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A 'lil HooHaa

Messing with the blogging world since 2005

geocaching events

Turning 8!

September 4, 2015

No. 8 is in the books!

No. 8 is in the books!

In 2008, a small group of us got together to put a summer geocaching picnic event together.

A few weeks ago, that event hit its eighth birthday.

Originally born the Hall of Fame Picnic because of two Hall of Fames in our immediate area (baseball and soccer), there is now but one still around (baseball). The picnic, however, continues on.

HOF picnic 8 logo

One thing that is cool about the event is trying to come up with something different each year. There’s been photo scavenger hunts and the GeoOlympics to name a few things we’ve done. We usually try and put out new caches for the event, which is always fun.

This year was a passport program where people showed up, received a passport and then went out to find eight new caches — all letterbox hybrids — to stamp their passport. Then they came back for the picnic and we drew names of those who completed the passport for random prizes.

It’s a nice, smaller event that people seem to enjoy each year. We’ve, for the most part, seen a steady increase in attendance each year.

Our attendance over the years:

  • 2015: 47
  • 2014: 41
  • 2013: 23
  • 2012: 29
  • 2011: 26
  • 2010: 25
  • 2009: 28
  • 2008: 17 (does not include multiple logs by people claiming “event only” finds

In two years, the 10th edition of this event will take place and I already have ideas for it. Next year will be No. 9, though, and it will hopefully be as fun as normal.

If you are a local (or semi-local) geocacher and haven’t been to this event — well check it out next year! If you’ve been to them, I hope you’ve had a great time at them.

This year was definitely a success and here’s looking forward to next year and beyond!

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

Filed Under: Geocaching, My world Tagged With: caching, caching events, event, events, geocaching, geocaching events

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GeoWoodstock: A wrap!

June 10, 2015

What a weekend GeoWoodstock was!

This will be the final in my series about the event and the weekend full of geocaching. I’m going to do a wrap of sorts here to talk about some numbers and such. I’m still looking back and enjoying the weekend that we had down there and can’t wait for the Geocaching Block Party in Seattle in August.

The log at this year's GeoWoodstock!

The log at this year’s GeoWoodstock!

But, I wanted to do a tally of some things we did this weekend:

  • 5 states (New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia)
  • 150 caches found
  • 11 events (including one mega)
  • 3 Earthcaches
  • 3 Mystery caches
  • 2 Virtuals
  • 2 Lab caches
  • 1 Letterbox
  • Of all those found caches, a combined 9,445 favorite points!

I also reached the 4,000 finds mark, and set a new record by finding 85 caches in one day!

In the end, it was one heck of a great time. Two of us are tentatively planning a weeklong road trip to GeoWoodstock XIV next year in Denver. It will include many states, lots of caching fun and a trip to remember.

It's always fun to meet up with old caching friends at big events!

It’s always fun to meet up with old caching friends at big events!

I haven’t done many road trips like the one I’ll eventually start to plan, but I’m hoping for an epic week full of fun and crazy geocaching, maybe a baseball game or three, and maybe even a disc golf round or two.

This GeoWoodstock was great in that I got to catch up with some people I met at my first GW, as well as others I’ve met through the years. Geocaching is a cool community full of people from different backgrounds and lives. It makes for a diverse and fun crowd. My hope is to make GeoWoodstock an annual trip to catch up with friends and utilize it as an event that becomes one I can’t miss.

This year was a fantastic event. Maybe the 2016 event can be find No. 5,000!

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

Filed Under: My world Tagged With: boonsboro, caching events, geocaching, geocaching events, geowoodstock, geowoodstock 13, geowoodstock boonsboro, geowoodstock xiii, gw13, maryland, mega event

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GeoWoodstock: A stellar weekend all around

June 4, 2015

My first GeoWoodstock was in Warren, Pa., in 2011.

What an experience it was. I had known about GeoWoodstock since I started geocaching, but I had never been because it had been in places not too close to me.

So with it being in western Pennsylvania, I knew I had to go to it.

Several years passed and it was coming back closer to the Northeast in Boonsboro, Maryland. I made reservations early and waited. When pre-registration opened, I signed up and ordered the items I wanted. Then I waited some more.

This year's GeoWoodstock was an amazing event!

This year’s GeoWoodstock was an amazing event!

Memorial Day weekend was the culmination of that wait.

One thing I found out and realized with this one is how into it the whole community seemed to be. Businesses welcomed people with no issues. People seemed to know about and embrace the thousands of people coming into the area for this event.

That’s a positive thing.

More than that, the committee behind this GeoWoodstock was stellar.

From the early arrival event on Friday to the main event on Saturday, things ran smooth. There were so many solid vendors. The food offerings were really good. I didn’t see many seminars, but the ones I peeked in on seemed to be solid and well-done. There were also a bunch of people at each one.

The weather didn’t hurt, either.

With sunny skies, it was a fine weekend to be outside. People chatted and swapped stories. Pathtag trading was being done all over. For my little group, we spent some time at the event, went and cached some, then came back for the end of the event. We then cached more before coming back for the Midnight Madness event (more on that in a future post).

This truly was one of the best geocaching experiences I’ve ever had.

The whole weekend was awesome. There were many satellite events, loads of geocaches to be found, and friendly people everywhere you went.

I also loved the amount of vendors and, as noted earlier, they were all solid. There were different geocaching items for sale, which was nice to see.

This event also got me back into the geocaching mood. From December to about early April, I kind of wasn’t into it. Part of it was the weather, but another part was I was a little stale with things. I needed a small break. A weekend like this was perfect because I got to remember all the good things about geocaching.

It also made me realize I want to start making plans for the next one, which is during July 4 weekend next year just outside of Denver. I’ve never been to Colorado, so this seems like a good reason. The cool part is two of us got talking about it and are thinking about making it a road trip – driving out and back – to get a bunch of states and great caches. So we’ll see how it goes. It doesn’t hurt to plan. The worst-case scenario is I don’t go and have to cancel any reservations I make. In a perfect world, I’ll make this a yearly trip.

It was a fantastic time though and if you are a geocacher and have never been to GeoWoodstock, I’d highly encourage you to attend one at some point!

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

Filed Under: Geocaching, My world Tagged With: boonsboro, caching events, geocaching, geocaching events, geowoodstock, geowoodstock 13, geowoodstock boonsboro, geowoodstock xiii, gw13, maryland, mega event

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The spring… is it really here? Time to geocache then.

April 17, 2015

Sun?

Warm weather?

What in the name of … am I still in the Northeast?

It was Easter when we were still getting snow. Now all of a sudden Mother Nature seems to have released her hold on winter.

Spring seems to have arrived. (Don’t worry… there’s talk of rain coming in, and maybe a morning with snow showers).

I can’t complain, that’s for sure – especially with blue skies and sun aplenty in recent days.

Now, I’m sure rain will be coming soon enough. We always get some spring showers. And it’s still cold in the overnight, which includes frosted windows on the car in the morning. But that’s fine. Seeing the excellent weather is outstanding.

That also means geocaching. It also just means getting outside a bit more and trying to do more things. Softball season is quickly approaching as the season is supposed to begin the week leading into Memorial Day.

Time to get out and geocache!

Time to get out and geocache!

I’m also in search of my 4,000th geocaching find. At this moment, I’m at 3,838. That means, I’m 162 away, so I should have no problem reaching that goal… but it’s when I do it.

I always attempt to make my 1,000 milestones something special. For 1,000, it was The Spot (GC39, the oldest active geocache to the East of the Mississippi River), for 2,000 it was Europe’s First (in Ireland), and for 3,000 it was the final for the New York Delorme Challenge.

I’m hoping 4,000 can be at Geowoodstock XIII on May 23.

This could be easy or it could be hard, all depending. First, I’m going to, obviously, have to do some caching between now and then. But it’s the two weeks leading in that scare me. The week before, I will be heading to ASP Geobash 10, a mega event in Western New York. I’m figuring on a day of about 25-40 geocache finds, all depending.

See, the thing about this is that I need Geowoodstock to be the exact 4,000th (I will log whatever is my 4,000th find as I keep things in order and won’t change things around to make it work), and I plan on going down the Thursday night before and have all day Friday to cache. So I don’t want to make it so hard where I have to go super crazy to get it, but at the same time, I don’t want to have to skip caching the day before just to make Geowoodstock my 4,000th find.

This is going to take some planning, that’s for sure.

But the good part of this is that the weather is changing and I’m getting interested in being outside to geocache again. This past winter… I couldn’t have cared less. In fact, I went January-March without one find. And heck, my only find in December was an event.

I’m truly looking forward to hitting some megas this spring and summer, too. As of now, I have plans for four – ASP Geobash, Geowoodstock, Berkshire Geobash, and the NY/NJ Mega (which is on my birthday).

I’m also looking at going out to Seattle for the Groundspeak Block Party in August, and I’m really interested in going to the Midwest Geobash in July, but the latter two are all pending on travel and finances. Honestly, it might be more of a … do one or the other. As much as Groundspeak’s Block Party would be a lot of fun, I wonder if I wouldn’t be better off going out to Seattle in a different month for cheaper flights and just visiting Groundspeak etc. Either way, that decision needs to be made soon as I don’t want to wait much longer to buy flights.

Honestly, though? Those last two are icing. The other ones are easily done and I’m looking forward to them.

Truthfully, I’m just looking forward to getting outside and being more active. And catching a few baseball games. And playing softball. Maybe I’ll even play a round or three of disc golf. And geocache. Oh yes, there will be geocaching.

Now get outside and enjoy the warmth. Winter will be here before you know it!

Side note: I figured out how to darken the type here a bit… that makes me happy. Now I have to figure out how to make that default.

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

Filed Under: Geocaching, My world Tagged With: geocache, geocaching, geocaching events, spring, summer, travel, warm, weather

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Hall of Fame Picnic 7 grows with perfect weather

August 14, 2014

It seems like yesterday that I went on my first day of geocaching. Two of us went on March 1, 2008 in search of these Tupperware containers in the woods or elsewhere.

We found five that day, which was a cold but sunny winter afternoon.

I soon became addicted to this game and have loved doing it ever since. One other thing I have always enjoyed was the events. The first I went to was in May of 2008. That fall, three of us worked on an area event with the idea that it would grow over time and be a yearly things.

The seventh rendition of our summer picnic event.

The seventh rendition of our summer picnic event.

It’s done that and then some.

The Hall of Fame Picnic was born out of the idea that we had two Hall of Fames (at the time) within 30 minutes of each other – the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta.

Alas, the Soccer Hall has since shut its doors, but the name continues.

Over time, we’ve held it at a few different parks – Neahwa in Oneonta, Glimmerglass in Cooperstown and Fortin in Oneonta, which is where we’ve kind of settled in as our “home.” Maybe down the line we’ll move it around somewhere again, but the Grove Pavilion at Fortin Park has become a great spot for us.

Year 7!

Year 7!

This past weekend we held the event for the seventh consecutive year. It’s hard to imagine seven years have passed by with this wonderful event. Seven years. In a few more years, we’ll be hitting 10.

We set a record this year with more than 35 geocachers (at least names) attending. The number of actual people is higher as some teams have two or three people under one geocaching name. Some stayed most of the day, some came and went and some made brief stops. But it was all good in the end as we had a good turnout – our best yet.

Our first year was, obviously, our smallest. We had 17 legit attendees (there were 35 who logged they came, but three people unethically logged the event caches as a will-attend to get finds – and not being the “owner,” I couldn’t do anything about it). The numbers fluctuated over the following years, but stayed in the 20s until this year.

Some of the medals for the top three in each event.

Some of the medals for the top three in each event.

We’ve had a lot of fun with it, too. I always strive to find something different to do. We’ve done a photo scavenger hunt twice, a regular scavenger hunt, had potluck picnics and, this year, did the GeoOlympics.

What an event the GeoOlympics was.

We had five events where cachers competed and earned points and medals. We had an FTF Dash where we gave the person the coordinates and they had to go sign the log and return. We had a micro toss and an ammo can toss. There was a closest to the pin, as well as speed container – where they were timed decorating a geocache container. (Side note: these containers will all be released as live caches, with the person’s name as part of the title. I’ll just go through and “clean ‘em up” if needed before placing).

There was plenty of food, chat and other geocaching fun. And, honestly, I’m not sure we could have asked for better weather.

Our overall top three!

Our overall top three!

What was really nice is that we had people travel from all over for this event – from an hour or so away to spots in other states, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey. I had the chance to meet some new faces and catch up with those I already knew.

Doing the in-depth games are fun, but sometimes it takes away from the event to the point that every year or two, it’s worth doing just the picnic and having people hang out, eat, play some “yard games” and have a good time. Maybe next year. We’ll see.

In the end, it was a fine time and people seemed like they had a great time. I always enjoy hosting events and coming up with different ideas, so this all worked out well.

I truly do believe this was our best summer picnic yet. It was perfect weather, some fun activities and people stuck around, which was nice. There are some early talks for ideas for the next couple of years, so hopefully we can continue to grow the event as we march toward 10 years in 2017!

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

Filed Under: Geocaching, My world Tagged With: caching, caching event, caching events, geocache, geocaching, geocaching event, geocaching events, hall of fame picnic, hall of fame picnic 7, stuck in the middle cachers, stuck in the middle geocachers

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I’ve recently realized how many photos I have to I’ve recently realized how many photos I have to post here, as well as on Harper’s (@harper_dublin) account). So, as I start to transfer photos, I’ll try and catch up. So photos coming could be from all seasons and who knows when. 🤣

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