This article is part seven of a series of articles I am writing to share the story of my adventure to Seattle, WA to attend GeoWoodstock VIII and several other key geocaching locations. This part sums up the entire adventure and gives you the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything else.
In four days of caching, here’s some numbers to crunch:
- 93 total caches found which included
- 3 Virtuals
- 1 Webcam
- 1 Wherigo
- 1 Letterbox
- 1 Mega Event
- 1 CITO Event
- 5 Regular Events
- 1 GSP Lost & Found Event
- 1 Project APE
- 1 Groundspeak HQ Unknown/Puzzle
- 77 Traditionals
- Three new icons for my profile: HQ, GSP Lost & Found, Project APE
- More than 47 trackables moved from the maritimes to GW8
- More than a dozen trackables returned from GW8 and other events
- Over 700 kilometers traveled by car in a single day
- About 800-900 kilometers traveled by car for the entire trip
- Around 5200+ kilometers traveled by car and air for the entire pilgrimage trip
When I look at that list, I realize that even though I didn’t get a lot of caches for four days of caching, what I did get was quite impressive. I knew a year ago that going to this GeoWoodstock would mean that I would be able to get some iconic caches and the fact that Groundspeak had added two new icons to the mix was just an added bonus.
It’s hard to say what was the best part of the trip. If I had to pick something out of everything I went to that I enjoyed the most, I think I would actually have to say the Lost & Found event near HQ. There wasn’t as many vendors or booths as GW8, but a lot of the Groundspeak staff was there, and getting to see folks like Jeremy & Nate mix and mingle with everyone was pretty cool. To know that caching started out 10 years ago and bringing all of these people to this small section of the Fremont waterfront together was pretty cool. I know sometimes people bitch about the reviewers and some of the issues we have had with GSP’s cache listing policies, but being there with everyone really put it in perspective. They really accomplished something quite remarkable in that through a game that really is about finding tupperware and plastic, they’ve brought so many people together and really made it an international game.
Anyone can play regardless of how old they are, what nationality they are, what race they are, whether they are disabled or not, whether they have buck teeth and are hideously ugly, whether they are shy or outgoing, or just regular people, geocaching has ultimately spanned the great divide among people. There were more than a thousand people that logged an attended to that event and more than 1,700 for GW8. What other hobby out there has the ability to reach such a mass audience with very little effort? To be in attendance with the founders and organizers of such an activity was really amazing.
GW8, the Luau, and Going APE were also among the top events for me. Having never done a GW before, I was totally blown away by the sheer size of it and how insanely organized it really is. These larger events are absolutely insane and I can’t imagine how much time and effort has gone into getting them put together. Huge kudos for the folks involved.
The trip did however have a few downsides. One thing that really irritated me was how much distance I had to travel to get from one spot to another. I spent as much time in the car as I did doing everything else. The commute from one location to another was pure hell. Travelling 5K could take 30 minutes depending on the route and traffic. I did as best as I could to plan to cache in areas where I could avoid traffic but it doesn’t really work out so well depending on where you are and what happens.
Unfortunately one other thing I cannot stand is something that sort of goes hand in hand with large scale events: long lineups. Whether it was for the APE registration, meals at GW8, or other items, when you have large crowds, you have long lines. They drove me nuts and I know that you can only do so much to combat them but man they got on my nerves.
Lastly, and this was a personal choice, was the fact that this was a caching trip I did solo. I do a lot of geocaching on my own and have even gone to other cities by myself to do some caching. For this trip, there was no one from Moncton going to GW8 and I never did find dragonflys (from Halifax) who was also going to GW8. I think some of the lull time I had would have been much better had I been caching with a group. As I mentioned in another part of this series, I’m pretty timid when it comes to introducing myself to strangers so trying to meet up and cache with people I don’t know isn’t something I’m very good at so ultimately I did everything solo. I think next time I’ll definitely be trying to find a group to come with me. GW9 is in Pennsylvania so it’s not as far to get to.
However all in all it was a fantastic and memorable trip. I took a pile of pictures (some of which you’ve already seen), bought a pile of coins and other caching related stuff, met some cool people, and saw some iconic caches and scenery. I’m glad I went and am now officially hooked on going to other GeoWoodstock events. If you get the chance, go!
Pulled from Cache Up NB. Read the original post here
