A Chi-Town Adventure

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Written by Patricia Hutchison

Published: April 26 2019

Last Updated: April 26 2019

Hits: 3655

By Terri Nealon

     We blew in and out of the Windy City this past weekend, which was the second time our geo-foursome had visited Chi town. Last year along with another good friend, we'd conquered 'Beverly' and other grid-filling caches, but this trip we spent a good portion being 'blown' away by the awe and beauty of the city.

     Like all good geocachers, we stopped in route to and from our destination; at an awesome and favorited TB hotel, a glacial erratic to play awhile, the stomping grounds of Chicago's most famous ghost (Resurrection Mary), a D5 cemetery Earthcache with 6 waypoints, and a giant chicken (who knew?). But it was the time spent in and around downtown with three fun friends, walking in wind gusts over 35mph and temps in mid 40s that fills my memory the most.

     The lake cache hike Friday had us bundled up and freezing but laughing all the way. We all felt some mist from the spray of the white caps as they crashed into the wall, but Capn Sea Bert, living up to his name, got caught in a big one unawares while signing a log for us all. Spiritwolf922 won the longest deep-dish pizza cheese string-pull at our table at Giordano's Friday night, before we hit up Vanille Patisserie for some delicious macarons. Saturday brought milder weather and many virtual wonders. The Cloud Gate, aka The Bean, was a must-visit to kick off our morning cache hike. How-D even brought along some 'MARVEL'ous muggles to join the party and make us laugh. As for me, TerriBikes+, I was just my quiet self-soaking in the camaraderie and the sights and sounds of the city.

     My geofriends and I had such a great time again in Chi town that I brought up the idea about making this and every spring geotrip, as there's still so much to see and experience here. As Mark Twain once said: “It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago-she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.”

Peace and Smileys, TerriBikes+

Geocaching on the Greenway trails

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Written by Major134

Published: October 27 2017

Last Updated: October 27 2017

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A WyckedAnn Story

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Written by WyckedAnn

Published: December 09 2018

Last Updated: December 09 2018

Hits: 3905

            In October, 2014, while I was living in California, I went to Chloride, Arizona to visit family.   Traveling back home, I drove through Laughlin, Nevada on Interstate 40. When I got home, I was on Facebook checking the Geocaching Singles page when I saw a lady had posted that she was in Laughlin, Nevada and was looking for a geocaching buddy. I commented that I had just been in Laughlin, Nevada the other day and that I had family in Arizona.

            And that is when Cyndee B and I started talking and forming a friendship. We friended each other and would chat here and there as time went by. In The beginning of July 2015, I told her that I was moving to Missouri and would be stopping in Laughlin on our way East at the end of the month.

            We had planned to finally meet up, but as time was getting closer to the move East plans changed for her; she was helping a friend move around the time we would be passing through. But we promised each other we would try and meet up again another time. Over time we continued our friendship. I loved hearing about her geocaching adventures and in February, 2016, she and her geocaching friends drove to Yuma, Arizona for the MEGA Yuma S.W.A.G. Event. When she got home, she sent us some Extagz and Pathtags she had gotten while she was at that event. That was the start of our Extagz/Pathtags trades. If we had extras of tags we would send her and same with her. She would send us extras she would get for us.

            And that is what leads me here to this story. Christmas, 2016, we decided to get her the first ever Geocaching coin she owned. It is a beautiful Narwhal coin. Rainbow, it glows in the dark. I picked it out for her because it just reminded me of Cyndee B, a beautiful, whimsical soul. She loved it! She said she was afraid of collecting geocoins because she had an addicting personality and that was one more thing to be addicted to. I told her she could blame me for it. hahaha...

            The next spring, she had found out she had breast cancer. I was heartbroken to find out my friend was sick. I started a YOUCARING Fundraiser account for Cyndee to help raise money for her bills and such. What was raised helped her.

            Christmas, 2017, we sent her a SLAGA Christmas geocoin along with some Extagz/Pathtags. At the beginning of 2018, she was cleared of the breast cancer but then they found that she had brain cancer. She surprised me by telling me she was going to come out to Missouri to visit but after finding the brain cancer, she had to cancel.

            She kept going for treatments with hope of getting better. About a month ago, she sent us a package with some travel bugs to send out into the world for her along with her Narwhal coin we had given her for Christmas two years ago. We decided that we would keep the coin and take it on our geocaching adventures – like it would be her with us, still going on that geocaching adventure.

            Most unfortunately, she passed away on November 15, 2018. She was unable to change ownership of the coin but we want it to still be under her geocaching account, as a tribute to her memory. I share this story because she is my friend. We never got to meet face to face but it feels like I have known her for so long. You meet some incredible people on this geocaching adventure and Cyndee B is one of those people.

            We wanted to share this trackable and its story with all of you. Please feel free to discover this Narwhal coin (NWR8RE). And be sure to say Hi to CYNDEE B, in your log.

Thank you. ~WyckedAnn, Cyndee B and ResurrectionJ 

Howl with the Wolves

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Written by Denmother

Published: February 20 2012

Last Updated: August 25 2014

Hits: 5066

One of our favorite things about geocaching is that it takes us to some wonderfully obscure locations. Another thing we love is that geocaching allows us to learn a lot about plants and animals along the way. Although our most recent adventure was not geocaching-related, it still had the elements of going somewhere the average person doesn’t get to see and learning something new that opened our eyes.

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the Tyson Research Center along Highway 44 at Antire Hill, I've always pictured two-headed Tyson chickens running around behind that high-security fence. What you may not know is that, nestled in the middle of the Tyson Research area, are 63 acres devoted to the Endangered Wolf Center (formerly known as the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center) founded by Marlin Perkins. (You know, the guy from Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, and former director of the St. Louis Zoo.)

For L Frank's birthday, I signed us up for one of the Wolf Center's monthly Wolf Howls. We were given a 15-minute window to be at the Tyson Research Center gate, where someone would let us in and give us instructions on where to go. Pulling up to the gate after dark, we were surprised by the number of cars waiting to go in. We took our place in line, and eventually the gates opened and the cars were allowed in one by one.

The woods were pitch-black on either side of us as we drove about a mile and a half, where we were directed to park along the side of the road. Then we got out of our cars and walked to a World War II-era munitions bunker where the event was to begin. The inside of the bunker was set up with a presentation screen, chairs, information on the animals at the Wolf Center, and even a little gift shop. We were served wine and cheese before taking a seat.

The event began with a Wolf Center employee giving a presentation on the wolves and other endangered species living there. The red wolf, we were told, used to roam Missouri but was almost completely exterminated in the 1800s and early 1900s. By the 1930s, only two packs remained in the wild.

The mission of the Wolf Center (www.endangeredwolfcenter.org) is to provide an “alternative to extinction” for hundreds of wolves and other endangered canids through education, behavioral and reproductive research and carefully managed breeding. The work done there has been responsible for successful reintroduction programs for the Mexican gray wolf and the red wolf.

After the presentation, our group was invited to walk down a gravel road with our flashlights and call to the wolves to see if they would answer. We had walked a few hundred feet when we all stopped in our tracks at the sound of the wolves starting to howl in the distance. We listened to the sound for a few minutes, trying to imagine the terror that early settlers in Missouri said they felt when they heard the wolves’ cry all around them. How could those early accounts be referring to the beautiful, soulful sound we were hearing?

The wolves quieted as suddenly as they had started. One of our guides stayed with us, and the other continued down the road. They were going to each try to howl as if they were lost wolves searching for the pack. First one, then the other guide gave their best rendition of a Mexican grey wolf. I guess the pack wasn’t fooled, because only one wolf felt sorry for us and answered. Then our whole group howled on cue, but the wolves must have been laughing at us at that point, since the only answer we got when we listened for a reply was a train whistle in the distance. We felt lucky to have heard them earlier, and left wanting to return for a daylight tour so we could actually get to see them in their habitats. All in all, a fun, educational experience in an area that I would have otherwise never been able to see. What more could a geocacher wish for? Maybe next time I’ll spot one of those two-headed chickens.