Caching With the Centennial State Geocaching Podcasters

We had a wonderful time this past Thursday as we cached and ate with the hosts of the Centennial State Geocaching Podcast. Our travel plans for the trip to Geowoodstock VI aboard United included a roughly eight hour layover in Denver where we'd hoped to have a chance to head off the Denver International Airport's grounds for at least one cache to color in that state on our completed state map. I discovered only two weeks before our departure that Art (arthurat) and Karen (Cutie Pie 604) (hosts of the Centennial State Geocaching Podcast) were hosting a WWFM3 event in Denver.

No sooner had I discovered that bit of info than I was typing up an e-mail informing them of our layover and asking if they'd be interested in connecting for lunch while we're passing through. The couple took the day off to pick us up from the airport (including the requisite "Cache-A-Maniacs" sign) and spend the bulk of the layover caching with us through an area a short distance from the airport. We managed to hit a dozen caches (but had to DNF one of them) in about three hours of caching. We chatted and cached for about five hours and had a great lunch at an Italian restaurant (I couldn't pass up an amazing White Pizza, though I couldn't finish the last of the four slices). That trip brought us to our 1,460 mark, but Karen hit her hundredth cache. Congrats Cutie Pie 604 on the milestone! It was a great time and really made the flying a joy. Our thanks for both for being such terrific hosts!

One of the things that struck me was how similar things in the Denver area were to those in Detroit. While the landscape and wildlife were different, they were still very similar. Instead of seeing tens of squirrels scampering through the grass, they had prairie dogs running across the fields. Our occasional hawk spotting was replaced by eagle spotting. The caches were much the same – just minor variations on the standard finds in our region. Some day we hope to happen by again, but there are many more states and countries we'd love to color in on our map yet. I'm thinking a North American road trip in the future.