The big milestone - 1,000 finds!

A little over 3 years ago I started geocaching. Over the past few years, my interest in it has ebbed and flowed. It seemed kinda silly when I first read about it, but once I started, I really liked it, even though most of my friends probably think I'm a little "whacked".

I love that it has taken me to a lot of places that I would have never found had it not been for this "silly" game and I have even learned some history (from virtual caches) and geology (from earthcaches). I have hiked, climbed huge hills, climbed hills, hiked 10 miles, and kayaked to find caches. It provides me time to get away, get some exercise, but still use my brain. That's what is so fun about it...

What don't I like? I prefer doing caches in non-urban areas where I can hike, but I hate going during snake season as there are way too many rattlesnakes hanging out in this area. I love taking the dogs, but hate dragging them through the stickers and having to deal with ticks that they sometimes get as most geocaches are off the beaten path. So that limits me a good part of the year.

But, here I am at the edge of getting my 1,000th find. I was a little worried that it might rain today. But the morning was just damp and foggy, a perfect day for caching and getting my 1,000th find! I had been plotting with my friend Wetpaws as to what cache I should try for and she sent me the link for one called "California Gold Rush" that was in Rancho Cordova near the river in Rossmor Park, an area I had never been to before.

When we first got there, there were several local sheriffs, a Code Enforcement Officer, and an Animal Control officer. Something was going on, and we found out that there was a loose Ram that was getting into the neighborhood that they were trying to wrangle. The Animal Control Officer even asked us if either of our dogs could herd. We just laughed and said they were retrievers, not herding dogs so would probably not be much help. Haha.

The cache was a multi-cache with several stages. I won't give anything away, but each stage was unique and I saw some new hiding techniques that I've never seen used before. There was a lot of work and effort that was put into making this cache. It was fun doing it with someone else too as I'm so used to caching alone. Two sets of eyes and "geo-sense" is much better than one, we worked together well, even though a couple of times we had to back-track a bit.

It really felt good to hit the milestone since I haven't cached much lately. I think I've caught the bug again! :-)

Here's a picture of Hope and Maggie near one of the stages...(blurred out on purpose so as not to give anything away, never know who might see this!)

1,000 and beyond....