Nothing Out Here But Us Grass!

After heading out to Rough Rider Cache for the second time this morning and again turning up empty, I decided to message the owners and ask for some clues. They said it was an easy cache, and couldn't imagine someone having this much difficulty, so they went out to check on it. Sure enough, it was muggled. Turns out I wasn't quite as bad as I thought I was. Will be happy to get this one out of the way after they put another cache out. :)

Caching Newbie Comes Out Strong

After two straight days of no finds, I figured a change of location was in order. I recruited the help of Team Lost's newest unofficial member, Tiny Dancer. And I tell you, she had the hot hands tonight.

I wrote down the coordinates for three caches, got a few things together, and headed out. First on the list was S4, Jesse Rogers Cemetery (GCG77F). We approached the entrance to the Cemetery and quickly read the sign that said "Closed From Dusk Till Dawn." Being the night before Halloween, and realizing the wonderful reference of a horror movie title, I decided I didn't care. We headed in.

The cache consisted of finding birth/death dates of a couple people and plugging in numbers in order to find the coordinates of the cache. The GPS was apparently bouncing off the spirits of the dead, because it was going nuts. After 20 minutes of searching with a single flashlight, we managed to find the numbers we needed. Unfortunately we plugged in a birth date instead of a death date, so we were headed in the total wrong direction of the cache. Tiny Dancer figured that out after the GPS was pointing to the other side of a fence. We quickly went back to the headstone, found the correct numbers, and headed in a more appropriate direction.

Closing in on the destination, we poked around in some bushes for a bit and didn't see anything. I rarely print out the cache sheets, so I didn't have any clues or anything to go on. I figured I'd use my phone-a-friend to call DeepDigger, and as I was asking him for some clues, Tiny Dancer proclaimed "I think I found it." Sure enough, I looked over and she had the cache in her hands. It was a micro. I let her sign the log since she was the finder. We quickly replaced the cache and took off. We didn't want to stay in a graveyard in the dark on the eve of Halloween. (Also we forgot to take pictures of this one, sorry!)

En route to destination #2, Nan's Kitchen Cache #2 (GCQHNH), we were in good spirits. I told the Dancer that we were going to a park, and she realized the direction we were headed was a park she used to play in as a child. Sure enough, she confirmed this when the GPS clocked down. We hopped out of the car and followed the arrow that we've come to love and hate. It pointed to some bushes and ... wait. What happened? Oh, looks like the GPS has breathed its last breath. Karma from poking around in a graveyard prior? Who knows. As I was about to suggest turning back to get more batteries, I heard what has begun to be a familiar sound: Tiny Dancer gloating about another find. "I see it!" she said, heading around the fence to the cache and out she came with a huge tupperware box.

We popped her open and you could see stars in her eyes as she looked over her first cache with inventory. She poked around and took out a pencil with a snowman eraser. In return we left gorilla-my-dreams travel bug. I was sad to see him go. He had a long trip to Florida from South Carolina. I wish him well.

I was really enjoying the night. It had been so long since I had found a cache and here we were two for two! We left and stopped at a gas station to get some fresh batteries for the GPS and another flashlight. The Dancer also wanted to buy a little something to leave in a later cache, so she bought a 8 pack of dice. I believe she may be getting addicted. :)

Time for cache #3, Don't Tread on Me (GCTE5G). I remembered reading the details, and it was under the Brooks Bridge. We drove around until we found our way under there, and parked. Be weary, those who dare venture down to this one. You'll find some nice stuff on your shoes if you're not careful. We smelled this one for the rest of the night.

After about 5 minutes of looking around with our flashlights, Dancer said "I have an idea!" I don't know what she was on, but I need some. Boy was she on tonight! Of course, I didn't discount her for a second. It didn't surprise me a bit when she came out with the cache. That was three in a row for her! Am I that bad? She popped open the small bottle and pulled all the contents out. A travel bug! Without a thought she pocketed the bug, threw in some dice and signed the log.

Having found three caches, we decided we had time for a couple more. Called up Deep again and got the coordinates to one I saw when I was looking on the site earlier in the day. Fort Walton Landing, another micro. Woo freaking hoo. She knew where the landing was, so she drove there as I put in the numbers. Parked as close as we could and hoofed it to the location. Read the clues to ourselves over and over, but couldn't figure out anything. We gently pulled everything we could get our hands on, but nothing came out of the ground. We almost gave up three or four times. As I climbed the hill to leave, I saw one last thing to pull up, and out it came. Yes! I finally found one! One out of four isn't bad, right?

As I called Deep to gloat, Dancer unscrewed it and pulled out the log. It's my turn to sign! Yeah! Signed it, felt good inside and placed it back. Four for four. I couldn't believe it.

Having a little bit of time left, we got one more set of coordinates from the Team Lost Headquarters (Deep's house as he tried to eat.) The Library Cache (GCYEEY) was at a Library (appropriately) right up the road. We parked at a car wash and made a short walk to the library. We looked for about 30 seconds as we realized there was a homeless guy shuffling around near the library behind us. Being the safe geocachers that we are, we decided it would be a good idea to leave. We walked (quickly!) to our car and made the drive home.

Was a great night. Can't wait to get out again. I wonder how I'll fare without her?

'Pin Cone, Reclaimed' Claimed

It was sprinkling again this morning (after a tremendous downpour all night) but I was determined to get out today. I searched the site for a suitable cache that I'd be able to find fairly quickly, but I wanted to explore a place I'd never seen before, so I found a cache called 'Pin Cone, Reclaimed' (GCP7T7). It was a 2/1.5. I plugged in the coordinates to the parking lot and the cache itself, grabbed my camera and I was on my way.

It was about a 4 mile drive, and again, Google Earth threw me down a street that I didn't need to go down. I turned around and followed the GPS and arrived at a water reclamation project. Parked the car and headed through a gate that read "Gate closes at dark." Good thing it was only 2pm. As I made my way through the gate, I was struck with how beautiful the woods were.

I was on a trail heading right through them. I looked at the GPS and it said I had to walk a little more than half a mile, so I buckled down and started hoofing it. I quickly came upon a boardwalk, which continued all the way to the cache (and past!). I'd never seen a boardwalk so vast, but then again I haven't been on too many. The scenery was beautiful, and the water under the boardwalk was nice, and at one point became totally covered in algae.

I saw a couple ducks and water pipes and finally zeroed in on the waypoint. Took me about 30 seconds to find it, since there weren't too many places it could have been hiding. It was hanging on two nails under the railing of the boardwalk. As soon as I found it the rain started coming down a bit stronger, so I opened it up, looked at the contents and left.


I didn't have anything to put in (it's a lapel pin trading station) and I forgot my pen, so I just closed it up and left. I'll come back again soon to sign the log.

RB[TL]

Happy Wednesdays

Well, Wednesdays are always a happy day for me. Mostly because half of the year it means a new LOST is on. Oh, and our team name has nothing to do with that show. It's mere coincidence ... right? :)

I woke up and logged onto the geocaching.com site and realized that there was a new cache out, called "Creek Club" (GCZ1MV). I wake up late, so there were already two finds from pretty prominent cachers in the area, but I grabbed my GPS and headed out. To my amazement, it was within walking distance to my apartment. It was in the front of the local golf course I live on, which is closed currently for renovations. It didn't take me too long to find it. With an open sky, the GPS didn't have much trouble zeroing in on a bush, and inside was a camo container. With only a few people finding it in front of me, there wasn't much worth while inside, but I took a pack of trading cards shaped like cats. I left a John Coltrane cassette tape in return. Was a fun cache, and made me happy knowing one was so close to my place.

I ran back home and immediately searched for another one to find. I found one about 5 miles away, so I hopped in my car and headed toward it. I have to say, 5 miles seems like eternity when one is stuck in traffic.

I arrived at a park which was right beside an elementary school. There were some older people around, so I had to sort of walk around for 15 minutes acting like I was enjoying the scenery. (Not that I wasn't, but I was sort of focused on finding the cache.) Over the course of 10-15 minutes they eventually left one by one. I looked where my GPS was pointing, but it was kind of tricky. It seemed at one point that the GPS was pointing on the other side of the fence, in the school's playground! I dismissed that theory and dug around in the bushes for about 10 minutes. Finally I saw a pipe and thought "well, let's just see if the lid comes off." Sure enough, it did, and it contained a geocaching canister. The cache was totally full, so in order to leave my "First Response" travel bug, I had to take the biggest thing, so it would fit. It was some firetruck beaded necklace. Totally tacky, but whatever. Another find! No complaints.

When I got home I figured I had time for one more before it was time to get ready for work, so I tried to pick an easy one. Found one with a 1/1 rating, and off I went.

Google Earth gave me some bogus directions, so I wound up just following the GPS arrow. Ended up behind an Albertson's. The name of the cache was "Tornado" and the GPS lead me to a sign on the fence labeled "Tornado." These types of things make me really happy, as if I've found a connection not many people have found. Anyway, I dug around in the bushes for about 10 minutes, trying not to look like a crazy person to the few cars and walkers passing by. I finally found another camo container in there and took some sweet looking marbles. In return I left the cat trading cards I had received earlier in the day.

There are a few caches downtown semi-near my work that I am anxious to get out of the way, but I'm sure they'll come in time. I am also anxious to get my girlfriend out there with me, to see if the addiction bites her as it has me.

Well, more to come tomorrow.

Regular_Banana, out.
Team Lost