Cacheapalooza !!

Laurie, Chip and Dylan are camping for the weekend with the Pratt family at Jonathan Dickinson State Park, the location of Cacheapalooza 3.

Last night, Dick volunteered to deliver pizza to them after they got their tent set up. Chip had a campfire going - it was a blast from the past. How many campfires have we sat around in the past 50 years...but I don't think we ever had pizza delivered to the campsite! It was good pizza, too, Hobe Sound Pizza. The Pratts weren't there yet - their son was walking in the Stuart Christmas Parade with his Boy Scout group.

We had breakfast at Perkins, and wandered into the park around 11 a.m. to spend the day caching and enjoying the events.

Laurie fixed lunch for us, so then we were ready to do some caching along one of the bike paths.


PB&J at site 113
I think that 7 or 8 were found. I walked with them for a distance, and then Dick picked me up and dropped me off at the pavilion while they continued caching for another 2 or 2 and a half hours. Luckily, I had a good book to read, lots of interesting people to watch, and friends there from Michigan. I was quietly reading my book when I heard "Basswood Bend! What are you doing here? It was Trippy, who lives in Florida now. We really enjoyed talking on and off during the afternoon. I also had a chance to meet Jellyfish, another Michigander. Nurse Nana had told me that he would be there and that I should look him up. No problem! Trippy and Jellyfish were caching together.

The potluck dinner was scheduled to begin at 5:30, and by 4:45 people were beginning to congregate and it got harder and harder to save a table for everyone!

Finally, my guys showed up and I was relieved! Pratts sat with us too, and they set up chairs at the end of our table.

The raffle started right after dinner, and Dick and I won a prize (mouse pad that says I'd rather be caching, and some Cachepaloooza pathtags) and Sharkie Crew (Laurie's family) won two prizes - just small stuff this year.

Everybody left shortly thereafter - Dick and I were certainly ready to go home, and Gillespies and Pratts were ready to go back to their tents. It was a very full day for everyone.

Cache logs by Dick for 14 Caches!! Woo Woo!

2008 You attended CACHEAPALOOZA 3 (Event Cache)
This was our first Cacheapalooza and we had an enjoyable, active day. We want to thank all the folks who invested their time, energy, cache and cash to put on this spectacular. We enjoyed our conversations with Florida cachers and it was fun to travel 1500 miles south and to meet up with fellow Michigan Geocacher Organization members Jelly Fish and cache reviewer extraordinaire, Trippy.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Running Bare (Multi-cache)
On our first Cacheapalozza excursion, we tagged along with the splatt pirates and the sharkie crew to find some caches. Caching with pre-teens is a different ball game, nuff said. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #8
After lunch, we teamed up with the sharkie crew for a stroll along the bike path. Thanks for the series.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #7 (Traditional Cache)
We started with 8 and walked the trail. TFTC

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #6 (Traditional Cache)
this one turned out to be more of a challenge for us than I'm sure the owner expected. Five sets of eyes were searching high and low. After introducing my pale northern legs to the joy of the Saw Palmetto, the cache was found. Thanks for the laughs.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #5 (Traditional Cache)
Another find with the sharkies. TFTC

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #4 (Traditional Cache)
We teamed with the three members of the sharkie crew to stroll part of the bike path. About the time we got here, the energy level had dissipated for one of the team and the siren call of the pavilion was heard. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Bike Trail DECON #3 (Traditional Cache)
OK, just one more. TFTC

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Gators R Us (Traditional Cache) [visit log]
On our way to work the spectrum series, we stopped to check out the fauna and grab a cache while we were at it. TFTC

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Spectrum of Colors: Red (Traditional Cache)
We teamed up with sharkie crew and splatt pirates to work this series. We started with this one, a short walk on a nice trail, easy find and the next one not far away. Thanks for the fun.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Spectrum of Colors: Orange (Traditional Cache)
With sharkie crew and splatt pirates we attempted to find a trail/path.opening from Red. As a northerner who left temps in the teens and a foot of the white stuff, it grinds me to wear jeans in such fantastic weather but thankfully, I yielded to the warnings. Bushwacking in Florida is a different experience. Got to 350 feet from this side and decided the approach would be better from the other side.
We retreated to the RR tracks and found a couple of game trails that appeared to go in the right direction. The pre-teens were left with a minder while the adults stared resolutely at their arrows and plunged ahead. Following the game trails when we could, forcing our way through the bush when we had to, we made our way to the cache. It was quite an adventure.
With so many cacher's out the past couple of days, it was a surprise to us that there was the hand writing of only two other people in the book. We added our names and found our way back to the tracks wondering what other treats were in store for us.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Spectrum of Colors: Yellow (Traditional Cache)
Continuing on our quest we found this one readily. After Orange, almost anything else would seem like a park and grab. Thanks for the effort and imagination that went into this series.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Spectrum of Colors: Green (Traditional Cache)
Continuing our quest for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We are impressed with the way the theme is carried out in the cache contents. Thanks for the hunt.

Found it 12/6/2008 You found Spectrum of Colors: Blue (Traditional Cache)
Here we come, teamed with the sharkie crew and splatt pirates we are closing in on the end of our quest. Unfortunately, the pre-teens are getting cranky and the post teens are getting hungry. We grab the code and push on, only one color to go.