ePostcard_Halloween Greetings

Lewisburg Meet and Greet Recap

Lewisburg Area Recreation Park
Lewisburg, PA
GPS: 40.964347, -076.899345

Our first event is in the books. I consider it a success although my universe for comparison is very small. Everyone who responded showed up and we had some interesting discussions. They represent a total of 15,143 caches found and the two hosts are way behind the other folks.

Dig Teamsters (Gale) -- 9,280
2catsnj (Nancy and Jay) -- 4,614
trscorbin -- 413
the brawlers -- 188
C-Squared Pirates (Clare, Chris, and Callie) -- 439
pacardshark (Burt) -- 134
MnsfldDad (Bill) -- 8
flyfishercacher (Bob and Michelle) -- 67

All attendees were Geocachers. trscorbin arrived first, so she gets the FTF honors. No Letterboxers showed up. Shame. Our letterbox "followthecougar" is still waiting for its first stamp.

I put out my first Munzee right at the event coordinates. No one came prepared to find it, in fact no one even knew what MUNZEE was all about.

2catsnj brought TB 5Z2X7 "Eva's Wave Rider Racer" to our event. Here is the description for this TB

I'm in a race with 4 other travel bug cars! We started in York, Pa. and we are racing to the Pacific Ocean and back. Please help me on my journey and help me finish first! I must touch the waters of the Pacific Ocean, and then make it back to a geocache somewhere in York County, Pa. I get extra points for every photograph that gets uploaded of me with a different geocacher, so please document your part of my journey and share it. Thanks for your help!

This TB was launched in York, PA, just 87 miles south of here, on 10 Nov 2013. It has made zero progress west. MnsfldDad will take it to Texas in a couple weeks. That should help.

trscorbin picked up my TB61D99 "Wounded Warrior 2", but my three remaining Healing Waters TBs are still in the nest.

Michelle's and my name tags got discovered, as did car window decals belonging to me, MansfldDad, and the brawlers.

I was very surprised to learn that none of these local geocachers had met each other. They all knew each other's handle and had found each other's caches but never met in person. It took two out-of-towners like me and MnsfldDad to make that happen. Someone local needs to step up and sponsor more events.

I learned a lot about putting on an event:

Pick a public location with parking and restrooms and not requiring a permit
Get the listing up early
Make up signs to assure that your site is easily found
Make a checklist so that you don't forget anything
Check the site the day before to verify condition and availability

Here are pictures of some of the folks who attended

trscorbin

the brawlers

C-Squared Pirates (Clare, Chris, and Callie)

Dig Teamsters (Gale) with 2catsnj (Nancy and Jay)
We published two pictures in the geocache listing to lead people to the event.

Park Entrance

Event Location
Maybe we'll do another one in Florida.

Lewisburg Meet and Greet (GC5CKED)

Date: Saturday, 27 September 2014
Time: 10AM to 3PM
Location:
Lewisburg Area Recreation Park
N 15th and St Mary Streets
Lewisburg, PA 17837
Union County

Directions: Enter from N 15th Street past the tennis courts.

Coordinates (all three formats):
N 40.964347* W 76.899345*
N 40* 57.8608’ W 76* 53.9607’
N 40* 57’ 51.64” W76* 53’ 57.64”

Parking: Ample free parking.

Description:

This is a combined Geocaching and Letterboxing “Meet and Greet” to get you out on an early autumn Saturday. There are twelve geocaches and nine letterboxes within one mile of this location.

Hosts “flyfishercacher” and “MnsfldDad” will be there to meet you, greet you, and hear about your geocaching and letterboxing adventures. MnsfldDad is the big guy in the wheelchair. Arrive and leave as you please anytime between 10AM and 3PM. Stay as long as you like – there is no formal program. We will have some SWAG and Trackables for the Geocachers, including the new QR Code tag and three unusual trackables you can’t grab.

For the Letterboxers, “followthecougar” (AQ# 244271) will be there with a stamp and stamp book and flyfishercacher has a stamp for your log book. See our letterbox clue at this site under the topic Letterboxing.

There will be an Event Log for you to sign, also an Event Stamp. We will take lots of pictures to post.

We might even deploy a MUNZEE for you to find. There are none anywhere nearby, so this will be a first. Check out the smartphone game of Munzee.

ENJOY A DAY OUT WITH YOUR GPS OR SMARTPHONEBRING A FRIEND OR SIGNIFICANT OTHERSTOP HERE DURING YOUR ADVENTURE

GPS Games

GEOCACHING     WAYMARKING     LETTERBOXING    MUNZEE

Four different outdoor activities that use a GPS receiver, a compass, and clues to find interesting places and things. All four rely on interaction with a website to get information, post results, keep score, and communicate with participants.

GEOCACHING

is a real world treasure hunt. There are over 2.3 million active caches spread over the planet and over 6 million cachers searching for them. Geocaching is supported by a well-developed user friendly website.

A unique aspect of geocaching centers on the concept of a “Travel Bug”. The physical manifestation of the travel bug can take many forms but to the computer it is a unique alpha/numeric code that can be moved from cache to cache by participants. “Drops” and “Pickups” are recorded by participants, mileage is calculated, and all interested parties are informed by email. The website keeps track of the location of all travel bugs.

http://www.geocaching.com

WAYMARKING

is a spinoff of geocaching and one account, user name, password, and profile gives you access to both. The objective is to visit, catalog, and mark interesting locations around the world. Waymarks exist in categories (over 1,000) and can be in more than one. When you discover a place worthy of being a waymark, you submit it for inclusion in the database. There are over half a million recorded waymarks (some duplicates due to listing in multiple categories). If the waymark already exists, your encounter can be recorded as a “visit”. Your score gets credit for both. The waymarking website and database is less developed and user friendly than the one for geocaching. However, waymarking is more comfortable and rewarding for those interested in places rather than trinket treasures. Waymarking does not accommodate travel bugs.

http://www.waymarking.com

LETTERBOXING

is a mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic places. Following word clues, directions, sometimes riddles or puzzles leads you to the hidden letterbox. Rudimentary compass skills are a plus. The trek to the letterbox should provide some learning experience or enjoyment. Carry a personal rubber stamp and stamp pad to play the game right. The letterbox should also contain a rubber stamp and pad. Logging your find is done by swapping stamp images – your stamp in the letterbox log and the letterbox stamp in your logbook. The take a stamp image/leave a stamp image concept in letterboxing replaces the take an object/leave an object concept in geocaching. The Letterbox counterpart to the travel bug is the Hitchhiker.

Letterboxing is complicated by the fact that there are two competing websites: “Letterboxing North America” and “Atlas Quest”. I try to use both.

http://www.letterboxing.org           http://www.atlasquest.com

MUNZEE

"is the next generation in global scavenger hunt games. Simply download the free app, scan the munzees you find, and score points. No munzees in your area? You can grow the map by simply obtaining game pieces from the Munzee store, or printing out and deploying your own. Collect points when you place your munzees on the map or when they are captured by other players. Your points accumulate and you gain levels.

Munzee has something for everyone, whether you are a casual player, an avid explorer, or a hardcore competition enthusiast. The intensity of play is up to you. With over 1 million deployed worldwide, there is bound to be a munzee hiding nearby."

The above is a quote from the Munzee website. I have been playing Munzee for a few months but have yet to answer the fundamental question – WHY?

http://www.munzee.com