Carolyn Waltz - First to Complete Take Flight Tour

The best education is when you are having so much fun that you don't even realize that you truly expanding your knowledge.  Another positive aspect is when this thrill is there for all ages.  This is what you get when visiting the Take Flight GeoTour in Manatee County Florida.  

This unique GeoTour is one of a kind but I believe that Melissa, the Take Flight GeoTour Guru and the woman who managed to put together this amazing caching experience, has set a standard for many to follow.  In fact, I have talk to a couple of cachers who are finding her accomplishment a challenge of sorts.  Well, more power to them.  

August 22, 2012 is the date that Waltzcar claimed the first custom tracking tag, made especially for this series.  What did it take to make this claim?  Find 12 of the 15 caches, have your 'passport' completed and the tag is yours. 

I tracked down Carolyn Waltz, aka Waltzcar, and asked her about her adventure.  This is what she had to say. 

I had been in the process of trying to complete 100 EarthCache finds before Labor Day weekend. I looked at my EarthCache map to decide where to go next, when I spotted a brand new EarthCache, "Flooded Flight" in Manatee County! Then that web page led me to discover the "Taking Flight" GeoTour. I had never heard of a GeoTour before, and there was even a GeoCoin to be earned! And birds are my favorite wild creatures!

I work nights, and sometimes have a day or two off during the week, so I quickly planned the best route to travel, and set off on 21 AUG. 

I did have a few unexpected adventures along the way. After I completed "Flight in the Estuary", I returned to my car and could not find my keys. I had my caching papers on the passenger front seat, and thought maybe my keys were under them, but could not see, so I retraced my steps, with no luck. I returned to my car and called my insurance company for help with a lockout, then went back to the trail once more while waiting for the tow truck. Then I spotted the keys on the trail! I guess all that flapping caused me to drop them! Anyway, I called back and cancelled the tow truck.

Sunscreen is a definite "must have" for the Robinson Preserve caches. By the time I was done there I was as pink as the flamingo at "Flight & Fertilizer" (where I was able to log a FTF)!

I thought I would never get to leave "Flight Span"; I had to wait out a school bus full of muggles! And then the school bus parked and never did leave! I waited a while longer, quickly rehid the cache, and left.

I had to plan a second adventure day, when storms developed in the afternoon and blocked my GPS signal.

My neighbor went along with me on the next day. This was a new experience for her, and she really enjoyed it, too. We really liked the cache container at "Silent Flight". Owls are my favorites. We had extreme difficulty finding the cache for "A Long Flight Home", and accidental found another cache while looking! I was about to give up when a ranger came walking down the boardwalk. I asked her if she knew anything about this cache, and it turned out that she was the "Taking Flight" GeoTour developer! She helped us find the well-hidden (understatement) letterbox cache, and the game was on again!

I had the opportunity to explain GeoCaching and CITO to a boater at "Tangled Flight" while disposing of the paint can lid I found there.

Knowing how popular this GeoTour would be, I hurried back to the Manatee County NRD to turn in my passport. Since all of the other caches had been FTF by other cachers, I was totally surprised to find that I was the first to complete the tour!

I had hoped to get them all, but I could not get Freshwater Flight (Access by water) nor Flight of the Florida Scrub Jay (area closed due to flooding), and I could not find stage two of the Multi, "Fire Flight". 

I truly enjoyed this tour, learning about birds, the environment and its effects on the birds, and even how we can compare ourselves to certain aspects of birds.

This has inspired me to possibly create a similar GeoCaching adventure/learning experience.

 I do want to thank Carolyn for sharing this story and photos.  As you can see from her closing statement, she is also inspired by the great efforts of Melissa and all her helpers to create a comparable caching event.  I hope that Carolyn will share with me, so I can share with you, when she does her very own tour. 

As of the end of September, 28 of 200 custom travel tags have been claimed.  This is amazing.  Many large geocaching events take place in that area of Florida in the spring.  And many of the attendees go year after year to enjoy the festivities.  Can you imagine their excitement when they find this challenge to include in their week?  Those tags will be disappearing rapidly.

Check out this video of a family exploring the Take Flight GeoTour.  Beware, there are spoilers here.

Creepy & Scarry Videos to Make You Jump

I found a few videos that are actually sort of creepy, but not as many as I thought I would find.  It doesn't have to be the month of Halloween to enjoy these, but with winter closing in and the day time hours loosing out to the night, it is a good time to check them out.

I have to start out with my favorite Geocaching Vlogger, Joshua Johnson.  Will you scream when you watch this vid?  Oh yeah !  You will scream with laughter.

This video may not scare the pants off of you but with a little imagination, you will see how it could, on a dark and foggy night. 

Geocaching pioneer and video game designer Richard Garriott, Lord British, pushes the envelope again with the creation of the Mystery Cache Necropolis of Britannia Manor III (GC2B034). The journey leads geocachers through what Lord British describes as eight chapters on "The Guardian's Quest."

 There's a couple of fun ones for you.  I am sure that I will share more soon.  And of course there will be more actual graveyard caches to share also.

More Haunting Stories

I guess I should say More Haunting Caches.  I posted a message on Facebook  to Geocaching - - Arizona,  about wanting to hear about some graveyard caches.  I got a few responses and one person alone has enough to cover a couple of post.  One of which will happen now.

Let me tell you just a bit about Joe McCarthy.  Hummmm - guess I really don't know much to share.  I do know that he was a Navy Seal, back in the day.  He must have spent a lot of time in Colorado; that is where most of his caches are.  Joe and his family live in the Phoenix area now.  And - he does remarkable caches under the name of Tahosa and Sons.  

To the spooky part.  Let me fill you in on a couple of Tahosa's caches. 

First is Lest We Forget - GCABC8, located in Colorado.
Difficulty:  2    Terrain:  1

Our Love to these Pioneers and any others.
Who may have died alone. Forgotten
Unloved and Unmourned
Lord. Give them your lasting peace.

I really like the simple warning - 
Enjoy the Cache, And please limit your visits to DAYLIGHT HOURS
I wonder if this is for safty or the respect the ghost.  

 Here is what the most recent finder had to say -

ShamRider Premium Member 8027  ·  6 Found it 09/23/2012 I decided to do a little caching since I have been away from it for a bit. I have been stalking this virtual online ever since I moved to Fort Collins. Today was the day to check it out! I had a wonderful time wandering through the old cemetary. As I got to the backside of the cemetary, the lady who boards the horses in the barn nearby let the horses out. They went galloping down the path and into the lush pasture next to the cemetary. We talked for a bit about her sick pig and then I went on my way. Maia, the Vizsla, had a great time exploring the cemetary as well. This was #8000 for me! Nice milestone cache!! Here's another Colorado cache done by Tahosa and Sons. This one really sounds like it lives up to its ratings. And it revolves around an actual grave.   COSpirit Quest #306 - Kitty Lyon of Cipango, GC2DF8A Difficulty: 4     Terrain:  5        ! The Exciting Cache Series! “COLORADO SPIRIT QUEST” REMEMBER: If you are APPREHENSIVE about cemeteries – AVOID this series. The Colorado Spirit Quest is a series of Caches placed by many individuals, near cemeteries and historic sites in hopes of paying respect to the many pioneer ancestors that have ‘walked’ before us. Again I have a visitor to the cache and the spirit of Kitty Lyon -   zoltig      Premium Member   Found it        09/22/2011 TLX and I spent the day in the Old Flowers area to do a bit of local research for his new multi-cache. Found stage one (nicely done) and off we went knowing that the final was close to a destination point. Huffed up the hill after paying our respects to Kitty. I do not know if anybody else had noticed the branch that was crossed between the two trees near-by close to the headstone. Found the cache and signed the log. Nice to find quality caches...and this one is right up at the top. Putting it on my watch list and hitting the favorite button. Thanks for the adventure and thanks to Chris for dragging my rear-end out of the house. That was a much needed break. AND~The awesome lunch! Fresh cooked burgers in the mountains washed down by beer. How manly is that, eh?   When the location map looks like this topo map - you know the cache is going to be a real challenge.  There you have the info on a couple of graveyard type caches.  Lest We Forget seems to be a safe one, even for the weak at heart, during the day.  Night time may be a little different.   But the site of Kitty Lyon is a different story.  Something about that one gave me goosebumps.  Maybe it is the photo above .   So if you are in Colorado and looking for a good cache, check out what Tahosa has left behind for you.      I did think of another interesting fact about Joe McCarthy.  He is very proud of his heritage.  And perhaps the boldness of the past, being a Navy Seal, comes through when he attends events.    This is Tahosa and Sons Joe in the kilt, and proud of it!