Well the
day has finally arrived. On May 27th 2007 I found my 1,000th cache!
HooRah! This very rewarding and tiring journey has taken me 15
months.
I work second shift from 11 AM to 8
PM Monday thru Friday. This left me Saturday and Sunday and any
other day I was not at work. I used all my vacation time to hunt
caches. Even when the temperature was 20 degrees below zero I was
out hunting caches. Yep I have it bad. Some might say I’m even a
bit crazy.
I found my first cache
“Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That!” (GCMA0Q) by Mitch
the Caching K9 on February 25th 2006.
Later I came across a certain micro cache in the woods. After I
made five trips to find the cache, each an hour or more long and
still not finding it I did what any sane person would do. I took a
day off from work to do nothing but crawl around on my hands and
knees in the woods looking for a cache. As whistlen said “There is
a fine line between mental illness and a hobby!” I guess I must
have it bad, because after 10 hours of searching in 90 degree heat
on my day off I still could not find it. Sigh… The cache is named
“NyukNyukNyuk” (GCVHXK) by Geojamie13. Yep, this one drove me
over the edge. And in the end after a total of 20 hours searching
and still coming up empty I needed her help to find it.
I spent 12 hours trying to find another mini-micro cache named
“No Clue for You - Suzy’s B-Day Cache”
(GCRDNJ) by Team EskimoZooKeeper. They saw my frustration and
gave me a hint. I even brought my Mom, now known to the caching
world as Momma-Sarge, SuzyJazz named her when she got to meet my
Mom during a cache hunt in my Mom’s back yard. And in the end, I
needed there help to find it.
Then there was
“Hollywood Park”
(GCJZQF) by SerenityNow. I searched for this micro for 10 hours
in the daylight on four different visits. Finally I returned in the
dark, in the rain and with a hint and found it in 20 minutes. For
some odd reason finding this was easier in the dark when I could
not see anything. And yes, this might make me certifiable.
And who could forget my getting hauled into the Brooklyn Ohio
Court system because I chose to ignore a clearly posted off limits
area. All because I didn’t want to get my feet wet crossing a
stream while hunting
“Our Way to The Kingdom” (GCR8FG) by SuzyJazz. I even had to go
out of my way to find the off limits area, which was nowhere near
the cache. Did I mention that at times I’m directionally
challenged? After all, it had the only way across the stream with
out getting my feet wet. When it was all said and done the
Magistrate told me “case dismissed, go home, please don’t ignore
the sign next time. And go out and buy a pair of boots.” Words of
wisdom to cache by.
Then there is my 1,000th cache.
“Euclid Library” (GCY9M5) by Callmeox. The cache is hidden
somewhere on or around a very, very large piece of Army equipment.
Having spent 20 years in the Army this one started to get on my
nerves each time I failed to find the cache. It became a matter of
principle and pride to find this one because of it’s close ties to
my 20 year Army carrier. The forth visit there were 10 to 15 kids
all over the cache area. I made a fifth trip with the mind set that
I would not leave till I found the cache. After 20 minutes not only
did I find the cache, but the cache now has a special memory
attached to it. It is number 1,000!
Ah the memories. These are just a few of the really great moments I
have had during my 15-month journey to finding my 1,000th cache.
There are more memories than I have room to write about on the
cache page.
It’s not about the numbers even thought that’s what drives a
Geocacher to go out and hunt for caches. It’s really about the
journey. A friend of mine, Dreamin’Eagle, has a tag line on his
Geochums Forum signature. “Geocaching is a hobby, Geochums is a way
of life.”
These memories would not have been possible without “The
Hiders”. If they had not taken the time to hide the caches for me
to hunt, none of this would have been possible. They have become
friends and mentors. Thank you one and all. I hope to see you on
the trail!
The hiders and the number of their caches that contributed to my
journey from one to 1,000 finds are:
SuzyJazz – 64 caches
SerenityNow – 40 caches
LuvWahoo – 36 caches
Team RAGAR – 32 caches
The Jester & Granny – 32 caches
ToastyMallows – 28 caches
Finding Fraggle Rock – 25 caches
FunkyMonkey – 20 caches
RAGE XN – 20 caches
Timeage – 17 caches
Callmeox – 16 caches
SherwoodForest – 16 caches
The Hiking Viking – 16 caches
Goldrush – 15 caches
Muddy Dawgs – 15 caches
TeamDotOne – 15 caches
RexC & The Girls – 14 caches
The City Girls – 14 caches
Bdstarcachers – 13 caches
CapFantasy – 13 caches
Cold One – 13 caches
Golly Geos – 13 caches
JetMonkey – 13 caches
Slandgsmith – 13 caches
Team ColdJazz – 13 caches
EskimoZooKeeper – 12 caches
Hellifikow – 11 caches
Just a Couple of Nuts – 11 caches
Mitch the Caching K9 – 11 caches
The O’Hara Cache Crew – 11 caches
GeoJamie13 & aanderso12 – 10 caches
Kkids – 9 caches
LABBOO & Overcast – 9 caches
Scwolves – 9 caches
Taranis – 9 caches
GeoJamie13 – 8 caches
TheDudez – 8 caches
aanersol12 & GeoJamie13 – 7 caches
Charlie – 7 caches
Team DAJJ – 7 caches
The Geo-Twins – 7 caches
Whistlen – 7 caches
earthy5000 – 6 caches
Jerageo’s – 6 caches
Mitabug – 6 caches
Geo-Ghouls – 5 caches
JoesBar – 5 caches
Seallawyer98 & Prindess_K – 5 caches
Steve7 – 5 caches
The Geo-Ghouls – 5 caches
CachingQuickies – 4 caches
CurlyShavings – 4 caches
KenX – 4 caches
LuvWahoo & Crocodile Hunter – 4 caches
phil/nichole – 4 caches
Rjspears – 4 caches
AnnaL – 3 caches
GeaugaGarmin – 3 caches
JAX – 3 caches
Landgsmith – 3 caches
MysticOne – 3 caches
plsp_amber – 3 caches
Shadow Raven – 3 caches
The Geo-Twins: LuvWahoo & Bipolar Bear – 3 caches
The Wreaper – 3 caches
Tinkrtoy13 – 3 caches
Webbyz – 3 caches
Whatsit – 3 caches
Whistlen & The Family – 3 caches
aanersol12 – 2 caches
Bates Ulee – 2 caches
Cap’n Ferdinard Leadsword – 2 caches
Cleveland Metroparks – 2 caches
Cree – 2 caches
Creno – 2 caches
Cryptkeepers – 2 caches
Cwaff – 2 caches
domonic – 2 caches
Dreamin’Eagle – 2 caches
DT Dewey – 2 caches
First Mate Caspin of T.O.C.C – 2 caches
gamesnight – 2 caches
Geo Caver – 2 caches
geomorphmatt – 2 caches
Goat Haunt – 2 caches
Hockey00 – 2 caches
Incahoots1 – 2 caches
Indy – 2 caches
Kc8hnz adopted by LuvWahoo – 2 caches
Jemellbird – 2 caches
LABBOO – 2 caches
LuvWahoo & CR – 2 caches
MissLatitude – 2 caches
Nottinghams – 2 caches
Roonster – 2 caches
Seallawyer98 – 2 caches
Slot Fiends – 2 caches
SuzyJazz & The Dudez – 2 caches
SzwibnFrag – 2 caches
Team Delewski – 2 caches
Team Dim Bulbs – 2 caches
Team_Little_Bear – 2 caches
The GeoTribe – 2 caches
The NEOGeodogs – 2 caches
Tick Magnet – 2 caches
Toothfairy XN – 2 caches
Vangoghkab & Jairhead – 2 caches
Walton Crew – 2 caches
WileyDog – 2 caches
Yladybird – 2 caches
Zoisrus – 2 caches
Group Events that contributed multiple event caches for me to
find:
FraggleStock, NEOGEO Bingo, NEOGeocachers Sittin’ Round; Talkin’
Cache, NEOGeocachers 1K Celebtations
Geocachers and Teams that contributed one cache for me to find:
("EM Boyz) (5hills; A couple of Basket Cases) (A Loco & Some
crazy cachers)(adjuster-jd) (Alphabetty) (anet & LindaGeo)
(anet & Bobo19) (anet, BDstarcachers, bobo, KenX, Yladybird)
(Area 51 Recon Team) (Army-Brats)(Av8orbot) (Backpackerbob)
(Barkie) (Bever-beliver) (Bedford Historical Society) (Bipolar
Bear)(CachePhishers) (Capt.Bligh) (Chak) (Cincozetas)
(CoasterManiacs) (ColdDreamers) (ColdJazz) (Crocodile Hunterr and
LuvWahoo) (Crunchberry) (CurlyShavings & littleChipp) (Danuw)
(DarthZod) (Dbskysoldier) (DJ Jazzy Forrezt) (Dogmatic) (e4e5)
(Eastern Chums) (Easyrn1/Besbart) (EllehciM) (Fellowship of the
Wounded Sock) (Finding Fraggle Rock, SerenityNow & Cree)
(Firelight and imGoing) (First Mate Black Devil of The O’Hara Cache
Crew) (Fred Flinstone) (G&TB) (Gabriel, Anna and Hathan -
Adopted by Josebar) (GeaugaGarmin for the NEOGeocachers)
(Geo-Twins) (GeoScouterOH) (GoBucks19 and Weatherman17) (Good Dog)
(Greater Cleveland Council BSA) (HxFamily) (jesse james duo)
(Jmurray703) (Johnofhampshire) (Julzm231 and her Bob) (K-Finders)
(KC8DJV – Steve) (Kc8goq) (Klienhund) (LatLon Seeker) (Lisacav99)
(LLLL) (Logos) (Lp5324) (LTRN(LuvWahoo & Bipolar Bear) (Lydon)
(Mikey) (MisterRoo & Caeli)(Mkglowe) (MuddyJazz) (Namg) (NEE
WOE Geocacher) (NEOGeocachers) (Odin, the littlest hiking Viking)
(Pete & Repeat) (pilotsr & pilotjr) (PrairieDog81)
(Princess_K & sealawyer98) (Pt6arnum) (Regoarrarr)
(Retiredretired - adopted by LavWahoo) (RexC) (RexC & a Jazzy
Girl)(Riventeam) (RoxyAnne) (Royal Society for the Preservation of
Geopenguins) (Secret Agent) (SerenityNow & Cree)(SherwoodForest
- adopted by SerenityNow) (SherwoodForest & Finding Fraggle
Rock) (Skycop - Adopted by Tick Magnet) (Snppla) (Sombra1230)
(Spokehead7) (Squatch)(Starburst_11) (Supersox) (SuzyJazz &
Jeeps) (Team EskimoZooKeeper) (Team RAGAR & The O”Hara Cache
Crew) (Team Stajihaha) (TeamRipley) (Tennison Gambit) (The Alexm)
(The Geo-Ghouls & the Kindred Spirits) (The Geo-Ghouls:
LuvWahoo & Bipolar Bear) (The Geo-Ghoulskis) (The
Geo-Peppermint Twins) (The Little Chief) (TheOz’s) (Tick Magnet
& Snug as a Bug) (Tinkrtoy13 & Geomorphmatt) (Troop 235)
(TwoPaws) (Whistlen & Nicole) (Wolfbait & Area 51 Recon
Team) (Wrexicon) (Yale-peabody)
First to Find: Team ColdJazz Plus a Dude – June 4, 2007 at
1815.
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