Big F**ing Rock

Now....before you start thinking that this geocaching blog is going to go to the gutters with dirty words....don't worry....it's not what you think!!

Last year...we had a fun little get-away to Ohio to do some Geocaching. For the most part...we tried to find regular size ones...as Mom was with us...and that is what she enjoys doing. But there was one cache...that I just had to do for myself. (And I think everyone liked it) It was called "Big F**ing Rock" (GC1190X).

This is all the blog listing said:

"It is not what you are probably thinking. You will see when you get there.

Although I did not use this for my weird places in Dayton multi, I thought this place was weird and interesting enough to deserve it's own cache. Let me know what you think."

Well....it intrigued me!!! And this is what we found when we got there.....

It is a BIG....FLYING.....ROCK!!! The cache was actually a magnetic key holder...and didnt take long to find....but this was just SO COOL!!!! Thought I would share it with you...should you ever get the chance to do some caching in Dayton Ohio!!!

Caching at the Indianapolis Art Center

Broad Ripple Village is one of six designated cultural districts in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Located about seven miles north of Downtown Indianapolis, Broad Ripple contains many of Indianapolis' premier up scale restaurants, art galleries, and the Monon Trail. Originally an independent municipality, Broad Ripple was annexed by Indianapolis in 1922. It currently hosts an active social scene, fueled by the near presence of Butler University. A large number of private art galleries, bars, and independently owned restaurants line the Village's streets.

One of the coolest places in Broad Ripple is the Indianapolis Art Center. The Indianapolis Art Center is one of the premier community art centers in the Midwest. It consists of the Marilyn K. Glick School of Art, a 40,000 square foot facility, designed by world-renowned architect Michael Graves, the Cultural Complex, and ARTSPARK. Integrated with the natural beauty of its site, the Indianapolis Art Center's twelve-acre campus is bordered by the White River. The School of Art houses 13 state-of-the-art Studios, a 224-seat auditorium, a library with a two-story atrium, a Studio Shop and gracious porticos. Also included on the campus is a riverfront deck and stage and sculpture gardens. The Cultural Complex houses the Fiber Studio and individual artist Studios for working artists.

And of course...there are a couple of caches on the property. The first one we found was called "Garden Pool Cube". As you can see from the pictures below...its not too hard to figure out why it was called that. It was a pretty easy find...even though it was a micro....and not actually on the Cube!!

This picture is just me....getting ahead in life!!!!

Now the last cache that we tried to find this night was called "A Quiet Place" and although it was a quiet place...we made a lot of noise about the fact that it had been muggled. If we (ok..me) had read the previous logs...we would have not spent a good hour trying to find it....but if we also read the logs...we might not have stumbled across this AWESOME piece of art. It is called "Twisted House".

We had a great night that night. Found 5 out of 6 caches for the evening. I may be posting a few more pics from the Broad Ripple area soon!!!! There are still about 25 caches in the area and along the Monon trail that we havent found yet.

IT’s “Hick@Heart” SECRET Cache

Well...it is NOW posted and active!! Our very own IT's Hick @ Heart Secret Cache!!!! This was the coolest cache idea that I had ever heard about...and I have to give Kudos to Team Hick @ Heart, my new geocaching friend here on Blogger!!! You totally ROCK!!!!

Make sure you check it out!!!!!

More about this cache to come later....when I have more time!!!

A Quick Night of Caching!

René and I decided the other night to go to the library...which just happens to be close to a few caches that we had not got smiley faces for yet.....so of course...we had to hit them!

Our stops took us to the Fall Creek Trail system in Indy.



The first one we hit was "Katie's Cache". Now I was really proud of René on this one...as we had to cross a long walking bridge to get to the cache site. And René is not very fond of (SCARED) bridges. But caching is helping her get over the fear. She even stood on the bridge so I could take a picture.



The next cache we hit was "Mud Free Zone" which...well....lets just say with the weather we have been having...there was plenty of MUD!!

We traded out some swag and dropped off a geocoin and a TB that we had...and moved on our way.

On our way back to the car....I noticed the next two signs. Now...look at them...and know that they are within 100 feet of each other. It just really made me laugh!!!!

We hit a couple of others that night....for a total of 4....but we did need to get to the library before it closed. Wait a second....there is one AT THE LIBRARY!!!!!!

Out Caching Last Night

So last night after I got off work, I got home....and decided that since there was absolutely NOTHING on TV to watch...we would run a couple errands. That means....we hit Wal-Mart for a couple things we need and then GEOCACHE!!

We ended up doing 6 caches last night...and enjoyed every one of them.

This first picture shows us as one called Dougsmiley's Got 5000 Finds. It was placed in honor a cacher here in Indiana that has now well over 5000 finds. It was a cool cache....but a little further of a hike than we thought. **I hate taking pictures like this...as it shows how FAT my face is! LOL**


This next picture shows you our VAN which we left just parked along side the road. It looks a little closer than it was....because it was just about 400 feet away. But this little cache took us about 20 minutes to get to it because there was a lot of water that we had to be careful of. And of course...we took the wrong path the first time...and would have ended up having to cross the creek. I DONT THINK SO!! So we went back to the road and came back around.

At the bridge where we parked....just underneath...we saw this. Its amazing how much graffitti you will see while out caching. And although some of the artwork is beautiful...we wish that people would present it in art musuems or something...instead of messing up public property.

We also saw this sign on the way back to the van. There was nothing really there to disturb....so this sign kinda disturbed us. We are still wondering what was out there (Behind that fence) that we shouldn't disturb.

We also were able to hit this tiny little cemetery cache out in the middle of nowhere (but very close to the other caches we hit tonight). This one also took us a little longer than normal...as the coords were WAY off. But using our geosense...we quickly found it.

This next cache was really cool! We had been to this area before....but at that time....the cache we were seeking tonight was not in place then. I knew that it was on or around the giant bear statue pictured below....but I had no coords at all written down, but we decided to try it anyway. Less then 8 minutes after getting there...we had it in hand.

We weren't sure we were going to be able to get to the Bear one....as when we got there...the gate was closed and the sign below was posted. Well nothing stops us geocachers. We crossed over the gate...walked about 1/2 mile...and got our find!!

We hit a couple others last night as well.....a puzzle cache and another small one near a Hospital. And without much incident...we got our finds....got our stuff from Wal-Mart....and was home around 8:00.

Over all....a GREAT night!!!

Caching in Cemeteries

When we first started geocaching...one of the most popular spots in our area to place caches...is in cemeteries. At first we thought this was kinda wrong...and morbid....but cachers are very respectful and always make sure that nothing is close to or on any grave-sites and there are a lot of spots in cemeteries that are great cache hding spots.

Going through the cemeteries is always really interesting if you stop to check out some of the tombstones, etc. There is a lot of history there if you just take the time to explore the Cemetery.

I have started to take up photography....and cemeteries are very photographic!! And I love using the Black & White features there. I thought I would share a couple of those pictures with you here on this blog.

This first picture is of Augusta Cemetery in Indinapolis Indiana. We have actually placed a cache here...as we absolutely love this Cemetery. It is called "Dying Cemetery II" as we actually replaced the original cache that was there...as the owners of the first one archived theirs.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=8807a38f-bba0-43f4-8f86-032d47e903d1



The next three photos are of three different cemeteries in Indiana that we have found caches out. The first one is Richland Cemetery, the second one is Oak Hill Cemetery and the last one is Calvary Cemetery.

Planning Our Vacation

For you fellow geocachers out there...this will make total sense to you....but to you people that are new to geocaching...you might look at this one and go....REALLY?????

When it comes time to plan vacation time for the year...the first thing we think about is "Can we geocache there?" Seriously. It is the most important item in determining our vacation spot.

Our whole family geocaches. We were introduced to geocaching by my brother and his wife (Steve and Natalie - aka. Batman and Catwoman) who had been doing it for quite awhile. Our Mom (aka. Lady Bug 61) also enjoys geocaching. Her health isn't the best...so she doesn't get out and about as much as the rest of us though. But we as a family have gone geocaching a couple times. Also...we have gone with Mom (just the three of us) on week-end getaways where we have had some vacation time....as well as geocaching time.

Sooooooo...back to the point of this blog. Planning this years vacation. We (along with Mom) have planned a short trip to Erlanger Kentucky in early March where we will be shopping, eating and geocaching. (We are really excited about this...as we get to pick up another state found in.) Also...we are planning another trip to Owensboro Kentucky later in the year. We are going there because we love the area....but of course...we have already scoped out the caches in the area.

Now...the other time that we are planning any vacation for...is the 2008 Indiana Fall Picnic for Geocachers. We went to the 2007 Indiana Fall Picnic last year in New Castle Indiana...and had a wonderful time. Here are some pictures of last years event.

Below - Here is a picture of the Family after enjoying a GREAT picnic lunch. You can tell I just ate...look at that big cheesy grin!!

Below - Here is a picture of Mom and René checking out all the wonderful Geocoins and Travel Bugs to trade. (Oh yea...and two other gentleman that we met that day)

Below - Everyone that showed up met before hand and was told about the days activities.

Below - Mom and René sitting down...ready to enjoy watching a few others compete in "Geo-Survivor"

Below - The Family getting ready to enjoy their day together. (minus me... I am taking the pic)

So....we are busy busy busy planning our "Geocaching Vacations" and hope to have a lot of great times to share with all of you!!!

What Is Geocaching

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching (You pronounce it Geo-cashing, like cashing a check) is an entertaining adventure game for GPS users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a GPS unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

What is a GPS device?

A GPS unit is a electronic device that can determine your approximate location (within around 6-20 feet) on the planet. Coordinates are normally given in Longitude and Latitude. You can use the unit to navigate from your current location to another location. Some units have their own maps, built-in electronic compasses, voice navigation, depending on the complexity of the device. You don't need to know all the technical mumbo jumbo about GPS units to play Geocaching. All you need to do is be able to enter what is called a "waypoint" where the geocache is hidden.

What is usually in a cache?

A cache can come in many forms but the first item should always be the logbook. In its simplest form a cache can be just a logbook and nothing else. The logbook contains information from the founder of the cache and notes from the cache's visitors. The logbook can contain much valuable, rewarding, and entertaining information. A logbook might contain information about nearby attractions, coordinates to other unpublished caches, and even jokes written by visitors. If you get some information from a logbook you should give some back. At the very least you can leave the date and time you visited the cache.

Larger caches may consist of a waterproof plastic bucket placed tastefully within the local terrain. The bucket will contain the logbook and any number of more or less valuable items. These items turn the cache into a true treasure hunt. You never know what the founder or other visitors of the cache may have left there for you to enjoy. Remember, if you take something, its only fair for you to leave something in return. Items in a bucket cache could be: Maps, books, software, hardware, CD's, videos, pictures, money, jewelry, tickets, antiques, tools, games, etc. It is recommended that items in a bucket cache be individually packaged in a clear zipped plastic bag to protect them.

Where are caches found?

The location of a cache can be very entertaining indeed. As many say, location, location, location! The location of a cache demonstrates the founder's skill and possibly even daring. A cache located on the side of a rocky cliff accessible only by rock climbing equipment may be hard to find. An underwater cache may only be accessed by scuba. Other caches may require long difficult hiking, orienteering, and special equipment to get to. Caches may be located in cities both above and below ground, inside and outside buildings. The skillful placement of a small logbook in an urban environment may be quite challenging to find even with the accuracy of a GPS. That little logbook may have a hundred dollar bill in it or a map to greater treasure. It could even contain clues or riddles to solve that may lead to other caches. Rich people could have fun with their money by making lucrative caches that could be better than winning the lottery when you find it. Just hope that the person that found the cache just before you left a real big prize!

There are 523872 active caches worldwide.

In the last 7 days, there have been 336119 new logs written by 47946 account holders.

For More Information - Check out http://www.geocaching.com/ - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site