May 25, 2015
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Looking for Geowoodstock
We were at Geowoodstock XIII in Hagerstown, MD. I was a bit bummed that Sparky missed the registration deadline. But you know it was still fun. (saintvi is the best kind of friend and made my weekend with her generosity and forethought - she thinks it must have been a divine whisper that prompted her to get an extra set of path tags! I agree! I think it is better that God has one's ear instead of having God's ear so to speak.) We went to the events and best of all we are there with friends - saintvi and her husband Waldowalking. He is always a major attraction when he wears his Waldo outfit. Mostly because he DOES look like Waldo! Last year he was so popular that he was in the geocaching magazine! How cool is that?!?! I had hoped to break 2000 caches at Geowoodstock but it wasn't meant to be. I hit that milestone on the way home in Sharpsburg, PA at a virtual cache. The drive to GZ (Ground Zero) for Geowoodstock was a little hectic due to the traffic and the other events happening on Memorial Day weekend. I tried to relax and not watch the road or the merging and passing vehicles on the highway as it made me so tense that I found myself holding my breath. To add to the chaos, there were geocaches placed along the road. Although the event planners sent an announcement asking that no one attempt the caches on Saturday, many people disregarded that request and ended up being a hazard to others and themselves. I have to say that for the number of people at the event, the parking (going in and coming out) was a breeze. We went back on Sunday and grabbed those caches as we left town. We had a really good day Sunday finding 25 caches to get my numbers up. Today we will be getting some additional caches as "gravy" to bump up our numbers. For the May 2015 Scavenger Hunt, using the prompt "ping pong" I present the following poem. This is how I view big city driving. Some of the cars careen around the road like ping pong balls. Frightening!
It is a big game
Played by unseen
Hands batting
The cars back and forth
Trying not to cause
A crash to the net
Or one falling off
Or hitting so hard
That it is dented
From unplayable
Lobs and volleys
Comments (22)
We are home and I've already done a load of laundry and got most of my caches logged. I have more than 50 new pathtags to log, which I'm kind of not looking forward to, but they'll look so pretty in my antique blue mason jar! Brett was looking at them in the hotel room the other night and noticed I got a duplicate tag, so that will be coming your way. You are also the best kind of friend, getting signatures on my Bingo card while I'm busy taking Waldo pictures, making pathtag transactions while I'm busy talking to the joyous one on the phone, etc. It was fun! We will be giving serious thought to next year as soon as we finish up this year's road trips. I have at least two more on the calendar.
I've been logging as I've gone so I would know which one was the 2000th. So I'll only need to log the ones we get today. Did you find the big ammo can in Wauseon? A road trip to CO would be so fun! But I'm pretty sure I couldn't take the time off. It will all depend on the work environment come July of next year. If Sparky is at a new job he might not have any vacation time and if unemployed I doubt we will be traveling anywhere!
P.S. I've already been thinking about how the oldest caches in Kansas and Colorado would be not too far out of the way. I've had that Kansas cache on my list forever!
Ah. That would be something to do... I think you've already found several states' oldest, yes? How many states do you still need?
You and Sparky were sensible about getting the caches. Sadly, so many people cast all caution to the wind, and don't bother to think about other travelers and local drivers.
Some folks are self centered. In this case they were too focused on making the find and forgot that there were others on the road. Generally cachers are all about the stealth.
That sounds like a delightful way to spend a 3-day weekend -- better than stuffing oneself around a barbecue!
We visited several historic places and enjoyed talking to the park ranger at Antietam. Lots of things to see and places to go. We didn't even scratch the surface. Another visit is in order!
Glad you had a nice visit and time. Congrats on reaching a new level.
Looks like your long weekend is going well.
I was not ready to return to the daily grind. I wish the vacation had lasted another week!
@murisopsis: I'm still in the single digits, I think. I've got Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. That's pretty much a road trip from here to visit my mom. I need to venture off that route.
I think I've only got Indiana, maybe Michigan, and of course the mother cache...
@murisopsis: We didn't find the Wauseon cache. Four GPSrs pointed over a fence, across the interstate, into somebody's private driveway. We would have parked and walked in the direction the compass indicated, but everything was fenced. I don't understand what the deal is, but I had to pee so we left it for another time.
According to the cache page they relocated the cache to the hotel... the one across from the dirt road. We did the Fairground caches. Lots of them and not too difficult at all!
Glad you had so much fun and were able to loot the caches at your leisure. Yes, highway traffic on the interstates, is daunting.
Hehe! No looting - I'm a mouse not a pirate! I did trade some swag. Got a little flashlight in return for a mouse finger puppet and a lapel pin. It was loads of fun and I wish we could have vacationed longer!
That's a lot of geocaching! Haven't stopped the wild train ride of life to do any lately but someday we will try some again.
I hope you can get out and do some caches now that the weather is nice!
I am glad you had a good vacation, and made it to GeoWoodstock since that is something that you enjoy. It is nice to have a friend to meetup with and share adventures with too. I think you were wise to abandon highway caching.
We went back and got them when everything was calm. Had lots of fun on Memorial day - visited Antietam and several other historic venues. One of our last stops was in a little Ohio town at a war memorial. Someone had put up some little flags but they had fallen over due to the wind. We spent a few minutes straightening them and making sure they were secured...
@murisopsis: I know you have Michigan and Illinois because I was with you at the time! I expect you must have Indiana because it's practically in your backyard (Elkhart). If you ever go to the Ozarks, the oldest cache in Arkansas is super easy and fun. It's in Mountain Home, which isn't really near anything, but worth the drive for the cache. Missouri is in the Kansas City area, and Oklahoma is just outside of Tulsa.
Oh! I forgot about those! I'm not sure Sparky wants to go south again... He loves the history of the eastern states...
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