I started this blog a year ago to post (semi-regularly) about my geocaching adventures. I have failed to post in any kind of consistent basis, which I blame on two main things: 1) Changes in my career, which have greatly increased the number of hours I spend working and decreasing the hours I spend geocaching, and 2) a lack of discipline. It is funny how I could manage time to blog when I was working insane hours (I think it created a stress-break), but haven't managed to blog as often when I have actually had some time to do so.
Anyways, I decided to start the new year off by looking back at some things I did accomplish during the year of 2012. I had decided at the start of the year to try to make an effort to make progress on several challenges (Jasmer, Counties, etc,.) and did somehwat well in some of those and no so well on others.
My biggest personal feat was my 1000th find on December 23rd, but as always, the best part of my caching year was spending time with friends at events and on the caching trails.
Jasmer Challenge: I filled in 20 blocks on the Jasmer grid in 2012. This consisted of finding a cache placed in all 12 months of 2012, as well as 2 blocks from 2001, 3 blocks from 2002, 2 blocks from 2003, and one from 2004.
Well-Rounded Cacher (Fizzy) Challenge: I did not make much of an effort to concentrate on this challenge in 2012, but I did somehow manage to fill in 5 squares on my grid this year.
Finds by Find Date: Even though because of my job this will be the toughest challenge for me to probably complete (January through April 15th will be practically impossible for me to complete), I tried to fill in as much of my calendar as possible when time allowed me this year. If nothing else, I have a goal to fill in May through December completely. I filled in 69 days on this calendar this year.
TN County Challenge: I had planned to make progress on my Tennessee County list this year, but managed only one new county (Chester) for the year.
KY County Challenge: I had never considered even thinking about this challenge before this year (and it will be a long time to finish), but two trips to Louisville this year (one for GeoWoodstock X and one for a Mumford & Sons/Dawes/Apache Relay concert) and cache run in western Kentucky saw me add 13 Kentuck counties to my cache list.
States: I added three new states with finds this year: Missouri, Alabama, and Florida. I only had 2 finds in Missouri, 3 in Alabama, and 2 in Florida, but they still count!
Other Milestones: I did hit several milestones number-wise in 2012. I had my biggest year in total finds (362), my biggest month (June with 86), and biggest day (June 27 with 78). I put together my longest consecutive days cached streak (18), my first day with 5 cache-types in a day, and my most consecutive months with a FTF (5).
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
GeoWoodstock/Louisville Part 3
Having been beat down by the previous day's heat, our Sunday trip home was going to be spent doing activities that were not out in the sunshine (or so we thought). After grabbing breakfast, we headed south and stopped in Shepardsville to tour the Jim Beam Distillery. It was an okay historical tour, but fell far short of the tour of the Jack Daniels' Distillery in Lynchburg, TN. After the tour, we did locate the earthcache Drive-By Geology as we hit the highway south.
By mid-afternoon, we had arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky and decided to check out The Lost River Cave. Though the boat tour was a bit pricey, all of the funds do go back into the maintaining the area, so it still seemed like money well-spent. There were several caches in the park, but we had bypassed a couple before I realized they were there. We did, however, find four of the caches located there, including Caching in the Cave: Lost River Spring, which was my favorite of the ones we found. It involved climbing a short embankment and weaving to the top of a spring feeding the river system.
At this point, we were spent and headed back home.
By mid-afternoon, we had arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky and decided to check out The Lost River Cave. Though the boat tour was a bit pricey, all of the funds do go back into the maintaining the area, so it still seemed like money well-spent. There were several caches in the park, but we had bypassed a couple before I realized they were there. We did, however, find four of the caches located there, including Caching in the Cave: Lost River Spring, which was my favorite of the ones we found. It involved climbing a short embankment and weaving to the top of a spring feeding the river system.
At this point, we were spent and headed back home.
Monday, June 4, 2012
GeoWoodstock/Louisville- Part 2
Saturday was the day I had been waiting on for months, the mega-event GeoWoodstock X. We made the drive from our hotel in Jeffersonville up to Sellersburg, IN, the actual event site. How was it? In a word, hot. Or, more accurately, extremely hot. We visited the vendor booths and ate lunch, then decided to skip the events because we were so hot we couldn't really enjoy orselves.
We then drove to Greenville, IN, which is where justbubbin lived until she was six. We visited the homes she had lived in and then decided to start grabbing a few caches as we worked our way back to Jeffersonville. Most of the finds were park and grabs, but I did find a regular-size cache with Galena's Lamb, which required a short walk down a narrow trail and then an 80-100 foot plunge into the woods to the cache. It was a fairly easy find, but the thorns did a number on me as I was wearing shorts instead of pants. This cache completed the requirements to find and log GEO.JOE (RVG Challenge), a cache I hope to grab in the near future.
As we approached Jeffersonville, we were wanting a bite to eat so we crossed into Louisville to find a White Castle. Luckily, there was no Harold & Kumar moment for us. We then went to Mazzoli Bioswale, an interesting earthcache centered around scrubbing pollution out of rainwater before it enters the sewer system. We then visited a series of virtual caches, including Bikes, Blades & Boards, Edison House, and The Lady, which took us back to Indiana. We hunted a few more caches before retreating to our hotel to cool down for a while.
After the heat broke, we headed out to the Fallos of the Ohio area. Our first stop was a cache at Kentuckiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, We then headed into the park, where we found five of the earthcaches there, including FOSSIL IDENTIFICATION at the FALLS OF THE OHIO. There were some more earthcaches in the park, but we were running out of daylight at this point.
We then drove to Greenville, IN, which is where justbubbin lived until she was six. We visited the homes she had lived in and then decided to start grabbing a few caches as we worked our way back to Jeffersonville. Most of the finds were park and grabs, but I did find a regular-size cache with Galena's Lamb, which required a short walk down a narrow trail and then an 80-100 foot plunge into the woods to the cache. It was a fairly easy find, but the thorns did a number on me as I was wearing shorts instead of pants. This cache completed the requirements to find and log GEO.JOE (RVG Challenge), a cache I hope to grab in the near future.
As we approached Jeffersonville, we were wanting a bite to eat so we crossed into Louisville to find a White Castle. Luckily, there was no Harold & Kumar moment for us. We then went to Mazzoli Bioswale, an interesting earthcache centered around scrubbing pollution out of rainwater before it enters the sewer system. We then visited a series of virtual caches, including Bikes, Blades & Boards, Edison House, and The Lady, which took us back to Indiana. We hunted a few more caches before retreating to our hotel to cool down for a while.
After the heat broke, we headed out to the Fallos of the Ohio area. Our first stop was a cache at Kentuckiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, We then headed into the park, where we found five of the earthcaches there, including FOSSIL IDENTIFICATION at the FALLS OF THE OHIO. There were some more earthcaches in the park, but we were running out of daylight at this point.
Friday, June 1, 2012
GeoWoodstock/Louisville- Part I
Not having had a real vacation in quite some time, I was looking forward to making the trip to Louisville, KY and attending GeoWoodstock X in nearby Sellersburg, Indiana.
We got an early start on Thursday, May 24th, so that we could make it to Churchill Downs to attend the THURSDAY FLASH @ Churchill Downs flash mob event. It was my first time to attend live horse racing, and the fact that it was at historic Churchill Downs made it all the better. We got a chance to meet a few folks, have our picture taken in front of the Barbaro statue, and watch some racing. We had a blast, and I recommend that everyone do this at least once in their lifetime.
After checking into our hotel and cleaning up a bit, we headed to downtown Louisville to Fourth Street to grab dinner and check in at the Crossmage & Phoenix Lady R Gettin' Hitched @GWX!! event. We signed the log wishing the happy couple our best wishes, talked to some other cachers, and headed on.
On Friday, we ate a late breakfast and then grabbed a few caches before heading to the Schimpf Candy Factory for a tour. One of the cooler caches was Nightmare on Spring Street, which is an old warehouse that has been converted into a haunted house. While searching for the cache, the property owner pulled up and walked over. Talked to him a few minutes, then found the cache and moved on.
We then attended the candy factory tour, enjoyed a drink at the 50's style soda fountain, and purchased some candy. Titansfan and I then grabbed two local caches in easy walking distance. I normally abhor caboose caches, so I enjoyed the fact that The Wheels of the Train Go Round and Round was not the normal micro that you normally find in these locations. We finished up the day by walking across the street from our hotel to Miles of Smiles Meet & Greet, where we picked up our registration packets for Saturday's event.
At the advice of a friend, we then headed for dinner at Havana Rumba, a hidden-gem of a Cuban restaurant. It was quite possibly the best meal I have ever had, though I had never experienced Cuban food before. It is a place I will definitely visit the next time I am in the area.
We got an early start on Thursday, May 24th, so that we could make it to Churchill Downs to attend the THURSDAY FLASH @ Churchill Downs flash mob event. It was my first time to attend live horse racing, and the fact that it was at historic Churchill Downs made it all the better. We got a chance to meet a few folks, have our picture taken in front of the Barbaro statue, and watch some racing. We had a blast, and I recommend that everyone do this at least once in their lifetime.
After checking into our hotel and cleaning up a bit, we headed to downtown Louisville to Fourth Street to grab dinner and check in at the Crossmage & Phoenix Lady R Gettin' Hitched @GWX!! event. We signed the log wishing the happy couple our best wishes, talked to some other cachers, and headed on.
On Friday, we ate a late breakfast and then grabbed a few caches before heading to the Schimpf Candy Factory for a tour. One of the cooler caches was Nightmare on Spring Street, which is an old warehouse that has been converted into a haunted house. While searching for the cache, the property owner pulled up and walked over. Talked to him a few minutes, then found the cache and moved on.
We then attended the candy factory tour, enjoyed a drink at the 50's style soda fountain, and purchased some candy. Titansfan and I then grabbed two local caches in easy walking distance. I normally abhor caboose caches, so I enjoyed the fact that The Wheels of the Train Go Round and Round was not the normal micro that you normally find in these locations. We finished up the day by walking across the street from our hotel to Miles of Smiles Meet & Greet, where we picked up our registration packets for Saturday's event.
At the advice of a friend, we then headed for dinner at Havana Rumba, a hidden-gem of a Cuban restaurant. It was quite possibly the best meal I have ever had, though I had never experienced Cuban food before. It is a place I will definitely visit the next time I am in the area.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Day After Christmas Cache Run
While attending a cachers event in earlier December, I spoke to titansfan about possibly doing a cacherun the day after Christmas to help advance my attempt to reach 600 cache finds before the end of the year. We decided a new walking power trail near Ashland City, TN would be a perfect place to do so if the weather permitted.
Around 6 am on December 26, titansfan, chicontater and his son Jordan, and pcsenn met me in Paris where we proceeded towards Clarksville. We stopped first at the cache Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and realized that the cache was going to be located in a storm drain under the city streets. Just as we approached the entrance, we were met by scoutpaddle who had just found the cache. We entered the tunnel, and low walked, crawled, and duck walked though a turn until we located the cache. After signing the log, we headed back out where we met Orion_13 and his family. Chico's son Jordan accompanied Orion_13 to the cache, and when they returned, we headed out towards Ashland City.
We found 5 more caches along the way, and then met up with brickbat66 who met us at the end of the trail and transported us to the start of the trail. We walked the entire length of the 8.5+ mile trail, finding 55 caches along the way and only failing to find one. Orion_13 and brickbat66 both dropped out after the first segment of the trail while the rest of us continued on.
Most of the finds were simple micros that were dedicated to various Boy Scout merit badges, but were simple, easy to find hides. The cache Quit While A Head was an interesting little puzzle cache that required waypoint projection. The cache also met the requirements for the letter "Q" for a couple of alphabet challenge caches that I intend to pursue later in 2012.
All in all, it was a great day spent caching with friends. Since the terrain was mostly flat, I did not experience the fatigue or extreme soreness from the walk that I expected. I hope to do more of these type cache runs this in 2012 as well.
Around 6 am on December 26, titansfan, chicontater and his son Jordan, and pcsenn met me in Paris where we proceeded towards Clarksville. We stopped first at the cache Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and realized that the cache was going to be located in a storm drain under the city streets. Just as we approached the entrance, we were met by scoutpaddle who had just found the cache. We entered the tunnel, and low walked, crawled, and duck walked though a turn until we located the cache. After signing the log, we headed back out where we met Orion_13 and his family. Chico's son Jordan accompanied Orion_13 to the cache, and when they returned, we headed out towards Ashland City.
We found 5 more caches along the way, and then met up with brickbat66 who met us at the end of the trail and transported us to the start of the trail. We walked the entire length of the 8.5+ mile trail, finding 55 caches along the way and only failing to find one. Orion_13 and brickbat66 both dropped out after the first segment of the trail while the rest of us continued on.
Most of the finds were simple micros that were dedicated to various Boy Scout merit badges, but were simple, easy to find hides. The cache Quit While A Head was an interesting little puzzle cache that required waypoint projection. The cache also met the requirements for the letter "Q" for a couple of alphabet challenge caches that I intend to pursue later in 2012.
All in all, it was a great day spent caching with friends. Since the terrain was mostly flat, I did not experience the fatigue or extreme soreness from the walk that I expected. I hope to do more of these type cache runs this in 2012 as well.
Monday, January 9, 2012
January 7, 2012
With tax season quickly approaching, I knew this would be my last weekend to venture far from home for a while. The weather was nice, so after a quick trip to Alamo to take care of some business, we headed towards Sikeston, MO to eat at Lambert's. Of course, good weather also meant a chance to grab a few geocaches while out.
Our first stop was The Great River Road - Tennessee. It was going to be a simple park and grab, but I needed it to color in a grid for the Tennessee DeLorme Challenge. We could see the container as we approached, and it was open and had no log. I had log sheets with me, so I placed it inside and returned the container closer ot the gorund and hopefully less conspicuous.
Stop # 2 was Aim High. Another easy P & G, this was my first find in Missouri and centered around a tribute to a Caruthersville World War II pilot. It was proof that you can make a P & G into a nice cache.
Approaching Sikeston, we then stopped in pursuit of Are they still spots without the leopard? The name made more sense upon approach. Nothing special, this cache was needed, however, to fill a requirement for the GEO.JOE (RVG Challenge) cache.
Returning to Tennessee, we then hit The "Tennessee Welcome" Travel Bug Hotel. I picked up a couple of travel bugs to move along here. I also needed this to help fulfill a requirement on the Abiectio, the Evil One? (Challenge Cache). I hit the other cache at this rest area as well before heading home.
Though there were only five caches on this trip, I fulfilled requirements toward the before-mentioned challenges, as well as picking up my 11th Geocaching Virtual Souvenir, which also leaves me one souvenir away from being able to find and log the TN--12-'Souvenirs' CHALLENGE.
Great day and great weekend to relax before the next three months of hard work.
Our first stop was The Great River Road - Tennessee. It was going to be a simple park and grab, but I needed it to color in a grid for the Tennessee DeLorme Challenge. We could see the container as we approached, and it was open and had no log. I had log sheets with me, so I placed it inside and returned the container closer ot the gorund and hopefully less conspicuous.
Stop # 2 was Aim High. Another easy P & G, this was my first find in Missouri and centered around a tribute to a Caruthersville World War II pilot. It was proof that you can make a P & G into a nice cache.
Approaching Sikeston, we then stopped in pursuit of Are they still spots without the leopard? The name made more sense upon approach. Nothing special, this cache was needed, however, to fill a requirement for the GEO.JOE (RVG Challenge) cache.
Returning to Tennessee, we then hit The "Tennessee Welcome" Travel Bug Hotel. I picked up a couple of travel bugs to move along here. I also needed this to help fulfill a requirement on the Abiectio, the Evil One? (Challenge Cache). I hit the other cache at this rest area as well before heading home.
Though there were only five caches on this trip, I fulfilled requirements toward the before-mentioned challenges, as well as picking up my 11th Geocaching Virtual Souvenir, which also leaves me one souvenir away from being able to find and log the TN--12-'Souvenirs' CHALLENGE.
Great day and great weekend to relax before the next three months of hard work.
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