Seneca County Pizza and Geotrail… a Long Yummy Day.

Over the weekend Seneca County, just south of Sandusky, Ohio opened their Pizza and Geotrail.  Pick one or do both.  For me it was a nice way to get back into geocaching after a long hiatus.

So what is this?  It’s a collection of coaches and restaurants that serve pizza combines to give a “taste” of Seneca County. Official information can be found at their website:  https://www.destinationsenecacounty.org/slice-of-seneca-county  There are 19 caches of varying types on the Geotrail and the pizza trail has 19 restaurants from the local drive-in to chains.  We arrived a little before lunch time on Saturday and were able to do the e

ntire trail and make it back to Indianapolis around midnight.  Your time will vary as to your experience and how much pizza you eat.

The CACHES- the biggest thing you need to keep in mind when it comes to planning to do the trail is that some caches are not accessible at all times.  One in particular is located in the library so if the library is closed… you are out of luck.  Others are located in parks and preserves which have dawn to dusk hours.  in the summer that isn’t as difficult as other times of the year, but still something to remember.  The majority of the caches do align with a pizza place, but that doesn’t mean these are all park and grabs.  a number of locations have just a sticker on the window giving you the actual coordinates for the cache.  This means some are miles away and may end up ruining your carefully laid out plan… oh well, get over it.

The PIZZA-  The good professor lured me into this with the promise of pizza.  She did not disappoint although I would recommend bringing a cooler or a large crew with you in order to actu

So much pizza, so little time (and so little stomach space)

ally meet the Pizza Trail requirements of 6 pizzas.  We started at Big C’s Smokehouse and Grill in Green Springs and had the Pulled Pork Pizza which was amazing. Then Fat Head’s Family Restaurant in Republic for a Foldover Pizza which was like a BLT with added ham.  Again something I would recommend.  We ended the evening with a Mexican Pizza and Garlic Knots at Left Fielding New Riegel before heading in to turn in our passport.  Since there were only two of us trying to eat 6 pizzas in one day (even small pizzas) was not in the cards.  We were fortunate enough that some locations did not abide by the you must buy pizza to get a sticker.  We would have, but we didn’t have a cooler, so we were happy that some places took mercy on us and we could buy sodas, and cookies.  This was the first day of the trail, so I can’t guarantee that this will continue to be the case, we did run into a few places that were adamant about the pizza purchase, if we had the time, we would have, but time was not on our side.

What do you get for completion of this quest?  If you complete the Geotrail you are handed a lovely geocoin.  If you complete the pizza trail, you get a t-shirt suitable for wearing.

Cecil shows off his coin and shirt.

So… was it worth it?  Yes, it was a great day to be out and the variety of caches and caliber of the food made it all worthwhile.  I could see returning, because of the shear number of caches, & adventure labs in the area.

Suggestion:  Seneca County is about an hour away from Waseon, OH home of Midwest Geobash.  If I were to actually plan this out and not try to be an early adopter I would plan on taking time while at Bash and split it up over a few days allowing for more pizza and less of a rush.  Just remember to check when the library is open.

 

 

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Adventures with FI80 #1-Cooper

Some of you may already know me, and have heard some of my travel tales….but honestly there are always more.  I say it all the time that geocaching with me can be an “I Love Lucy” experience, and even more so when I am caching alone.  I laugh, I fall, I bleed, and OH YES I CUSS.  But in the end, if I get that smiley it is all worth it.

One thing I am known for and get comments on all the time are my logs.  I refuse to do a simple “TFTC!”  I know how much work even the simplest LPC can be to get it all together for the find.  I typically leave a nice log, maybe about my caching day, maybe if its a weekend trip and that first paragraph will be a bit generic about the entire trip, but I try to leave a tidbit of each experience on the log.  So this is when people take notice.  I just don’t describe it was cold and rainy….I will share the good, the bad and the ugly…which leads to some laughs, and a lot of conversations when I get to events from people who have seen the logs and CO’s.  I was approached some time ago to write down a few of these to share on here, and unfortunately life gets in the way at times.  So I decided that while time permits I will come on here, maybe drop a story or two, at least during these long months of little caching, and at least get some thrills and hopefully you will to.  So without further ado…..

Cooper Cache-(Disclaimer: This cache is now archived so these are no longer spoilers!)

Cooper Cache was a local legend in the Fort Wayne area.  As a new cacher, when you went to events you would hear cachers whispering about it.  It was one of those pinnacle finds that people would ask “Have you found Cooper Cache.”  So of course this got on my radar at a very young caching age.  Cooper Cache was a Decon container.  Simply stuck to a bridge with a magnet.  The catch, it was one of those large grid iron train bridges that had been converted to pedestrian traffic.  Once you set food inside that metal frame your GPS became useless and you basically had to try to plot a direction, pace it out, and hope you kept close to the heading.  The other trick to this cache was getting around the muggles.  It was hard to search when it is on a busy path in downtown!

Needless to say I had made a trip or two looking for this cache, but with nothing to show for it.  I mean I was pretty sure it was the east side of the bridge, just north of the halfway point…but again, that was a guess hoping I could walk a straight line that far to GZ without help of my GPS.  I was still very new to the game, so I didn’t have any geopals go use as a phone a friend or to get any hints for it either, and slowly I lost interest in this one and continued caching elsewhere.  Then one day it happened.  I remember who it was but don’t worry I won’t out you, you have no idea that you were the one that I overheard talking about it that gave me the clue I needed.  But what I overheard was “I was laying in some awkward angles with that mirror, and even more so to actually grab that cache.”

At last a clue I could work with!  I was thrilled!  So there I was in late May, a nice warm morning, it was sunny, and I got there shortly after 8am to reduce my muggle encounters.  I was primed with an adjustable telescoping mirror, my geobag of the few tools I had acquired by this point, and the drive to finish this one…my first 4.5D cache.  I was laying down checking a few areas and after a couple of adjustments, and widening my search area a bit I finally caught glimpse of that green decon container with the bright green geocaching sticker in that little 2″ mirror.  I had it!  I finally had it!

I put on my gloves and adjusted the angel I was laying at, reached down deep…I mean I was almost shoulder deep in that bridge, and I felt the container!  At last it was mine.  What came next was something that you see in movies…  It was the “OHHHH FUUUUUDGGGEEEE” moment.  That sound will forever be in my mind.  It was like some sick, twisted, Price Is Right version of Plinko.  Just as the magnet pulled free from the metal of the bridge, my fingers slipped off of the lid.  That was followed by the clang, clang, clang, as the container bounced from support to support, before the SPLASH of it falling into the river!  Oh my God….I killed one of the most talked about caches of our region.  I had to fix it!  I ran to the rail and thankfully saw the cache lightly bobbing in the center of the river, moving slowly with the current.  I went down the trail to the water’s edge and began to REALLY rethink my future in caching.  I wasn’t dressed for swimming in the Fort Wayne river  (I mean who carries a HAZMAT suit in their cache gear?), I was driving my nice car, so I couldn’t just hop in soaked and head home.  As it slowly drifted I looked for long sticks hoping it would drift to the side where I could reach it, but no…it only stayed dead center in the river.

As I walked back to the car I saw my last hope.  Conveniently there is a boat rental place next to the bridge, so I waited 45 minutes for it to open, and went in to get a Kayak.  After explaining the long story about why I only needed a boat for 10 minutes while I retrieved an item I dropped in the river, hoping 45 minutes wasn’t long enough for it to travel downstream to the dam or over it, I got my life vest, and they helped me shove off.  After a few nerve racking moments getting situated and moving, (did I mention this was my first time in a Kayak?), I made my way quickly downstream and saw exactly what I was hoping for.  Only a couple hundred feet downstream was a bridge with a log jam, and stuck in the edge of it all, was the container!  I skillfully pulled up, drifted sideways up to the jam, and retrieved the cache…careful to put it safely down on the floor where it couldn’t fall back in…AGAIN.  I expertly paddled back upstream to the boat shop, beached the Kayak, and got out with only getting my shoes mildly damp!  I’m one of those pack a swimsuit and crocs if you are kayaking, because you are getting in…all the way, type of people.  So of course I am proud of how well I did, even if nobody saw it, or will ever believe me.

After checking the boat back in, and getting my deposit back, I cracked open the container to sign that beautiful log.  I grabbed the trackable from the container (my first), so thankfully I did retrieve the cache or this could have been lost forever.  I put it all back together, laid down, and put it back up under the deck of the bridge.  Making VERY sure the magnet caught before I released the container.  I had done it, I had finally found my first 4.5/1.5.  I mean sure this trip took more than 3 hours, 45 min waiting on a business to open…and I used a Kayak on a 1.5 terrain….but I found it!  Sadly enough I read posts later in the season to find out that the cache had been moved over 1 support beam by some idiot. (ummm  probably the guy who dropped it in the river and took over an hour to get it back on the bridge…and walked up to the wrong beam unknowingly making it 30 feet off original GZ) So it later became tethered to the underside of the bride to keep it from falling, or moving again.

So there it is.  My first of many caching adventures that still gets brought up at events on occasion.  Sure it’s been 5 years now, but sometimes your caching trips leave a lasting impression on all!  So thanks to anyone who braved my ramblings to make it this far in my post.  Who knows what stories I may pull out in the future…but I promise I do have a few that are at least shorter reads than this one.  May the mosquitos be few, and the ammo cans plenty!

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Indiana Geocaching Events

Fall is just around the corner and thoughts of CITO events, International Geocaching Day, and SWAG parties are on the list!  Be sure to get your WILL ATTENDS in for CCLP Fall Leaf Olympics and Son Of A Monster Mash so that they can plan accordingly.

 

Grab a couple of Souvenirs by attending Ice Cream for International Geocaching Day   and Highland Park CITO Fall 2018

 

Come out and support a cacher’s FIRST Event by attending SWAG Party

AUGUST EVENTS

August 18th

Ice Cream for International Geocaching Day

Saturday the 18th 2p-3p at DQ in Brownstown

August 23rd

ELT and Ice Cream 2018

What: An opportunity to hang out, talk caching and perhaps enjoy some ice cream. Sweets and Suds is right down the road if you want to get some.

Where: The coordinates are for the parking lot of the Erie Lackawanna Trail in Griffith, IN.

When: Thursday, August 23rd from 6:00-7:00pm. Group picture at 6:50pm if you want to be in it.

What to bring: As with all of my events, this is a simple get together. Bring yourself and friend or two! Feel free to bring trackables to trade as well.

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

September 8th

CITO Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Fall 2018    

Please join us for the 13th CITO event at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore on September 8th, 2018. The CITO Event Cords take you to the parking lot of the camp ground control station. 

SEPTEMBER 9TH

SWAG PARTY

Listlady’s finally stepping out of her wallflower box and hosting an event. One of my favorite things about geocaching is making swag. Sometimes I have as much fun with that as I do finding smileys. So I thought I’d make my first foray into event hosting by having a SWAG Party. There will be lots of examples and lots of supplies if you wish to try your hand. And since swag is made to be shared, if you have any homemade swag you’d like to share or teach you are encouraged to bring it along.

With a little luck I might even be able to make this smiley number 1,000!  😄

 

SEPTEMBER 16TH

Highland Park CITO 2018

Note, you will have to drive through the park in order to get your vehicle to GZ.

Details: Who: All
What: CITO in Highland Park
When: Sunday, 16 September 2018 starting at 1:00pm. We will clean for 1 hour. At 2:00 we will all make our way to the parking area for a group photo with the trash we collected.
Where: At the listed coordinates
Why: Because we are geocachers, and we care! (Plus, we get a smiley, get to hang with fun people, and get another CITO under our belts for those of us that geek out on stats!) This will be our chance to CITO prior to the snow and ice coming, so let’s get together and enjoy the afternoon.

 

SEPTEMBER 22nd

CCLP Fall Leaf Olympics

Near Connersville

The Fall Leaf Olympics event will go from 12:00PM to 3:00 PM, and will take place on the property of the CCLP, home of the most highly decorated multi-cache in the state of Indiana.  The Quest for the Chest (GC49RHO) is also Indiana’s 13th highest ranked geocache and will be open for business during the event.  The five contests will operate from 12:00PM-2:30PM and the winners will be announced and celebrated at 3:00 PM.

 

OCTOBER EVENTS

October 20th

Son Of A Monster Mash

Come in costume or come as you are. Countryside Park, Portage, IN

 

 

 

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