Another caching adventure with my friend PAMag76

[+TeamPooKel]

Yesterday PAMag76 and I, the Poo portion of Teampookel, headed off to the Ottawa, Illinois area for a day of geocaching to kick off the first day of the Planetary Pursuit Challenge. We found some clever caches and learned some interesting historical facts from the virtual caches we completed. It just wouldn't be complete for us without a mishap or mix-up leading to a serious bout of laughter. And yesterday did not disappoint. We were on a roll logging quick finds until we got to the empty lot of a former restaurant. Pam and I searched and searched the area around GZ but with no luck. We got in the car, drove around the lot continuing to check everything before driving back and parking at GZ again. As I parked I spotted something sticking up out of the ground right in front of the car. I was sure we'd finally found it. That was it. I knew it!! It was one of those fake sprinkler head cache containers. How had we missed that before? I picked it up, feeling confident, and took it back to the car ready to sign. As I took the top off to pull out the log I found... the insides of a real, actual sprinkler head. Yep, I had pulled up the sprinkler system from the coffee shop. Ooopsy! :)~  Of course with pens in hand, and feeling quite surprised we couldn't help but laugh A LOT!!  Oh.. BTW... we never did find the real cache but we sure had fun and another great laugh. Can hardly wait for our next escapade!  

Edited March 20, 2018 by TeamPooKel

[+TeamPooKel]

Not only was yesterday's caching adventure with PAMag76 tons of fun but I got Teampookel's  24 in 24. YEAH!! Thanks for being part of the milestone Pam. 

[+J Grouchy]

I'm so confused.  

[+cerberus1]

Sounds fun. 

No offense, but didn't you have a string of threads condensed in one just a few weeks ago?  This is a discussion forums.

If every cacher started individual threads on their finds every weekend, there wouldn't be a way to locate forum threads to discuss things. 

[+The A-Team]

39 minutes ago, J Grouchy said:

I'm so confused.  

Me too. I can't figure out what "Teampookel's 24 in 24" is. At first I thought maybe they had tried to log their own cache, but they don't have any hides.

@TeamPooKel: Was this meant to be a message to a specific person instead of a post in the international forums? The way you seem to be speaking directly to Pam makes me think this is the case.

[+The A-Team]

59 minutes ago, TeamPooKel said:

As I parked I spotted something sticking up out of the ground right in front of the car. I was sure we'd finally found it. That was it. I knew it!! It was one of those fake sprinkler head cache containers. How had we missed that before? I picked it up, feeling confident, and took it back to the car ready to sign. As I took the top off to pull out the log I found... the insides of a real, actual sprinkler head. Yep, I had pulled up the sprinkler system from the coffee shop. Ooopsy! :)~ 

...and this is why this type of cache not only normally isn't allowed (it typically violates the "No buried" guideline), but it's also a bad idea because it conditions cachers to pull on every sprinkler head they see. Hopefully you explained the damage to the coffee shop so they don't get a nasty surprise the next time the irrigation system turns on.

[+Sol seaker]

22 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

Me too. I can't figure out what "Teampookel's 24 in 24" is. At first I thought maybe they had tried to log their own cache, but they don't have any hides.

@TeamPooKel: Was this meant to be a message to a specific person instead of a post in the international forums? The way you seem to be speaking directly to Pam makes me think this is the case.

I suspect they found 24 caches in 24 hours on a challenge, either geocaching challenge or spoken challenge.

 

The poster appears to be a young, perhaps teen. I think it's great that people of all ages get involved with this game. I love to see new people of all ages and types get involved.

I do believe there is an age limit for the forums though, unless things have changed.

As long as there's not any trouble I don't see a problem though. Let the kid have his fun in geocaching (whatever he's doing there) and on the forums.

[+Touchstone]

Link for reference:

https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/forum/18-midwest/

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, Sol seaker said:

As long as there's not any trouble I don't see a problem though. Let the kid have his fun in geocaching (whatever he's doing there) and on the forums.

Well, the six threads on a caching weekend a few weeks ago was compiled into one by a Mod, so maybe not a problem when it's limited to one thread.    

[Keystone]

I merged together two separate threads about this geocacher's recent adventures.

[+justintim1999]

21 hours ago, TeamPooKel said:

Yesterday PAMag76 and I, the Poo portion of Teampookel, headed off to the Ottawa, Illinois area for a day of geocaching to kick off the first day of the Planetary Pursuit Challenge. We found some clever caches and learned some interesting historical facts from the virtual caches we completed. It just wouldn't be complete for us without a mishap or mix-up leading to a serious bout of laughter. And yesterday did not disappoint. We were on a roll logging quick finds until we got to the empty lot of a former restaurant. Pam and I searched and searched the area around GZ but with no luck. We got in the car, drove around the lot continuing to check everything before driving back and parking at GZ again. As I parked I spotted something sticking up out of the ground right in front of the car. I was sure we'd finally found it. That was it. I knew it!! It was one of those fake sprinkler head cache containers. How had we missed that before? I picked it up, feeling confident, and took it back to the car ready to sign. As I took the top off to pull out the log I found... the insides of a real, actual sprinkler head. Yep, I had pulled up the sprinkler system from the coffee shop. Ooopsy! :)~  Of course with pens in hand, and feeling quite surprised we couldn't help but laugh A LOT!!  Oh.. BTW... we never did find the real cache but we sure had fun and another great laugh. Can hardly wait for our next escapade!  

It happens but please be careful.   I know the first reaction in an open area is to grab the cache and get to a spot less conspicuous.   It's always a good idea to make sure you've actually found the cache before hauling it off into the bushes.  Rock walls are another one.  Some people start actually dismantling the wall looking for the cache.  That's a no no.   It's always a good idea to remember your on someone else's property and to always try to minimize the impact to items on that property.  Most cache owners will hide the container in a way that doesn't require you to start pulling all kinds of things apart.  If you have a good eye that is.    Above all be safe and have fun.   It looks like you've got the "have fun" part already down.