Wading for Caches!!!

Two weeks ago we planned the geocaching trip.  It was supposed to be a nice trip around the peninsula picking up caches that both Jtmlam59 and SNAP!!! had yet to find.  What Team S&M found was more of a potpourri of areas ranging from the high and dry to the almost knee high swamps.  I must admit this was a first for both Nana & I.  We had never had to wade along park trails in mid-thigh high water before.

The day had started off easy enough.  Jim & Lynne met us in Suffolk and we took off through the high grass towards our first actual SHIP in the Battleship series.  We, of course, made the trip far longer than it had to be as we over-shot the way in and had to back track.  Once we found the USS Maury we did some minor cache repair, adding new baggies and drying SWAG out.  But we made it back to the SNAP-mobile with a smilie and a swagger having not found any abnormally high water after the torrential downpours that Suffolk had experienced on Saturday.

When we saw the amount of rain that had been dumped in the area we decided to modify our target list to knock out all the Battleship squares first and then proceed to other caches in the area but we first stopped at a stubborn little devil called St. Paul's - Home to the Homeless (GC2T6CE).  This devil had been on SNAP!!!'s DNF list for quite a while and we were extremely happy to pick up this smilie.

We then proceeded to knock out four of the Battleship squares back to back.  J9, H4, F10 & F8 all fell in our path as each one was knocked out easily.

We made a small detour and quickly knocked out The "M" Cache (GC3HYWT), a neat little cache at the back side of a shopping center.

This is where things got interesting.  We pulled into Sandy Bottom Park, unloaded and commence to walk towards one of two Battleship caches in the park.  The walk stated out very dry and pleasant but soon turned dark and damp, then wet and then swampy!  As we approached the first cache coordinates (Block D4) we looked up ahead to see what appeared to be a large pond.   As we stood on the edge of the pond we realized our GPS's were pointing to the middle of the pond (of course).  Try as we may we would have to get wet.  Jim quickly took off his shoes and socks and waded towards GZ.  A few minutes later he yelled out the beloved words "Here it is!"  There in the middle of our pond was a small island of several trees - and there in the middle - our destination.  After quickly signing the log at D4 we took off towards Block I2 - surely this one couldn't be as bad!  HA!  I will let the picture below talk for itself as we waded through, what at times was water almost up to our knees, towards the high and dry GZ for I2.  After signing the log and dropping a trinket or two we discussed why we brought an umbrella and not a canoe as we waded most of the way back to the SNAP-mobile.  After drying off and swapping out our wet socks and shoes we proceeded on our way.

Blocks I7, E8, and D6 quickly fell into our found list as we proceeded around the area.  We stopped our attack on the Battleship squares just long enough to grab "The Marsh Walk" (GC32XE5) a nice sized cache in a beautiful area.  From there we grabbed two quick caches that Jim & Lynne needed and then went on to our final Battleship square for the day - C9.  After making quick work of the last square we decided to try a few more caches before heading for home.  We quickly grabbed Guacaholey and then proceeded to Free Parking (GC3QF73) a devilish little cache that may have you running around in circles.  Pam & I had tried this cache once before and now we were back again but this time with assistance.  It took us far longer than it should have but we did make the grab and sign the log.

Four more caches before we called it a day.  FIESTA! Where Jim made us look blind as Pam & I had DNF'd it only a few weeks before.  Jim hops out of the SNAP-mobile and quickly makes the find!   Give me Liberty, Too was another quick find.  We all stumbled around and ended up with our only DNF on the day at "No Comfort Here, Either" (GC3TNOR).  We all walked in circles hunting for this cache.  None of us could come up with the find and we decided to call it a DNF when we started attracting attention.

We did end the day on a high note though as we stopped by "Twisted - Tribute to the Vroom Vroom Scrubaduba" (GC23WC1) and made the find quickly!

We all stopped by The Outback Steak House on Mercury Blvd and celebrated 19 finds on the day with only 1 DNF.

After dinner we dropped Jim & Lynne off at their vehicle, said our goodbyes and headed home for a hot shower and clean clothes.

Hope all of you are enjoying the new blogsite.

Hope to see everyone at the 10th Geocaching Hampton Roads picnic this weekend in Newport News Park!!!  I will be there early Saturday morning helping out with whatever I can - please stop by and say HI!

As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa