WHOA! What's This!!

What's this? What's this?
There's somthing on his leg
What's this?
It wasn't there at the HAG
What's this?
I can't believe my eyes
I must be dreaming
Wake up, cachers, this isn't fair
What's this?

Hi folks! I just had to use the lyrics from the song "What's This" that was featured in Tim Burton's A Nightmare before Christmas to introduce this blog entry!!
So what is this eh!? Well that is my Travel Bug nicely tattooed to my leg by my best friend (and Bestman) Mark!

Geocaching is more than just something that I do. It is a way of life for me, and something a bit deeper than that.
You see for eight years my butt was tied to a computer chair every waking moment that I wasn't at work playing a online video game. My addiction to this game was so deep that it was ruining my health, my friendships and my relationship.

But then Geocaching came into my life, and my world changed. I instantly stopped playing my online game, and got outdoors. The fresh air, the sunlight, the sound of the waves and the wind and the birds and the leaves. I was given a new lease on life. My health returned, my friendships got better and I made new friends, and most importantly my relationship was repaired. And in my opinion geocaching saved my life.

This is why I now proudly wear this Travel Bug on my body. It is a visual reminder that something as simple as this activity gave me back my life!

If you discovered this Travel Bug here, feel free to log your discovery at geocaching.com.

The 8th Annual Hide And Go Cache Event

Well you definitely know that spring is on it's merry way when the HAG comes to town.

The HAG or Hide And Go cache event is a month long event consisting of three stages. The first stage is the HIDE. This is when we the cachers are encouraged to think really hard and come up with a cache and location to hide it in for everyone to enjoy. The second stage is the FIND. This is when all those fun HAG caches get launched and we head out to go find them. And lastly the third stage is the PARTY!!! This is when we all get together at 6 Mile Pub (yes this is the only event that kids can't come to) and chitty chat about all those great new caches, and to see who won the highly coveted HAG awards.

The awards range from "Most FTFs" to "Scariest Cache" to "Best in the Field".
Last year I (ShadowcasterCDN) won for best cache log. The entry for this is here in the 2011 section of this blog and can be read HERE.

This year we placed a puzzle cache out there, and won the "Best Puzzle" trophy.
An award we happily and humbly accept!!

Thank you again to Cache Crop and Amandazon for all your hard work planning and running the HAG! And to all that placed caches a big THANK YOU, and those that attended the event it was a pleasure to see you all again!!

This years award recipients were:

The Geoknights for most FTFs
Ljg47 and 17blonde for the Most Hides
AnnieMaroo for the Best Night Cache
The Incredibles for the Scariest Cache (And amazing puzzle cache idea in my opinion)
Wrooster for the Most HAG Finds
Paconlacellars for the Best Log
ShadowcasterCDN for the Best Puzzle
Giant Pickle for the Best Multi
Dog Cachers for Being Outstanding in His Field.