Thirty-First Caching Day of August

"Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" is now done (at least for me). I hit the final from that series I tied up last weekend as today's find. "What are you Afraid of? - PUZZLEPHOBIA FINAL" (GC4FVMM) wasn't as memorable as I hoped for the last cache of the month but was still rewarding seeing that I should have done the whole thing in a single afternoon but instead spread it out over the last several weeks. I'm not done though – I'll keep working on the streak for the next couple of months. My goal is still to break the one-hundred day mark. So, still no major cache find numbers around the home or office for the next couple of months. Fortunately it's still not feeling like work (yet).

Thirtieth Caching Day of August

With only two days left in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" I got lucky with a new, excellent cache publish not far from me. The President Series by puzzler26 never disappoints and today I was also to get there as the last of three to the First To Find party (the others being june17 and srstuart). The latest, "The Black Mamba (Presidential Series #23)" (GC4CPXJ) was another one of the hider's caches where it took multiple steps to retrieve the container, then to open it and recover the log. I'd love to share more but don't want to risk spoilers for those who might be lucky enough to visit on their own. My thanks to puzzler26 for another awesome hide and helping keep the streak alive (plus the TTF prize of a dollar coin)!

Twenty-Ninth Caching Day of August

I stopped between destinations this afternoon to find my cache for "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." "Cure that Phobia - 6 - Cynophobia" (GC48D8Z) is the first cache I've hit in another one of those series. Sadly I didn't seem to find the hint in the cache but something that might have been it written on the log. I've email the Cache Owner, but what do you do when you find a cache like that missing its clue?

Twenty-Eighth Caching Day of August

Only three days left to "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching!" I made my fourth to last day's find on lunch at "(MSF) – That’s a Lot of Beef" (GC4FXVA). It was another one of those simple caches with some great background information about the area on the cache page. Now that we're wrapping up the week and going into a long holiday weekend I'm starting to think about possible holiday caching.

Twenty-Seventh Caching Day of August

Tonight was the last event during "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" and I made sure to attend. While in the area for "Sick of Ice Cream Yet?" (GC4JNNV) I grabbed another very cute hide – "Ants in Donated Pants" (GC4B4G4), plus a yet-to-be-published cache from the hosts. While there I had the chance to get the feel of how people have liked their 27 day streaks. It seems the bulk of the attendees and those I've heard from through Google+ are of the same mind. When the weekend is over so is their streak. Congratulations to all of you who have made it this far and best of luck in wrapping up these next few days with a find!

Twenty-Sixth Caching Day of August

I made todays find in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" as I left the office through a slight detour. "(MSF) – The President’s House" (GC4FXVJ) was basically a park-and-grab with a little info about the area before it was converted to retail. That's now 26 days complete, 5 to go for the August challenge, but 75 more to break 100 days straight.

Twenty-Fifth Caching Day of August

Today I made only, quick find for "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." "Back Row of the Drive-In Show" (GC4JNRV) had been a cache I could have grabbed earlier, during one of those ice cream events, but opted to save for a day like this. It's another one of those simple caches that I love however since it's cache page posts some information about the area's history.

Twenty-Fourth Caching Day of August

I broke my rule for streaking today by hitting multiple caches not far from home. I'm still worried about being able to grab a find every day even though "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" is nearly over since I'm hoping to extend that streak to a hundred days or more. These were all caches that required a little more work or might not be accessible at any given moment so I went for them. Several were within a very large cemetery (which I had to make multiple visits today to avoid people in some of those areas) then others multi-caches just outside. With those caches found I've now collected all the information for the "What are you Afraid of? - PUZZLEPHOBIA FINAL" (GC4FVMM) final. That I will be saving for a later date. I'm curious as to how many others are still looking to extend their caching streak beyond the 31 days of August with just about a week left.

Twenty-Third Caching Day of August

This morning's find in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" was another quick grab while running some errand. I stopped by "What are you Afraid of? - 6 - ECCLESIOPHOBIA" (GC4FVQV) to make my find for the day and get another piece of the puzzle for that series. I'm still fighting the urge to grab the remaining caches in this series so I can get the final, but alas I must save caches to continue the streak.

Twenty-Second Caching Day of August

My "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" for the day was another quick lunch find. "Phunny Phobias - CHICLEPHOBIA" (GC4FV82) was another clever re-use of a container which made me smile. This hider has done some excellent work (better than this) with re-using items as caches. What are some clever ideas you've seen?

Twenty-First Caching Day of August

My "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" streak took a little kick today with two ice cream events (Ug – don't let me do that again) and three traditionals. My first find of the day was a quick park-and-grab titled "TelTwelve" (GC3T6VM) while waiting for my boss at a quick lunch meeting. Before I arrived at the "I Scream (for Ice Cream) w/ 10 Days Left!" (GC4H1F4) event I stopped for "Getting Back to Your Roots" (GC3PBN3). After a cup of ice cream I hit the road and "31DoG - August 3" (GC4GZVP) along my route to "The Eye Scream Social: Royal Oak" (GC4J4QD). Aside from a little tummy ache from more ice cream today than I usually eat in a year, I called it a pretty good caching and work day.

Twentieth Caching Day of August

Today I made another quick grab in a local cache series for "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." "Geo-Phobias - ARACHIBUTYROPHOBIA" (GC4FV6N) wasn't as interesting as some of the others, but it was a nice hide. Tomorrow I won't have the chance to grab another one of these as there's a couple of ice cream themed Geocaching events I'll hit and those will satisfy the find requirement.

Nineteenth Caching Day of August

Day nineteen was just another quick grab in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." Today's find was "Phunny Phobias - PEDOPHOBIA" (GC4FVE1) which took me by surprise when I found it. I'm really looking forward to the rest of these caches and it's very hard to not just grab them all. Tomorrow I get to grab one more.

Eighteenth Caching Day of August

The eighteenth straight day of Geocaching was definitely a little lighter on the caching than my recent weekends have been. I simply hit one more cache in the series I've been whittling away and logged the vehicle tracking numbers from the parking lot of the West Bend Cache Ba$h (yet, I've had the photos sitting in my DropBox all that time to log). I'm still working to meter my cache finds around home, the office, and the route between so that's all I'm likely to hit today. Fortunately I have some errands to run at some point so I might have the chance to bump up those numbers a little bit. Even then this has been my second best caching month of the year.

Seventeenth Caching Day of August

Today was another busy day on my August caching calendar. I hit several caches (7 traditionals and a mutli-cache) this morning on my way to photograph a few fellow cachers as they tackled the Gladiator Rock 'n Run. Then it was halfway across town to attend the "S'more Caching Flash Mob" (GC4HQVR). There I met some new cachers who were attending their first event and we went after three unpublished caches, two more tradtionals, and connected with another couple to complete a puzzle. Then it was time to head back home to connect with my fellow host on the "GeoGearHeads." The Bad Cop was manning a booth for the podcasts at the "Geocaching Block Party 2013" so I connected through a Google+ Hangout On Air to record a little special update. It was great to connect an get a little feel for the Block Party and (as always) I hope to attend in person next year. What a busy International Geocaching Day!

Sixteenth Caching Day of August

Today marked the hump in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." My only target was the "Phunny Phobias - ANATIDACPHOBIA" (GC4FVD3) from the series I started yesterday. This changed up the container from last night's find and I'm looking forward to finding the rest.

Fifteenth Caching Day of August

Today I had two caching items on my agenda. The first was to do maintenance on one of my caches which a Finder had logged that the logbook was wet. When I got to "Boulan Park Cache III" (GC4BEZ8) I found that the logbook was just part of the problem. It seems that someone likely hadn't locked the container and the entire interior was soaked, and all I brought was a replacement logbook and a couple new desiccant packs. From there I hit my cache for "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." Today's find was my first find in a new series and many of them were within a close distance. It took some restraint to find just "Phunny Phobias - CACOPHOBIA" (GC4FV75) rather than continue, but I did. There's only six I need to find in the series before I can grab the final – "What are you Afraid of? - PUZZLEPHOBIA FINAL" (GC4FVMM) so I'm thinking that I might make that my mission for the next five (well six for the final) days.

Fourteenth Caching Day of August

I had two Geocaching tasks on today's agenda but only one qualified for "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching." I needed to check on our "Michigan's DeLORME Challenge" (GC1EBKT) after a report from some cachers they weren't able to find it. That's one of those caches which is rarely found and rarely needs maintenance. It's also a pain since the GPSRs never agree where they are near the cache so it takes a bunch of poking around to find it. I spent more than thirty minutes but did find it, safe and well hidden. Then I had to clean up all the spiderwebs I'd collected and make my way over to the "August Monthly S.E. MiGO Meet & Eat" (GC4F0AF). I'm updating this blog from that event to make sure it gets out before tonight's "Geocaching Podcast," which also means I need to leave the event early. I guess I'd better wrap up the post and get to the event!

Thirteenth Caching Day of August

I'm thirteen days into the "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" and still going strong but measured. This morning was a little wet on the way to the office still and I didn't want to hunt a cache till it dried a little. I waited for the point in my early morning when all my machines where doing something then ran out for a quick grab. "Animal Crackers: Elephants" (GC4FF4D) was just the answer – a quick park and grab. It was made a little more interesting though through a cute container. It reminds me of something I once caught about a hider creating dioramas under lamp skirts. Sometimes the more overused hides actually turn into something interesting.

Twelfth Caching Day of August

My find in "Groundspeak's 31 Days of Geocaching" was a previously solved puzzle as I went to the office. The weather wasn't looking favorable for an afternoon find so I pulled "A Shining Cache --- Part 2" (GC3EYVK) off the solved puzzle list and grabbed that on the way to the office. I'm looking forward to better weather tomorrow, but Wednesday holds the promise of a couple events. This couple be a very good caching week.