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Geocaching and Adventure Labs pt. 2

 Good morning everyone.  Today we'll be stopping in Arkansas, home of former President, Bill Clinton.  The most favorite cache and the oldest is 'Gorilla Stash' GC1B.  Hidden in June, 2000, it has 669 favorite points and 2,134 found logs.  This cache can be found in the city of Mountain Home, close to the Arkansas/Missouri border.  

Last week I did one of two (at that time) Adventure Labs located in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba.  The final stage that I did for that one is just a short walk away from the starting point of the the second Adventure Lab.  The second Adventure Lab takes you to some Roadside Attractions that can be found around Portage La Prairie.  If you've been following me long enough, then you know how much I love roadside attractions.  I do have to admit that I have been to a few of the attractions that this particular Lab cache will take us, but there was a couple that I didn't know about until now.

'Exploring Portage La Prairie's Roadside Attractions' was put together by local cachers The Trove Chasers.  The Troves are well known around here for some of their amazing geocaches that they have hidden in the past.  This Adventure Lab has a bonus cache.  It'll be the first time for me finding a bonus cache at the end.  Let's get started and see where this AL will take us.

The starting point is in an area called Island Park.  This area is a popular destination that is home to a water park, playground area, picnic sites, deer and waterfowl sanctuary, tennis courts, a fairground, sportsplex, a disc golf course, plus more.  With each stage of this AL, you obtain information needed to solve the bonus cache location.  We begin at the popular windmill inside the park.


On to the second stage that is also in the park and not far away.


In the background, you can see Crescent Lake.  This lake was a part of the nearby Assiniboine River.  An oxbow lake was formed centuries ago that has a crescent shape.

The third stage was a small drive away and one of the roadside attractions that I didn't know about.  I was very impressed by what I saw.



I could have stayed there for a lot longer admiring the craftsmanship that went into this carving.  It is fascinating.  Speaking of carvings, stage four is another attraction that I didn't know about.


That is a very big owl.  With the next clue obtained, it was off to stage five and the final.  The last roadside attraction has appeared in one of my blogs in the past.  It is the world's largest Coke can.


Five stages, five clues towards solving the bonus cache, or so I thought.  When I sat down to solve the coordinates, I somehow missed one of the clues.  How was this possible?  Fortunately for me, it was the last digit in the North coordinates.  I entered two waypoints, one ending in zero, and the other ending in nine.  The search area was narrowed down, but I still had a decent size area to search.  Reading past logs, a few commented on the size of the ammo can.  That shouldn't be too hard to find.  It still took me some time to search and find the bonus cache.  When I did, it was loaded with swag.


That's another AL completed and I picked up the new bonus cache attribute too.  As I sit down to write this, I see there is now a third Adventure Lab in Portage La Prairie.  'Portage's Designated Heritage Sites' also put together by the Trove Chasers.  A return trip to Portage is in my future.  I just don't know when in the future.

Until next week, be happy, be safe, practice social distancing, enjoy life, and most importantly, have fun.  Peace out.



Caught the kitties doing what they're not supposed to do.  Bad kitties.

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