September 2013 – A caching way of life
We left on our trip after the Caching breakfast at the end of August. It took about a week to get to Ottawa.
We concentrated on the March of the 104 on our way up and into QC on the TCH.
We then stopped for 3 days of caching on the bike trails across from Quebec City in Levis and saint Nicholas areas. Most of the trails are paved and have a yellow line in the middle. We met lots of bikers, skateboarders, skaters, walkers etc. Great well maintained trails with lots of caches and we got lots of exercise.
In Ottawa we had family functions to attend but we managed to do some puzzles that MA had solved including a geo art of 35 caches in the Gatineau area.
We went out a few times with MA’s brother who we introduced to caching last year. He since had a serious stroke and is now using caching to help motivate him to get out. His name is sugami.
After a week we left Ottawa with 9 days to drive to Disney World. We planned pocket queries of our route along the interstates and planned a detour to get to TN and SC, two states we had not done yet. We stopped for caches at all the rest stops, at our lunch stops and we often did a few hours of caching in the mornings before getting back on the interstates. We arrived in FL a few days early so spent a few days getting caches and walking trails around Jacksonville and Orlando.
We are now in Disney World and we have caching withdrawal because we are staying on site and we got the 7 virtuals here on previous trips.
WE LOVE THE CACHING WAY OF LIFE.
TRACKABLES
As usual we used our trip to move trackables. We brought a bunch with us from NB and picked up a few in QC and the Ottawa area. It was our intention to drop all these trackables in the USA and we accomplished that goal. We have picked up some trackables in the USA and will bring them back to NB. We will also bring any that we pick up on our way home through the USA, ON and QC.
Everyday during our trip, we make all the trackabless in our possession visit one (and only one) of the caches that we found during the day. So some of them started in Moncton and travelled to Ottawa and then made it part way to FL.
As we have stated on many occasions, we do our best to move TB’s and we have often emptied TB hotels. There are many TB Hotels at rest areas along the Interstates and they receive lots of visits from travelling cachers. So we do not hesitate to drop TB’s in these caches and we take all that we find.
Today I checked on the TB’s that we dropped and was pleased to see that many have been picked up and moved. I was surprised to see that on a couple of occasions some of the TB’s were discovered by cachers and left in the cache. I have seen this a few times in the past and it always amazes me that a cacher would not make the effort to help move a TB.
Here is the story of how we got accused of leaving a throwdown cache in PA. The cache is at a rest stop on I-81. The cache happens coincidentally to be within 7 meters of a letterbox container hidden next to an adjacent tree. The actual cache has had problems with logs about a broken container, swag on the ground, and a log sheet in a baggie under a tree. Many cachers have erroneously been signing the log book in the letterbox.
We arrived at the site not knowing most of the above details and found the baggie with a soaked log sheet full of signatures.
Here is our log
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Well this is probably a NO-NO but here is what we did.
Coords brought us to a tree with a baggie containing a soggie stinking moldie mess of paper that was likely the log for the cache. We had a small cache container wth us so we went to get it to make things OK. We threw away the log which was unusable.
When we got back to the cache location, we found the letter box next to a nearby tree with coords off by 7 meters. We did not recognize it as a letterbox and thought it was a hybrid. There were few stamps in the book but lots of caching names.
Because we thought it was the cache, we signed the log book and left two trackables.
PAul
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Here is a log by another cacher
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9373. One of 8 or so caches found on a four day camping and hiking trip down at Shenandoah National Park.
This was odd. Found letterbox first (and took 2 TB’s left by Ma and Pa for unknown reason- it was clearly NOT the cache) and then found their throw-down cache on ground. (No wonder those Ma and Pa folks have so many finds, hah!). Signed both. Who knows where original is/was…
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Here is a note we posted on the cache page
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A note to clear up the accusation by Oceanic815 that we placed a throwdown. We do not place throwdowns and we resent the accusation. As of today we have nearly 17000 honest finds and nearly 600 honest hides.
At the cache site we found a baggie with a soaked log. Thinking this was the remnants of the cache, we went back to our vehicle to get a cache container. We did not see this as a throwdown because we had found the log sheet, and considered it to be maintenance.
In any event the above is not relevant because we did not leave our container there for the following reason:
When we got back to the site, PA wandered to the next tree which was 7 meters away (about 20 feet?) and discovered another container. Thinking we had found the actual cache and thinking it was a letterbox hybrid, we signed the log book and left 2 trackables. The fact that we left 2 trackables certainly proves that we thought we had found the cache. When we logged our caches at the hotel that evening, we realized that the container we found was actually a letterbox and not the cache. So our FOUND log tries to explain that.
If we had intended on cheating, we certainly would not have written all those details and we certainly would not have left the trackables.
Also if the location is so close to a letterbox and is causing confusion, perhaps it should be moved. It should also be noted that others have erroneously signed the book in the letterbox.
I want to post updates on our trip but meanwhile here is something completely off topic
Enjoy
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A man owned a small farm in Kansas.
The Kansas Wage & Hour Department claimed he was not paying proper wages to his help and sent an agent out to interview him.
“I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them,” demanded the agent.
” Well,” replied the farmer, “there’s my farm hand who’s been with me for 3 years. I pay him $700.00 a week plus free room and board.
The cook has been here for 18 months, and I pay her $500.00 per week plus free room and board.
Then there’s the half-wit who works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here. He makes about $100.00 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night. He also sleeps with my wife occasionally.”
“That’s the guy I want to talk to — the half-wit,” says the agent.
“That would be me,” replied the farmer.