Geocaching and the vacation

Good morning everyone.  I'm hoping that by the time this is published, my move will be completed.  All that should remain is unpacking and getting settled into my latest place to call home.  4th move in three years.  I'm wondering if I should change my name from Geocacher Ken to Gypsy Ken.  The initials would remain the same.  LOL.

This week's fun fact is highest and lowest elevation for caches.  In Canada, the highest elevated cache is Mount Temple, GC1607, at 11,476ft above sea level.  The lowest is Eureka Coffee Pot, GCX4P7, at -8.458ft below sea level.  The highest in the States is Big Denali, GC4C79N, at 20,203ft above sea level, while the lowest is Dharma Initiative Phase II - Graduation, GC167RW, at -14,780ft below sea level.  Just to compare, the highest in the world is Earth's Roof - Mount Everest Peak, GC2BX63, at 28,921ft above sea level and the lowest is Earth's Orientation - South Pole, GC2BX66 at -18,235ft below sea level.

How many of you have planned a vacation that was geocaching based?  Or do you plan a vacation and then see what geocaches are available at your destination?  So far I've done two vacations with my boys.  Both times, the destination was planned and I was able to find geocaches once there.  The first vacation was a camping trip to Blue Lake, in Ontario.  There were no geocaches hidden in the campground, but there was enough around the town of Vermillion Bay to keep a very young streak alive.  There was this one that required a small hike and climb.  The view at GC was well worth it.

I did have my eyes set on finding a puzzle cache that was last found on August 1st of the previous year.  I was going to be there exactly one year after the last find, and find it I did.

I believe this one was a different cache along the same hiking trail.

And a stop on the way home to do an Earthcache.

The following year, I took the boys West to Alberta to visit some friends.  I had Earthcaches and virtuals targeted to keep the stops to a minimum, but also handy to make pit stops and stretch like this virtual in Indian Head, Saskatchewan.  My youngest; Mew Two on the left and my oldest duesenburg 2002 on the right.

I love doing Earthcaches as you can learn something about the history of the land or in this case, the formation of Hoodoos.

The Earthcache at a coal mine wasn't planned but we did end up there.  I didn't have this in the GPSr and I had no phone reception.  I took down any and all info that might be an answer to the questions.  Once at the hotel, I discovered I had none of the answers.  I explained my situation to the CO along with proof that I was there, and he was gracious enough to allow me to log it as found.  :)

What do you do when the dinosaurs are running loose?  You stop and take pictures of course.

A cool, misty, rainy day wasn't going to stop me from doing an Earthcache at Horseshoe Canyon.

I did have a webcam cache on my to-do list while in Calgary.  I was fortunate enough to get it.  It has since been archived.  :(  It's not the greatest of pics but I'm closest to the car.

The day we went to the mountains, smoke from the forest fires in Washington State blew in, making for a very hazy day.  I was on Sulphur Mountain for this pic.  You should see the town of Banff behind me, but the smoke was so bad, you can't see it.  This virtual is my highest elevation for a cache found at 7,215ft above sea level.

On the way home, we had to stop off in the fictional town of Dog River, located in the real town of Roleau, Saskatchewan.  This is where the outside scenes of the TV show, 'Corner Gas' was filmed.  The cache that was here has since been archived and the gas station has been torn down.

I have done several day trips for the purpose of finding caches.  I'm hoping that this coming summer, I'll be able to do weekend camp/cache trips.  I even have thoughts of doing a week long camp/cache trip and return to Mt. Rushmore.  I was there before I started geocaching.  Hopefully I'll have plenty of pics, tales, interesting caches, and a few roadside attractions to share.

That's it for this week.  As my oldest, d-2002 says all the time, "Peace Out" (must be a teenager thing), enjoy, and remember, geocaching is meant to be fun.