/6/2013
It's pretty unusual for geocachers in Memphis to have an event on a Sunday evening, but it turned out to be a great day for Wrath557's 1K Celebration
by amarillo_tail (GC42Y83). I spent the afternoon hiking over to Mud Island and exploring parts of downtown Memphis. By the time, I got back to my home base, it was getting dark and I knew that I wouldn't be able to hunt any geocaches before the event. Of course, not having my GPSr with me also limited any possible cache hunting.
The event was a pizza party held at Garibaldi's Pizza near the University of Memphis. I hadn't been to Garibaldi's since I was a college student 25 years or so ago. I don't recall eating there when I was a grad student, even though I lived a couple of blocks away... Anyways, it was great to go back! I got there early, and sat with peanutpapa Soon the pizza came and I made sure to eat my fair share of it. Wrath557's golden ammo can sat at the next table, and it was full of goodies even before other cachers arrived.
As usual, I didn't mingle very much, but I enjoyed hearing that peanutpapa had placed some new caches at W.C. Johnson Park in Collierville. I got to discover a bunch of cool geocoins that BnJBish brought as well as a cool Star Trek travel bug.
I left a little early, but overall I had a pretty good time. By the time I left, Wrath557's ammo can had probably the most swag I've seen.
Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate pcsenn for his 5k find. An event was hosted for him on New Year's Day by tatersfan.
The event was a pizza party held at Garibaldi's Pizza near the University of Memphis. I hadn't been to Garibaldi's since I was a college student 25 years or so ago. I don't recall eating there when I was a grad student, even though I lived a couple of blocks away... Anyways, it was great to go back! I got there early, and sat with peanutpapa Soon the pizza came and I made sure to eat my fair share of it. Wrath557's golden ammo can sat at the next table, and it was full of goodies even before other cachers arrived.
As usual, I didn't mingle very much, but I enjoyed hearing that peanutpapa had placed some new caches at W.C. Johnson Park in Collierville. I got to discover a bunch of cool geocoins that BnJBish brought as well as a cool Star Trek travel bug.
I left a little early, but overall I had a pretty good time. By the time I left, Wrath557's ammo can had probably the most swag I've seen.
Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate pcsenn for his 5k find. An event was hosted for him on New Year's Day by tatersfan.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Flash Mob at the Memphis Zoo - 1/1/2013
I did no caching over my extended Christmas break. I just haven't felt up to it. As a matter of fact, I almost forgot that I had signed up for The Zoo Flash Mob
by Playful Seaotter (GC42XV3) on New Year's Day. I arrived at the park with only a minute or two to spare. A 15 minute event lasted about an hour with everyone discussing geocaching-related matters.
As the event was breaking up, some of the other cachers wanted to take advantage of the fact that zoo admission on Tuesdays after 2pm is free to Tennessee residents and find the cache located on the zoo grounds. A group of seven made our way to the Teton Trak exhibit where the cache was supposed to be located. When we couldn't find the cache, we discovered in the online logs that the cache had DNFs stretching back to the summer. We managed as a group to improvise a new container and log and marked the cache as found. It was really too cold to tour the rest of the zoo so we parted ways.
As the event was breaking up, some of the other cachers wanted to take advantage of the fact that zoo admission on Tuesdays after 2pm is free to Tennessee residents and find the cache located on the zoo grounds. A group of seven made our way to the Teton Trak exhibit where the cache was supposed to be located. When we couldn't find the cache, we discovered in the online logs that the cache had DNFs stretching back to the summer. We managed as a group to improvise a new container and log and marked the cache as found. It was really too cold to tour the rest of the zoo so we parted ways.
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