Category Archives: Geocaching

12 of 12, Family Life, Geocaching, Out and About

May 12 of 12 – quiet sort of day …

May 12, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

It was a funny sort of day today. Bradley had his Year 12 formal last night and was needed to be picked up at 4:00 am. As I was on call, there was no guarantee I would be around the place so Jenny headed out to pick him up.

I had a few projects to do today.

The first project: Waeco Battery Pack. Our battery pack is a few years old and doesn’t hold the charge too well. A replacement is $335 so I bought a couple of replacement batteries for $150 but my soldering iron wasn’t up to the task. First stop was Jaycar Electronics for a soldering iron with more power and then replace the batteries. Both tasks completed OK.

Second Project: Sleeping Bag zip. One of our sleeping bags has had issues with the zip with the slide breaking. It should be easy enough to get a new zip slide. Headed to Spotlight but they only had zips. So grabbed a short zip with the right size zip and took the slide and put it on the sleeping bag. New slide on OK but there seems to be other issues with the zip. 🙁

On my travels, I returned the suit that Bradley wore last night for his formal. The suit had been hired from Ferrari Formal Wear.

It was a good afternoon to be out and about and there were a few new geocaches around the Edwardstown and Morphettville areas and I made 9 geocache finds. Even one down near Morphettville Racecourse while the historic race with Black Caviar was being run.

Third Project: Film Canisters. South Australia is starting to get a reputation of having geocaching power trails. These involve many geocaches hidden close together along a road in a country area. There may be 50 to many hundred geocaches in a power trail. I recently completed the ET Highway Power Trail in Nevada which had 1500 geocaches. I have plans for a couple of trails but not to the size of the ET Highway power trail. Today I readied 220 film canisters for this task. It involved printing log sheets and putting one in each canister, then printing labels and labeling each canister. Task complete now to go out and hide them 🙂

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Does it ever stop raining in Seattle …

April 19, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

With the presentations all finished for the International Association of Wildland Fire Conference, I didnt feel like spending the evening in my room. I was originally supposed to be going Geocaching with some other Aussies but they bailed on me – something about rain. It is only water – you wont rust. 🙂

So I donned some wet weather gear and started to walk around Downtown Seattle. I headed south towards Pioneer Square as I had heard that there was a Firefighters Memorial in Occidental Park. Not quite opposite was the Headquarters for the Seattle Fire Department as well as a lot of homeless people. This seems to be the area that there are a number of food centres for them.

Following the GPS, I found myself on the wharf area and it was getting wetter and I was getting hungry and there was a choice or McDonalds or Ivars Seafood & Chowder. I chose Ivars for a nice big steaming bowl of chowder. There is even an undercover heated outdoor eating area where you can watch the kids feed the gulls or the Fire Station next door. They even have a statue of Ivar feeding the gulls.

The Fire Station next door is Station #5 and as well as the normal Fire Truck it also houses the Fireboats out the back. Continuing on after tea, I made it back to Post Alley and the Wall of Gum looking for a Geocache on the wall. After 20 minutes I was unsuccessful – all the gum looks the same. 🙁

Up the hill and back up to Pikes Place Market for a coffee at the Original Starbucks (the place was empty tonight) and then headed back to the Hilton Hotel as it was still raining and my coat was starting to let water in.

Tomorrow is the field trip for the International Association of Wildland Fire Conference and then it will be time to pick up Jenny and the kids – they have spent the week at Whistler.

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Day One of the International Association of Wildland Fire conference …

April 17, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

Day one of the International Association of Wildland Fire conference. It was amazing the numbers of Aussies attending, in fact around half of the presentations were by Australians. The conference was similar to the Bushfire CRC conference back in Australia with presentations by researchers into fire science and the like.

After a big day as the presentations were only 20 minutes long starting at 8:30 am and continuing til 5:00 pm, it was time to head out and grab some fresh air.

As it happened, a couple of Aussie geocachers were also in town. It was Mary and Mark of Aussie M&M. Mark does some work at Boeing on and off. Tonight we would cache around Downtown Seattle getting some of the favourite caches as decided by other cachers.

It was a little drizzly but not too bad and after caching until dusk it was time for something to eat. We chose a random sports bar called Floyds Place which wasnt too bad. It was then back out and caching until around 11:00 pm.

We even got questioned by security around the Zoo but once we explained we were geocaching he continued on his rounds.

$\"Changing Form\" at Kerry park$

$Floyd\'s Place$

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Family Life, Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

From New Planes to Old Planes at Paine Field ….

April 14, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

After spending a day on Thursday looking at the latest aircraft being built at Paine Field we ventured back to Paine Field but to the other end to visit the Flying Heritage Collection.

Paul Allen of Microsoft fame began acquiring and preserving these iconic warriors and workhorses, many of which are the last of their kind. Allen’s passion for aviation and history, and his awareness of the increasing rarity of original WWII aircraft, motivated him to restore these artifacts to the highest standard of authenticity and share them with the public.

We were lucky enough to be shown around by a World War II veteran (Chip Davidson) that flew many of these planes and was also stationed at Paine Field at the time. It is complicated but we met Chip through another Australian that stayed with him and his family many years ago on a Rotary exchange.

Chip took us on a very comprehensive tour of the collection and provided a detailed background of each of the aircraft. We were then taken to sample some local cuisine at the Speedway Cafe. This consisted of burgers you couldn’t climb over as well as drinks topped with “real” cream. 🙂

While we were out and about, it was time to check out a beach at Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, although the beaches aren’t what we are used to as beaches. Instead of the fine white sand we have at home, the beach is covered by small rocks. This park had a historic lighthouse and was the landing for the ferry to Whidbey Island.

One more stop for the day. Jenny and the kids wanted to get into a Costco and Chip was a member, so they got their chance. While they checked it out, I managed to grab a couple of geocaches in the car park. After they were kicked out at closing time we headed out with Chip and Joan to Chan’s Place at Woodinville for a Chinese meal.

Chip and Joans hospitality did not finish here. One of their sons is tied up with Stevens Pass ski field so after tea, he gave him a ring to see if we could be fixed up with some deals for tomorrow. We managed to get some vouchers for reduced ski hire. 🙂

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Geocaching, Holidays, Out and About, USA 2012

Seattle Underground and Groundspeak …

April 13, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

Today we started out by going underground. Seattle when it was first built had some issues – first it was on a tidal plain, second it had sewer issues and third it burnt down. When they rebuilt, there was a difference in speed between the city government and the business owners which resulted in the streets being one story above the entrances of the buildings. Eventually they filled in the gaps by bridging it which left a whole “underground” city below street level.

You can now visit these tunnels and old Seattle on the Bill Speidels Underground Tour. You not only experience the underground but also hear some very interesting stories of times of old.

Next was a visit to Pikes Place Market – this is a smaller version of Adelaide Central Market but just as interesting and colourful. Just adjacent to the market is a very popular place indeed. It is the site of the original Starbucks which has kept its original façade but is one of the most busiest Starbucks on the planet. At the other end of the market is another famous landmark – the Gum Wall.

A quick stroll along the Seattle Wharf but we didn’t have time to take it in – we will return in a week. The reason for our rush was that we had an appointment at Groundspeak HQ – the home of Geocaching.

On arrival we were met by some very friendly lackeys that made us welcome. It was then down to signing the log book for the Groundspeak HQ Geocache, leave some travel bugs, pick up some travel bugs, drop some pathtags and buy some souvenirs. The lackeys suggested some spots around Freemont to visit and once we could drag Rachael from the photo booth we were on our way to Gas Works Park.

From Kite Hill within the Gas Works Park you get a great view of the Seattle skyline over Lake Union but you just have to dodge the kites. 🙂

We continued through Freemont and came across the Seattle Fire Department doing some rope rescue training at the Maritime Academy. Had a quick chat before dropping Jenny and Rachael off shopping at Cash & Carry and Trader Joes.

Jenny had met someone while shopping who suggested that we could get some good chocolates nearby. We headed that way but stopped off to view some sculptures made of scrap metal. The horse was huge.

A brief stop at Chocolat Vitale for coffee and chocolate – they don’t get a lot of tourists as it a little off the beaten track in suburbia.

By the time we got back to our accommodation it was almost time to go out again but it wasn’t far – we were meeting some Aussie expats (brother & sister inlaw of a Scout friend) at the Village Sushi Restaurant two buildings up the street. 🙂

It was a good meal and the staff were very good. After we finished Lee and PC took us on a walk around the local area including Frat House Street and the University of Washington. There was plenty of activity going on with a American themed sorority party going on.

The campus for the University of Washington is huge with some 50000 people here each day and we were living on the edge of it and never knew. There is also a lot of money here with people like Bill Gates and Paul Allen donating buildings on campus. After an hour and half walk we arrived back home and hit the hay after a big day – we have another big day tomorrow.

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Final time on the ET Highway …

April 2, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

Another big day today with the last 300 of the ET highway to be found. A first stop into Alamo to fill up and some breakfast and we were on the trail again. Conditions today were perfect with a slight breeze, sunshine and not too hot. We passed through some more terrain that could have been the Flinders Ranges.

We met up with some Mexican cachers and the speed they were running you would think they were being chased by the Border Patrol. We finally finished off the ET highway mid afternoon and I had to leave the team and head back to LA. it had been good to team up with Bob and Kay again and add a new team member with Sissy. Will we tackle some more next year – who knows.

I was feeling very tired but I still had 600 kilometres to travel to get back to LA. Hopefully the traffic will be better than coming up. A couple of stops along the way to revive including the famous Las Vegas sign which is of course a virtual geocache. Travelling was good being able to sit on 70mph all the way into LA arriving at a respectable time but it was still dark. It was time to unpack the car, shower and hit the hay again

$Bar at Little A\'Le\'Inn$

$Little A\'Le\'Inn$

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Caching the ET Highway in the snow … no April fools …

April 1, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

This morning was another early start but today there was some white stuff on the ground (it had snowed overnight) and the temperature was hovering around zero, so we some spent the morning caching around the town of Tonopah to allow the temperature to rise as we didn’t want to be out in the desert with these temperatures with a wind.

We finally headed out into the desert around 9:30 and it didn’t take long to warm up even with the snow flurries that were around us.

We didn’t stick to the order of caches and in fact did the final cache this morning so that we didn’t have to back track. Doesn’t have the same impact knowing we still had around 500 to find. Took some photos – reached some milestones – mine was 7000 finds 🙂

We continued following the trail ending up around lunchtime at Nevada’s oldest cache – XKD-380. It was in some spectacular rock country and we even had some snow falling as we found it.

Some of the country around here could be mistaken for the Flinders Ranges if it wasn’t for the snow on the peaks.

We finally developed a system which had the running shared by three of us, taking it in turns as I was starting to tire again. This meant between myself, Bob and Sissy we ran for every third cache while Kay did the logging. This even increased our pace to around 60 per hour.

Once again we continued til dusk then headed into Tonopah for some sustenance before heading back to our lodgings at Rachel arriving around 11:00. It didn’t take much rocking when the head hit the pillow and it seemed the alarm was ringing again to get up.

$View from Nevada\'s oldest Geocache - GCF9$

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Huge day on the ET Highway Geocaching Power Trail …

March 31, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

After a late night to bed, it was an early rise with the sun in the Nevada desert. There is something eerie about watching the sun rise over the bow of a flying saucer but I guess that is normal here in Rachel, Nevada.

After sorting out what we were leaving behind and what we could fit in Bobs car it was time to hit the road for a big day on the ET Highway. It started out with clear skies and a gentle breeze but this was soon to change.

By the time we had hit around ET #450 or so, the wind started to reach gale force and was whipping up the dust and sand. It was soon relegated to me to head out of the car mainly because you needed some strength to open and shut the door without getting it ripped off the hinges.

I kept grabbing the Geocaches for the next 300 with the support crew in the car doing the driving, logging and signing. By the time we hit ET #700, I was ready for a rest and took over the logging role.

We eventually got a reprieve from the conditions when we drove into a gorge, so took the time to have a bite to eat as well as grab a couple of the non ET highway caches including an earthcache.

Back on the trail and the wind picked up as we exited the gorge and so did the dust. Not long after we arrived at Warm Springs or what is left of it. It was supposed to have been some sort of resort in its time with hot springs flowing water out of the hills, however it now all boarded up and abandoned. We continued until dusk then headed towards Tonopah, making sure to find enough Geocaches along the way to take us to 601 finds for the day. This bettered our last year daily find of 524.

We were all pretty beat and Bob dropped us off at all our hotels. There were a number of conventions in town so couldn’t all get into the same hotel. We were to find out in the morning there wasn’t a lot of choice in town so we were lucky to get rooms at all.

After logging a few of today’s finds it was off to bed to rest the weary body.

$Little A\'Le\'Inn at Rachel NV$

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Geocaching, Out and About, USA 2012

Day of travel – Reno, NV to LA, CA to Rachel, NV – where???

March 30, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

This was to be a day of travel. Started out moving out of the Grand Sierra Resort, flying to LA, only to pick up a car and drive back to Nevada, albeit at the bottom end of the State to Rachel (where??). Rachel is a little one horse town out in the Nevada desert next to the infamous Area 51 and it uses its location to promote the ET stuff but more importantly it is a central base to tackle the ET Highway Geocaching Power Trail.

This trail originally consisted of 1000 Geocaches over the roads around Rachel, but ended up being taken down by the Nevada DOT. After a huge backlash by the Rachel community and Geocachers, the original hiders met with the Nevada DOT and a new trail was borne with certain stipulations, this time with 1500 caches. There are currently plans to extend it even further to add another 500 caches which would make it the biggest power trail in the world, but I think it is already.

It was a mistake to try and head east on a Friday towards Las Vegas as it seemed that the whole LA basin was on the road with me. With a few accidents and other delays I finally arrived after a 10 hour journey (4 hours more than it should have).

Still had time to grab a few of the caches around Rachel before our big day tomorrow on the ET Highway. Digs tonight was at the Little A’Le’Inn.

4WDing, Geocaching, USA 2012

Reno 4WDing Geocaching ….

March 24, 2012 Scott Leave a comment

Well I thought I would sleep right through but no. It was 3:00 am and I was wide awake. Mucked around for a while before dropping off again for another hour and awake again at 4:30 am then again at 6:30 am. Oh well I might as well get up.

Richard “Jeditrekr” was picking me up for breakfast and then off to do some Reno 4WDing Geocaching. Breakfast was at Hog Wild Cafe and if you wanted to fill up the stomach and the arteries, this is the place for you. It was pretty popular for early on a Saturday morning and I tried to pick something on the menu that wasn’t going to be a mountain of food. I think I got it right with the Sunshine Bread which in its simplest form is toast, bacon, eggs, onion and potato but still a plate full.

After filling up, there was time to grab a couple of geocaches before heading to the Meet ‘n Greet prior to the 4WD Trip. These events have been a bit a bit of a tradition for the 3 years I have been coming to Reno. The local cachers put on an Event to coincide with my visit. This year it was called Fun in the Dirt (Meet the guy from down under).

There wasnt a bad turn out for a Saturday morning with 8 4WD’s turning up with 14 geocachers. One of the attendee’s was the Worlds #1 Geocache Finder. He is Alamogul with over 64000 finds – unbelievable. After meeting everyone – some old faces and some new, exchanging pathtags it was time to head east into the hills.

The caches we were going to were out the back of Hidden Valley Regional Park. As we drove up the first valley, the ground was littered with thousands of shotgun shells – an ominousness sign of what was to come. The first cache was Gunpowder Butte. We had only just got out of the cars and the bullets were flying. We were unsure of where they were going but soon found they weren’t being shot in our direction.

As well as geocaches hidden in the area, it is the local haunt to go and shoot anything that doesn’t move and I am sure things that move are aimed at as well. There were only a couple of groups set up when we went in but 3 hours later when we came out just about every spot was filled with shooting groups setting up all sorts of targets. Nothing quite like the smell of gunpowder and the constant bang of rounds going off.

We drove through some spectacular country similar to the Flinders Ranges if it wasn’t for the snow on the higher peaks. There were no challenging roads but there were some challenging climbs to some geocaches. they certainly tested out the heart and the lungs.

This wasn’t a big numbers run but there were 2 “first to finds”, some good company and some great scenery.

We finished around 1:00 pm, Richard dropped me back at the Grand Sierra Resort and there rest of the day was easy going, even having a massage to relieve my back. 🙂