Team Markwell's GPS Adventures
Non omnes vagi perditi sunt
In chronological order
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Team Markwell's GPS Adventures
Non omnes vagi perditi sunt
In chronological order
Back Home
February 2006
Toy Stash 2, the Return by Markwell
|   Wayfaring Kimino | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is cache. |
I had so much fun with the description for this cache, I figured - what the heck. So I'll post it here too...
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 Click on Dash Icon to see the MapGD56-CAIN Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.8373° W 087.7046° State: Illinois Date Found: 2/18/2006 1:06 pm Hunters: Kelly, Drew, Sam, Sherry Temperature: 2°F/-17°C Kedzie and 31st, Chicago, IL, USA 30.21 miles from home | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint. |
| Dashpoint Name: Chicago Auto Show and Red's GrillFinally getting around to writing up the dashpoints from last week. Man - it's been busy. One of our parents from Cub Scouting happens to be a big-wig-muckity-muck from Ford, and got us tickets for our family to the Chicago Auto Show, which I now hear is bigger than the Detroit Auto Show. We spent most of our time in the GM area, but the one everyone was crowding around was the new Chevy Camaro. Here's a link to the story from the Detroit Show, complete with streaming video. http://tinyurl.com/p3vjz It was a brisk day to say the least, and it was perfect for staying indoors and doing "fun" stuff. So, we hit the dashpoint on the way up to Chicago, as it was only 500 meters north of the interstate highway. So we exited at California Street and took the road north to 31st and then about 5 blocks back west until we were at the intersection of Kedzie and 31st and the dashpoint was sitting on the edge of the property of Red's Grill. To the west is an old abandoned school (Washburn School), and the whole area is surrounded by high chain-link fences with barbed wire across the top. On the way north on California we did pass the Cook County Department of Corrections. Not wanting to dawdle, we quickly and quietly scored the dash at about 1:00 in the afternoon, and left to attend the auto show. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers |  |
| Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD56-CAFA Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.4607° W 087.9841° State: Illinois Date Found: 2/20/2006 10:20 am Hunters: Kelly, Sam, Wags Temperature: 26°F/-3°C Farmland SE of the Joliet Speedway, SW of Chicago 17.88 miles from home | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint. |
| Dashpoint Name: President's Day Loop Point 1 - SE of the SpeedwayPresident's day - a day originally to honor George Washington's birthday on February 22, and was bastardized when many states also used February 12 to honor Abraham Lincoln's birthday decided in their infinite wisdom to lump them all together and call it a National Holiday. But - at least it gave me a chance to get a circuit of dashes that would have otherwise gone untouched by my team. So we chose a SE, SW, N, NE route to travel past four dashpoints, and this was the first, and closest to home. Back in Game 10, I stumbled across the Joliet Speedway - which had been built less than 20 miles from my home, but since I didn't receive the Joliet Newspaper, and didn't care much about NASCAR racing, I was oblivious to the construction. Now, as I pass it again 16 months later, it's still big, but at least it's not a surprise. Continuing on SE of the speedway, I hit gravel roads and grids of straight N/S and E/W roads typical of farmland in Illinois, and was eventually rewarded with the proximity alarm on my trusty 76S. I wheeled to a stop and rolled down the window to get a better glimpse and photo, and SemperFiWags (my dashing partner) almost hopped out into the farmland. The closest point on the road was right next to a gas pipeline access point, with the appropriate warning signs, and directly west of a nice farmhouse with a gentle lilting willow tree in the front yard. Photos are uploaded. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers | |
Joliet Speedway - photo doesn't do the size justice
Warning - Gas Pipeline Crossing
House to the east| Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD56-CAGO Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 40.7554° W 087.9008° State: Illinois Date Found: 2/20/2006 11:41 am Hunters: Kelly, Sam, Wags Temperature: 29°F/-2°C Gilman - Middle of the eastern part of Illinois 63.67 miles from home | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint. |
| Dashpoint Name: President's Day Loop Point 2 - Bridge Out East of GilmanI originally wasn't going to hit this one, and now it seems foolish to have gone so far out of my way when I had mounting obligations at home, but it was a cool dashpoint. After hitting the one southeast of Joliet, I took numerous farm country roads straight south, and eventually landed on Interstate 57, which deposited me at US 24 in Gilman, Illinois. From there I headed due east to the dashpoint. The road which biscected the magic circle for this point was quickly deteriorating the farther east I went, until I was met with signs indicating "Bridge Out" and "No Outlet". Not good. I quickly consulted my maps and Marky Image printout, and realized that I was west of the bridge, and so was the magic circle. Had I approached from the east, I could not have scored without going a long distance around. But, as I approached, I saw the gravel road weaken to a two-lane gravel road with grass in the middle, which eventually gave way to two muddy tracks with some loose gravel leading up to the bridge - which was barricaded sufficiently to make it certain that no vehicle would be crossing. But I had reached my destination of the magic circle. So, after performing a perfect 35 point turn around, we were off to the local scottish establishiment for a lunch time meeting with Mayor McCheese. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers | |
Bridge Out - No Outlet
Barricade Ahead
Barricaded Bridge| Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD56-CAAD Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.0907° W 088.4042° State: Illinois Date Tried: 2/20/2006 12:55 pm Hunters: Kelly, Sam, Wags Temperature: 31°F/-1°C Just east of Dwight, in North Central Illinois 39.23 miles from home | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint. |
| Dashpoint Name: President's Day Loop Point 3 - Unreachable in DwightI knew from the time I started this point that I would not be reaching it, but the path between GD56-CAGO and GD56-BYYV or GD56-CAGO and home for that matter took me within a kilometer of this point, so I drove as close as could - 425 meters to the north and glanced at the wide-open and empty farmland stretching at least one mile southward. So no points, but I confirmed that it was just farmland. 0 points for Markwell and Trailblazers |   |
| Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD56-BYYV Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.3065° W 088.5458° State: Illinois Date Found: 2/20/2006 1:30 pm Hunters: Kelly, Sam, Wags Temperature: 30°F/-1°C Near Seneca, Illinois - Far West of Chicago 28.44 miles from home | Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint. |
| Dashpoint Name: President's Day Loop Point 4 - DuPont Road and the Chemical PlantAgain, I looked at my schedule and thought about the wisdom of hitting this point when I had pressing commitments back at home, but I felt so close... Back on GD52-BYYL, I mentioned coming out DuPont Road and passing the chemical plant and heading on south. This dashpoint is within site of the chemical plant - and rests just along the next road to the east of the plant. Up the gravel path and executing a 14 point turn around this time, I was able to snap a shot of the dashpoint, the chemical plant and the farmfield holding both on this clear-blue sky day. I did take one more photograph of the ENORMOUS tornado siren that rests at the intersection of DuPoint Road and the N/S gravel road holding the magic circle. My guess is that this siren would be heard for at least 10-15 miles. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers | |
Chemical Plant
Tornado SirenDead Man's Creek by Craiger Begger
| Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is cache. |
| Prescription: find some ways to relax and get some exercise. Medicine: find a couple of caches. That's what I did, too. The last time I was here was back in October of 2003 with a completely different cache in a completely different method of hiding. This was cool, though, and a nice warm-up for the Mookey, Spooky Woods. However, it is rated with a 1 star for terrain, and this is not really handicapped accessible as that would imply. Still a fun cache. |  | |
The Mookey, Spooky Woods by Craiger Begger
| Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is cache. |
| After finding and signing Dead Man's Creek, I went off to find this one about 600 feet away. IN doing so, I stayed to the east of the creek, and found that it soon was becoming impassable to my dress shoes. I found one log that looked promising and is probably the intended way to get across, but the log had been cut partially through, and I wasn't sure my weight wouldn't crack it the rest of the way. Continuing north, I found another footbridge across the creek, but this didn't really feel right. It seemed like this was someone's back yard and even after crossing, it felt like I was on someone's property until I stepped over a man-made fence of logs. Then it was park again. I found the cache fairly quickly, but I didn't want to head back the same way, so I traveled south and this time on the west side of the creek. Funny thing: I scared up some young adolescent boys that were hanging out in their make-shift "hangout", but I walked past with a giggle commenting that I was "just passing through." Back to the car and two more finds under my belt, all within 30 minutes! | | |
| This Month | Cumulative | ||
| Tried Caches | 2 | 453 | |
| Found Caches | 2 | 340 | |
| Dashes | 5 | 227 | |
| GeoGolfCourses Completed | 0 | 15 | |
| Placed Caches | 1 | 32 | |
| New Hitchhikers Released | 1 | 21 |
Back to January 2006
On to March 2006
Last Updated:
March 7 2006 17:00 CST
Terrain: 
Sherman, set the
Wayback Machine for February 03, 2001... 
Geocaching is a new treasure hunting game. Armed
with a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and coordinates,
you can locate treasures that others have hidden in unusual
places. Here you can find the latest caches in your area, how
to hide your own cache, and information on how to get started
in this fun and exciting sport.
Newest caches
And for that
"Twilight Zone Moment": I was eating dinner in a restaurant
last week, and saw Bryan and his family. He instantly
recognized me (and I him). He had just gotten back from hiking
with his family - but not Geocaching.
June 14, 2001 by Road Kill
June 12,
2001 by Bryan
June 2, 2001 by Road Kill
April 22,
2001 by Beezodog