Friday, September 28, 2012

Sunday September 23, 2012

Here is the recap of what we found (and didn't find) last weekend:

Nana & I loaded up the SNAP-mobile and headed towards Virginia Beach at 7AM.  It was going to be a long day so we made sure we had everything loaded and began our daylong geocaching trip.  We met up with jtmlam59 at their house.  Moved all our essential geocaching gear to their vehicle and started out headed south.  On the list today were numerous caches between central Virginia Beach and Knotts Island.

It was a long ride to Knotts Island and we all survived and arrived at what appeared to be an abandon ferry landing.  No one was in sight as we made a very fast grab here and enjoyed the view.

Know Your Knotts Revisited - GC108CH - a P&G
We left Knotts Island and headed north to a Battleship cache that ended up being our only DNF on the day.  Like other cachers before us we must have made it more difficult than it was supposed to be but even with a PAF hint we still could not come up with the smilie!

C8 - GCHR Battleship - GC3FBGD - DNF


We then headed to Munden Point Park.  This is a fabulous park.  Excellently maintained!  Even though this is way out of the way, there were all sorts of people enjoying the park.  Beautiful views and a very nice disc golf course.  We had an extremely fun time at this park grabbing 5 different caches including an Adventure Stones multi!!!   time to get back on the road and head north.

Lets Start at Nine - GC2K7TG - this was hard to find and we made it even harder as we couldn't figure out how to get it open to sign the log.
Its a Longshot - GC2K8GM - another cache that we made hard - got simple things up and settle down.
Flipping The Bird - GC3CGAH - Finally an easy cache - but how do we get it open (AGAIN!) - finally got it open!  Whew!!!
Munden Point - GCMQ04 - why are we making all these harder than they should be???
Lutraphobia - GC2JMFH - Finally - an easy one - or should be it be two (multi-cache)

We gradually made our way back north through the back parts of Virginia Beach grabbing caches as we go along!

Creeds Wayside Micro - GCQD2D - a quick grab as long as you have the park to yourself
Next Stop Ragged Island - GC3FT7Y - YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!  rated a 3 terrain but needs to be at least a 7 or 8 - needless to say we earned a DNF here.
C10 - GCHR Battleship - GC3FBFY - about as easy as they get!
Torture by bugs! - GCKAQ4 - another really nice park with absolutely no one around - nice size cache!
The torture continues - GCQ86N - the 2nd really nice cache in this deserted park!
J1 - GCHR Battleship - GC3KGDX - this one proved to be a little tricky but I just happened to look in the correct place at the correct time and made the grab
It's deja vu all over again - GC22WKM - I saw another container like this last year so when  i spotted it I knew we had it!
B5 - GCHR Battleship - GC3JT82 - you don't have to get your feet wet - of course in order to keep your feet dry you have to have the agility of a monkey!
D2 - GCHR Battleship - GC3DWEY - rather easy (phew!)
G8 - GCHR Battleship - GC3DWC7 - something is wrong here - this cache needs to have a tree climbing attribute added to its description - not sure if Nana & I had been by ourselves if we would have ever found it.  i do not mind climbing out on a leaning tree - but get rather nervous when I have to go up!!!  getting to old for that stuff (falling that is).
Beauregard's Booty - GC3KNC3 - a rather unique hide but we knew we were close as a previous finder had left a trackable hanging on a nearby tree - had to be close to the cache!
3120 - GC3VPY1 - a tricky little cache - seen this before
Come Fetch - GC3QNQX - knew what we thought we were looking for and found it!
F/A-18D Nano - GC3P0PM - it's really bad when you read a hint and then decide to ignore it - found it despite our best efforts not to!
London Bridge Between A Rock and a Hard Place - GC3TXR4 - found this out in the open - nice idea!
...and Sting Like a Bee - GC3WV1R - really nice cache - great idea - can we steal it?
Picnic and Cache - GC3N7RQ - I have no idea why this hasn't gone missing but we area sure glad it hasn't - made the grab quickly

Finally finished the day and stopped for a bite to eat.  By the time we got back home it had been a 13 hour day.  We are tired!  enjoyed the company and it is always great when you can find 22 caches with only 2 DNFs.

Caches that earned favorite points were:
Let's Start at Nine - and - ...and Stings Like a Bee - and - Lutraphobia

The winner of a favorite point AND named the winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa cache of the Day Award was:

Flipping The Bird - great idea - twist before the end - excellent area - CONGRATS!!!

As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Weekly recap

Yes, I know I am way behind so to catch y'all up here is a fast recap of the last week:

Last Saturday (9/15)  Traveled out to Lone Star Lakes Park and hid 11 (yes eleven new caches!!!!

Sunday (9/16) - Nana & I teamed up with alara to form Team TNA and managed to find 17 caches here in the Tidewater area.  Among the best caches on the day were:

Bowers Hill Secret - GC1Q8YH - even though we had sprayed down liberally, we still had to fight off the mosquitoes getting to and from this cache - awarded a favorite point.

Memory of Mr. Beekers - GC3VFE1 - a cute little cache that was really nice - awarded a favorite point.

Trick or Treat smell my feet... - GC36RC9 - as always, Wckd Soul hides are well worth the time and effort - awarded a favorite point and named the winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa Cache of the Day Award!!!

Monday - We made the 1 hour trip up to the Third "Monday" Burgers, Beer, Wings & Things event on the peninsula.  had a great time, met some new cachers and enjoyed a very good meal.

The rest of the week was taken up by that 4 letter word - WORK - bad week at work but managed to survive till the weekend!

Today (9/22) - Nana & I loaded up the SNAP-mobile and made our way back up to Lone Star Lakes Park only to realize we left most of the cache containers back at home.  Drove back home.  Drove back to the park.  We then placed eight MORE caches in the Park and repaired another.  We then decided to go back to the north end of the park and walk last week's trail one more time (just for the exercise).  Once we were on the trail we ran into a very tired bdramatic.  We made sure she got back to her car (as she was not sure where it was parked) and then started back down the trail again.

A short time later we ran into ny311fan and his son Frank.  We turned around and walked with them back to the parking area just in time to meet kesara.and.brody.  As we were all standing there talking Va_Bunch rolls up as they had also just finished the trail.  It was like a mini-Meet n Greet!!!

Anyway, that brings you up to date except for some small details - one of the caches we hid today is SNAP 100 - In Memory of Connie and Helen (our Mom's) - this cache is dedicated to the memory of both Nana's mother, Connie as well as my mother Helen.  I hope y'all like this cache.  It means quite a lot to both of us!

Tomorrow morning we are scheduled to meet up with Jim & Lynne of jtmlam59 to form Team S&M and head down to the Knotts Island area and grab some caches down there.

Some of our other geocaching plans include:
9/25 - A Southern Hello - GC3WJFQ
9/29 - M&G at the pier - GC3TYXV
10/6 - 1st Annual Beach CITO - GC3W7D9

Hope to see y'all at some of these events

As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Friday and Saturday (Sep 14 & 15)

Friday (Sep 14) was a fabulous day here in Suffolk.  The temp was in the 70's - there was a light breeze blowing and the walk from one end to the other of hte Suffolk Bling Trail was fantastic.  I stopped at each and every cache and checked each one out.  Replaced a few logs , added some fresh baggies and even dropped some swag here and there.

All is well on the Suffolk Bling Trail - all caches are more than ready to be found.

Saturday Nana & I loaded up the SNAP-mobile with quite a few containers and headed out to Lone Star Lakes Park.  We found a new trail in the park we didn't even know existed.  Hhmmmmmmm.  What should we do with this new trail.  Over the next few days there should be a few new SNAP caches coming out.  If we get lucky and all the coordinates are far away from each other by the end of next week everyone should have more than enough caches to make a several hour trip out of Lone Star Lakes.

By the way - I got a message from someone wanting to know how to subscribe to this new site for the blog. All the way at the bottom of the page should be a link you can click to subscribe to this blog - please do!

Hope everyone is coming out to the Meet n Greet on Monday night up in Newport News!

As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Sunday 9/9 Geocaching Recap


Normally, you really don't like starting off your geocaching day with a DNF (did not find).  It is really bad if you start your day with 2 or 3 DNFs in a row.  So what would you say if I told you Team S&M (that would be SNAP!!! and jtmlam59) started off Sunday, September 9 with not 1 or 2 or 3 DNFs in a row but with 5!!!!!  Really!!!!! 

It really wasn't that bad a day overall.  We ended up a 13 hour geocaching day with 21 finds and 8 DNFs.  The first 5 geocaches we looked for were not your typical caches though.

  Jim & Lynne arrived in Suffolk at 7AM and we loaded up the bikes and the SNAP-mobile for a trip west.  An hour later we arrived at the first cache.

GC3P8X0 - Something's Missing.... hadn't been found since July and had a string of 5 other cachers that hadn't been able to locate it either.  We scoured the small area where it should have been extensively but still came up empty.

GC2DHHD - Hunting for Not so Sadler hadn't been found since early January.  We parked near GZ and made our way to the old building and the surrounding trees but failed to find this one either.
GC245D7 - Iron Bridge was an excellent site for a cache.  The bridge had been built in 1864 and is still in service today as a single lane country bridge.  The last finder of this cache was in November of 2011.  We covered the area pretty well before conceding defeat.

GC24NHT - Fort Christanna (Puzzle Cache) a very nice historic site.  Jim had solved the stage 1 puzzle and geo-checked his answer but we were still unable to make the find.  This one hadn't been found since November of 2010!!!

GC24R9Q - Peek A-Boo - we really had no excuse not to find this one.  The last cacher was in July and even though the place was very overgrown we dove in and searched for quite a while.  No luck here made this 5 DNFs in a row and we were almost 2 hours from home without a single smilie!

We drove up to Lawrenceville to try out a new Rail-To-Trail and hopefully grab a find.
GC2JP48 - Rail Trail #1 - After getting the bikes off the back of the SNAP-mobile and riding about a mile - believe it or not we grabbed a cache!  Jim found this one almost immediately.  A rather easy hide but all of us were happy to finally get a smilie!

GC2JTEA - Rail Trial #2 - another 1/2 mile down the trail proved to be another quick find as I reached out and grabbed it just as I dismounted the bike!  On our ride back to the van we ran into some local cachers (kf4kbs & K4SDC & KI4KES), very nice people who informed us this part of the trail was getting ready to be worked on again and made longer!  Hopefully they will place caches along the newer part so we have a reason to go back to this lovely little town.  We really enjoy running into other cachers while we are out!

Once we made it back to the SNAP-mobile and loaded the bikes I happened to look at my phone and a geocaching map and realized there were two very new caches right there in Lawrenceville.  We added them to our hit list and headed out.

GC3W2QA - Lawrenceville Museum - we managed to make this cache much harder than it should have been but we finally made the grab and moved on to....
GC3W2PJ - Welcome to historical Lawrenceville - will someone explain to me how 4 cachers with over 7000 finds can make very simple finds so hard!!!!   We finally made the grab but this very simple cache took us far too long!

Heading a little northwest we stopped by a very nice park just outside of Lawrenceville for our next caches:
GC1172H - #31 DeLorme Atlas Chevrolet - a very nice walk in the woods revealed a nice size cache that Nana found quickly!
GC2KCWR - Watershed A - this was amusing - each of us checked stumps and trees all around expanding our circle bigger and bigger.  We finally all went back to our original GZ and started over re-checking each stump and tree.  Jim eventually made the find in a stump I know each of us had look in at least twice before - we all must be blind!

Going back southwest we reached the town of Brodnax which was our original destination because of a Rail-To-Trail located there (Tobacco Heritage Trail).  The previous cachers we had met in Lawrenceville had a series of caches on this trail and we had been looking forward to grabbing these caches all day!

We parked at a mid-point on the trail, unloaded the bikes again and took of easterly.
GC36BPB Lonely Pines:  This cache was very amusing.  Can't give too much away without spoiling the cache but Nana found it and we all laughed!
GC3BQ1A Tobacco Heritage Trail #1 - fairly easy find on a beautiful day to biking this trail
GC3B0TJ - Chet's 1st Cache - enjoyed the hunt here, we made the grab and off we all went
GC3BQ2R - Chet's Big Micro - here is where things began to turn.  We looked and looked, scratched our heads and looked some more.  We never made the find here but sure gave it a good try.
GC3BQ2J - Nugget's Piney Pond Cache - two DNFs in a row.  We all searched and searched but couldn't find that darn rabbit!  We didn't feel too bad though as the cache hadn't been found since early May.
GC3BQ28 - Is This The Beginning or the End? - for us it was the end of this portion of the trail - Jim made the find quickly and we started back towards the van and the other end of the trail.

Once we passed the SNAP-mobile we continued on southwestward and started this side of the trail.

GC3B0T9 - Nugget's 1st Cache was a quick bike and grab
GC3B1AP - Runaway Rest Stop - this cache took us a few but we eventually made the grab.
GC3B1CN - Rusty's Crooked Cache - we made it here - got off our bikes and quickly made the grab.  We decided at this point we were to tired to bike the rest of the trail so we headed back to the van and moved it closer to the last 3 caches on this part of the trail.

We moved the van closer then Jim & I walked to the last three caches as the ladies took a break and relaxed.
GC3BPR4 - Rusty's Road Crossing - this was a 4/4 cache and it lived up to it's rating.  We made the grab and proceeded down the trail.
GC3BPNQ - Easy as Pie - HEY! - I like the sounds of this cache - and it lived up to it's name as it was in both the first and last place I looked!
GC3C905 - Needle in a Haystack - didn't really like the things that came to mind as we were walking to this cache but believe it or not we made the grab in less than a minute once we got to GZ.

Jim and I got back to the van and we all were tired.  We figured we could grab a few more P&Gs and then head back home.

GC33KAG - Hedgehog hangout was supposed to be a P&G and we even left the area and then returned a 2nd time before we finally marked this one down as our last DNF for the day
GC33KAC - Don't Throw Stones was a very cute cache that was not only awarded a favorite point but also named the winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa cache of the Day Award.  Very cute container!
GC29TGK - Closed Circuit was a very simple P&G but we did have some excitement - as we were approaching GZ a helicopter was landing at the local ????.  It was the Lizard Lick helicopter.  Now some of you may not know who or what Lizard Lick is - but others will - it is the name of the repo crew on a reality show on one of the cable stations!
GC3KH5P - 1248 - this cache had us a little scared - the last finder had stated the log had turned to mold and mush so we weren't exactly sure what we would find.  We actually found the cache laying out in the open in a little clearing among the trees - we disposed of the previous contents of the container, cleaned everything out, dried the container and then added some swag, a new log, and a baggy to hopefully keep everything dry for the next geocacher.
GC2K7MN - One persons trash... Another persons cache - a scary title but a very quick find
GC39J8Y - Go Dragons - another cache that we found out in the open of a clearing - signed the log and hid it where we thought it should be

As Jim & I made our way back to the SNAP mobile we decided to call it a day and head home.  We stopped for dinner about 1/2 way home and ended up pulling into our homestead just after 8.

It wasn't until late the next day that we found out something very terrible.  We had 4 cachers with a total of over 7000 finds on a day geocaching trip - we all went through numerous wooded areas - and NONE of us remembered to spray ourselves down.  It really wasn't a big deal until late Monday night - it was an even bigger deal Tuesday - now it is Wednesday - I can can tell you one thing - it will be a very long time before I forget to spray myself down again.  30 to 40 chigger bites - and that is just on my right leg alone - left leg is not so bad but there is one thing I can definitely tell you - there ARE certain parts of your body you NEVER want a chigger bite !!!!

As always - Stay safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Saturday 8 September Recap


You can't get a FTF (First to Find) if you sleep in!  Yes we got a late start but we were still hoping we could get a FTF when we left the house and headed out towards Isle of Wight.  We were still hoping for a Co-FTF as we approached GZ and realized Grandpa gene had just pulled into the parking area for the cache.  We thought that right up until we opened the log and realized those Smithfield cachers had NOT slept in like Nana & I did.  Needless to say we found a fantastic hide.  The container itself was not all that special but the way it was hid made this the winner of the "Coveted" Nana & Papa Cache of the day Award and a favorite point.  GC3WAFH - "Water" you looking for? - a real new cache and a great hide!  What a great way to start the day!

From there we proceeded to Portsmouth to pick up what was supposed to be a harder cache.  We had actually been by the area before and decided to wait for cooler weather.  I just couldn't wait any longer as the cache was calling my name!  Nana & I searched high and low before I finally pulled out the phone to PAF.  A short time later, after receiving a nice clue from a fellow cacher, Nana & I discovered the little devil!   GC3DWJJ - J8 GCHR Battleship bites the bottom of the ocean!

We drove down to downtown Portsmouth and as I searched for a parking place we knew this was going to be a difficult hide.  GC3RRDW - Paper Palace - not only do you have to dodge the muggles but the granite building will play havoc with your GPS signal.  We searched a short time before giving up.  We will be back to wipe this DNF off our list!

Norfolk was our next stop.  We had searched for this cache earlier and came up empty.  GC3RQQH - The Port's Mouth - this time we walked right to it - funny how these things tend to hide really good on some days and on others they practically wave at you as you walk up to them!

We went by several parks in Norfolk to try and knock out some more Battleships but it seemed every park was having big activities this Saturday.  We really should have gotten an earlier start!

We ended up in Ocean View and quickly made our way over to GC3VAPY - OV Gun - Nana & I searched this gun intimately!  I finally had enough and pulled out my phone to give southtexas a piece of my mind - his answer was "I'm not sure where it is".  Seems a previous finder had moved it and the CO didn't have a clue where it was.  Nana & I tried some more but eventually gave up.  **Note - later it seems southtexas went out to the gun to discover he had to PAF to find his own cache!  LOL!  All is well now (I hope) and Nana & I will be back up that way to hopefully find the cache another day!

GC3T4T6 - Xactly where you think  - this was a very quick find - we pulled up - spotted some muggles - waited them out - then made the grab

GC3V96P - Lucky Number 17 - another quick park n grab!

GC31BZP - Ashes to Caches - it is rare to see a cache this size in the city - but Nana 7 I were proud to find it and award it a favorite point!

GC3DWFK - I6 - GCHR Battleship - Nana & I pulled the SNAP-mobile into a little park and we weren't sure we were in the correct place.  Maybe we should have approached from the other side.  A few minutes later I spotted something out of the corner of my eye and sure 'nuff - there it was!

GC3BXDF - "I'M A little cache..." - A great view near GZ and we were finally lucky enough to find a location with absolutely no muggles around.  We made the find quickly and proceeded to the next cache!

GC3EZDY - H10 - GCHR Battleship - we did have a little trouble finding a place to park the SNAP-mobile but we finally parked the van in a nearly empty parking lot and walked to GZ - the logs seemed to indicate this would either be a very hard or a very easy find.  Lucky for us we found it quickly!

Since we got such a late start and drove from Suffolk to Isle of Wight then back to Portsmouth, Norfolk and Virginia Beach - we decided to call it a day as we had a BIG day planned for Sunday.  Give me a day or two and find out how we did Sunday on our 14 hour ride, bike, walk, bike some more, then walk some more Sunday cache run to South-Central Virginia.  Also find out soon why we say we are still novice cachers.

I promise that Sunday's recap will be amusing!  <scratch....itch....scratch!>

As always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Monday, September 3, 2012

September 2 - A very HOT day!

After recovering from the picnic, Nana & I picked up alara and formed Team TNA to make a caching run around Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
We started out by quickly grabbing a letter box cache (GC3R3MJ) USMC Hearth and then proceeded to wipe out all 4 caches in the Pine Meadows area courtesy of steve-n-kim.
We then made our way over to Pidgeon Coop (GC39ZCH). We got out of the SNAP-mobile, sprayed ourselves all over and then walked in the general direction of the cache. We were just about 50 yards from the SNAP-mobile when they attacked! Thousands of them dive-bombing us. Making Kamikaze runs into our faces, ears and hair. We were swatting at them but they were just laughing at us while chomping at us with their teeth. Flies - big ones - biting flies - Nana swears three or four of them almost picked her up off the ground. This is the 2nd of September and I swear these were May flies???? Can't they read a calendar? Needless to say we sprinted back to the SNAP-mobile, making sure none of them got into the can with us. We will leave this area till cooler weather invades us and hopefully tames the wild things in the air!
The Lost Cemetery was our next stop (GC3BMZJ). This is an unusual area to see the Stone brothers graves but we made the find quickly but we left wondering if this is where the other members of the family will eventually be buried. You know the ones we are talking about, Rolling Stones, Mossy Stones, Sly Stone, Rosetta Stone, Blarney Stone, Adventure Stones and others.
We grabbed two quick caches, Home Run (GC31639) and Relax & Have a Cup of Coffee (GC2WEWN).
We made our way over to the court complex and tried two puzzle caches: Cunnunghamia Lanceolata (GC283EE) is a very simple offset puzzle. You find the sign near ground zero, get the information from the sign. Go back to GZ and then proceed XX feet at a heading of YY degrees. Simple right? Yes that part is simple, but the not to simple part is finding the container. Take my advise and go in cooler weather. It is a tricky find but we managed to find our way to the container, grab it and sign the log. It did take us a few but we managed a SMILIE!
Sister Cities Garden was an entirely different story. The simple part we got. We arrived at the coordinates, got the information from a sign, figured out our new coordinates and made our way to the new GZ. After quite a few minutes we almost gave up but I used a rare PAF (phone a Friend) and called the CO (cache owner). After talking with her we realized there had been a change to the area which changed the coordinates. We corrected the numbers but were still stymied by what must be a tough hide as all three of us came up empty. We will be back (hopefully in cooler weather)!
After grabbing several Battleship caches we made our way to Glenwood neighborhood park cache-my first cache (GC3VJDV). A nice little cache with enough info on the cache page to make the find even though the coordinates are a bit off. If you try this one and can't find it - re-read the cache page and read some of the logs from previous finders. That will help you zero in on it!
My Bark Is Worse Than my Bison (GC3JVGB) was our next cache and when we found it everyone loved it! An excellent hide, accurate coordinates, a great hint (if you need it) and a twist at the end.
We sort of cut the day short after a few more caches. It was so hot we were all dripping all over the place. I guess it is a good thing we don't melt!
Favorite Points were awarded to: GC3EZ7Q - J10 - GCHR Battleship - a tricky devil of a cache that may have you scratching your heads for a few minutes - Great Hide! And the winner of not only a favorite point but also winner of the "COVETED" Nana & Papa Cache of The Day Award: GC3JVGB - my Bark Is Worse Than My Bison hidden by SpikeCurtis - congratulations!!!
As Always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching! SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

Thank you...

Thank you to the "Core Group" that put together The 10th Annual GCHR Picnic!

Thank you to the volunteers that helped all through the day at The 10th Annual GCHR Picnic!

Thank you to the vendors that showed up for The 10th Annual GCHR Picnic!

Thank you to Laura's Boys and Daddio&TheFredChicks for the GREAT! "Fun Log" for The 10th Annual GCHR Picnic!

Thank you to all the Out-Of-State Cachers that showed up for The 10th Annual GCHR picnic!

Thank you to everyone that showed up for The 10th Annual GCHR Picnic making it Virginia's 1st Mega-event!

For those of you that did not come to the event you missed a lot of fun, food, caching, and other activities.

Start making your plans now for next year.  If everything goes as in the past - it will be Labor day Weekend 2013, probably in Northwest River Park in southern Chesapeake! What do you say we make next year even bigger!