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
No comments:
Post a Comment