Whoops! Enjoy!

So now we know Cecil’s plan to take over the universe… and how ADHD has once again saved galaxy. Flash Fact- Riverside, Iowa celebrates an annual “TrekFest” which has welcomed many stars of Star Trek. Geocachers, there is only one cache in town and it celebrates the Captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise: not Robert April, Christopher Pike, or any of the other guys & gals, just James R. Kirk, (Whoops! That was changed after “Where No Man has Gone Before) I mean James Tiberius Kirk. How will all this change now that they have rebooted the franchise and Kirk has been born in space? Cecil might be the only one who knows. Time to head home.
I know, I know, German geocachers do actually find real caches and sign logs… I also know that there are geocachers in the U.S. who don’t play by the “rules.” The thing is there are many geocache owners who find that their cache has been logged by someone (strangely a lot of times a German) who has miraculously also logged a cache in Fiji (and South Africa, and BeJing and… ) the same day. I’m assuming that German GPS units also contain a teleportation device. You might think it is just me, but if you check out Cecil’s storefront you’ll see a “Don’t Be a Geoslug” t-shirt (blatant plug) this was actually designed for a fellow cacher in Illinois who was tired of people not actually visiting the caches he had placed. In some cases someone had actually gotten another geocacher to sign logs for them. After a conversation with some fellow geocachers I had thought about changing the wording to “nicht eine Geoschnecke sein.” Like golf, geocaching is one of those “games” where character is tested. On the golf course, you keep score, in most cases no one is looking over your shoulder counting your strokes or seeing if you moved the ball. You know if you cheated, you know it’s cheating & you have to live with it. In geocaching, you know what caches you have found and which ones you haven’t. I know Sue has over 3,000 finds and I was there for a lot of them, but since being kicked off the “ProfessorZoom” account I have only counted caches that I have found since tagging along with Cecil (around 1300).
Nuff Said. Yes, we plan our vacations by looking at our stats on geocaching.com. This trip was really planned (besides breaking in the new MINI) because we were both going a bit stir crazy. Since we stayed home for M.L. King Day it was decided that we needed to get away (or Cecil would be coming at us yelling “Heeerrrreee’sss Johnny!”) The nearest state that had not been colored in on the map- Iowa. It seems we have already cached in the warm states within a long weekend’s drive so we headed north.
I think Cecil should have remembered to carry the one. Sloppy mistake.  So our intrepid band of adventurers head North to Winona, MN and now they have a new member- Tink.  I wonder how many saw this coming.  The funny thing is Mini Meet will be over by the time this posts… You should have read a blog post with the highlights – avoiding spoilers as best I can.
Since I started this in May I have been working on exactly what I would like this comic to be.  I have been focused on trying to give those people reading a glimpse into what I have enjoyed about visiting England and embracing the culture that created the Mini.  As I kept working I found that one piece was missing… It wasn’t fun.  I was having a hard time finding my inspiration- and then I realized that I needed to stop trying to be serious and just have fun… I hope you enjoy this change not only in the style but also the story, I know I am enjoying it.
For those who have been following my Flickr gallery you’ve seen some of the shots I have taken along this journey.  Cecil, it seems is not too pleased with just being plopped on things for a photo, but such is the price for fame for a stuffed monkey.  It has been amazing all the things we have seen (and have yet to see.  As I type this we are preparing for our last day in Sibford Gower and our move for a couple of days to London before heading home.  The amusing part is this adventure has just begun!
Some of you may have been wondering where was Cecil (Evil GeoCaching Monkey Bent On World Domination)?  I was trying to figure out the best way to plop him in and am still trying to determine how I want him to act or react to situations. For those of you who are fans of the monkey he has made his first appearance in this strip and will be causing problems from now on.