The Last Part - Annual Geocaching Trip - 2018 version

For those that may have missed a previous part 1 - here are some links!!!
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6

Day 18 - June 4

So after visiting with family - it was time to get back to geocaching!!!

If you remember the start of this adventure,
we actually delayed the start of our trip by one day due to weather.
Clingman's Dome was originally the target cache
for the first day but was moved to the end of the trip.
But first we have to get across Tennessee!

When I was first laying out caches for this trip,
I noticed quite a lot of Challenge Caches in and around
Madison County Tennessee.


We didn't get the entire grouping but we did manage
to find just over 20 of them.

We arrived in the area of the Dome but, it was to late in the
day to attempt the climb.  We elected to stop for the day, 
grab a couple of LPC caches and call it a day.

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GC1KJ5K - Sevierville Visitor Center 2 - 154 Favorite points
GC3HG7D - Night Moves TB Hotel - 129 Favorite points
GCJFKF - Minnie's Pearl - 125 Favorite points
GC8ED9 - Something "Odd" - 105 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GCJFKF - Minnie's Pearl - 125 Favorite points
GC8ED9 - Something "Odd" - 105 Favorite points

States Cached Day 1:

Tennessee

Total Finds Day 18 = 27

Types of Finds Day 18

Unknown (Challenge) - 21
Traditional - 4
Virtual - 2

Total Finds for Trip - 286

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Day 19 - June 5

The agenda for the day is Clingman's Dome - plain and simple.
Anything we get after that is an extra!!!

We awoke, made sure the SNAP!!!-mobile was full of fuel
and good to go and then commenced the 
climb to the top of the Smokies!

It took some time, but we drove the switchbacks all the way to the top!!

We arrived at the parking area for the Dome and still had
the half mile trek to the top!!!

We arrived at the top and we were extremely glad we had
rescheduled this stop!!!

A panoramic picture

We made it!!!

After making our way back to the SNAP!!!-mobile, 
we made our way down the mountain.  We stopped and
found two more caches but we are so
anxious to make it back home!!! 

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GC84C0 - Top of the Smokies Virtual Picture Cache - 496 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GC84C0 - Top of the Smokies Virtual Picture Cache - 496 Favorite points

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC84C0 - Top of the Smokies Virtual Picture Cache - 496 Favorite points

States Cached Day 19:

North Carolina

Total Finds Day 19 = 4

Types of Finds Day 19

Traditional - 1
Virtual - 1
Benchmarks - 2

Total Finds for Trip - 290

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Day 20 - The Last One - June 6

The main agenda for the day was yo get HOME!!!

20 days on the road is more than enough for us!!!

After the terrific day we had yesterday at the "Top of the Smokies"
we considered the trip to be a huge success!!!

We did stop for just one more cache!!!

It was a Virtual cache that had been on our to-do list
for many years, we had just never gotten close enough 
to grab it!  Well, today is the day!!!

States Cached Day 20:

North Carolina

Total Finds Day 20 = 1

Types of Finds Day 20

Virtual - 1

Total Finds for Trip - 291

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20 Days
5,355 Miles
12 States
291 Total Caches Found
Total Favorite points for found caches:
23,352

WOW!!!

Just wish we had geospillz stamina!!!

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That is all for now

Till next time...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!! 

#geocaching   #gogeocaching   #SNAPgeocaching   #geocache

On Facebook at: SNAP!!! Geocaching

On Twitter at: @SNAPgeocaching

On Instagram at: snap_geocaching

Part 6 - Annual Geocaching Trip - 2018 version

For those that may have missed a previous part 1 - here are some links!!!
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5

Day 15 - June 1

Today is the day we, or more specifically, I have been waiting for!!!
IT IS MINGO DAY!!!

It is MINGO day!!!

But first - there are some caches on the way to Mingo!
There was a gadget cache right down the street from our hotel - Grain Bin.

The we traveled a few miles to a really cute cache - 
There's A Bug On The Bump On The Log!

We then toured downtown Mingo before grabbing 

Geo-General Store before driving down County Road 25!!!

Papa with Mingo in hand!

After signing our name, dropping some trackables and, of course,

paying homage to those that keep this cache alive we
continued eastward towards home - and of course,
other caches!!!

One of the surprises of this trip was "Cathedral of the Plains."
It is a  beautiful limestone cathedral was built between 1908 and 1911.

And just down the road from the Cathedral was an old
cemetery - with some really unique crosses.

Nana fell in love with not only the cathedral but all of the 
unique headstones and crosses.

Another interesting location we happened upon was the old
Wilson County Jail.  It was actually used for over 50
years and no one ever escaped!!!

We did several other caches before ending up in
Wamego Kansas - they actually have a Wizard of Oz
Museum and in the lot next to the McDonalds - 
there is an old white house - if you look carefully - 
there are a pair of legs sticking out from under the house!!!

We finally called an end to the day once we reached the
outskirts of Kansas City!!!

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GC30 - Mingo - 2492 Favorite points
GC4K4QN - There's A Bug On The Bump On The Log -
 747 Favorite points
GC5P98P - Geo-General Store - 573 Favorite points
GC598PW - United States CACHE-OPOLY - 269 Favorite points
GCYC7A - Grain Bin - 257 Favorite points
GC559M6 - Mingo the Merciless - 251 Favorite points
GC57FC - Cathedral of the Plains - 233 Favorite points
GCPGXD - Where in the World is Toto - 191 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GC30 - Mingo

GC4K4QN - There's A Bug On The Bump On The Log

GC5P98P - Geo-General Store

GC598PW - United States CACHE-OPOLY

GCYC7A - Grain Bin

GC57FC - Cathedral of the Plains

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC4K4QN - There's A Bug On The Bump On The Log

States Cached Day 15:
Kansas

Total Finds Day 15 = 15

Types of Finds Day 15

Traditional - 9
Virtual - 4
Webcam - 1
Unknown - 1

Total Finds for Trip - 245

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Day 16 - June 2

Our agenda for the day, other than caching, was to try to make it into Tennessee so we could spend some time with family tomorrow.

We woke up and started the day by finding our

9600th find - and it was Missouri's Oldest Geocache

& our first Missouri cache!!!

One of the geocaches on our list for today we actually found on
a Facebook page called the "Geocaching Bucket
List" - BLR - Salt Creek Church

We eventually made our way over to Missouri's First
State Capitol and found 3 separate caches in that area. 

It ended up being a relatively short day for us because of
the schedule for tomorrow.

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GC37 - Missouri's First - Watts Mill - 803 Favorite points

GCEBC8 - Firefighters Memorial - 264 Favorite points

GCB4C4 - Missouri's First State Capitol - 168 Favorite points

GC4P4XT - TB Express - A Travel Bug Resort - 137 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GC37 - Missouri's First - Watts Mill

GC4P4XT - TB Express - A Travel Bug Resort

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC4P4XT - TB Express - A Travel Bug Resort

States Cached Day 16:

Missouri (new state for us)

Total Finds Day 16 = 8

Types of Finds Day 16

Traditional - 4
Virtual - 4
Benchmarks - 5

Total Finds for Trip - 258

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Day 17 - June 3

The main agenda for the day was family!

But before we could hang out with family - we have to get to Tennessee!!!

So, while traveling to Tennessee, we grabbed a cache which ended
up being the only find of the day - but what a find it was!!!

A really lovely country church with a complete outdoor setting complete with the stations of the cross, an altar - everything is here!!!
Complete with an underground spring comes out of the ground, travels around the altar and disappears back into the ground!!!

Even though this was the only find of the day - it was well worth the visit!!!

Welcome to Tennessee!

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GCD672 - Schnurbusch Karst Window - 122 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GCD672 - Schnurbusch Karst Window

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GCD672 - Schnurbusch Karst Window

States Cached Day 17:

Missouri

Total Finds Day 17 = 1

Types of Finds Day 17

Virtual - 1

Total Finds for Trip - 259

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That is all for now

Till next time...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!! 

#geocaching   #gogeocaching   #SNAPgeocaching   #geocache

On Facebook at: SNAP!!! Geocaching

On Twitter at: @SNAPgeocaching

On Instagram at: snap_geocaching

Part 5 - Annual Geocaching Trip - 2018 version

For those that may have missed a previous part 1 - here are some links!!!

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4

Day 12 - May 29

As mentioned above -  the first part of the day will be

spent in the parks of Chicago's waterfront finding Virtual Caches.

The first thing we did was fight - well not really fight as we just sorta went along with the flow - all the morning traffic into downtown!!!

The very 1st thing we found out about Chicago - parking...

is EXPENSIVE!!!

The 2nd thing - they have some amazing Virtual Caches in downtown!!!

Once we parked, and then headed back to the SNAP!!!-mobile

after I realized I had left my phone sitting on the

dashboard - smh - we set off on a path that would take us to

4 of the cities virtual caches!!!

Let me say - these caches did NOT disappoint!!!

Some of our friends had told us to be very careful - that

downtown was not the place to be.

Well we had no problems!!!

Now I do not want to give anything away but one of the

most amazing caches we found on this entire trip was

GC8FBF - Stone Faced!!!

  An excerpt from the cache description tells you:

The structure (not pictured on this page) was completed in 1925.

It features, on the ground

level of three of its exterior walls, fragments from famous buildings

and historic sites around the world -- a total of 136 of them! In

some cases, these fragments were gifts. In other instances, it was

the enterprise’s staff, on assignment abroad, who gathered and

presented these items to their esteemed leader.

So when you are walking around the outside of this building you

actually see pieces from stone from all over the world!!!

Knowing we had to get back to the SNAP!!!-mobile soon, we started

back towards the garage but decided to try a local traditional.

We opened our C:geo app and noticed one which

was right on the way!  The first words in the hint were:

typical downtown hide

Oh, we might be in trouble here!?!  Not sure what a "TYPICAL"

 downtown hide is as there is no real downtown where we are from!!!

Turns out it was a very fast find!!!   WHEW!

Once we made it back to the SNAP!!!-mobile, we had 2 daunting tasks left:

1) Pay for the parking - turns out it wasn't as bad as expected

2) Fight our way out of downtown Chicago

We headed west towards one last target for the day!

Dickeyville Grotto

What an amazing place!!! Now, we can't show you most of it

as it may answer some questions you need to log the cache

but all I can say is "WOW!!!

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GCJZDR - Cloud Gate aka The Bean - 1243 Favorite points
GC8FBF - Stone Faced - 793 Favorite points
GCMDAX - Chicago's Water Tower - 319 Favorite points
GCGAXY - Dickeyville Grotto - 211 Favorite points
GC73FD - Passing The Buck - 188 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GC8FBF - Stone Faced

GCMDAX - Chicago's Water Tower

GCGAXY - Dickeyville Grotto

GC4AC9D - Duck Tape

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC8FBF - Stone Faced

States Cached Day 12:
Illinois (new state for us) & Wisconsin

Total Finds Day 12 = 8

Types of Finds Day 12

Virtual - 5
Traditional - 3

Total Finds for Trip - 215

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Day 13 - May 30

After spending the evening in DuBuque, Iowa we awoke with only
one thing on our minds - getting our first cache in Iowa!!!

On the agenda for today is a small series of caches crossing Iowa.
This will be a short day as we need some extra rest.

We did travel to The "Original Field of Dreams" today.

We followed that with a very unusual Virtual that made you
do a "Double-take".

Another TB hotel, this one was a twist in the
usual and I really liked it!!!

And although we did grab a few others the surprise of the day
had to be "Treetop Getaway".

The drive to GZ was rather unique considering we were in Iowa.
Then, once you were at GZ you were taken back to the days of Camelot.

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GC3PMCM - Boondocks USA Travel Bug Motel - 235 Favorite points

GC1J4Q8 - Iowa's Premiere Five Star TB Hotel - 164 Favorite points

GC2532 - Treetop Getaway - 112 Favorite points

GC359Z4 - "The Original 1988 Field of Dreams" - 109 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GC3C0WG - Hwy 151 Exit 77 Travel Safe House

GC359Z4 - "The Original 1988 Field of Dreams"

GCHJ67 - Double-take

GC1J4Q8 - Iowa's Premiere Five Star TB Hotel

GC2532 - Treetop Getaway

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC1J4Q8 - Iowa's Premiere Five Star TB Hotel

States Cached Day 13:

Iowa

Total Finds Day 13 = 7

Types of Finds Day 13

Traditional - 4
Virtual - 2
Unknown (Challenge) - 1

Total Finds for Trip - 222

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Day 14 - May 31

The only agenda for the day was to continue towards

the main target of the entire trip - MINGO!!!

We had spent the night in Council Bluffs Iowa so we were
bound to find our first Nebraska cache first thing in the morning!

We arrived right after the part opened and ventured up the steps
toward what had the potential to be an
extremely hard find. 

Nana managed to make fairly quick work of our first Nebraska Cache!!!

Our next stop would be Creighton University for 
a quick stop at the Web Cam Cache!!!

Our next stop was a really nice Virtual in a lovely park
named "Cancer Survivor Park"

After traveling a bit and finding another TB Hotel, we
happened upon GCM97B - The Holy Family Shrine.

We spent quite some time at this cache before continuing our trip.

Seen along our route

Before heading into Kansas we made one stop in a huge
cemetery for not one but two Virtual caches!!!

Towards mid-afternoon we arrived at the 
Center of the United States!!!

And just so you know - the only roads to this
picnic shelter are dirt roads!!!

We ventured onward only to realize it would probably
be best for Mingo to wait till the morning!!!

We located a nearby motel and planned our
attack for the morning!!!

 Finds with the most favorite points:

GCM97B - The Holy Family Shrine - 276 Favorite points
GCP9FF - Creighton Webcam - 163 Favorite points
GC10N63 - Center of the United States - 151 Favorite points
GCB88C - A Song In His Heart - 146 Favorite points
GCX0GM - Train Yourself To Cache - 102 Favorite points

We awarded Favorite points to:

GCX0GM - Train Yourself To Cache
GC6CKYT - Portal LAN Travel Bug Hotel
GCM97B - The Holy Family Shrine
GC10N63 - Center of the United States

Winner of the "COVETED" SNAP!!!

Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point):

GC10N63 - Center of the United States

States Cached Day 14:

Nebraska (a new state for us)
Kansas

Total Finds Day 14 = 8

Types of Finds Day 14

Virtual - 4
Traditional - 3
Webcam - 1

Total Finds for Trip - 230

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That is all for now

Till next time...

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

and...

coming soon

350 more to go

Suffolk Nana & Papa - - - or just plain ol' - - - -  SNAP!!! 

#geocaching   #gogeocaching   #SNAPgeocaching   #geocache

On Facebook at: SNAP!!! Geocaching

On Twitter at: @SNAPgeocaching

On Instagram at: snap_geocaching