The Great Outdoors RV Resort, Titusville, FL
GPS: 28.550355, -80.861438
Several people have asked where we are going this summer of 2015. My response produces a glazed stare from most. So I decided to paint a picture, with websites to back me up, that will let everyone have a look at this year's adventure.
Our 2015 Summer: 7,100 miles and 200 days
Of course the trip begins from our new permanent home at The Great Outdoors RV Resort, Titusville, FL (point A on the map). We leave here on Friday, 01 May 2015
Our first destination is The Pioneer Store Museum, Chloride, NM (GPS: 33.338682, -107.681035; altitude 6,180ft; point B on the map). This leg is about 1,950 miles and I have allowed seven days to get there, with minimal sightseeing along the way.
Chloride was a silver mining town. It began in 1879 and enjoyed a boom from 1881 to 1893 with the population reaching about 3,000. In 1893 the price of silver collapsed and took Chloride down with it. All that remained was a little bit of lumbering and cattle ranching. The Pioneer Store hung on until 1923 when it finally closed.
Pioneer Store, Chloride, NM
Sometime in the 'recent' past, Don and Dona Edmund took over the town and have been working to restore it as a tourist attraction. I don't know the details of this part of the history. I'll be sure to learn all about it when I get there.
Chloride, NM
Chloride caught my attention a couple years back when Don posted a help wanted ad on one of the workamping websites. He and I have stayed in touch as I tried to work out a trip that would put us there for a couple months. Summer 2015 is it. My plan is to be there from 08 May to 08 July.
We enjoy this type of WorKamping/Volunteering. We get a full hookup site and some amenities for about 20 hours per week. No salary, no tax paperwork, no season long commitment; just an interlude helping good people do good things.
I think this will be much like our first workamping adventure in 2011 at the Panhandle Pioneer Settlement in Blountstown, FL.
We are into geocaching. So when I find an interesting location, I go to the Geocaching website and look for geocaches near that location. I put them on a watch list and track the log entries to learn more about the location. I found three near Chloride: GC1WNJF – Chloride Cache, GC270M8 – Directional Cache, GC45WZN – Spirit of Chloride. Here are a couple of the log entries that capture the atmosphere of Chloride.
Chloride Cache GC1WNJF
If you dig old mining towns (Ghost Towns), this is the cache to find. On your way to Chloride there are some points of interest and wonderful scenic vistas.
This town is owned by a family who have taken it upon themselves to bring it back to life through restoration. The General Store and Saloon/Gift Store can be seen during normal business hours through 4:00 pm. The owner is very knowledgeable in the town history and gives a wonderful presentation of town history. The museum operates on donations so give as you see fit.
Found this one easily after having lunch in the Chloride Bank Café and making a tour of the Pioneer Store Museum with Don Edmunds daughter. Seemed like he chased us down in his Cushman as we were pulling into town. Greeted us warmly and started giving us a history of the town and then his daughter took over. By the time we made it to the Saloon, dance hall, art gallery Dona, Mrs. Edmunds, was there and giving us more great information. Thanks for this hide.
Spirit of Chloride GC45WZN
This one is located on a hill off a steep, treacherous road overlooking the (sort of) ghost town of Chloride, once a booming Silver mining town. I learned about this cemetery from the 80 year old curator of the local museum, who recommended I come up to the cemetery for the best views of the canyon. Indeed, this area does not disappoint.
The Good Luck Duck (another blogger) visited Chloride and posted this nice item.
I'm looking forward to meeting Don and Dona Edmunds and spending time with them doing creative things in Chloride, NM.
After our time in Chloride, we head north to Highlands Ranch, CO (a southern suburb of Denver and point C on the map) for a few days with our son Adam, his wife Amy, and their three sons Andrew, Joshua, and Benjamin. Collectively I call them BANJO for short. I'm allowing two days to cover the 423 miles.
We'll have some good times there and I'll have pictures and stories about Chloride to share with the boys. All of the boys are into sports so I'm sure we will get to see them play at least once. I'm thinking that visit will be from 10 Jul to 15 Jul. We'll see.
From silver mining to gold mining, we continue north for three days and 835 miles to our next ghost town – Custer City, ID (GPS: 44.3874133, -114.6959118; altitude 6,469 ft; point D on the map). Land of Yankee Fork State Park has several interesting historical sites including the Challis Bison Kill site, the ghost towns of Custer, Bayhorse and Bonanza and the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge.
Land of the Yankee Fork State Park and Historic District
We will be volunteering at Custer City ghost town. We have been there before. In July 2010 on our first great adventure, we traveled to this area based on a magazine picture of the Sawtooth Mountains. It was love at first sight and I had to go there. During that trip we visited Custer City and met our first WorKampers. They told us about their jobs: Ma in the General Store (now a gift shop) and Pa in the school house telling stories about the town's history. They did that two days a week. They lived in their rig in a small campground specifically for workampers. As with most workamping situations, friendships developed that lasted way beyond the experience.
During our first visit, this was not yet a state park. It was a historic site maintained by a private organization. Look at the map and notice that the southern border of this park is the Salmon River – one of the finest trout fishing rivers in the nation. I don't think I will be bored during my time off. Also look at the mileage – the northern border is a road 44 miles long and the southern is 42 miles. This is not your everyday state park.
Here you are in "Lewis & Clark Territory". The area is covered with historic markers of the Lewis & Clark expedition. My thoughts fill with wonder trying to imagine what it was like for them to see this for the first time when I realized they saw very little of it! There were no highways with scenic overlooks. They had no way to get to a vantage point where they could appreciate the spectacle. Now there's a real bummer.
Yankee Fork Gold Dredge
Here are a few pictures of the Salmon River ...
... and some of the Sawtooth Mountains
I broke my rule "Don't do anything twice, until you have done everything once". It had to be broken for this place. We expect to be there from 17 Jul to 16 Sep.
As an aside. Sixty-two miles south, but still in the Sawtooth Mountains sits the famous Sun Valley resort. This first destination winter resort in the U.S. was developed by W. Averell Harriman, the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad, primarily to increase ridership on U.P. passenger trains in the West.
Pioneering publicist Steve Hannigan, who had successfully promoted Miami Beach, Florida, was hired and named the resort "Sun Valley." The centerpiece of the new resort was the Sun Valley Lodge, which opened in December 1936. The region has been a seasonal home to the rich and famous since first being brought to public attention by Ernest Hemingway in the late 1930s. Averell Harriman had invited Hemingway and other celebrities, primarily from Hollywood, to the resort to help promote it. Gary Cooper was a frequent visitor and hunting/fishing partner, as were Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and several members of the Kennedy family. Hemingway was a part-time resident over the next twenty years.
It will be mid–September when we move on to the vicinity of Grand Forks, ND (GPS: 47.906074, -97.020117; altitude 805ft; point E on the map). This leg is 873 miles and 4 days. We are going there to participate in the 2015 Sugar Beet Harvest. Yes! That's what I said! I'm not going to repeat myself; you can read it again.
We learned about this from several of our workamping friends last summer at our job in Pennsylvania and then visited the employer's booth at the Tampa RV Show in January 2015. We signed up there along with two of our workamping friends Pat and Herb Myers. Pat and Herb are working this summer at Hyde-A-Way Bay Resort in Hackensack, MN, 163 miles and three hours southeast of Grand Forks. If we can fit it in, we will precede the harvest with a few days visit with them in Hackensack, then all head back to Grand Forks (or wherever the sugar company wants us).
This will be a real job for real money – enough to pay for the whole summer. The start date and the duration is determined by Mother Nature but for planning purposes I used 23 Sep for three weeks. Once the harvest starts, we work twelve hour shifts, seven days a week.
We will not know exactly where we will be working until we arrive. We will not be field hands picking beets. The jobs are equipment operators and lab technicians. Several of our workamping friends have signed up for the harvest and we are looking forward to seeing them again. This map gives you an idea of the territory involved.
Sugar Beet Harvest Area
This is what a Sugar Beet looks like ...
... and this is the process for extracting the sugar.
Sugar Extraction Process
American Crystal Sugar Company has an excellent website. Check it out and learn something you didn't know when you got up this morning.
Here is a quote from the website:
American Crystal Sugar Company is a Minnesota agricultural cooperative corporation owned by about 3,000 sugar beet growers in the Minnesota and North Dakota portions of the Red River Valley. It also owns Sidney Sugars, located in Sidney Montana. American Crystal is engaged primarily in the agricultural production, manufacturing and marketing of sugar from sugar beets.
American Crystal Sugar and Sidney Sugars hires over 1,300 workers stationed at 45 sugar beet receiving stations. These seasonal employees are an integral part of making yearly sugar production a great success. These short term positions offer excellent compensation and attract applicants from all over the United States and Canada. Locals and travelers alike come to make a hefty pay check while being able to enjoy various outdoor attractions and camp sites.
We're hoping for an unbeetable experience.
From silver mining to gold mining; now from sugar beets to pumpkins. It will be mid–October when we leave Grand Forks and head east, all the way to Dover, DE (1,564 miles, 6 days, point F on the map). Our next stop has been on my bucket list since I first learned about it several years ago through a TV special on the Discovery Channel.
The Punkin Chunkin Championship is held annually in Delaware approximately the first weekend in November. Wikipedia says:
Pumpkin Chucking, or for rhyming purposes Punkin Chunkin, is the sport of hurling or 'chucking' a pumpkin solely by mechanical means for distance. The devices used include slingshots, catapults, centrifugals, trebuchets, and pneumatic cannons.
Pumpkin chucking competitions, formal and informal, exist throughout the United States in the autumn, and often occur when pumpkins are harvested. World Championship Punkin Chunkin, held annually in November in Delaware by the World Championship Punkin Chunkin Association (WCPCA), is the oldest and largest annual competition. The event began in 1986, and in 2010 featured over 100 teams. A European Championship has been held in Bikschote, Belgium each year since 2004.
The Guinness world record shot is held by a pneumatic cannon dubbed "Big 10 Inch", at 5,545.43 feet (1,690.25 m), on September 9, 2010 in Moab, Utah. The shot received certification from Guinness World Records in early February 2011. It has also competed many times at the WCPC event in Delaware. The WCPCA World Record, which includes only shots made at the annual World Championship event, is held by Team American Chunker, captained by Brian Labrie of New Hampshire, at 4,694.68 feet (1,430.94 m) on November 1, 2013, in Bridgeville, Delaware, the longest shot in event history.
5,545 feet = 1.05 miles
Whenever I mention this event, I get scoffs and smirks from the unknowing. But for an engineer or techie, this event is Physics 101 made awesome and it draws a big crowd ...
Punkin Chunkin Championship, 2013
... and a little crowd
For our friends from Dayton, OH note that Wright State University has a competition team.
Participants compete in six categories:
Slingshots
Catapults
Couldn't find a good picture of a real one
Centrifugals
Trebuchets
Pneumatic Cannons
Theatrical
I haven't a clue what this is.
For many years the Championships were held at a farm in Bridgeville, DE. 2013 was the last year. They are trying to move the event to the grounds of the Dover International Speedway . They did not succeed in time for an event in 2014. All the press is optimistic about 2015 and they have announced the date as 6 – 8 Nov 2015. However, their website has not been updated in quite awhile and should be showing a lot more detailed information by now. I guess I do not share the optimism at this point. I'll watch to see what unfolds in the weeks ahead.
If we stay on schedule, we should arrive in Delaware about two weeks before the Championships. In that case we will try to find a Camp Host position at one of the Delaware State Parks.
From Delaware, we head south with the end of our summer in sight. 414 miles and two nights gets us to Fayetteville, NC and our daughter's house (point G on our map). We will just overnight there. Since we will return in just a couple weeks for our annual Nutcracker pilgrimage, we won't visit at this time. That should be 10 Nov.
535 miles and two more nights gets us home to Titusville, FL on 13 Nov. Back to point A on our map.
Everything in this post so far has been about destinations with nothing about travel. It sounds like we are tearing from place to place at breakneck speed and not stopping to smell the roses. Not quite so.
I have set very comfortable driving distances for each day of travel – never over 300 miles. I have put a couple tourist days in the travel plan. Last January, while at the Tampa RV Show, we signed up for Harvest Hosts and renewed our Passport America membership. Harvest Hosts is a website where you can find farms, wineries, and attractions that allow RVers to park overnight free. Etiquette says you should call ahead to see if they have space and buy some of their product before you leave. Click on their logo at the bottom of this page to go to their website and explore. They get points for every click, so you can help the cause if you like.
I will use several Harvest Hosts stops on this trip including the Texas Air Museum in San Antonio, TX and the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN. So we will do a little sightseeing. Also, I have routed us to visit family and friends in Albuquerque, NM; Whitewater, WI; Port Clinton, OH; Lansdale, PA; and Baltimore, MD.
In addition to Harvest Host sites, we will use a few Passport America campgrounds, and some military campgrounds. So even though we are moving briskly there will be time to visit and see some sights.
Doyle Carlton Pavilion
Kiwanis Island Park
951 Kiwanis Island Park Rd
Merritt Island, FL 32952
GPS: 28.361102, -080.677363
Michelle and I had a nice day out and about running some errands and playing games. All of our activities were in the Merritt Island area and that minimized mileage. We started with a stop at Camping World. There we usually drop big bucks, but today we just picked up a cartridge for our fresh water filter. We had a coupon, so the filter which normally costs about $27 only set us back $2. Of course we spent time browsing the store looking for things we couldn't live without and didn't find a thing.
East under the highway to Sam's Club for a few grocery items and then continued east several miles to Kiwanis Island Park, interrupted by a lunch stop at a Five Guys burger joint.
Kawanis Island Park was our destination today to attend a geocaching event GC5HYBP -- Castaway Cachers Trivia Night on the Space Coast. We arrived quite a bit early so that we could capture the five letterboxes in the series AQ238337 – Kiwanis Island Park: Get Out There and Play placed by Three Flamigos. The five letterboxes were Baseball, Basketball, Racquetball, Kayaking, and Tennis – all carved by GypsyLadyBug. The sixth box in the series, Volleyball, went missing some time ago. Baseball had a logbook so we spent some time looking over the stamp images of previous letterboxers.
As we found each letterbox, we noticed a Munzee very close by, so we picked up Munzee points along with each letterbox. I used my smartphone App to see if there were any more Munzees in the area. Foolish me! Of course there were. Munzees are like mosquitos – they are everywhere. I grabbed a few nearby.
Continuing our exploration, we found GC3PPDA -- Kaelyn's Kache, a geocache placed by DalenBarb. There is a sad but very informative story described in this geocache. Even if you don't search for the cache, you should look this one up on the website and read the story. We did find the cache however. We were having a successful afternoon even before the main event started.
We still had some time to kill before the appointed dinner hour, so we returned to our truck to relax a spell and recharge our phone batteries. While sitting there, we noticed a growing group of people assembling near the pavilion. We later learned that these were the "Castaway Cachers". Geocachers who were arriving to leave tomorrow morning on a nine day geocaching cruise of the islands in the Caribbean. Tonight's trivia event was arranged for them by Dale and Barb Swinehart of Space Coast Geocaching Store as a pre–cruise event. What a neat idea.
Time for dinner and the main event.
Doyle Carlton Pavilion
Dinner was a pulled pork sandwich with baked beans, coleslaw, and a beverage. Simple but good and thanks to PsjKids for preparing it.
It's All Just Trivial: A Geocaching Trivia Event
The game was hosted by the team of Hoosiersunshine (+Chris Decker) and FailedApparatus. These two folks put on a very professional show. Learn about them at geocachingtrivia.com
hoosiersunshine was the MC for the evening
FailedApparatus ran the equipment and did the scoring
We formed into teams of 2-6 people. There were seven rounds of trivia questions, mostly geocaching related. Between each round hoosiersunshine gave out prizes for such things as "Who is the oldest geocacher here?". "Who has the shortest geocaching handle?" (RonC won that one) and many others. It was a lot of fun.
Golden Geopile Trophy
This is a traveling trophy. It appears at all events hosted by this dynamic duo. The winning team gets their name on the trophy and their picture on the Geocaching Trivia website. How cool is that? And of course the trophy is trackable (TB4ZX88). At the very beginning I got scared thinking that the winner was going to have to take this monster home.
Tonight's winner was Team Feeble Film Canisters. Congratulations to them. I do not know, but am curious to learn, how many years of geocaching and how many Finds are represented on that team. Maybe they can tell me.
Trivia Teams
My information on the teams is incomplete and probably contains errors. I would appreciate comments from anyone who can fill out or correct this data.
Team Feeble Film Canisters (Trivia Winner)
a2arnold, gatorman83
Team WJAR
All Hat, WLSnowbirds, jerann, RonC
Team TriWeiner
lisa22b, Wadonga, FloridaJim
Team Trouble
HTBob, ???
Team Geo Pups
RetiredGirl, RetiredGuy, CuteLilFuzzyMonkey, ???
Team TGO
flyfishercacher, wd4kaq
Other teams???
What is the lowest/smallest five digit prime number?
That was one of the trivia questions in the category What does that have to do with geocaching? That was a piece of cake for us math wonks. 10,001 of course. (Hear buzzer scream) What??? Then it has to be 10,003. (Hear buzzer scream loudly again). Sheepishly How about 10,005? (Hear buzzer scream louder and longer). Totally humbled, I crawled under a nearby rock.
First, the definition: a prime number is a positive integer that is not divisible without remainder by any integer except itself and 1.
Correct answer: Lowest 5 digit prime number is 10,007
What about 10,001? RetiredGuy found factors of 10,001 to be 73 and 137 (73x137=10,001). So it is not a prime number.
How about 10,003? No 7x1,429 = 10,003. Not a prime number either.
How about 10,005? Nope 3x5x23x29 = 10,005. No cigar here.
I don't know how Retired Guy (+Doug Macrae) found his answer. Maybe he will respond with a comment to this blog post.
I got the answer for 10,003 and 10,005 the old fashion way. I cheated. Check out this neat website Math Warehouse
I don't want to play anymore.
Here are a few pictures from the evening
This evening I met Julio (CuteLilFuzzyMonkey). He claims to have found 532 geocaches in one day (22 Feb 2015) and over 10,000 in less than one year of geocaching – and he has a full time job. I checked his profile and his current total of geocaches and trackables is 11,409. He joined on 23 Dec 2013. Congratulations to him and sympathies to his wife.
Julio (CuteLilFuzzyMonkey)
Our Score for The Day
Geocaches -- 2
GC3PPDA -- "Kaelyn's Kache"
GC5HYBP -- "Castaway Cachers Trivia Night on the Space Coast"
Letterboxes -- 5
AQ238337 "Kiwanis Island Park: Get Out There and Play"
Trackables we discovered -- 4
TB4ZX88 -- Trophy: The Golden Geopile - It's All Just Trivial Event Trophy. This trophy is awarded to the winner of It's All Just Trivial - Geocaching Trivia Events. As a perpetual trophy, the winning team's name is added with each event along with the event location and date. The trophy makes an appearance at every trivia event put on by these folks.
TB71D9W – RetiredGirl's Nametag
TB2QHJ9 – Madquilter-Sherwood Nametag
TB2QHNE – Madquilter-Dawn Nametag
Our trackables discovered by others
TB5TTXO – Michelle's Nametag – 4
TB5RDPR – Bob's Nametag – 4
TB66JKA – Ram Bug (the decal on our truck) – 4
Munzees -- 19
Attendees
Here is my count of those that attended. If you didn't log the event as "Attended", I didn't get you.
| a2arnold | all hat | beemerdon | Betyboop1249 |
| Bootscootin70 | c&s 143 | Caching NIC | Coolj72 |
| Crescent Trekkers | CuteLilFuzzyMonkey | Dale n Barb | db3034 |
| FailedApparatus | floridajim | FloridaPanther | FLtravelers |
| flyfishercacher | freebill | Fridge01 | gabby0200 |
| gatorman83 | hoosiersunshine | HTBob | IsqubaAndNawty |
| jerann | kim--possible | Lighthouse Nut | lisa22b |
| Mike&Marcia | MommaDirtClod-MDC | monkeys4ever | Mr&MrsGrizz |
| Mr. & Mrs. Magic | normasgirl | PelicansArePelicans | RetiredGirl |
| RetiredGuy | RonC | rwillow | seastar255 |
| Sequoia | ShabbyDo | thebige88 | Tilbury Seekers |
| WaDonga | wd4kaq | WLSnowbird | Young Money Girl |
| pattytracker | altair1 | resqgirl | MadQuilter |
| figgment | dfay1165 | | |
It was a great evening. What a way to start a carribean cruise. Thanks to all who made it happen. Your work is appreciated.
I appreciate comments of all kinds from one and all. I prefer that they be entered as comments on the blog rather that replies on the email.
Please feel free to forward this to those who might not have received it. I don't have email addresses for everyone.
Titusville Space View Park -- Gemini Section
GPS: 28.614506, -80.804373
The scene of the party
Just to close the loop, here is the link to the original posting that appeared in geocaching.com and AtlasQuest.com.
Thanks to all who attended. You made it a great day. I estimate the total to be close to fifty people. While I had most on my RSVP list, there were a few who showed up looking for Titan's Passenger (GC4QRCW) not knowing there was an event going on. They seemed happy to stop and visit for a spell. There were more Geocachers than Letterboxers but the Letterboxers won over several Geocachers. Maybe the other way too. So now there are a few more "double threat" people.
These are the attendees. If you know of someone who snuck in under the radar, let me know in the comments section below this post, and I will add them to the list. I don't want to miss anyone.
| All Hat | KissimmeeCarolyn | Teejaylm |
| Bootscootin70 | Malachite Dragon | tiggermama |
| CyberLizard | MrsBoots | ttocshsoj |
| DM Scuba Brat | RonC | volkssporter41 |
| flyfishercacher | rperry401 | wd4kaq |
| Genghis_Green | Seastar255 | WeCacheAlot |
| Jerann | SHBOOM | |
| Kingsnu | Svsummerwind | |
My wife Michelle had to be out of town attending to some family business. She regrets not being here and looks forward to the big letterboxing event in St Augustine next weekend. This will be our first event of this kind. If you are curious or interested check out AQ3195 and AQ3245 on the Atlas Quest website.
Our letterbox followthecougar, Atlas Quest Box AQ244271, was here today and got it's first stamp. All Hat gets "First to Find" honors.
followthecougar is a "Traditional Personal Traveler" letterbox. Don't try to look that up. You won't find it. We invented that box type for ourselves. You can read that story at Our Letterbox Clue. While you're there, look up the answers to our clue questions so you can get our stamp next weekend in St Augustine.
Speaking of clue answers! tiggermama was the only person to approach me with answers to the questions before she stamped in. followthecougar was sitting out on the table and most others just stamped in. Congratulations to tiggermama and shame on the rest of you. That won't happen in St Augustine. Regardless, I am happy to finally get some stamps in the logbook.
followthecougar -- our "Traditional Personal Traveller" letterbox
How about Trackables? I brought four. I have been picking them up for several days from GC4652A The Camo Bug Inn a travel bug motel near my home. I use it a lot. It is my favorite place to launch travel bugs. Kingsnu brought a bunch too. Thanks for that. (I also love your dog).
For Letterboxers, the travel bug equivalent is the Hitchhiker. I picked one up from AQ233458 Remembering The Challenger. That letterbox is at the Space Shuttle Inspiration outside the Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Hitchhiker, #136608 Hungry Travelling Apple, has been on the road since 28 Dec 2008. I think it has been at its last location for over a year. Anyway I brought it to today's event. It was on the table all day and Malachite Dragon was the only person to stamp in. It will get a new home next weekend in St Augustine. Maybe I will also learn the differences between Hitchhiker, Cootie, and Flea.
Hitchhiker 133608 Hungry Travelling Apple
I left the event with two travel bugs. TB645YY Dio's Signal Tag is trying to get to Germany. I can't help with that so he goes to The Camo Bug Inn. TB29Z46 Meyers Manx is trying to go to Denver. My grandson lives in Denver so this guy will go in the mail to Denver to be deposited in a geocache somewhere near his home.
TB29Z46 Meyers Manx will go to Denver
While preparing for this event and looking at the RSVP list, I thought there could be a few geocachers who would like to try letterboxing but would be unprepared. So I made up three Letterboxing Starter Kits. The kit consists of a brief instruction sheet, an inexpensive stamp pad, a decent quality logbook, and an inexpensive stamp. Two folks were interested. I still have the third.
Letterboxing Starter Kit
One of attractions to letterboxing is the art form of carving rubber stamps. Today I met DM Scuba Brat and saw her collection of hand carved rubber stamps. This is the first time I have seen such a collection and I am impressed – WOW!. Maybe I can get her to carve a Meet and Greet stamp for me.
Late in the day we had a situation involving Titan's Passenger (GC4QRCW). Our event site is very close to this geocache (on purpose) and folks had been logging it all day long. Suddenly two groups turned up two containers simultaneously. One container was the one I knew to be the proper one; the second was a tupperware lock'n'lock container with a logbook but no identification. Several of our folks had logged into this container thinking it was Titan's Passenger (GC4QRCW). We sorted through the contents of both containers, put the two logbooks into the one official container and took the second one out of service. I will post a "Needs Maintenance" log for the owner to consolidate the logbooks.
I saved the best for last. I want to give a special shout out to Debbie. Debbie is an experienced Geocacher. She started in Sep 2006 and has found 2,165 caches and logged 648 trackables. She geocaches under the handle Bootscootin70. She letterboxes under the handle MrsBoots. Her first letterboxing adventure was today and she picked up seven finds.
That's Debbie in the center
She is the only one to post pictures to the event log.
Finding a Geocache
A 2fer Geocache and Munzee
Letterbox Log pages
Debbie gets my vote (the only one that counts) as the person who had the most fun today. Here is the quote from her log entry for today's event:
"I had a great day. Loved learning about Letterboxing. Thank you for having kits available to buy. What a wonderful day to be outside. I started my day going to a Triple Event. Letterboxing - Geocaching - Munzeeing. I started letterboxing today and met some people who letterbox. The gave me all kinds of information and tips. Then I was kidnapped by Seastar255 and WeCacheAlot to go do some Geocaching and have a treat at Twisty Treat. I went back to the event and talked with the host Bob for awhile and he told me where to go and what to do. So off I go to letterbox. I talked to a fisherman for awhile. Gave him some water and let him use my phone. Then at my first letterbox there was two men and I said hello as I was looking. I asked them if I could ask them a question. I said are you homeless? They said we are in transition. We talked for at almost an hour. I found out their situations and they told me how I could help. Very interesting. I continued on to finish Letterboxing, Munzeeing, and Geocaching. I had a great day!"
Before today I had resolved to take many pictures. I took NONE. I am ashamed. Debbie saved the day. If you took any pictures, you can post them with your log entry and I will put them into this blog.
When I talk to Geocachers who say "I don't do letterboxing", or Letterboxers who don't do Munzee, or Munzee Seekers who do neither, I ask why? Why not do all? I want to see new places, solve puzzles, read maps, find treasures. I geocache with my grandkids. They are motivated by trinket treasures not realizing they are learning geography, GPS, history, and navigation. Waymarking should be a way to find interesting places but the website is a disaster. Come on Groundspeak. Letterboxing leads to interesting places through clever puzzles while enjoying neat art work. Munzees occasionally take us to interesting places but are mostly a waste because it is just plastering up light poles in shopping mall parking lots. I play it for fun while Michelle does shopping. Get a quick synopsis of each of these games here.
Here in Titusville Space View Park are two geocaches, three letterboxes, half a dozen Munzees – all within a few minutes walk and findable easily within half an hour. Appreciating what the park means is worth two or three hours and the nearby museum is worth another two. By just grabbing finds, you usually miss the real meaning of the place. Geocaching, Waymarking, Letterboxing, and even Munzee can take you to neat places but it is still up to you to take time to smell the roses. Titusville Space View Park is a tribute to the greatest human adventure of the 20th century and the people who made it happen. I love this little place and the story it tells. I hope our event today enriched your life a little and made you a bit prouder to be an American.
