Office Space Themed Geocaches - 1/18/2015

This weekend, I discovered a small cluster of caches named after characters from the movie "Office Space".  Seven caches in all, in an area of Memphis that doesn't see many caches.  I decided to hunt these caches on Sunday (1/18) because it was an empty day on my geocaching calendar and I'm slowly trying to complete a cache hunt for every day of the year.  With a find on this day, I completed the month of January.

For reference, here is a link to the first cache in this group that I found: Office Space: Joanna
by jdoz22 | GC5K24D.  All caches were nanos that were remarkably easy to find and were in goo shape (because they were new).

There were two other caches in the area I didn't go after.  One was a puzzle and the other had way too many muggles to attempt on this day.

GOWT Lecture Series Event 1 - 1/11/2015

I went over to Cameron Brown Park in Germantown, TN today to attend a discussion on what cachers carry with them on geocaching trips.

 

[event hosts]

The event was hosted by itcomagic and godzirra! and lasted about two hours.  It was interesting to see what they carried in a relatively small pack.  I used to carry more stuff with me, but now am lucky to have my first aid kit handy when I need it.  In the winter, I carry whatever supplies I can round up in the pockets of my jacket.   In warmer weather, I seldom get out to caches where I would need tools to retrieve.

All in all, it was a good time in spite of the chilly temperatures.

Arkansas Hwy 70 Series Completed - 12/21/2014

I had been planning to return to finish the Hwy 70 series of caches between Little Rock and Brinkley, AR for over a year.  This power trail consists of 174 mostly easy finds.

My first attempt was on August 24, 2013.  I drove to Brinkley, AR to get on Hwy 70 and the headed west to end of the string of 20 caches.  I found all of those, got back on the interstate heading west to reenter Hwy 70 at Fredonia(?).  I had many hits and misses on this leg, but still managed at least 40 finds.

My second attempt was on September 7, 2013.  I drove to Carlisle, AR, got off the interstate to hunt caches heading back to the east.  After having so many DNFs on the previous attempt, and reading that the owners encouraged replacement, I brought and used at least 10 replacement caches and still had plenty of hits and misses.  I had to end this trip prematurely when the brakes on my car started to give out.  I managed to make it back to Memphis and a repair shop to get them fixed.

The most recent trip was very different.  I picked a perfect December day to attack this series from the western end of the route.  The last cachers to do the series replaced almost every cache along the route, so when I hit the trail, I had only 2 or 3 DNFs (on the east end) and a surprising number of dry logs. Most of the logs were unbagged, so they were really quick to find, log, and replace. I ended up with 81 finds of the series with 5 additional finds on another series north of Lonoke and ending with 2 more along Hwy 70 before getting back on the interstate for the remainder of the trip home.  After getting home, I had just enough energy to eat dinner before collapsing in bed.

12/13/14 - Events Weekend - 12/13-14/14

{ I will flesh this out a bit more later this week.}

I wasn't sure what I would end up doing this particular weekend, so I marked "Will Attend" on event caches for Saturday and Sunday.  My only plan for Sunday was to log a cache/event to mark the day on my geocaching calendar.

Saturday, I made the drive to Collierville's W.C. Johnson Park to attend Twelve Thirteen Fourteen by bitbrain | GC5H6GD at the Peterson Lake Nature Center.  Not many people had logged they were coming so I think everyone was surprised at the large number of people who showed up.

After the event, I logged a nearby earthcache Peterson Lake Wetlands by cloud_dog_9 | GC5H2E0 and tackled two additional caches along the greenbelt trail that proceeds south from the park.  Both caches were excellent in both hide and camouflage techniques.

Sunday, it was off to an afternoon event in Audubon Park in East Memphis called Hot Dogs -n- Not Dogs II: Patty Duke's Birthday by Team Discord | GC58BWF.  First, I tried for a third time to hunt Eat Yer Vegetables by cdhundley | GC44HMP.  I ran into team hdrider55 leaving that cache (which they had found) so I was disappointed that I still couldn't find it. 

I made it to the event on time and enjoyed a couple of hot dogs while listening to caching stories.  I left early when hdrider55 offered to help me find GC4HMP.  That was another excellent cache as well as evidence that I have spent too much time lately on easy caches.

10 Years of Geocaching - 11/30/2014

Ten years ago, on 11/26/2004 a friend of mine convinced me to get out and try geocaching for the first time.

Ten years later, while I don't have quite the same exuberance I once had, still wanted to get out and hunt some caches this Thanksgiving weekend.

On 11/27, Thanksgiving Day, I hunted two caches, including Bridge over River Dry by hikerRon | GC4RHQ7 in Millington, TN.  I was a cool cache near a Veterans Memorial.  I'd been caching around the Wal-Mart across the street, but had never noticed this monument and "bridge."

On 11/29, I decided to make a geocache run into Arkansas, making stops at Marked Tree, Trumann, and Jonesboro.

Marked Tree was a great place to avenge some earlier DNFs.

This empty cotton field struck me as picture-worthy after hunting a cache in the Arkansas Hwy 463 Series across the road.

 There can never be too many Veterans Memorials.  The cache was nearby.

Stumped? by RememberingTree | GC5D1VW in Jonesboro was my favorite hide of the trip.

Along with a cache, the Jonesboro Farmer's Market had their Christmas trees out.

On 11/30, I visited the western end of the Vollintine/Evergreen Greenline to hunt Blue Man
by shottsy | GC5H0JA in Midtown Memphis.

The last time I was here, the "Blue Men" had been vandalized.  Today all appeared to be in good shape.

Hot Dogs by the River - 11/1/2014

I hated to break my 68 day streak of not geocaching, but the prospect of free hot dogs was too great to pass up.  Saturday's event cache was called Hot Dogs -n- Not Dogs  by Team Synchronicity | GC5F591.  I made it down to Tom Lee Park just as the event was starting.  I was greeted by one of the hosts, shottsy, who it turns out knows my caching buddy jbgreer.

Plenty of people showed up both for the food and the free swag provided by Groundspeak.  It was a fun gathering in spite the chilly temperature.

International Geocaching Day 2014 - 8/16/2014

International Geocaching Day kind of just popped up on me this year.  I didn't really want to get outside in the heat (91 degrees), but I had a couple of nearby easy caches saved to do, so I got out and quickly did them.

I had never been on this particular street before and was surprised to find lots of activity going on at the first cache - located near Wiseacre Brewery.

Ananda means Bliss by cdhundley | GC59B75

Just as I found the cache, a bunch of people walked by and most likely saw me, although they didn't say anything.

The second cache was just a little further down the same road and had nobody around to observe me make the easy find.

Tiny B. means Tiny B.by cdhundley | GC59B8N 

10 minutes for two caches and I was back in my car headed for air conditioning.