Chasing Manatees - My Mistake

For those of you who don't know me, I live in the high desert, love to mountains and like to head there when the summer heat is getting on my nerves, but my true passion and love is for the beach.  Any chance I get, that is where I go.  No matter the weather or the month, I love the beach.

Can you imagine how excited I was when I read Geocaching and Manatee in the same sentence?  I instantly put on the big smile and started the happy dance!  And - began to read about this caching experience that I knew was going on my list of 'Do Soon' caches. 

It only took a few moments for me to realize that I was way off on this.  The smile drooped and the happy dance stopped as I read on.  The Taking Flight Geotour is located in Manatee County, Florida.  I have nothing against Florida; in fact I would love to do some caching there while visiting family; and maybe attend an event like Geowoodstock XI - but my heart was looking forward to a cache involving the those chunky cuties - the manatees.

I am not a total doom and gloom sort of person so I did read on.  Gotta tell you that it didn't take long for the smile to return and the feet get jittery - this is one remarkable GeoTour.  In fact, I have been learning about it for several weeks and just didn't know exactly how I could write about it.  There are so many amazing factors involved - my mind has just been swimming with all the info.

So - this is going to be a story done in stages.  And as I learn more and hear back from the cachers who have completed the tour, I will share their stories also.

Here goes - Taking Flight GeoTour - part one

Here's a bit of the info, taken directly from Geocaching.com.

 

TAKING  FLIGHT  GEOTOUR 

Check out the new Taking Flight GeoTour on the official geocaching.com website!  It's just launched as an official Groundspeak GeoTour - THE FIRST IN FLORIDA!  Thank you to our sponsors Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Bay Estuary Program and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program for helping to make the tour happen.

 And here is a little bit of info from their own site -

 Visit the sites along the Taking Flight GeoTour, hunt for and find geocaches, and learn about Manatee County's wild spaces and the amazing feathered friends that live in them.

About the Taking Flight GeoTour

Visit the sites along the Taking Flight GeoTour (TFGT) and learn about Manatee County's wild spaces and the amazing feathered friends that live in them. Along the way, you will be challenged to become a citizen scientist, a preserve ranger, a detective, a historian and of course an excellent geocacher in order to find all of the caches on the trail. Caches are located in birding "hot spots" throughout Manatee County's publicly accessible conservation preserves. Each one highlights a specific bird species or aspect of bird life providing you with opportunities to learn more about these creatures and what we can do to help them survive. Caches also focus on protecting the region's waterways, bays, and natural watersheds, and habitat areas for many of our area's feathered friends. The Taking Flight GeoTour will launch August 20, 2012 and includes 15 caches within Manatee County. A trackable geo tag will be awarded to the first 300 geocachers, while supplies last, for locating at least 12 TFGT caches. To be eligible for the tag, geocachers must download and print a passport (click link to download and print out your passport) or pick one up at the Manatee County Natural Resources Department office at 415 10th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34205, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Geocachers must log at least 12 finds, answer the question from each cache on their passport, and complete any additional requirements for specific caches (such as posting photos for earth caches).

After finding a minimum of 12 caches, participants can have their passports validated in person or via mail at the Manatee County Natural Resources Department office at 415 10th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34205, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tracking Tags will be available beginning September 1, 2012. Please check back to this website for news and availability of tracking tags.

There you have it.  Part one of this story.  As I do a little research , and look at the areas the caches are located, it has become obvious that this is so much more than an adventure in geocaching.  This is a learning experience for the entire family, a fantastic photography opportunity, and a chance to see unlimited wild life.  It is amazing.

I will put together more info from the caches and include them in a new post soon.  Please check back for the updates and a bit about what it  took to put this together.  That is a story all in itself.

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

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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 !

More From GeoWoodstock X

     I will never get tired of see these pictures that are being posted, mostly on Facebook, of GeoWoodstock X.  They inspire me to be focused and start planning today for next year's event in Lakeland, Florida.  Who's gonna be there?

 

 

 I will be looking for a story from this guy.  I believe his name is Bill Waller.  I was excited when I reached 200 caches.  What must it feel like to have 7000 under your belt?  Amazing !

Congrats !