Good morning everyone. County challenges. Everyone is working on a county challenge for one state or another. The top Manitobans with North Dakota county finds are Old Billygoat, JB, and Derivative with 53 each. I have 9 so far. Top Manitoban with overall county finds is Peter & Gloria with 1,107. They are also the top Canadian with American county finds. Eleven North Dakota geocachers have completed the North Dakota county challenge (53 counties). Top North Dakota geocacher with the most counties found overall is MinotRanger with 466. Top American with the most counties found is RW and VJ from Michigan with a whopping 3,125. Google says there is 3,142 counties in total in the States. They are missing one Hawaiian county and sixteen Alaskan counties.
Today I want to look back on what can be an average Saturday for me. The Saturday in question is April 13th. I wanted to get at least three finds for the day, bringing my cumulative total count to eleven for April 13. I had received some intel on a couple of puzzle finals that had me stumped. The puzzle themselves were solved, but finding the container proved to be more challenging than the puzzle itself. There was also a newer puzzle cache that I had solved but haven't attempted to find. As an added bonus, there was a new cache published that morning that fit in with my travel plans. Also on my list for this day was capturing a bunch of Munzees, some Pokémon gym battles, shopping for a pair of jeans, finding a good burger and maybe a concert to end the day.
First up was a puzzle final that was solved last summer with Auntie Mo. She had found it already, but for some reason, I couldn't, even with a hint from Auntie Mo. Determined to avenge this DNF, (I never logged this as a DNF despite two different searches), this would be my first stop as I had a route planned out. Since it was a Saturday, there is a chance of a higher muggle activity. There was a few muggles nearby for this one, but none were paying attention to what I was up to as there was a perfect decoy close by for me to park at. A quick find. Finally!!
On to another puzzle final that I have also been to twice and have logged a DNF. With some intel from the cache owner, I was back again. Third time is the charm. This one blended in with it's host very well. Because of where the final was and where I could park for that final, I was actually closer to the final of another puzzle cache. This puzzle was a lot of fun to do as you were required to put a jigsaw puzzle together to get the final coordinates. I had Google Mapped the final coordinates (I do this with all puzzle finals), and knew exactly where I needed to go. A very quick find with awesome coordinates.
On to the newer cache. This one had me scratching my head as I wasn't seeing anything. I didn't look at the attributes, which I normally do to help narrow down (hopefully) the search area. A quick message to the FTF cacher and I soon had this one in my hand and was signing in.
Time to switch gears and do other things. I needed a new pair of jeans and was told to check out a second hand store that had a wide variety of newer, slightly used, and in good shape clothes. The moment I walked in the door, all I saw was women's and girls clothes. Did they even have Men's clothes? Yup, all the way in the back of the store. After trying on four pair, I decided on one and paid for them. I tossed them in the wash the next day, only to find that they shrunk big time. I can't wear these unless I'm walking in ankle deep water. That was $18 down the drain.
I had already captured a Munzee early in my travels, but now I was about to capture a bunch located around a shopping center hub. I enjoy playing Munzee as it's very similar to Geocaching, but it's QR codes you are searching for and scanning instead of containers. I think this game is more ideal for the urban areas as the QR codes can be placed in plain sight. Unfortunately, Munzee hasn't really caught on in Winnipeg. There are a few local geocachers of late that have been putting Munzees out and trying to add to the Munzee map, but the amount of people playing compared to Geocaching is very small. In total, I had captured six Munzees that day, with three of them being first to capture (equivalent to FTF in Geocaching).
There was some Pokémon involved during the day. I'm finding that now I hit level 40 (the highest level you can achieve in Pokémon Go), I don't try to catch Pokémon as often. Everything you do in the game is to earn points to level up. Once you're at level 40, you don't need to earn the points anymore. I'll still do gym battles, but overall, my Pokémon play has declined drastically since hitting level 40 almost two weeks ago.
I did try to avenge another DNF with no success yet again. Checked on another puzzle final. I think I spotted the container, but I don't have the appropriate TOTT to get my hands on it. An attempt on another cache that had me a little nervous doing any sort of lengthy search as it's in the back alley, behind a residence and I'm wide open to any of the neighbours who might look my way. I don't think I spent more than a minute there before walking away.
Time for some food. I have been craving for a good burger. Not a prefab McDonald's or Burger King burger, but a burger from a stand alone, independent burger location. Since I was in the area, I decided to go to one of my favorite spots and has become a yearly tradition for myself and my boys, d-2002 and MewTwo, The Whistle Pig. Much to my surprise, it was closed and being renovated. The name was blackened out. Oh no!! Not sure what will take it's place, but this was very sad to see. Off to a burger stand that I know is open. The North Star. A bacon cheeseburger, onion rings and a root beer. I'm in heaven now. LOL.
To wrap up my day, I took in a concert by a local band, Harliquin. They were big back in the late 1970's and into the 1980's. They have numerous good songs, with "Sweet Things in Life" being my all time favorite. What made this show extra special was the addition of another local talent, Chris Burke-Gaffney, bassist and lead singer of another local band, Orphan, as well as The Pumps. I got to hear plenty of Harliquin somgs and a couple of Orphan songs as well. It was an awesome show as I sang along to most of the songs.
April challenge update: In my last blog, I was only two away from reaching my goal of 5,300 finds. As I write this (Saturday night), I have 5,303 finds. Goal accomplished. Last year, I reached my 4,500th find at the kickoff event for the North Dakota Camping and Caching weekend. Wouldn't it be cool to reach my 5,500th at the very same event? Two months, two hundred finds. Hmmmmm.
That's it for this week. Be happy, be safe, enjoy, and remember to have fun. And keep an eye out for wood ticks. I haven't seen one yet myself, but it's only a matter of time before someone reports a sighting. Peace out.
Today I want to look back on what can be an average Saturday for me. The Saturday in question is April 13th. I wanted to get at least three finds for the day, bringing my cumulative total count to eleven for April 13. I had received some intel on a couple of puzzle finals that had me stumped. The puzzle themselves were solved, but finding the container proved to be more challenging than the puzzle itself. There was also a newer puzzle cache that I had solved but haven't attempted to find. As an added bonus, there was a new cache published that morning that fit in with my travel plans. Also on my list for this day was capturing a bunch of Munzees, some Pokémon gym battles, shopping for a pair of jeans, finding a good burger and maybe a concert to end the day.
First up was a puzzle final that was solved last summer with Auntie Mo. She had found it already, but for some reason, I couldn't, even with a hint from Auntie Mo. Determined to avenge this DNF, (I never logged this as a DNF despite two different searches), this would be my first stop as I had a route planned out. Since it was a Saturday, there is a chance of a higher muggle activity. There was a few muggles nearby for this one, but none were paying attention to what I was up to as there was a perfect decoy close by for me to park at. A quick find. Finally!!
On to another puzzle final that I have also been to twice and have logged a DNF. With some intel from the cache owner, I was back again. Third time is the charm. This one blended in with it's host very well. Because of where the final was and where I could park for that final, I was actually closer to the final of another puzzle cache. This puzzle was a lot of fun to do as you were required to put a jigsaw puzzle together to get the final coordinates. I had Google Mapped the final coordinates (I do this with all puzzle finals), and knew exactly where I needed to go. A very quick find with awesome coordinates.
On to the newer cache. This one had me scratching my head as I wasn't seeing anything. I didn't look at the attributes, which I normally do to help narrow down (hopefully) the search area. A quick message to the FTF cacher and I soon had this one in my hand and was signing in.
Time to switch gears and do other things. I needed a new pair of jeans and was told to check out a second hand store that had a wide variety of newer, slightly used, and in good shape clothes. The moment I walked in the door, all I saw was women's and girls clothes. Did they even have Men's clothes? Yup, all the way in the back of the store. After trying on four pair, I decided on one and paid for them. I tossed them in the wash the next day, only to find that they shrunk big time. I can't wear these unless I'm walking in ankle deep water. That was $18 down the drain.
I had already captured a Munzee early in my travels, but now I was about to capture a bunch located around a shopping center hub. I enjoy playing Munzee as it's very similar to Geocaching, but it's QR codes you are searching for and scanning instead of containers. I think this game is more ideal for the urban areas as the QR codes can be placed in plain sight. Unfortunately, Munzee hasn't really caught on in Winnipeg. There are a few local geocachers of late that have been putting Munzees out and trying to add to the Munzee map, but the amount of people playing compared to Geocaching is very small. In total, I had captured six Munzees that day, with three of them being first to capture (equivalent to FTF in Geocaching).
There was some Pokémon involved during the day. I'm finding that now I hit level 40 (the highest level you can achieve in Pokémon Go), I don't try to catch Pokémon as often. Everything you do in the game is to earn points to level up. Once you're at level 40, you don't need to earn the points anymore. I'll still do gym battles, but overall, my Pokémon play has declined drastically since hitting level 40 almost two weeks ago.
I did try to avenge another DNF with no success yet again. Checked on another puzzle final. I think I spotted the container, but I don't have the appropriate TOTT to get my hands on it. An attempt on another cache that had me a little nervous doing any sort of lengthy search as it's in the back alley, behind a residence and I'm wide open to any of the neighbours who might look my way. I don't think I spent more than a minute there before walking away.
Time for some food. I have been craving for a good burger. Not a prefab McDonald's or Burger King burger, but a burger from a stand alone, independent burger location. Since I was in the area, I decided to go to one of my favorite spots and has become a yearly tradition for myself and my boys, d-2002 and MewTwo, The Whistle Pig. Much to my surprise, it was closed and being renovated. The name was blackened out. Oh no!! Not sure what will take it's place, but this was very sad to see. Off to a burger stand that I know is open. The North Star. A bacon cheeseburger, onion rings and a root beer. I'm in heaven now. LOL.
(me and my boys last summer at the Whistle Pig.)
(The North Star. One of many good burger places around Winnipeg)
To wrap up my day, I took in a concert by a local band, Harliquin. They were big back in the late 1970's and into the 1980's. They have numerous good songs, with "Sweet Things in Life" being my all time favorite. What made this show extra special was the addition of another local talent, Chris Burke-Gaffney, bassist and lead singer of another local band, Orphan, as well as The Pumps. I got to hear plenty of Harliquin somgs and a couple of Orphan songs as well. It was an awesome show as I sang along to most of the songs.
(almost sold out crowd taking in Harliquin)
April challenge update: In my last blog, I was only two away from reaching my goal of 5,300 finds. As I write this (Saturday night), I have 5,303 finds. Goal accomplished. Last year, I reached my 4,500th find at the kickoff event for the North Dakota Camping and Caching weekend. Wouldn't it be cool to reach my 5,500th at the very same event? Two months, two hundred finds. Hmmmmm.
That's it for this week. Be happy, be safe, enjoy, and remember to have fun. And keep an eye out for wood ticks. I haven't seen one yet myself, but it's only a matter of time before someone reports a sighting. Peace out.
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