Space Coast Geocaching Scaring Folks at Midwest Geobash 2012

     One of the many exciting aspects of doing this kind of blog, the kind that opens up for input from all sort of groups, organizations and individuals, is that I can learn about events that I would not other wise know about.  Thanks to Space Coast Geocaching, who will be a vendor at the event,  I have learned about a new one.   Well, here is an event that I am anxious to follow -
Midwest Geobash 2012.  Here is a brief description -

GET READY FOR MWGB 2012!
The theme is "Halloween In July" and the mascot is Spook the Owl for MWGB 2012.
The Halloween theme gives us a lot of great options for planning activities throughout MWGB.  As usual there will be a campsite contest with the top three winning a GPS unit!  All winners and honorable mention sites win free camping in 2013.  We encourage everyone to embrace the theme and come dressed in costume on Saturday! Feel free to dress in costume any time, but if you only have one costume - wear it on Saturday!
We will once again be at the Fulton County Fairgrounds in beautiful Wauseon, OH. The event will be held July 26-29, 2012.
Our "Getting Ready For Bash" primer and our "Arriving At Geobash" guide will get you educated a little on how to enjoy and arrive in style at bash.  Knowing is half the battle right?  

General Event Info  
     MWGB is free to attend but please register to help us plan for the crowd. Come join over 2000 other attendees from all over the United States and world for a weekend of Geocaching-centric fun, fellowship, and learning. Wondering what Geocaching is? Come on out and see for yourself! You can also study up a little before the event at Geocaching.com or post your questions in our website forums.

You can attend MWGB even if you missed the registration period. We do appreciate registrations to help us plan, but we also don't want to exclude anyone.  Want to come?  Show up!  There's plenty of space and plenty of fun for everyone.  We will even have over 100 campsites left for you to book "at the door" if you decide to camp.

     This is one of those times that I am wish I was living closer to the Midwest.  I love Halloween and love the caching so this is such an appealing event to me.  I will follow this one and keep the eyes open for follow up info and pics.

Good luck to the organizers and attendees - here's wishing for great weather and a fantastic time.
   

SchnauzerQueen Strikes Again

     SchnauzerQueen is taking the next step in the caching world.  Before I fill you all in on her next adventure, I will give you just a little back ground on her short but productive caching life.

     Since her caching beginning in November 2010, SchnauzerQueen, aka Penni Parrish, has covered a lot of ground.  And this from a girl who has never been able to stick with a hobby more than a very short time.  Not true with this hobby/sport/ habit/ addiction/you get the picture, that her BFF introduced her to.  Thanks Tim, for keeping her motivated and heading in the right direction.

     A little photo history here -

Boldly facing great dangers along the way.

This caching Queen even spends holidays introducing strangers to the joys of Geocaching.

The SchnauzerQueen is always ready for the challenge - including hosting her very own event.  And here is the scoop -

Cache Queens' TB Rods & Dogs Meet N Greet

EVENT WILL BE HELD SATURDAY, AUGUST 4th, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Central located  Park Event.  Meet N Greet event.  Slap a leash on your TB pet, load up the family in your TB wagon, and haul your booties down to the park to enjoy a Tucson sunset with other cachers!

(see warning below)

Go to the coordinates to find more info and respond with the 'I wouldn't miss it for the world' remark. (aka - will attend).  

And stay tuned for details as they come along.

Just wondering - do you think meeting all those cute little pups and seeing all those TB vehicles at the Yuma Event #9 may have planted a seed?

WARNING -  there just a couple things to warn you about here.

     First - if you are not from the Tucson area, you may experience the sunset and decide to  tell you family at home that you are never coming home.  Just sayin'
  

     Second- bring your umbrella and rain poncho - it is monsoon season.  A little rain never stopped the die hard cacher but it never hurts to be prepared.

     

Space Coast is Everywhere

   
Yep - you don't have to be in Florida to visit Space Coast Geocaching Store but if you happen to be in the vicinity of Merritt Island you can actually stop by and meet Barb and Dale.  I asked Dale a to tell me about the store and here is what he had to say -

     We created the Space Coast Geocachers Association back in 2007. We opened the Space Coast Geocaching Store in September of 2007. Our local caching community has been a very strong and active community ever since we started the group. Currently our group normally hosts at least one CITO event each month as well as other local gatherings. We do not have membership fees just a bunch of like minded folks that like to enjoy geocaching with each other.

     As far as our product the Space Coast Geocaching Store is the original walk in geocaching store and largest supplier of geocaching products. We carry over 300 different geocoins at any given time as well as gps units, cache containers and most anything you might need for geocaching. We sell online at scgastore.com or in person at 55 Goodwin Dr Suite 103, Merritt Is land, FL 32952. Our phone number is 321-453-SCGA (7242) or toll free at 855-454-SCGA (7242). We are active on Facebook as well. The Space Coast Geocaching Store is also home to Florida's most favorite traditional cache "A Cool Cache" (GC15RQB). It also ranks in the top 20 caches in the United States.

Here is a little of what I found when I Googled them - 

amazing product - and lovin' the swag -

 

And they are out there at events - like Geowoodstock X - pretty convienient.

                  And selling more than just swag.

Sporting those sharp pink shirts ! I wonder who's idea that was.  Great logo !

     You can find all sorts of good stuff by visiting the Space Coast on line store or find them on FaceBook.  And if you live out in the middle of 'noplace', you will love having this store at your finger tips.

More Flash Mob News !

Joshua Johnson attended the event in Minneapolis, Minnesota and did what he does so great. He made a video to show the event.

Here is his coverage of the WWFM IX in Minneapolis MN. There were 111 people at the record breaking flash mob. The flashmob was initiated by Sonny and Sandy at the Podcacher podcast.

Thanks again to Joshua for yet another great caching video !

Bubbles, Bubbles Everywhere

June 9, 2012, Ten a.m., and Tucson is heating up already, probably in the low 90's.   But that didn't stop over 3 dozen dedicated geocachers from meeting for the WWFM-IX Bubble Flash Mob, sponsored by Philbeer, at the Julian Wash - Cultural Historic Walk Park.

     This is part of the World Wide Flash Mob Event which is dozens of events all around the world, coordinated to happen at the same time to bring together geocachers and introduce others (newbies) to geocaching. 

 The schedule was as follows -

Event begins at 10 a.m.
10:05 - The bubbles begin

 10:10 - Group picture with bubbles

10:15 - The events ends

   I had no idea what the WWFM group was all about until I checked out their site.  You can also find group photos from 31 different countries.  Super neat !

  I want to say congrats to ErikaJean for hitting 1000 that day.

                  Here is what she had to say. 

Finally it has Happened to Me

Finally 1 - 0 - 0 - 0 Geocaches FOUND! 

 

My 1,000th was actually an event cache. I attended the World Wide Flash Mob and we had a bubble party in the middle of a park GC3M2W4. I'm glad the event was short and sweet because you can't last long in this Arizona heat.

After the event I grabbed a multi and a traditional cache with a few other people. The caches were in the same park so luckily we didn't have to go to far... I felt like I was melting!

     

Shannon Scott and The Ring

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     While reading post and looking at pictures about the GeoWoodstock X, I ran across a photo of a ring.  An actually trackable ring.  It looks beautiful !  So I went in search of the owner of 'The Ring', and Found Shannon Scott.  I asked Shannon to fill me in and share some ring info and he did just that.  I will drop in his story here so you can read what he had to say.  But before I turn the page over to Shannon, I will tell you that I will be asking him to share some of his caching experiences.  I think he could have some great stories.  What do you think Shannon?  Willing to share?

    Directly from Shannon Scott -

     Hello, my name is Shannon Scott, I live in Jacksonville Florida. I am a husband and a father. I have been retired from the USN for 3 years. I am currently in school to be a Surgical Tech. I first started caching in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in 2004.

     3 and half years ago I was in the Black Sea onboard the USS Klakring. While caching in several countries, I thought it would be a cool idea to have a trackable ring. I started designing the ring by sketching down my ideas and also email other cachers for their input as well. When I got home I researched ring manufactures and and came across MTM Recognition. They are the makers of many NBA and Super Bowl rings. With their help, I developed 2 versions of the ring. The men's ring and the ladies ring. The rings are trackable and come with their own icon. These rings can come many different metals and many different stones. Your geoname can even be engraved on the inside of the ring. 

     I believe these rings are the most elite trackables in the world. They are less than 1% of all trackables made in America.  As of today, there are only 12 rings in existence and very soon there will be a 13th.

Here are a few videos of how MTM Recognition makes these great rings.

If you would like to  contact Shannon Scott about these rings, here's the way -

  thegeocachersring@gmail.com

Brenda aka Sequoia_2 Reporting In

Woohoo - Guest Blogger, Brenda aka Sequoia_2, is in the house and sharing some of her experiences at GeoWoodstock X.  Photo too !

Let's get right to the story !

Brenda aka Sequoia_2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Did they know, 10 years ago while they were eating their Happy Meals, what the future will hold? Did those 75 people that got together for an event on the banks of the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky have even a smidgen of an idea of what they started? Fast forward 10 years to 2012. GEOWOODSTOCK X!! Now a mega event, Geowoodstock attracts people from all over the United States and the world! Eight of these people have been to every Geowoodstock since the beginning! They are known as the "Elite Eight".

Finally! May 26, 2012. GEOWOODSTOCK X! As we drove up to the park, members of the special olympics were there directing us in which way to go to park. We made a donation and continued to our parking spot. It was still early, so we were fairly close to the front. We made our way toward the event area and when the field opened up in front of us, we saw the Geowoodstock X sign up on the hill! It was awesome and it was like looking at the Hollywood sign.

 Tents were set up everywhere for learning events, vendors and games. We didn't know where to start first. We toured the vendors first and made sure to visit the Boy Scouts and their tent to purchase water. Beyond the vendors, there was a area with sidewalk chalk set out. Everyone was signing the sidewalk with their caching names. How fun! We wanted to check out the big Geowoodstock X sign, so started making our way over. Along the way, we came upon the "LOG". A giant wooden 3 dimensional X, so we made our mark. There were many great wooden cutouts displayed all around the grounds, making for fun photo opportunities. 

Opening ceremonies began with a barber shop quartet singing the national anthem and the Boy Scouts presenting the United States flag. After the opening ceremonies, we walked around some more checking out what they had to offer. We played a few games of "Pluck a Duck" where you chose 3 ducks out of a pool of 100, hoping to pick one of the 5 numbers that were previously written down. The prize was a pathtag. I won one in the morning and my daughter won in the afternoon. We also played a game called "Pitch a Cache" where you had to toss 2 lock n' locks into a hole not much bigger than the cache itself. The prize for this game was a compass, and my daughter, Lil' Tumbleweed won this game also. Oh, and did I mention there was a WEDDING at Geowoodstock X this year? Yeppers, there sure was! Signal gave away the bride and the ceremony was beautiful. If you were lucky, you got to meet 

 Jeremy Irish and have your photo taken with him. If you were REALLY REALLY lucky, you got a Jeremy travel tag! We were really really lucky. We got to meet him and get the travel tag! There were many other "famous" cachers there, including the Podcachers and Clayjar. Clayjar invented the rating system used by Geocaching.com to rate the difficulty of the cache. If you have never had a chance to listen to the Podcachers, you can check them out at www.Podcachers.com. You are in for a real treat! Lunch at Geowoodstock was a catered BBQ, offering BBQ brisket, grilled chicken, vegetarian and a kids lunch. We had a chance to volunteer here as meal ticket takers. Even Lil' Tumblweeed was allowed to help out. I have never seen so many hot and hungry cachers in all my life. Our alloted time went by very quickly and the next thing we knew, our replacements were there. We spend the afternoon walking around and talking with cachers and discovering travelbugs. Oh, and one big thing I forgot to mention....NO LITTER! The trashcans were full, but the grounds were clean! CACHERS ARE AWESOME PEOPLE Geowoodstock X was a blast and we can't wait until Geowoodstock XI! We already posted our intentions of attending and we hope to see YOU there !

GeoWoodstock X Report From Coachstahly

I am super excited to be sharing my first Guest Blogger from the GeoWoodstock X event - Coachstahly  AKA Brian D. Stahly

      For any of us who were not lucky enough to attend the event, we can certainly still enjoy through the eyes of Brian.  Thanks for sharing !

My GWSX Week

Having only been caching for just under a year, I wasn’t as clued into all the events that geocachers host and attend.  Last summer some of my new friends mentioned GeoWoodstock on their Facebook pages and soon I saw tons of pictures and updates about their adventures.  As soon as the announcement was made last year as to the location of this year’s GeoWoodstock I knew I wasn’t going to miss this one since it was in my own backyard (I live in Indianapolis, about two hours north of GWSX).  Almost two years into my new hobby, I was finally attending my first mega-event.

Luckily for me, my in-laws live in the same town where GWSX took place so lodging was a breeze.  I was so close that I could have walked if I so wanted to.  The hardest part was convincing the boss coach to let me go for the entire week, starting on that Monday before the main event.  Therefore, I made it a Christmas wish and to my slight surprise it was granted!  Let the planning commence.

My departure on Monday (before the first event tied into GWSX began) found me wandering the back roads of southeastern Indiana to color in counties as well as stopping at a couple of state parks in order to partially fulfill a couple of challenges.  I even snuck across the river into Ohio in order to find a cache placed in February 2001.  I arrived at the in-laws tired but satisfied with my first day of my geo-vacation.  I made certain to let them know NOT to expect me for dinner, NOT to see me at normal hours, and they might as well plan their days as if I wasn’t even there!

Day 2 found me traveling to Bernheim Arboretum and ResearchForest for the very first event tied into GWSX.  I left early in order to look for the multi in the cemetery right next to the Jim Beam Distillery (and the one placed on the grounds of the distillery as well).  For anyone interested in history, this cemetery contains the graves of veterans from 6 different wars and tied in very nicely with Memorial Day weekend.  The lunch at the Early Bird event was well-attended and the group hike afterwards wasn’t too difficult, although the heat (a frequent companion ALL WEEK LONG) made this just a little bit unpleasant.  I had loaded up all the caches at Bernheim prior to my arrival so the early finish to the hike allowed me to explore more of the forest.  I ended up leaving at 7 PM that night after arriving in the area by 8 AM.  31 caches including some that hadn’t been found in awhile made the day worth it, as did the visits with fellow cachers at lunch.  http://coord.info/GC3CR6X  The host, turtle3863, posted some great pictures of the event as well as after the hike was over. That’s me in the group photo (first picture) standing, second from the left, next to The Wench, a new friend I first met at this event and then ran into throughout the week!

Day 3 found me tackling ARF’s Big Blue Smiley unknown series.  ARF created a smiley face of unknowns (to celebrate the University of Kentucky’s national championship in basketball) at the northwestern edge of Louisville and since there were no events scheduled for the day, this was all I had planned, well, that and any virtuals that might cross my path.  I started on the Indiana side near New Albany and worked my way west, stopping for two virtuals in town.  I ran into DLiming and his wife at about cache # 20-ish and we finished the last ones in the area together.  They took a break and I finished the last four in Indiana and then crossed the Second Street bridge to begin my assault on the Kentucky side.  I ran into DLiming and his wife yet again as they were wrapping up the Kentucky side as well.  I’m pretty sure they finished before I did!  After 56 caches and 17 clues (missed one someplace) I was ready to call it a day and do the necessary “work” in order to log the Rivals finals (Louisville, Indiana, and Kentucky).

Day 4 started with the 3 Rivals finals which, with the exception of Kentucky, went pretty fast.  Kentucky was in an area slated for development at some later date, but since I missed a number in the clues (E for those of you interested) it made the final just a bit harder than expected!  I made the find and then looked up the closest multis to where I was since I was limited in time due to the second event scheduled to start at 1 PM.  I found a very unique multi, Yellow Brick Road - http://coord.info/GC2PGK6 - which I recommend to all future visitors.  I didn’t get to meet Jerry but still enjoyed the multi anyway.  I found my way to Churchill Downs for the event at 1 - http://coord.info/GC3FAGA .  They had all sorts of things being given away, but the prize I REALLY wanted was the backside tour with ChurchillChap, the chaplain of Churchill Downs.  I’ve bet the ponies there as well as had the frontside tour in previous visits, but this was something different.  The names were drawn from the ammo can and I was out of luck.  However, since the envelopes were packets of 5 tickets, I figured I’d hang out where they were gathering and see if I could score an extra ticket.  Ken, the chaplain, started counting and added me to the count.  I told him that I wasn’t part of the group but was hoping that there was an extra ticket I could manage to use.  He asked me how many were in my group and I told him it was just me.  Without hesitation he added me to the group!  I finally left the Downs 4 hours later with one of the most amazing experiences of my life!  The pictures in the gallery are great and you can see me in my yellow hat, beige shorts and white t-shirt on the third page of pictures.  We saw and learned so many things about Churchill that I could easily write 1,000 words just on that tour.  I got to meet some great new friends, Ground Fox, Derby City Searchers, cavyguy (who I ran into at EVERY event thereafter and also as I was coming out of the woods after finding Tom Sawyer, the oldest cache in KY) and ARF, just to name a few and if I missed anything that the tour guide said, his daughter, Bethany, could fill us in just as well.  It’s my guess that she could lead this tour just as well as her father!  I HAD to leave to get ready for the evening event, a bachelor/bachelorette party to celebrate the wedding of Crossmage and Phoenix Lady at GWSX - http://coord.info/GC3JYNP .  I went to the in-laws, showered and picked up go-purdue for the evening event.  We mingled for a few hours, offering our congratulations on the upcoming nuptials and then did some night caching in downtown Louisville before calling it a night.

Show Me the Cache leading a group to his cache on the Second Street Bridge

Day 5 was the day of events.  It started early at a breakfast event hosted by the Mama’s - http://coord.info/GC3DQJA .  A full belly later, I connected with a cacher I responded to on one of the GWSX forums.  Mazzy Duck wanted to cache after the Belle of Louisville cruise - http://coord.info/GC2XJVJ - and I was the only one to respond.  We drove over together and spent most of our time together on the cruise, chatting with any cachers that wandered by.  I had already been on the Belle many times before, but never with ONLY cachers!  It was warm but quite an enjoyable experience!  Once we docked, we headed to Cave Hill Cemetery to do some caching with a friend, 3Hs.  I’m lucky because in Indianapolis we have Crown Hill Cemetery, a beautiful and historic cemetery.  Cave Hill, with regard to beauty, surpasses Crown Hill.  I highly recommend visiting if you get the opportunity.  I missed the only event of my duration here this afternoon, the birthday bash, but felt only a bit guilty since I got the opportunity to wish the birthday boy a happy birthday on the backside tour the previous day!  We left in order to make the late afternoon event, the Zombie Flash Mob - http://coord.info/GC3JGKV .  I’m sure the locals were wondering what a few hundred people were doing in the parking lot of a hotel!  As an added bonus, a cacher from the WV/KY border was allowing people to sign her jeep!  I went back to the in-laws to grab a quick shower and log my finds from the day so I was a bit late to the Miles of Smiles evening event - http://coord.info/GC2ZKVC .  I got my six pathtags quickly just hanging out around the registration tent as people opened their bags.  I spent the rest of the evening wandering around and chatting with old and new friends and then hitting a few caches as I was approaching a milestone for GWSX.  At the end of the event I had the pleasure to go out onto the Second Street Bridge with Show Me the Cache in order to get his cache that was halfway over to Louisville!  The views of downtown Louisville were beautiful and the company was quite enjoyable!

Day 6 – The actual event and find #2500!  http://coord.info/GC2X6ZV  I wasn’t sure what to expect but it wasn’t disappointing.  I got to re-connect with some friends I made in FL last June as well as run into friends I had met all week long.  It was hot and humid but that didn’t really dampen my enthusiasm.  I managed to outlast the heat and quite a few of the attendees in order to hear the announcement of next year’s choice, Lakeland, FL, for GWSXI.  I made the quick commute back to the in-laws to grab a quick cool shower before returning to my friends who were hosting the evening event - http://coord.info/GC2ZKV7 .  The cooler evening event was well attended, exceeding even the expectations of the hosts!

Day 7 found me leaving for Louisville and some caching before the late morning flash mob - http://coord.info/GC3BJK5 - at the location of the very first GWS!  I made sure to find Kentucky’s oldest cache, Tom Sawyer, as well as some challenges in the area before heading to the event.  I’m guessing that this was the last event for a majority of the people in attendance but it was pretty crowded there as well!  After saying my good-byes to new friends leaving and old friends heading home I drove to Jefferson Memorial Forest for the very last event related to GWSX, the Purple Heart Trail Mix - http://coord.info/GC3DKH3 .  Compared to the rest of the events that surrounded GWSX, this wasn’t nearly as well attended but it was certainly more enjoyable as there were less people to meet and therefore more one on one time with each attendee.  The hike, at just over 2 miles wasn’t too bad in the heat and a couple of the caches were quite unique.  I thought this was a GREAT way to end the festivities surrounding GWSX – a hike to start the week and a hike to end the week.

Looking back just over a week later, I think the thing that struck me the most was how little I actually cached.  I had planned on being a caching machine all week long but found myself enjoying the camaraderie of old and new friends at all the events I made it to.  I had two days in seven of serious/heavy caching and for me that was enough.  Of the 12 events being offered that week, I made it to 11 and actually stayed to mingle and converse instead of signing the log and heading out for more caching.  It wasn’t planned but it was certainly more enjoyable since I got to meet so many people who love this activity just like I do.  There were certainly things that the host committee could have done better (the group picture immediately comes to mind) but all in all, it was a great event.  For future attendees of mega-events, YOU make the event as fun as it can be, but only if YOU put the effort into enjoying it.  I thought I would cache more throughout the week, but I will always look back and realize I will value the new friendships I created at all of the events this past week more than the caches I found.

Coachstahly  AKA Brian D. Stahly