Geocaching and Past Adventures pt 1

Good morning everyone.  Last week I looked at caches in North Dakota found by non-North Dakota residents.  This week, it's caches placed in Manitoba found by non-Manitoba residents.  This does not include those who have lived in Manitoba and have since moved away.  Olemaz from Saskatchewan has the most with 2,775 finds and ranks 68th overall.  tcummin, also from Saskatchewan has 2,587 finds and is 76th overall.  ArtyLab from the North West Territories has 1,950 finds and ranks 112th overall.

Today I want to share with you, one of my past adventures.  I was going through some of my geocaching pictures when I came across a few from a particular adventure that I went on.  The date was August 2nd, 2015.  I wanted to go and get the oldest active geocache in Manitoba.  That would be "C1BUA cache 1n a built up area"  GC21C.  Joining me on this adventure was my geocache puzzle solving friend and navigator Auntie Mo.  We set off early that morning, if memory serves me correctly, I'd say around 8am.  Killarney, Manitoba (home of the oldest active Manitoba cache) is about a two and a half hour drive from Winnipeg.  It will take longer on this day as I plan to find other caches along the way.  I had a route planned out and the caches we were going to grab before arriving at our goal.

One of our early stops was in the town of Oakville.  This particular cache was on private property.  Our coordinates took us between the two houses.  I had an uncomfortable feeling, like most geocachers have when it comes to caches hidden on private property.  What didn't help was that the neighbouring yard had all sorts of lawn ornaments in the front.  That yard screamed that a cache was hidden there.  After retreating to the safety of the public sidewalk, I scrolled through past logs to get some clue as to where we should be looking.  We had the right yard, and it wasn't in the yard with all the lawn ornaments.  In my log, I stated that the cache wasn't more than two steps onto the property.  That cache has since been archived.

Next stop was in Elm Creek.  I had this cache already, but I thought this would be a good one for Auntie Mo for her 50th find.  You can see an actual fire hydrant in front of the larger one to give you an idea of just how big this thing is.  Sadly, this cache has been archived as well.  

Another one of my stops that I wanted to make was in the town of Treherne.  The home of the glass bottle house and church.  Bob and Dora Cain started collecting bottles in 1979.  He started building a house, church, wishing well and an outhouse (it is operational) on his farm.  Everything was moved into Treherne in 2007.

(front of the glass bottle house)

(inside the church where you'll find four pews, a pulpit, and an organ)

We continued to find caches along highway #2, including a stop in Holland.  The town of Holland, Manitoba, not the country.  The town wouldn't be complete without a Dutch windmill.

Further down the road in Glenbro you will find Sara, the one humped camel.

We reached highway #10 and turned South.  I was hoping to make it all the way to the Peace Gardens that is situated along the Canada/U.S. border.  There is a virtual there that I wanted to get.  Seeing what the time was and we still haven't got to the oldest active cache, I had to abandon any plans for that virtual.  I still haven't made it to the Peace Gardens to this day.  Maybe this summer when I go down to North Dakota for the camping and caching event.  We did make it to the town of Boisevain and the home of Tommy Turtle.  You never know who you will bump into when you're out geocaching.  In this case, as Auntie Mo and myself were leaving a particular cache that we found by an interesting tree, another car pulled up behind mine.  It was another goecacher.  sisterlinda and her husband.  We had a brief chat and carried on our way.

We finally arrived in Killarney, Manitoba.  Before we get to the oldest active cache, we made a couple of other stops.  One was situated on the shore of a lake.  Auntie Mo loved the view and wanted to stay.  This is another cache that has been archived since we've been there.  On to the ultimate goal.  Auntie Mo had looked at pictures of this cache before we left on our adventure, so she had a good idea of what we were looking for.  On arrival, we were surprised at how easily it was visible to anyone and everyone.  It was on the front step of the home owner's place.  

(I got caught with my hand in the cookie jar so to speak)

We carried on East along highway #3, slowly making our way home.  There would be more caches found along the way, including more older placed ones.  There would also be more interesting things to see, including this tiny house.  I believe the peak of the house is as high as I am tall.  In my comments for the interior picture, I said if you were to stand up, your head would be sticking through the roof.

(you can see the fence post in the background to give you an idea of how tiny the house is)

(a view of the inside)

If I recall correctly, it was about midnight when we finally arrived home.  A very long day full of interesting places, caches, and memories.  I believe the final count was around 44 finds.  Could have been higher but it was getting dark at our last find and I was using the light off of my phone to find another older cache.

That is one of many adventures I have been on since I've joined geocaching.  I will share other past adventures down the road.  Until then, be safe, be happy, have fun, and enjoy.  Peace out.