COINTEST: Back to school cointest

[+bluecherry]

I ran a cointest the other day and Kealia won and told me to take the coin and have another cointest. So a big Thank You to Kealia and now the coin is up for grabs again. We all know that summer is coming to and end and the kids are getting ready to go back to school or they have already gone back. So for the cointest I want to hear what everyone did over the summer.

 

 

One post per cacher name

You can include a picture if you want do not have to though

Cointest will end Friday at 8pm Eastern time

Winner will be picked by random number

 

Good luck to all

 

 

Since I'm asking everyone what they did I will share what me and my children did. I must warn everyone it is not that interesting. LOL This summer we decided to stay close to home do to appointments and other obligations this summer. We went to different movies, attended dance class, and played outside. I told you it was not interesting but we had a good summer and look forward to an even better fall eventhough the oldest will be in school.

[+ECplus3]

I didn't get to take any summer vacation this year so we stayed close to home too. Our big weekend away was on the August long weekend (is that two weeks past already!). We went to Fundy National Park and did a whole lot of hiking. We found the five caches in the park and earned a geocoin for doing so.

[xboxcrazy33]

I'm not going to enter the cointest since I already won an Okinawa geocoin from ClanDoyle's Okinawa cointest, but I will share what I did this summer. I did a lot of geocaching, went to the movies a couple of times, played some golf, went hiking, and went boating a lot. A very fun summer, but now I'm looking forward to the fall and winter.

[+LEGO]

This summer we:

Went tent camping

Swam in our pool

Went to Kings Island amusement park in Cincinnati Ohio

Went on a weekend getaway to Northeast Ohio

Made s'mores in our backyard

Watched the birds raise their babies in our backyard

Grew tomatoes & blackberries & hot peppers in our garden

 

I can't believe that my son goes back to school tomorrow!

[+jenbut]

I took classes this summer to work towards my teaching credential so that next summer I can have a real summer vacation. Boned up on Earth Sciences. Walked the Relay for Life survivor lap with my Mom. Got to spend one week at the Oregon Coast and did some geocaching of course. Oh, and one minor surgical procedure.

[+Choc-O]

June: "Caches en Masse" Contest (GC1BAEX). Won the 1st place for the most caches with Diff. 3 or more.

 

Rest of the time, take care of the kids and went to some events and 1 Méga-Event.

[+usyoopers]

We had a new grandbaby born June 2nd so the other yooper took me down one weekend, I got to spend the whole next week with them, and he came back the next weekend to pick me up.

 

Our weather was awful for the rest of June and part of July, lots of rain! So not much fun then, not many caching outings even. In between the rain we built a garage, I'm not sure why I agreed to the "we can build it ourselves and save money" thing...it was lots of work!! It is done and ready to store the camper, roadster and convertible for the winter.

 

We attended our first geocache event, it was lots of fun! We enjoyed being able to put faces to the names you see on cache logs. I'm sure we will attend more in the future.

 

August has been better, we had a wonderful camping weekend. Rented a canoe, took the dog for a ride (a really big surprise to me, he loved it!) we even were able to paddle to make a cache find! We are now looking to buy a canoe...we have the garage to store it in!

 

Next week we are going to Puerto Vallarta with our son and his girlfriend for a week of sun and relaxation. I have a bookmark list of caches available ready to go.

 

All in all, its been a great summer!

[+cache_in_hand]

We made a geocaching weekend getaway trip to the Crescent City. It also corresponded to number 2's birthday. Had a blast but probably walked further in the scorching heat than if we had gone geocaching in the wilderness LOL.

[+fairyhoney]

What I did on my summer vacation . . . I remember having to write an essay every year for the longest time while going to school . . .

 

In June, Watched my "baby" graduate from South Kitsap High School ( my Alma Mater )

I went to N. Idaho with my cousin - oh the mountains, I was right in them - WOW!

DID The Tunnel of Light,

And got to meet Tschakko at an unofficial unevent

 

July, Found The Original Stash as my 1000th find !

 

August - worked on my WA DeLorme Challenge

Did the Canby Challenge ( what an excellent coin !)

 

Fairyhoney

[+Droo]

This year's family reunion took place right here in my home town. But unlike previous reunions this year my second cousin Gordon and his fiancee from N. Illinois rented a Harley and put themselves in my evil hands to show them some fun and scenic California roads. I say evil because I failed to recognize that most roads in the Midwest are pretty straight while the fun scenic roads in California are twistey and sweepy enough to make a backseater seasick.... and no, riding the coast route to Big Sur and Monterey had nothing to do with it.

 

On the first day we went through the Los Padres Nat. Forest not far from the Condor Sanctuary, past the Mt Pinos recreational area and even the Corrizo Plain Nat. Monument before dropping into an oil field that would be the envy of a Texan billionaire. In other words an ecological wasteland. By the end of the day we were back on the coast at Shell Beach in oceanview rooms.

 

On subsequent days we visited Hearst Castle and the Elephant Seals of San Simeon. We stopped to pay a visit to the San Antonio Mission and the Hearst Casita (lodge or guest house) that now sit on the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation where we saw troops practising on their Humvee mounted machine guns. Luckily they weren't shooting at us.

 

In Big Sur we saw evidence of the forest fires that raged through here only a month or so earlier and were impressed by the efforts of the firefighters to keep it away from habited areas. Later we tried to explore the exclusive 17 Mile Drive of Carmel but we weren't welcome on motorbikes. So we went to the Aquarium instead and enjoyed a wonderful seafood dinner at the Fish House where I had my first baked oysters..... yummmm!

 

The final day saw us riding back along the San Andrea Fault Ridge. That was probably the most evil part of the ride. MidWesterners are typically terrified of earthquakes so taking them on the most seismically active part of the state gave me a chuckle. But what the hey, if you come to California you've got to see what Mother Nature hands us on a regular basis: wildfires, earthquakes and great seafood. I'll take them over tornadoes and hurricanes any day. To ease my guilt at their discomfort we stopped at a wonderful winery for a tasting less than an hour from home. I guess they must have liked it as they're having a case of mixed wines delivered next month.

 

Will add pics in due course.

 

Edited August 19, 2008 by Droo

[+Sparticus06]

Just a run down of all I have done so far.

I started working on an ATV trailer I bought from my father in law. Did some geocaching. Hid 3 new ones. Worked on the trailer some more (lots of welding). Went camping couple of times. Worked, got laid off for a bit, went back to work. Bought some and traded for some geocoins. Went to my very first CITO event and it was fun. Did a little more geocaching. Bought a beater car to run to work (even though it is not working out right now...stupid car). Completed the AGT caches and got all my coins now. Mowed the grass a few times. Went to an amusement park for a day. Attended the Relay-for-Life event through work and did some walking. Went to a wing-fling and ate some darn good wings. Worked on that trailer some more. Played with my puppy. Went to the Drive-in movie theater and saw some good movies there. Started to plan the event I want to do, just hoping I can get it all together before the end of the summer. Finally finished the ATV trailer and then took the ATV out for the first ride of the year (felt good too). Finally got to meet my new sister in law when her and my brother in law and my new nephew came home from Germany. Helped my neighbor build his new deck. Had a cookout where I made some very very tasty ribs and chicken (bar-b-que of course) And lastly rebuilt a engine for a motor cycle for my cousin.

Soon to be done this summer - go to the wife's family reunion. Go camping a couple of more times. Hopefully have my event. Fix or find another car. Go on another ATV ride. Do some more caching and hit 400. Hit a couple a more events. Wanna get some target practice in (havent shot the 9mm in almost a year now). Get my workshop cleaned out and reorganized. And...whatever else may come my way.

 

I do not sit still for very long as you can see....lol

 

Edited to add a few things I forgot.

Edited August 19, 2008 by Sparticus06

[+dark_onyx1982]

Summer break? What is that?

 

{i spent my summer in school}

[+GATOULIS]

Oh!! I am afraid that my photos will probably take more than one post!! :-(

 

anyway...I have to say that this summer I am working (after a long time without a job), at the Grand Master's palace, in Rhodes! It is a museum! the palace is a medieval one, from the knighs of St. John of Jerusalem! they were renamed Knights of Rhodes, and later Knights of Malta!

 

I always wanted to be an archeologist! I didn't make it, but I am for 4 months only, a guard of Antiquities there! I love being close to ancient things! Iti s something magical, something amazing!!! You can see history from close and....as a guard, you can see things and rooms of the palace that are not open in public!!!

 

I usually go for vacations during winter, to my mother's island, Leros!

Jobs in Rhodes are mostly seasonal, just because it is a very touristic place! It is my small paradise, but... let the phtos do the talk!

 

Ok! here is the palace I work!!!

 

 

I am sure you like it!!!

 

Well...I believe you know some of the places in my island like....

 

The butterfly valley

or Lindos!!!

 

Rhodes is a beautiful place to visit, and a great place to live!

 

Oh...and I live very close to an other archeological site, the acropolis of Rhodes, where the ruins of Apollo's temple are, the ancient stadium and a small theatre! All belong to the 3rg and 2nd century BC!!!!

 

So...if all the others are coming to my island for vacations...why I leave???

[+mousekakat]

We had a great summer, in spite of the fact that we didn't do one heck of a lot!

 

Hanna, our 8 year old, had 2 weeks at camp, one week at a time, one at the beginning of summer and the other towards the end, and she had a great time and seemed to grow up a year during the summer! Then she got to go with gramma and grampa and spend a week or so up in Stockholm, visiting family there and family friends and going to a giant indoor playplace where she had a blast!

 

Caitlyn, 2, hung out with mamma, pappa, big sister, the grandparents, and her uncle and aunt and their little one, Moa, who is almost the same age. It's been a great summer watching her learning so much and exploring her world that is getting bigger and bigger every day and seeing all the new things she is doing and saying and laughing till our stomachs hurt at her antics!

 

Mamma and pappa's summer highlights were the event we held and the event we went to. Hopefully this coming weekend will be the icing on the cake as we host a tiny little event for Micke's 31st b-day. We hosted an event at the end of July and there were 30 to 40 attendees. We had hidden close to 20 new caches for the event, received some great donations from folks here, and had folks show up from all over Sweden, got to meet Hasseper, s.p.a.M, Grodan and her hubby and their wonderful kids, and a bunch of others, grilled some good food, drank some good drink, and kicked back and relaxed all weekend by the lake. Then the following weekend we went to Karin's (Grodan) event that was about a 3 hour drive from us and got to see some "old" friends and meet some new ones and then drove over into Norway to go caching and then to a friend's to spend the night. The next day we cached our way home...weather was crappy, but company was wonderful and a great time was had by all!

 

Over the summer we managed to hit more than 100 caches, which is a lot when you consider the cache density here, got to see wonderful parts of Sweden, meet some great new friends, went to Norway, and spent a lot of great quality time with the family, exploring places and seeing new things.

 

I'm not ready for it to end! At least I've got the memories, though

 

Naomi

[+BrierPatch]

Worked this summer with one week of vacation at the Jersey shore, But I do have a bike trip up and coming in september. My kids are all grown and gone but I did see them over the fourth, which was nice.

 

It is enjoyable reading about all the things some of you have done this past summer thanks for all the posts!

[+RichardGo]

Since I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, it consisted of alot of going to the pool and swimming. Took a trip with them down to Daytonna for a week and they really enjoyed the beaches there. Taking the 3 year old camping in a little over a month. Other than that its mostly staying inside in the cool since its been 100+ here until the last couple of weeks.

[+kdv]

I haven't done too much interesting stuff this summer, except organizing one of the 888 events here in Italy

I had my mother over for a month (from Holland, where I am from originally), and right now I am studying for an Art History exam that I am taking in September (one of the last 4 I need to graduate in Tourist Studies, which I started doing just for fun).

Hopefullt next year there will be something more interesting to mention, like a long trip through the US and Canada

Thanks for the cointest!

[paganfrog]

ive done a fair bit this summer. i started geocaching in may, got my gps and found my first cache on my birthday. i started to enjoy getting out and about taking my little boy for walks while exploring possible new cache hides. as a result i have actually lost some weight. i made a visit to london for what was meant to be a week to be able to go to a creative books event, but ended up staying for almost a month as my little boy became ill making us miss the train home and unable to get a cheap train fair so soon. but it allowed me to enjoy my old home turf for longer so it was a mixed blessing.

a month after returning home we returned back to london to join family on a big family vacation in southern france. that was the first vacation i have had abroad for about 18 years, i really enjoyed myself and it allowed me to unwind and stop being so depressed.

i have recently enjoyed celebrating my sons 2nd birthday with family here. i guess soon he will be old enough to come with me on my geocaching to see if he likes it or not.

so you can see i have had a busy and enjoyable summer.

[+GATOULIS]

Oh!! I am afraid that my photos will probably take more than one post!! :-(

 

anyway...I have to say that this summer I am working (after a long time without a job), at the Grand Master's palace, in Rhodes! It is a museum! the palace is a medieval one, from the knighs of St. John of Jerusalem! they were renamed Knights of Rhodes, and later Knights of Malta!

 

I always wanted to be an archeologist! I didn't make it, but I am for 4 months only, a guard of Antiquities there! I love being close to ancient things! Iti s something magical, something amazing!!! You can see history from close and....as a guard, you can see things and rooms of the palace that are not open in public!!!

 

I usually go for vacations during winter, to my mother's island, Leros!

Jobs in Rhodes are mostly seasonal, just because it is a very touristic place! It is my small paradise, but... let the phtos do the talk!

 

Ok! here is the palace I work!!!

 

 

I am sure you like it!!!

 

Well...I believe you know some of the places in my island like....

 

The butterfly valley

or Lindos!!!

 

Rhodes is a beautiful place to visit, and a great place to live!

 

Oh...and I live very close to an other archeological site, the acropolis of Rhodes, where the ruins of Apollo's temple are, the ancient stadium and a small theatre! All belong to the 3rg and 2nd century BC!!!!

 

So...if all the others are coming to my island for vacations...why I leave???

 

Oh boy! I just saw that I forgot to mention what I do in the summer!!! I thought I did! sorry! I now that I can post only once! :-(

 

I usually when I have some free time (not many times), I go for night walks in the old town, and I enjoying the night life there, in the bars and clubs! I go for swimming in beautiful beaches, where I can go fishing too! On Monday I caught a small octapus! I didn't ijure it or something! It stayed in my hand without even holding it!! I was swimming and it was staying there!!! I tried to leave it alone but nothing!! I had to dive, go close to the bottom and then he left my hand and stayed at the bottom without moving!!! I was watching it for about 10 minutes and dive again to reach it! the octapus turned white (from fear??) but when I put my hand close to it without catching it, it came in my hand alone!!!! This never hapent to me again!!! I let it go again and left!!! What was that???

 

Oh! if I find good company I go to a fun park and to the water park in Faliraki!!! That is so great!!! inside there, I am a child again!!!

[+mickebush77]

what i did this summer.....

I work because i'm a tourist guide in Zodiac

I got my first son

and i'm back to school since yesterday

 

a busy summer

 

thank you for the cointest.

[+fingers crossed]

For us it was a summer of firsts.....

 

discovered fireflies

kids had a garage sale

daughter went to horse camp and son went treetop trekking and dirtbiking

visited Ottawa and the parliament buildings

bravely rode the new rollercoaster at wonderland ( 230ftdrop, 125km/h at75 degrees wheeeee)

 

with some new and old summer traditions .......

 

berry picking

drive-in

hosted a geocaching pub night event

 

And of course some of summers requirements......

 

ate loads of icecream

swimming

 

With a little let's go......

 

fishing

zoo

camping

speedway

 

We love summer and are greatly saddened that it is almost over. Thanks for reminding us of all these wonderful moments

[+Koolbrez]

I spent a large amount of my summer in the sand.

 

I would go to the "beach" in the morning on my days off and in the evenings on days that I worked.

 

The "beach" was full of people young and old, rich and poor.

 

No one seemed to care, the whole town was there.

 

There were people there always having a barbeque and passing out free food and drinks.

 

I enjoyed the "beach".

 

For the "beach" was the nickname for the spot that everyone showed up to help fill sandbags to raise the levee that surrounded our town.

 

Since the water has gone down I have managed to get a couple of caches placed and a trip to the Zoo in.

 

Man this was a summer to remember. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

 

Thanks for the cointest.

 

Koolbrez

[+Mr. Cachefinder]

This summer I of course geocached. finding a little over 100 caches in the local area. Now that I am back in school I placed caches along my school bus route. It is amazing how many cachers I see finding my caches when I am riding the bus.

[+cainrcc]

I worked and cached this summer NO vacation trip for me this year

[+fairyhoney]

This summer I of course geocached. finding a little over 100 caches in the local area. Now that I am back in school I placed caches along my school bus route. It is amazing how many cachers I see finding my caches when I am riding the bus.

 

That would be quite interesting and rewarding .

[+OwlCacher]

Had my first job this summer: I was a marketing intern. I also had a job at my local zoo, where I got to interact with the public and tell them about the animals (many of which I was trained at handling).

Didn't get a chance to do much caching at all, only found about 10 caches overall. I did, however, welcome a few new geocoins into my collection.

Went to the movies a couple times as well, my favorite this summer was "The Fall" , check it out when its released on DVD in a few weeks.

Back to school tomorrow (10th grade). Getting ready to take the SAT and my first AP (computer science) this year..

[+CacheMiner72]

This summer my wife and I took our kids to the Calgary Stampede. We went out to Calgary for Stamped and also to have our godson baptised. My four year old little girl loved all the big animals like the horses and cows and my little guy who is 2 loved the smaller animals like piglets and especially the baby chicks. While I was out there I got to fulfill a TB mission which was to go to Stampede. I also got to take my 4 year old out for her first cache, she's now hooked, although she calls it "geoCATCHING". On our return from Calgary we took the kids to Marineland to see the dolpins and whales which they loved. Other than that I have been finishing a new deck I built to finish up the landscaping around the house.

[+Carbon Hunter]

Summer

 

Nope - we're still in winter here in South Africa - but my family and I have made a huge decision to relocate to Abu Dhabi - so we will be moving from being African cachers to Arabian cachers early next month.

 

We relocate on 8 Sept - just in time for the new school year.

[Maine Family]

My grandson starts school in September so he won't be spending as much time here with Nana and Papa so we spent the summer with him and enjoyed all the time we could with him. We went to the ocean, Santa's Village, fireworks, the playground, walking, swimming. It is just so wonderful seeing the world through the eyes of a child. We enjoyed just being together and oh yeah we did squeeze work in too.

[+LadyBee4T]

What I did on my Summer Vacation in 100 words or less

 

by LadyBee4T

 

I tried to clean and restain my deck. I screwed it up.

I painted my kitchen and tracked paint throughout the house answering the phone--telemarketer.

This paint didn't work.

I repainted the kitchen. The paint peeled off.

Sanded the kitchen and then drank margaritas on the old looking deck.

I went camping and it poured cats and dogs and the tent floor leaked.

Dog sat for my son. The dog broke a lamp.

Went caching.

12 DNFs on my trip to Chicago and back out of 20.

I think I am ready for winter!

[+dardevle]

HMMM Really all I have been doing is working. We did go too Grand Rapids for a 4 day weekend with our two daughters though. Getting ready for bear hunting now!

[+mark&beth]

On my summer "vacation" I wrote a 80 page graduate thesis and milked cows twice a day. Yes.... that was a vacation *hint of sarcasm*

Oh I almost forgot... my supervisor sent me to Indianapolis for a conference and I met a lot of the local cachers and did some great caches in the downtown area!

[+Silfron Mandotheneset]

Here's my fun story from the summer. All this happened withing two weeks, but it's the only interesting part of the summer

 

Well, I took two weeks off of work for "vacation" if visiting family and helping Mandotheneset's sister move counts as a vacation.

 

The first day we went to Manhattan, KS, where his sister lives to help her move (which is a pretty good drive from us). Driving our red van, we were carrying the very last load of stuff to her new apartment, including her pet parakeet. I was driving, since Mando had been driving all day and I felt bad for him. We are just about across the very last intersection of the very last trip of the day, when BAM, we get t-boned by a truck. We spin 180 degrees, our back axle is broken and our rear passenger side wheel is at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Not good.

 

So, we call my parents to come rescue us. Four hours later (remember she just moved, so there's no food, TV, interweb, or other means of entertainment) there they are. Mando, his two sisters, and I jump into their Ford Contour, and off we go (after dinner). Right as we leave, I kid you not, in the same intersection, the Contour's AC goes out. So we drive all the way home with no AC.

 

The next day we go car shopping. My parents get a Jeep to replace the van, which leaves us with a problem: we now have no way to transport everyone if we need to (6 people, 5 seat, not good). Well, I'd been looking to replace my truck for a while, and SUVs are insanely cheap now because of gas prices. So, we decide to trade in my truck for a Ford Explorer. I only mention this because it's important later.

 

We have to wait a couple days to get the SUV, they had taken out a part to put in a different Explorer, and had to replace it, which was no big deal. So, the Monday after we wrecked the van, we head to Oklahoma in a shiny new (used) Explorer! Yay!

 

Three days into the vacation, I get a call from my mom:

Mom: "Guess what?"

Me: "What...?"

Mom: "Remember about 15 years ago the guy across the street's car ran through our house?"

Me: "Yeah..."

Mom: "Well, his wife just did the same thing!"

 

I'm absolutely ROLLING on the floor of the Bass Pro Shop with laughter! It wasn't actually the same thing, 15 years ago, the guy's jeep was parked in his driveway, it rolled down his, down our, and right into our dining room. This time, same thing, but it missed the window and only bumped into the corner of the house, not real damage to our house. Their van? Well... it's looked a bit like our red one.

 

About a week after this we're out (geocaching, actually) when the driver's side rear wheel of our shiny new SUV starts making grindy, crunchy, squeaky noises. Well... that can't be good. I research a bit online, and I think it's probably the wheel bearing. My dad is convinced it's just a break stuck down. Right. Anyway, we take it to Mando's uncle, a mechanic, and sure enough - it's the bearing. HINT: If you jack the car up and you can wiggle the wheel with your hand - you have a problem. Thank goodness for the uncle, though. The repair usually costs $700-900, money I don't have, which would leave us stranded in Oklahoma - and I have to be back in three days (at that point) for class and work! But Mando's uncle fixed it for us for the cost of the part (still a not-cheap $120, but MUCH better).

 

Well, bad things come in threes, so we figured we were home-free for now.

 

But no.

 

The SAME DAY I get another call from my mom:

 

Mom: Guess what?

Me: On no, what now...?

Mom: I was driving Mando's Honda [she didn't say Mando of course, but you get the point] and was stopped at a stop sign, and the guy in front of me backed into me!

Me: WHAT?!?!? [And then I start rolling again]

Mom: Yeah.

 

And that's the story thusfar.

 

Summer vacation FTW.

 

EDIT: Oh, I forgot to mention, the parakeet was fine, and so was everyone involved in all incidents, except one passenger in the van that hit our house, who had a mild concussion. So, that's good at least

Edited August 23, 2008 by Silfron Mandotheneset

[+Mr. Cachefinder]

I think this cointest is now over. Since it is friday and it is after 8PM EST.

Edited August 23, 2008 by Mr. Cachefinder

[+Butterfly_lady]

Oh - summer was soooo long ago.... Christmas, New Year, caching, family and friends... drought also.

Now in July / August we have had our total annual rainfall onto parched ground = flooding. At stuck inside, unable to get out...

Everyone dreams again of summer.... soon. Daffodils are out, lambs are arriving.... spring must soon be here. If only the rain would stop for more than a few hours...

Is that webbed feet I have...??

[+fairyhoney]

Oh - summer was soooo long ago.... Christmas, New Year, caching, family and friends... drought also.

Now in July / August we have had our total annual rainfall onto parched ground = flooding. At stuck inside, unable to get out...

Everyone dreams again of summer.... soon. Daffodils are out, lambs are arriving.... spring must soon be here. If only the rain would stop for more than a few hours...

Is that webbed feet I have...??

 

That's right . . . YOU live in Topsy Turvy Land

[+bluecherry]

Worked this summer with one week of vacation at the Jersey shore, But I do have a bike trip up and coming in september. My kids are all grown and gone but I did see them over the fourth, which was nice.

 

It is enjoyable reading about all the things some of you have done this past summer thanks for all the posts!

 

And the WINNER is BrierPatch

 

email me your address and I will get the coin out to you. Sorry I did not post the winner last night had some computer problems. Thanks to everyone who participated.

[+GATOULIS]

Hey I just saw it!!! Congrats BrierPatch!!!!

 

You deserved the coin my friend!!!!!

[+GATOULIS]

Oh! boy!!! I forgot to mention.... Thank you bluecherry for this cointest!!!!

[+Carbon Hunter]

Thanks for the cointest - lovely idea.