With only days to spare, we completed our 7 Souvenirs of August challenge. We attended an event cache, logged our sixth and final cache requirement and were rewarded with the 7th souvenir – the Achiever.  Some cachers, much more motivated than I, actually knocked all of them out within hours of the challenge. I checked at 7:00 am PST on August 1st and 74 cachers had already completed the challenge. We were the 48,905th ones to complete the challenge, not bad right? You’ll notice my Attended log was very poetic.  I just couldn’t wait any longer! Did you complete the challenge?  Send us your Achiever number and we’ll post it here with all the fame and glory that comes with it      

  Whoohoo, only one more to go!  We knocked out the Sightseer Souvenir by finding a multi-cache. As with puzzle caches, I am not the biggest fan of multi-caches either. I mean, I have to hunt down at a minimum two points (with some multi’s having over 10 waypoints!) and yet I only get a GC credit for one smiley. I know, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the adventure. But then again, if they (and we) didn’t care about the numbers, then they wouldn’t give us an entire page dedicated to STATISTICS. Anyways… the multi-cache we grabbed was a fun adventure and well worth the effort. Here is our found it log:  Found it Working off our 7 Souvenirs of August.   Arrived at the posted coords and found the data for waypoint two (kiddo doing the counting for me). We crunched the numbers, punched in the coords and headed back towards town.   We parked about 200′ from the GZ and kiddo & I headed for the cache. An easy find when in range. We signed the log and returned the cache to its hiding place.   TFTC SPOILER ALERT:  Cache container and location revealed!    

  Four down, I can smell that final secret souvenir! Today, I knocked out the “Puzzler” souvenir.  It was a tough find, taking close to an hour from start to penning my name down on that log sheet.  Here’s another confession: I hate puzzle caches.  Just give me some coords and clues and I will gladly hike several miles and find a cache, but this ambiguity of puzzles and mysteries can be frustrating. But not to be dissuaded, I searched out a ? cache and headed off to the GZ.  Here is my found it log for GC2QCPR Tranquility: Torah, Torah, Torah:  Found it Whew, found it!I have done other library caches before, but with the hint and my geosenses I knew this one was going to be a little different.I easily found the library! Then I wandered in to start my search. Bummer of a day to attempt this cache; it was over 90 degrees outside and the a/c was broken inside  Being a frequent visitor of this place, I quickly found what I thought was the GZ and started my subtle searching. No container. Hmmm… I headed to the other side of the library looking for my plan 2 location. I looked around GZ #2 and still no luck.After 20 minutes, I broke down I asked the assistant branch manager (who happens to be a friend) for some REF help and he pointed me over the branch librarian… who immediately started asking me about the Torah. Fortunately, I have some knowledge of it and she confirmed my REF idea was close (she was aware of the cache) and a quick return to the GZ proved successful and I found the cache. I penned my name down and returned the container to its hiding spot.So to wrap it all up, I ended up with a tour of the library, a smiley and an appointment to return the to library to teach a class on geocaching that one of the librarians had been wanting to put on! I’d say that was a good caching adventure.TFTC   SPOILER ALERT:  Cache container and location revealed!              

Today was International Geocaching Day 2014 and everyone who logged a find today earned a new souvenir.  This one took a little more effort than planned. I started with a DNFA on Magnetic, Green Power Box:  Didn’t find it Well this attempt was not so much a DNF as a DNFA (did not fully attempt).I drive by this cache every day to and from work. I was saving it for a nice simple p-n-g. Yes, I had read the cache name ONLY and been down at the dead end before and figured it was, well on the big green power box as the name implies. An easy 1/1 grab to be had on the way home. I needed my cache for today – International Geocaching Day – and was pretty tired from my day at work, so I figured I would nab the easy smiley and continue home. NOPE! I parked next to what I assumed was the GZ and looked around a bit. No cache. Hmmm… I whipped out the smart phone app and it pointed 160 feet that-a-way –> What?!? In the bushes? No this can’t be… oooohhhhh… D2.5 T2.0, this is starting to make sense now. I walked a ways down, but given that I was in full work attire, I abandoned the hunt to return at a later date more properly prepared. I shall return!  But I was not beaten, oh no!  I cached on.  Attempt #2: Cutie’s Cache  Found it Just what I needed – a quick and easy smiley. I was on my home from work and needed a find for today – International Geocaching Day. I had already attempted another cache enroute to my house, but DNF’ed (that’s another story all together). Fortunately I was able to park nearby, grab the cache, earn my International Geocaching Day 2014 souvenir and be on my way home in under 5 minutes.   SEVERE SPOILER ALERT: cache container and location revealed below!       And now, with no further ado…. drum roll please…. my new souvenir:

  Now we’re on a roll, three souvenirs unlocked – half way there! To unlock the Collector souvenir, we had to find either a virtual, whereigo, letterbox or webcam.  Being the over-achievers, SBlookers and I actually double tapped this one and found a cool webcam cache and an awesome letterbox cache. The webcam cache “Too Weird, Man” was, well, weird… but super fun.  I must admit, I do love webcam caches! GCHQ has archived this cache type, so only the grandfathered ones are left.  They are definitely a rare cache type, so I try to hunt them down whenever I can. This webcam was located inside a warehouse of old electronics – I mean all kinds of old electronics!  I highly recommend planning an extra 30+ minutes cruising around the store after nabbing the webcam photo. Thanks to the cache owner for keeping this one active.  Definitely deserves another favorite point from me! Here is our awesome photo:   We also hunted down a great letterbox cache, but that is a story for another day    

  Alright, there is number two!  I grabbed an Earthcache to unlock the “Nature Lover” souvenir.  This was a cool earthcache in the heart of Sacramento.  Arcade Creek Earthcache brings you to this little creek running through the middle of town. As a bonus, this cache has a traditional cache, benchmark and Munzee all within a 100 feet of it!  Cha-ching!     SPOILER ALERT:  Cache container and location revealed!  

We just finished filling in all 366 boxes in our Finds for Each Day of the Year grid.  Yep, we have found a cache on every day of the year including the elusive Leap Day on February 29th! I noticed this stats box about 15 months ago, January 2013, and decided that the grid needed to be all green! A cache for each day of the year is all we needed and so we started.  A cache on January 4th, another on the 15th.  A smiley for February 14th and yet another on February 27th.  Next on the list, March 9th. The funny thing is that last year on this day we were actually well aware that we needed a find for March 9th and the wifey and I even talked about grabbing a cache that fateful day a year ago annnnndddd we were even out and about, but we plain ole forgot.  We got home, looked at each other – arg! So today is sweet redemption one year later! BEFORE:   AFTER:

I nearly died on this cache!

Most of my friends just rolled their eyes. I am a bit of a story teller and who wants to hear a boring story? But seriously… I am almost died… kind of.