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