Weekend Recap (10/6 through 10/8)

Saturday morning we weren’t really sure what we were going to do but we had a list of some nearby newer caches that we were just getting ready to try to attempt when we were interrupted by a knock on the front door.   Alara was standing there and it seems he had forgotten to pack an extra set of batteries for his GPS unit.  After giving him a hard time for more than a few minutes we all decided to go together and help him wipe out Lone Star Lakes park (one more time).  We had one new cache in the park to retrieve and it is always fun to stare at even an experienced cacher as he attempts to find caches that 1) you hid or 2) ones that you have already found.

We decided to take both his vehicle and the SNAP-mobile as we had to be back home for an appointment mid-afternoon.

We made our way around the south end of the park assisting as little as possible as alara made all the finds  one after another.  We stopped by bdramatic’s new cache (UNsnap This ONE - GC3XNM5) and of course made it much harder than it was meant to be.  Thanks for the cache in this area and for naming it (sort of) after us!

We made our way to the parking area at the north end of the park and spent the next hour plus walking the northern trail and watching alara pick up our caches.  It was when were about 100 feet from the SNAP-mobile that I realized we had a major problem.  I had heard of other cachers having this same problem but had been fortunate enough never to suffer this problem - - - until now!  You would never guess where the keys to the SNAP-mobile were!!!!  In the ignition of course!  We could see the keys from the passenger side window but opening the van door is kind of hard with the doors locked! 

Embarrassment!!!   We sat there for a few trying to figure out the best way to retrieve the keys and make it to our afternoon appointment.  Long story short, Pam attended the appointment and alara and I retrieved the spare set of keys from home, returned to the park, and we all got back to Suffolk safely where I sat with alara and gave him a mini-GSAK class the rest of the afternoon.

Sunday morning we took a chance and loaded the bikes onto the bike rack on the back of the SNAP-mobile.  Yes we were betting on the weatherman being accurate in his prediction of no rain until 2PM but what the heck.

We met jtmlam59 (Jim & Lynne) for breakfast thus forming Team S&M once again and then headed down the road to several caches.

Oh Thank Heaven (GC3WB6V) was the first cache on the list.  Nothing like starting the day with a very quick P&G cache.

Ponderosa Wrong Way (GC29REA) was next on the list and we were pleasantly surprised at how easy this was as it was hidden by the infamous ones – The Adventure Stones.   Feeling very full of ourselves for finding an A.S.S. cache we proceeded down the road just a bit until we happened upon The Key to the Cache (GC2B4RC).  Would you believe we found that one also!!!!  Two Adventure Stones caches in one day – now you have to admit that doesn’t happen too often!

The next cache on the list sent shivers down my spine.  We pulled up, got out of the vehicle and proceeded to search for the ever-elusive RIGHT (GC36KNZ).  Not an A.S.S. cache but a Knotfamilyfyte cache!!!  I still have nightmares concerning LEFT (which we found on our fourth visit and only after a very specific phone hint from the CO!)   Now we have four experienced cachers reading logs, clues, cache pages and anything else we can think of trying to find RIGHT!  After almost a half hour of scrounging around in the dirt, briars, thorns and weeds we finally admitted defeat and slowly slunk back to the vehicle admitting defeat!

We parked one vehicle at the north end of the North Carolina portion of the Dismal Swamp canal and the other at the south end and then proceeded north on our bikes.  The temperature was still cool but comfortable as we made our way to George Cones (GC2RV9Z).  This was another knotfamilyfyte cache that we had looked for before and after quite a bit of looking we finally made the grab.  Are there any easy knotfamilyfyte caches?

Tweety's Revenge (GC2XWW2) was next on the list and either we are over-thinking these caches, making them much more difficult than they are, or we are just having one of those bad caching days.  This one also took us far too long and the skies are getting much darker now.

A little further up the trail we reached ground zero for You've got to be kidding me.. (GC2XWYB).  I must admit after the day we had been having, I was just a little anxious to try to find a 4.5 difficulty cache but what the heck…..  After far too long we once again admitted defeat and continued our slow pedal up the trail.

Just as we were returning the container for Key Master (GC2XWYB) back into it’s hiding place the skies decided to dampen the spirits of all of us and let loose with just a taste of what was to come in less than 10 minutes.  It was just a sprinkle at first and we all decided to head towards the vehicle at the north end of the trail.  Just as I was loading the bikes onto the bike rack Mother Nature decided we all needed a good shower and let loose.

We made it into the SNAP-mobile and headed towards the south end of the trial to pick up the other vehicle.  Mother Nature stopped the rain long enough to get two of the bikes transferred to Jim’s truck and let loose again, this time with a deluge that brought back memories of Noah and the flood.  Nana & I decided to call it a day and headed towards Suffolk with the windshield wipers on high!  Needless to say, just as we were pulling onto our street in Suffolk – the rain stopped and blue skies returned.  We still decided to stay home and relax the rest of the day.

Monday I held a one-on-one GSAK class with pennydot.  Hopefully we went over enough information to keep her busy for awhile so she can catch up with her logging finds and get her stats done.

Although we didn’t have a very productive weekend as far as numbers were concerned we did have a great time caching with Jim, Lynne on Sunday and Alan on Saturday and that is what counts in the end.

Plans for this upcoming weekend include caches in the western part of Virginia (see the area around GCP49Y) and the “Miles of Smiles” in Waynesboro (see the area around GC3P9QW).

There are plenty of upcoming events here in the Hampton Roads area.  Don’t know how many we will get to but here is at least a partial list of events in the upcoming months:

Date	Cache Name	GC Code	CO
10/20/2012	Dark Matters—3rd Sat. (not) in Rivah Country—Nov.	GC3X316	Rivahcntrygeocachers
10/20/2012	Third Saturday in Rivah Country-Part 1	GC3WWAC	Rivahcntrygeocachers
10/20/2012	Third Saturday in Rivah Country- Part 2	GC3WWAH	Rivahcntrygeocachers
10/24/2012	Third Tuesday on a Wednesday Pizza and BEER	GC3Y0J3	DMB4Life
10/27/2012	Fourth Annual Halloween Meet and Greet	GC3VF27	X11fitter
11/13/2012	"Second" Tuesday Burgers and Beers	GC3XFAF	southtexas
12/12/2012	12-12-12@12:12:12am	GC3Y0JK	DMB4Life
12/12/2012	12-12-12@12:12:12pm	GC3Y0JW	DMB4Life
12/12/2012	12/12/12 at 12:12am GMT	GC3Y5GD	steve-n-kim
2/2/2013	Sixth Annual Milestones Meet and Greet	GC3YCWD	episcodad

If any of you are interested in GSAK – please let me know – I am currently looking for a classroom so that we can hold another class.  It is not that I don’t mind holding classes in our home – but when we do that we can only get about 6 people in each class.

As always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa