GSAK – What can it do?

GSAK – Geocaching Swiss Army Knife is a (quoted straight from their website) “all in one Geocaching and waypoint management tool. Major features include: Multiple databases, sending/receiving waypoints to GPSr, Google maps, conversion to many mapping formats, PDA output (including CacheMate support), HTML output, extensive searching, macro support, backup and restore, distance/direction from other waypoints (including caches, locations, post codes) and much more. GSAK only runs on Windows operating systems (2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7)”. You can download the latest version from their website at GSAK.net.

SO what does GSAK do – quite a lot but I guess the best way to explain some of the things is to tell you how Nana & I use it.
1) You can have multiple databases. We have several, one for OUR FINDS, one for OUR HIDES, one for caches we need to find in the peninsula hides we haven’t found yet and another for the southside caches yet to be found, and then others as we plan trips – for example the trip to Pennsylvania we just took had its own database. Having these separate databases lets you keep things organized and GSAK can be customized as you like.
2) We also use it to generate the stats for our Geocaching.com profile page. This report can be customized with as little or as many different charts as you like. Take a look at our profile page and check out all the different information available.
3) Let’s say you want to go geocaching in the Kempsville area. You can run a query and download it directly into GSAK. Let’s say you ran a query for the 25 caches around Kempsville that you hadn’t already found. Once that query is in GSAK – you can tell from one screen the difficulty and terrain of all 25 caches, you can tell which have not been found (or as we use – tell which caches haven’t been found in the last year (if applicale), what the last date each was found, the distance from Kempsville, the types of caches and all sorts of information. Then you can edit that list to delete certain caches you don’t want to go find, add others, etc. Once you have your list as you like it – you can then output it directly to your GPS and even to Excel for a print out of your list (Nana & I use a list most of the time so we can take notes on each cache even though our GPS devices allow paperless caching). You even have a macro available that will tell you the optimum route for getting to these caches!
4) Once you return home, you connect your GPS to GSAK and it can import your finds and then it has the ability for you to enter Notes for each cache and your logs. Say you found 20 and DNF’d 1 from your list. GSAK allows you to edit all your logs and then with one click it will upload all your logs (finds and DNFs). Along with the logs you can also dip your trackables, drop them and even pick up trackables that are in each cache – all from one place and then upload everything with one click!
5) We also keep a separate database for Puzzle caches that we haven’t found yet. As we work out the solution, we enter the coordinates in the notes section and then download that cache information directly into our GPS unit.

There are lots of other nice bells and whistles – too many to go into here!

the current GSAK class I have scheduled for this Sunday is full – but if you are interested – let me know and I will schedule another real soon!

As always – STAY SAFE & Keep Caching!

SNAP – Suffolk Nana & Papa

A Must-Do Cache !!!

Normally we just list the caches we have recently found and tell you a little about each cache, but every once in a while we run into a terrific cache that we must tell everyone about!!! Now I know as soon as I tell you what type of cache it is – some, if not most of you, will click off the page and venture somewhere else in cyberspace. Please don’t click off just yet. What if I told you this cache has only been published for a little over 10 days? What if I told you that everyone that has found it (7 cachers as of this writing) has added it to their favorites? That’s right – this cache has a 100% Favorite Rating!!! Now, please don’t get discouraged, but it is a puzzle cache! No it is not hard – no it does not involve sitting down and pouring through reference material for hours on end. Nor does it require you to decipher some exotic code or codes that hide somewhere in the far recessed corners of the internet. All that is required is for you to visit several places and most of all have fun!!! If you can count (even if you use your fingers like we did), add and subtract – you can have fun doing this cache!

Smithfield recently joined several of the other south-side cities in displaying their mascots. Norfolk has their mermaids, Chesapeake recently started putting out Herons (I think they are Herons), Virginia Beach has numerous dolphins all over the city. Well now Smithfield has PIGS!!! Imagine that! There are eight brightly decorated pigs scattered mostly in the downtown Smithfield area. All are very colorful and display parts of Smithfields various claims to fame.

Chihuahua94me had heard these pigs were coming and developed a tremendous puzzle cache that incorporates all of these pigs in a very fun adventure through the town. Everyone that has found it, including Nana & myself, has awarded a favorite point to the cache. Nana immediately wanted to name this “Cache of the Year” for us but I reminded her that the year was only half over. She reluctantly conceded that point but I know at the end of the year this cache will be among, if not on top, of her very short list!

GC3PTB0 – Smithfield’s Porcine Parade is the number and name of the cache. Take your kids, take the neighbor kids, take your spouse that really doesn’t like caching, take your spouse that really likes caching, take the neighbors also. I would recommend doing this cache (believe it or not) on a Saturday morning only because they also have the Smithfield Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and you can get some wonderful deals at the same time. The Farmer’s Market does make parking a little of a challenge but it is not really that bad. Look at the cache page and the map of where all the waypoints (all the different pigs) are located at. I would suggest grabbing the one in front of Smithfield Station early as the parking there can be a real pain. From there I would go get the one at the intersection of 10 and 258 (western most pig). After grabbing those two you can park anywhere downtown on 258 and walk to the rest.

All that is required at each waypoint is to 1) locate the pig, 2) check which pig you are at by checking the nameplate and 3) accurately count the number of items for that particular pig. Sounds easy! In truth it is. We did have trouble with counting the correct number of flowers and missed the number of pigs on another but correcting those numbers was easy enough! If you read everyone’s logs ahead of time you will see which waypoints/pigs have given everyone the most trouble and know which ones you need to pay particular attention to. The cache page also has a geochecker so you will know when you have solved the puzzle correctly!

I will not give you any clues here as to the final but PLEASE try to get out to Smithfield and find this cache – it is one of the best puzzle caches we have ever done!

While you are visiting Smithfield – another great puzzle cache is GC1WQAD – Bronze Statues Hold The Key – in fact while you are walking from pig to pig gathering clues – you will pass most of not all of the statues you need for this cache. Nana & I found the Statue cache back in February of 2010 and we still talk about it and recommend it from time to time.

Also in Smithfield is Windsor Castle Park – a very well manicured park with various walking and biking trails. There are about eighteen (18) caches in Windsor Castle Park. I guarantee it will be a day to remember.

Nana’s secret weapon !!!

Yes we did quite a lot of caching last weekend. We joined up with jtmlam59 once again to form Team S&M and knocked around the south side of Hampton Roads knocking out caches for almost 10 hours both days. This post, instead of the normal recap of the best caches of last weekend, will let you in on one of Nana’s little secrets.

It has been, as most of you can attest, really hot and humid throughout the Hampton Roads area the last several weeks. Nana has this little secret that she came up with almost a year ago. We use it on very hot days and although it days not protect you from the heat and humidity – it makes it almost bearable once you return to your vehicle.

In the morning as we are preparing our goodies and getting everything loaded into the SNAP-mobile, Nana prepares her treat. Nana takes wash cloths – one for each person on the trip that day (and each person has a different color assigned to them) – and soaks them in water with just a dab of baby wash added. Each wash cloth (or face cloth if you prefer) is then wrung out and placed in a sandwich baggy. These baggies are then placed in the bottom of the cooler I am sure all of you carry with you, beneath the frozen bottles of water (or ice if you prefer) and then promptly left there to chill!

Later in the day, when returning from a semi-arduous trek to some elusive cache, covered in perspiration, with sweat dripping off your nose, ears some parts of your body you didn’t even know could sweat – take a break – pull your wash cloth out of that cooler (make sure you only take your colored wash cloth). If you are lucky – your wash cloth has been in there long enough to start forming ice crystals!!! Gently remove the wash cloth from the baggy, remove your glasses if you wear them – and then slap that sucker on your face just as if you were hitting your mate/better half/worse half/spouse with a cream pie in an old black-and-white movie. Once you have cooled yourself down – gently fold you cloth back up, place it back into the baggy, and than back into the cooler – it will work over and over again.

It can sting a little – but it will re-invigorate you times 100.

Hope this little trick helps – and by all means – if you have a tip for us – we will gladly take it and perhaps even post about it here!

Till next time – Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

Geocaching Recap June 24th

Sunday, June 24th, Nana & I picked up alara about 8AM and started another good day of geocaching around the Hampton Roads area. On today’s list were caches in the Hampton and Newport News areas. The temperatures on the day didn’t start out to bad but the humidity was so high the hot air hung around like a hot, wet towel.

We started off with a few quick grabs:
GC3BH8Q – Not the Lion’s mane but his…. – 1.5/1 Micro where we almost got caught by a muggle taking a smoke break but I think we all got away without raising too much suspicion.
GC3HGMY – The Two Towers – 1.5/1.5 Micro – I played a mean trick here by grabbing the cache and stepping away without Nana or alara realizing I had it. I was signing the log while they still were searching!
GC3HGKJ – Young Love – 1/1.5 Small – We added another log sheet to this one as the original log sheet was full.

We did have a DNF between 1 & 2 – Down By The Station GC3BJXP – we will be back but marked it as a winter cache. Another DNF happened at GCMQDD – A Beachin’ Ditti – 4.5/2.5 but it was just to out-in-the-open and humid to search for too long at the location.

We then found a parking space and went for a long walk on the beach headed towards GCGM7A – A Grand View Cache – this is Hampton’s oldest cache and we were happy to make the find. We grabbed a TB but were confused as it was listed as a regular but the container we found was a small!!!

After the long walk back to the SNAP-mobile we headed out for a few more Park n Grabs

GC3BFVJ – A Total Eclipse of the Sun – 2.5/1.5 Small – quick find by Nana
GC3HGP1 – Lonely Burgers – 1.5/1 Micro – I made the quick grab here!
GC3CRAF – John E. Cache’s Flying Fish – 3/2 Micro – A very nice hide that Nana found – awarded this one a favorite point!!!
GC3K37Q – Bet You Can’t Resist – 1.5/1 Not Chosen – This is basically a quick P&G once you solve the puzzle part of the cache!

We next headed up to the west side of Noland Park to pick up two caches we missed the last time we were in the area:

WOW! – The Police checked the Cache????

GCW8R6 – JEEP Swappin’ – 1/1.5 Regular – We made our way down the trail and then alara & I pushed through the bush. alara made the find a short while later – we were disappointed to find all the trackables listed as being in the cache were missing but enjoyed the find.
GCVR65 – #11 – 4.5/1.5 Micro – we headed back to the SNAP-mobile and stopped to grab this one. We were anticipating a DNF here but surprisingly made a really quick find. We were able to retrieve and sign the log AND get it back into place without anyone coming down the trail and catching us!

We took a short break for lunch and then went back for a few more P&G’s:
GC3826T – Black Out 1 – 2/1 Micro – quick grab
GC389P5 – Black Out 2 – 1/1 Micro – quick grab
GC2C4EV – Oyster Point Puzzler Clue #4 Ver. 1.1 – 1.5/2 Small – a short walk to a nice find
GC1VJB3 – No fishing pole required to cache me – 2.5/1.5 Micro – we had been here before (a long time ago) and reported this one missing so it was a real easy P&G
GC1Q9CH – Marina Mission – 3/3 Regular – we solved the puzzle part of the cache with no problem but trying to find a path to GZ proved to be too much this late in the day. We recorded our coordinates and promise to be back in cooler weather.

GCQAMG – A CraZy SBUX Cache – 3/1.5 Micro – we had recorded a DNF on this one before so now we had alara with us to try again. We searched for quite awhile before Nana asked me to PAF. We don’t usually use PAFs but I figured it couldn’t hurt. Anyway we got hold of a friend and she couldn’t remember the cache so we hung up and looked for just a few more minutes before heading back to the SNAP-mobile. We wrote down on the clip board DNF and were discussing where to go next and the phone rang! Our PAF called back and gave us a hint without coming out and telling us. Back out of the SNAP-mobile we made the find in less than 5 minutes!!!

We decided to try one more cache – GC2MMG1 – Blue Light Special 1/1.5 Small – we are glad we tried this one as Nana made the grab right away and told us to come look! A great cache! Awarded it not only a favorite point but also named it the winner of the “Coveted” Nana & Papa Cache of the Day Award! CONGRATS!!!!

That ended our great day for caching and we took off back towards Bowers Hill and Suffolk.

As Always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

June 17th – a Father’s Day Bike & Cache Trip

Jim & Lynn of jtmlam59 arrived just before 8AM. We loaded up the new bike rack on the SNAP-mobile and Team S&M was formed once again and off we went.

Out first stop was supposed to be a quick grab in Smithfield but after arriving at GZ (Ground Zero) and realizing how much the area had overgrown we looked for just a minute or two and then headed back North.

Our next cache was a multi located at Historic Fort Huger (GC3ETZ9). Previous logs for this find all seemed to indicate that it was much better to look for stage two before going back to stage one. Needless to say, we didn’t heed the warning and spent a great deal of time looking for stage 1 first! After quite a few minutes, we headed off to stage 2 and located that clue rather quickly. We all pedaled our bikes back to stage 1 nad within a few minutes we located the clue. Now somewhere in all of htis we made a mistake (we learned this much later). Somehow we punched in the new coordinates incorrectly and spent the next half hour or so searching in the entirely wrong place for a cache that wasn’t anywhere near where we were looking for it. Long story short – we got some fantastic pictures, explored a beach that needs a cache but still came up empty as far as the find goes. **Note: we talked with the CO (Cache Owner) later and learned we were not in the correct place). We loaded the bikes back on the SNAP-mobile and headed back north again.

The next stop on our trip was Chippoles State Park. If you haven’t been up here to experience this park – please put it on your to-do list. This is a gorgeous park. Most of the trails are paved so bike riding is easy (except for those darn hills!!!). There are a total of six caches in the park that range from a 1.5/2 cache to a 2/5 cache (and to tell you the truth – the 2/5 cache isn;t hard at all!!!). Plenty of historic houses, fields and scenery to keep your interest. Definitely don’t forget to bring hte camera. Team S&M grabbed all four caches we had left to find in the park and then made it back to the SNAP-mobile, loaded up the bikes again and then headed North for some more geocaching on the bikes.

We waited in line at the Scotland-Jamestown Ferry for just a few minutes then made our way over to Jamestown where we grabbed one cache before taking a break for lunch. After a quick bite to eat to refill our stomachs, we headed back towards the ferry and after a quick puzzle cache found a place to park and off loaded the bikes one more time!

Over the next few hours we biked the beginning of the Virginia Capital Trail picking up and additional eleven finds. At about our 7th cache on this part of the trip, we ran into some very new cachers “2crazyboys”. This very nice family (don’t know how they picked the name 2 crazy boys as they seemed rather mild mannered and well behaved to me!) was touring the area and had just started caching. We talked with them for a few and I introduced them to trackables and showed Dad how to log it on his phone. I gave them a trackable to drop for Nana & I later in the day and we said our goodbyes. Several caches and about a half hour later, we ran into them again – they had just dropped the trackable in the cache they had just found. We wished them good luck in thier endeavors and waved goodbye as we headed out to the next cache on the list!

We finally made our way back to the SNAP-mobile and loaded up the bikes for the last time. We were all dead tired (or at least I was) so now it was time for some geocaching in the SNAP-mobile – enough pedaling for our smilies!!!

We grabbed a few more caches around james County and WIlliamsburg and then decided it was about time to head back to Suffolk. We all stopped for dinner in Suffolk and then made our way back to our homestead and off loaded the bikes one more time! Jim helped me get the bike rack into the house and I had just enough energy to do a tick check, take a shower and then pass out on the bed!!! Quite a lot of pedaling but the day was fantastic!

Listed below is the list of caches we tried!
DNF A Little Birdie Told Me GC3C74B 1.5/1.5 Micro too overgrown – we will be back!
DNF Historic Fort Huger GC3ETZ9 3/1.5 Regular Multi – punched in wrong numbers – we will be back – GREAT VIEW -
1 Deepers Creepers GC1XRYX 1.5/1 Small Bike to cache – lovely location
2 VSP Chippokes Plantation Blooming Adventure GC3D53D 2/5 Regular Bike to cache – not that hard!
3 James River Trail GCHF3B 2/3 Small Bike to cache nice view
4 A Redoubtable Cache GC1XR42 2/3 Small – got this one off our DNF list!
5 Ferry Free For All – Jamestown GC2D44A 2/1.5 Small – quick P&G
LUNCH BREAK
6 CJS – Preservation Virginia GC2F40K 1.5/1.5 Regular Puzzle (easy)
7 It’s Only Natural GC3KK2B 2/2 Regular Bike
8 VCT Trailhead GC25VBH 2/1 Micro Bike
9 Capital Trail Greensprings Currency GC164PB 1.5/1 Small Bike
10 Wired on the Trail GC1GYYY 1.5/1 Micro Bike
11 Papa Knox Visitin Cache GC1GYWR 3.5/2.5 Micro Bike
12 The other thing Bears do in the Woods GC1FB5D 3/3 Small Bike – never found the bear but did find the cache
13 Greensprings 2 GCN9ZF 1/1 Regular Bike
14 Greensprings Micro GCZADM 1.5/1.5 Micro Bike
15 Greensprings GCBF31 1/1.5 Regular Bike
16 Greensprings Coin Exchange GC105XP 2/2 Regular Bike
17 There Be Dragons! GC38MHJ 1/1.5 Small Bike – back to van
18 CJS – Powhatan Creek Park & Blueway GC2F40H 3/2 Regular
19 Ace in the Hole GC2Q3WP 1/1 Micro
20 River Side GC3BHM1 2/1.5 Micro
21 Watch Out For Trolls, the sequel GC3DP9Z 3.5/2 Micro
22 Field of Dreams GC2GCZY 2.5/1 Micro
23 They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot GC3JGNA 3/1.5 Unknown Multi (Offset)
24 Crim Dell Wall GC2EWGW 3/1.5 Small – finally got this one off our DNF list also

Favorite Points were awarded to: The other thing Bears do in the Woods (GC1FB5D) and CJS – Preservation Virginia (GC2F40K)

The winner of the “Coveted” Nana & Papa cache of the Day Award AND a favorite point was: Watch Out For Trolls, the sequel GC3DP9Z – CONGRATS!!!

Thanks goes out to Jim & Lynne of jtmlam59 for joining us for another great caching day!

As always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching

Geocaching brings people together…

One of the great things about geocaching is it can, on occasion, bring people together with a common interest. Sometimes it happens when you least experience. Recently I received several nice e-mails about one such experience and I thought it might be nice to share them with all of you.

On the outskirts of the area called Hampton Roads is a small community named Holland. It lies just inside the Suffolk line as you head west on Route 58. It is a small community and about a year ago Nana & I placed a small cache near a historical marker on the main drag through the town. It seems one of this towns claims to fame is that it is the site of the very first Ruritan Club (hence the historical marker. There is not much else to bring you into this quaint little town so it seemed like a good area for a cache. Recently three cachers, with only a couple of things in common, one of which is geocaching, just happened to meet up at this cache.

Anyway, the logs and a copy of the very nice e-mail I received about their meeting are below. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed receiving them.

RE: SNAP 43 – Holland’s First (GC2X8G6)

Suffolk Nana & Papa:

Y’all scored a major Geo-victory with this ‘un yesterday afternoon!

1. I got to meet Run&Hike at the cache site and spend some very high quality time with this interesting couple from Maryland.

2. While we were chatting, an elderly gentleman (not that the three of us are youngsters! – we’ve all got grandchildren!) approached us and asked if we were visiting Ruritans from elsewhere. He had been a member of this Ruritan lodge for well over 50 years and thought we might be visiting the site of the founding. (Score one for me on your blog!!)

3. Then, my age-addled brain started working and I said: “Hey, Run&Hike – I just sent you an e-mail this morning.” (I was answering the questions related to their EarthCache: Chincoteague Bay
EarthCache (GC1BPNK) that I had visited late the previous afternoon and logged as a “Note”.) Bob brought out his fancy cell phone and pulled up my e-mail, and read my message: “tokyotako, you have correctly answered all the questions and even got the bonus question solved.” (My “Note” posted on that one was quickly changed to a “Found It”.)

4. We then returned to our Geo-mobiles only to discover that we both LOVE our Subarus! They’ve got about 150,000 miles on their 2005 Outback and my 2002 WRX just clicked over the 186,000 mile marker. No better vehicle for Geocaching!

So, sincere thanks for the cache in Holland. It was a memorable experience finding this clever cache and making some new friends on the trail.

tokyotako
(Duncan Fordyce – Rural Hall, North Carolina)
——————————————————————————————–
Run&Hike found SNAP 43 – Holland’s First (Traditional Cache) at 6/16/2012

Log Date: 6/16/2012
We found this on the way home from our 45th Wedding Anniversary trip to Stone Mountain. Seeing the distance from Route 58, we weren’t sure we wanted to take the time but decided to make the detour.
Parking next to another Subaru we approached GZ…
…and met another cacher, tokyotaco, who said…
…that he’d sent us an email concerning one of our caches!
What a coincidence!
With the cache found we were talking when a “Mr. Holland” stopped to chat and told us more about the history of this place. After almost an hour swapping caching stories we were returning to the Geo-Outback TB…
…when we saw a horse-drawn carriage approaching and quickly took some pictures. Then, we resumed our trip North and tokyotako headed South.
Thanks for a cache, a mini-meet’n'greet and a history lesson!
Our answer has been emailed.
——————————————————————————————–
tokyotako found SNAP 43 – Holland’s First (Traditional Cache) at 6/16/2012

Log Date: 6/16/2012
One very nice placement in a great location and an OUTSTANDING Geocaching experience. No sooner than I had arrived at the site of this cache, I got muggled by that dynamic duo from Maryland: Run&Hike. With six eyes and thirty fingers better than two and ten (respectively) this semi-evil wee devil was soon in hand (THANKS, Bob!) and the log properly marked by all.
Needless to say, a Geo-gab-fest followed as we returned to our vehicles; then a Subaru talk-a-thon followed (Run&Hike’s Outback vs. my {much older} WRX). What a memorable cache that brought together three cachers – each of us about 250 miles from our home ports. TFTC seems a bit lame under the circumstances. tokyotako – Rural Hall, North Carolina
——————————————————————————————–

Thanks to both tokyoako and Run&Hike for their nice e-mails and logs. Glad we could help bring two cachers together. They both answered the question on the cache page correctly!

Until next time…..

Stay Safe & Keep Caching!!!

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

WWFM ?????

WWFM – what the heck does that stand for? Don’t worry – I’ll make it a multiple choice quiz. Is it…

a) An obscure FM radio station, somewhere on the radio dial that airs shows about geocaching
b) A conspiracy laden radio talk show with stories about strange people who place random articles around the world for their followers to find.
c) Neither

The correct answer is (c) Neither. WWFM stands for World Wide Flash Mob which is defined by the ever popular wiki as follows: The term, coined in 2003, is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisement, publicity stunts that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals. In these cases of a planned purpose for the social activity in question, the term smart mobs is often applied instead.

In our case though (for discussion here) it means a well planned geocaching event put together by LeoCaptKirk. A what happened was about 50 people (maybe more, maybe less) got together and had a great time doing the Hokey Pokey in the shadow of Virginia Beach’s King Neptune.

Although there were several complaints about parking, none of the people I talked to let that damper their dancing or their laughing.

Everyone I saw had a great time and quite a few of us were finally able to get our hands on the ever elusive King Neptune Cache!

Are you sure there is a cache in there?

Listed below are two links, one to the video taken and edited by the Adventure Stones and the second to the video taken by alara. The videos were taken from different angles so if you don’t get enough laughs by watching one – watch the other.

Adventure Stones video click here
alara video click here

Once again – thanks to LeoCaptKirk for the event (and all the prizes that we handed out) – we all had a great time!

As always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching!

June 2 – Mathews County

Saturday morning Nana & I teamed up with Jim and Lynne of jtmlam59 and formed Team S&M once again! The target for the day was Mathews County just east of Gloucester. The weather was beautiful and it ended up being a great day.

We started out with GC2HWRX – For all of my geocaching friends – we had been by here once before but be warned – it is best to get this cache on any day except Sunday!

Next on the list was Mission Impossible 1 GC36AX0 – a lovely multi located on the grounds of a church. Simple enough but quite a great multi – the final had us scratching our heads for about 5 seconds but we quickly figured out the clue and made the grab.

WareHouse Landing – GC1AJ7Y – this was another cache from our DNF list and we managed to make the finds while all the muggles close by ignored us.

Tour de Yesteryear/ Ware Neck – GC1D0KT – yet another that we had looked for before and I can;t figure out if it Jim and Lynne bringing us additional luck or if we were just blind the first time we were here! It did take us quite a while to make the find but Jim finally spotted it!

Bohannon Post Office – GC3E49X – the coordinates were off just a little but once we reviewed the previous logs and moved our search we found it right away!

Bohannon/ Peninsula School – GC2FP0M – this is another one off our DNF list – we are on a roll!

I want your stamp – GC3464F – a hybrid! – love these – the find was really quick and off we went to the next one!

CJS – Mathews County Visitor Center – GC2F412 – thought we would lose Pam on this one – the cache is located not only at the visitor center but it also doubles as a nice country store – we gave Nana plenty of time to look around once we made the grab!

Hometown Cake Boss – GC38WBK – we let our geosenses guide us to the container. There was a large yard sale going on across the street so some of us browsed after making the find!

Share A Smile – GC2CDB7 – we went in circles for about ten minutes before I finally spotted the little devil!

Bayside – GC21PVJ – a quick P&G!

Observe ???? – GCKZD9 – and another quick P&G – at least there is beautiful scenery around!

Winter Harbor – GC2N2F5 – as I stated above – the purpose of the day was to wipe out all caches in the county – well this one was left for another trip as there were two fishermen sitting right where we were supposed to be looking – skipped it this trip – we will be back!

Bethal Beach – GCM1WN – we found the container about 88′ from where we were supposed to be but we still made the find!

One Lane Bridge – GC2GKZT – thought we would have problems here but the fisherman left as we pulled up – another smilie!

Big Bird Alley – GC2K12T – another quick P&G

Pear Tree – GC23412 – found a place to park and made the grab quickly!

The Jetty – GC115HH – found this one after just a few minutes

The Legend of Old House Woods – GC230MJ – we thought there might be a problem here but it is located on a road that is seldom used so we pulled to the side and made the grab!

Load – Unload – GC22YX5 – our first DNF on the day – we looked and looked – after leaving we realized where we think it might be. Anyway, we now have two caches left in the county for next trip!

The Haven – GCMEMB – another quick P&G

A quick Trip to the Moon – GC230N5 – another quick find – we are having a terrific day!

Battle of Cricket Hill – GC230PB – this is a puzzle/multi – we weren’t quite sure we had done the puzzle correctly but as we approached our GZ coords – we knew we were in the correct place. This is a lovely island!

Gwynns Island #1 – GC1B2VQ – this is another cache located on Gwynn’s Island – this is a great place – well worth the drive!

Keebles – GC2NDGD – another cache a very historic and scenic location!

Gwynn’s History – GC2BEFJ – a puzzling cache as far as the location – thought we would be closer to the Visitor Center – we did make the find though!

A Nice Sea Breeze – GC230NR – we parked in the correct spot and the others made the grab while I was still getting out of the SNAP-mobile!

field of dreams – GC2A2X5 – as we pulled up to the parking coordinates we knew we would have to skip this one – the entire area was full of kids, adults and grills – so now there are 3 caches left in the county for next time!

Smither’s Lane – GC2341E – a very scenic location and the find eluded us for only a few minutes!

A Rose is a Rose – GCWQKQ – we overthought this one and were about to give up when I started all over and made the find!

Piankatank River Landing – GCM4JM – this one took us a few but we made the grab!

Roane Point – GC16P90 – another very scenic location – great location! The cache did take us quite a while to find – but we did earn the smilie!

home sweet home – GC243KM – another quick P&G

Dixie P & R – GC1403Z – we are hacing a terrific day – another smilie!

The 1st Day of Christmas – GC2KG53 – a great cache although we did feel a bit obvious looking at this location!

The 2nd Day of Christmas – GC2KG58 – a quick P&G

I Do – GC3M12Z – first we made the grab and then we passed and congratulated the bride and groom who had just got married on the beach!

Triston’s Hideaway – GC3M127 – wish we had found this cache but after talking with a previous finder (later in the day) – we were in the correct location and the cache must have been muggled!

Trailer Park – GC2RC2T – park the SNAP-mobile and then a short walk to GZ for another smilie!

We ended the day with 35 finds, 2 DNFs and just two “did not look”s – don’t those muggles have anything better to do????

For those of you who haven’t been up to Mathews County – please go take the drive – it is a lovely county – plenty of boat ramps all with great views.

Favorite Points were awarded to: Roane Point, Tour de Yesteryear/ Ware Neck, CJS – Mathews County Visitor Center, The 1st Day of Christmas and Keebles.

Winner of the “Coveted” Nana & Papa Cache of the Day Award (and a favorite point) was: Mission Impossible 1 – congrats!!!

Special thanks goes out to Jim & Lynne for all the help – we really had fun!

As always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

Roanoke Rapids

Saturday we got an early start – alara showed up and we headed west to Roanoke Rapids, NC. This, and the surrounding towns, are full of historic monuments and places you can visit. The towns are small (compared to Hampton Roads) and feature plenty of beautiful old houses.

Roanoke Rapids also has an eight mile walking path that travels along the river giving you plenty of time and opportunities to use your camera to capture pictures of both wildlife and beautiful scenery.

Listed below are just some of the twenty-two geocaches we found during our trip.

GC3GP3Y – Tar Heel Economy Hotel & Casino – this is a nice cache at the rest stop on I-95 as you head towards Roanoke Rapids. You may have to out-wait some of the dog walkers to get to the cache but patience will reward you with another find.

GC2P2EM – Halifax 7 – Weldon – If you leave yourself enough time, Halifax 7 is just one part of an 8 part puzzle cache that takes you to some of the seven small towns in Halifax County NC. The clue in each cache will reveal the coordinates of the final cache located in Roanoke Rapids.

GC2Q4XB – Girl Just Want To Have Fun – located in a small park in Halifax, we spotted this small turtle near the cache.

GC2NRFW – Shooting Star on the Roanoke – this cache is placed near a historic marker. It is also on the river walk. Nana & I didn’t bring the bikes on this trip but this path is about 8 miles long and the next time we are out this way we will make sure we bring the bikes!

GC2P2BZ – Halifax 7 – Littleton – if you head out this way – do this cache first (and then the next cache listed second). This is a small model of the location featured in the next cache.

GC2M8C9 – Person’s Ordinary – this location is lovely and well worth the visit. Plenty of history here – make sure you read all about the location. Awarded a favorite point to this one!

GC2AWK9 – The Rocks – although the cache at this location is a Geocaching 101 cache the location itself is well worth the trip and will give you a very scenic picture.

GC13VJ5 – Just What the Doctor Ordered – another cache we awarded a favorite point to and a historic site that is rather cute!

GC13VJJ – The Battle of Buck Nekkids – located just off the main highway – there is a history lesson that is quite amusing here!

GC1F8WK – Old Post Office Box – located just outside the main entrance to a RV park, this is a puzzle cache that you don’t have to do a bunch of homework ahead of time to complete. Just drive up to the site, locate the container, and be observant – and the cache is yours! We awarded a favorite point here and named this cache the winner of the “Coveted” Nana & Papa Cache of the Day Award!

UPCOMING EVENTS we plan on attending:

June 9th – GC3J7X9 – WWFM #9: Hokey Pokey Hampton Roads!
June 19th – GC3EECB – Third Tuesday Burgers & Beer – GCHR June 2012
June 23rd – GC3KQGX – Geo Wheels TB Rally Race Kick Off!

As always – Stay Safe & Keep Caching!
SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa

Weekend Recap (May 12 and 13)

A few years ago a geocaching friend of ours told us “If you keep finding them at this rate you will eventually run out of caches to find.” He was right! I guess that is one of the downsides of loving caching so much. Although we are not quite there yet, we are scratching the proverbial bottom of the barrel in the Hampton Roads area. Yes, there are enough caches to keep us busy, at least for the rest of this year, but most of the ones that are left are either 1) ones we have looked for multiple times and still cannot find, or 2) caches that haven’t been found in quite a long time.

Saturday we spent some time performing maintenance on some of our caches and then hid three more SNAP caches. We actually published our first and second NON-Suffolk caches . There used to be a cache named Free Ride. It was one of our all time favorite caches! The cache itself was nothing really great but the drive to ground zero was one that I will always remember. Free Ride fell into disrepair and was eventually archived so Pam & I decided to place another cache in the same location.
SNAP 80 – Free Ride is located in North Carolina on the shores of Meherrin River. If you come at this cache from the south you will enjoy a short ride down a gravel road where you might (depending on the time of year) see just about any type of wildlife available in the area. You will arrive at the river and you will see, docked on the other side of the river) a single-car, cable driven ferry. If you honk your horn, the ferry operator will come out of his office on the other side of the river. He will wave at you and come and get you so you can cross the river. The ferry is run by the state and there is no charge for the ride. Once you get to the other side you will be within a few feet of the cache. This is not meant to be a difficult hide. The main purpose of this hide is to provide you with scenery and the opportunity to take all sorts of pictures and to enjoy the ride. Once on the other side you can enjoy an even longer gravel road ride where even more wildlife will be available for your viewing pleasure. Once back at the main road a left will take you down to Murfreesboro with a few caches and a very nice historic downtown area. A right hand turn will take you back into Virginia and towards Franklin. Nana & I placed the next new cache on the way back to Franklin – SNAP 79 – A Nice Country Drive is located at a crossroads and is also a very simple cache.

Back in Suffolk we also hid another new cache this weekend, SNAP 81 – PVT Thomas Patterson is a nice cache located in one of the Suffolk Cemeteries.

Sunday, Mother’s Day, Nana & I took a list of some of the remaining caches located in Portsmouth, Norfolk and western Virginia Beach and decided to see how many we might be able to find this time. There were plenty of caches on the list but most of them had eluded us at least once before. We did however sprinkle in a few newer caches just so we wouldn’t have a total washout of a day.
Camelot’s End (GC3D2F0) was a quick find on a quiet Sunday morning but Triangles and Trees (GC3BZGZ) eluded us. The previous two times we had been at this location there was construction workers toiling away the day and we did not feel comfortable searching in front of them. Our DNF made a total of three DNFs in a row on this one!
We were finally able to claim the smilie for Walking Oakley (GC35GA3). Previous visits had us finding muggles but no cache and we were glad to get this one off our list.
Die Steine sind in Town zuruck (GC3H8B9) which roughly translates to the Stones are back in town was another DNF. We had translated the name before leaving the house so our greatest fear was realized when we pulled up to GZ and found a large area full of stones. We spent about 20 – 25 minutes turning things over and generally searching the area. Didn’t feel too bad about not finding it though as there has only been one found log in eleven tries.
Made our way over to Cradock and found What A Gun (GC2NCRZ) – it was our 2nd attempt here and we found the sucker in just a few. The multi-cache Cradock Cache gave us some problems as we encountered a fence with No Trespassing signs but an email to the CO revealed we needed to work our math one more time.
We then headed over to Norfolk and tried Only the Elephant Nose (GC2QYGR), Wckd Soul had recently found it and her log led us to believe we could to – WRONG! – stumbled around for quite a few minutes before giving up. We did get to help a lost mother taking her kids to the zoo – she couldn’t find the entrance so we gave her directions.
HR Alphabet Soup: E is for Eddie’s Soup? (GC124AY) the third time is not a charm as we recorded our 2nd or 3rd DNF at this location. There has been some landscaping changed here so if the cache is still in play it should be easier to find in the winter.
Willow Wood (GCZJ2V) proved to us that we CAN still find a cache. A nice walk from the previous cache revealed a nice size ammo can – wow – someone still has an ammo can hidden in the city! Gave it a favorite point!
Rock into the Arts (GC2J68P) proved to be our 6th DNF on the day. Thought we knew what we were looking for but we still couldn’t locate the cache.
We’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat (GC38WDK) – HEY! – we found another cache. A really cute idea in a high muggle place. Gave it a favorite point also as the idea was great!
Would you believe we found two in a row, Monkey Bottom Park Stash (GC3DC1E) a regular size container hidden in a nice park with absolutely no muggles around. Another favorite point awarded – just for having the courage to hide something this size in this location.
Solar Wind (GC3956P) was our third smilie in a row. A fairly quick find while no muggles were present. A cute idea.
Puzzle cache the Word Heard (GC35Q3X) – this was our 2nd visit here and we went armed with a hint from the CO. Unfortunately, the last finder had located the cache on the ground so the hint from the CO as to where to look proved to be useless. We will wait until maintenance or another log shows up before we head back. We were really confused as the size is listed as Small and we were not able to locate.
ISPYU (GC3GZGK) proved to be a humorous little cache. Took us a few before we located it but we were glad we could find it.
TOC cache (GC3CCBV) – we always hesitate when one of the things you read on the cache page is: “The cache is just slightly deeper into the woods then what the cords show aka North of cords”. We read that sentence, looked at the area, gave it a half-hearted attempt – and then marked it as a Winter cache.
Nana is hot today, finding caches left and right with just a little help from me. Look For: Resurrection (GC3JFT3) – Nana spotted it right off the bat and we made quick work of signing the log and getting it back in place before anyone else arrived.
P.O. Box – Thomas Corner Station (GC36RN7) was another puzzle cache – another cacher e-mailed me right after we posted the DNF and gave us a little hint , it ends up it was right where we thought it was we just couldn’t see it. We will pick it up next time we are in the area.
Worst Cache in H.R. (GCVTZZ) – not sure what earned the cache it’s name or how long ago the name was changed but this is by far, no longer the worst cache in Hampton Roads. I’m sure I could name at least 10 or 20 caches that beat this one out in that category but who the heck am I…. I’m sure it could be much worse depending on the weather. I made quick work of this one as Nana spotted me from outside of all the weeds and briars.
Harry’s Cache (GC3AFEP) proved to be very amusing. We were going to bypass this one as the cache page stated they were closed on Sunday but lo and behold they were open. I could spend a stack of money in this place but I would have to win the lottery first! Had a short talk with Harry and then made our way to the cache! Another favorite point awarded – great idea and a great cache!
Moss is Boss (GC3G3FG) – we had heard stories about this one so we sorta knew what we were looking for but as I approached GZ – the cute little devil poped right out and it was like it was calling me – I reached right out and grabbed the little sucker – very quick find! Awarded it another favorite point!
Another puzzle cache, Circles of Life (GC2MYKT) proved we could find 4 in a row and was also our last cache of the day. A nice little puzzle cache. I let Nana walk the track as I made sure I remembered how to do some waypoint manipulation. In the end I relearned a thing or two about our GPS unit and learned something new also. We walked towards the new GZ and made the find in only a couple of minutes.
At the end of the day we looked at our totals and were not too sad. 13 Finds and 9 DNFs with 5 favorite points awarded. Not great numbers but you have to remember that most on the list had been DNFs before. We did manage to remove three caches from our DNF list and maybe, just maybe, someone will read this and help us out with a few hints on those caches we did not find.
The Winner of the “Coveted” Nana & Papa’s Cache of the Day was: Willow Wood hidden by Eddieandeddie – Congrats.

Until next time – Stay Safe & Keep Caching !

SNAP!!! – Suffolk Nana & Papa