Geocaching with Woo

Let's say goodbye to 2020, and ring in the new year by finding geocaches or attending events. This year, the souvenir deadlines are extended! You can earn your Last 2020 souvenir from December 24-31 and your First 2021 souvenir from January 1-8 by finding (and logging) a geocache or attending an event.

Do you like interactive fiction? Well, I love it, so for that reason, this cache is one of the coolest I've ever completed. Back in 2017, I discovered this puzzle . Having enjoyed the world of Zork , and many others from Infocom, in my youth, I was taken to a place like none I'd been to in many years. I had a great time exploring the Zorky universe created by NCPositronics , and only had two things that I couldnt figure out - what to do with some writing that I'd discovered in the Throne Room and the pesky coordinates! At that point, I needed help. I introduced DragonSoldier45 to the puzzle, and he was able to help me solve it. June 2018. That's how long I've had the solve for this puzzle. With a pleasant predicted weather forecast, Tom and I planned to attempt this cache today. The trek to the cache was along a well trod trail in the Liberty Reservoir Watershed area. We enjoyed hearing the woodpeckers while we walked, and after turning off of the main t...

International EarthCache Day is fast approaching - it's on October 11, 2020. You can earn your souvenir by finding an EarthCache on either October 10 or 11.

I've been working on Leirum's Lost Places World Tour for a little over a month, but only because I'm a complete idiot. Once I got on the right track, it only took about a week. With all that being said, this is one of the coolest caches I've worked on in a while. You start out by e-mailing the CO at a special e-mail address requesting travel documents to start your world tour. You will get coordinates to a location, and if you follow the directions, will get instructions on how to proceed to the next location. This is where I got hung up at Station 01 - I had to get a friend to tell me what I was doing wrong. At each location, Leirum explains some of the history, and after that, it's just a matter of using Street View of Google Maps to explore some awesome locations all around the world. Signing the log and claiming a find requires a trip to Germany, but if you complete the virtual World Tour, you're allowed to put a banner on your profile page. There ...

Well, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 CITO Season 1 was a total bust for me. There were no CITO events close enough to our area to travel to. That being said, Season 2 of CITO 2020 begins today, and lasts until November 30 December 31. Hopefully there will be some events nearby.

I completed the Wonders of the World souvenir campaign today. The campaign began on August 12 with an unofficial end date of December 31. It looks like due to COVID-19 most of the campaigns have extended dates. What would originally have taken three to four weeks to complete now gets three to four months - or longer! I won't say that I don't like having all of this time to earn these souvenirs, but without the urgency to get out and find caches, I feel like I'm not going out as much. I had originally planned to piggy back the Memory Lane and Wonders of the World caches, in order to get the most bang for my caching buck, but I ended up going out of state for two of the three days that it took for me to complete both campaigns, so I didn't need to be conservative. How did this campaign work? Caches were assigned digital Wonders of the World attributes, Modern and/or Ancient. In order to earn the first souvenir, Modern Wonders of the World, you had to collect each...

International Geocaching Day is fast approaching! It is celebrated on the third Saturday of August every year, and this year, if you log any cache type on August 15 or 16, 2020, you'll earn the souvenir.

I completed the Memory Lane campaign today. I've just come through a rough couple of weeks, and Tom thought that going out Geocaching would give me something to be happy about, so we planned for today to be the day. Since Tom had recently had some problems with his back, he requested that the geocaching be easy-going. I'd just put out an Adventure Lab, so I thought we could go ahead and grab some of the Adventure Labs in the area, as well as some caches that were close to each stop. This ended up working out really well. The Memory Lane campaign allowed Adventure Labs to be counted in the final point count, so after beginning the day with 55 points and having earned only two souvenirs to date, I ended up with 255 points and the final three souvenirs!     I liked that there were different point values for different caches, so that I could maximize the value of the caches that I visited - if I wanted to. In order to complete this campaign, a maximum of 40 or a min...

Well, I've done it - I finally published my Adventure Lab! I'm so proud of the content and the work that I put in to it. My Adventure Lab will take the geocacher around Havre de Grace, to a few points of interest from the War of 1812. Two of the locations are where the British came ashore on May 3, 1813 to burn and pillage the town, and the other three locations are buildings that remain standing from that time period. I added a few fun factoids that I had learned about each location as well as clues for a bonus geocache. The posted coordinates for the bonus cache are for another house that remains from the War of 1812, but that, of course, is not where the cache is - I was hoping to find a way to incorporate that house, and so I have. The original deadline to publish the Adventure Lab was May 1, but after COVID-19 hit, it was extended to August 1. Not too long ago, another extension was granted, to some time in October, but with a caveat - if the Adventure Lab was publ...

The Mars probe , Perseverance , is scheduled to launch on July 30 and arrive on Mars on February 18, 2021. Geocaching, along with their friends at NASA, have made the probe trackable! A trackable code has been emblazoned on the calibration unit of the SHERLOC, and will be seen when images are transmitted back to Earth. You can read a little bit more about the calibration unit at this link .

The newest campaign from Geocaching, called Wonders of the World , begins August 12 and runs through, at the least, December 31, 2020. In this campaign, you can earn up to three souvenirs by finding geocaches and earning stamps for your Wonders of the World passport . The three souvenirs that can be earned are: Modern Wonders of the World Ancient Wonders of the World World Explorer Similar to Mystery at the Museum , each cache will have a digital passport stamp. All seven of the Modern Wonders of the World passport stamps need to be collected in order to unlock the Ancient Wonders of the World. After all seven of the Ancient Wonders of the World passport stamps have been found, and your passport is full, you will have earned the title "World Explorer." This campaign will definitely help me with the Memory Lane campaign, which I have not completed, yet. I'll enjoy getting "two-for-one" credit on these caches.

Geocaching has just announced their latest souvenir campaign, Memory Lane . The campaign will start on June 1 and run through January 3, 2021, because people might not be comfortable going out at this point in time, due to COVID-19. There is the possibility of earning five souvenirs: First geocache hidden : 10 points First geocoin : 50 points First Mega-Event : 100 points First million geocaches hidden : 150 points 20 years of geocaching : 200 points Here's how points are earned: Log a found it : 5 points Find an Adventure Lab cache : 5 points Find a Multiple cache : 7 points Find a Mystery cache : 7 points Find a cache with 10+ favorite points : 10 points Check out the gameboard to follow your progress and don't forget to tag your social media posts with #GCmemorylane.

Twenty years ago, the switch was flipped, and selective availability was turned off. This allowed anyone to get accurate GPS readings and brought about the birth of our hobby. We normally celebrate Blue Switch Day by finding a geocache on the anniversary of that date, May 2, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we have until December 31 to earn the souvenir.

Today we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. In this time of uncertainty, with the Coronavirus, social distancing and stay-at-home orders, we may not be able to get out and about in order to enjoy this hobby. Geocaching has come up with a few ideas on how to celebrate, and still stay safe. Share a photo of your favorite EarthCache along with something you learned on social media using the hashtags #WaybackWednesday and #EarthDay2020. Perform some Cache In/Trash Out in your own backyard. Do some spring cleaning, and instead of taking your trash to the dump, recycle and reuse some of the items as cache containers, swag or even trackables (write a tracking code on it). Don't forget to share your pictures on social media with the #EarthDay2020 hashtag. The National Park Service also has some great ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day virtually and if you'd like to go the Junior Ranger route, there are even virtual passport cancellations and explorations.

Today, I was saddened to learn that both the Geocaching 20th Anniversary Celebration and GeoWoodstock XVIII have been cancelled and rescheduled for next year. I'd made huge plans for this. I checked airline ticket prices for weeks to find something that was affordable. I'd found an Air BnB with phenomenally good prices for that time frame. Our time was jam packed with activities, mostly geocaching, of course, mixed in with visiting family and friends. I only hope that I can reschedule it all for next year. Looking on the bright side, as I am apt to do, I'll have time to make this trip even more epic.

Corona Virus got you down? Me, too. I've been trapped at home for almost a month now, "working from home" with a daily teleconference that keeps me from going anywhere. Sure, I could go out geocaching, but with the Stay-at-Home order in my state and trying my best to be a law-abiding citizen, I feel like it's wrong. So, I've been staying in with my husband, the television tuned in to the news, and not feeling motivated to do much of anything. Luckily, I just got an e-mail from FTF Geocacher magazine with a virtual walk across Spain utilizing Google Street View. Along the way, we'll collect clues to answer questions that will yield virtual stamps (like souvenirs), and potentially prizes. So far, it's been fun. I earned three stamps last night, and am anxiously awaiting the next stage in the journey. Would you like to join in the fun? Start the virtual journey here . Follow the link to learn more about the Camino de Santiago .

   I just received Volume 10 Issue 4 of FTF Magazine in the mail, and the 2500 Find Geo-Achievement that I submitted was published in it! The find was " Multi in Morosini " - GC7QXB1, and it was back in November. The previous December, Tom and I went to visit my parents (DragonSoldier45 and DragonLadyHue) for Christmas, and we went out to the Morosini Reserve to do the Wherigo located there. After we completed it, we decided to attempt the Multiple cache, rather than some of the Traditionals in the area. We found the first two stages and solved the field puzzle with the help of a tool of the trade. Since it was getting dark and was close to the time of a broadcast of an NFL football game we wanted to watch, we decided to abandon our search for the day. Fast forward eleven months. Tom and I were once again visiting, this time for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we were almost at 2500 Finds. I convinced my parents to go out, we grabbed one cache that was find 2499, an...

I just heard about this potentially cool activity happening in the Seattle area in the week between HQ20 and GWXVIII . If you like Going Caching , you just might like this - Sherlock - A Novel Cache . According to their website , this is a seven geocache geocoin hunt. Each cache represents a "witness" that you will need to "talk" to in order to deduce the location of the final, or "M," and open the reward prize. In order to participate, you need to order a Sherlock game hunt package, which will contain "vital case files, information, directions, exclusive event swag and a trackable prize solution geocoin!" These packages can be picked up at HQ20 , the Sherlock Mystery Event , or, if you're staying at the Issaquah, WA Hilton Garden Inn, it would be delivered to you (maybe directly to your room???). Apparently, if driving, this activity should take one hour to complete, if walking, two to three hours. I think it will be a great time fil...

Season 1 for CITO 2020 begins today, and lasts until May 31. Make sure to go out and do your part to maintain our playing field! Update: Due to Covid-19, the new deadline to earn your CITO 2020, Season 1 souvenir is August 31 - phew!

You can get a new souvenir by finding a cache on Leap Day, February 29. If you're into challenges and challenge caches, this will help fill in a 366 days of the year challenge. Four years ago, there was a hidden message in the Leap Day souvenir. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing it this year.

Another trackable promotion has been announced featuring Nickelodeon's Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This promotion celebrates the 35th Anniversary of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a give-away of an additional 1,000 limited edition Total Turtle Power group trackables across the globe. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to "help these half-shell heroes discover new adventures and hidden locations around the world by moving them from cache to cache. Find all four Turtles + the bonus Total Turtle Power trackable and share your TMNT finds on social using #TMNTcache and tag @TMNT!" Request your free trackable here !

The Experience Tioga County GeoTour consists of 27 geocaches, 25 of which contain code words which are needed to fill in the passport . Five additional code words can be obtained from local partners. At three locations, the code word is available with a purchase, at two other locations, you just need to ask for the code word. If you unscramble the code words into a phrase, you get two points, and you can get additional points for submitting up to 4 receipts for purchases from locally owned and operated businesses (no chains or gas stations) and a hotel (which can be a chain). If you get 25 points, you're eligible for a giveaway from Tioga County Tourism, if you get 30 points, you're eligible for a Silver Experience Tioga GeoCoin. So, that's all of the information that I received when starting this GeoTour. It was only later that I realized that I had questions that needed to be answered. Does a code word equal one point? What about the two geocaches that don't...

A new souvenir? No way!!! But yes, there is one. On February 2, 2020 (02022020), log a find on any cache, attend an event or complete an Adventure Lab in order to get your souvenir .

OMG! I just learned that I've been awarded an Adventure Lab! Way back when, I applied to get one, never imagining that I would actually be awarded one. Apparently, a second round opened up, and I was awarded one. The thing is, I have no idea what to do!!!!! Help!!!!!

Registration for GeoWoodstock XVIII opens today! Visit the registration page to make your selections.

Registration opens today for the Geocaching's 20th Anniversary Celebration ! Visit the event website to register.

After reviewing my Geocaching goals for this past year, I wasn't able to accomplish the big one, but I did accomplish a few of the smaller ones. Of the 44 remaining Find Your Chesapeake GeoTour caches that we needed to find in order to earn the souvenir, we found two. Yup, two. But they were great! We rented a paddle boat (the kayak didn't work out because of Tom's back) and paddled around Trap Pond at Trap Pond State Park in Delaware to find them. We completed both the Eight Wards of Washington, D.C. GeoTrail and the Caching the Rain GeoTrail, put out one new geocache, and hosted a Creation Celebration event. What else did we accomplish? I've put together this graphic to illustrate these achievements: In addition to the souvenirs that are familiar to most geocachers, we completed, and received awards for, the Eight Wards of Washington, D.C. GeoTrail, the 2019 Cache Across Maryland, the Mystery Caches of Berkeley County, the 2016 Hanover GeoTrail, the Smart Ca...