Geocaching from a different angle

Kris:  This past weekend we had very little planned and it's AWESOME!  We slept in on Saturday (which was partially due to Mark having to work until 1am) and then spent some time working on geocaching but not actually getting any.   First we spent some time scoping out a new spot for Mark to place a cache.  I think he found a great spot for a "special" cache in St Louis Park.   Then, we went back to my place to prepare and activate our Travel Bugs.

Atomic Popsicle

and Dazzle Duck

(lol for those of you that can see the "effects" above, I'm learning html and like to play with it :-P)

They are both on a mission to swim, bike and run around the globe and end in Scotland at a geocaching friend of ours Geo-Gophers.   We're both very excited to start them on their way as this is the first trackable item for each of us.

In the evening, we were out in for dinner with my parent's.  But first we spent some time scouring the area for a place for me to place a cache.   We even drove out across the lake hoping to find a drivable route to the island to grab the two caches out there but unfortunately none of the "roads" got us close enough.  So they are left for another day as we wanted to check out a very specific spot for a cache I'd like to place.  As I have permission from the owners, I hope to have it up on the edge of some private land soon.   Just have to design the container ;)

Mark: Sunday was another day to sleep in as we had no set plans, other then being available to be called by work in case of issues with the move project. Which they did call. :(

We decided to make it a day for the dogs. Rugar and Journey got to go for a walk around the neighborhood and Roscoe and Sugar got to go out for some geocaching, allowing me to live up to my geocaching name, Team Dogs. The caches we tried for were ones that I already had near my house but Kris still needed to find and catch up to me a little bit. We tried for four and found three, not too bad for a nice afternoon with the pups in the snow.

In the evening, we took advantage of a special deal that if you wear race gear for a few select races, in our case we wore our 2009 Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon shirts, you got free entrance to Rollerdome and $5 discount on registration for the 2010 Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon. We had a great time on the blades and got in about an hour of going round and round. Afterwards, Kris claims that just her right gluteus muscle was sore.

Catching up.....yikes where to start!

Kris: OK so things have been a little busy and when we've had down time, blogging wasn't on the front on our minds.   So sorry to the followers :)

So let's start from where we left off and keep most of these descriptions short as to NOT make this a novel:

1) July 31st Milwaukee Expo and caching - This event and the morning 5k race were fantastic and we each have write ups on this on our individual blogs.   As far as the caching, we basically went on a mission to get as many fun Milwaukee caches we could find.  One lead us on a goose chase around this historical park area.   The one stage of this letterbox was NOT able to be figured out but luckily our geo-senses kicked in and we managed to guess where the final state was.   We dropped one of our pathtags in a cache called "St Mark's Coffee Cache".   How perfect of a name is that? :)   Plus that also ended up being my 200th find.

At the goose chase!

Mark: Another fun cache in Milwaukee was trying to get Kris her first web cam cache. We had to enlist the aid of my brother to be the web cam operator. It took several minutes of discussion and comparing notes including Micheal emailing us a picture of the point of view from the web cam before we finally figured out where we needed to be.

Kris: And Cari asked for cheek so.....here ya go girl ;)

Additionally we got to see two Lighthouses, another one of my interests.

It is not often you get to see two lighthouses in one picture.

1.5) February 5th - My Dad arrived from Arizona for a visit with the family. We had several opportunities to spend time with him while he was in town and he had a great time getting to know Kris.

2) February 6th - We were going to run a 1 mile and 5k mile race this morning but once we did the 1 mile (across the lake, through a few inches of snow) we decided against 5k through the same awful terrain.  Plus Mark was starting to develop a nagging cough.   So we opted for a couple Hot Apple Blasts from Caribou and grabbed a few caches in White Bear Lake.  The notable one here was the one that was IN the library.  (spoiler alert!!!!) Once you solved a few questions by using the library book system, you are lead to a particular section where there is a fake book on the shelf.  How cool of a hide is that? :)

Mark: There were two other events on this day. My niece Michaela had her 3rd birthday party

and we went to the Luminary Loppet. Our first cross country ski event. A beautiful event!!!!

3) February 7th - THE BEST DAY EVER!!!! (ok so this is a copy and paste from my blog since I wrote it up there first) We decided to sleep in and then leisurely have some breakfast and after caring for the dogs and cats, head out for a run around Lake Calhoun.   There was some significance to choosing to drive over to Lake Calhoun instead of running by one of our houses.  Exactly one year ago, we first met at Lake Calhoun when a group of TNT'ers got together for an early run before the whole team met up.   There was instant sparks from that day forward.  So we were out for an easy run, reminiscing about that day we met and the past year.  Along the east side of the lake, we ran by a bench that we have stopped at a few times in the past to sit and chat and people watch.  It became a special spot for us.  So when we came around the second time, I failed to truly notice that Mark just happened to have to fix his shoe right by our bench.  We stopped for a moment, I stretched my calves while I waited for him and when I turned around to look at him.....

He was down on one knee holding the most beautiful ring I've ever seen.  (well...I did help pick it out awhile ago)  I was stunned, excited and no longer noticed the chilly air.   He asked me to marry him right there in a special place on a special day.  I said "YES!!!"

The below picture is of me in front of our buried bench and our "witness" in the background.  Somebody built a crazy looking snowman with antlers coming out of it's head

So now it's on to another chapter in life.  I am engaged to the most wonderful man and I am very excited to spend the rest of my life with him.  

And for those of you that are curious, yes I do know the WHEN - December 5th, 2010.  We are going to run the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and get married at the "run through" chapel.   Hoping we can find some friends to join us that weekend but also know it's a lot to ask so I am starting to work on plans for a reception for friends and family when we come home.   We want to have a fun, not so formal party but still somehow incorporate having a bridal party without the expensive dresses and tuxes.  I'm thinking something like running skirts and cute running shoes or something for the girls.....I'm open to fun suggestions :)   We met running, we got engaged running and we will get married running.   Just can't think of anything more fitting for the two of us <3>

4) February 10th - We attended a "Sip and Sample" event at OM restaurant downtown.   We got to sample wines and a few fancy dishes.   Thanks to Groupon, we got into this $25 per person event for only $10 per person.

4.5) February 12th - Mark sent me flowers at work :D

Mark: Another Groupon coupon. I highly recommend anyone check them out.

5) February 13th - While poor Mark was still fighting with his cold, we took today relatively easy.  We went out bowling with Mark's brother and his family and Mark's Dad.  We only had time to play one game but it was a lot of fun and Michaela enjoyed it as it was her first time.

Random!! ;)

Later in the afternoon we got obsessed with grabbing the 6 caches that were recently published.  It was a series of 5 Lord of the Rings Wizard caches and the final puzzle cache "The One Ring".   We got the first few pretty quickly but as it was starting to get dark we struggled a bit with one that was buried in the snow.  I don't think we would have gotten the final two, or even attempted them, had Mark not had his flashlight in the car.

6) February 14th - Today we were going to go to an Orienteering event but again poor Mark was being beaten up by this awful cough/cold thing he had going on so we decided to take it easy for the first part of the day and then grabbed a few caches around the Golden Valley area.  The notable one here was one that had a really cool geocoin in it and we were determined to grab it.  Unfortunately this was not a winter-friendly multi-stage cache as we had to tromps through some deep snow and spend time chopping at a block of ice to get the final cache container.   We did get the coin too :) And we also picked up a travel bug that is actually a book that you need to get your hands on in order to solve a local puzzle cache.

For the evening, Mark took me out to Spill the Wine for a wonderful 3 course meal and then out to the Orpheum Theatre to see Young Frankenstein.  That was seriously funny!  And a wonderful date night for Valentines ;)

So that get's us caught up through last weekend.   It always seems like so much work to get caught up but now that we are, it will be easier to keep up.  I should have another post up here shortly about our adventures from this weekend.

(Damn...that was a novel.  OK I'm promising we will TRY really hard to not do that again :)