Team Markwell's GPS Adventures
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Second Quarter 2009

Gonzo Caching by jacobni N 41° 43.798 W 088° 06.938 Difficulty: Terrain: Date Found: 4/16/2009 Hunters: Kelly

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is cache.

I am always amazed when locations get recycled. Four years before jacobni became a member of GC.com, there was a cache placed near here (66 feet away) called ''Honey Do''(GCJTZK). I had found the cache back in October of 2004. Sometime in July of 2005 the kids from the park evidently found it and took the log book. The owner subsequently archived the cache. Glad to see this spot (actually a little bit cooler spot) got re-used. Since I got out of work early on the 16th, I was able to snag the cache on the way to rehearsal. Thanks for placing the cache! Hope the lid holds out in bad weather.

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD94-CADO Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.4078° W 088.1260° State: Illinois Date Found: 4/18/2009 12:35 pm Hunters: Kelly Temperature: 72°F/22°C Closest Distance: 53.9 meters West of Elwood 17.04 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: Deer Run Industrial Takes Over Maple Hill Cemetery Elwood, Illinois is one of those sleepy little farm communities that has woken up to find itself surrounded. The old Joliet Arsenal Training Ground that encompasses much of the wilderness area around Elwood is now the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. The Abraham Lincoln National Veteran Cemetery has also sprung up in the old arsenal. But the newest addition taking over the old arsenal is the Deer Run Industrial Park. In August of 2000, then Governor George Ryan (now serving a prison term) commented in a press release regarding the creation of the center: "The creation of the Deer Run Industrial Park and the Intermodal Transit Hub is a tremendous example of what can happen when the federal, state, and local governments work together and don't get sidetracked by individual agendas," Ryan said. "This project is an example of our strong commitment to keep our economy moving forward by retooling brownfields and other sites that have been vacant for too long." Maple Hill Cemetery still sits within haunting distance of the dashpoint, and is one of the older cemeteries in the area. My maternal grandmoter's house is still standing in farm fields about 4.5 kilometers north of the dashpoint. Driving to it from Route 53 (which was the old Route 66 I've mentioned so often before) - I travelled through Elwood's township and past the high school into the area surrounding the industrial park. My GPS showed gridline roads that were evidently the original arsenal roads, but the new Mississppi Road that circumvents the complex took me much closer to the dashpoint. I was able to score from the car at a distance of about 54 meters. To the north, the prairieland of the old arsenel is still untouched, while to the south I saw rows of loading docks, many with Walmart trailers backed up to the dock doors. The last irony was that I was coming from my office, where we installed several patches to our Windows Servers that morning, and traveling to a class for Boy Scout leaders, where I would be teaching land navigational skills to about 40 adult leaders. Seems fitting for this past-time to be sandwiched between those portions of my life. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers

Click on Geovexilla Icon to see the Map VX36-BOAJ Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.7690° W 088.1291° State: Illinois Date Found: 5/12/2009 5:32 pm Hunters: Kelly Temperature: 65°F/18°C Closest Distance: 3.6 meters Flag: Dominican Republic Charles Street 10.13 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is Geovexilla point.

Geovexilla Name: Prairieland Elementary; Off to See the Wizard So I'm off to see the wizard - literally. I've been cast this summer as the Cowardly Lion in the Theater on the Hill production of the Wizard of Oz. Driving to rehearsal, I grabbed this point before it expired. Nice residential street with the Prairieland Park and Prairieland Elementary school nearby. Easy drive-by on Charles Street.

Click on Dash Icon to see the Map GD95-CAAC Terra Server Picture Coordinates: N 41.5595° W 088.0626° State: Illinois Date Found: 5/31/2009 5:24 pm Hunters: Kelly, Drew Temperature: 74°F/23°C Closest Distance: 69.7 meters South of Lockport, SW of Chicago 10.29 miles from home

Green Dot is home. Blue Dot is dashpoint.

Dashpoint Name: On the Way to Jamboree Meeting My 13 year old son has been selected to be on the contingent of 72 scouts attending the 2010 National Jamboree in Virginia for next summer. This will be the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, while "Scouting" had its centennial anniversary on August 1 2007. I am thrilled that my son is going to be attending. They've had a troop meeting already and their first campout and service project. May 31 was the second troop meeting and through and amazing coincidence of planning, GD95-CAAC is only a little more than six kilometers from the meeting place. The point was scorable from the west. We approached heading south on Green Garden Road after heading past Fairmont School. At the closest point of about 70 meters, we paused and looked across an empty field, noticing the U-Haul trailer sitting in a driveway on the other side of the field almost in a straight line. Also of quick note, this dashpoint was only 794 meters from GD90-CAAF, which I visited back just prior to Christmas 2008. 3 points for Markwell and Trailblazers

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Last Updated:
Jun 3 2009