Pi Day caching - 3/14/(20)15

I admit I haven't been doing much geocaching lately other than to fill in calendar days, but I always try to get to events, especially when souvenirs are involved.  It was an otherwise dreary Saturday, but lots of fun was had at - The Pi's of March - by Team Synchronicity | GC5MBX3.  After enjoying my first shrimp po-boy indoors, I came out and joined a large crowd of geocachers in the parking lot where the event officially was being held.

 [ a nice geocoin door prize that I didn't win ] 

After the event, I went to Overton Park with lostandfound28, joankv, and tuttik to find GGU2GD Means Gotta Get Up To Get Down by cdhundley | GC5MG55.  Nice cache in a nice park.  Afterwards, I went with joankv and tuttik to hunt Tarasque Means Fearsome Legendary Mytho Hybrid by cdhundley | GC5GTNK and get another Pi Day souvenir.

The 2015 Annual GOWT Gathering - 2/22/2015

The 2015 Annual GOWT Gathering   by itcomagic and godzirra! | GC5KZZF marked ten years since the founding meeting was held.  Once again, the event was held at Bozo's in Mason, TN. Lots of people turned out on a very cold and rainy Saturday.

I arrived early and sat at the same spot as I sat ten years ago at the founding meeting.  Unlike the first meeting, I knew most of the people at this event.  Reading the logs afterwards, it looks like only four people from the original event made it to this one (Hoot Owl, bitbrain, pcsenn, and myself).  Maybe it was because of the weather, but I didn't see many of my Jackson-area friends.

The godzirra! 1K Event of Doom!!! - 2/15/2015

On Sunday, February 15, I attended The godzirra! 1K Event of Doom!!! by itcomagic | GC5KVRR at Fox Ridge Pizza in Cordova, TN.  I haven't been to that place since I hosted a 1k event for cgeek way back in 2006.  Lots of folks showed up for this event and a good time was had by all.  This event also filled in a day on my geo-calendar leaving me with 51 days left to fill in.

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.