Monday, August 15, 2005
Ellensburg, WA
Geocaching weekend of August 13, 2005
This was Ted’s 3 day weekend and he wanted to go to Ellensburg, I was doubtful as there were several large fires in the area so I felt it might be smokey there, fortunately I was wrong, we had a beautiful weekend, we parked at the Yakima RV park, a privately owned park, with our friends, Kathy and Rocky Brooks. Rocky brought his horse, Charlie along and went on two morning rides; I had wanted to get pictures of him but didn’t, will have to get them another trip.
When it was definite that the Brooks were going with to be able to go I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce the guys to some Geocaching. I found some sites that sounded interesting around the Ellensburg area and Kathy gave her stamp of approval, we were all looking forward to the weekend.
Friday started out for us with a little cloud of doubt about being able to go, first Ted found what he thought to be a nail in one of the tires of the 5th wheel but turned out to be a screw that hadn’t actually punctured the tire so that turned out alright, however he also discovered that when he was replacing the underbelly of the 5th wheel he might have accidentally damaged a wire as there was no power in the 5th wheel and that the generator, which he thought was out of gas, actually wasn’t. So for a while it appeared we might not be able to go. He did fix part of the problem but the generator still isn’t working. We got a late start but the important part was we were on our way.
We got to the camp grounds about 3pm and got set up and the Brooks’s got there awhile later. As we were preparing to eat we got some much welcomed rain, not enough to make a difference just make things dirty from the dust that blew in with it.
We were up bright and early Saturday morning and ready to head out on our first group geocache when Rocky got back from his morning ride. The caches were chosen with the idea that as we worked our way through them we would get to see the sites of Ellensburg. The first one we tackeled was, Frozen in Time, it took us on a nice walk starting at the UWA campus into the Historic District, this is actually what I call a puzzle cache, we had to find several places in the area and then answer a question and from the answer figure out the corrdence for the next piece of puzzle, we found all the places and enjoyed the areas around them, chances are very great that had we not done this we would have overlooked some fun and interesting areas of Ellensburg. However we were not successful in finding the actual cache to this one, we feel we had to have been on top of it and according to the readings on the gps were on top of it.
We decided to get some lunch and then start working on the next puzzle caches we had chosen. This set is called the Master Mind series and looked really interesting and fun to do and would take us to what read like very interesting sites. This series is loosely based on the game “Master Minds” in the end we will have visited 4 sites at which we are to find a micro cache with a number attached, after collecting all 4 numbers we are then suppose to be able to open a lock at the last site. Now how fun does that sound? We were all looking forward to this challenge.
Now as I am telling you about our weekend I see we should have approached this from a different “angle” so to speak. Kathy and I are new to Geocaching and find it exciting and alot of fun so naturally we want the hubby’s to find it the same. But looking at our weekend I see something I knew but ignored. Kathy and I love the complete concept of Geocaching, right down to finding the little treasure chest at the end of the quest. I know from experience that if it is too involved and complicated Ted looses interest, I saw him do this, this weekend. Now I feel that we should have come at this from a different perspective, this is a good lesson I came away with. We, Kathy and I, wanted to totally complete each puzzle as we did it, at first it was interesting for the guys, because the answers were right there and they were seeing and doing things, but once we got to where we needn’t the final piece of the puzzle and it took so long they lost interest and wanted to move on. We should have done this sooner then we did and saved the actual find of the cache for another time, perhaps with just Kathy and I, since the actual cache wasn’t important to the guys, it was the sights around them they were more interested in.
As an example, the first place in the Master Mind series we chose to start at, because we had lunch very close to it, Monkey Business is perfect in making this point clear. This spot was very interesting as it is the center for chimpanzees and human communications research. After some time looking for the cache, which we never found, we should have taken some time to go inside as it was noted in this ones description that on Saturdays they give educational workshops. But in our determination to find the cache we chose to ignore that aspect and look not once but twice without success for the cache and bypassing the opportunity to see something of interest that you don’t get the opportunity for that often. So besides missing that opportunity we still need to go back and find the cache.
The goal in this series is to find the combination for an existing lock. This is at a small park with an old caboose, the park is across the street from an old train depot, Ted was interested in seeing this but by time we actually went there he had lost interest, we should have gone here a bit earlier it would have been out of order, but it wasn’t’ a big deal, we now know where the lock is for when we do collect the numbers.
So in all we answered the questions to the first puzzle series, Frozen in Time, but didn’t find the cache, attempted it twice. We found two sites in the Master Mind series, but no cache to start gathering the numbers needed to unlock the “chest” I think Ted lost interest in the actual finding of the cache. I think using the series for more of a virtual experience would have been much more enjoyable for him. Kathy and I won’t be satisfied until we can open the lock. But I think next time we attempt this one, if the guys go with us, we will take less time searching for the cache and more time to see the sites and experience the area.
This was Ted’s 3 day weekend and he wanted to go to Ellensburg, I was doubtful as there were several large fires in the area so I felt it might be smokey there, fortunately I was wrong, we had a beautiful weekend, we parked at the Yakima RV park, a privately owned park, with our friends, Kathy and Rocky Brooks. Rocky brought his horse, Charlie along and went on two morning rides; I had wanted to get pictures of him but didn’t, will have to get them another trip.
When it was definite that the Brooks were going with to be able to go I thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce the guys to some Geocaching. I found some sites that sounded interesting around the Ellensburg area and Kathy gave her stamp of approval, we were all looking forward to the weekend.
Friday started out for us with a little cloud of doubt about being able to go, first Ted found what he thought to be a nail in one of the tires of the 5th wheel but turned out to be a screw that hadn’t actually punctured the tire so that turned out alright, however he also discovered that when he was replacing the underbelly of the 5th wheel he might have accidentally damaged a wire as there was no power in the 5th wheel and that the generator, which he thought was out of gas, actually wasn’t. So for a while it appeared we might not be able to go. He did fix part of the problem but the generator still isn’t working. We got a late start but the important part was we were on our way.
We got to the camp grounds about 3pm and got set up and the Brooks’s got there awhile later. As we were preparing to eat we got some much welcomed rain, not enough to make a difference just make things dirty from the dust that blew in with it.
We were up bright and early Saturday morning and ready to head out on our first group geocache when Rocky got back from his morning ride. The caches were chosen with the idea that as we worked our way through them we would get to see the sites of Ellensburg. The first one we tackeled was, Frozen in Time, it took us on a nice walk starting at the UWA campus into the Historic District, this is actually what I call a puzzle cache, we had to find several places in the area and then answer a question and from the answer figure out the corrdence for the next piece of puzzle, we found all the places and enjoyed the areas around them, chances are very great that had we not done this we would have overlooked some fun and interesting areas of Ellensburg. However we were not successful in finding the actual cache to this one, we feel we had to have been on top of it and according to the readings on the gps were on top of it.
We decided to get some lunch and then start working on the next puzzle caches we had chosen. This set is called the Master Mind series and looked really interesting and fun to do and would take us to what read like very interesting sites. This series is loosely based on the game “Master Minds” in the end we will have visited 4 sites at which we are to find a micro cache with a number attached, after collecting all 4 numbers we are then suppose to be able to open a lock at the last site. Now how fun does that sound? We were all looking forward to this challenge.
Now as I am telling you about our weekend I see we should have approached this from a different “angle” so to speak. Kathy and I are new to Geocaching and find it exciting and alot of fun so naturally we want the hubby’s to find it the same. But looking at our weekend I see something I knew but ignored. Kathy and I love the complete concept of Geocaching, right down to finding the little treasure chest at the end of the quest. I know from experience that if it is too involved and complicated Ted looses interest, I saw him do this, this weekend. Now I feel that we should have come at this from a different perspective, this is a good lesson I came away with. We, Kathy and I, wanted to totally complete each puzzle as we did it, at first it was interesting for the guys, because the answers were right there and they were seeing and doing things, but once we got to where we needn’t the final piece of the puzzle and it took so long they lost interest and wanted to move on. We should have done this sooner then we did and saved the actual find of the cache for another time, perhaps with just Kathy and I, since the actual cache wasn’t important to the guys, it was the sights around them they were more interested in.
As an example, the first place in the Master Mind series we chose to start at, because we had lunch very close to it, Monkey Business is perfect in making this point clear. This spot was very interesting as it is the center for chimpanzees and human communications research. After some time looking for the cache, which we never found, we should have taken some time to go inside as it was noted in this ones description that on Saturdays they give educational workshops. But in our determination to find the cache we chose to ignore that aspect and look not once but twice without success for the cache and bypassing the opportunity to see something of interest that you don’t get the opportunity for that often. So besides missing that opportunity we still need to go back and find the cache.
The goal in this series is to find the combination for an existing lock. This is at a small park with an old caboose, the park is across the street from an old train depot, Ted was interested in seeing this but by time we actually went there he had lost interest, we should have gone here a bit earlier it would have been out of order, but it wasn’t’ a big deal, we now know where the lock is for when we do collect the numbers.
So in all we answered the questions to the first puzzle series, Frozen in Time, but didn’t find the cache, attempted it twice. We found two sites in the Master Mind series, but no cache to start gathering the numbers needed to unlock the “chest” I think Ted lost interest in the actual finding of the cache. I think using the series for more of a virtual experience would have been much more enjoyable for him. Kathy and I won’t be satisfied until we can open the lock. But I think next time we attempt this one, if the guys go with us, we will take less time searching for the cache and more time to see the sites and experience the area.
