Caching to Osoyoos for Another Wedding

Well, it seems 2014 is the year to get married.  Cause here we were heading to another one, except this time it was in Osoyoos.  My cousin was getting married to his sweetie, and this was their form of a destination wedding.  Since we would be traveling with my parents that meant my geocaching dad Postie Bear would be with us, and he was itching to grab a few caches along the way.  In the months leading up the wedding we planned and talked about what kind of caches we wanted to do, and the decision was to minimize searching by doing a few Earthcaches.
For those of you new to my blog you can find a description of the various cache types at this Geocache Types link! We felt this would be easy to accomplish and move on, but of course we tossed in a couple of traditional caches for fun too.

We started to travel on Sunday June 15th, 2014.  While we were at Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal waiting to board, I remembered that there was an old mystery cache that was here called "Swartz Bay NBC - GC11F3K".  The information required to log was only obtainable if you were on the sailing side of the gates, but as a previous finder I took my dad to the final.  It was nice to see I could locate it so quickly (as sometimes these things move), and dad signed the very wet logbook.  But when he went to the phone to log it the starting icon wasn't there.  So doing a little homework I figured out that it had been archived due to it being missing.  Well it sure wasn't missing, it was right where I found it back in July of 2011.. So after affirming that it was acceptable to log an archived cache on the GCGV Facebook Page, dad moved forward and logged it as found.  Shortly after we were called back to the vehicle to board the Ferry, and soon were on our way.

The first was just outside of Hope, and it was called "Hope Slide Earthcache - GC1626F".  This was and interesting location, and holds a somber reminder of the destructive power of Mother Nature.  Here at this site was the location of a massive rock slide that buried an entire area,  it's lake, and claimed a few human lives.  There are various websites with information of this area and event, and I encourage you to read about it and possibly pay a visit if you are ever passing by.

The next was a traditional in Manning Park called "BC Parks 100 - Manning Park Resort - GC2ZJ73" that literally just an easy walk up and find.  We didn't spend one second looking for this cache, as soon as our GPSr's beeped the cache was already in hand.
This spot had a nice little cafe nearby, so we stopped to grab a coffee and snack before jetting off once again.

Next we stopped in Princeton and did another Earthcache called "GCR: The Princeton Beer Cave - GC29MDT".  This location has a very interesting history, and a google search will provide you with a ton of links to check out to learn a bit this interesting and unique geological location.

We arrived in Osoyoos a few hours later and checked into the resort where the Wedding was to be held, and pre-wedding partied late into the night with our family.

The next day (June 16th, 2014) was the day of the wedding, but the event wasn't until the late afternoon.  So what does a family of geocachers do when they have some spare time on their hands?? They geocache of course!  So after a nice breakfast we headed out to grab the last Earthcache on our list.  This cache was made by a cacher who used to be a resident of Vancouver Island, and one we had gotten to know in the past.  His caching name is Kiwibirdman, and the cache is called "Osoyoos Lake and Haynes Point Enigma - GC47DDM".
Here we had to put on our thinking caps a bit, as the answers we were seeking were not 100% obvious.  But we did come up with some that we were happy with and headed out; but as we drove out of the park we saw a nature info sign, and we stopped to see if if contained any info relevant to the Earthcache and double check our answers.  And as we piled out of the car the occupants of another vehicle parked nearby noticed the back of my leg (I have a trackable tattooed to it if any of you didn't know, click HERE to learn more).  One of them hopped out of the car to meet us, and ask to discover it.  We learned that they were from Germany on a geocaching holiday and that his caching name is Lost Joe.  We had a nice talk, had our pictures taken together and had to part ways.

On the way back to the resort we stopped for two more quick traditionals, which were nice and easy to find.  They were "Rocky Hill Cache - GC3PYFZ" and "Rocky Road Cache - GC3PYJ0".  Once we had them found it was back to the resort for a quick clean up and change, and soon it was time for my cousin's wedding.

A big thanks to all the cachers who setup/hid the Earthcaches and Traditionals we found on this trip! And to Lost Joe and his girlfriend, it was a pleasure to meet you.  Thanks for taking the time to come over and introducing yourselves!!

A CITO at Glen Lake

Well here I am still trying to catch up in all the things that have happened this year.  I have been finding it difficult to get all that has happened into this blog, as there has been so much going on.  But I am trying, and I thank every one of you for staying with me.

This blog is a short one about a CITO that took place on June 14, 2014 at Glen Lake Beach.  I grew up out in this area, and I have ridden my bike here many times in my youth.  I have to tell you, it sure has changed.. And I would say for the better.  There are some wonderful little gardens and a nice little patch of vegetation that lines a little ditch/tributary.  This ditch/tributary was the focus of this CITO, as there have been a number of invasive plant species that have taken root here.

Before the CITO began there was a quick Farmer's themed Flash Mob at the entrance to the park.  We all gathered here for a quick picture holding our pitchforks, spades and other tools while dressed in farmer/cowboy hats, plaid, denim, and gumboots.  Once that was complete it was on to the task at hand.

There was a nice sized group for this event, and it was a good thing since there was so many plants to tackle.
I wish I was able to name some of the plants we were to remove, but sadly their names have eluded me.

After a good hour we all packed it in and headed back to the park gates where we partook at some very yummy cookies made by Mrs. Cache Crop, and some refreshing lemonade!

After some cache chat, solving a nearby new mystery cache, and discovering/moving some trackables we all headed on our way.  And this opens the way to another adventure and blog from this very same weekend.

Nice to see everyone again, and thanks to Cache Crop for hosting this great event!

The GO! Team goes Mexican Part 2

I awoke on the second day expecting to be in a hurting state, but really I felt quite refreshed.  I woke up Just Leafy and we got ready to tackle our day.  We headed down to the buffet for a bite to eat and java, and soon joined up with groom to be and some of his new extended family.
Since Mike had been here a day or so already, he was able to offer us some helpful tips to make the best out of our stay.  He asked what we were up to today, and we told him that we had a geocaching event that we were holding just outside our resorts gates. We also spoke of the virtual cache that we had planned to walk to 20min up the road, and he said that he would like to come with us.  I was all up for that, so we planned a time to meet and split to get ready for the event.

Well even in Mexico the visiting cachers still act like cachers, and that's being early-birds.  We were on time for our event, and there were my attendees waiting for us.  We had four attendees, a family that were actually two teams.  So in the end that was the smallest event log I ever had, three team signatures including our own.

We had a nice hour of talking and getting caching tips for the area, and getting other tips to enjoy our stay in the San Jose del Cabo area.  After all the chats, taking a couple of pictures, and trading some trackables to move along we parted ways and met up with Mike up at his room.

Mike, Leafy and I headed out to do the 20min walk up to the virtual cache.  I was expecting it to be
uphill and not easy to reach due to traffic since google maps made it look like it was in the middle of a busy traffic circle.  But in the end it was a nice lazy incline all the way up the road, and the traffic circle was not busy at all.  We found the required info for logging the cache, took our celebratory photo with the bust of the person the monument celebrates, and made our way back to the resort.
Along the way we paid a visit to a local cemetery, which was amazing to see.  Unlike our cemeteries, this one was colorful, and the people laid to rest here all had little huts or shrines built for them.  It was a sight to see for sure, and I am glad we took a moment to check it out.  After that it was a short walk back to our resort and back to enjoying our vacation.

The third day we just hung out on the beach and at the pool, and of course drank lots of fun and interesting beverages.  And had a great day with our friends.

On the fourth day I had to get up before the sun, as the boys were heading to Cabo San Lucas to go fishing for the stag party.  I had ordered a hamburger and fries via room service the night before so I could have some sort of a breakfast when I woke up.  We met at some god awful hour in the hotel lobby, and hopped in our cab to take us to the marina in Cabo San Lucas.  It was about an 45min from the hotel to the marina, and many of the guys who came were still suffering with some major hangovers took advantage and grabbed a few extra Z's along the way.

When we arrived at the marina we all unloaded and met with our charter guide.  He took us out to the boat where we loaded our gear, ice and booze for the day (of course there was booze, it's a stag party).  We headed out to sea, cast our lines, and those who needed rest dozed while the rest waited for a bite on the line...
Hours and hours passed, we drank, we sang songs, we goofed off, and finally toward the end of the fishing trip we had our bite.  Almost everyone had a chance to reel the feisty little thing in, but the final reel in was reserved for the groom.  And what he pulled in was a fish unlike anything I had ever seen before, a beautiful Mahi Mahi.  It was the strangest fish I had seen too because as it died it changed colour many times, from green to grey, and to the most beautiful blue! 

When we came back in to port, we had these giant sea lions swimming in our wake begging for
leftover bait. Once back on solid ground I asked my guys to let me take off for a few minuets to go grab a quick cache that was nearby.  I ran over, was stumped, and then clued in to what it had to be and shortly had the cache in hand!  After signing I ran back to the guys, hopped in our cab, and headed home to the resort.  That night the resort cooked our fish for us, and we had a fantastic meal!

Later that night many of us were still awake having drinks at the resort's bar which was decorated nicely for Valentines day.  We were pleasently surprised when right at midnight when it officially become the 14th, a Mariachi Band seemingly appeared out of nowhere and started playing.  Then after one song they proceeded to parade out of the lobby into the courtyard onto a stage that was set up, and continued to play serenading to the entire resort.  Just Leafy and I enjoyed that, and had a Valentines Day dance under the stars.  After they were done we turned in for the night, after all the reason we came was today... Mike and Mo were to be married.



The next day was like all the others, except there was wedding to attend.  We had some time to ourselves until then, so we all did what we wanted to until it was time to get ready.
When the time arrived Leafy and I got ready, met up with our friends and attended a beautiful wedding on the beach.  It was a fantastic service, and it was so nice to see Mike and Mo finally tie the knot.  The reception that followed was so much fun, and we had great food and drinks into the wee hours of the night.

The next few days was more of the same stuff, beach time, pool time, lots of drinks, and tons of fun.  So to save time I won't write about that stuff.  But Sunday (our last full day in Mexico) was the day something different happened, so it would be worth telling about that... After all this is a geocaching blog, and that is what happened along other stuff.

We all met after breakfast in the lobby of the hotel and sent a representative to haggle with a taxi driver for us so we could all go to Cabo San Lucas for the day.  For us the guys this was our second trip to this city, but for the ladies it would be their first.  Actually that isn't totally true, as some of the ladies had gone the other night with their boys on a Mexican Bar Crawl that took them to Cabo San Lucas.  But this trip allowed for them to get some shopping and more touristy things done. 

The Cab took us to the marina, and as we walked to our glass bottom boat destination we browsed theEl Arco de Cabo San Lucas, or Lands End, Cabo San Lucas.
various shops and kiosks.  At one point we stopped to watch some hockey on the TV of one of the watering holes we passed by.  Slowly but surely we made our way over to the dock where we were going to haggle for a trip on the glass bottom boats to see the famous
Here there are a few different beaches, but the most famous beaches are the two at the very end.  The beach on the harbor side is called  Lovers Beach (with distinctly calm waters), while the beach on the Pacific Ocean side is called Divorce Beach (which has some pretty wicked waves and an amazingly powerful under tow).

The boat Captain took us out and told us about the area and it's many features and I was able to get the picture I needed for the Earchcache that is located here "Lands End - GC319DN", and then dropped us off at Lovers Beach. 
Upon our arrival we were immediately hit up by the locals on the beach for money, specifically for letting us have our pictures taken with their iguanas.
We stayed at the beach for an hour, and headed back to the boat which had returned for us.  Sadly there was another cache on the beach cliffs that I could have gone for, but since it wasn't on my GPS getting it was next to impossible.  But at least it gives me a reason to return to this beautiful spot again someday.

When we returned the marina we all shopped some more, and some of us made some very nice
purchases that were to be proud of. Eventually made our way back to the taxis.  This time we were not as successful in haggling our price back home, so it cost a few dollars more to get back to the resort.  When we returned we had a little time to freshen up and met up with the newlyweds for dinner at the Italian a la carte restaurant.
After another fun night of drinking we headed off to bed one last time.

We thankfully didn't have to depart until later in the day on the 17th, so with a sleep in and some breakfast we packed up and got ready to go.  And when the time came we headed out to catch our bus to the airport and started the long trek back home.  We had a brief layover in Calgary, where the  Newlyweds and the Alberta folk parted ways with us.  After saying our goodbyes we headed back through Security, had us some grub in the airport, and then departed for Victoria.

A big thank you to Mike and Maureen for the invite, a thanks to our fantastic friends for being wonderful travel companions, another thanks to the geocachers who placed or setup the caches we did in the Cabo area, and super huge thanks to you my readers for patiently waiting for me to get caught back up in my blog.

The GO! Team goes Mexican Part 1

Hi every one, once again I am behind on writing about our geocaching adventures.  But back in February we embarked on an adventure that neither of us would ever forget.
After our wedding in July we received an invitation to witness one of my good friends from high school get married to his long time sweetie, and this was to take place in Los Cabos Mexico.
Well how could we say no to that?  Not only would this allow us to go somewhere both of us have always wanted to go to, but also would allow for me to add another country to the list of places I have cached in.

Like any avid cacher I instantly jumped on the computer, logged into geocaching.com, and started a search of the area we would be staying in.
I was a little disappointed at one point, as my search resulted in very little caches in the area.  But my disappointment dissolved when I reminded myself of the fact I really wasn't there to cache, but to witness my friends getting married.  So I created a PQ (Pocket Query) of what I thought I could do and went with that.

The months passed leading to when we would be going, and then I had an epiphany!!  Why not host an event!  With a little more than a month left before leaving I drafted up a listing for an event to take place outside my resort.  And shortly it was listed the "Will Attend" logs started to roll in (not many, but enough).

Soon the day arrived (February 11th), and those of us going out of Victoria all met up at the airport and started the long day of traveling.   It was neat for me to travel with these people, as they were good old friends that I had never traveled with before.  I was especially pleased to see that we traveled well together, since in the past I have learned you can be good friends with someone and not be travel compatible at the same time.

We all left from Victoria with a brief stop in Vancouver, and boarded our plane that would take us directly to Los Cabos.

While in Vancouver
we stocked up on some mini bottles of alcohol to get us in the mood for the gong show that would ensue once we arrived.  And in a short while we were on our 5hr flight south to warm weather, endless drinks, and fun in the sun... Not to forget geocaching!


The flight down was really nothing to write about, just us on the plane all seated together laughing and telling stories to catch up since some of us haven't see each other since our wedding in July!  But it made the time go by, and soon we arrived in San Jose del Cabo. We got through Mexican Customs nice and easy, and made our way to the WestJet Vactions bus that would take us to our hotel.  A short ride later we pulled into the driveway of our Resort, and there was our friend and groom waiting for us at the Resort doors.  We all quickly checked in, got our wristbands and grabbed our first drinks and headed to our rooms to settle in and freshen up before meeting the rest of the wedding crew downstairs.


Needless to say, the whole group of us really partied it up that first night and didn't turn in for the night until 3am. Well if this was to be a sign of what the rest of the trip would be like, I knew it had to be a total blast.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this amazing wedding/geocaching trip to Mexico!

Southern California Honeymoon and Caching (Part Four: San Diego Zoo, Sea World and Home)

So here it is, finally the final chapter of our honeymoon and geocaching adventure in Southern California.  I am sorry it took so long to get these written and published.  You all waited so diligently and I appreciate that.

Well we left off getting back to our hotel after a long cold and wet day of caching in San Diego.  Of our trip that was the only horrible weather day we had.  But it left us cold to bone, and before turning in for the night we had to get warmed up.  So an order of pizza, hot drinks and hot hot showers did the trick.  So we turned in and got ready for another long day on our feet.

The next morning we got up and had our breakfast at the hotel, got ready for a warm yet exhausting day at the San Diego Zoo.  We had the hotel call us another Taxi (if you read the last post you will know how displeased we were with this), and we got there just before opening.  When the ticket booths opened we headed to the one that seemed to be taking vouchers, and presented ours.
Of our entire trip this was the first place to seem to not understand the vouchers we had.  Eventually they let the issue go, and we got our tickets and started walking in the direction of the Virtual Cache that I wanted to do in the park.  This was the first of two that I wanted while here at the zoo, but the other one was located outside the gates.. So that one would have to wait until later when we left.

On the way to the Virtual Cache we wandered through a section
showcasing beautiful birds of Australia and Africa.  We even got to spy us some Kookaburras, and heard their famous call that sounds like laughter.
Rounding a corner we made a slight detour and walked through a section that had African and Australian mammals.  Just Leafy Sqee'ed in delight to see Rhinoceroses, Giraffes, and Koala Bears up close.
after that we rounded another corner and we were right where the Virtual was located.  Here we had to identify an animal that is depicted in stone in a open square, and I think the name of the donor that founded the new enclosure for that animal.  Well we collected that data very quickly, snapped a no-spoiler picture in front of a nearby sign and were on our way, and that was one of two caches done for the day.

We had a fantastic time wandering the park!  It was amazing to have seen so many interesting animals, some of which we never knew existed.  It was especially cool to have seen the Gorillas and the Giant Galapagos Turtles.  I word from us to you all if you go, walking around all day really does a number on your feet.  There are these foot massage chairs located around the park and only cost a quarter... USE THEM!!  They really make a difference, trust us!
Soon the day came to an end and we had to leave, so we exited out the front and made our way to the Traditional Cache that was located nearby.  But as we arrived there were muggles sitting on the bench where it was.  We sat on a nearby bench and tried waiting them out, but they were just not leaving.  30 minutes later and when the guy working the taxi lineup called that all taxis would
be departing, we had to give up.  But we logged it anyway, because we could see it.  So we took picture proof with Just Leafy sitting on the bench next to the muggles pointing to the hide.  Contacted the CO later via email, and they were fine with that as proof.

That night we had a fantastic dinner at the Ricky's that was in our hotel parking lot, and turned in to rest up for Sea World in the morning.

It was another bright and sunny morning when Just Leafy and I hopped in the taxi to take us to Sea World.  Our one and only cache of the day would be another Virtual Cache, and this one didn't require us to even be inside.  It could be nailed right from the parking lot, since that was where GZ (Ground Zero) was posted.  All we had to do was post a picture of us with the observation tower in the background.  So that was easy enough for sure.


With that out of the way it was time for the park.  Sea world has a ton of attractions, from shows with the sea mammals to observation tanks, and even some rides.  Sadly here I couldn't ride any of the rides except for one... Turns out I am too fat, and so I had to do the fatman's walk of shame from every attempt I made.  But an upside is that there were a few munzees in the park, and I was able to scan them for a few points.  If you want to learn about munzees check out their website at www.munzee.com.

Besides that, we had a great time.  We wandered around all day going in and out of the exhibits and
checking out all the sea life that we could.  It was an amazing experience for Leafy, she loved it.  She would get all excited and would be pointing out things to me like the size of a giant sea turtle, to how pink the flamingos were, or even how colourful the fish were, and oh those rays look like they are smiling.  In the end it was a fantastic day, and we enjoyed every minute of it.


We returned back to the hotel that night to another dinner at Ricky's and to pack up our stuff.  For this would be our last night in Southern California.  But the nice thing is we would not be leaving until the evening, so we finally had another sleep-in and relaxing day before heading to the airport.  And then it was done, and in a short few hours we were back at home talking about our memories of the trip and reliving our favorite moments.

Thank you to all my readers for waiting so long to learn about our trip.  Again I am so sorry it took me this long to bring you the details.  Also thank you for being you, and for reading my stories.  It really means a lot to me, and I am honored to share them with you!

Southern California Honeymoon and Caching (Part Three: The Trip Continues)

So here it is, another late installment of our blog about our Honeymoon and Geocaching adventure.  I apologize for the delay again, but life moves forward so quickly and I keep loosing time.  But without delay lets move forward.

So our days in the magical kingdom soon came to an end, and Just Leafy and I began looking forward to the other attractions that were in our schedule.  First up was Knott's Berry Farm.

In Knott's there was only one Virual Cache for us to do, but because it had over 13 stages attached to it I decided ignore it.  So this day was just for rides.
We loaded onto our bus and headed there, which is only a 15min drive away from Anaheim.  While waiting for the park to open, a man walked up to me and asked if my tattoo was a real trackable.  I responded "Yes!" and this made my day!!  This was the first time I was at a place where I was truly discovered by chance.  After a quick conversation He headed back to join his family, and I was left feeling pretty good about myself and my trackable tattoo!

Knott's Berry Farm was something I had been to in my youth as well, but it had been a long time ago.  And what happens when time goes forward?  Things change!  This was no longer the park I remembered.  The moment we walked in all I was greeted with  was tall and insane extreme rides.  The family friendly rides had disappeared (or so I thought).  We got in line for one ride called "The Ghost Rider", and I chickened out before getting on.  But Just Leafy was brave enough, and she did it while I waited.  Well I tell you when I met her at the bottom and she was white as a ghost, I knew that I had made the right choice.  She even said so too, in fact she said "You would have been so upset after that, I am glad you didn't go on it"
We walked a little deeper into the park and found the rides I was looking for, and really enjoyed the whole day.


The following day we went to Universal Studios, and for this one there we just no feasible caches nearby.  But we really enjoyed this day.  Universal has a ton of great rides, and the famous Back Lot tour.  That is what we did first, and Just Leafy loved it.  She got to see some recognizable sets from films and shows that she has watched, and she also got to see some cool special effects.  In fact at one part of the day she got to be in the special effects show that they put on.  We even got to see the guy that does stunt performances from Dexter at the Water World show.  In the end, it was a fun but long day and looked forward to turning in once we got back to the hotel.

We finally had a day of rest after Universal Studios, and that was something we needed.  Our feet were
really starting to feel the strain of long days of walking and standing on pavement, so we took advantage of the break.  Soaking in the hot tub, napping, relaxing in the sun, and finally getting out for a dinner for two at a restaurant called "Fire & Ice" which is located at Garden Walk Shopping Center.  That is an amazing restaurant, and we recommend it to anyone who is staying in the Anaheim area.

The next day we checked out of our hotel, and headed for the train station.  This was how we were going to get to San Diego.  I haven't had a train ride since I was a kid, so this was going to be really cool.  Just Leafy had ridden one more recently than I had, but yet she was excited too.  The ride would only take us 2 hours to get there, and we were really happy to discover that there was free wifi on the train.  This allowed us to connect to Facebook, post some info and pics, and communicate with friends.

We arrived in San Diego and took a taxi to our hotel.  This is when we learned that their taxi system was the worst in the world.  Why we say that is how they will not let you use your credit card. There are several reasons, but not valid enough to force me to use my cash intended for other things.

1) Because they want all the profits (their bosses charge 15% extra if someone uses a Credit Card).

2) If someone pays by Credit Card they won't see that money until they are cut a cheque (which could be a couple of weeks).

3) Because cash is harder for the bosses to track, so they can steal from their bosses and skim of the top.

Anyway we were not too happy about that for sure, and sadly this leg of the trip required quite a bit of taxi involvement.

We arrived at our hotel we checked in, and got ready for our geocache adventure.
Once ready we headed out and walked 15min to our starting point of a paved trail similar to the Galloping Goose trail here in Victoria BC.  This was the the San Diego River Trail, and it is a nice walk. Sadly for us this is when the sky opened up and it literally poured.  It did this for an hour, but we cached on and eventually it stopped.  Soaked to the bone we found many of the caches we were looking for, but had to give up on a few.
We met many of the local homeless along the way, and were shocked to find they not like any of the homeless back home where they constantly ask you for money.  Here in San Diego they all cheerfully said hello to us as we passed by under the overpasses, and the only time we were asked for anything it was for the time!

As our light began to fade the wind picked up and we started to get chilled, but we pressed on until we reached Ocean Beach.  Here we needed the involvement of my dad back at home to capture a image of us on a webcam for a Webcam Cache, so we gave him a call on my US based cellphone.  What is a "Webcam Cache?" you may be asking.  Well it is a rare cache type that does not exist anymore, except for a few grandfathered ones.  The best way to describe a webcam cache is:

"These are caches that use existing web cameras placed by individuals or agencies that monitor various areas like parks or road conditions. The idea is to get yourself in front of the camera to log your visit. The challenging part, however, it that you need to call a friend to look up the web site that displays the camera shot. You will need to have them to save the picture to log the cache."

 But sadly the light had faded so bad that my father could not see us on the screen back home.  But I was desperate.. So on a whim I told Just Leafy to turn on her cellphone flashlight, and my dad exclaimed "Hey I saw that, there you are!".  So I did the same with my phone while I had him on speaker phone, and may dad snapped the screenshot and emailed it to me.
We said our thanks to my dad and hung up, and then made a short visit to the pier and took a (sigh) taxi home.  Needless to say we were frozen to the core by now, and we had to take hot hot showers to get our core temperatures back up.  Soon we headed to bed to rest up for our full day at the San Diego Zoo.

Stay tuned for the last and final chapter, Part Four where the adventure continues!!