Team Markwell's GPS Adventures
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May 2007

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD71-BYYP Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.7074° W 088.2771° State: Illinois Date Found: 5/1/2007 6:29 pm Hunters: Kelly Temperature: 72°F/22°C Closest Distance: 57.1 meters Harvey and 30 in Oswego, W of Chicago 5.08 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: Fox Valley Kickers and a Lot of History With as busy as I've been lately, I feel lucky that a cache was placed so close to home - otherwise I might not have had the time to go out and score this month. But finding the time to do the full write up, now that's another story. GD71-BYYP is a spot repleat with history and cool information, even though it's a mundane spot. The magic circle's perimeter can be pierced by driving into the parking lot of the Fox Valley Kicker's club, a local bar/hall for graduation parties and various events. There's a neighborhood to the south that's just being built up and the point falls into what soon will be the backyard of this house. But that's the point, what about the history of this region? Harvey Road is a portion of the original Lincoln Highway that stretches from New York to San Francisco through Chicago. US Route 30 is the modern equivalent, but there are some portions that were moved for easier access. Harvey Road is part of the original highway This is just south of the intersection of US Route 30 (the Lincoln Highway) and US Route 34 - Ogden Avenue - which stretches from downtown Chicago to north-central Colorado. According to Wikipedia: at runs for 1,122 miles (1,806 km) from the western suburbs of Chicago to north-central Colorado. Through Rocky Mountain National Park it is known as the Trail Ridge Road where it reaches 12,183 ft (3,713 m), making it the highest paved through highway in the United States. The intersection of Montgomery Road and Route 30 less than 1 mile north used to be home to one of the last remaining Drive-In Theaters in the Chicago area. It was torn down just last year. The coordinates for that Drive-In were 41.7344, -88.2842, and it still can be seen on the Terra Server images (both high and low resolution, and even still on the more recent Google aerial images). There is a bowling alley at that same intersection as the old drive-in on the southeast corner (Parkside Lanes). On March 3, 1985, I asked a girl to steady with me after we finished our date of going bowling. On December 31, 1996, I asked her to marry me in that same parking lot, and she said yes. So - three points for Markwell and Trailblazers and lots of happy memories.

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD71-CAFI Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.7561° W 087.6103° State: Illinois Date Found: 5/26/2007 11:59 am Hunters: Kelly, Drew, Sam, Sherry Temperature: 67°F/19°C Closest Distance: 7.8 meters Urban Neighborhood in Chicago, near I94 and 75th Street 32.88 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: Smash Cars and an Urban Dashpoint One of the fun parts of being a scout leader is that you get to act like a kid, and do cool things that you never got to do. It rejuvinates you and gives you that sense of childlike excitement. Today was one of those days. Back in February, I was talking to another scout leader about the fun things we do with our packs and dens. I mentioned caching, and he thought that was the cat's meow. Then he told me that he is in the family that owns one of the larger salvage yards in the Chicago area. He takes the boys out to the yard and talks about recycling. Then they go out to some cars that are ready for destruction and the boys get to smack them with a hammer. After THAT bout of fun, what could be better? How about if the fork lift then takes those cars and puts them in the compactor, and the boys get to push the button on the remote to squash them flatter than 4-day-old tortillas? Pictures of the amazing experience are uploaded with the Wolf Scout being my younger and the non-uniformed being a tag-along older sibling. The fun moment (and the first part of the Markwell name of the point comes from the younger tag-along brother of one of the scouts. As he's learning to talk, he could only repeat two phrases to describe the experience over and over: “Car Broke” and “Smash Cars”. With gas hitting an all-time high in the Chicago region, we're not venturing out for second dashpoints unless we're already in the area. So we HAD to hit the dashpoint as it was only 7 miles (11 km) away. We drove north up Interstate 94 and got off at 79th street. After 10 eastward blocks we turned north of St. Lawrence road into a very well-kept neighborhood of old bungalo style homes, quite reminiscent of my sister's neighborhood in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. The house holding the point just on the road was a beige stucco house with a red Weber grill on the porch. We paused as we drove by, and the GPS registered our location on the road as just about 8 meters east as we drove by. I could have zeroed out, but we were anxious for lunch since it was just shy of noon and there weren't that many drive-thru restaurants in the neighborhood. Our trek back took us near Resurrection Cemetery (home of the fabled Ghost Story of Resurrection Mary and GC4C02, a magnificent virtual still listed on GC.com. I was the fourth visitor back in August of 2002, and I stopped by with my wife and boys to show them a quick view of the magnificent site. So, 3 last minute points for Markwell and Trailblazers

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Last Updated:
May 27 2007