Half-Canadian

Red Robin is a perennial favourite for geocaching get-togethers. If there's enough of us, we could probably have a small section set aside for us (or a private room). Also, Stanellos might be a good choice -- it's quieter and they would be able to accommodate a group. Great pizza, too.

I tried finding something cheap on Priceline but couldn't get a hit even at $45.00 so I made a reservation at Motel 6 in Richland for $33.99. I figure if something better comes up between now and then I can just cancel that reservation.

Thanks, everyone! It was a great way to celebrate in style! HC

We just had a cache machine in Bellingham in February visit link so another one probably wouldn't be appropriate for awhile. There are quite a few cachers in the Whatcom/Skagit County area, but I don't think many are active on the forums. There was some interest a few months ago in an event cache or picnic, maybe we can put something together for next month.

The t-shirts they are wearing are from the WSGA "store" and have the WSGA logo on the front and the slogan "Parallel Sticks Rule" on the back.

My six year old nephews recently found these parallel sticks while on a cache hunt in California!

Congrats to Weinerdog from Half-Canadian, and congrats to Chloe from Scooter the Wonder Dog!

Where has geocaching taken me in the last year? To the end of a USFS road in northern California, on a late June day so hot the air was shimmering -- looking way, way down to a deep blue-green Lake Shasta at my feet. To the top of a steep, rocky scramble in western Washington -- a place I had driven past millions of times without realizing what a breathtaking view awaited me at the summit, and always assumed I wasn't physically fit enough to haul myself up there anyway. I still smile when I think of my victorious solo climb that day, and remember how incredibly good that first sip of cold water tasted at the summit.... Through waist-deep snow, rounding a corner of the trail to be greeted by Mount Baker in all its splendour on an early morning, and discovering fresh cougar tracks in the snow on the way back down the trail. Sitting on a deserted beach looking up at the clouds and a sky so blue it almost hurt, with my dog happily chewing on a stick at my feet. Spending a day with a great friend trying to solve a wonderful puzzle cache together. Changing my idea of a "good" camping trip from a good book by the campfire to how many fun new adventures I can pack into one day before it's time for bed. Sitting outside at a seacoast cafe's patio in the afternoon sunshine with a caching friend and his family, enjoying a leisurely lunch and swapping tales of caching adventures. Standing on a streetcorner in Illinois where Lincoln and Douglas held one of their first debates. Wading through mud on a rainy spring day in a northern Wisconsin cornfield to reach a cache located at N45 00.000 W90 00.000 Getting my dusty kayak out of the garage to attempt (and succeed) at a long solo paddle across a bay to be a FTF. Discovering that my knees don't hurt anymore, that I can climb hills with ease that would have stopped me a year ago, that I now look forward to pushing myself to do a little more every day. Exploring all the nooks and crannies of my own backyard to find fun places to share with the geocaching community. I hope I never lose the sense of adventure, the thrill in conquering another physically challenging cache, and the joy in the friendships I've made through this amazingly complex and adaptable sport. I don't feel like I have to do every cache, and not all caches appeal to me, but my life has become infinitely richer in the year since I found my first cache -- a magnetic micro on the back of a "no parking" sign.... Bored? Not me...

Congratulations! Now the fun begins -- All the best from your Canadian friends across the border!

After two missing cache containers and one logbook filled with some very descriptive obscenities I've decided to archive Somewhere Under The Rainbow in La Conner. The next time I'm in the neighbourhood I'll see if I can find a spot for a micro nearby -- it's a cool spot for a cache!

Actually, he just contacted me, and he sounds American. Most of his 60 finds are in Italy and Cyprus, though. Anyway, he reports the trail is free of snow, and that the cache is in great shape. I can cancel that maintenance checkup visit I had been planning, and hunt other people's caches instead. Shunra, Here's your chance to find my unfound Multi-Sport cache at Baker Lake!

That's where my Half-Canadian status becomes an advantage! You could have your coins shipped to my Point Roberts, Washington address and I could bring 'em through customs and send them on your way from the Delta post office. I'm going to get 10 myself.

Speedy get-well wishes from your pals up north, my friend! A tough old mountain goat like you won't be down for long, I'm sure HC and Scooter too

That micro is The Pearl (GCJAN7) -- I've had a lot of fun watching that one, it's fooled a lot of people!

I'm headed out there tomorrow to hit a bunch of these new ones including Doc's "Those That Came Before" -- particularly since that will be my 400th as well as Zuuks! Thanks for all the new caches guys, we're looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.

You never know who might be listening in on these forums

I vote for the after-dark Spooky! Although I have thought of going night-caching here in the Vancouver area, there are too many scary people around here to feel safe creeping around in the woods by myself, even with Scooter the Wonder Dog nearby. I would bring my RV over and spend at least that night before heading home, so the time of day is not a problem for me. HC

Well, I'm the owner of this cache, and have to throw in my two cents worth... The insect problems noted in the cache logs were at the final ammo box location -- far away from the spice containers -- and there is no food in the final cache, so the insects (aphids, I suspect) just happened to be in the area around the cache. The spices I selected, while all having fairly strong odours, are not the sort that would attract animals -- no animal would be interested in gnawing through a thick, well-sealed plastic container to get at any of the four spices I placed in the micros, as I'm sure they would all be quite unpalatable to a critter. Time will tell....