Category Archives: Geocaching

Boys Night Out – April Edition

Lets see, last Tuesday in April, that means that Sweetie is heading off to her monthly Book ~~Coven~~ Club and SuperPizzaBoy and I have our monthly Boys Night Out.

It’s a school night so we can’t stay out too long. SPB had a pizza party with some of his buds so we aren’t going to eat anywhere. “What do you want to do SPB?” “Lets go plant a cache Dad.” The little dude doesn’t have to tell me twice. We keep the makings on hand.

Here is before:

After:

Isn’t camo duct tape wonderful. Mother’s Day is coming soon!! In case you are looking for an idea. Camo duct tape is an example of a bad idea.

So we loaded up and headed off for downtown to a spot I’ve scoped out before. It was going to be the site of our new library until my fellow citizens voted down the bond issue. So SPB and I are using it for its highest and best use: Geocaching.

SPB is in charge of cache security, video game playing, and camera mugging.

Here is the final hide. Do you see the cache container?

No? Good!

Celebrate a successful placement with ice cream for me and a milkshake for SPB.

More camera mugging

(A rare Yogi smile with teeth. SPB wouldn’t give me the camera back until he saw teeth.)

And then we finish up at the bookstore. Another BNO tradition, I buy any book he wants (no videogame cheat books!!) Little guy loves to read.

It’s dark, it’s late, its a school night, and it’s time to go home.

I filled out the cache application. Maybe it’ll be approved today!! SPB and I have now hid 28 geocaches.

Looking forward to May’s edition of Boys Night Out.

My World – Birthday Geocaching and a Contest for GPS Adventure Tickets in Maryland

Last week was my birthday. Here is a clue to how old I am:

(If you can decipher the clue you might win something. Go to the end of this post to see if you are interested.)

So how did I celebrate? I went geocaching. My young bride Sweetie agreed to come along. Here we are at the start, you can tell she is eager to get started.

We had a few hiccups involving uploading and downloading the coordinates where we had to go home to get everything fixed. I mean you can’t really enjoy the woods without the right technology, right?

So we finally got started and found our first cache.

We went on a three mile hike in the woods.

The red buds were blooming everywhere.

Sometimes you have to get down and dirty and reach up inside hollow trees and hope for the best.

and sometimes you have to make your way through the poison ivy and thorns

and sometimes you have to deal with obstructions in your path

Some caches are very clever. Do you see it?

Now do you see it?

We, or at least I, had a great time. Sweetie is such a great wife.

For other sights and sounds of our planet from all over check out That’s My World.

Now the Contest!!

If you are interested in geocaching, GPS technology, and wonderful science museums and can make your way to Baltimore, Maryland I have four tickets to the Maryland Science Center. They are having an special exhibit titled: GPS Adventures. You have to hurry though. The tickets are good through August 12 but GPS Adventures last day is April 18.

I really, really, really want somebody to have these tickets. So if you would like to go to the Maryland Science Center and can decipher the clue as to how old I am then email me with your answer at yogiabb(at)yahoo(dot)com.

It’s going to be very simple. When I get home from work Tuesday evening. We’ll take the entries, write them on a piece of paper, put them in a hat and SuperPizzaBoy will pull the winner out of the hat and I’ll be contacting you for your mailing address. You are going to have to trust me.

The only thing I ask is that if you get the tickets, please go and then make a blog post about it, and send me the link! I think that it would be a great My World post. I would love to go to that museum and exhibit, but its not happening for the Yogis.

My World – Road Trip to Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri

The family went on a spring break trip to Branson in southwest Missouri to go to the Silver Dollar City theme park. It’s only a few hours from Tulsa but we have never been. I’ve always kind of rolled my eyes at Branson because of the general chessiness of the whole “show” thing and I’m not a fan of amusement parks.

But hey, Sweetie rented us a cabin, we packed up and went and we had a great time, especially SuperPizzaBoy.

Sweetie booked us a great cabin complete with rocking chairs in the front and plumbing and a fireplace inside.

It was furnished very nicely.

The local food was good, especially the stuffed hamburgers at Chester’s.

It was an electronics free weekend so we played Mexican dominoes.

Ate some smores

and relaxed

At Silver Dollar City we did some rides.

(Not actually that one, but I liked the picture.)

We saw some corny skits

We saw Doc Gizmo do his science show

We checked out some shops

We clowned around a little bit

In Branson we saw a light show,

Drove down the strip and saw King Kong attacking the city

Oh, and of course, you will never guess, the whole point of the trip,

We went geocaching!! There were two in the park but they involved taking rides that had long lines. The Yogi’s avoid lines so I found two out on Tablerock Lake.

We saw some deer coming back from the caches.

So the last night we toasted to a good trip

And drove back home to Tulsa

For other photographs and stories from all over the world check out That’s My World.

My World – Geocaching on Turkey Mountain

Turkey Mountain Park is an urban wilderness area right on the Arkansas River in Tulsa. It consists of 300 acres of rocks, trees, creeks, ponds, and hills and has a network of trails. It’s a good place to go geocaching, running, hiking, and biking.

The cache we are looking for is named Turkey Mountain Rocks placed by the “The Wolfgang.” The coordinates are N 36° 04.901 W 095° 59.528. I went hunting for it last Friday. I’m going to violate all sorts of geocaching ethics and show you just how to get the cache. I hope The Wolfgang doesn’t get mad. They sound kind of fierce.

Just plug those coordinates into your handy dandy GPS and come on with me. We start down this trail from the parking lot.

Then the trail gets a little rougher

When you get here, just follow the arrow, it’ll lead you right to it.

Any questions? Good, you are doing great!!

After a while, the trail gets a little hard to see. Just keep forging ahead is my motto.

Oh, wow, look, our first solid clue. A map of Oklahoma, in the shape of a rock. Study it closely.

Here’s the deal. The location of the cache is on the map. Yeah, the rest is up to you! Don’t you like a challenge?

Feeling a little discouraged? Well, good guy that I am, I am going to show you a digital route to the cache. I’ll be banned for life from the Tulsa Area Geocachers club. But, I think information needs to be free. Don’t you, really? Caches are hidden to be found. That’s right. So take a peek.

Yep, there it is. The world is your oyster, name and claim it, grab that cache. Keep on going, you are getting close.

Isn’t that a great view of the river? You are on the right track.

Oh, you are practically there. You should be able to see it by now.

What? you can’t?. OK, I’ll give you a visual clue. I’m laying this cache bare for the world to see. All you have to do is walk around until the sky looks like this.

Study, the twig and leaf pattern carefully. When you see something identical over your head reach down to your feet and grab that cache! Its yours now. Sign the log, hide carefully and head home for a cold one.

Good job.

For other views of our world, check That’s My World

My World – Route 66 Road Trip

Last week I ventured down to Oklahoma City for an industry meeting at the Oklahoma History Center. If you find yourself with some time in Oklahoma City, check it out. Its right near the State Capitol Building. I love this sculpture by Allan Houser at the entrance.

I decided to take a section of Route 66 back to Tulsa and see if I could find some geocaches on the way.

I passed Pop’s Restaurant on the way. It is gas station, diner, and soda pop stand on the the highway. It hasn’t been around that long but is an attraction in its own right.

The giant soda bottle has a microcache on it somewhere. This is the second time I have looked for it but darned if I can find it. Pop’s claim to fame is that huge variety of soda pop they carry. Last time I was there I say flavors I hadn’t seen when I was a kid. I was not in a mood for cold sugary refreshment this time so just gassed up my car and got on my way.

One of the interesting things about Route 66 is that it is not just one route. The road was constantly rerouted, improved on, and bypassed. Many of these old sections are now county roads and private driveways such as the above section. It is now a private drive to a farm. They owners put a geocache near the section and invite people to drive down the road to find it. Notice how narrow the road is. I felt the ghosts of a lot of cars driving by. Hardly anybody goes by now, just nerds with the GPS receivers looking for tupperware. Notice my cachemobile. I love my license plates on it. Some think I’m condemned to the furthest reaches of hell for them.

Here is another old section of route 66. I just couldn’t not go down that road. I’m not very linear on my planning. I mean I have a general plan but that is just something that gets you going in a particular direction.

You see why they call this “Red Dirty Country?” There was a cache down at the end of the road. So I had to go, yep, had to. Really.

On the trail at Chandler Lake looking for caches. Got my dress shoes and slacks muddy. It was worth it. I found a couple of caches that hadn’t been found since late last summer. I love that kind of thing

Nice place for an ammo box geocache, or a snake, or both. Happens, but not too much in February. No ticks either. Winter geocaching has a lot going for it.

Lake Chandler was beautiful and I appeared to be the only one there.

So the tally for the day was 11 geocaches found, lots of trees, rocks, roads and trails explored, got the car, my shoes, and slacks coated with red clay and I had lots of fun. Got home in time for dinner.

For photographs from all over the world check out That’s My World.

Skywatch Friday – Haikey Creek Park

We have a storm coming, ice. I hate ice. I can see it on the various weather maps inching closer. But I got photographs from last weekend. We went to Haikey Creek Park near Tulsa for a family outing. No ice that day.

Trees in the winter are beautiful. Pretty sky also.

Notice the moon?

SuperPizzaBoy rode his Triton. Off behind him is Sweetie and our two mutts.

Then we went to another park and did a little geocaching.

None of that right now. Now we are getting ready for a storm. The Governor declared an emergency yesterday before it even hit the state.

I’m having trouble convincing LJ of the seriousness of the situation. He doesn’t seem worried about it all. What do you think is wrong with him?

Check out other views of the sky at Skywatch Friday.

The Eight P’s of Geocaching and Life

Friday after work I had a few hours to myself as SuperPizzaBoy was staying overnight with a friend and Sweetie and her Mom were attending a church function. I thought about going home and scrubbing the floors but decided against since I had already done that Wednesday and had worn the bristles on my scrub brush clear off and had not bought a new one yet.

So I did the next favorite activity, Geocaching. So I fired up my Garmin Nuvi 500 crossover GPS, specially made for geocaching, and guess what. I had been to Houston earlier this week and when I downloaded the Houston caches it deleted the Tulsa caches. Bummer!

So I fired up my Lowrance Ifinder H2O. Well, it was taking the evening off. It wouldn’t synch with the satellites. Double Bummer!

I realized that I had ventured out in the world with only one backup GPS. So now, what do I do? I guess I’ll go geocaching without a GPS and hope the Lowrance decides to sober up and play ball.

Off I went. I knew the general location of two caches close to downtown. First stop was the Meadow Gold sign on 11th street.

So I didn’t know exactly where the cache was but I knew it was in this general vicinity. So I started looking. Soon I had several helpers. They were all out of money. Some had had it stolen; a couple more needed money for a bus ticket to go see their sisters. One sister lives in Saint Louis, the other guy’s sister lives in Dallas. What is it about these guys and their sisters? It seems that there is an ongoing nationwide reunion of brothers going to see their sisters. I think there is an ad campaign in there somewhere. I think there is a social movement going on. JenX is supposed to keep me posted on stuff like this. Jen, what’s the deal? I need a report!

What these guys need is my Aunt Baloney. She’d get them squared away and each with a checklist in hand on how to find employment. They could go buy their own bus tickets. She’s organized! No more of this shuffling up and down the street panhandling, they would have some direction! Aunt B is great that way.

I finally found it. It was like a needle in a haystack.

Nice color huh? Purple is Sweetie’s favorite color. Do you think if I told her that there are purple geocaches that she would go along on my geocaching trips? Yep, fat chance. Hey, do you like my wedding ring? Yellow gold and white gold. I love it. I’ve had it for 20 years, I’m very proud of it.

I’m also proud, but not a billionth as much though, that I found a cache without a GPS. I’ve found a few before but not many. It makes me feel guilty. Why? Because the taxpayers of this country have financed billions of dollars of military satellites so that I can go find hidden stuff. So bypassing all that investment and finding a cache without it is not very respectful. My fellow Americans, I apologize. Really.

But hey, I’m fired up. Lets go find another one. Right nearby. It’s in the general vicinity of this.

I’m not sure what it is doing there. I think it might be some way for Brit Expats to teleport to and from Great Britain. Lots cheaper and faster than flying. Hmm, I bet that is how down on their luck Brit guys go visit their sisters. I bet that is why I’ve never had a Brit guy hit me up for money to go see their sisters. They can do it for free. Wow. Maybe Sarah can explain it to us one of these days.

Anyway, there is a cache in the general vicinity. Guess what, I found it! Didn’t have any helpers either. Here is a picture of it and my still non synched Lowrance I Finder H2O.

Oh no, as I look at the log I can see that I dated it 1/22/09. That makes the Generation Xers shake their head. I can just hear them thinking, “When is that Boomer loser going to step aside so I can get the cubicle with the river view?” Sorry dudes I can’t do it yet. If I do step aside, don’t be giving me the cold shoulder when I ask for bus money so I can go visit my sister in Colorado Springs. I mean, everybody else is visiting their sister, why can’t I?

Wow, I’m on a roll. Lets go find a third. So I went nearby to a little park commemorating Tulsa’s first post office. I got there and guess what? The GPS is synching!

So I started looking but the GPS unsynched before I could get a good fix. I think it is in one of the cedar trees nearby. Hunting a microcache in cedar trees when you are not sure if is there or not is pretty much a waste of time. So, time to call it quits.

Oh, I almost forgot, the Eight P’s of Geocaching and Life. Do you know what they are? Here it is!

Proper Preparation and Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Winter Geocaching Skywatch

Nothing like being out in the woods on a nice December Day in Oklahoma. Its raining now with snow and ice predicted in a few hours.

Merry Christmas from the Yogi’s.

Check out Skywatch Friday for views of the sky from all over the world.

December Geocaching

I finally got to do some geocaching yesterday. I have found only two since the first of November. The holidays are very busy and there has been a lot of work to do but I found myself with a couple hours yesterday so I took advantage of it.

First one is on the back side of a pond near our former residence.

They added the pond while we lived there. I remember when we first heard about it. The city sent a notice that they planning on building a “detention facility” and was seeking public comment. We got a little excited. I thought they were going to build a jail in the neighborhood. Turns out it was a detention pond. That’s better.

Here is the first cache I found.

I had tried last summer to find it. It was easier to find this time because much of the undergrowth had died. Still it took a while to find. The owner had wrapped artificial leaves around it.

Another one was in a small patch of woods between a cemetery and the Creek Turnpike. Geocachers love this little pieces of leftover land. We are the only ones whoever go in these tracts. Except for the little kids playing war and the bigger kids smoking. Still this was pretty remote. The cache was inside a small garbage can.

The next one was right of the biking trail of the Creek Turnpike. Just sitting out in the open. The container is the little hint of red on the lower left hand corner of the photograph. It is a plastic coffee can wrapped in burlap.

This last one was only about two feet off the same biking trail. It the stump in the shadow to the extreme left. I can’t believe that it hasn’t been “muggled” by somebody. To geocachers muggles are those people who are’t aware of the sport. Muggles tend to “muggle” caches, to steal or vandalize them.

Placing a large cache so close to muggles without them finding it is hard to do. SuperPizzaBoy have a cache in plain sight (“Boys Night Out – City Center“) in downtown Tulsa that has been found 99 times in the last year or so but never muggled. As one of the recent finders put it:

“Found this one before work. I had looked for this a couple days ago but didn’t find it. But thinking about it later, I walked right to it this morning. I didn’t even bother with the GPS. And yes, I will admit I looked in the phone box the first time, too. This cache is a great testimony to the absolute cluelessness of the average downtown walker. Hands shoved in their pockets, eyes to the ground staring at their shoes, the average guy observes almost nothing. Once you know where this is, you would think it would stick out like a sore thumb. Great hide of a regular cache in the urban jungle. Thanks!”

(Goes to show you one parallel between geocachers and bloggers, we both love thoughtful comments!)

So now I have found 880 total caches over the years. My goal is to get to 1000 in 2010. I’m told that when that happens then my hair will grow back, I’ll get better looking and smarter, plus I’ll be able to wear 34 waist slacks again. 2010 could be a good year for me.

Anyway I had a great time finding those caches. What have you done recently for fun?

Geocaching – the Blair Witch Project

SuperPizzaBoy and I went geocaching at Oxley Nature Center at Mohawk Park Sunday. It wasn’t the pine barrens of New Jersey but it was kind of spooky. The leaves are gone and the woods are pretty tangled up from the ice storm a couple years ago. But hey we had a good time.

Off we went down the seldom traveled trail.

I kind of like the woods caches. Urban micros are fine but I like finding caches away from a crowd. Boy were we away from the crowds.

Treasure!! kind of.

The next one was a little tied up. It was put out by a bunch of cachers last year who showed up and cleared some of the trails from storm debris. There is a tradition in caching of “CITO” an acronym for “Cache In, Trash Out.” Part of giving back to the parks and landowners who host the caches.

I went back Monday at lunch to find another. It is down this long road, converted to a trail. It was pretty lonely when I started.

When I got close to the cache site, suddenly there were a lot of people nearby. I tried to act keenly interested in this, even taking pictures of it.

So I wouldn’t reveal the location of this.

Geocachers call non-geocachers “Muggles.” Muggles mean well but they often take off with the cache, container and all, or vandalize it, so we make pains to make sure that the caches stay concealed for the benefit of the next person looking and the owner of the cache. If the cache goes missing or is damaged it is the responsibility of the cache owner to replace or repair it.

SuperPizzaBoy and I have found 873 geocaches and have hidden 26.

Check out geocaching.com for how to join in the fun.

YogisDen.us

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