Geocaching

Fast Food Toy Swap

Did this cache while visiting "home" for Thanksgiving from Cal-e-fornya.

Hey, this was a nice park that I never thought to visit. It looks like they're making a lot of improvements to it too. My GPRs hated the cache location, but eventually I found it in a logical spot. Took a tennis ball, left a mini flashlight. Thanks!

First Shot

We decided to give this one a try on our way to Thanksgiving dinner in Deerfield. We found the grave easily and did the math. The five of us looked for a while, but couldn't find it. I thought I may have misread the instructions, so I just replaced the two digits with half of Maj. Simpson's age and we tried looking there. Some promising spots, but no luck there either and by now we were late for Thanksgiving, so we had to give up for today.

Manchester Riverwalk

This was a nice walk. Cool tiles around the flowerbed. We were first confused when one of the poles was missing a number, but we interpolated from the surrounding poles. Then we reached a junction, but wasn't sure it was the one described and ended up going to the wrong way. We doubled back, and then found the real fork and the last pole.

It took us a little while to find the cache with all the leaf cover. Took a phone untangler and left a keychain flashlight. Thanks!

Bridges???

The last time I was here was over 10 years ago when these trails made up part of my high school's home cross-country course. This was a nice walk. We found the first waypoint OK, though I was a bit surprised at the geo-graffitti. We had more trouble with the second waypoint, but eventually found it. Then we misread one of the numbers and almost headed off into the wrong direction. Correcting our error, we found the cache pretty easily. TNLNSL.

On the way back to the car, we stopped by the trestle which I hear may be converted into a bike trail. After one cross country practice, we decided to jump off the trestle. (It wasn't fenced in like it is today.) I got up my nerves to make the jump and it was fun. On the way out of the water, I fell off one of the stones and onto the dirt, landing my palm in a broken beer bottle and gushing blood. The coach drove me home and after that the cross-country team was not allowed to jump off the trestle anymore.

Dr. Mahoney Baloney

This was my third trip here and I doubt I would have found it if it wasn't falling out a little bit. Geez, this was a toughie. Nicely done.

No Trespassing!

Why not just add a new log sheet?

Urban Assault #10

I didn't realize this one was archived and I still had the coordinates in my GPSr. I searched for a long time, but obviously did not find the cache. I did find the cap to the cache though (with #10 written underneath) and a Butano signature item. Oh well.

Urban Assault #12

Found this one pretty quickly. I wasn't sure it was the cache because it wasn't labelled. TNLNSL. Had to spent a lot of time jamming everything back into the cache. Thanks.

Lobster Tale

We've been meaning to try this place out. Maybe we will soon. Easy find on the cache although it was covered with cobwebs. Thanks.

Almaden Station

I drove to this one from some nearby caches. Found it easily though I didn't need this one to get the final coordinates - I figured out what it must be. Fun series. Thanks.

Urban Assault #16

Found the location OK, but then had to wait for a cop to leave the area. Pretended to talk on my cell phone for a while until he left. Made a quick grab for it. It was a little wet, but still loggable. Thanks.

Silence of the Lambs

I spotted this one pretty quickly and grabbed when the coast was clear. TNLNSL. When I went to put it back, I realized I completely missed seeing the woman at the counter in the store right in front of the cache. I waited until she was distracted before I made a quick move to replace it.

Baaaaaaaa.

Gone Buggy

I tried two alternate access points to the cache, one which was blocked by the water and another by the fence. I thought about trying to hop the fence, but all the no tresspassing signs told me that was probably not a good idea. I went to the suggested parking area and did some other caches, then convinced myself to walk back up the right way on this cold and blustery day. On the way there, I found a hole in the fence that would make for a slighly shorter walk at 37'15.082 121'52.229. The bird nests under the freeway were neat.

When I got to the cache spot I was frightened by a huge ant which turned out to be plastic and apparently left outside the cache. I grabbed the cache and it came open, so I guess it wasn't closed properly. TNLNSL. Thanks.

"Skid A Ma Rink"

Great camo on this one. Even when I was staring right at it, I wasn't sure if I had actually found anything. Left a mini flashlight and a rubber skeleton head, left a squishy blowfish. Thanks.

Salt and Pepper

Drove through "Sameville" to find salt and nabbed it after a few minutes. I really wish I knew about this cache before I did the other cache that's on the the way. I did some other caches and came back later when the coast was clear.

Lots of interesting highway trash on the way. I couldn't help but feel that I shouldn't be here. At the final location I had some trouble finding it. Falling leaves are definitely going to make caches more challenging in the next few months. I took a few steps back to get a clear signal and finally zeroed in on the cache. It was nice that I knew what kind of container I was looking for.

Took some marbles and a skeleton head I accidentally put in my pocket. Left a mini flashlight. Thanks for the cache.

Dr. Evil's Kitten Kaboodle

This was my second time looking for this one, but only the first time with the description! I looked around for a few minutes and then headed in a direction away from where my GPSr was pointing me where I found the cache. It was pretty much out in the open and completely empty. I tried to cover it up a little better, but I had no idea how it was originally hidden. The container is still in great shape though.

Branham Station

I pulled into the parking lot here and got out to grab the cache when the guard came out of the portapotty. I immediately did an about face and headed back to my car. She came over and asked if everything was alright in a way that made me think she really just wanted me to leave. So I got back in my car and with her standing behind watching me, I drove off. Next time I guess.

Benchmark Moon

This was my first benchmark find. How do you log these things? Anyway, I found the benchmark and found the object above and some numbers, but nothing that matched the description, so I'm confused.

No Trespassing!

I made my second attempt at this one today and this time I found much better parking, sneaking through a hole in the fence. When I got near the cache, creepy guy on a bike showed up and was little too friendly. I started looking, but he stopped nearby, so I waited behind a tree until he took off.

I began to look in the place where I looked last time and then decided to try a different angle when I saw it very visible and in a very different place than what's described in the hint. I prefer the new location though; no need to get dirty. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Sly Dog's --Looking for George in Vista Park

After waiting out the construction people, all I had to contend with here were the Moms having a social event while their toddlers played on the playground. I looked some over and and some under places, but couldn't find it.

Not in the Meadows

Hey look, it's another cache I didn't realize was disabled and spent 20 minutes looking for! Oh well, nice park.

Gone But Not Forgotten

It was a pleasant day to be here today. I found the cache pretty quickly. No one was around. TNLNSL. On the way out I noticed this place has a special memorial for 9/11. Thank you for the cache.

All alone

Parked near another cache in the area and hoofed it over here. There were some landscapers mowing the lawn who tested my resolve to get this cache. I walked past them, then over to the wall and down. I wonder what they thought I was doing. Strange little area. Found the cache easily. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Rocky's twin (new location)

This one wasn't hard at all. Parked a few blocks away. Took marbles, left a mini flashlight. Thanks.

Canoas Flock Revived

On my third attempt at this one, no one was having a picnic. Thank god. Found it pretty quickly, signed and I was off on this crisp autumn day! Thanks.

Camo Cache#1 (Mission One)

Well, someone else found this one after it was disabled, so I thought I would give it a try. No luck.

Watto's Junk Yard Cache.

I don't think I've even found one of Boba's caches. Today I spent way too much time looking in the wrong place, then I found the right place, but there were too many people looking at me suspiciously. One guy would take a few steps, look back at me, take a few more steps, take a look. He kept doing that. I'll be back at a less busy time.

Stop and Rest

I've never had to reserve a cache before, but it seemed to work this time. Even with some specific instructions from Nostrada I missed entry to the cache and had to make two u-turns to get back to the right place. I felt very conspicious standing there while the traffic was stopped next to me, so I had to wait until the cars were whizzing by to make my move. Finally I've grabbed this cache!

I've placed this cache in a nice place to stop and rest. I tried to place a regular cache here once, but it was plundered after a few days. I found a nice spot for this micro though, very close to another cache in the park. Thanks!

Stop and Rest

Purely for the benefit of Geocaching, I will grab this one this evening and place it in a more appropriate location.

No one else need attempt this one as I will use my experience of 3 previous DNFs to track this one down.

NeXT

Will this one be archived like Qume?

Erected 1910

This was my second attempt at this one. Last time I looked too quickly where I found it tonight and spent way to much time looking in a more interesting place and ran out of time.

Once I found it tonight and got out a pen, something happened that's never happened to me before - I lost the cache. I thought I might have put in my pockets accidentally, but it wasn't there. After a few moments of panic, I saw it right where I had left it - my shadow had made it nearly invisible.

Thanks for the cache!

Menlo Circus

We enjoyed touring the neighborhood while we made our way to this cache. I found it after a few minutes, but waited for Rob to see it before I grabbed it. It took him a while from his perspective. TNLNSL. Thanks.

...smells just as sweet.

Snuck this one in while giving some visiting friends a tour of the area. They didn't mind the rose garden at all. Found it with the hint; TNLNSL. Thanks.

X marks the spot

Is this one coming back?

Marble Madness

Had a some friends in town, so I took one of em out to do a cache after an errand. The hint didn't apply to me, but I was able to spot it after on a few minutes of searching. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Stop and Rest

My third attempt and third DNF on this one. I wonder who picked it up and hasn't logged it yet this time. Interesting that it ended up in the same park that it was in two stops ago.

Forbes Mill Cache

This was a nice cache to finish our tour of downtown Los Gatos. The rain didn't slow us too much, even though we didn't find optimal parking. Found the cache pretty quickly. Took a nerf ball, left a light-up pen. Took some cool trails right back to the car. Thanks.

le chat est alle postal

Interesting container on this one. It was pretty wet. Thanks.

Arc of Art

Repeat after me - Marky and Joani do not hide caches in ivy. Marky and Joani do not hide caches in ivy. Marky and Joani do not hide caches in ivy.

The GPSr was not liking this area, but we found it eventually. Very creative hide. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Fear and Loathing In Los Gatos

This one looked pretty tough, but we found it after only a few minutes even with the guy talking on his cell phone right on the other side of the wall. Forgot to read the story of the location though - oops! Thanks.

Cat's Hill

At least that hill is short. Had some trouble finding the first waypoint as the GPSr wasn't cooperating on this rainy and overcast day. We enjoyed touring the neighborhood and finding the cache. There were some people working on a car right near the cache, so I had to be quick. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Hangmen in Turn

Easy find once we were in the right place. A little bit of rain kept the park pretty empty. TNLNSL. This isn't the only cache in this park, but I won't tell!

History of Los Gatos

Got to stage two, but couldn't figure find the name of the fountain. For some reason this place was closed today.

Stop and Rest

Tried to track this one down again, but it seems someone else has picked it up already. Grrr. Now I know why they don't allow moving caches anymore.

Mallrat's Madness!

This one is gone.

MAYA'S TIME

I don't usually go out caching in the dark, nevermind in the rain, but I had some time to kill, so I thought I've give this one a try. I found the cool clock OK. I had trouble understanding the questions, but I made some guesses and ended up in probable spot, close enough that I could see something that looked like the object described in the hint. Found it quickly after that. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Ma and Pa Stanford's Old Red Barn

Quick find on this one in the dark and rain. Took nothing, left BGOR TB. Thanks.

Stop and Rest

Well, I played my hand on this one for a few minutes. Apparently, I lost.

Encinal Park

Armed with a proper tool and under cover of darkness, I set out to do some maintenance on this cache. I was able to place it MUCH more securely. At the same time I think this will make it more difficult to find, but considering people haven't had much trouble with it since the coordinates were corrected, I'll leave the difficulty as is for now.

Once my work was done, I spent a few minutes inspecting the contents and reading the logs. My favorite log was Marky and Joani: "Coords sucked." I'll admit that they probably did and I'm appreciative for their corrective action.

Cache on!

Marble Madness

No wonder Kablooey has found the time to locate over 1,000 caches - he's on 26-hour days!

Fellowship of the Ring

We got the LOTR trilogy on audio CD for Christmas last year and we've been slowly listening to it, and trying to listen for answers to the puzzle. This cache was not one I was immediately concerned with though as there are plenty of closer ones, but when I got the call from nostrada to join the Fellowship, we couldn't resist.

The Fellowship gathered at dawn (OK, 9 am) near the first calculated coordinates. We headed up to the cache and found it without difficulty. We were initially shocked at the new challenge presented to us, but the Fellowship was brave and tackled it with fervor. We figured out the answers after much collaboration and headed to the next calcuated waypoint. When we arrived, we realized were with in the wrong place.

Nostrada made a call to wise old Gandalf who it turns out made the same mistake. We rechecked our calculations and headed to the Mines, thankfully only a mile away from our incorrect coordinates.

This was another quick hike into a nice park we hadn't been to before. Others in the park were looking at us strangely, probably because we were this large and varied group of people wandering around in the hills. We found this cache without too much trouble, then began to figure out the next set of puzzles. I sure was appreciative that others knew the books much better than we did. It was also helpful to have copies of the book on hand to look up answers. We were able to help recheck the answers and make some corrections to calculate a final location that looked very promising. After replenishing ourselves with some foodstuffs, we headed out to what we guessed was the last challenge.

At the final waypoint, we realized that we need to cross the river, but we were unsure of which way to go. North looked shorter, but it wasn't clear if there was a passage we could use. We knew there was a bridge to the South, but it was definitely further. We debated for a while until I just emptied my pockets, handed off my backpack and ran North to see if that was feasible. It turns out it was, and I signaled from the other side for the rest of the Fellowship to follow. I looked for the cache while the rest caught up, but without a GPSr, I wasn't sure where it was supposed to be. Once someone with a GPSr arrived, we found it quickly.

It would have taken just the two of us a long time to do all of this cache on our own. With the group, we did it in about 5 hours including bagging scout orchard as well and stopping in the wrong spot for Moria Mines.

Thanks to Nostrada for getting the Fellowship together and mbrill for a great cache. We had a great time associating the faces behind the names I've seen in the logs so many times. Many of them were actually quite different than I had imagined!

We're looking forward to reuniting with the Fellowship to conquer The Two Towers! Thanks.

scout orchard

We gave this one another try today, with the help of The Fellowship. This time I researched it throughly beforehand. I figured out where we needed to park and the parking coords were right on. I had nearly recovered from a really bad case of poison oak I got when I tried this one two weeks ago. SilverDollar gave me some TechNu just in case. mmp pointed us in the right direction and we headed off. It was a pretty quick walk to the cache, especially as we were distracted sharing caching stories.

I got within a foot of the cache but didn't see it. MotorBug found when he looked in the same spot. TNLNSL. Didn't see any poison oak, but I did get some burrs again, but nowhere near the last time, so I was thankful for that. There was a nice view from top.

Somehow on the way back the ladies (both without a GPSr) led the way and we took a wrong turn somewhere. They did run into a deer though.

We got back to the parking lot where there were a bunch of people painting the scenery. mmp was waiting for us and the Fellowship reunited to continue on our quest. Thanks for the cache.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game (San Jose)

Well, baseball season is over now, but that didn't stop me from nabbing this one.

My own professional baseball career was cut short at the age of 15 when I caught a ball in the temple and in the mouth in the same season. After that, I decided it was time to retire. I just recently had the dental work completed to fix the chip I lost in my tooth.

Anyway, I had fun figuring out the answers to the puzzle a while ago. Today as I went for the cache, things didn't look too promising as there was a football game going on and parking was restricted. Once I found the right parking lot, a attendant asked me if I was there for hockey (and not football). "Sure!" I said and drove off. Found the cache without much difficulty. Left nothing and found a baseball nearby. Thanks!

Bill's Dental Work Cache

I didn't really get this one at first and went walking around in the wrong place where some homeless people had apparently been living. Then I got an idea for where it could be. I tried finding a place where I could see the cache, but was not successful. I ended up just going to where my coordinates zeroed out and finding the cache with trial and error. I found something that seemed out of place and as I grabbed it, I really hoped it was the cache. Otherwise, who knows!

I brought the cach back to my car since I couldn't really sign it there without being very conspicuous. TNLNSL. Thanks.

Emma's Park

I first tried to approach this one from the other side of the park. I was 70 feet away but there was a locked gate between me and the cache and no way around the fence. So, I went back to the main parking and walked to the cache. It was very strange seeing roosters wandering around the park. I looked for the cache for a while and all I could find was a small lizard, seemingly annoyed at me. Then I looked down and saw the cache on the ground. I signed it and tried to place it as well as I could match the hint, though maybe a bit higher up. Thanks.

San Jose Public Library - Educational Park Branch

Well, it's not the first time I tried to find a cache that hadn't been found in a long time, gave up, convincing myself it was gone, then hours later someone else finds it.

Thanks to surfingmonkeys and fredericxx for making the cache accessable again.