A Serendipitous Geocaching Meetup with Wimseyguy

Have you ever considered how serendipitous life can be sometimes? I mean really, the odds one must face when doing things in life at just the right time or the right place. It boggles the mind how you can just randomly meet.

For example, I took my daughter Miss GeoNess with me today as we went geocaching. That in itself is no big deal but this time I actually planned to go to the Durant Nature Park in northeast Raleigh, NC. There was about twelve geocaches in the area and I really wanted to get them off our list. The weather was definitely on the cool fall side and it looked like it was actually going to rain but we drove out anyways. Just after we found a nice parking spot inside the park I hear those fabled words.

"Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom", my daughter states with a wince.

"We couldn't have mentioned it the past three fast food places we just passed?", I asked with a slight frown.

I knew there was no arguing about the situation. The park didn't have any facilities we could see so I packed everything back up and found a place she could do what she needed to do.

Admittedly I was a little miffed for the time we lost but what are you gunna do? So we went back to the trail head and started hitting the trails in search of geocaches. We found the first ammo box without a hitch and was doing some bushwhacking to the next one to save some time and as we approached I heard in the distance.

"You can put away your GPS its orange", came the voice up ahead. I couldn't make out exactly who it was because of the thickness of the woods we were in at the time but I figured it was a fellow geocacher.

Again I hear, "Lessee, GPS, funny hat, daughter who's carrying film equipment and is on a syndicated TV show. Who could that be"?

I knew we had been made.

As we came closer I recognized my fellow geocaching friend Wimseyguy. The geocaching experience was about to get a bunch more fun. It always is when you meet up with other geocachers and decide to tackle the area together. Long story short we had a great afternoon finding micros in bridges, ammo boxes in large rocks and even Miss Geoness did a balancing act across a huge log to find a Lock 'n Lock box nestled above a creek bed. Real geocaching goodness in my book.

My point to all of this? If Miss Geoness had not caused us to delay our plans we may never have met up with Wimseyguy at all. Funny how those things work out. Just another great example of serendipity in action. Love it.

GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
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A Geocaching Record of First To Finds ( FTF's )

What an unexpected surprise of events of which unfolded for me today. I would have been quite happy with the quick lunch time geocache find I had earlier. Yet what awaited me were four just published geocaches. My phone alerted me to the new emails and I quickly scanned them. Normally they are all over the place and way out of my driving range. Yet these were clumped in two's and fairly nearby so out the door I flew, a puzzled look on my wife's face and then a roll of the eyes. She will never understand...

With my BlackBerry and Geocache Navigator in hand I quickly pull up the closest one and ZOOM at an Earth shattering safe and posted speed. Why do the police always show up when I want to be slightly reckless? But I digress...


FTF #1:
The first geocaches were out in a wooded area and at the end of a dead end road. I searched for about ten minutes and was able to find a type of geocache that I have only seen a couple of times. The more interesting tid bit was that there was No Log Book inside! Hey we are all human and I will be the first to say DOH! So I went into the trunk of my cachemobile and pulled out a spanking new log to fill said geocache. After signing it was placed back in it's very clever hiding spot.



FTF #2:
The second geocache was about .13 of mile down the same road I was on. What I mean is it looks like half way down the original road they put a guardrail up so you couldn't go any further but the rest of the road just continued on. Sure it was broken up over time but you could still see the yellow line going down the center. Found that odd and yet this is not the first forgotten road I have been on in this state. As I walked I could see dozens of large white tail deer everywhere. They were curious about me and most ran as I walked but the amount of deer was truly amazing. I have seen several deer in my back yard but nothing like this. Before I knew it I was at the geocache site and the find did not take as much effort as the first one. I saw all sorts of Cardinals, Robins and Thrushes chasing each other everywhere, quite fun to watch. After signing the log and putting this regular sized geocache in place it was on to number three.



FTF #3:
The sun was definitely going down by now and I had to hurry if I even had a chance at the last two caches. Fortunately for me this one was behind a small shopping center and ended being a quick find. My luck was still with me and if only I could make it to number four I would have my record. Okay maybe I was getting a bit greedy at this point but if you're going to be obsessed you might as well go all the way.

FTF #4:

The sun was down by the time I reached the my final destination and I grabbed my GPS phone and a flashlight as I exited the car. It was still partially lit out but that wasn't going to last long. Fortunately for me the geocache site was in a field and not near any muggles. I was just going to turn on the flashlight when I spotted my final prize hanging in a Cyprus bush. Figuring someone had to have beaten me to this one I was pleasantly surprised to again see clean sheets. Signing the final log and placing the container back in it's hiding spot I hustled back to my car. Triumphant with my new found record and yet still had to come up with a good enough excuse to tell my wife why I took so long and that my Salmon, rice and Broccoli were going to be ice cold. Another night on the couch I can feel it but woot what a rush.

I'm not obsessed.... Right?

Regular Cache in a Brier Patch

All I can say is ouchie! Those thick brambles can really getcha. Back to those in a minute.

What a day we had today while out Geocaching. We started out fairly early which turned out to be about Eightish. Headed straight towards our first cache in the Southern Raleigh, NC area. Wouldn't you know it that just down the road was a North Carolina original and an addiction to me. Yup the Krispy Kreme donut store was within smelling distance and we had to stop by and get them fresh and oh so yummy.

After I came out of my sugar coated stupor we moved on to the rest of our planned Cache Raid and took on twenty seven geocaches. Unfortunately two of them were DNFs but thems the breaks. We had an absolute blast and yes even when we get scrapes from those nasty brier patches it some how does not hurt so much when you are staring at an ammo box.

All part of the fun and I couldn't think of a better person to go geocaching with than my daughter Miss GeoNess.

All Weather Cachers Take on the Fall Fling 2008

Sure the weather was a whole lot nicer early in the week. The mid eighties and sun gave way to upper fifties and rain but did that dampen the spirit of our finest North Carolina geocachers? Oh I say, "nay".

The Third Annual Fall Fling was held at Falls Lake State Park which is about 15 miles due north of Raleigh, NC. It is a very scenic park filled with trails, trees, wild critters and Falls Lake. The lake is completely different in appearance than from 12 months ago. Last year at this time Falls Lake was more like Falls two streams. You could walk in many spots from one island to the next. Now with a larger amount of rainfall and a tropical storm or two the lake is at capacity and in all it's splendor. Speaking of rainfall I personally wondered if the Fling was even going to happen this year. As I said before the week was picture perfect North Carlina weather with sun and the temps in the 80s. On Friday everything changed, the temps dropped and the rain came down in sheets. I drive past Falls Lake on my way home and I had a hard time seeing the road. I thought of stopping by but thought better of it based on what I was seeing. Once in my nice dry homestead I checked out our NCGO forums to see what was going on. I did not find much about the event except for an entry that someone else stopped by as well and the bonfire was in full swing. The tent camping cachers were having a blast even though the rain was turning out to be a bit "challenging". With that I headed to bed feeling fully geeked for Saturdays activities.

I awoke to thankfully no rain and found my long pointy stick to wake up Daughter Geoness from her slumbers. You have to be careful with pre-teens as they awaken, they bite. It only took a couple good prods to finally get her moving and also the promise of some breakfast helped. We packed the cachemobile and headed north to the event coordinates. It took me about 45 minutes to weave the winding roads to FF Central. I was a few minutes early for registration and already I could see Horsegeeks and Billwolf1 getting the grills ready. They were in charge of the food for the day and because of that I knew we were in for some serious eats. Personally I have a huge weak spot for Horsegeek's Shrimp 'n Grits but that is another story. As Daughter Geoness and I walked up to the park community center I was greeted by some of the cachers who survived last nights deluge. To my surprise only one tent camper had to sleep in the car but everyone else stayed dry and toasty as best they could. If the spirits were dampended you sure could not tell by the friendly smiles on all the early risers.

Anytime you come early to an event you are there to help setup. No one likes setup but when you get enough people together it is a lot less stressful. So chores like sign hanging, table placement, kitchen detail including the unloading of a ton of food and libations the morning started moving along. The weather was not terrible outside. There was some wind which was blowing inland off of the lake, a bit chilly. The sun was trying to peak from behind the clouds and actually did make some headway by the afternoon. I asked Daughter Geoness to do camera duty whilst I found out what mini events that would be going on today. There of course was the Carolina Cache 'N Dash where teams found well hidden caches that contained different interesting and sometimes scary tasks to complete to gain points. I don't want to get into details but lets just say there were more moons out than the one in the sky -=shudder=-. Then came the Geo-Olympics at the Beach, Daughter Geoness had fun as did a gaggle of other young cachers. I was helping setup the tshirt pickup spot and I could hear them laughing from here. I think one of the biggest kicks for the kids was the Ammo Box Painting. I wish I can find out who donated the boxes but there were a ton of them. The look on the little tykes faces was priceless and I have to be honest I wouldn't have minded picking up a half dozen myself, but I digress. Finishing the kids activities was of course the pinata; kids, candy, paper mache and a big stick, good times.

So what did Daughter Geoness and I do while all of this fun, friendship and well, fun going on? Glad you asked, we worked. I thought the other officers of the NCGO are always busting their butts doing things for our enjoyment, why not give them a break? I didn't even have to ask Miss Geoness, she was helping in the kitchen before I even knew it. She loves to help anyways and when you throw in Horsegeeks and Billwolf1 who she considers as extended grandpas you couldn't drag her away. For me, I had a blast handing out the t-shirts, geocoins and other NCGO stuff. "Isn't that kinda boring?", you might think. Not at all, I was able to meet just about everyone who attended the event one at a time. I had more fun swapping stories, saying hi to familiar faces and greeting others for the first time. To me something like that is worth the full price of admission. It is so easy for everyone to separate and go their own ways. My table was one of the focal points in the event and everyone eventually came over to say hi. I loved it.

For some the best part of a North Carolina Geocaching Event is the potential hunt, others is the fellowship, for this HeadHardHat it's the food. Horsegeeks, Billwolf1, Mrs. Billwolf, Geoness and a host of other people too numerous to mention. Worked all day for something known as Kenny and Celeste's Excellent Meal. Basically take a huge pile of NUM and multiply it by 100. I'm not kidding, good ole southern cooking is alive and well and I could not be more happy or was that hungry? I had to laugh because as the day wore on the smells from the kitchen were overwhelming. Every once and a while Horsegeeks would sneak out a plate of tasty tid bits to wet my appetite. Can we say BBQ? Truly nummy. Then at the designated time the feast began and everyone came a running. There was food everywhere including southern BBQ pork, Horsegeeks famous baked beans, homemade macaroni and cheese, sliced fruit, hamburgers, hot dogs and desserts by the truckload. There was more but I am getting hungry just typing this... be right back...

As the day started to push towards evening and everyone had more than enough to eat. It was time for the day's silent auction and awards ceremony to begin. This year we had about fifty items to bid on and the exchange was heated as usual. One person would put a bit on item 39 and then mosey over to something else of interest. Which gave the next auctioneer a chance to out bit on your item. When the time was up the auction ends and you pays your monies. It's all in good fun and everyone loves the challenge of getting the items they really want.

The final awards went to all the contestants from each of the main events. The most creative that I had seen was the gold painted ammo box medallions awarded to the Geo-Olympics winners. They were real ammo boxes painted gold with red, white and blue ribbons. All the rage in geocaching circles everywhere.

To sum up, I really look forward to every event I am privileged to attend. The people are outstanding and we all have such a good time sharing our experiences, stories and friendships. I bumped into several people who introduced themselves as being first time comers. They sometimes ask "what do we do?". I usually reply for them to relax and to know that they are welcome and they are among friends. You can see the realization in their faces of just that, they are with people who know how to have fun and before you know it the new comers are talking, laughing and having a great time right along side the rest of us. How special it is to be a part of the geocaching community.

Enjoy Our Fall Fling 2008 Slideshow

To View The Entire Album Go Here
http://picasaweb.google.com/headhardhat/NCGOFallFling2008

Where in the World is Pete The Parrot? A Real Party Animal

My little blue feathered party animal Pete the Parrot is on the move again. Seems a very good willed soul knew the winters of Oppland, Norway can be pretty brutal and so Pete is now heading for warmer climates.

So far he has travelled 7453.4 miles and originated in Raleigh, North Carolina. His travels have taken him to not only Norway but he also had a nice stay in Turkey as well.

You can follow my geocaching travel bug Pete by going to http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=1484152. I will be updating a special place in this blog site for those who want to follow this party dude's adventures.

Walking in the Woods of New Jersey

After spending a day in our Piscataway office I could not wait to go out and doing some caching. The only obstacle was the impending rain that decided to show up the same time I started out. But hey I was only going to be in New Jersey another day and then I was on my way to Boston. So I hoped for the best and took the rented cachemobile out for a little spin.

Geofortune smiled on me and I was able to find five nice hides before it became too dark to see. During that short amount of time I walked in two different parks, a hotel court yard, a parking lot and a baseball field. Added a couple more smileys to my belt and had a nice time in the fall like weather. What more can you ask for? Now on to Boston, Mass.

Keeping It In The Family - Smith Brother's Geocaching

The family that caches together, stays together... Okay well maybe I'm 900 miles away but my spirit sure is with my two brothers who started geocaching recently. Scott and David both live in Michigan with the rest of my family whilst I reside in Raleigh, North Carolina.


Earlier in the year I had a great time taking Scott (shown left with a considerable amount less of grey hairs) caching around the east side of the Great Lake State. There is nothing that brings out the competitive side in us when it is one sibling against another, all in good fun of course. Can we say bragging rights?!? It really was a fun afternoon and he will be becoming a full blown member soon.



Then there is my youngest brother David. Not only did he just get a new GPS but started caching a few weeks back. He and his family are going out and about having a complete blast. David who goes by TurtleExpress liked my blog so much decided to start one up of his own. The title say it all: Geocaching with Turtleexpress. You can see the smiles on my nephew's faces as they proudly show off their finds. Makes me a bit home sick and then I remember that I did not have to shovel once last winter. Plus I can cache here all year round.. Oh well so much for sentament.. They can always come here for a week and play in the back woods and swamps...


Feel Free to check out TurtleExpress's blog here or in my list of blogs on the right side of the page. Click --> Geocaching With TurtleExpress.

Hopefully sometime next year we can all get together for a Geocache Weekend. That mini Flash Mob will be something to see. Hope where ever we go is ready for all three Smith Brother's in one spot. Lord knows other areas are still recovering from past get togethers.

Help Keep The Spirit Alive By Adopting A Cache

It's so true when they say your first 100 caches are the most fun, enjoy the adventure and the secrets they bestow you. I personally started geocaching in early 2008 and I still can feel the incredible newness of it all. The anticipation of the hunt and the promise of the mystery it would reveal. Caching pushed every one of my geek buttons and I could not wait for what lie ahead. Though in hind sight, I did have to get past a phobia or two.

My second caching find ever was a Hippopotamama cache known as “Welcome To Wake 8”. It was a grand total of two miles from my house and partially in a wooded area. At the time it might as well have been buried treasure stashed deep in an impenetrable forest. My imagination ran wild as I chased the arrow on my GPS screen into the darkening seclusion of trees. “There could be things out there”, I thought as the first bit of pine needles crunched under my feet. Growing up in Michigan the worse I had to worry about was an enraged squirrel or maybe a very rare pygmy rattler but nothing really serious. Here in North Carolina there are tons of things just waiting to make their presence known and I read about each and every one of them. Snakes, spiders, ticks – oh my, but even those were not going to keep me from finding my goal. So ever so carefully I headed towards ground zero. A rustle of leaves to my left gave me a start as a banded skink dashed away with it's turquoise blue tail flashing in a patch of sun. “Whew, that was close”, thought I as I learned to watch the GPS and my direction at the same time. Moments later I was standing at ground zero and remembering in my head about the description of the cache and of course the hint. Looking behind trees and around stumps then before my widening eyes there it was – the cache. Sure it was just a blue Tupperware lock top but at the time to me it was my treasure find. Excitedly I wrote my name into the logbook. Making sure it was dated so everyone could see that I was actually there. Adding to my delight was a couple of swag trinkets that I was able to trade for and the extra bonus of my first travel bug find, JACKPOT! Holy cow this was cool and there it was a Diabetes Travel Bug for me to record on the website. Pictures, must take some pictures, quickly I snapped some off from the digital camera I remembered to bring. With it now time for me to leave I carefully made sure everything was put back in place, locked tight and hidden just as I found it. How magical is an experience like that? Though now with hundreds of caches under my belt I can hit a dozen spots in a shot but they rarely have the same “Umph!” like the first ones gave me.

So why the trip down memory lane? What is so important to me now after I have already recorded my smiley? A month or so back a host of caches in my area went up for adoption. The reason for it is becoming more common place. With the price of gas and the abilities of the owner to keep a cache in shape changes over time. When these particular caches became available I was glad to give a hand and adopt some. It was even more meaningful to me when I saw Welcome to Wake 8 was one of them.

The adoption process is extremely easy. The cache owner puts the cache up for adoption by telling geocaching.com the name of the cache and who they wish to adopt it. An email is sent to the adopted owner and they simply accept the offer; ownership is then transferred. Once ownership is in your name it is up to you to find the cache and make sure it is in proper shape. Several of my new adoptions needed maintenance including WTW8. According to the logs the cache was soaked and the items inside were pretty much mush. This was not a problem for me mainly for the surplus of caches I keep in the back of my car. I remembered the approximate size of WTW8 and had a very nice lock 'n lock container that could be used if needed. Time to take a quick road trip up the street.

Oh how things change, back when I started caching this adventure took me into the woods of North Carolina for the first time. Now after being in countless woods, swamps and forests within five states I didn't give a second thought as I stepped on the now familiar path. No need for the GPS really though the terrain was different in the late summer as to early Spring. Using my tracking pole to prod around the cache area I heard the resounding sound of my pole bouncing off of plastic. “Ah, there it is”, I said as I picked up my old treasure. Looking down I could not help but notice how small it now seemed to me. It was beat up quite a bit with a hole in the top and covered in mud. Inside was the remains of a homemade cross and the logbook in soggy tatters. I drained out as much water as I could and put the container in my backpack. Then replaced everything with the new cache I had brought with me. “Back in business”, I said as the last coverings were put in place and I walked back to my car then on towards home. Hopefully something could be salvaged from this trusty cache, but from first glance I pretty much thought it would be a total loss. Yet one thing I have learned and that is these caches are always full of surprises.

After getting home and pulling out all of my geo-stuff from the trunk of my car I started a little recovery project in the hopes to save some of the original log book. Welcome to Wake 8 had been placed back in late April of 2007 and if there was any chance of getting a few pictures of the logs then some of it's history could be saved. This was not an easy task, the log book consisted of two golden magnets as covers which held the log sheets together. A great idea but unfortunately when completely wet all of the paper sheets smooshed together. Surprisingly I was able to find my original signature pretty much in tact, date and all. The rest of the log book was unrecognizable except when I pealed away to the very first sheet. There was the buried treasure I was looking for. It showed the FTF who happened to be harley_hound, followed by horsegeeks, akinsclan, science_geek, we4ncs, geo13, hunster and a few more. I quickly snapped some pictures of the log book. I am glad I did that when I did for as the hot sun dried the sheets they quickly darkened and became so brittle they simply disintegrated. Fortunately I had what I wanted and I cleaned up the cache and the few trinkets that survived. I am happy to report that the first owner of the cache is getting the photos I had taken and it is my hope they enjoy this little keep sake to remember it by.

Currently I am still going down the list of adopted caches. There are another handful which need maintenance but I am getting to them. As I replace or repair each of them I have found a comfort knowing that I am helping to keep someone's essence alive. I realize that a lot of thought and down right creativity goes into cache placement and preserving it for others to enjoy means something to me and the original owner. For mine in particular the owner referred to them as their babies. To be looked after and maintained which only shows the attachment they can bring. Who am I to do any less than show the same respect I would want if I ever had to leave my caches in someone else's hands? To me as a member of the caching community it is important to help keep the spirit alive.

-HHH

Daughter Geoness Milestone of 100 Finds!

The second half of Team HHB miss Amanda aka Geoness hit the 100 find mark. Not bad for someone who just started a couple of months ago. She has already attended several events and has taken on Difficulty 3 / Terrain 3 caches. Like the one at the FlashMob Flower Hill caches in North Carolina.



Geoness has cache finds in five states including Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. Often seen with dad HeadHardHat in the Raleigh and many neighboring cities. Geoness competes with HHH to find the cache first so she can be the first to sign the log. She helps a lot when it comes to micros and small caches but her eyes light up the most when ammo boxes are the target.





Please help congratulate the better half of Team HHB, daughter Geoness on her latest find milestone.

Congrats Geoness!

WOOT! The Adventure to a First To Find Begins.

Boy, nobody was more surprised than me when I happened to notice a mystery cache smack dab in the middle of Raleigh had sat there for two days and no logged FTF. So taking a slightly altered route towards home I stopped by the area to take a chance of finding clean log sheets.

I was hoping for a relatively quick find but instead it quickly turned into a rather lengthy adventure. It started out simple enough by reading the description and attempting to find ground zero, in other words where we think the exact spot where the cache should be. I searched high, I searched low, I searched in between and all around. Could not find the little micro cache anywhere. Very frustrating and I think to myself, "I know it's here I can hear the darn thing breathing". I read the description again and validate my conclusions, I know it just has to be right here yet one little piece of the puzzle was missing, but what? This particular mystery cache was a series of directions all pointing from different directions towards the cache. Simple right? How hard could this actually be and yet 30 minutes vaporized already. I continue on through barbed wire and grape vine, grasping through Virginia Creeper and other questionable greenery, I am getting frustrated but I know this is a FTF and there is no way I am walking away from it.

Finally, after rereading the description for the gazillionth time it clicks. That one little fact which just didn't make sense at the time finally became clear and boom there was the cache. Right there all the time. Nothing can cause so much frustration and yet bring so much satisfaction at the same time. The worst thing you can do is give up. Keep on trying.

With hindsight I realized after finding this tricky cache there were some basic rules that I should keep in the back of my mind each time I go hunting for caches. See if this helps you.

Tips to the Wise,

- Read and understand the title of the cache. Not always easy - why? We usually interpret our first initial thought of a concept and stay with it. So if we read the title and come to a conclusion it usually takes some external factor to make us change our minds. If we make an inaccurate conclusion we will most likely be looking in the wrong place for a cache. In the case of this cache I did not fully understand what the title meant so the playing field was wide open. It wasn't until after I found the cache it made sense.

- Read and understand the description. In the case of this cache I looked for almost an hour and almost gave up twice before finding it. Again it wasn't until after I found the cache to fully understand one little invaluable piece of information in the description. In fact as I was rolling through the description the seventh or eighth time I kept saying to myself, "this doesn't make sense, why did they say that?". This is usually the point that gets overlooked the most and is usually the key to solving the puzzle. You just don't realize it at the time. So if you ever find yourself doubting your conclusions it is usually when you are the most correct. Find your doubts while problem solving and pursue them.

- Take Nothing For Granted. In Geocaching the obvious is your worst enemy. Because we tend to look for something that is "hidden" we forget to open our field of view to ALL that is around us. Some of the best compliments that I have received for my caches is by taking advantage of this very point. It also brings the greatest shock appeal when discovered. Nothing brings a bigger surprise than having a cache "appear" by always being right in front of you. This particular cache did just that for me. It gave me a preconceived notion of where it could be and then turned up right where I thought it should be but couldn't see it at the time.

- Use the Hint. Hints usually are the lifeline needed to give us that moment of change in our thought process. I have found it is better not to read the hint too early because if you use the hint initially you have nothing to fall back on. There is nothing left to help you change your thought process. If you do decide to use your hint be sure to try and understand it thoroughly. If you take the hint for granted it can trap you just as easily as the title or description.

Well I hope this cache log turned tutorial helps in some way. In the world of Geocaching every little bit helps.

Cache Found! Cupcake cache in Raleigh,

Cache Found! Cupcake cache in Raleigh, NC.

I just had to find me a cache this morning and this one was fun. The past couple of weeks it has been hot down here. Like real hot, upper 90s / low 100s hot. I'm sorry, I love caching but when it is so hot your travel bug melts off of your rear view mirror.... it's hot out!

So today we are actually NOT going to be in the 90s but a comfortable mid 80s which is normal for this time of year. So the bug got to me and I hit a quick grab and go on the way to work. As seen in the photo it was a cute cache container and I really enjoyed the gold doubloon I found within. Great fun in da morning.

Fortunately the past weeks were not completely fruitless. I managed to put out a seven part multi-cache called Six Little Green Stages: Multi Decoder Challenge, put out a rather clever cache in Oxford called Frankly, I Think You're Screwed and am working on something new that I think everyone will enjoy called HHH's Puzzle Tubes. More information to come in the next day or two.

Until then...

And the Winner Is...

Okay I had to laugh when I found this particular cache on the way to work this morning. It was unexpected and quite creative and really set the tone for today.

What you are looking at is a Tivo remote controller and the log is placed where the batteries go. There are two magnets that hold it to it's host.

What a great idea.

TNLNSL TFTH!

Lov'n Freshly Painted Ammo Boxes

Nothing says love'n like freshly painted cache ammo boxes. Note the subtle cami backgrounds, the textured stone finish, heavy sigh. Click the photo to really see the work done. Go ahead, I'll wait. You wouldn't believe what they looked like yesterday.

Shown here are two small caches (right and top right), one large night vision goggle box (center - thought I wasn't going to get them huh?), one larger but not quite trunk sized ammo box (left with two sided top) and a micro sized eclipse cache (bottom right).

Oh the plans that I have for these just makes me giddy. Can't give you all the specifics, hush-hush you know, but I can tell you one is going to be a mega Pocket Decoder mystery cache in the Garner/Clayton, NC area, one will be a nice sized cache for my BarnYard Fun series and another is upgrading one of my current TB hotels to include a deluxe suite (not the eclipse box).

Whew so much to do and the weekend fast approaching. I have to get busy...

L8tr, HHH

200 Caches Found!

200 Caches Found!

I thought this was going to be a quick grab and go for my 200th cache. Then I noticed my GPS was off about 50ft. The cache site was actually my first thought because it is such a cool place. Looked around area and saw cache surrounded by thick spider webs. Never saw the beastie but used stick and some anxious moments snagging the cache.

With cache in hand I gleefully signed the log and put back in place... Love making milestones..

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Argh, not one of the most focused photos of myself but it was darkish out, raining and I had about 2 hours sleep last night. Guess I really was out of focus and to top it off with only one cup of java in me too.

Cache Found! This was number two of three for this morning on the way to work. Note the magnetically held silver bison tube under lamp skirt.

Number three was definately more interesting to behold. Check out this soup can protector of the cache.

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Doing my Tuesday night cache runs after work. Took daughter Amanda who now wants to be called GeoPants. Not to say she is getting hooked on caching but I find less time of me holding the GPS then before I started taking her along for the fun. We were going for a quick grab and in a parking lot. She asked if she could try using the GPS and I said sure just follow the arrow and watch the distance. Next thing you know she walks up to the cache site and has it in hand. They grow so fast - sigh. So I guess we are going to be Team Hard Hat Brotherhood from now on..

Picked up an additional six caches for our efforts and on our very last cache bumped into Farb and Teenykins. Funny to me was GeoPants and I were wrapping up with the sun already down and Farb was just starting. Have to get me a pair of night vision goggles on my next trip to the ammo box store.

Caches! Found! Raleigh, NC

Ahhh, two caches this morning. Great start.

There is nothing like finding a cache on the way to work. Why? I think it is that border-line action that makes you momentarily feel naughty. You know, that "If I dude it I get a whip'n.... I dude it!", kind of thing.

I know I should be going to work like every other soul on the road. I should be a model employee and/or drone and just get in my car and go directly to the place of my employment. I know I should, but there they are, caches. Waiting for me to find them and to help get my little extra thrill for the day. Heck for me they are better than a cup of coffee sometimes. So for now, I indulge in the quick micro here, small lock box there and find every shortcut I can to make it to the cubical on time.

How about you?

Barnyard Fun #5: Baby Bo Busts a Moof

Well if you have tried the Barnyard Fun Series you know the story about how Farmer Bob's animals got out of the farm and all over Highway 96 between Raleigh and Oxford, NC. Helpful cachers found cows, chickens and even Farmer Bob but no one has found little Baby Bo.

How things have changed. Apparently Baby Bo was responsible for letting the other barnyard animals loose and has created her own geocoin sized cache.

In fact the rumor mill has suggest that a rather large cache is being put together by the bitty bovine as we speak. More news to come. Stay tuned or look up the Barnyard Fun series yourself.

The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men

You can't escape the reality of caching. You start out making plans to do some specific cache hunts and sometimes stuff just happens.

Wanted to do some caching on my home from work today. You see I go one way to work in the morning and another way at night, mainly due to the volume of traffic at those times. So that means there are bunches of caches available on my going to work route that I never have much time to find. So yesterday I thought I would put up with the extra traffic and have some fun caching in the mean time. Well.....

My route takes me from Oxford, NC down Hwy 96 to Hwy 1 (Capital Blvd.). This normally takes me about 30 minutes or so and the only caches available are the Barnyard Fun Series I set up a month or so ago. So not much joy in the caching department there. Eventually though I come down to Hwy 1 and the joy, or so I thought, begins. Started out okay finding the one cache in the area with TBs available. Traded up the last of my current stash and started what I thought would be a fruitful adventure.

That was when my phone rang.. Spent 20 minutes talking some family chit-chat. Normally would not mind at all but when I have the caching bug going I have a one track mind. C'mon, taking too long, (fuzzy static, sorry losing you, fuzzy static, will call you later, bye.) okay I know the blow in the phone/talk partial words trick is stale but hey I'm burning sunlight here.

Found a cache, quick micro bison tube in a tree, two for today but want more.


Phone rings again, it's the wife. First thought that flows through my mind is, "What did I do now?", turns out everyone wants to go out to eat and they are all are hungry. Hint - Hint. My eyes roll up and I know that I have another 45 minute drive ahead of me. Sigh. Okay I may stop for one more as a chaser and then drudge home.


I watch the sun on it's march for the horizon and know that my caching day is done. Heavy sigh. Three for the day. Hardly the effort for putting up with the extra traffic. I now remember why I go home the other route. I can feel myself get a little angry. You can't cache if you are playing beat the clock. You end up frustrated and give up on caches you don't find instantly. I decide enough is enough and that there will be another day. Doesn't make it any easier though when you make plans and they get blown apart. I know this makes me look selfish. I know I have responsibilities. I also know I have X amount of time in a day and when I designate it as my caching day there better be smoke, blood and lots of it to be interrupted. Not always the case though. Sigh. I'm Not obsessed... Right?

Post From HeadHardHat's Phone

Good day, Found 8 caches today with the majority in White Deer Park.

Walked all over today and I know it cuz me dogs are barking. Had a great afternoon with me daughter and found out that there are tons of little parks all around the Garner, North Carolina area that have some really nice trails. Did see and hear some nearby wildlive and Amanda even swatted off a couple of hitch hikers that decided to come along for the ride. This was amazing to me cuz me daughter can't stand bugs.

I highly recommend stopping by the Garner area and spend a few hours taking in the spring/summer air. Good Times!

Check out the quick video to see a sample of White Deer Park.