I love finding traveling caches in the wild! I love the whole FTF kind of rush but with a factor of 10X because there are so few of these grandfathered caches available.
Christmas Day I was in Tucson with the family unit and there was some sort of snafu about who, or what, or where regarding the celebration. I took that opportunity of confusion to leave and drive like a mad-woman 30 minutes away in pursuit of another illusive traveling cache. I had been watching "Final Approach" ( MacGyver MOVING Cache # 27 ) bounce about the Old Pueblo for approximately six months. I thought I may have a change given that just about everyone in Tucson had already logged it during it's tenure here plus everyone should be unwrapping presents or eating their roast beast. At GZ I saw no footprints around the area so I was fairly sure I was the first to arrive today. I turned over some rocks and then started to get a little frantic with my search technique ;) After calming myself down and taking a look I immediately saw the wire jutting out over the edge of the pole. Ahhhh... yes, success! I got in the car and sped away, dialing Trizumi! to let him know that his girlfriend did yet again procure a travelling cache that he will be able to log from the comfort of his living room.
From his geocaching.com profile:
Traveling Geocaches my Girl Friend has Procured for me to Log in my Living Room
50 State Traveler She drove from Tempe to Mesa Arizona to complete the procurement process.
STOP AND GO,GO,GO, 3 She drove from Tempe to Tucson Arizona to complete the procurement process. We later left it on a stop sign in Ajo, Arizona.
Little Known Park Finder 2 She drove from Tempe to Scottsdale Arizona to complete the procurement process. Later we moved it to a park in Gila Bend, Arizona.
If you have not encountered or heard of a traveling cache it is just as the name implies: a cache that travels from place to place. Before the advent of travel bugs, a few physical geocaches were published with the requirement that the finder actually take the cache and rehide it in a different location. After placing in the new location the finder/hider would post the new coordinates in a cache log or email the cache owner to update the page. These types of caches are no longer allowed but a few are still around due to being "grandfathered" in.
Lots of people choose to hang on to travelling caches and take them to events, there were several about at GeoWoodstock VI. I logged this one then. But since the whole fun of the cache is the moving aspect I think just handing it to someone so they can get a smiley is declasse. Except for the boyfriend... because he does help me rehide it :)
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
I find tinsel distracting.
I'll tell more about Christmas Day caching adventures - too tired right now, night.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Replacement Cache
Trizumi! and I went to the cache, My Favorite Drinking Hole #34, last Saturday and found a bison tube with a piece of cardboard inside with 4-5 signatures. We signed the "log" and went on our way. When I logged online I mentioned the status of the cache as we had found it:
December 20 by Black_Cat (3213 found) Hmmm.. where Trizumi! and I found the cache it could definately not been seen from 10 feet away and it had a makeshift log (piece of folded cardboard garbage) with 5 or so signatures on it. Wondering if this is the cache or if there is another one nearby??? Either way, thanks for the cache!
The cache owner went out to check the status of his cache and what we found was not it! The true cache is there - wierd. I'm glad I posted the condition of the cache in my log as he was able to go out and remove the fake one.
My Favorite Drinking Hole#34 I was concerned about the cardboard log so I went by to check on the cache. I hate to say but that was not the cache. Someone placed another container with a board for a log. The really cache and log was just 3 feet away. I have removed the other container. Ok to count the find.
I wish people would not automatically assume that if they cannot find the cache then of course it is not there. And why waste a bison tube? I changed my "found it" to a "note." Maybe we will make it back by there someday.
December 20 by Black_Cat (3213 found) Hmmm.. where Trizumi! and I found the cache it could definately not been seen from 10 feet away and it had a makeshift log (piece of folded cardboard garbage) with 5 or so signatures on it. Wondering if this is the cache or if there is another one nearby??? Either way, thanks for the cache!
The cache owner went out to check the status of his cache and what we found was not it! The true cache is there - wierd. I'm glad I posted the condition of the cache in my log as he was able to go out and remove the fake one.
My Favorite Drinking Hole#34 I was concerned about the cardboard log so I went by to check on the cache. I hate to say but that was not the cache. Someone placed another container with a board for a log. The really cache and log was just 3 feet away. I have removed the other container. Ok to count the find.
I wish people would not automatically assume that if they cannot find the cache then of course it is not there. And why waste a bison tube? I changed my "found it" to a "note." Maybe we will make it back by there someday.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Karmic Puncture Wound
Yesterday morning was so cold, in the low 40s, but cute kitty and I went to our favorite croissant shop for breakfast anyway. She had a huge peanut butter croissant which I'm guessing was pretty darn good because she only shared a tiny morsel and half of my sausage and egg with pepper jack breakfast croissant. She did not get any of my grande latte however ;)
While enjoying breakfast, I called Trizumi! to see about the plan for the day. He wanted to do some holiday shopping at Fry's electronics and other various destinations so we made plans to meet at my house. Since cute kitty and I were already out and about we decided to find a couple of caches while waiting for Trizumi! We went over to Mac's Second Hammer for a quick find by cute kitty with retrival by me. The reason this cache is called Mac's Second Hammer is because Mac's First Hammer was objected to by a local cacher as it was placed in an area designated for homeowner's use only. I'm glad Mac Hammer was not put off by the policing and continues to place new caches, as the next nearest unfound cache was another placed "him" so off we went!
We parked .25 away at the skate park so cute kitty could check it out but a skater boy was already there. We walked across the empty soccer fields in the hope he would leave by the time we got back from finding Mac Hammer's Legacy Tower. This cache is placed near the old Goodyear Tire water tower that I thought was scheduled to be torn down a while ago. I was glad to see it was still here and that a cacher thought it was cool enough to warrant a cache placement :) Although the area is a sports complex now, it was once all cotton fields and it's nice to have one remaining icon from that era. After signing the log we walked back to the car and much to cute kitty's chagrin, two more skateboarding boys were using the skate park. Also, by now Trizumi! was sitting in the driveway of my house wondering where I was and why that location was not where I said I would be. I said we were only a couple of minutes away and would meet him at Fry's. I checked my GPSr and figured I had time for one more new cache since it was kinda sorta on the way.
Arizona Tales: The Man Who Killed Santa Claus is a pretty straight-forward 1/1 and cute kitty went right in to retrieve it. Her pant got caught on a palm frond barb and I went into the bush-like trees to free her. She came out because she had enough of that garbage and I went in to grab the ammo can. I stood and received a puncture wound to the top of my forehead from one of those very sharp barbs. After backing out I touched my head and my hand was covered in blood. Blood started running down my face and I could see cute kitty staring at me with wide eyes. She was so good and did not panic at all, she went to the car and got a napkin so I could put a compress to the wound. She then wanted to call 911 but I had the phone. I was very proud of her reaction and told her how great she is! While waiting for the bleeding to stop I called Trizumi! to tell him since I had an injury I was running a little behind schedule. He was not impressed and asked why I has stopped for another cache when I knew he was waiting on me. No sympathy. When the bleeding stopped and I went back in to get the cache ;) We signed the log and went on our way to holiday shopping.
While enjoying breakfast, I called Trizumi! to see about the plan for the day. He wanted to do some holiday shopping at Fry's electronics and other various destinations so we made plans to meet at my house. Since cute kitty and I were already out and about we decided to find a couple of caches while waiting for Trizumi! We went over to Mac's Second Hammer for a quick find by cute kitty with retrival by me. The reason this cache is called Mac's Second Hammer is because Mac's First Hammer was objected to by a local cacher as it was placed in an area designated for homeowner's use only. I'm glad Mac Hammer was not put off by the policing and continues to place new caches, as the next nearest unfound cache was another placed "him" so off we went!
We parked .25 away at the skate park so cute kitty could check it out but a skater boy was already there. We walked across the empty soccer fields in the hope he would leave by the time we got back from finding Mac Hammer's Legacy Tower. This cache is placed near the old Goodyear Tire water tower that I thought was scheduled to be torn down a while ago. I was glad to see it was still here and that a cacher thought it was cool enough to warrant a cache placement :) Although the area is a sports complex now, it was once all cotton fields and it's nice to have one remaining icon from that era. After signing the log we walked back to the car and much to cute kitty's chagrin, two more skateboarding boys were using the skate park. Also, by now Trizumi! was sitting in the driveway of my house wondering where I was and why that location was not where I said I would be. I said we were only a couple of minutes away and would meet him at Fry's. I checked my GPSr and figured I had time for one more new cache since it was kinda sorta on the way.
Arizona Tales: The Man Who Killed Santa Claus is a pretty straight-forward 1/1 and cute kitty went right in to retrieve it. Her pant got caught on a palm frond barb and I went into the bush-like trees to free her. She came out because she had enough of that garbage and I went in to grab the ammo can. I stood and received a puncture wound to the top of my forehead from one of those very sharp barbs. After backing out I touched my head and my hand was covered in blood. Blood started running down my face and I could see cute kitty staring at me with wide eyes. She was so good and did not panic at all, she went to the car and got a napkin so I could put a compress to the wound. She then wanted to call 911 but I had the phone. I was very proud of her reaction and told her how great she is! While waiting for the bleeding to stop I called Trizumi! to tell him since I had an injury I was running a little behind schedule. He was not impressed and asked why I has stopped for another cache when I knew he was waiting on me. No sympathy. When the bleeding stopped and I went back in to get the cache ;) We signed the log and went on our way to holiday shopping.
Friday, December 19, 2008
3200th Geocache Found
I'm not one to get all excited about milestone caches. I don't work toward a number goal by such and such a date or pick out some special cache to celebrate the find. I do however understand these milestones have significance to others, including my geocaching partner / boyfriend extraordinaire Trizumi!. So I hovered next to 3200 for a couple of days waiting around for him to come over last night.
Now normally Trizumi! refuses to cache at night but since it was a milestone cache to be sought he agreed to go. I picked my closest unfound cache, Twin Peaks, and off we went into the darkness with a promise to cute kitty of a Happy Meal. The cache is located in the parking lot of the Tilted Kilt in Tempe. Needless to say the place was packed :) A couple of guys were hanging about thier vehicle but I was sure I could provide adequate coverage with the sedan and pulled right up to ground zero. Trizumi! hopped out the passenger side and looked in the first obvious spot and then the second spot and there ya are: find #3200! (more about this cache later in this blog entry).
There happened to be another couple of new caches nearby and since I needed to check on my cache Desert Hummingbird, well.... why not go get those other new ones, huh?
So after checking on my cache (which was all good and fine - left a geocoin for the next finder) we
made the short drive down the street to Mac Hammer's Desert Breeze #1. Thankfully the soccer players were just leaving and Trizumi! was able to palm the cache and walk away without causing alarm. After signing the log, cute kitty and I distracted the nearby players while Trizumi! replaced the cache. I was glad to see more caches placed in Desert Breeze as it is one of my favorite parks. Next we went on to Snow Miser - Heat Miser where my GPS had me off into the bushes but after a minute we thought about better places it may be and Trizumi! went straight for it. Three for three! Not too shabby for someone who does not like night caching. Signed the log and then it was time to pay up on the promise of the chicken McNuggets. On the way to McDonald's Trizumi! said he knew I was going to stop by Man's Favorite Toy Shop (again) so there was no need to be coy about it. hee-hee. He knows me too well. One last cache of this quick night excursion to 3200.
Ok now about the Twin Peaks cache. After we got home and I was logging my finds. I find out our friend GeoRaptor was there too and didn't recognize us in the dark! Sorry we missed seeing him, here is his log on the cache.
Well, that's it for our night caching adventure and my milestone of 3200 caches found. Happy caching!
Now normally Trizumi! refuses to cache at night but since it was a milestone cache to be sought he agreed to go. I picked my closest unfound cache, Twin Peaks, and off we went into the darkness with a promise to cute kitty of a Happy Meal. The cache is located in the parking lot of the Tilted Kilt in Tempe. Needless to say the place was packed :) A couple of guys were hanging about thier vehicle but I was sure I could provide adequate coverage with the sedan and pulled right up to ground zero. Trizumi! hopped out the passenger side and looked in the first obvious spot and then the second spot and there ya are: find #3200! (more about this cache later in this blog entry).
There happened to be another couple of new caches nearby and since I needed to check on my cache Desert Hummingbird, well.... why not go get those other new ones, huh?
So after checking on my cache (which was all good and fine - left a geocoin for the next finder) we
made the short drive down the street to Mac Hammer's Desert Breeze #1. Thankfully the soccer players were just leaving and Trizumi! was able to palm the cache and walk away without causing alarm. After signing the log, cute kitty and I distracted the nearby players while Trizumi! replaced the cache. I was glad to see more caches placed in Desert Breeze as it is one of my favorite parks. Next we went on to Snow Miser - Heat Miser where my GPS had me off into the bushes but after a minute we thought about better places it may be and Trizumi! went straight for it. Three for three! Not too shabby for someone who does not like night caching. Signed the log and then it was time to pay up on the promise of the chicken McNuggets. On the way to McDonald's Trizumi! said he knew I was going to stop by Man's Favorite Toy Shop (again) so there was no need to be coy about it. hee-hee. He knows me too well. One last cache of this quick night excursion to 3200.
Ok now about the Twin Peaks cache. After we got home and I was logging my finds. I find out our friend GeoRaptor was there too and didn't recognize us in the dark! Sorry we missed seeing him, here is his log on the cache.
Well, that's it for our night caching adventure and my milestone of 3200 caches found. Happy caching!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Power Caching?
Just what is the definition of "Power Caching" anyway?
I think my personal interpretation would be either:
1) a 16+ hour continuous hunt for mostly urban hides
OR
2) 100+ finds in a single geocaching session.
Anyway... running some queries for Palm Springs tomorrow.
I think my personal interpretation would be either:
1) a 16+ hour continuous hunt for mostly urban hides
OR
2) 100+ finds in a single geocaching session.
Anyway... running some queries for Palm Springs tomorrow.