Brian's first boat...ish.

I'd say the title says it all. I got myself my first boat...ish. A new cache popped up last night right on the coast of Ft. Thomas, only a few miles from where I live. It was called "Red red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along" - GC1DF5N. It was also a 1.5/5. I decided that I wanted to be FTF, and I also needed it for my Difficulty/Terrain matrix. Plus, I have yet to complete an Island cache or a cache that involves a boat or watercraft...so now seemed like the perfect first time. I went to Bass Pro and bought two inflatable boats, one for me, and one for Sommer Family. Here is my log for the cache:

Last night I saw this cache pop up and just knew I wanted to get it. I wanted to get it because it was a few miles from me. I wanted to get a FTF. I wanted to get a 5 terrain. I wanted to get another spot filled on my D/T chart. There was no reason I shouldn't go. So...what did I do? I went to Bass Pro and bought 2 inflatable boats (rafts) and called Sommer Family, "Hey Sommers....good night for a swim, eh?" Needless to say they were all for it. 7:30 rolls around and we embark on our journey. We set off from Brent Ferry about .64 away, march down the shore awhile, and finally decided to go in.

Red Red Robin wasn' really the song that was in my mind. Actually, It was Primus' "Sailing the Seas of Cheese" album that kept coming to mind. Just...sifting through that curdled mess of goop. I mean, I know people talk about how polluted the Ohio is...and how nasty it is...and about the mutated fish and what not, but is it really true? The answer is yes. If only you could see the dead fish we saw on the bank before going in. About 2 feet long....and hair all on it's back. Some mammalian sea creature I suppose. Anyways, back to the story.

So...it has been awhile since I've been kayaking or even canoing for that matter. I had to get back into the motion. Here is how it went tonight:

Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Paddle out of the water.
Hit Phil in the head.
Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Paddle out of the water.
Hit Phil in the head.
Paddle in the water.
Stroke.
Stroke.
Wait...why is this spinning?
It's spinning.
Still spinning.
Like Kobe Bryant in the playoffs spinning.
Okay back on track.

And another hit to Phil's head for the heck of it.

Anyways...so we get 234 feet from the cache GZ and what do we find, A DECOY! HOW DECEPTIVE! (not really....but we did find a floating pill container, and we kept it for evidence)

Eventually....the two twinks in the little raft looking thing among all the speed boats filled with people staring at us like two twinks in a little raft looking thing spotted the cache location, made the grab, and signed the log. Approximately 8:30PM...FTF!

Thanks for the adventure. Upstream back was definitely easier, and a little rewarding.

Now if you will excuse me...I have a shower and 16 Advil calling my name.

TFTC!

#1443

#1400

Okay, so for 4 weeks now I have hit a milestone. That is pretty exciting! In my first 2 months of caching I hit 500. It took me around 2 weeks over the next 2 months to get my second 500. If I get to 1500 (I'm sitting at 1442) before the 13th of July, that would make my third set of 500 in 2 months again (being 2 months since I completed Mini-Me). That is great! there has been talk about double 1500 milestoning with Slammer47 or tripling with Ian for his 1,000th also...or POSSIBLY even quadroupling with Big Mamma K for her 1,000 also. Phew.

Anyways, let's talk about the milestone.

Ian, Kristen and I went to Springfield, Ohio (east of Dayton) this weekend with a mission. That mission was to grab "How about these apples?!?!" - GC16Q52, the 2/4.5 TUNNEL cache. I was nervous it wouldn't be there (as we have had such excellent lucky with our other milestone attempts). This one we did prevail on! We even had a few bags of apples with us to make it a little more fun! Here are a few pictures and a cute video for your visual pleasure. See more pics on my Flickr page.

DNF!!!!!

So last night was the Fluttercat Chat (Event cache). We decided since the Sommers, Ian, Kristen, and I were all available, it would be a great night to try the night cache "Caesar's Darkside" - GCACEE right? WRONG! We had a great hike in. the area was beautiful, and we came at just about the right time. We had enough light to see around, but by the time we got to the destination we require darkess for, it was provided. However...that is also when the problems began...WE COULDN'T FIND THE REFLECTORS! It was aweful. We were out there I'd say an hour and a half with no luck at all. We called several people (as we always do) and no direction helped us find it. We came to the conclusion it is missing, and the markers have been removed. The bigger problem with that is that the owner hasn't logged into the cache site in almost a year, so this may never get put back for us to grab. Aweful. That is what a call a FAILED MILESTONE ATTEMPT!

#1300

Alright, alright. Moving right along. That same day (but not really) we got a double milestone (1300/500) with "Ammo with a Problem" - GCZJ6C. This was a 2/4 tree cache. We hit it going into the evening. We had plenty of light when we started, but it faded quick while Sommer attempted to find the cache. I say "attempted" because once getting up and looking as well, we both determined this one was missing. We called Slammer, we called back home to read through the logs, we called Pokerbuzz. We tried everything we could to figure out if we were doing SOMETHING wrong. We weren't...it was just missing. Apparently it has gone missing a few times before also. We had done the work. We set up the rope...done the climbing...we were not leaving without a find. After about an hour and a half, we decided to replace the container with a new one, and a new log. We logged the find as normal - and it is a good thing because someone found it just a few days after us...YOUR WELCOME! Anyways...it was a well deserved milestone, as the climb was tricky - but good company (miss you Ian) and goof times made for a good cache.

#1200

So...I've been busy lately. doing what exactly? Getting caches. Eat, sleep, work, cache. That is pretty much all I do. I've gotten milestones every weekend the past 3 weeks, which is pretty nice in my book. the first one was Earock which I talked about in one of the last posts. the weeks after was busy with me, Ian and the Sommers. Out almost every night. Clearing Hamilton, grabbing some in Springboro, Middletown, Kettering. In that time was the "Thank You Reviewer Webling" event too where I finally got to meet Slammer47 in person.

One weekend the Sommers and I went to Dayton (Kettering) in pursuit of our next milestone - two milestones for me. I like to have a celebratory milestone, and sometime I sit on a few finds to make that happen, but #1200 just wasn't playing the right hand. I was sitting on about 75 caches, no milestone in sight. The only thing I thought to do would be to grab a liar's cache, and I picked the 5/2.5 "A Fantastical Grand Adventure" - GC18K1K. The goal of that cache was to create a Sci-fi story. What a better way to go back in time and grab my #1200 than actually GOING BACK IN TIME. Here is my log along with some pictures:

Some of you may be thinking, "Brian, how do you think this is a milestone for you? You reached 1200 on 6/10/08 while out caching with Sommer Family? This is actually your 1287th find..." While you may THINK that is true, you don't even know the half of it.

There was only one way known to man to log this 1200 milestone when seemingly passing my prime opportunity to do so. I had to travel back in time. How does one do that though? What? you didn't know the powers that lie behind "GC18K1K??!" It's the ONLY way to do it!

I crawl for miles, for what seemed like years. I was in darkness, the only thing I could see was a pinprick of light off in the distance. I followed it, for days and days I followed the tiny pinprick of light until it started to get bigger and bigger. Finally, I come to see a checkered pattern and burst of light. I had reached my destination.

I observe a creature unlike my own, holding what I knew to be the cache. Secretly and quietly, as silent as I could be, I make my way out of the darkness I once called my home.

The creature noticed me, he panicked, and started running away. I had to chase him...it was the only way. Through land and through water I pursued him. After nearly 3 hours the pursuit came to a close. I tackled the creature to the ground, leaving the cache flying through the air. The creature had met his demise. I ran after the cache, scooped it up with my hands, and fled to the "Anchor" : The time travel machine. I strapped myself aboard and BLASTED back in time.

All of a sudden I was back in Sommer's car on 6-10-2008 grabbing park and grabs; the cache and log for GC18K1K was in hand. I had done it! This was now OFFICIAL my #1200! After signing the log it was time to come home. I mounted the anchor one last time, and fled back to the future. Upon arrival, I gave a shout of victory, raising the cache up to the heavens, and replaced as found.

Back to the tunnel I went. I crawl for miles, for what seemed like years. I was in darkness, with nothing ahead in the distance but a pinprick of light.

#1200

The Traveling Cache, The 81, & More

So, I met this amazing caching group here called The Sommer Family. Husband, Wife, Mom, Daughter. Really fun group (haven't met the daughter yet). Well, I had lunch with the Wife and Mom, and they let me in on a little something, something. It was a grandfathered traveling cache they had come across at Jungle Jims. "Final Approach" (MacGyver MOVING Cache # 27 ) - GCDB76. I always wanted something like this in caching, and it was really cool to be a part of it, especially since it is extinct now!


Also, Ian and I's first cache in our new series got published: The Beginning, or rather, The End: The 81 Series - GC1CWW7. This series will contain 81 caches, one for each of the Difficulty/Terrain ratings (1/1, 1.5/1, 2/1, 1/1.5, 1/2, etc). Whether you are new to caching or old, 1,000 caches in or 10; this will walk you through it. Over the next few months we will be placing caches all over the tri-state of all difficult and terrain: puzzles, multis, traditionals - everything you can think of. Many of the ideas already created are completely original, and some will not be. The one thing to be sure of is this: if you complete the series - you will have the 81 and can then call yourself a "well-rounded cacher". We will soon develop our own Fizzy challenge puzzle for completing the matrix of OUR caches...and we are very excited to see this come about!

I also was able to go back to some of my milestone locations and take some new, cool pictures for my profile. You can also see them in my flickr gallery here.

PLUS! I updated my bookmark lists for a lot of cool things. I made a list of my favorite non-terrains, my favorite higher terrains, and my "Must Do" list. There are now a LOT of items on my must do list, and lots of new milestones I want. Lots of fun ones, some scenic ones, and tons of high D/T combos.

#1100

Boy has it been a busy month. Graduating, moving into a condo in Northern Kentucky, band, full-time work status....and CACHING! I've managed to go up to Dayton a few times, and just went this past weekend with Abuhhhh and jcklm for another milestone, #1100.

We tackled Ice Pick Man's Cave Multi Cache - GC15Q4B earlier in the day, which was one of Slammer47's favorite caches. It was a pretty fun tunnel cache. Here is a wonderful picture of Ian apparently being chased by the Ice Pick Man.


There is also the wonderful picture of me and my Surefire L2 LumaMax
which illuminated my way.





Luckily, it didn't appear that anyone was following us....but it sure was a loooooooooooong way back out.





A picture of Ian and I at the end of the tunnel. All the information has been snagged - on to the final!







The highlight of our day however (besides the drinks, laughs, and 37 caches on the day) was the milestone, earock 2000finds - GC16GDJ. The following post will have:

SPOILER PICTURES! Please don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled!!!!!!

Just as a safeguard, the first picture will be of our whole team after finding the cache.





It was a very interesting find for the cache. I heard Slammer tell me that you will never find anything like this cache anywhere. It was rated 4.5/3.5. I was excited out of my mind. We get there, and the cache is a small container, just sitting in a tree, maybe 7 feet off the ground. I got very frustrated. There is NO WAY this was the cache. Something had to be wrong. I tried calling Slammer....no answer. I tried calling Pokerbuzz....no answer as well.


We decided we'd atleast leave the cache a little harder to get than we found it. We decided to prop it up with a stick. After looking at that for a few minutes...we decided to go back to the car, and see if we can't get some rope and hoist the thing up higher. I kept calling Pokerbuzz hoping he'd pick up. As soon as we got back to the car, he told me that is NOT how the cache was supposed to be...so back in we went to maintenance.



It was then....when we started working...I got to witness how gorgeous...how simply....amazing this cache truly was.
Slammer told me the tree used to be perfectly balanced in the V of this other tree. Can you imagine? A...60-80 foot or something long tree...perfectly balanced in the V of another tree. For 1) for that to even happen, and 2) for someone to find it to put a cache there. It is just incredible. That, or if like in this picture, the tree was completely leaning the opposite way...and the cache was sitting nearly 80 feet above you. How killer.