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Going chronologically backward in my gallery, I'm in Sept now: Eleven turtles on a log, Southwestway park, Indy: First GIG event: Geo Bratz and Butterfly Girl with Torry's bubble maker at the fall picnic. I love this shot!: D_Able Cachers and I are awarded our 1000th find gold amo cans: Odd bug shot, Fern Cliff Park: Green heron:

Welcome, Darchiel. Here's a little of what you have to look forward to (OMG, you all can't possibly expect me to choose just a few pics! This can get out of hand: Northern goshawk, Eagle Creek Reservoir: Juvenile bald eagle, Eagle Creek park: More to follow, I'm sure!

Another idea for your pilgrimage is to schedule an event. You could give us all a guided tour in a single day, but you'd need a few vans or a bus. We, as a collective, love events!

The coin/book trade idea is great! I would definately strive to complete the game for that book. But it can get expensive for you if each cacher needs 20 coins to redeem for the book. (maybe one coin per 4-5 caches/stages as you indicated would be better for you.) Of course, you will get the coins back and can reuse them, but be aware that some coin hounds out there keep and collect coins, and you can count on many of them going missing. Because once they are separated from the cache, the casual cacher who finds one won't know it's intended purpose and will treat it like any other coin: move it along cache to cache, or keep it in a collection. Pathtags are less expensive; you might look into that idea. As for other good swag: good is in the eye of the beholder, but camping/outdoor items and toys for the kids are always appreciated.

What BIG smiles those nuns have! So, Vinny, does Sue know about you and the nuns?

You proposal sounds very interesting. I love it when caching shows me architectural gems, and your post made me go and look up St Meinrad's, which is new to me, and now I am planning on visiting the area just to see the abbey (and cache,too of course. Too bad the cache at the abbey's gates was disabled in July. The last log reads as if the cache is done for good, but it's only disabled and not archived.) As mentioned, you could make it a long multi cache, and include a hint or coords for the next stage in each cache along the way, but be aware that doing that has an intrinsic problem: one missing or muggled cache stops the entire game until you can get there to fix it. Another option is to make each stop it's own independent cache (and additional smiley for each find, which is always nice for cachers) and include a partial hint for a final bonus cache, so that it is necessary for the cacher to complete the entire series in order to find the bonus cache, which should be a large cache with lots of good swag, as a prize and incentive to complete the game. And if you specify that only by finding each one in the proper order will put the hints in the right order to make sense for the finale, that may help with your linear pilgrimage some. Problem with that idea is that no cacher MUST complete all stages if they don't care about seeking the final; they still get grins for every one they did find. And yes, it's true that neither idea compels the cacher to forgo the freeway in favor of your pilgrimage route. But many will, if you state that clearly in your descriptions, because for many of us, caching is more about the journey than the numbers, and I truly appreciate and enjoy caches that show me history, architecture, nature and beauty. Show me that along the way and I won't want to miss a mile of it. Looking forward to your game!

Can people not see that a cache is something that someone will be handling and opening? At least this can't happen with micros, There are irresponsible dog owners of course, but that's another rant for another topic! Micors aren't safe from this sort of thing either. I once found a waterproof match safe micro that someone had wizzed in. Waterproof from the inside too. Jerk! That one put me off caching for awhile, since we had a known cache maggot in the area at the time. I don't know what ever happened to the maggot. Haven't heard from him in months. Hopefully he got bored and gave it up, as we refused to discuss his thefts, desecrations and vandalisms on the forums.

Oh my yes. Our future is obviously world domination through subversive religion masquerading as science. That is, once I get the geocaching attributes done and some other high-priority items. This is all well and good, but you have to note that the post is dated 11/2004. so, inquiring minds want to know: what progress has been made on this worldwide domination endeavor since then?

I could not DISAGREE more! Last Sept, I got an email from a Yooper cacher who tagged me because our monikers are simliar. We exchanged a handfulof emails and he and his wife invited this Indiana stranger to visit, stay in their sweet remote Lake superior cottage, and cache our hearts out. They spent three days showing me the best their slice of the lake had to offer and it was awesome! From Marquette, MI to Pictured Rocks SP and everything in between. Great hospitality from the nicest people you ever want to meet, cruising from one gorgous view to the next. Why look! Here's some Yooper beauty now: My hosts: Quirktoo. Thanks, yoos guys! I had a grand time!

Q.2.micro.2 It's a Guy Thing in Fern cliff, IN, limestone quarry works ruins: Southwestway Park Peninsula Indianapolis

Great thread!! Love these places. Here's two of my hides: Dr Strangelove's Bomb Shelter 'This site is on the national historic register of the Atomic Energy Commission: a real 1950's bomb shelter. OK. I'm pulling your leg. Actually, according to the nice folk at the Eagle Creek Park office, you are standing in the basement of a former homestead, and if you look around you will see the remains of the foundation, broken clay pipe and a storage barrel or two. The 'shelter' was likely a basement cold storage room, before there was such a thing as refrigeration, or perhaps it was for drainage. If you use your imagination, it could be anything. Like maybe a bomb shelter. This much is certain: the house has been gone for a long time, as those cottonwood trees growing on top of it are at least 50 years old.' 2K 4 J&K in 2K6 'Thirteen years ago, this location was under water. This was Beanblossom Lake in Morgan Monroe State forest until 1993, when a huge storm system dropped more than 6 inches of rain in a few days, the man-made levee collapsed and the lake drained into Greasy Creek. Beanblossom Lake was left dry, and now it's interesting to see what 13 years of God's own restoration project has done to reclaim what man had dammed and drowned. On the way in, you will pass through a large closed parking area and visit the decaying remains of the shelter house, playground, pcinic areas and BBQ pits. As you stand under the young sycamores and sign the cache log, that pretty meadow you see opening up before you was the lake bed. Now it's so thick with opportunistic scrub, wild flowers and tangled briars that this was all the farther I could go without making the casual cacher hate me in the green seasons.'

I think if you do all the caches in the park, it'll be something like 6 or 7 miles. Yes, there are a few hills, but nothing as dramatic as what you see in the south of the state. Mostly, it's one long incline above the river, one short, steep-ish downhill to the river, and another short, not too tough uphill back out of the valley. You can't stay up top, because you have to go around the golf course. That's just the south end of the park, about a 3 mile round trip. To the north, it's not as tough, but you are still dodging in and out of the river valley. Still, if you poop out (sorry, Patrick!) you can always return to the parking area half eay through, as we'll very nearly pass by it on the way to the other side of the park, since the parking area is in the middle of the park.

Winter hikes are great! No bugs, no sweating, no Deet, no dense undergrowth, no canopy messing up the coords. You just have to dress for it, and wear a backpack so you can shed those layers as the hike warms you up. And don't stop to rest longer than 10-15 minutes or you'll wish you hadn't. FUN!

Jan 19th or 26 looks good to me, weather permitting. Do note: In particularly wet weather, there is a portion of that low river trail on the way to the southwest caches that gets washed out and may well make that part of the park inaccessible when the river is up. Part of that river bank trail collapsed last spring and has not been rebuilt. In dry weather, it's fine.

Of Dec? Too bad, I have to work on weekdays. But y'all have fun.

Even though I've done all those caches (except one, I think) I'd come to your event, just because it's close and it's such a great park to hike. Plus I'd like to see the bald eagle at the oxbow lake in the south again.

Congrats to you both! Hope to run into you on the trail again soon. Grins, -2q

Exotic Feline Rescue Ctr, in Indiana. More than 200 big cats, open to the public. More pics here:Beware of Cat(s) Grand canyon. More pics here: Abyss disk Yosemite Falls, my 1000th find. More pics here:The Highest Leaping Waterfall in the World In Indiana, Yellowwood forest. Boulders in treetops, 60+ feet off the forest floor. The boulders are estimated to be over 300lbs. Two of them in two sycamore trees 100 yards apart. A third was in an oak tree 4 miles away, but that tree has since fallen. This is also my favorite for odd things found in the woods: an oil painting tied to a tree, just hanging out in the elements. More pics here, including the oil painting: How did THOSE get up THERE? Miner's Castle, Lake Superior, Upper Michigan. More pics here: Miner's Castle

You're right. But I have a long weekend with Mon and Tues off this weekend.

From www.wrtv.com: >INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Department of Natural Resources plans to temporarily close 18 state parks and one nature preserve in the coming weeks for deer hunts. The parks and nature preserve will be closed Nov. 26-27 and Dec. 10-11. The DNR said the deer populations have grown too large for the areas to support them and maintain an ecological balance. The parks to be closed are: Chain O'Lakes, Charlestown, Clifty Falls, Fort Harrison, Harmonie, Indiana Dunes, Lincoln, McCormick's Creek, Ouabache, Pokagon, Potato Creek, Shades, Shakamak, Spring Mill, Tippecanoe River, Turkey Run, Versailles and Whitewater Memorial. The Twin Swamps Nature Preserve near Evansville will also be closed. < Just thought you all should know. This time of year, I avoid the state forests and preserves because it's hunting season. I usually visit state parks instead, since usually, there's no hunting in state parks. But not for these two weekends. Yes, I understand the need to cull the deer populations. But I don't have to like it. I guess county parks will have to do.

Perhaps if Patrick's been, ummm, snipped, then he'd be close enough for horse shoes. So, how bout it, Patrick?

While NEI members were inside getting drunk, our southern counterparts were caching in cemeteries wearing Pink Flamingo Ears! Kudos also to the following Milestoners: Bracelet Lady --600 Whitevette --200 Farmer Jones8 --500 All on GIRLS ISQ FUN RUN Saturday..... The ISQ Fun Run 11/10/07, was a great experience. 200+miles, 2 vans and a car, 13 friends, 57 caches and 2 DNFs in 12 hours. Sunrise to sunset and travel time on both ends of that made for a very long very fun day. Deep appreciation for all the hard work and happiness goes out from my heart to: Six Dog Team, Wishbone 86 and Trickworm for all the great caches we got to seek. Karen of fishersfinders for the meticulous planning and execution that made for a flawlees trouble free route. We lacked for nothing due to her foresight and attention to details. And for bringing KatieGirl with her. Katie was the shining light of the day, the personification of joy in the hunt. Bad Majec for her navigation skills and Street & Trips laptop program, and for driving van #1, lickety split from cache to cache to cache to cache to... To Bracelet Lady for taking copius notes, which helped me match my photos to the (mostly) correct cache pages. To Lakedawgs, for drving Van #2. To Imacacher2, for accidently running into us at stop #7(I think) and spending the rest of the day driving car#3. To all who brought snacks and drinks to keep us fueled. To farmerjones8, White Vette, Karen of Team J&K, JayKayElEm and go-purdue for lots of laughs, sage wisdom, sick jokes and lunacy that kept us awake and laughing all day long. Whew! It took me three days and a combined total of 18 hours to process the photos and log all the caches with over 250 pics attached. The photo slideshow can be found here: My Webshots webpage There is also a video of Bracelet Lady and KatieGirl doing a hula dance. So, when's the next one? We have our own best to beat!

Here are some event cackes. Sorry, I don't know who made them.

This was easily the most fun I've had at any cache. Here's a pic of the four Sirens of the Woods (AKA Nutless Wonders) and another group shot after the guys joined us for wine and cheese at the Tornado cache

I've also met the most amazing people because of caching. Recently, another cacher more than 500miles away emailed me out of the blue, because our geo-names are similar. Then this total stranger invited me to visit and stay at his Lake Superior lakehouse. So I drove 565 miles and had an amazing vacation with (as his wife said) this guy I met on the internet! (another thing I wouldn't have dreamed of doing without caching!) They took me on a whirlwind tour of the North Coast and we hit more than 30 caches in awesome scenic areas. Why Look! Here's one now. OK, and one more: (if you'd like to see more, cruise my recent gallery from early Oct.07)