There's no Crying in (Vintage) Baseball!

Our second major expedition happened just a few days before Christmas - December 22, 2014.  A great suggestion from Michele, Greg and their kids; Selah, Celeste, Ethan and Micah, if only we had thought to check the forecast before leaving!  doh!

For this adventure, we braved the elements - cold rain, and muddy trails to find 3 of the 5 caches.  All 5 caches were at the same park - Manhattan Park just off Cascade Rd and E. Beltline.  The rain only started when we were arriving at the park.

2 of the 3 found today were from Micah, the youngest of the group!  Each of the 5 caches had to do with the theme: Vintage Baseball, and each had a little bit of history and/or information regarding this sport.  I had no idea that this sport existed, or that there was a park which housed a league so close to our house.  One interesting point about Vintage Baseball: They don't use gloves.  Yow!

The first find was in the parking lot a few feet from where we parked in a pine tree, called, "Vintage Base Ball - Local Team".   Micah was the first to spot it.

The second cache, titled, "Vintage Base Ball - Rules (circa 1860)", we were unable to locate.  So I guess there are no rules in Vintage baseball?  Anyway, upon checking the 3 most recent log entries from others, we noticed that they also did not find it, and thought that the cache might not be there any more.  Some reported 'shenanigans".

The third cache, titled, "Vintage Base Ball - Player Positioning", was found by Greg first, then Simon.

The next one we were unsuccessful in finding was, "Vintage Base Ball - Nineteenth Century Terminology", which was a micro cache, and apparently too small for any of us to locate in it's 'hanging' spot.

At this point in the expedition, the rain was coming down a bit more consistently, the leaves all around us (as well as the spirits of some of our members) were becoming more and more dampened.  Our numbers were thinning as we approached the final cache, titled "Vintage Base Ball - The Field and Equipment".  This one was found at the outskirts of the other parking lot adjacent from the one we parked our vehicles.  At the end of the expedition the only remaining members were Micah, Greg and myself.  The others had safely retreated to a pavillion with some picnic tables to escape the rain.


All in all, the mission felt successful, and I would like to try to find the one micro-cache we missed at a later date (especially if the weather is cooperating) if we ever find ourselves visiting the park again in the future.

First Geocaching Adventures... and Lessons Learned.

Our first geocaching adventure started with trying to find "The Master of Suspense" geocache, which was supposed to be just outside of our house.

The result so far has been unsuccessful.

This is due to the fact that it has a high level of difficulty.  It's actually a very very difficult one to solve, ESPECIALLY as the first attempt.  What I should have done was read Geocaching 101.

Here are some of the things I have found to be helpful to know before starting:

1. Do research in advance.

2. Read the details.  Find out if the cache is BIG, Normal or small, and maybe even read the hints.  Especially if you are just starting.

3. Check the difficulty level and especially notice the icons - if you are going with your family, look for the "Recommended for Kids" icon.  This means it's kid-friendly - very helpful!

4.  Some cache's have the disclaimer, "The cache isn't actually found at these coordinates, sucker!  Try to solve this ludicrously difficult puzzle to find the actual coordinates while your fingers and other appendages freeze off" 

I don't like those.

5. Don't worry about trackables to start, unless you are ready for the more advanced stuff.

6. Filter the cache - start with "traditional" type caches.

Anyway, after some trial and error, we did find our first cache on December 10, 2014.  That day we looked for two more, but with no luck - I did not check the type or difficulty level, and so kids were not happy with that result.

The first cache, "Mud in the Forest".

... but we remained undeterred!  So on Saturday, with a little research in advance, we found 3 of the 4 we went looking for.

The first find was from Simon, we were looking for "Nagano Gold".  We spent about 10 - 15 min. looking for it.  Simon was able to find it after we got the clue, "What Charlie Brown gets for Halloween"

Then it was on to the one we couldn't find, "TEHL in GRR".  It was supposed to be in a pricker bush in front of the hotel, but we could not find the bugger.  Might have to return at a later time to check again.  It was bitter cold, and Vanessa was complaining of hunger....

After a quick stop to get some food, we went to the parking lot of Bob Evans, and found a quick one, "Breakfast with the Captain", hanging in a pine tree.

Then a few blocks away, we went to the "Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens" (cemetary) and found "Dewlou's Stash 9", which was the largest of the caches we found, and Simon did his first trade for the colorful slinky - he traded a Penguin of Madagascar periscope toy from McDonalds Happy Meal.  A good trade, if I do say so myself.

Later that evening, we visited Grandma and Grandpa.  They were game to tackle an expedition with us, and we found both of the caches we set out to find!

The first one was "Billboard Chart".  Dad found it just as we were about to give up.  It was a tiny white plastic film canister.

The last one of the evening was "Passion for Cachin'".  A very easy, quick find to end the day's adventures.

One of the highlights for the kids was finding a dead snake.  Nuff' said.