Kris: So this week posed two challenges. We had a two day relay race and NO idea if we would have the opportunity to get away long enough or far enough from the team to pick up our caches. Thank goodness for Pocket Queries!! Using the Geocaching.com tool, Mark created a route which plotted all caches within 0.25 miles of the race course and we crossed our fingers. Also, after several days of staring and obsessing over the History Cache I at Wild River State Park, Mark (with the permission of the cache owner) put together an unofficial event to gather up cachers that have been working to solve it. Mark: Since it was less then two weeks I was unable to create an Event Cache but Minnesota has a very active geocaching community and by posting a note on the MnGCA.com event forum I was able to get a number of cachers interested in getting together to compare notes. We met at the park and hoped for success. Lucky for us, the prize included a pathtag.
Monday: Day 8 - Plan B Welcome to Victoria, Sugar.
Tuesday: Day 9 - Only Outdoors is right.
Mark: This was a lunchtime getaway with dual purpose, not only did we find our cache for the day but I also got my new Timex Ironman Global Trainer in the store. Kris: Easy find, very friendly first find to anyone who just purchased a GPS from here :)
Wednesday: Day 10 - Penguins are more familiar with Southern Stars.
Mark: This used to be the Viking Council back in the days when I was a Boy Scout. Kris: Always love these types of hides. While somewhat obvious, they are still fun and more interesting than a camo-taped peanut butter jar. Plus I got a new addition to my penguin collection. See him?
Thursday: Day 11 - First to Find!!!
Mark: This one popped up just as we were walking into Target to shop for our Ragnar Relay trip. 1.2 miles away and we could not resist. Kris: I just moved from Eden Prairie to Robbinsdale, a good 13-ish miles away from each other but we were back in EP this evening to do a few Ragnar errands and sure enough, a cache is published nearby. A parking lot favorite in terms of the placement. EP has a few FTF Hounds that are often hard to beat to the cache but I think we lucked out that it was right at the end of the work day and they may not have been back home yet :)
Friday: Day 12 - Graveyards & Ragnar Relay Exchange 6
Mark: We were wondering how and when we would find our caches during the Ragnar Relay but Exchange 6 provided us with plenty of time and a cache very close by. Kris: Not a big fan of caches near cemeteries but this one was within 0.12 mi of where we were hanging out for a few hours. Luckily we could walk AROUND the stones to the back wooded corner. An easy find once we got there, probably not much of a need to go over-board on the camo....how many people would really wander back here anyway?
Saturday: Day 13 - Watching the Ragnar Relay runners scurry around like cockroaches.
Mark: Again, a major exchange, #30 along the Ragnar Relay route and there was a cache very close by. Kris: We were a little loopy from lack of sleep. There was an easy find but one that requires looking out for a lot of muggles near a parking lot. This was a very common parking lot cache type. And luckily all the muggles around were paying attention to what was going on with the race.
Sunday: Day 14 - Success!! Collaboration works!! Thanks Everyone!
Mark: This was really fun! We spent a few weeks collaborating with a few other geocachers on how to solve a VERY HARD puzzle cache and here we are making the find after spending some time at the park comparing and review our answers and then coming up with the final coordinates. Kris: The amount of brain power it took to figure out this cache was crazy! I give serious credit to the creator, Naturalist Dave, for coming up with this. It really makes you learn about the park and it's history in order to solve it. Plus you learn, typos aren't always just typos, they often have meaning in cache puzzles.
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