3 of the perils of geocaching... all in one weekend!

Peril #1 - TICKS!!!
This continues to be a terrible  year for ticks.  It seems that all you have to do is think about going in the woods and the ticks are attracted to you!  Last week I went to check on a cache.  Now admittedly, it is deep in a park.  I sprayed down and then hiked the mile or so to the cache, stayed on the trail the entire time.  I got to the cache and did maintenance, got immediately back on the trail, and headed straight back to the parking area.  Tick check time.... 4 ticks!!!  Later at home we found several more!  Be careful out there and be sure to use your favorite spray!

Peril #2 - DOGS (or should I say apathetic dog owners)
This was a first for us in over 4 years of caching.  Saturday we were at a very large park in Virginia Beach.  After finding the cache we made our way back out of the woods.  Upon exiting the woods we noticed a man and his two dogs about 60 yards away.  The pit bull mixed dog immediately took off straight for us!  Barking, snarling, and generally acting like a Tasmanian Devil from the cartoons, the dog made sure we understood in no uncertain terms that we were to stand still.  So we did!  The four of us stood still while the dog's owner slowly made his way closer and closer.  I for one wanted him to move at a much faster pace but he was not concerned in the least that his dog was frothing all over himself in anticipation of a fine meal.  After far to many minutes the dog's owner finally got control of his dog while maintaining his "there is no leash law in Virginia" attitude. Needless to say we did not part ways on the best of terms but all four of us did leave with all of parts intact!

Peril #3 - Irate Land Owners
Sunday we were down in North Carolina doing some country caching.  There was a fairly new series we wanted to try and find.  We pulled up to one of the caches, two of us crossed a ditch and were standing beside a telephone pole retrieving the cache when I here a pick up truck pull up and someone yell something.  I look up and there is a very upset farmer questioning our motives.  As the wife, who had stayed at the SNAP-mobile tried to explain geocaching to him, he kept yelling about this being his property, being tired of all these people being on his property and to get moving!!!!  As we started to leave the now extremely upset farmer told us to take the container and get moving.  Get those feet-a-moving.  You're not moving fast enough!!!

Ain't Caching fun!!!

As always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

:)      

Williamsburg Top Caches by Favorite Points

Planning your caching around the picnic?  Coming in from out of town, and want to make sure you don’t miss some of the best caches?  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be generating several lists to help with this.

Each list will detail the best geocaches in each city in the Hampton Roads and surrounding areas based on the number of favorite points these caches have earned.

 

Here is the list for Williamsburg – top 10 caches based on favorite points earned:

1.    GCHDDJ – Noise out of Place – 126 favorite points - hidden by Team WRK&FSH.  This virtual cache is located in the heart of Colonial Williamsburg.  Guarantee you will like this cache.  Located less than 11 miles from Newport News Park.

2.    GC1928 – #3 On DOG – 53 favorite points - hidden by JK-n-VA.  Another virtual cache located Colonial Williamsburg.  Surrounded by history and less than 11 miles from Newport News Park.

3.    GC292E7 – Mystery Marine Science Theater 3000 – 21 favorite points – hidden by M&C_WM.  A regular size cache located just over 11 miles from Newport News Park.  Terrain is a little steep for this one so be prepared.

4.    GC2EWGW – Crim Dell Wall – 15 favorite points – hidden by seth1991.  Located a little more than 11 miles from Newport News Park this cache is on the grounds of William & Mary. 

5.    GC3N20V – Colonial Redwoods – 14 favorite points – hidden by seth1991.  Another cache located on the grounds of William & Mary.  Great scenery at this location.

6.    GCH6FK – Melissa’s Meadow – 8 favorite points – hidden by JK-n-VA.  Another Virtual Cache located on William & Mary.  There is also some history associated with this location.

7.    GC1MYZH – Cheap Date II – 7 favorite points – hidden by otherjohn.  This location can be quite busy at times but depending on when you are there this could be a park n grab.

8.    GCG293 – Relocated Settler’s Helper – 6 favorite points – hidden by JK-n-VA.  Located less than 12 miles from Newport News Park, this cache requires a hike but the scenery is great.

9.    GC1251F – Arachnophobia – 5 favorite points – hidden by Erndog&Fin.  Located just over 12 miles from Newport News Park, this cache also requires a hike.

10.  GCHV0N – Luminous Limpet – 5 favorite points – hidden by JK-n-VA.  A clever cache multi-cache that combines history and geocaching.

Top 10 caches in York County Virginia

Planning your caching around the 11th Annual GCHR picnic?  Coming in from out of town, and want to make sure you don’t miss some of the best caches?  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be generating several lists to help with this.

Each list will detail the best geocaches in each city in the Hampton Roads and surrounding areas based on the number of favorite points these caches have earned.

 

Here is the list for York County – top 10 caches based on favorite points earned:

1.    GC1D0HG – Waller Mill Overlook – 92 favorite points - hidden by va griz.  This cache is located a short walk away from parking and is located about 13 miles north of Newport News Park.  This cache is famous for the scenery in the surrounding area.

2.    GC2BAF – The Cave – 51 favorite points - hidden by The-Colemans.  This virtual cache is located just east of Newport News Park on the shores of the York River.  Located in the community of Yorktown, this area is full of history.

3.    GC34RA8 – Raiders of the Lost Ark – 38 favorite points – hidden by Scottish Cavalryman.  Located just south-east of the park, this is one of the four caches in the area with an Indiana Jones theme.  This multi shouldn’t take you too long to complete but there is a puzzle involved

4.    GC322EM – 403’s Boo Boo Box Hide-out – 33 favorite points – hidden by GeoMunster1313.  This could either be a Park n Grab or could leave you scratching your head!  Located about 15 miles north of Newport News Park just off of I-64.

5.    GC8AEF – The Lost Day – 31 favorite points – hidden by Kingsman.  This is another Virtual Cache located near Yorktown, a short 5 miles drive away from Newport News Park.  A great chance to learn a little something about the calendar.

6.    GC2NEV0 – Tom Hanks #3 – 29 favorite points – hidden by RusandMil.  This is located less than 4 miles east of Newport News Park.  One of several Tom Hanks themed caches in the area.  A very short walk from parking.

7.    GC1YBHP – The Rune Stones of Hardwood’s Mill – 29 favorite points – hidden by CacheBeagle.  Be warned – this is a 5 Difficulty, 5 Terrain puzzle cache.  This is a great geocache but you might want to start working on this one now if you plan on attacking the physical cache while at the picnic.

8.    GCGERG – The Source – 23 favorite points – hidden by Cacheola Crew.  Another Virtual cache and this one is located right in Newport News Park

9.    GC2F40P – CJS – Watermans Museum – 20 favorite points – hidden by Captain John Smith.  Park of the Captain John Smith series this is another cache located in Yorktown, less than 5 miles from Newport News Park.  This one can be considered a park n grab.

10.  GC3TQ28 – Larry’s Handiwork – 17 favorite points – hidden by VA CHB.  A clever cache located right inside Newport News Park. Be warned this cache has a little trick to it but should be found easily.

Top 10 Caches in Newport News Virginia

Changing things up a bit today.  With the 11th Annual GCHR Picnic fast approaching, I was asked to put together several lists detailing the best caches around the area.  Last year's GCHR (Geocaching Hampton Roads) annual picnic managed to become Virginia's first Mega-event and this year we hope to make it even bigger.  As I get each list finished and submitted to GCHR I will re-post them here.

Hope to see all of you at this year's event.  For more information go to: www.geocachinghamptonroads.com

Newport News Top Caches by Favorite Points

Planning your caching around the picnic?  Coming in from out of town, and want to make sure you don’t miss some of the best caches?  Over the next few weeks, we’ll be generating several lists to help with this.

Each list will detail the best geocaches in each city in the Hampton Roads and surrounding areas based on the number of favorite points these caches have earned.

Let’s start with the closest first!

 

Here is the list for the City of Newport News – top 10 caches based on favorite points earned:

1.    GC1N3Y0 – I SEE SPIDERMAN – 65 favorite points - hidden by ibwacko and Nuckfuts then adopted by tax-man.  This cache won the GOLD Award for Most Creative/Innovate Cache during the 3rd Annual Hidey Awards on February 6, 2010 and was admitted to the Geocaching Hampton Roads (GCHR) Hall of Fame on February 4, 2012 at the 5th Annual Hidey Awards.   This is a great cache and is located 9.64 miles from Newport News Park.

2.    GC112TG – Rattle Fish – 51 favorite points - hidden by 2 Unusual Suspects and adopted by 5 Lost Marbles.  This cache is located right in Newport News Park.  This is a small cache located off a trail behind the Newport  News Information Center at Newport News City Park.  Bring your geocaching fishing gear (3ft of strong string with a loop tied on one end) because the rattle fish are in season. Be sure to use the "catch and release" method as we want to make sure that there will be a fish for others to catch. Please release it back where you caught it.

3.    GC1HB4T – Ghost Train: Next Stop Boxwood Inn – 40 favorite points – hidden by Zazth@CO.  With the ongoing restoration of the train station on one side and the Boxwood Inn on the other, the CO felt this to be an ideal location for a cache. Yes, the tracks here are still active just not in the same respect as they were many years ago. This area holds a lot of history and is less than 2 miles north of Newport News Park.

4.    GC2NAND – Very Deceptive Or Tricky – 35 favorite points – hidden by bigbearpaw.  This could be considered a Park n Grab cache but be warned – this one is a little tricky!  Located about 7 miles from Newport News Park just off of Jefferson Ave.

5.    GC3A5X2 – The Last Crusade – 26 favorite points – hidden by Scottish Calvaryman.  This is a multi-cache located right inside Newport News Park.  A great multi and one of four caches with an Indiana Jones Theme located in or near the park.  I guarantee you will remember this cache!

6.    GC1HTDK – Thanx for the ride, Lady… - 24 favorite points – hidden by BillHSKC.  This is located like a park n grab less than 2.5 miles north of the Newport News Park but comes with a unique twist I am sure everyone will like.

7.    GC15P9T – Larry’s Pawn Shop  TB EXCHANGE – 23 favorite points – hidden by Thor24.  This cache is almost 10 miles from the park and is located in Noland Park surrounding the Mariner’s Museum.  A great cache!!!

8.    GC3VJRV – Huntington Heights – 22 favorite points – hidden by COMPNS8N.  This cache is located just over 13 miles from Newport News Park and is located just off Warwick Blvd.  This is another cache I guarantee you will enjoy.

9.    GC1FGPE – VA CHB Multi #5 – 18 favorite points – hidden by VA CHB.  Located right in Newport News Park this cache is just a short walk from where the picnic will be held.  A tricky little multi that may have you laughing at yourself by the final stage.

10. (TIE) – GC2MEJV - Cuisses de Grenouille – 16 favorite points – hidden by bigbearpaw.  How often do you see a park n grab cache with this many favorite points!  Just under 5 miles from the park this P&G is located just off of Jefferson Ave.

11.   (TIE) – GC42D4J - Saga of Thorvald Erikson – 16 favorite points – hidden by prokudon.  This cache is tied for tenth in favorite points but has only been publish for just under 7 months.  I highly expect this cache to earn quite a few more favorites.  This cache is also located in Noland park (around the Mariner’s Museum) approximately 10 miles from the park.  This cache is listed as a multi and I can tell you to leave 2 to 3 hours (at a minimum) if you plan on attacking the combination puzzle/multi cache.

Thanks to Tom of SNAP! for submitting this article for us.  If you have any questions - feel free to contact him at Suffolkpapa@gmail.com.

The Best Geocaches in Hampton Roads

Over the next few weeks I will be generating several lists.  Each list will detail the best geocaches in each city in the Hampton Roads and surrounding areas based on the number of favorite points these caches have earned.  The main reason for these lists is to assist all visitors that may be coming to the area not only for the summer but also for the 11^th Annual Hampton Roads Picnic.  Of course all the local geocachers are more than welcome to use the lists also.

So I suppose the first question will be: How come my cache is not on the list?  I am creating these lists straight from Geocaching.com using GSAK to sort out only those caches in each city with the most favorite points.  I plan on putting out a list for each city in the area i.e., Newport News, Williamsburg, Gloucester, Hampton, etc plus a list for York county and one for within “X” miles of ground zero for the picnic.

Favorite Points, what are they?  If you are a premium member on geocaching.com you earn 1 favorite point for every 10 caches you find.  In turn, you can award these points back to those caches that strike you as interesting, or to just say “Thank You” to a cache owner who has placed a cache that you really like.  As some of you know, most days Nana & I go out caching we award a favorite point to each cache that take us some place interesting or teaches us something new.  It could be the scenery involved around the cache, it could be a historical cache, or it could be it made us fall on the ground laughing.  Whatever, you can award favorite points to any cache you have found.  Additionally, Nana & I usually pick one really outstanding cache for that day and award it the “COVETED” SNAP Cache of the Day Award.   Not only does it get a favorite point but all winners of the award are listed (by year) on our blog: SNAPgeocaching.blogspot.com

Another use for favorite points is you can filter for particular caches in an area.  Nana & I recently took a trip up to Harrisonburg, VA.  As I was getting our list of target caches ready for the trip, I searched a 20 miles radius of Harrisonburg and selected only those caches with 10 or more favorite points!  

By creating these lists I hope to help those coming to the area find the Best Caches in the Hampton Roads area!!!

Stay tuned…

As Always – Stay Safe & Keep caching!!!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

1 weekend - 2 entirely different caching days

This weekend was interesting - not that I particularly want a repeat of Saturday

Saturday we were teamed up with alara doing caches in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
Sunday we were teamed up with Jim & Lynn of jtmlam59 and doing caches in Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

Saturday we ended the day with 17 finds and 9 DNFs
Sunday we ended the day with 26 finds and 2 DNFs

WOW - what a difference.

To top it off - some of those that we DNF'd on Saturday - - - we found on Sunday!!!!

To make things even more confusing, at one point on Saturday we DNF'd 3 caches in a row that were supposed to be P&Gs and then the next cache we found and it was a 4 difficulty!!!!

Even though at different times Saturday we almost called it a day and kept plugging away, trying our best to look in every nook and cranny, we continued on until late afternoon.

Sunday was a much more enjoyable day and it proved that geocaching saying - - everyone has a bad (or so-so) day every once in a while but you have to keep on getting back out there.

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP Cache of the Day on Saturday was:
GC497T0 - Caterpillar of Justice - hidden by drakeotomy

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP Cache of the Day on Sunday was:
GC47YJD - It Costs What??? - hidden by cmurray0023

Congrats to both CO's

As always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

An open letter to garmin...

For today's blog I thought I would share with all of you an open letter to Garmin.  I did try to send it to them but their support page is far too confusing if you just want to let them know something and don't really have a problem.  I wrote the email because of something that happened while geocaching last weekend in the Harrisonburg area of Virginia.

Anyway - for your reading and hopefully amusement.

Dear Garmin Support,

My wife and I geocache under the name SNAP!!!  We have been geocaching for 4 years and have always loved your devices.  We started out with a Garmin eTrex and after about 6 months purchased a Garmin Oregon 400t.  A short while later we purchased another Oregon 400t so we both could enjoy the features such as the touch screen and the paperless caching.  About a year after that we purchased a Nuvi265W to aid us in our navigating, specifically from cache to cache.   We have always enjoyed using your devices but last weekend we almost had an accident due to something the Nuvi uttered while we were going to a cache.  I am writing this email to make you aware of the problem and hopefully you can arrange a patch to prevent what happened to us from happening to others.

I should first explain that we load our GPS units via a GSAK, specifically a GSAK macro.  For the Nuvi, we use a macro that allows the Nuvi to say the name of the cache in lieu of the GC Code.  In other words, instead of the Nuvi stating "You are approaching GC2QH8M" it now states "You are approaching You Rock!"

We were in the Harrisonburg, Virginia area recently and we were headed to a cache titled: "The ABC's Of Geocaching: P is for Park."  As we made the last turn towards the cache, instead of our Nuvi proudly stating "Approaching on right in 0.2 miles, The ABC's of Geocaching..." it stated: "Approaching on right in 0.2 miles,  The ABC's of Geo Ka Ching.... (similar to the sound a cash register used to make).  Needless to say I burst out laughing so hard I nearly lost control of our car, drove into a field and almost hit a cow. 

I know there are other uses for a Garmin device, but I would have thought "Shirley" (our pet name for the Nuvi), should and could be able to properly pronounce "Geocaching" being as that is one of it's main uses!!!

Seriously, I do not expect a patch or fix for this issue - just thought you would enjoy the laugh!!!!

Sincerely,

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa

SNAP!!! 5000

On June 6, 2009, Nana & I found our first geocache.  It was a sneaky little devil right here in Suffolk Virginia just a few miles from our homestead.  Although that cache is now archived, we will always remember that cache.  Almost four years to that date, June 1, 2013 we found our 5000th cache and I can tell you now - we will remember that cache also. 

It's funny how things work out sometimes.  Several months ago we were informed by our #2 grand-daughter that she had been selected from all the students at her high school to attend a HOBY seminar (Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership) in Harrisonburg Virginia.  She was asking us if we could transport her to and from Harrisonburg that particular weekend.  Being as both Nana & I spend most weekends geocaching, we told her we would be more than happy to be her chauffeur.  This would also give us a chance to color in some more counties for our Virginia County/Independent City challenge.  Looking back on it now I don't think we were really planning on reaching 5000 that particular weekend but it worked out great!

I remember researching the area for available caches and realizing that just north of the area were some famous caches put out by a winner of the Geocacher of the Month Award, WVTim.  My planning commenced and, as usual, I had a huge list of caches to try to find for the 3 day weekend.  The plan encompassed not only Virginia, but also contained caches in West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  Our main objective (at that point in the planning) was to try and log finds for as many WVTim caches as we could.  It wasn't until two weeks before this trip that I realized that we had a chance of meeting and perhaps surpassing the 5000 mark.

After dropping our grand-daughter off at JMU Friday and making sure she was fine we cached in and around the Harrisonburg area till dark.  Saturday we got up early and proceeded to a nice little quartet of caches called "4 states in 44 minutes" (see GC3NZEG).  Although we did not make the 44 minute mark we did complete all 4 states in a respectable 47 minutes and our story was that there was quite a bit of traffic in the construction area.  LOL!

Once we finished those 4 caches it was just a matter of heading back south and grabbing caches along the way back to Harrisonburg, coloring in those new counties we had yet to visit.  Along the way we grabbed as many caches as we could but our favorites, by far, were the WVTim caches we stopped at.  I will NOT go into details on the WVTim caches we found but take it from us:  If you are ever in the area of the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, look for caches owned by WVTim.  You will not forget them!!!  Among those we found and loved were: GC41YC3 (23 favorite points), GC33NAZ (251 favorite points), GC44RDE (80 favorite points), GC2PPNV (57 favorite points), GC41BJV (98 favorite points) and GC2NGD9 (111 favorite points) which was our 5000th find!!!

As Nana & I logged find #5000, we stopped for a moment and Nana said to me: "Here's to the next 5000 finds!"  What a fantastic - or should I say SNAP-tastic caching partner.

By the end of the weekend we had 5024 finds.  Additionally, we had colored in 8 more counties and 3 more Delorme pages for Virginia.  Hopefully by the end of this year we will qualify for not only the Virginia County challenge cache but also the Virginia Independent City challenge cache and the Virginia Delorme cache.

It was a great weekend, we surpassed a major milestone in geocaching, found some terrific caches and most of all, got to witness the closing ceremony for our grand-daughter who is now a HOBY alumni!!!!

Who wants to go caching - here's to the next 5000!!!

As always - Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! - Suffolk Nana & Papa