Lewies Blog

I have started to post so many GeoCaching adventures that I figured I would create a seperate blog specifically for them at http://geocachingadventures.blogspot.com/. I’ll still post my stories on lewismoten.blogspot.com since they are a part of my everyday life. I think blogger.com needs a better way of categorizing posts though.

Along with the new site, I have also created a new template called GeoCaching. Just use the drop-down control to the right of this web page and change it. I used a topographical map and played with it to make the new template. Enjoy!

Location: N 38° 35.536 W 077° 15.991

Waypoint: GCHTTY

Today I went to go check out the Bookcrossing Bounty 2. This one has a theme to do with tracking books through BookCrossing. In preparation for my journey, I found a small book entitled No Plot? No Problem!. I registered the book through the site and I was ready to go.

I drove down the road and discovered a few parks near my house. It turns out that the GPS receiver led me to Leesylvania State Park. The entrance posted a fee of two dollars for cars. Since no one was at the little booth, I couldn’t use my credit card. I turned around and withdrew some cash at the gas station I passed on the way.

After getting into the park, I started walking in the general direction of the coordinates and found more parking at the beginning of Powell’s Creek Nature Trail. I took a look at the map of paths through the park and then continued on my journey.

The park was setup very nice. The trails were covered in leaves, but you could definitely make them out. Some of the paths even had markers where they intersected. I took the trail that was not on the scenic route. The further in I went, the less pronounced the trail became.

I got within two hundred feet when I left the trail. I approached a very large tree that had fallen some time ago. I immediately looked within the roots, as that was where the cache was hidden on my last adventure. I was in luck and started digging through the treasure.

None of the books there were registered through book crossing. I found it a little odd. I wanted to leave my book, but it was a little too big for the bag provided. Instead, I left my standard Winner Gold Medal and some blue glass marbles. I took a retractable badge holder. My niece loves playing with those things and I’m always afraid she is going to break mine. No more worries for me!

Everything was in good condition. The log book, the container, and the contents within. I left everything just as I found it and went on my journey back to the car. I took a more closer look at the scenery around me on the way back. I saw a large tree with thick scaly bark. I also saw a tree that had fallen with two colors of fungi.

I can’t wait to return tomorrow and look for more caches in the park.

Waypoint: GC2903

Location: N 38° 37.414 W 077° 19.977

Yesterday, I ran out of daylight and my GPS was acting funny. Today I decided to make another attempt to find the Cache. I left around noon and made it to the general location much quicker this time. As soon as I approached the area, I immediately spotted the cache. My GPS device had me searching in other areas near by yesterday.

I signed the log book and noticed it was almost full. Only three blank pages left. I tried out my new custom made pink eraser stamp in the log book and logged my trade. I left a gold winner medal, and a few blue glass marbles. In return, I swiped a little rug rats doll.

On the way back, I noticed the bamboo and took a coulple pictures. I also saw a dried up piece of bamboo and took it back with me.

Yin(black) Yang(white),
originally uploaded by lewismoten.

My two new gerbils, Yin (black) and Yang (white). These are my pets pets. My cats love to sit around the cage and watch them. They will even sleep in front of the cage. My cats remind me of little kids sometimes.

The good news is that my gerbil cage is enclosed within a larger guinipig cage. I had to do this to prevent the cats from knocking the cage over, and so that there claws can’t get in at the gerbils. I’m sure they mean well, but I don’t want to take any chances.

Sometimes, the cats will growl at each other because they want a good spot to look at these two gerbils play.

Location: N 38° 37.414 W 077° 19.977

Way Point: GC2903

I started out on a paved path with an old fence on each side. I came upon a bridge and then turned off to walk under the power lines that went along the Neabsco river. As I got closer, I turned off of the path and crossed the river by hopping from boulder to boulder.

I came onto the area where I was supposed to find the cache. I would look everywhere but couldn’t find it. I sat down to read the paper for any clues and saw that there would be a steep drop-off near by. I went along the bank of the river, but I couldn’t find anything. My GPS receiver was also going crazy again. One moment I would be within twenty feet, the next moment I would be seven hundred feet away.

I spent a half hour looking and it was getting too dark to see. I had to turn back. I had failed a second day to find a cache. I’ll attempt it again tomorrow.

stamps,
originally uploaded by lewismoten.

I got some pink erasers last night with some x-acto knives and started work on my stamp. I had to redesign my original idea so it would fit on the surface. I rubbed the design onto the stamp and then went over it with pen. I spent about an hour cutting the details out. In the end, I got a great impression when I tried it out with green ink.

Angel came in this morning and woke me up. She asked what our plans for the day. I replied with the list of GeoCaching, Her Eye Exam, Michaels for art supplies, giving mom her personal number, and a few other things. “Good, because our plans have just been drastically changed”.

She proceeded to tell me that we were going to go and see her friend with the dogs in Steven, Virginia. She sent me the directions to print out and said we could go GeoCaching up there instead. Also, we were bringing one of the cats – Raven, to test if the dog could get along.

It took two hours to get there. My cell phone wouldn’t work on the digital or analog networks. I couldn’t roam and call. The girls played with raven at the post office while I walked to the nearest gas station. The cashier let me make a phone call since it was local. After I got instructions from our friends mom, the cashier and a customer gave me more instructions on how to get there and what to look for.

The dogs were long haired with knots, outside, no shots, and not trained. After petting some of the dogs, I could feel grime on my hands. Ugh! A really big concern is heart worm. I want to be certain that the dog does not have heart worm before I bring him in. She wanted the collie that was completely black. We had a good time trying to get his two other brothers back into the pen while they played with the other.

Her friend let me use his laptop and I searched for a few caches in the area. I found two that were rite next to each other (GCJ0M2 & GCJ0M3). These were called Bird Knob Ridge Fair View First Aid, and Bird Knob Ridge Better View.

We took off and drove around the mountain looking for a way up. We came across a few dead ends. We were going to go up a drive way until we saw that it was marked as private property. We decided to go back and find one that had coordinates for parking.

I found one called Story Book Cache (GCJ3VE) Our friend said that he might know of the area when he looked at the map. We went for the drive and found the suggested spot for parking. We crossed a bridge and started walking across the bride and further down the trail. I noticed that the GPS device said it was behind us. Our friend said that the trail wraps around. We continued on and then decided to go back in the other direction when it said it was a mile away.

We walked and we walked. It was starting to get dark. A half hour later, we arrived at a trail that seemed to head in the rite direction. I was a little aggravated that there was a parking area there that wasn’t mentioned on the web page. We had just lost a lot of daylight.

We headed up the trail. We got within .25 miles until Angel asked if we could go back to the car. She was tired, and I guess I was a little tired too. I didn’t want her to get upset and I thought she was thinking that I wasted her time. Our friend didn’t have any arguments for turning around either.

I was dark by time we got off the trail. Angel would close her eyes and walk as she listened to the two of us on both sides of her. She bumped into me a few times, but it helped pass the time while we got back to the car.

We went back to the house, picked up my sister in-law and Raven, and headed to our friends restaurant. After dinner, we headed back home. Raven didn’t even get to meet the dog. I think he made some new friends with the cats in the house though.

There are many programs that are setup along with GeoCaching. It is amazing to discover more and more. One such program is letterboxing. First, you create or buy a rubber stamp and a log book. You then go and hunt for the letter box using your GPSr. When you find the destination, you will find a log book and a stamp from the letter box. Stamp your book with the letterbox stamp. Stamp the letterbox log with your stamp.

A few letterboxes are up near Springfield, but I’m thinking that I’ll have fun leaving my mark in the GeoCache log books for now. I made an attempt to make a drawing for my first customized stamp that I’ll make tomorrow. I’ll have to get an exact-o knife and some erasers. I may even get a wooden block, rubber cement, and a little varnish to put on top.

P.S. – My sister in-law is excited about joining my wife and I, and a friend of theirs is also wanting to come with us. He works tomorrow, but he’ll be free on Friday to join our little group.

Mom came over today and we were hoping to see National Treasure. We were not able to leave her house in time and traffic was bad. To keep her day from getting any worse, I suggested that we go and see Meet the Fockers. Angels eyes lit up and they were both in agreement.

This movie is a continuation of Meet the Parents. We just had a blast watching this movie. The movie was constantly humoring us. Some parts just had you die laughing – especially when it comes down the “the circle of trust” and the patents pending.

I would say more, but I just don’t want to spoil it for anyone. This is a must see. Just make sure you see Meet the Parents first.

Location: N 38° 36.383 W 077° 18.177

Way point: GC202B

GeoCaching isn’t all about finding the treasure. Sometimes, finding the spot in itself is the treasure. There are so many different aspects to this game, that I can’t list them all. Today, I solved a mystery puzzle cache.

The goal was to find coordinates that read the same forwards or backwards, and take a photo. Anything that can be read the same forwards or backwards is known as a palindrome. I simply took the first three digits of my current location, reversed them, and replaced the last three numbers. Here are my numbers:

3836383

7718177

It turned out that the coordinates where less then a tenth of a mile away in the woods behind my house. I went for a quick walk through the woods and found the spot.

The hardest part of this little adventure was positioning the GPS device to be in the correct location so that I could get a picture of it with the correct coordinates. My receiver was reading that it was accurate within 16 feet of the actual coordinates. Meanwhile, the satellites would move my position around by a few feet as time went by. I had trouble trying to catch up to the new locations while taking a picture.

When I went to take a picture, I realized the camera didn’t have its memory stick. I had left it in my printer at home. I put the camera away and took out my cell phone, hoping that the quality would be good enough that you could read the display. The other problem I had was the reflection of the surrounding. I clicked a few pictures and got it.