A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

ftf

Geocaching: Feeling good to get outside

This weather has made it much easier to want to get outside.

Recently, I’ve even had the chance to get out and do some geocaching. That’s something I haven’t done in a few months, so it’s good to get back at it. This week has already seen an 18-cache day, and then a day of going after work to find just a handful.

One of the four FTFs a couple of us have recently nabbed.

One of the four FTFs a couple of us have recently nabbed.

It’s been nice in that regard.

Even better? Two of us have snagged four first-to-finds (FTFs), which is nice. I haven’t had many of those over the past two years, so kind of cool to grab those. Two of them even came at night, which is something I don’t always do!

Anyway, what I’m realizing is how relaxing geocaching can be and how much I’ve missed getting out and doing it. Whether easy finds, or hikes, or whatever else — it’s been nice. As the weather gets a tad better, there are some longer hikes and multi-caches that I want to hit, so I’m definitely excited to get back in it.

Like many hobbies I am involved in, geocaching goes in spurts for me. The past few years have been lower-number years, but that’s also because of less time and fewer people around who cache and share a schedule like I do. That matters because I am not a fan of solo caching.

With spring coming up, two of us are also planning a day or two of maintenance. Basically, we plan on hitting all caches the two of us own and doing any needed maintenance. It should be a good day and the plan is to place several more caches our there for people to find.

I know it’s a long shot, but I’d love to find a way to get 800 more finds this year and get to 5,000 finds. I’m not sure I can do it without a couple of big trips, but it’s something that could happen if all aligned well.

If you’re a geocacher, how’s your year so far? Do you get the up and down feelings as well? If so, hopefully you snap out of it quickly and get back to finding those caches as quick as possible!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please Like HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

Chasing geocaches in the dark can be entertaining and fun

In the world of geocaching, there are those who live by first to finds and those who don’t.

When I first started, I was totally into chasing them. It was a rush. But as I got going in the game, the novelty wore off. I didn’t enjoy chasing after them and the competition was getting a little tired. After all, I play sports where I am competitive, I didn’t need that to be in a casual game. (And yes, geocaching is a game… never understood when people call it a sport. It’s not.)

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still nice to grab a FTF sometimes. It’s nice to see a clean log book and it’s also nice to know how the owner originally intended on the cache being found.

This is not one of the nighttime FTFs we got Monday, but it is an FTF I got a while back.

But, it’s rare for me to run out for an FTF, especially at night. I don’t cache at night too often because I sometimes thinks it takes away from the game and maybe some great things to see. This changes, of course, if doing an actual night cache or simple park and grabs.

So this past Monday, it took me off guard when I got a phone call about new caches.

See, one of my friends has recently gotten into caching. And I remember those days. The excitement. The fun. He’s gotten the bug pretty badly.

With that in mind, it didn’t shock me when he called noting some new caches had published and he got the e-mails. Being these were in our area, he wanted to go chase them.

I checked them out and saw they were in a state forest area. And on some roads that weren’t so populated, so what the heck?

Shoes on, jacket on and some flashlights, off we went to score the FTFs.

Our area is interesting when it comes to FTFs. If they are in one part of it, it’s pretty tough to land a FTF. There are several who chase them and if you aren’t really quick, you won’t get them.

But over toward me, it’s a little more lax. Not that people won’t eventually do it, but there have been times when caches have gone three or more days without being found.

Needless to say, we snaked these without issue.

It was a decent night out with a pretty bright moon. Add to that being done before 11 and it worked out well. And, I won’t lie, it was quite fun. Geocaching at night has its own issues — you have to really look at things closer on tough hides. But that makes it fun, too.

I don’t indent on getting into night caching much again, but I did enjoy this night.

And there were some FTFs to book. Not to shabby.

Fundraiser: I am, again, trying to raise money for the Relay For Life. If you donate to me — a minimum of $5– you will be entered to win a super-sweet quilted lap quilt or pillow. Click here for all the information!

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!

First o’ the find!

Ahhh, a wee bit o’ good weather we’re getting here on St. Patrick’s Day! Indeed, a wonderful day.

I even donned a green sweatshirt in celebration of this fine holiday.

Anyhoo…

I had to  go to Oneonta this morning for a mock interview workshop. There were only two of us in the workshop, so we worked on interviewing one another, got some feedback and I was out a lot quicker than I thought I would. So I was a little lost in what to do as I had things to do in the afternoon.

So I took some trophies from the past softball season to our sponsor (finally!) and also gave him a pamphlet on the disc golf course being put in at Fortin Park. I’m trying to sell as many hole sponsorships as possible so we can at least get nine holes in the ground as soon as possible.

After that, I delivered an invoice to someone else who is sponsoring a hole and had a little time before I had to talk to someone else about a hole (they, too, will be sponsoring a hole… I think we’ve sold eight or nine holes, so we’re looking good. Crossing fingers that we can get nine in the ground by the end of April!)

I then remembered that a new geocache had been published in the morning. Even though it was a puzzle cache, I didn’t think at this point I had a chance at the first to find. After all, others have become hawks and they are so quick anymore getting the FTFs. No matter, the temps were approaching the 50s and I wanted to get out and find something.

With the smart phone, I had everything I needed to solve the puzzle. The first one I did through the checker was wrong. I looked things over, realized my mistake and tried again… success!

Off I went.

I got to the parking area and I was a short walk to the cache location. I saw someone with some dogs near the spot. I didn’t recognize the person, but was hoping I didn’t get beat that close!

I then got to the area, looked around a little and had the cache in hand quickly. I opened, looked and … yes sir! There was a blank log.

I signed in with the FTF!

After that, I headed home and worked on some job things — which included sending another application out! I’m starting to feel it with my cover letters, which is good.

I also went down to one of the big open fields in my area tonight and threw some discs a little. I have an idea of what discs I want to carry with me from now on. That being said, I need to get a basket as I need to have something to work on for my putting and having a target.

Until then, I’m happy I got to be out walking around a little bit with today’s weather. It’s nice to get out and get a cache or two. There are a few newer ones in the area I haven’t found yet, so I’ll be looking for those soon enough!

More later!