Pull me to victory - 7/29/11

KBLAST and I could not finish The Golden Spike (look for a post on that in the near future - I think I might be able to find this one!) so we headed to a nearby new one he hadn't found called Pull me to victory. It's a cache on the Ohio Statue University campus. I started searching near GZ, but the hint said to look somewhere else. I got to what the hint was referring to and immediately started climbing (sometimes it's tough being a geohamster - almost ALL caches are climbers!!!)

Started searching, but as I was, 2 police cars showed up! I jumped into KBLAST's pocket to avoid unnecessary confusion (hamsters aren't usually as trained as I am.) The police asked KBLAST what he was up to, and he said he was checking out the old fence post. They said they got a call that he was passed out under a tree! KBLAST started laughing, but the policeman told him he had a lot of work to do and that he wasn't finding this as funny. KBLAST finally fessed up and said he was geocaching, then had to explain how he knew there was a cache there, give them his license, etc.

After the policeman confirmed KBLAST was telling the whole truth, he told KBLAST that there were a lot of other caches on campus! Then a couple of guys came out of a nearby trailer and said KBLAST was just looking for the geocache they had placed. :D They were watching from the window and laughing at him looking! Glad I was hidden most of the time. Anyway, KBLAST made the find while the police and workers watched, but I had stayed in his pocket to avoid being seen. So one more DNF for me! Hope The Golden Spike pans out for me some day!

Creekside Cache - 7/28/11

KBLAST was on the way to pick up S at camp, but made a quick stop on the way down to grab a cache! This one looked fun! As most others probably do, I started in the obvious magnetic spots, but after reading some logs I realized this was the wrong place. Time to head to more dangerous areas!

There were spiders, bugs, wasps, and all KINDS of creepy crawlies all over this thing! I can't believe KBLAST found it - I thought I looked EVERYWHERE!!!

Made one final run down the beam at the very end, but to no avail. KBLAST had to get his daughter, so I had to give up. At least I'm not the ONLY one who couldn't find this one!!!

Anniversary I - 7/27/11

KBLAST was out late working on one of his own caches when he realized he hadn't gotten a cache yet today, so we went and tried Anniversary I. There were LOTS of dark places that I searched, but there were a few places with light where you could actually see me.

Here KBLAST got a quick shot of me with the flashlight. Unfortunately, I could never find the actual cache itself. I'm going to chalk it up to being too dark even for a nocturnal guy like me. I wonder if they make flashlights for hamsters? I'll have to look into that.

E.A.K.! and My happy ending - 7/26/11

Started my search of E.A.K.! on the obvious nearby structure, then realized I was making the terrain way too high. I came down and started searching GZ.

I tried to stay up high as another person who found this cache said something about foxes nearby!!! That scared me a lot... but then, the worst happened...

I slipped and got stuck in these horrible spears!!! I was soooo scared the foxes were going to find a little hamster stuck in the spikes and pick away at me, but I managed to escape with my life! After that, there would be no cache for me. I then moved on to My happy ending.

When we arrived near GZ the predator near the water scared me, but KBLAST shooed it off, and we headed off into the woods to find it. As we approached GZ, I noticed the area I thought SURE the cache would be!

The only question was, which of the routes to take to find the cache?! There were so many possibilities! I finally just chose one and headed up, up, and away!!!

After searching for a while, KBLAST said he had to go to get back to his work, so I had to leave with yet another disappointing DNF. Oh, well... at least I didn't get eaten by a fox or a heron!!!

Nanu Nano YMCA - 7/25/11

After last night's disappointment, KBLAST brought me to Nanu Nano YMCA. I searched every single planet, looking for the cache Mork was talking about, but I couldn't find it ANYWHERE. Is there any hope for me? At least the park was pretty cool. I never did find all the planets - that's a LONG way for a hamster's feet to carry him!!!

Nanu Nano Stardust - 7/24/11

KBLAST needed a VERY late night cache, so we headed to the west side to get Nanu Nano Stardust. I thought the size of the cache sounded perfect for me! I searched all around ground zero (man, it was dark!) before I finally checked out the hint. I then noticed something! I thought for SURE I was going to get my first find!!!

But it was rainy, and I could NOT climb all the way up the pole, no matter how hard I tried! I finally had to admit defeat, but I told KBLAST that I liked the idea behind this series, and asked if we could try another one tomorrow! He said YES!!! I can't wait!!!

A good Dam Time - 7/23/11

Spent some time at A good Dam Time searching every nook and cranny, but just could not find anything! Then I noticed it was a small container, not a micro. So I started expanding my search a little. Then, I saw THIS:

Right after I dropped a few hamster pellets and naturally watered the local greenery, I turned around and decided to get myself out of there. Nice area... TO PLUMMET TO A HORRIBLE DEATH! Thanks but NO thanks!

Brooksedge - 7/22/11

Was out with the two youngest of the KBLAST family looking for Brooksedge. I was having a hard time finding anything as it was just starting to get dark. The area where we found GZ was definitely too dark and scary for as cute and cuddly a rodent as myself, but I searched around outside the area with the help of the two little ones.

This was kind of nasty, but I always say, never leave any possibility unexplored! Too bad it hasn't led to any finds yet. Oh, well! On to another!

geo bridge - 7/21/11

KBLAST was out late getting his cache and it was just before midnight when we went after geo bridge. I scanned the wall around GZ and had a fun time... being nocturnal and all. It was pretty high up and there were a few places I felt a little nervous:

In the end I loved the bridge, but could NOT find a cache. I loved this place though!

Going to New Heights

Last night KBLAST noticed Going to New Heights had published and noticed it was a dawn to dusk park, so the FTF was going to go to whoever got there first in the morning. I asked him what this FTF thing was all about, and he explained that there is a race to see who can get first to find!!! I was all geared up when he woke up at 6 this morning (I'm a nocturnal animal, so I was up all night thinking about it).

As soon as 6:18 hit (the official time of sunrise according to the GPS) we entered the park. KBLAST kept looking for the object, but I thought I'd beat him to the punch, so I just started climbing everything in sight!

He kept searching for the cache, and I just kept running circles around him. I even climbed to the VERY top of one of the trees:

That wasn't it. You see, I'm a little guy, so it's easier for me to move around than for KBLAST, so I was EVERYWHERE around GZ.

Then I spotted the container! Unfortunately, KBLAST was already up that tree, but I don't think he saw it yet! I started climbing, trying to beat him to it, when he reached up and grabbed the container and signed the log! I was so winded from running all over the place I just gave up. KBLAST asked if he could sign my name to the log, but I don't WANT anyone helping me. I WILL find one and reach it MYSELF some day. Maybe it will be tomorrow!!!

Das Cache - 7/19/11

KBLAST was at band camp today so I had to wait until it was almost dark to go after this one with him. I think it may have been too dark for me to find this one, but I found some cool hamster sized places to search! See if you can find me in the picture above! Unfortunately, find me or not, I could not find this cache. I'm thankful for the beautiful area with the pretty and yummy looking flowers! Maybe I'll have a chance tomorrow.

Forging Foliage - 7/18/11

Was out with KBLAST and did Forging Foliage with him. I searched the foliage carefully, as you can see in this picture. I loved these flowers! They were beautiful, and some of them looked delicious!!! NOM NOM!!! Couldn't find the cache, though, so I spread out my search...

Looked a little further out at these rocks... then wandered a little further. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered why it says on the cache page to watch your children...

I almost became hamster roadkill!!!! Good thing I was paying attention! After that startle, I was done for the day. Unfortunately, one more DNF in a long series. Some day I'll find one!!!

You've Been Tagged: KBLAST! - 7/17/11

KBLAST just HAD to work on the puzzle cache You've Been Tagged: KBLAST! When he solved it we went after the cache. I immediately followed the hint and sought out the nearest creek. I attempted to jump across but, yeah, you guessed it:

I totally KBLASTed myself! Face first, right into the water. That was the end of the search for me! I'm not a huge fan of getting wet, and the stinky water doesn't really work well for us hamsters. I'll try again tomorrow!

Cache & Ice Cream Jul 2011 - Canal Winchester, Pining For You, Too, and Remembering the Past. - 7/16/11

Today I started by trying to find the cache at Cache & Ice Cream Jul 2011 - Canal Winchester. I ran all OVER the place in there. I found the ice cream, but the people who were giving it out weren't too terribly fond of a rodent being near it. I hope the cache wasn't there! You can see in the picture I was searching a deep, cavernous area, but I found ABSOLUTELY nothing in there... no cache, no anything! Just darkness and nothingness. So KBLAST and friends went to get a couple of other caches.

Our next stop was attempting to get an FTF at Pining For You, Too. I kept the terrain in mind, as dkington suggested, but I just couldn't find any good places to hide caches up there! After everyone else in the group found it, we moved on.

To be fair, I never really solved this puzzle, but the view from the area was spectacular, and a little scary!!!

I thought for a little while about going over the edge to search a little harder, but then KBLAST and his friends all said they had already found the cache and we needed to get going. Oh, well! It was a beautiful spot!!! So that makes three caches I couldn't find today!!! I'm a little bummed, but as always, I had a lot of fun!!!

Riverside Cemetery - 7/15/11

KBLAST was heading to see the new Harry Potter movie with his daughter TheAmazingA. They stopped and made the quick find at Riverside Cemetery and then gave me a few minutes before we had to leave to get to the movie on time. You can see I searched low...

I searched high...

I was ALL OVER GZ... then I thought maybe the coordinates were a little off, so I went to the next closest area...

Man I'm glad I'm an educated little hamster - if I didn't know how to read, I might have been in big trouble! As it stands, I didn't drink the water, but I also couldn't find the cache before we had to leave to get to the movies. I'm going to try to find the cache at the Cache & Ice Cream Jul 2011 - Canal Winchester tomorrow, hope I can actually find that one!

Creeking - 7/14/11

KBLAST really wanted to do Creeking today because - well - I think he's nuts. He met a bunch of his nutty friends out here, and since he spent most of his day here, this was the only cache I really had a chance at finding today. With a name like Creeking, I figured it'd be down in the creek, so here I am carefully jumping from island to island. After a while I noticed that this was no where near GZ on the GPS, so I decided to look closer to where the GPS was pointing.

I was at GZ but wasn't sure where to look, so I started in some of the easier places first. WOW! This cache was FUN!!!

Unfortunately, I was completely unable to find the first stage of the cache, and after a number of hours, KBLAST came back with his nutty friends after getting the FTF on this cache and it was time to go. I asked to search just a while longer, when out of nowhere I was snatched and nearly eaten alive!!!

I'm glad I have friends like KBLAST to help out when things get dangerous like this - he grabbed me and pulled me out of the jaws of death! I think it's probably a good idea to always have friends around when you're attempting these highly dangerous caches. I would have been a doggie treat if it weren't for having my friends there! After this little scare I decided it would be OK to leave this cache alone.

After we left I tried to find the cache at the Cache & Coffee 2011 - Westerville, but I couldn't find the cache anywhere! It looks like they'll be having another next month, and there are other events around the area, so maybe I'll get lucky at one of those.

DO YOU REMEMBER - Kroger and Main Street Drive In - 7/13/11

KBLAST needed a quick cache tonight, so we went after some in awolford1's series, DO YOU REMEMBER. The cache I tried to find was DO YOU REMEMBER - Kroger and Main Street Drive In. The first thing I noticed was how much the ground around GZ reminded me of home... just a lot darker! I saw a tree over out of the corner of my eye - but I have learned that if the terrain is low, it is probably not up in the tree. :) Finally - I remembered reading somewhere about LPC's Light Post Caches! I had KBLAST help me a little with this one:

Searched all around but could NOT find this one!!! I thought these LPC's were supposed to be easy?! Oh well. Just one more cache I couldn't find.

Scioto Banks and "Oh Rats!" - 7/12/11

I was so excited to learn about "Oh rats!" today I had a little accident. :( But, as KBLAST promised, we were going to get it tonight! However, we had something else to do first.

KBLAST had already planned to go after Scioto Banks today because he was meeting some friends to fix some of the late stages later tonight. So he went during his break to work on it. He wasn't going to be able to take all day because he had to get back to work at some point, but he let me search for a while. Here I am at stage 1. One of these days I'll learn where to look for these high terrain challenges!!!

Here I am at stage 2 waiting for KBLAST to find it. Such a pretty flower! Sometimes it's nice to stop and smell the roses... er... daisies... er.... weeds... er... smell whatever this was.

Anyway, he was able to finish this cache right after work, then went to a different cache (one that he helps maintain) and that cache was TOTALLY broken and is in such bad shape it's going to be archived. Glad I didn't even look for that one!!!

As he finished up, I was chittering and chattering because he had promised we'd make it out! It was almost dark, but we were not too far away, so we headed there. Sorry I missed you, Sweetfyre! It would have been great to meet you!

Got to GZ and immediately started looking anywhere that looked like a good hiding spot. All of the logs so far (thanks, by the way!) said that it wasn't far from GZ and that the coordinates were good, but I could NOT find the cache! HOWEVER, I DID stumble across one of the friends I think the CO was talking about:

This guy just showed up while I was searching. He sort of jumped out at me! Or was it a she? I don't know because I kept trying to talk to it, but it would NOT respond!!! HOW RUDE!!! I was so excited to make a new friend, but I'm wondering if this guy was hamster racist, or classist, or just plain mean.

Anyway, I never did find it and it was getting dark. I'm excited for KBLAST, though, because this was apparently his 1650th cache! Congrats, KBLAST! I hope some day I can join you and have found a lot of caches like that, too. And a BIG SUPER DEE DUPER thanks to VTX88 for creating a special cache just for me... I hope some day I can come back here (when I've honed my geosenses and gotten over the snubbing I received) and make this find!!!