Good Caching Day

We planned a trip away from town as a getaway. So we headed out of town to Stevens Point. Left the house at 8:30 Am and cached our way north. Found a lot of different places this day. We started with a boat landing, I always like them as it is a new place to go fishing. We also saw a lot of neat parks in the area. The funny thing that I see in areas are that communities have different styles of caching. Here in the Fox Valley it has been all about the puzzles. But up in Stevens Point it is about the Nano hides. About a third of my finds today were Nano's. Glad I knew that before we left so I was a bit prepared. But I was not prepared to get the logs out. I have got fat fingers that cannot get the logs out of these things. So next time I will have to get a tweezers into my cache bag.

But enough about that. I realized that there is a great series right in my backyard. Some of which I had done before this trip. But I didn't realize till I had a few more of them completed how nice this series is. It is the Yellowstone Trail Series by Zuma. He uses local cachers for his trailmen to help watch over the caches in this series. As he needs to because it would be a daunting task to keep them all active. He makes you go to some historical buildings or other landmarks that were used along the Yellowstone Trail. From them you will need to figure out the formula to get your final waypoints. You will then be taken to a great place to get the cache. I recommend this series to anyone wanting to take the time. In my opinion these are what make Geocaching special. So thanks Zuma for a great series.

We actually got about 25 finds on this trip and still had time to get to the waterpark. This was the bribe to make the kids behave while they spent so much time in the car. There is nothing like spending time in the hot tub after a long day of caching. Then off to dinner. For a nightcap we found just one more virtual cache on the way back to the hotel. It was "Remembering Friends" Located at the King veterans home near Waupaca. If you have never gotten there this is a place to visit, it is a very powerful place knowing what is happening here and the adjacent cemetery. it's a must see. All in all it was a good weekend of caching, but now it is time for bed and I must go back to my day job.

I hit my milestone today.

As I just posted last night that I wanted to take on the Island today for my #800th find, I did just that today.

We woke up early to grab 9 caches so I could get to the milestone. We made a round about trip to get some nearby caches that I had not gotten around to ths last summer. We logged our 799 and called the Team Bear Bear Cram Island Ferry service to meet us at the launch site.

Soon enough we were on our way in the jet skiis. I have never driven one of these as I consider myself a more traditional boater. But hey a ride is a ride and beggars can't be choosers. It took a bit to get a handle on controlling this thing but manaed to get to the Island. Current was strong today so I didn't know how to approach so I came in from upstream. Upon arrival I wasn't about to get off this thing in fear of it floating downstream. Ok I didn't want it to tip over on me. So I sent my little "Hula Girl" in for the find. While she was logging I wanted to see how the jetski manuvered without a passenger so I left her alone, stranded on the island.

My escort decided to take her back to the boat launch so I could play a bit with the jetski. Once I got a handle in it, it wasn't too bad. A few trips up and down stream we came back to the boat launch and had a celebratory drink of a variation of my favorite drink. Gotta love this use of barley.

If you'd like to see the cache page you can get to it here. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=a6fc988f-214f-4608-b447-bfe4c72162c4

Or my log for the pictures:
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=d13e9c91-0afa-4ef3-ae57-e989dc5c214c

On the verge of a milestone.

Here I sit the night before I will hit my 800th geocache find. That is if it all goes well tomorrow.I am planning on grabbing 9 caches and then going to a cache called 04145_Cram Island GCVYKT. I have been watching this cache for as long as it has been published I have just not had the chance to go grab it. This should be quite the adventure as I go for it with some good friends as my guides.

A Great Diversion.

I have just returned home after spending a week in the hospital with my daughter. It is amazing that a standard MRI and a meeting with the neurosurgeon will land you in a hospital for 5 days.

We went down there for a followup after the initial surgeries in July. The MRI showed that her shunt was not working so we were admitted. He did surgery and a few days later we were released.
It was a good thing thing that I had the GPS along with us. We actually got time to get away from the hospital thanks to the volunteers. I was able to grab a couple of coordinates and punch them into the GPS and head out for a walk. We got about 3/4 mile from our "Homebase" and found the cache. It was a multi but it didn't really matter as we needed to get out and that was the reward for this cache. Just getting out of the hospital for an hour seems to help the mind and energy level when dealing with a situation like this.

I really think that is what I like about geocaching. It can give you a diversion from issues or your normal everyday life. But yet you can plan trips around some great areas. It can also surprise you with a hidden treasure that you never would have found if you didn't have those coords put into the GPS. In other words you can tailor it to whatever you need it to be at that moment in your life.

Introducing Hemi!

Hello, I am Hemi as some folks call me. I am a geocacher and the most of my posts will be about this and all things related to geocaching. OK maybe some other outdoor stuff too. I am not into hunting as much as a lot of people but I do love the outdoors and I do a bit of hunting and fishing for the joy it gives me with family and friends. Geocaching also gets me out there to just hike through the woods, parks and most often parking lots.LOL

I am always on the hunt for a great looking stick while out in the woods as I also make hiking sticks for sale or for friends. So I may discuss them at times too. I am particularly fascinated with Diamond Willow hiking sticks as they are full of contour and character.

As for me I am married with 3 daughters. That is where my time goes that keeps me from getting into the great outdoors. I guess I gotta work on that. But as conditions are I will not be making any headway. My youngest was diagnosed with a brain tumor's this past summer. The first was removed and it was the size of a key lime. She has made a great recovery from that but there is still another that is not operable as it is on the optic nerve and through the optic pathway. So we are monitoring it with the doctors to ensure she doesn't lose anymore vision. There is a chance that she may have to go through Chemo to get it to stabilize and possibly improve her vision. I do not plan on dumping my personal issues on this but at times I do find that writing is a great form of therapy. So you might see some posts about this as well.

I have never blogged before and until a year ago I didn't even know what it was or why someone would want to do it. But for some reason I am compelled to give it a shot. So as i feel the need I will be posting on some of my (Mis)adventures here.