Tag: Geocaching

GeoWoodstock XX – A GeoWhimventure®

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Bruce

So last week we (Sue, Cecil and I) headed west to attend GeoWoodstock.  This event marked the first anniversary of my retirement and made me come face to face with a few things.

GeoWoodstock is an amazing event when done right.  I’ve attended a few and even took part helping with GWX.  Each event is different since it is organized by a local group that submits a proposal.  Each year they learn from the past.  The whole idea is to get geocachers together.  GWXX in Flagstaff had some great parts to give people things to do besides just finding geocaches.  The actual event is only one day, but there were amazing events leading up to Saturday and events once everything was officially over. With Route 66 and the proximity to the Grand Canyon there were things for everyone to do.  

The pre-events gave people multiple chances to pick up their badges, and reasons to meet other cachers from around the world.  Our first event was “WTF” Welcome To Flagstaff and was held in the middle of downtown.  Registration is free, but at various levels you get different SWAG and stuff. We went for the Gold level +1 which gave us lunch, VIP parking, shirts, and a bunch of geocoins. We got our packet and saw the other pieces that the event organizers put together as icebreakers for the around 3,000 people descending on the area.  There was the typical bingo game where you go and get people to fill in a bingo board filled with caching accomplishments.  Due to taking a hiatus from caching for a couple of years, I was pretty limited to the boxes “design a geocoin or pathtag” and “appeared in FTF Geocacher magazine.”  There was also a selfie contest, a decoding map icebreaker, pathtag trading (anyone have yellow?) and rules for a poker run.  Each badge had a sticker on it that had a variety of attributes for you to match.  None of these were necessarily new, but putting them all together at Woodstock was and made it possible to meet even more people, and a nice way for cachers of all experience levels to get out and meet some new people.  Did I Mention that JoGPS (the founder of this event) put it together in the very early days of Geocaching so people could meet face to face and talk instead of just seeing names on a log? Besides caches and events the organizers also put together a bunch of Adventure Labs throughout the area.  Which lead to one thing no one had really anticipated- Cellular Network overload.  When a town the size of Flagstaff suddenly has 3,000 people all trying to access the internet at the same time things slowdown to a crawl.  I look at it like going to a conference and complaining about the temperature in the meeting rooms.  There isn’t a darn thing the organizers can do about it, it’s out of their hands. Cachers are used to adapting to the situation, so that’s what we did.

The next day took us out of Flagstaff and over to Williams, AZ as cachers hopped on board the train heading to the Grand Canyon.  Sue, Cecil, and I have control issues so we decided to drive, that way we had more control over our schedule.  It was an amazing day.  We had not been to the Grand Canyon in years and then it was more of a drive by. We stopped at a scenic overlook and went on our way.  Thursday we took the entire day to explore the southern rim.  Afterwards we headed back to Flagstaff to attend the evening event at a bowling alley it was crowded so after saying “Hi!” to some friends, and signing the log, we called it a day.

If you couldn’t tell, this is the Grand Canyon.

Friday we decided to “Take it Easy” after overdoing it on Wednesday (yes, we’re old). We ended up at the Lowell Observatory (Where the State Planet for Arizona – Pluto was discovered) in the afternoon. Then heading to the GPS Adventure Maze and a quick run to the evening event that I volunteered at (anyone have a yellow pathtag?). As it got dark we headed back to the observatory for stargazing (which was AWESOME). 

Moonrise from the Lowell Observatory looking out over Flagstaff. Scorpius is in view on the right side.

Saturday brought everything to a head.  The BIG EVENT.  Now having done these before, the actual event is just a big celebration and a chance for cachers to talk to each other.  A lot of time you can’t put a name you’ve seen over and over again on logs with a face.  For the first few years of caching I only knew people by their caching name- and asking where “Foomanjoo” was seems OK at a geo event, but when someone says you need to talk to “Josh” you might get a little lost. GeoWoodstock gives cachers of all abilities and experience the chance to just talk and share adventures..  I spent part of the morning with FTFGuy (Keith) at the FTF Geocacher table drawing monkeys for people and handing out Cecil-EGCM buttons.  When I ran out of buttons & paper I wandered the event grounds and the vendor tables.  It was nice to talk to friends that due to circumstances I don’t see that often like Sonny & Sandy (Team Podcacher) who produce a great podcast and actually introduced me to Geocaching back in 2006. 

There are educational sessions throughout the day (This was my job with GWX) these are nice little presentations or panels on various subjects.  I missed the morning ones, but was able to hear a talk about the Adventure Labs along Route 66 with props given the folks who did it on the Lincoln Highway.  Then there was the Reviewer Panel which is always a fun part of GeoWoodstock.  These are the volunteers and Lackeys from Groundspeak getting hit with questions from the audience.  The only rule is not to ask about a specific cache.  Like any hobby there are questions that always get brought up or people who try to monopolize the discussion.  In the land of LEGO the question of “Will they ever bring back the monorail?” is the one that tends to always get asked.  In Geocaching it has to do with Virtual Caches and taking over a cache when the owner vanishes from the face of the Earth- I’m not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens. 👽

The Five Geocachers who were there at the start, and haven’t missed a GeoWoodstock.

The day concludes with thanks to the organizers, honoring of the five people who haven’t missed any GeoWoodstocks, and the unveiling of next year’s location.  So GeoWoodstock XXI will be in Morgantown, WV over Memorial Day weekend. Hope to see you there.

That evening the local theatre was taken over for the geocoin/pathtag trading event (Midnight Madness) and the showing of a rough cut of a documentary about the history of GeoWoodstock.  <SPOILER> GWX was really hot. 🥵

Do we all then say goodbye and head off?  No, there are Sunday Events – a CITO and then an event around lunch. There’s breakfast Monday and even another event about a week after GWXX!

If you want the official word about the event and geocaching here’s the article from the local paper that explains things much better than I ever could. Cache Mountain: GeoWoodstock attracts 3,000 to Flagstaff | Local News | azdailysun.com

The Adventure Labs I completed (there are still a bunch I didn’t 🙄)

Historic Route 66: Seligman to Peach Springs, AZ (4 out of 7)

What I Learned (more about myself than the event):

  1. Communication is key- know what the objective for the day is, but be flexible.  Friday we figured we’d get all the Adventure Lab stages but due to connectivity issues and being old and tired we decided a nap was a better option. The event folks were great about posting updates as needed.
  2. Creating a cache list only works if everyone involved is on the same page. For me, not caching that much makes it more difficult- using different caching apps doesn’t make it any easier. Interestingly enough, there were two events called almost the exact same things happening on the same day at different locations at different times… We went to the wrong location at the wrong time. I had it correct in my list and on the calendar (which we never used), but got confused and decided that “logically” the one location made sense, without checking the cache page until was too late. FYI: The original corner to stand on is in Flagstaff, not Winslow. 🙄 We at least got a good breakfast out of the deal. 😁
  3. Some places don’t have good cellphone coverage (no matter what your provider’s map shows). So read the directions on an Adventure Lab before leaving an area with decent coverage… Some of old Route 66 were difficult/impossible to log the Adventure Lab stages if you hadn’t downloaded the lab, BEFORE arriving in the area- which was what the starting page stated very clearly.
  4. “They’re more like guidelines than actual rules.” Everyone plays the game (Geocaching) differently. When I am doing an Adventure Lab I like to actually walk to the place (whenever possible), other people are fine with driving by and activating the stage then either doing Internet research to find the answer or just guessing until they get the question right. I’m not about numbers, I’m about the experience… That and trying not to hit something (or someone) is a lot easier when you aren’t trying to activate a stage while whizzing by it.
  5. Remember Leonard Snart’s philosophy on planning: “There are only four rules you need to remember: make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan…”
  6. We rented a MINI convertible for this trip and were really excited to not have to adjust to a completely different car.  If you own a MINI Roadster (R59) a newer MINI Convertible (F57) is not the same car. 🤬  To those who love the convertible MINI… I’m happy for you, I just don’t get it.  Having to put the backseat down to be able to fit two carry-on suitcases and two daypacks?!? I know if it were my car, I’d have to get used to a lot of things, but not being able to put the top down when the boot is full? 😳 Sue has an electric top on her Roadster and she was still trying to figure out why it would throw an error code saying the top wasn’t locked!  Having a speed warning pop up every time you try to keep up with interstate traffic?!? I know, some of these things I can fix in the car settings, but for a week, it wasn’t worth it. Someone commented that the early Mini was designed to be simple and all the tech they’ve added just complicated it.  As an R59 owner I kind of have to agree.
  7. I’m getting too old for red eye flights.  Or I need a first class overseas seat to fly at night since I really can’t sleep sitting up. After being in airports or on airplanes for about 18 hours I crashed once I got home.
  8. I really do miss my cats when I’m away.

Whimventure® Awaits!

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Bruce

Time to head off into the great unknown. Probably won’t be able to post anything here while we’re away so plan on following Cecil’s Facebook presence, or maybe my Instagram (if I can remember to post there- I know you’ll at least get a hotel hallway photo or two). Now the tough question- How many shirts does Cecil really need for this trip?

This Week’s Comics:

Ummm… First it’s only Tuesday (so DC might be available, but that would just confuse people), and secondly, I won’t be able to get to Comic Carnival so I won’t be able to do my “highly intellectual, evidence based, spoiler free summaries and commentary” until I return. I don’t even know what I will be getting this week, so look forward to a “double-sized” post sometime next week along with a little bit on this week’s Whimventure®!

Enjoy your week and stay safe in this crazy world. For those of you ending your school year- Congratulations! Enjoy the “off season” I will miss my cats, but they are being well cared for.

This Week in Comics (My Pull List 5-15-24) and traveling with the Monkey

Posted on May 16, 2024 by Bruce

So last weekend we headed to Mansfield, Ohio to go prison. What does this have to do with comics? Not much, but it does have something to with environment and images. You see one of the MINI groups we run with planned a tour of the Ohio State Reformatory. This is the same group that had tour of the Randolph County Asylum, hmmm… coincidence?

Why the Ohio State Reformatory? It was the location for the film “The Shawshank Redemption.” It’s an impressive building from the outside and a work in progress on the inside. Sue and I spent the night before in Mansfield and did some geocaching and adventure labbing. There is an Adventure Lab that takes you to many of the locations used in the film which was cool. It seems that thanks to “Hollywood Magic” Mansfield took the place of Maine with almost every scene being shot there except the final scene on the beach… which was done using primitive AI technology 🤪 (it wasn’t, they actually went to the U.S. Virgin Islands).

I understand the importance of drawing from real life and one of those things I always find frustrating is trying to do that with a group of people wanting to move onto the next spot. or trying to draw while also trying to learn about the place from the tour guide. So I take some photos and maybe use them as inspiration when needed. So far I haven’t needed, but someday I might.

Cecil came along (of course) and since this is a newish group of people I got to explain the monkey all over again. My usual response is “I’m an old elementary school teacher, and this is my class mascot. I take him places and my students like to see where he’s been.” As you get know me, you know he’s a lot more than that. Besides being a character in this comic (when I actually draw the comic) you learn he’s my extroverted personality. He does all the silly things, I don’t do. He’s my excuse to come up to complete strangers and ask for a photo. He’s an icebreaker for when I’m too shy to talk to someone. He’s an alter ego… with a big ego. I have friends, not because of me, but specifically because of the monkey.

I just remember being at a MINI event and someone was coveting the exclusive MINIon badge that each person in the group I drove with had. They met someone from the group and when they found out I was involved asked I was still carrying around that stupid monkey. I found out about it. When they came up to me and asked if they could get a badge, because they had heard I was the guy to talk to (I am the guy to talk to), I replied that being MINIon 4238 I was so far down the line, I had nothing to do with it. They needed to talk to someone with a lower MINIon number. Don’t ever disrespect the monkey.

This Week’s Comics:

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #20 – One of those “filler issues” that I actually like. It gives you a chance to build up characters and relationships without much chaos. Of course there is some chaos, but still and nice art walk with friends and “Shift” stats to gain a bigger role, which is nice. Of course we have to end the whole thing with Vampires since that is the summer mega event. 🙄

Action Comics #1065 (House of Brainiac 3) – we’ve got Lobo, Superman, the whole Super Family against Brainiac and a special guest appearance by the Space Cabbie! It seems that Brainiac has a city collection more vast that we first thought and this will play into future issues (next in Superman #14).

Batman and Robin # 9 – Batman captured by Man-Bat and Robin still trying to figure things out… and finally doing it. getting the Principal to snap (I think it really had to do with low test scores and not getting teacher evaluations done on time) and the identity of “Shush.” So now Gotham is about to be “saved” in some weird psychotic way by Man-Bat. Let’s see- No Zur En Arrh, no Orghams, it’s interesting to try and figure out when in Batman’s timeline all these stories are taking place. It’s a comic, it really doesn’t matter.

Dark Ride #12 – It looks like the conclusion. Who will end up controlling Devil Land? Who lives? Who dies? It has been an interesting ride as we see the story behind Satanic Disneyland.

Fishflies #6 – Yes! a history lesson and we finally learn why a giant bug is running around the county and what his purpose is. I like the way the flashback was done monochromatically. How will the news at the end impact the story?

U & I # 4 of 6 – So the bad guts go after U. Can Isabelle save him? I frankly have sadistically enjoyed the trouble Isabelle’s uncle has gotten himself into- Karma is beautiful. Unfortunately, it might not work out well for U & I in the end, but we have two issues to get there.

The Displaced #4 – It’s been months since the small town of (weird, I don’t remember it’s name) disappeared from the map and memories of everyone in the world, except those who escaped it. Those folks now are forgotten the minute they leave your sight. This has lead to some interesting ways to dealing with life- rob someone, and they don’t remember it, check into a hotel, and they don’t remember you did and give the room to someone else. Now it’s starting to wear on everyone… the way to escape? leave everyone, and go off on your own… although it looks painful, you then disappear too. Where do you go? I think many hope they return to the friends and family they lost when the town vanished.

It’s interesting, when I read this comic I go back and think of how people come in and out of our lives. Sometimes you forget them, others you don’t. I feel bad, because I’m one of those teachers who, try as I might, can’t remember all of my students. After 35 years, 3 schools, and thousands of kids, my memory is faulty. Having taught elementary school doesn’t help, because kids age and change (I think it’s called puberty) which doesn’t help. Worse yet is 20 minutes after a former student leaves, sad that I don’t recall their humorous exploits, I remember everything, and feel even worse. What’s also sad are the number of kids (now adults) who come up and tell me they were “bad kids.” In 35 years I’ve only had a handful of kids who were “bad” and most of them it was their parents who really made them memorable (or the thing of nightmares).

Ultimate X-Men #3 – We learn the story of Mei the white haired girl with lightning bolt earrings. The last word of the speech bubble in the last panel… “mutants” I wonder what that could mean?

Star Trek #20 – Since this takes place in a pre-Picard time period as the Theseus gets and overhaul at Utopia Planitia we get to meet Commander Liam Shaw who seems to be making the rounds in the comics since he can’t make the rounds anymore streaming because <SPOILERS>. So off they go where “No Man Has Gone Before” in hopes to save the Organians. Who will they meet? Dr. Crusher is hoping to be reunited with Wesley.

This Week in Comics (My Pull List 3-27-24)

Posted on March 28, 2024 by Bruce

So If you read my last post about Indiana Comic Con you know about that. I wouldn’t say “Worst Con Ever” because I’ve been to worse Cons, but I would have to say it wasn’t what was advertised, or at least if this is the direction Comic Cons are going- I don’t see the need to attend them, unless I want photos and autographs (which I don’t). Heroes Con in Charlotte and Baltimore Comic Con seem to be the hold outs when it comes to die-hard comic cons, I’m sure there are others, but those are the ones that jump out.

I have said in the past that I’m torn between a bunch of different things I like- with retirement I’m trying to decide what I really want to focus on. Yes, I know I don’t have to focus on one thing, but with limited resources I need to decide what I really want to invest in. First there’s comic books- something I have been interested in since I was probably six or seven years old. Something I keep returning to when I need to escape. I returned to comics the last time when I was in grad school and needed to escape the pressure of classes. Tied closely to that is drawing. Again something I return to over and over again. I don’t see this going away anytime soon.

After Billund I have renewed my interest in building with LEGO Bricks, but mostly sets and not full on MOCs (My Own Creation). The thing keeping me from diving in again is the community. While there are some amazing people, the local LUG seems to be a a bunch of people who are into being in power and not willing to change or adapt. One of the reasons I retired was that I felt the robotics program could not evolve as long as I was in charge. It needed new ideas and other people to be responsible. Same goes for our local LUG. “We’ve always done this way” seems to be their mantra, and they will argue until you just give up.

I have met some of my best friends through MINI Coopers. I’m not a car guy, but I do love the MINI Community and the people in it. Like LEGO, the local group seems stuck in doing the same things over and over again with the same people in charge. There is another group in Fort Wayne which I’ve attended a number of events, then there are the national events like MINI Takes The States which are awesome. If only MINI would go back to making smaller cars, but as long as the Roadster is running (and when I get the classic back to working) things are fine. Unfortunately when people start talking to me about cars, I realize just how much I don’t know.

Geocaching is Sue’s thing. I have made a lot of friends while hunting down Tupperware in the woods, but I’m definitely not as competitive or completist enough to geocache more than when I’m traveling (see comments on Caching in my posts about Denmark).

I’ve been into games since I was in middle school playing the Marquis de Iblis in D&D. The problem with gaming is having to rely on other people and in this day and age it is impossible to coordinate calendars. I’m tired of thinking I’m going to play only to have it cancelled at the last minute. This is the thing on the chopping block, I’ve invested a lot into games, but if they aren’t being played, it’s kind of silly. I’m torn between attending Gen Con this year because I could use the resources in other interests… and I don’t really need anything more. Although it is an amazing Con and I highly recommend it if you are into games.

This Weeks Comics:

Primer #1 (of 4) – Primer is an all ages comic introducing Ashley, a foster kid who can just be trouble. She get’s placed with a couple who are polar opposites and tries to escape, only to discover one of their secrets… Since it’s a first issue there is a lot of character background going on, which is good. Sadly it looks like this will only be 4 issues, hopefully it will continue, The premise is interesting.

The Flash # 7 – What happened to Max Mercury and Impulse?!? In this issue we find out. Something weird is also going on with everyone else, but I’m sure Barry will figure that out while Wally is in the garden looking at statues and finding out about the Arc Angles… no that isn’t a typo. Angle not Angel.

Detective Comics #1083 – This version of Batman is hopefully going to get out of the desert and return to Gotham to save it from the Orthams who have made Gotham a better place (on the surface, but under that chocolate coating is it still an ooey gooey mess of corruption and bad stuff?) The Question finds evidence, but is it too late? A then Dr. Hate’s story comes to a conclusion… or does it? So many question marks…

Black Hammer The End #6 – So, this is the end… Will Lucy save the world from the Anti-God? What about the extremely large cast of characters gathered throughout the previous 5 issues? DC took 12 issues to do what Dark Horse and Lemire are doing in six…

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #18 (Legacy #300) – Big issue in which Miles goes up against the Cape Killers who have more impressive powers even if they don’t want to use them! Will Miles finally confront Rabble and save Brooklyn? Who lives? Who dies? Only the next issue will tell.

Amazing Spider-Man #46 – The Sinister Six return and try to help a reluctant Sandman escape Ravencroft (no relation to Ravenloft in Barovia). Spider-Man and Jackpot (MJ) try to thwart the attempt made by Electro… and succeed?

Star Trek Defiant #13 – OK- if you read the last issue there are no spoilers, if you didn’t- shame on you. IN the last issue we find out what happened to those weird bug creatures that had infiltrated the Federation way, way back in ST:TNG’s first season (Episode 25- Conspiracy). The alien enemy I think we all thought would be the new big bad, but they never showed up again, instead the Borg took their place. They have taken over a Starbase (for Lower Deck fans , not Starbase 80) and Worf and the crew of the Defiant have been sent there (probably by someone taken over by the alien bugs). Now they need to escape but seeing as this is only part 2, we’ve got a long way to go in this arc. I’m OK with that.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3 – Wow. Just like the original Ultimate universe we are starting to get into some interesting stuff! Spider-Man gets help with his costume (with amusing options). He also meets and teams up with an old friend (who is a new friend in this universe).

Alan Scott Green Lantern #5 – The penultimate issue in which Red Lantern reveals more about his origin and we finally meet the real bad guys and (redacted) show up to make the next issue awesome.

Nacelleverse #0- This was recommended to me at Indiana Comic Con (but I won’t hold that against it). Basically take some of your 1980-90’s toy lines and create a comic book encompassing all of them. Robo Force, Biker Mice from Mars, Sectaurs, Power Lords, and The Great Garloo are brought back in a story featuring Garloo. If you don’t recognize any of these brands… you (like me) won’t have the nostalgia button pressed, but it still was a good story setting up a series and the return of these toys to market. Toy marketing has always been a part of cartoons and comics, so this just updates it a bit to tug at the heartstrings of people who now have more deposable income and don’t need their parents permission to buy stuff. Unless they are still living in their parent’s basement.

Time2 Omnibus – I had the chance to meet Howard Chaykin at Galaxy Con. I went to a panel and then paid for a workshop. He’s done a lot in his career but the one I got caught up with was “American Flagg” a take on the future in which a lot of the things going on in the comic seem logical if things continue the way they have been (Have you ever seen “Idiocracy”?). Time2 started off connected to American Flagg- kind of in the multiverse alternate timeline crossover kind of way. It then branched off on its own. A future based on the 1930’s style with gangsters and robots and jazz and… It reminds me somewhat of the Will Eisner’s Contract with God, with a cool American Flagg science fiction twist. This omnibus actually was released a while ago, but I finally picked up a copy.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 5 “Troll Hunting”

Posted on March 15, 2024 by Bruce

Thursday: Walked 6.27 miles

Yes, I said troll hunting!!! After a quick discussion in the morning we decided to go troll hunting by doing an adventure lab focused on the trolls created by artist Thomas Dambo we found one early on and decided to skip a few of the touristy spots to go walking and looking for trolls. It didn’t influence our decision at all that there was an adventure lab connected to finding the Trolls… nope, not at all.

Being married for over 30 years there gets to be a bit of mutual martyrdom, especially when traveling. Neither of us wants to have the other one do things they don’t like… or if we do at least in moderation. I’ll spend time in a yarn or fabric shop and Sue will spend time at a comic book shop or LEGO Store. It’s a trade off but we each feel as if we are getting the better end of the deal. Trollhunting was my idea, but since they were tied to Adventure Labs and a few geocaches I hope it evened out. The one thing we both realized was just how out of shape we are. We may have only walked six and a quarter miles, but it was over various terrain, something it looked like the Danes were used to, and we weren’t.

Oscar Under The Bridge
Hilltop Trine
Little Tilde
Yes, there were a couple geocaches along the way.
Thomas On The Mountain
Teddy Venlig

So today we squelched through mud, and walked on trails to answer questions about five different trolls hidden in the Danish countryside. There is a 6th “bonus troll” but we decided not to back track to hunt him, we were tired and wanted to head to Billund. We did decide that (like many of our trips) that we really enjoyed Denmark even being here on the off season. We’ve already talked about not spending enough time in Copenhagen and how we really want to return sometime when everything is open. I’ve also decided that I really want to make sure that I use my passport at least once a year. I guess I just added a #71 to the bucket list. Tomorrow is the actual reason for the trip… the LEGO House Fan Tour.

Note: The Troll Map shows that there are actually a few trolls near us, in Ohio and Kentucky. I’m also checking out other places we will be heading out over the summer, the troll hunt never ends… The ones in Chicago were removed and Indiana is too scary a place for trolls to inhabit. 😢

The Seventh Happiest Place on Earth – Day 4 “Bork, bork, bork!”

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Bruce

Wednesday: Walked 8.24 miles

Today we had decided to take the train to Malmo, Sweden. Copenhagen is close and I had never been to the land of 50% of my ancestors. It started off a bit drizzly, but a little rain didn’t stop my Viking ancestors, so why should it stop me? As I have have said before caching and Adventure Labs are a nice way to discover an area. Besides it also allows Sue to color in another country on her geocaching map 🙄. Trying to figure things out in another language can be “fun” and by “fun” I mean stressful. Fortunately our hotel was across the street from the train station and the train went directly into Malmo. So once we were on the train, my fretting over did I mess this up and we are now going someplace else vanished.

We emerged from the station and checked the geocaching app to see what was around us. There were a few adventure lab stages to get us going and then we headed into the older part of town. One thing Sue and I have noticed is the amount of space dedicated to pedestrians. Yes, there are cars, but so much is pretty much for people walking or cyclists. We stopped into the Form/Design Center a museum focused on design in its many forms had a quick snack and then viewed a few exhibits…one focused on open spaces and how cities over the centuries have planned for it and are still planning for it. I hope that the Monument Circle area of Indianapolis becomes something like this.

One thing we try to do every trip abroad is to pick up one thing for the house. Sweden is known for Dala horses. Sue, having spent time in Sweden has a few, they are wooden and have a traditional painted pattern on them. I bring this up because in GUSTUS, the adjacent gallery, an artist had made their’s in clay and had glazed them in unique patterns. We decided to go ahead and buy one. (Sue has since named him “Mo”) I also bought a ceramic dragon… these are our first purchases of the trip outside of snacks. The drizzling stopped and we walked around a bit more this time around the old castle that had been turned into a prison, and now the art museum. Yes, this was part of an adventure lab. We then headed to the science and maritime museum. I discovered something interesting… I had no desire to go in. Yes, I love science & STEM stuff, it’s been a major part of my life for over 30 years but not being a teacher and having an overwhelming feeling that if I bought anything for anyone it would just get thrown in a box. So the majority of the day was just taking in Malmo, which was a great way to spend the day.

The view from our Hotel in Osterport. Yes, we were near the tracks
Bikes everywhere… What would happen in the U.S. if people actually could ride bikes everywhere, safely?
Cecil with his train ticket, ready to head into Sweden
The Author across from the train station getting a virtual geocache
Cecil enjoying the public art around Malmo.
Building renovation or are they just covering up a modern building and showing it they it used to look using “art”?
Public Art on the way from the Station
Cecil is wondering what a T.G.I> Fridays is doing here… he also was curious about the number of 7-Elevens,
Intersting at the lack of cars in most areas throughout our trip.
One of the squares in old town Malmo
THe view from our snack break.
Yes, I missed my cats.
Art at the Gustus Gallery. This one didn’t make it home with us.
Some of the other Ceramic options at the gallery,
Yes, it was a stage for an Adventure Lab.
The Science and Maritime Technology Museum (another Adventure Lab
Wandering around the old Castle/Prison/Art Museum
At the Art Museum,not wondering why Sweden is the seventh happiest place on earth.

We went back into the old town area for lunch, this has a bit of anxiety with it even though it really hasn’t play out poorly. We could have gone to the T.G.I. Fridays but instead ended up in a nice little place called “Ruth’s” you look at a menu in a foreign language that you have little or no experience with and I know I freeze. Fortunately I have discovered that most places everyone speaks a little English – because American’s haven’t, until recently felt the need to learn another language. Some still won’t 🙄 back to lunch- Sue had a wonderful salad and I decided to go with braised ox cheek with carrots, lentils and horseradish sauce. According to my last physical only half of what I ate will kill me, but as Ian Fleming would say “You only live twice.” I also had a local IPA since I’m on vacation, I’m an adult, and I’m no longer a teacher therefore needing to be a “moral exemplar.”

We heading back in the mid to late afternoon and decided to stop at the central train station to wander around the city center of Copenhagen a bit while it was still light out. One of the big tourist attractions is Tivoli Gardens which doesn’t open for about a month…. Sue had done more research on this area and knew near one of the entrances to Tivoli was… a LEGO Store. It wasn’t massive like some I’ve seen, but it did have a Mini Figure Factory, so I made a custom Mini Figure. When you do this you get to design the torso of a LEGO Mini Figure. It seems that most stores that have one also have some unique design exclusive to their store. Not all LEGO Stores have one, but this was a way for LEGO Stores to deal with “Kidult” Fans of LEGO who complained about going to stores in other cities and having nothing special to show for it except a stamp in their LEGO Passport. So I made one (and got a stamp or two in my LEGO Passport too). We then walked over to the city center. Took some pictures and picked up a few AL stages.

No Rollercoasters for Cecil! Tivoli was closed.
Still Trying to figure out exactly what kind of creature this is…
I call this “Social Media in America”
The author with H.C. Andersen, maybe someone lost in my family tree?
A bull fighting a seamster? I guess I have some research to do on what the story is behind this fountain.
People in Copenhagen have really long legs.
I think climate change is having an extreme impact on countries like Iceland…

One thing we decided while wandering was the need to return to Copenhagen for more than our brief stay. There was a lot we missed. I think Sue and I both decided while visiting Kronborg castle was nice, perhaps spending that time in Copenhagen would have been better… then again with it being the off season, it might have been for the best. Yes, we didn’t see “The Little Mermaid” and other iconic Copenhagen sites… which is why we want to return. “We headed back to the hotel and discussed the day, and what tomorrow might bring… basically What were we going to do tomorrow on our way back to Billund?

Note: Sue has decided that for long days of walking she isn’t enamored with cobblestones.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 3 “Alas Poor Yorick”

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Bruce

Tuesday: Walked 5.48 miles

We did a lot today starting with a Troll hunt. There is an artist who makes giant trolls around the world. A bunch are in Denmark, one was on our way to Helsingor (Elsinore) and the castle Shakespeare used as inspiration for Hamlet. Also on the way were a number of caches and adventure lab stages. I dropped off the first of my travel bugs- let’s see what happens. Geocachers know that in the U.S. travel bugs and geocoins tend to go missing. I even did a comic about Cecil’s collection. In Europe, that is not the case, While not the general rule I have found (anecdotal evidence) that even when the attached object goes missing the tag will still travel from cache to cache or event to event and be logged. I brought two Trackables with me- A MINI Cooper Hot Wheels , and a Geocoin that I had picked up at a local Leap Day event. I decided more than that would be overkill and add stress to the trip. (Update: the Trackable MINI was picked up while we were still in Denmark🤞that it will get moved around)

Sue on the path to see a troll!
Our First Troll!
The Campfire
The view from the campfire
Look! A bridge! a big bridge!
Sue and I ready to play the role of Hamely and Ophelia?!? I hope not.
The role of Elsinor will be played by Kronborg tonight,
Cecil wondering if something really is rotten in the state of Denmark… he doesn’t smell anything.
The Kronborg Courtyard.
They had a exhibit about monsters! (SEL focus for those in the Ed Biz) in the foundation of the original castle
What else would you expect in Denmark but a statue highlighting that great Danish hero Hercules and his battle with the hydra (Hail HYDRA)
Cecil chats with one of the guardians on the way to Denmark’s oldest cache!
Cecil at Demark’s oldest Cache in the middle of a bog.
Yes, it was cold, but flowers were starting to peek through.

There were some caches and an Adventure Lab around Krønborg before and after we toured the castle we were able to get the AL completed. Remember: a lot of things don’t open until April so a number of the things that would be open were just starting to get ready. If you’ve toured a large historic house in the U.S. or another castle in Europe you might understand the way things go- it’s a big house with history. There is a reason why this spot was picked. Who the heroes and who are the villains change and what time period they want showcase can determine that. All this does is make me realize how much I don’t know when it comes to other country’s history. By the law of Tourists in Europe we had now completed the requirements by visisting a cathedral and now a castle, the tourist police cannot arrest us- one less anxiety I have to deal with.

After handling the cold (it’s next to the ocean- sea breezes bring about cold.) we headed for the hotel with a minor detour to Denmark’s oldest geocache located near one of Sue’s favorite places, a bog. We walked the geopath and signed the log. Cecil dropped off the last of the trackables he had and we headed to Copenhagen and the hotel to defrost, rest up and get ready for whatever tomorrow will bring.

The Second Happiest Place on Earth – Day 2 The Bellybutton of Denmark and Beyond

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Bruce

Monday: walked 6.41 miles

I learned in my research a couple of things- first, museums are closed on Mondays and Sue told me LEGOland doesn’t open until the end of the month. 😢 This turned Monday into a “play it by ear” day… which means catering to our whims. After waking up and then crashing again… I’m glad that elephant was on guard. I looked around our room and realized that we had just let our suitcases explode and after a knock on the door from the cleaning crew, decided we may need to get our act together. because we were off to Odense where I had booked the next hotel… but what circuitous route should we take?

Using Geocaching & Adventure Labs (AL) as ways to explore unknown areas.

I’m not too fond of geocaching to just get numbers or color in a map or grid (That’s Sue). That’s why I don’t cache that much around home. I have returned to attending local events, but mostly that’s what I do unless we are traveling. When traveling geocaching opens the area to me unlike so many other things. It’s like having a local show you around. Once we checked out of the hotel we decided to take a bit of a walk around Billund before leaving. I think I did well choosing a hotel walking distance from LEGO House. This will make getting to Friday’s Tour easier. We wandered the area around LEGO House to make sure we had an idea of our environment (no guard elephants to keep us safe now). We popped into LEGO House and decided to leave before I got to the point of just staying, or buying stuff. So instead we picked up a few AL stages and an actual cache before heading to Jelling to do a bit of the same. Why Jelling? Jelling is home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Viking Museum (see note about Museums & Mondays). After wandering around Jelling doing one of the ALs and picking up at least one geocache we realized that we were cold, and that we had been smart bringing cold weather gear, just not smart enough to put it on. We then headed to our stop for evening, Odense.

Yes, it’s a geocache, and an AL stage!
the author with King Gorm’s Stone

Interestingly today was planned specifically as a day of acclimation. For us to get used to being outside and walking in late winter, early spring temperatures, but also to get a feeling of how long it takes to get from place to place. In the U.S. if I’m planning a long drive I tend to divide the distance by 60 to get a conservative idea of how long it will take. We found in England, that wasn’t the case. It took longer, maybe it was because we were not on major roads for a lot of it, but the anxiety in me decided that having a day to figure things out might be good. What did we discover? That we are going places “off the beaten path” so plan for more time than you think. Sue got the car, so Sue was the driver… it was out of my control.

After Jelling we arrived in Odense, parked the car and headed to the hotel. The hotel had given us parking recommendations, so the lot was just around the corner. Check in wasn’t until 16:00 but we thought we’d check to see if we get in at around 14:00. We could, and we plopped in the room for a few minutes before heading out. We were told “turn right” to get to pretty much everything so we did, so as to get the lay of the land. We then started hunting around to see about caches and Adventure Labs leading us to the cathedral of St. Canute. The hard part was the entire adventure lab was in Danish! It required me to flex my tech muscles and use Google Translate and then special characters when typing in answers. We still haven’t figured out one part… so we can’t complete it. Not to worry, there are other AL that we haven’t finished and probably won’t. You see early on the default was to create a sequential route. You couldn’t move on to the next stage until you answered the question. Most AL didn’t have a reason to have an order, so it just gets in the way and makes you retrace your steps a larger scale version of the old “drunken bee dance.” One thing that was awesome about Odense was the lack of cars in the city center. It’s all either bikes or pedestrians. The bikes are fast, so you need to keep alert, but it was nice to not have to worry so much. Wish it had not been Monday, I would have liked to visit the Hans Christian Andersen Museum… maybe another time.

While we did eat in Amsterdam, Spicy Korean Fries at BrewDog, our first real meal was at a nice cafe towards the end of the afternoon. The experience was a bit different compared to the U.S.- order and pay first at the bar. Sue had a stir fry thing and I had a “spicy sandwich.” Both were excellent but not Danish cuisine. Sometimes you just want “food.”

Afterwards, we camped out for a bit in the room, but decided the one thing we didn’t want to do was go to sleep too early. I looked out the window and tried to figure out what was going on in a building across the street. Tables and bright colored stuff on the wall. First thought, it was some kind of a Sue store- it sold fabrics, yarn and sundries. I kept looking and saw what looked like a dragon head on the wall. Later Sue got tired of me puzzling over it and decided we needed to pick up provisions for tomorrow which would require a walk by the building. It was a geek store- by which I mean games, comics, books, cosplay/LARP (Faraos Cigarer a chain of stores throughout Denmark- the name comes from TinTin). I decided to quietly walk in and check it out… oh my! I really need to brush up on my TinTin and other European comics! After a while decided to head out… checking their hours for tomorrow, I saw on the door they were actually closed! The door was open for the gaming group, not customers! 😳🙄 At the local grocery store we picked up snacks for the road and some drinks- the Danish version of Vitamin Water. Then it was off to bed to be ready for the drama and tragedy the next day would bring.

The view from our window at the Grand Hotel, Odense
Our room for the night.
Just wandering the streets
Inside of St. Canute’s Cathedral, a required by tourist law in Europe you must visit at least one cathedral and one castle.
Cecil visiting the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Our view of a remote control ugly duckling while eating dinner.
Cecil enjoys the sunset while contemplating his role in the grand scheme
What is going on over there?!? Hmmm…

Secret Origins of Super Villains

Posted on November 27, 2023 by Bruce


First Appearance of Cecil – Evil GeoCaching Monkey Bent On World Domination
—
Indy’s Lamest cache GC100CE

published 12/28/2006
* Found by ProfessorZoom
* 01/02/2007

Indiana, United States


Here’s the log… the very first time Cecil-Evil GeoCaching Monkey Bent on World Domination had ever been mentioned. How did it happen- I was asked to write something silly or creative or something like that…

The red phone rang- it only did that when a call was coming in so I picked it up. The receiver was heavy in my hand as I listened to the call to adventure. “Zoom, you must find this cache… the safety of the free world is depending on it.” I took down the coordinates and thought to myself, I may need some backup on this one – it was in a part of town known for danger. I explained the mission to Mrs. Zoom as we sped to the coordinates, “It looks like a basic park and grab, but I sense there may be more to it than just that.” She looked at the coordinates and asked “Are you sure this isn’t a setup?” I shrugged, a geocacher has got to do what a geocacher has got to do. We drove past the spot and made a quick u-turn hoping no one saw us. “Cover me” I said as I made for the lamp post. Suddenly, we were surrounded by robot ninja monkeys! They had been hiding in the old shed. It had to be my arch nemesis, Cecil. He was trying to get to the cache before we did. Fortunately I was prepared. I’m glad we stocked up bananas at Costco. We loaded the shopping cart with the bananas and shoved it away from the cache. Using all their ninja skills the robot monkeys silently chased after the cart- we were clear, the cache was ours. As Mrs. Zoom tried to open the cache I knew time was running out and soon the monkeys would be back. I torn open the container and wrenched the damp log book out as the monkeys having finished the bananas turned to face us. As they piled on us in hopes that they could win with sheer numbers I was able to tear off one of their tails and sign the log with the green coolant dripping from one end. Cecil, knowing he was beaten once again called a retreat. “This isn’t the end Professor Zoom- we’ll meet again.” As I replaced the cache and got back in the car all I could think was, “I probably should have taken my pills this morning.” Then again, if I had this cache would have been pretty lame.

At this time, Sue and I cached under a shared identity (ProfessorZoom). We had started caching, or at least created a geocaching account, on July 13, 2006, while I was attending the ISTE conference (back when it was called NECC) in San Diego. We didn’t invest in a GPSr until I returned home. Younglings Please Note: This was a time when you needed a GPS receiver to cache. Most cachers printed out cache pages and put them in binders. Those who were more technologically inclined used what was called a “Palm Pilot” to store cache information. The iPhone didn’t exist until mid-2007, and the GC App didn’t exist until 2013.

This was the first log containing any mention of Cecil, who later would be known as Cecil-Evil GeoCaching Monkey. I think I originally thought of him as a Blofeld/Silas Greenback-like character, which quickly morphed into an evil monkey living in my basement. He became more than just an inside joke when caches were missing or logs were wet. He then started his reign as an agent of chaos. Cecil did not appear in comic form until the summer of 2009, going through many changes over the years.

A collection of my strips I cobbled together so I could say-“Look! I’m published!”

…and so my life was forever changed. Geocachers sometimes talk about that one cache that changed their life, one cache can do that. For me, it was a pretty lame little park and grab hidden by bfoust close to 17 years ago. Since then I have traveled the world with that monkey. I started a comic strip, and drawn untold number of monkey minions. I’ve gone on hiatus, from not only the strip but also caching. Now in my retirement I return to both, a lot older and a wee bit wiser.

I’m going to take some time and try to update the site- probably breaking it multiple times in the process. I’ll let everyone know when it is ready for the general public. Better, stronger, faster with at least 20% more ookiness.

As for Indy’s Lamest Cache, it is still there, adopted by kiaria in 2009. It was last logged in October. For the record… Cecil has yet to log this cache, I doubt he ever will.

I’m not quite sure the value of this log if you had it graded and slabbed… probably nothing, but as (according to the internet) many current politicians say – “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

A Year in MINIons- MINIon #3X54X

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Bruce

3x54xAs many of you know, one of my hobbies is Geocaching. While I produce the comic strip for FTF Geocacher Magazine, I’m really not a die hard cacher. Geocaching is a great way to find off the beaten path places and to explore, but I really don’t care about how many caches I find in a day, or how many total caches I have. I highly recommend it, but some people just take it way too seriously. So what does this have to do with MINIon #3X54X? first of all this weekend marked the 15th anniversary of the start of Geocaching, and today a group of us went out to find a specific geocache: “MacGyver’s Playground.” While I have done a number of wonderful caches, this one is one in a million. First of all it is a “Premium Member” Cache, so not just anyone can do it (you have to pay the membership fee of a bazillion dollars), secondly it has a terrain rating of 5 and a difficulty rating of 5 so it isn’t a park and grab. I would definitely get a group together because it is a lot more fun that way, and each of you may have skills needed to complete this challenge.
That’s really all I have to say- NO SPOILERS. Stage 1 (this is a multi-cache) blew me away with how ingenious and evil it was… after that it just got better- as if that was even possible. Kudos to Team Itchy & Scratchy for this fantastic cache, and for that there is MINIon #3X54X.

 

Cecil waiting to start today's adventure.
Cecil waiting to start today’s adventure.