September's Find Of The Month - A Gadget Cache!

   Realizing it has been nearly a year since we named a Find Of The Month, we decided to shine our little spotlight on a new cache, created by a new cache owner in the Fountain area.  "Bug, Bed & Breakfast "Gadget Cache" TB Hotel" is a very creative and inspiring cache - it also happens to be our first FTF in September!

The Cache - it is so fancy!

 

   The cache itself is unique in many different ways.  Obviously, from just the name you realize it is going to be a "gadget cache", meaning there is some sort of mechanism involved in order to access the log.  When you look at the satellite map (habit of mine for most caches), you realize that this is in someones backyard.  Indeed - the CO's have placed this cache in their backyard, and have granted all geocachers permission to enter their property in search of this cache.  They have also added a 'Geocachers Welcome' sign at the entrance to their backyard as a little reassurance to those who feel a little apprehensive about entering private property in search of a geocache.  It is also unique in the fact that the cache requires a special TOTT (Tool Of The Trade) that most cachers may not carry with them.  Have no fear though, as the CO's placed the TOTT in an area within arms reach of the cache, easily spotted by tiny cachers.  Finally - the CO's have placed a secondary 'bonus cache' in their backyard, just for the tiny cachers out there.  The only way to find the 'bonus cache' is by using the treasure map found inside of the main cache.

Some kiddos (Carpe Crew & #36) holding up the treasure map for the 'Bonus Cache'!

   I originally wasn't going to go for this one as soon as it posted.  I had some GeoArt things to take care of that day, and I get a little nervous about caches on private property (funny, since I have one on my back fence).  However, a few hours after the cache published, there were still no 'Found It' logs.  I decided since we needed to get a FTF for the month, I might as well give this one a try.  I hopped into the truck and away I went.

   After arriving on scene, I was surprised to see nobody at the cache!  I could feel eyes watching me - I knew there was somebody inside the house.  I continued my investigation anyway.  I noted the different panels on the cache container, and that some things moved, while others did not.  I then started searching for the TOTT.  I'll admit, I spotted it almost immediately - however I thought it was just a piece of the landscape.  I kept looking around for a few minutes, then I felt really silly when I noticed it was clearly labeled as 'TOTT'.

Picture taken from inside the house by the CO as I finally got the cache opened as FTF!

 

There are some feathered friends that the kiddos can get acquainted with as they search for the hidden treasure!

   This blog isn't about spoilers, so I won't go into detail as to how to get into the cache.  I will say there are various interesting elements, locks, and gizmos used to gain access to the cache.  Honestly, this cache is definitely one of my favorites.  It is extremely creative, uses lots of elements, and best of all it is from a very new caching family!  The CO's (HandyHomestead1120) are very friendly, and will probably say hi after you have signed the log.  Also, being a large cache that is easily monitored by the COs, it is a great spot to drop off some TBs!  Two thumbs up for this excellent Find Of The Month!

Another Grand and Enchanting Milestone!

   Well, it has happened again.  We made it to another milestone by finding our 2,000th geocache!  There was plenty of adventure and some planning requires to make it happen.  Not only did we make it to the milestone, but the 2,000th find was at an epic geocache!  For our first post in October, let's recap this adventure.

MikeAndJuli holding up our 2,000 Finds Milestone Coin

 

   When I first realized we were approaching our 2,00th find, I started doing some research into some notable caches that we could find for this milestone.  There are plenty of great choices in our state - including night-time caches, gadget caches, 5/5's, and interesting mysteries.  I mentioned in our post about Slender that we have a soft spot for multi-caches and adventure-style caches.  After some research, I stumbled upon the page for an interesting sounding cache in City Park in Denver.  The cache was 'Enchanter - An Adventure Cache' or GC2VEBH.  I did some quick scanning of the page (recent logs, favorite points, etc.) and knew this would be a fun cache.  It mentioned a 'choose your own adventure' style of adventure.  I had been wanting to find a cache of that type for some time, so I was exceited to make this our next big multi.  All I had to do was make sure we got to find number two thousand on a day that we could make the journey to complete this cache, while still maintaining our daily find streak.

   I had a side-gig type of job in Highlands Ranch on the morning of Monday September 22nd, and I knew afterward I would have time to do some caching.  I wanted to find quite a few caches, so I calculated how many I could get without going over our magical number.  With this in mind, I found a few puzzle caches that I had solved, and avoided the powertrails.  I found just enough caches to get us within 8 finds of the milestone.  We had the very next day off, and could possibly make the milestone within 24 hours, but just in case I wanted to make sure that we had a buffer so we could continue our daily finds streak for one more week without messing up the milestone.

 

   Luckily, we were able to clear our schedule for Tuesday the 23rd (the very next day!).  We made a slight detour to the library to print out the required material from the cache page.  Afterwards, we started making a few easy park-and-grab type cache finds until we got to 1,999 finds.  At that point, we ended up going directly to City Park and the listed coordinates for our selected Milestone find...

   At the listed coordinates, we were at a playground.  Once Juli started reading the text, the playground started looking more and more like a grand castle.  With a little imagination, we suddenly found ourselves in a grand kingdom.  The mighty king charged us with the task of restoring the magic to the kingdom by locating an Enchanted Walnut.  Already, we realized we made a fantastic choice for our 2,000th cache find!  Soon, we got to our fist decision in the text.  Do we charge into battle against a mighty sorceress, or meticulously hunt for clues leading to the Enchanted Walnut?  I decided to go with the sleuthing route, as we just started our adventure and I wasn't sure how we would fare in battle. 

   At our first clue, we searched and searched and searched for our hint - but could not find it!  After finding hundreds of spiders, a few wasps, and almost getting to the point of giving up - we finished reading the page about the clue.  'If you are unable to locate the symbol, please go to page xx'.  The cache owner put in a contingency for those of us who were apparently blind!  We followed the additional instructions, using simple counting of elements in our surroundings, and easy calculations.  It was easy to continue our journey from there.

   Our next stop was much like the one before.  We searched for clues in our surroundings, and there was a small calculation to make to get to the next stage.  As we continued, there were a few sections where we were given multiple choices.  All of the stages used clues from our surroundings, and had a different storyline depending on the time of day/year, whether or not fountains were turned on or turned off, etc.  It seems the Cache Owner not only has an amazing imagination, but also put a great amount of thought and planning into this adventure!

Juli with the Enchanted Walnut and the Log Scroll

   I don't want to give too much away about the cache, and let others enjoy the adventure for themselves.  I will say I was greatly impressed at the creativity behind the entire experience - especially the epic final battle with the dragons!  We were able to defeat the dragons, retrieve the enchanted walnut, and restore magic to the kingdom.  And yes, for those who are wondering - the walnut is in the final container!  I recommend this adventure for all cachers, but especially for those who cache with children.  Stay tuned for our next milestone - 3,000 finds!