Washtenaw/Ann Arbor Cachapalooza

The best challenge so far has been Fezzik's Views of Ann Arbor. It's a 5 stage multi-cache in Ann Arbor parking structures! The stages are all micros except for the final. They all require something special - decoding, unscrambling, head-scratching, hindu numerals, and research. When Dick discovered the final, we felt triumphant, ecstatic, excited, relieved and joyful! We loved this series so much that we named one of our 50th coins "Ann Arbor" and placed it in the cache. Then we noticed that the coin was picked up by Edward Applebee later the same day!

September 21 by basswoodbend (1407 found)
This has been a blast! Thanks for the imagination and effort that was expended in its creation. We have spent quite a bit of time and effort on this hunt over the past couple of weeks. Only one of the stages resulted in us proceeding directly to the next. The rest required us to sit back and cogitate for a day or two before the light bulbs were turned on and we saw how to proceed to the next goal. Scoring the final today gives us both a great sense of accomplishment. We signed the log, left our card and a geopin. We also took the Red Jeep. Since we are not sure which other Washtenaw County caches we might find, we only “Discovered” the Dilla.
We have created a coin to commemorate our 50th wedding anniversary and have been placing them in selected caches around the state. Since this is our favorite cache in our second favorite city, we traded the one we have named “Ann Arbor” for the coin that was in the cache.
Thanks and kudos to the Rodents for this creation. We greatly enjoyed the hunt.

We've done a couple of other quests in the area. Where the Road Ends was a fairly easy one. I was looking in the wrong place, but Dick came up with it. We really enjoyed doing Victory Mike's caches. The one by his front door was really fun and unique. We were hoping to see him, but he evidently wasn't home.

Found it 9/20/2007 You found Where the ROAD ENDS (Traditional Cache)
Nice park and grab. We traded cards and left a McToy. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 9/20/2007 You found Welcome Home Again (Traditional Cache)
This has been on our list for a couple of years but we just couldn't find our "Round To It". We finally brought it with us today. At the first stage, we traded a game pack and some bug wipes for a screwdriver and a Martha pin. At the final, we went "Knock Knock" but sadly, VM was not home. we are sorry we missed you. Maybe another time. We signed that log and left a geopin. Thanks for the hunt.

After that, Dick did a 4 or 5 stage multi-cache in Lillie Park, Pittsfield Township. It involved a lot of walking, so he dropped me off at home. He was gone for about an hour and a half, so I was glad I wasn't trying to walk it with him! He was successful, and he had a good time doing it.

Found it 9/20/2007 You found Lillie Park Nature Walk (Multi-cache)
This is a great cache! A walk in a great park and challenging set of puzzles, with a traditional container at the finish. When we first came to the area in the 50’s, this was an active gravel pit. At one point in time it was being considered for a garbage dump. This is much better. Because, when given the opportunity, I have a tendency to make the wrong choice, I turned the hunt in to more of a physical challenge than it needs to be. The route I chose led me to walk past the site of the final three times while collecting the clues. Found it this afternoon at about 5:30 and traded bug wipes and sun bloc for a poncho and left a TB. Thanks for the hunt and showing me what has been done to this old gravel pit.