Geocaching and the March Cache Advance Cache Crate

Good morning everyone.  Now that I completed my 360 from home stat last weekend with a minimum of at least one find in every sector, now I can work on a second loop.  This can be challenging as a couple of the missing sectors are to the North East, and there's very few geocaches placed in that direction.  Mostly because there's a very large lake in that direction, and no roads on the other side of Lake Winnipeg.  I need to find caches in nine more sectors to complete a second loop.  How many times have you completed the 360 from home stat?

With everything that's going on in the world right now, it seems hard to find something positive to make the day seem brighter.  I sort of knew that something positive would be coming in the mail this week.  It did in the form of the latest Cache Advance Cache Crate.  Sometimes you can predict what the theme might be before it arrives (Valentine's Day), and sometimes you just don't know.  This one was a mystery to me as I grabbed it from my mailbox and brought it home to open.

(I've been noticing that the box is always upside down in my mailbox when I get it.  Hmmmm)

I was able to find some space on the table (actually on my laptop) to open this as my oldest boy, d-2002 was working on his jigsaw puzzle.  Now that I think of it, we weren't really practicing good social distancing skills as he sat basically in front of me, an arm length away.

The bill of lading is always on top and the wrapping tissue nicely hides what's inside.  The first thing I pull out was a tool of some sort.  After checking it out, I see that it's a tool to help remove wood ticks.  This is very timely as wood tick season is fast approaching.  I have discovered wood ticks crawling on me while I've been geocaching as early as April.  The month of April is just a few days away.  In all the years I have been geocaching and wandering around in bushes, tall grass, etc, I only know of two times that I've had a tick stuck in me.  Once between my toes, and the other on the side of my butt.  I have had many crawling on me.  The most I have ever seen was on an adventure with local geocacher Shop Crazy and his two boys as we went for a zombie cache in Southern Manitoba.  I had five, but Shop Crazy had over 20 crawling on him.

Next out of the box is a CITO patch.  CITO season is here.  Doing a CITO event and keeping a social distancing can be tricky, but doable.  For those that are unable to go to work because of the current events, you can still walk around your neighborhood and do a CITO.  Every little piece that's picked up helps our planet.

After dealing with dirty items and trash, you will want to clean up your fingers and hands.  Wet naps are always handy to have.  As I get my geo-car ready for another summer of geocaching, I'm will have to stock up on items like wet naps.

Tissues.  Everyone needs tissues for wiping or when you sneeze.  Anyone who has been with me in my geo-car knows I have a large supply of napkins on hand.  Every time I stop to get take out food, I always grab a few more napkins.  Napkins have many uses.  The obvious is to wipe your hands/face.  Wipe the inside of your vehicle or the inside of a geocache if it's damp inside.  Need something to quickly write on?  Grab a napkin.

A CITO pin and a wood sticker is next out of the box.  I know there's something big in the box and I've been resisting taking it out until the very end.  What could it be?

A first aid kit.  Very handy to have.  I have to admit that I don't travel with one and I should.  I have had many scrapes and scratches from caching in the bush.  A first aid kit would have been handy.  Now I have one.  What is all inside?  

We have the basic stuff for a first aid kit.  Gauze pads, alcohol prep pads, band-aids, a packet of sugar (for diabetics), medical tape, some asprin, and a small bar of soap to clean up after.  I can easily add to this and keep it replenished.  

For the month of March, the theme of the crate was CITO and first-aid.  Healing the world and each other.  With the warmer weather here, more geocaching adventures will be planned.   With that said, it's time for me to get my new geocaching bag ready.  SM66 gave me a new geocaching bag for Christmas to replace the one that was stolen out of my car over a year ago (also a gift from SM66).  I have contents from five Cache Crates to place in my bag.

That's it for this week.  Until next time, be happy, stay safe, keep practicing your social distancing, self-isolate and read some geocaching blogs or watch geo-caching videos, try to have fun, but most importantly, wash your hands to help prevent the spread of germs.  We can defeat this virus if we all do our part and think of others.  Peace out.

(keeping a watch of the neighborhood)