Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site

 November 30, 2009 by addisonbr

These days, my caching tastes are a lot different from what they used to be. After the initial rush of finding lots of geocaches (more! More! MORE!) passed, I find myself combing the landscape for geocaching "experiences" (better! Better! BETTER!). I've been looking for adventures that I'd remember longer. I paddled my first-ever kayak for miles and battled the fastest tides I've ever seen to claim FTF on a weeks-old listing. The 10 best field puzzles I've ever encountered were scattered all around a mountain - and part of just one amazing smiley. I once finished up two completely different 5000+ mile multi-caches by myself – on the same day!

And yet, I am still thirsty.

I'm not entirely sure how long I've been aware of Quantum Leap. I've had it bookmarked for so long that as I sit here today I have no idea what originally drew my attention and led me to keep an eye on it. A random mention in the forums? A curiosity-fueled walk through public bookmarks? Argh, I just can't remember, and that's a shame because a good story deserves a proper beginning. As it is, I'll have to flash forward a bit to earlier this fall.

This year our niece is in the Houston Ballet's production of The Nutcracker, and as we made our plans to visit over Thanksgiving I found myself paging through some local Houston forums, looking for interesting caches to hit. At some point I stumbled across a post by Snoogans that said something like "right here in Houston" or "he's also a local". The significance didn't hit me right away, but I remember thinking. "Snoogans… hmm… wait... isn't he the CO for Quantum Leap?" Sure enough. And a quick click-through to the Quantum Leap page showed that the posted coordinates... are in Houston? Wow. I've been to Houston at least five times in the last couple of years and just never realized that Quantum Leap started *here*. All I really knew when I first looked at the cache page was that it was 1434 miles away from me, in Texas. I'm looking at it now, and the Google Map preview in the corner doesn't even *say* Houston! Missouri City? Sugar Land? I'm not taking the fall for this. Let's make a deal - I won't hold you responsible for knowing that "Kings County" really means "Brooklyn", and you won't hold me responsible for knowing that "Missouri City" is short for "Houston GeoCaching Society". So, yes, I originally processed it as "an extreme cache far away from me", along with Athena's Curse, the Brazilian APE Cache, and so on.

But then, obviously, that changed. I emailed a friend a link to the cache page and asked what he thought. He said that passing up the opportunity would be just shy of criminal, and I had to agree. After hacking apart the Leap Year code to extract the Dead Drop cords, it was time to begin.

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 November 30, 2009 by addisonbr

Decrypted the info for the bunker and stump with the help of my wife, and triumphantly emailed the news to Snoogans, along with my plans for an assault on the bunker and beyond. A couple of days later I swapped out our rental car with my brother-in-law's 4Runner, checked my gear and began my journey towards the Boonies / Stix / BFE. The drive was uneventful, if long. But towards the end I definitely got a lot more out of my borrowed SUV than I've ever gotten out of my own SUV back home! I didn't see a soul for the final half hour of the trip, and the only vehicle I saw was an empty red SUV on the outskirts of Snoogans' property.

Had no problems with the bunker instructions, and waited dutifully for the ventilation process to complete. The bunker itself was a little weird, and I will admit not really a highlight for me. (It wasn't as unpleasant as I feared, but it was bad enough that I wonder if some more continuous ventilation wouldn't be more appropriate?) It took me a little while to get the file cabinet open, but I was happy to see a packet marked "addisonbr" before making my way safely back to my car.

My next waypoint was more or less in the opposite direction from whence I'd come, back towards Houston, although this time the roads quickly gave way to dirt trails, and the trails at times to "true" offroading. It was a lot more difficult to navigate. About 20 minutes of kicking up dust and jostling around in my seat, the 4Runner started knocking, jerking, and then... just conked out. Took me a few minutes to figure out what had gone wrong... out of gas. Ugggggh. Seriously? God DAMN it. I was sure that I had plenty enough gas when I departed Houston - MORE than enough. I should have been able to keep driving for at least a couple more hours. All I could figure is that the mileage must really go to hell on these 4x4-type roads (?), and I stupidly hadn't been thinking to check the gas gauge as I drove. Quantum Leap - 3, Me - 0.

I pulled out my iPhone to see if I could contact some help, but got the dreaded "Searching..." message. A check of my email inbox showed that the phone hadn't made a successful connection in over an hour and a half, so it appeared that this entire general area was out of range. Ugh.

I took a quick review of my situation. I had a full range of hiking and survival gear, and enough food in the short term. And I had left my itinerary with my wife, always a good idea planning to go hiking or caching alone. Although my mood gave way to a slightly sinking feeling when I realized she only knew about the bunker... she didn't know what was in the packet I picked up, or in what direction I had set off again. And she wasn't expecting me back until after dark, so wouldn't be aware of a problem for hours. Sloppy, and, I realized, possibly a really, really big mistake.

I spent a while trying to explore the area to see if there was any way I could improve on my situation. My GPSr was a lot less help than I would have hoped - I didn't have a good regional / topo map loaded, the default map that *was* available wasn't updating dynamically since I dropped it, and I only had one extra set of batteries. Hunted for any sort of water nearby, both drinking and as a possible navigational aid, but neither saw nor heard anything promising. Exploring was tricky, as I didn't want to get too far from the car and the bulk of my gear, so I would head out in one direction for 30 minutes or more, and then come back to regroup and try a different route. At one point I had the thought to simply retrace the route I took on the way in, but I wasn't able to hold the trail for very long. I had been paying more attention to the car's navigation system than to my surroundings during the drive, and when I lost the ground trail, the surrounding area didn't look familiar in the least. I carefully made my way back to the car rather then risk getting doubly lost.

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 November 30, 2009 by addisonbr

That laugh.

Oh, that laugh.

That loud, booming, bellowing laugh, hurled by the famous Snoogans belly far and wide into the cool Texas night. Moments ago I had been fighting back the urge to cry. Now, tears were freely rolling down Snoogan's face as he doubled over, gasping for breath.

After my tormentor finally composed himself, he trotted back to his vehicle and returned with a couple of gas cans. As he re-filled my tank, he explained that he's a proud and active volunteer with the Greater Houston SAR unit. He'd gotten the idea for this particular "envelope" after clicking through my profile and seeing the abundance of 1.0- and 1.5-rated caches in my history - figuring that there was very little chance I'd have any idea what to do if stranded in the wilderness. Knowing when I was making my attempt on the bunker, he waited on his property for me to show up, and siphoned off my gas as I wrestled with the stump and the file cabinet. Then he simply followed me towards my instructed waypoint, and once my car gave up, found an elevated spot where he could keep an eye on me from a distance, and waited for me to activate my PLB (the same one he had instructed me to bring ahead of time). The rest of his buddies on the SAR team made sure that the "call" was routed Snoogans' way; all he had to do was wait for me to crack.

You got me Snoogans. You absolutely, positively, unequivocally got me. Quantum Leap - 100, Me - 0. We exchanged stories for a bit, and as both the sun and my heart rate gradually dropped, we prepared to head in our different directions - me to home, Snoogans to whatever circle of Hell he rules over. As we shook hands, Snoogans broke off with "I almost forgot!" and went back to his truck to retrieve a medium Lock-n-Lock container marked "Quantum Leap GCHRVB". Inside was a logbook and a personalized honorary membership card to the Houston GeoCaching Society. I filled the book with a few of my choicest invectives and returned the container to where I found it (Snoogans' enormous paws). Cache officially completed.

Quantum Leap - 100, Me - 1.

Thanks for an amazing, emotional, hilarious, personalized geocaching adventure.

SLTCLNTFTCDIAFS*

* (Signed Log, Took Card, Left Nothing, Thanks For The Cache, Die In A Fire Snoogans)

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 October 15, 2009 by wing-it

Caching can be so repetitious. Sometimes it seems like all of the hides are about the same, the creativity isn’t there anymore. Then, if you’re lucky, you stumble upon a cache like this. One that is involved and requires thought and skill. Finding willing (read crazy) people to partake in such an adventure was simple. The Marbelettes have left no stone unturned (nor lamp skirts for one of us) in the quest for adventure, fun, and a good dose of belly laughs. After picking a date and securing accommodations for what we figured to be a brief trip, the email was sent to telling him that we were on our way and more than up for the task. Boy, were we wrong.

One of the group was not able to attend. However, it was he that solved the riddle to begin this epic adventure. So, on to Texas. After all of us assembled with our gear we proceeded to get our rented vehicle. After reading the descriptions we thought it might be best to not take any chances on something that wouldn’t be up to the task so we had reserved a Nissan Xterra. Much to our dismay that vehicle wasn’t available and we were “upgraded” to a Lincoln Navigator. Plead as we did there was nothing else available and we were assured that we had a comfortable vehicle that would more than handle four adult men in comfort. How do you tell someone like that that there was the potential that we were going to beat the living snot outta this wannabe??? This is where things started to go a bit downhill.


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 September 5, 2009 by Lumpy_The_Great

This one will need some TLC before it can really be hunted again.

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 August 15, 2009 by criffree

Prior to her service as a training vessel, Texas Clipper had served in World War II as an attack transport vessel named USS Queens. Following the war, in 1948, Queens was converted into the trans-atlantic ocean-liner, SS Excambion, a member of the quartet of ships referred to as "4 Aces" for American Export Lines. Excambion carried passengers and cargo on a regular sailing route from New York to various Mediterranean ports.

In 2006, Texas Clipper was transferred to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) Artificial Reef Program to be turned into an artificial reef. This transfer allowed the ship to not be scrapped.
This took a great deal of planning and quite a bit of time to arrange, but two weeks ago, I ended up staying in a condo on South Padre Island and took the opportunity to visit the Texas Clipper and make my attempt at finding the container.

Here’s youtube video of Snoogans hiding the container: (visit link)

I make arrangements to go to the dive site with a dive buddy. The ride out to the site took longer and was a bit rougher than we thought it was going to be. But this cache MUST be found. We get our gear ready, double check everything, and make our giant stride out into the blue Gulf of Mexico water. We could see her ghostly hull about 60 feet beneath us, with most of the ship deeper. We descend down the anchor line and we are at the observation deck. The ship is now on its side (rather than upright) due to Hurricane Dolly. She also cracked the hull enabling you to dive within the various rooms. The container was near the observation deck, as seen in the photos. BTW, there was a barracuda guarding it as well! I’ve included several shots of me looking for the container.
What an outstanding adventure, one that I would not have imagined I’d be doing when I first stated geocaching! THANKS for the challenge and the journey!


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The container! Guarding the container Is it down there? Observation Deck

 August 14, 2009 by criffree

Texas is a big state and there is quite a bit of “sticks” and BFE to choose from. Snoogans must have found the most remote spot in Texas. It wasn’t even in my Garmin maps! One turn down dirt road after another, and before too long we were way out there. LGNE get there, and the first thing we do is look at each other, almost daring the other to go forward with this. We came all this way, I’m sure not going back down now.

We follow the instructions, making sure the lights change and that it was safe to enter, and he’s right. It is creepy. And we sure did avoid the couch. Not wanting to spend too much time down there, we made our way to the filing cabinet and rifled through the looked for a remaining envelope. I shut my eyes, and picked one out of the last few.


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 May 4, 2009 by Snoogans

The cache is no longer an ALR. Nanners S.O.B.

Sngans

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 April 4, 2009 by Snoogans

Sngans

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 July 1, 2008 by Team Aslan

On July 12th, it will be three years, exactly, since I first became aware of this cache.

It's taken that long for me to finagle my way into a trip from California to have a go at it. Tuition for the kids. New cars. Vacations turning into family medical support missions on the other side of the country. The list seems endless.

Finally! I'm shooting for finding the dead-drop on the 12th and hope I/we can handle the necessary decryptions to get to the bunker before the 19th when it's time to come home.

I really, really want to be able to show the kids that little bit 'o history.

In all the time that I've been reading the logs for this cache and along with the sheer wonderment about it all, I must admit to a hope that it's all not just one big creative writing experiment.

The time is coming to find out!

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 April 20, 2008 by Rhone

I could see Mike at the top of the bluff and signaled to him to move west toward the top of the falls. When he got to the right place, I signaled for him to stop and to rig the rope to a good anchor so that it would go over the edge as close to where he was standing as possible. He did so, and the rope hung only about three feet from where the flagging tape was located. I then returned to the top of the falls, checked the rigging and decided that it was time to drop over the edge and see if the flag that I had spotted would bear fruit.

Donning my harness, I clipped on my rappel rack and rigged onto the rope and went over the edge. Unfortunately, the surface of the bluff recedes as it goes down so that by the time I had dropped the 40 feet to the flag, I was almost 10 feet from the rock. I could see the flagging tape clearly now and sitting about three feet back into the cavity (which obviously went back only six or eight feet before ending), sat a very obvious ammo box! It was obvious that the only way to retrieve the prize was to pendulum up to the rock face and grab it before I swung back out. Before starting the pendulum maneuver, I asked Mike to make sure that the rope pad was in place to prevent abrasion to the rope. Once checked I began to swing, and in short order was able to grab the box with one hand and clipped it to my harness with a carabiner. Having no desire to do a changeover and ascend to back up, I finished the rappel, and walked back around to the top. Mike followed me down, as he wanted to see the cavity for himself. We packed up the rope and hiked back up to the trailhead, where I opened the ammo can.

Inside was a piece of paper, that said: Congratulations, you have persevered and won the prize. E-mail me the secret word located on the back of this page and you can log your find……………The back of the page was blank!

One more time I systematically experimented with various techniques, and on the fourth attempt the following appeared:

Quantum Leap GCHRVB

What has certainly been the longest quest for a cache that I’ve experienced is now over, but the memories of the adventure live on. I have no idea how Snoogans did it, but he served up an adventure that truly fit my interests, and gave me an opportunity to answer a question that has been bugging me for over 10 years at the same time. This is one story that I will definitely have to tell to my grandchildren, which I intend to do on my next visit to Fort Smith.

Thanks Snoogans for all your efforts in putting this together, it was truly an exciting adventure that will never be forgotten.


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 April 20, 2008 by Rhone

Turning on my light, I quickly crawled into the entrance and discovered that the tube quickly increased in size so that I was able to walk upright. Mike followed me in and we started looking around. We examined the full width of the tube as we progressed forward and soon came to a fork where the passage continued straight ahead and on the left side about 3 feet off the floor another tube about 3 feet in diameter went off into darkness. We elected to follow the main part of the cave and soon came to an area where part of the ceiling had collapsed and the floor was covered with large chunks of razor-sharp lava. Carefully climbing over the jumble of rocks, we were soon in a smooth floored passage again. We followed this tube for quite some distance never finding anything and finally got to a point where the ceiling came down and the cave continued, but was only about six inches high. We had either missed what we were looking for, or it was in the side passage that we had seen near the beginning of the tube. It took the better part two hours to get back to the fork, as we searched for anything that may have been missed as we worked our way back toward the entrance.

Arriving at the fork, I crawled up into the passage and pressed onward. Mike decided to stay at the junction and have a cigarette before he followed. I had not gone more than 50 feet when the tube made a bend to the left where there were several blocks of lava which I had to crawl over to continue. The walls were very black and the lava was exceptionally porous, the combination of which sucked up the light from my lamp and made it difficult to see clearly. As I continued forward, I saw a large round mass, which I took to be a feature of lava tubes called meatballs. As I approached, I saw an ammo box just beyond the meatball and hastily crawled forward and seized the prize. As I turned to head out, I heard a grunting sound and noticed that the meatball was moving slightly. Panic suddenly set in as I realized that the meatball was actually a hibernating bear! Fearing that the bear would soon be sufficiently aware of what was going on, I crawled forward as fast as I could go, cutting my coveralls on the sharp lava and receiving several lacerations on my legs and arms. As I reached the main passage, I told Mike to head for the entrance as fast as he could, and we both ran toward the opening and quickly crawled the final few feet out into daylight.

It wasn’t until we were out of the tube that I told Mike about the bear. We donned our snowshoes and headed back to the car in great haste leaving the shovels behind. The hike back took considerably less time than the trip to the cave, and we were both exhausted upon reaching the car. We immediately headed back to Vancouver and were almost half way back before discovering that the ammo box was not in the car. Fortunately we found the missing box in the snow right next to where we had parked.

As soon as we had arrived at Mike’s house in Vancouver, I opened the box and discovered that it contained several bottles of chemicals and some technical information regarding developing the remaining part of the hidden messages. Discovering the remaining part of the mission would have to wait until I returned home.


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 March 26, 2008 by Rhone

Within a few minutes Kevin was on the line and inquired as to my business. I read to him the message that I had decoded, and he immediately related that he had been expecting me to call for some time.

Kevin then gave me another phone number to call along with a coded message to give to whomever answered. The only other information he gave me was that I should not try any other techniques for decoding the rest of the blank pages that I had because I would likely destroy the information, and that I would be given the information that I would need to obtain the necessary tickets and other information for my upcoming trip.

Needless to say, I immediately called the other number, related the coded message and was informed that I would be traveling to Portland, Oregon, and would obviously need two days for traveling and should plan on staying in the area for at least three days to assure that I had enough time to complete my mission. Checking my calendar, I found that it would be difficult for me to get away until November, so the tickets were booked and I was told that the expenses had already been taken care of.


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 January 9, 2008 by aggiejwp

I visited the air bunker this past weekend, wait, let me back up. When I left Mo-City, I had the day off to cache my life away, I thought that I might need a full day just get up to the bunker. I take the wife with me for moral support, but didn’t tell her we were going to somebody’s land, and walking down the forest. All she knows is that we are going on a nature hike through a trail north of Houston. We start driving towards central Texas and get so deep into It felt like I had counted at least 13 Dairy Queens. We find the area where the bunker is supposed to be and get out of our car. To me it seem like we are in the absolute middle of nowhere. Our Geo-Dog, “Selah”, is barking at something that sounds like banjo music in the background. I moved further into the woods and my wife the school teacher related the darkness to the forbidden forest in Harry Potter. I told her “you can stay here if you want”, but alas Miss Indiana Jones was up for adventure. We walked for what seemed like 3 miles through several layers of woods, brush, shrubs. I’m glad I had a GPS otherwise I would have been completely turned around. We finally make it too what looks like Mr. “I don’t want to have to pay my part to the government’s” house. It’s something straight out of a fairy tale book. I walked around the house and realize that Snoogan’s “Bunker” is really what this fable looking house is. We walk around to where the back of the bunker seems to be and where I can enter, but I don’t realize it Snoogans has left us explicit instructions on the outside of the bunker door. It reads “AggieJWP, the bunker was upgraded this past year to fix health code violations….” Blah, blah, blah…. Basically Snoogans had to take out the air purifier and put in a A.C. unit. In Snoogan’s style though, he actually upgraded the bunker to the 21st century by putting in motion sensor with some sort of weird rigging. I didn’t understand it. The door locked if I moved but then would unlock after 5 seconds.

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 January 9, 2008 by aggiejwp

Its the 3rd day now I’ve been working on this cache. Snoogans knew from my time talking to him that I was going to be at the “Magic Kingdom” for new years day. I am writing this log to post later from Orlando, Florida. Snoogans had found a way to sweet talk the largest single company employer in the state of Florida. My instructions were to enjoy the crap out of the magic kingdom and to “ have a Spanish quack.” Let me explain, and you’ll have to view the picture to truly understand this cool leg of Quantum Leap. When your at “Magic Kingdom” they have these little red tags that random people will get when entering a ride to estimate the wait time. I was kind of hoping I would get these for fun. I really wanted to keep one. I had gone the entire day, for which the park was extremely packed, without finding a single animal running around. I saw a place to get autographs from Peter Pan and then I realized “Quack = Donald Duck.” I checked my map real quick and found a replica Mickey Mouse house where you could Mickey, then saw that their was a tent that had different Disney Pal’s. We waited in line for 45 minutes, but when I got in line I got a RED tag. While in line I waited to get to room where I would get to meet Donald Duck. When I got there I showed him the red tag and he made a motion to walk with him. He escorted me out of the room to a locker room for all of the Parks furry creatures. Donald opened his locker, and gave me a red tag and told me to switch with him. I didn’t really didn’t think too much about it, hoping that he would give me another package like previous redirects. I put the red tag on my neck (check out my picture.) I walked out the tent with my family and looked at the tag. From observing my brother’s tags that he gotten from the day before I showed him my tag. We looked at the front of it that had the official “You’ve been tagged to find out how long the wait lines. Please present this to the ride attendant prior to getting on the ride” I looked on the back where I knew it had Spanish on it and compared it my brothers and noticed that they were different. Looking closer at my tag I noticed that Spanish words were numbers. I quickly deciphered the coordinates and was able to get my location of what I hoped was my last redirect for Quantum Leap.

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Check out the "altered" red tag that Snoogans inst

 January 6, 2008 by Zephyr01

[This entry was edited by Zephyr01 on Monday, January 07, 2008 at 8:00:54 AM.]

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 December 26, 2007 by GrangerFam

Over this past year I’ve discovered, mostly by happenstance and second-hand discussions, how he must be able to do this. Please note that I’m only speculating, but I think it offers some insight into the process.

For example, my next-door neighbor mentioned that a “largish gentlemen” came by their house asking some fairly detailed questions about my family and me. At first, they were obviously hesitant to provide answers, but they said that he was with a government agency of some sort, and was simply doing “background checks” on US citizens who were on the terrorist list. The gentleman mentioned that he felt I was unjustifiably on the list and was working to clear my name, so they cooperated. I think the dark SUV with several other large gentlemen with bulges under their jackets also helped to convince them. My neighbor hasn’t spoken to me since.

In another odd case, a co-worker mentioned that a headhunter contacted him about a job in Northern Europe, but seemed to be more interested in my “affiliations” with a known Finland-based mobile phone maker. He said it was subtle, but strange nonetheless.

Even my mother mentioned that she had a strange encounter when a member of the “30 year high school reunion committee” contacted her via e-mail and asked about some of my childhood beliefs and fears, saying they were planning an elaborate event for all of the attendees. She, of course, complied thinking how cute it would be.

Finally, I got several consecutive Equifax alerts that indicated I had several inquiries into my credit history even though I hadn’t applied for any credit at this time.

As I learned later, all of this occurred within days of me finding the dead drop. All of this supports my belief that Snoogans must work for some US Government agency (or has some very good connections) and has access to personal information not in the public domain. However, it certainly has the benefit of creating a caching experience to which others cannot compete. Think about the movie “The Game” with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. This is the level I’m talking about.

[This entry was edited by GrangerFam on Saturday, December 29, 2007 at 6:11:11 PM.]

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 December 26, 2007 by GrangerFam

While driving to the bunker, I recall thinking that I didn’t know that Texas had this kind of landscape. It was a little reminiscent of the rolling hills and winding roads of Northern Virginia, but with glimpses of white through the dense brush. I was reminded that I was somewhere in the hill country and that the white was probably part of the Austin chalk which was everywhere in this part of the state. In some part of my brain, I remembered that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was based on a story that allegedly took place near here somewhere. I smiled as I patted the shotgun in the passenger seat.

After 4 hours of driving, the last half if it in the dark, I arrived at the bunker location. By the time I arrived, a cold front had moved through the area, so the ground was wet from the rain and a chilly, fresh breeze swirled through the trees. The sky was clear and without the light pollution of any nearby cities, the stars were breathtaking. I was able make out the Big Dipper even though so many stars that I usually can’t see made it more difficult. I followed the two “cup stars” to Polaris and was able to reorient myself.

The bunker location was exactly as described in the cache page and I had an extreme sense of déjà vu that I couldn’t shake. I thought of the adventures of one geocacher friend of mine, who had completed his quest before me, who describe the bunker as something out of Zork. I remember laughing thinking he had lost it, but when I got there, I had the very same feeling.

I got out of the truck and held the 1M candlepower torch in one hand and cradled the Remington in the other. Looking down, I saw fresh tire tracks in the mud, which sent a chill up my spine. Whose tracks could these be? Am I not alone out here?

I followed the path towards the pit and marveled at the stonework of the stairs. This house really must’ve been nice before it burned down. I located the stump in the back yard and was able to easily push it over, revealing the hatch.

I followed the instructions to ventilate the bunker which took only a few minutes, further adding to my general paranoia that someone had been here recently. As the bunker was ventilating, I listened intently for any sign of others close by but could only hear the faint sound of the fans refreshing the air in the bunker.

As I climbed down into the bunker, it still had the palpable taste of must and I forced myself not to choke. When I reached the bottom of the steps, I shined my torch around the bunker and noted that it was exactly as I had imagined. I went straight for the file cabinet, anxious to see the hunt that Snoogans had created.

I yanked open the cabinet drawer and saw several manila envelopes there. The very first envelope had my name on it. The envelope was large, padded and was stuffed with something soft and bulky. I ripped open the envelope and was surprised to see a heavy wool cap and a pair of ski goggles. What the heck…?

Also it contained a single white sheet of paper with a typewritten note that read: “Go home and apologize to your wife for being such an ass. This is just a geocache, not WWIII. You don’t need the shotgun and you may still be able to return the SCUBA gear since you haven’t used it. When the time of your cache is correct, it will be obvious.”

I just stared at the paper, my mind racing. How did he know about my conversation with my wife which had occurred just a few hours prior? How did he know that I bought so much stuff? And now he wants me to go home and wait…for something I don’t even know?

I was somewhere between crushed and relieved as I regained my composure. Still I couldn’t even imagine how he knew so much about me…in real time. Maybe this really was a very bad idea.

I climbed out of the bunker and walked back to the truck. As I got back into the cab of the truck, I smiled to myself again and said out loud, “No, this will be a very cool adventure.”

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 December 26, 2007 by GrangerFam

Oulu is a medium sized city on the Baltic Sea and only about 100 km South of the Artic Circle. At midsummer, it’s a magical place where the temperatures are perfect and the sun never really sets. However, in the dead of winter, it’s bitterly cold, dark for most of the day, and depressing. At this time of the year, just before Christmas, the days are the shortest of the year as the Earth’s Northern hemisphere wobbles away from the Sun at its furthest point. The days are only about 4 to 5 hours long and more dusk-like than day. As if being jet lagged isn’t enough.

As we landed at the small airport and the passengers all stood at once, thinking they’d get off the plane faster if they did, Mr Aarinen opened a small duffle bag he brought on board and handed me a down jacket, gloves, and wool knit cap and ski goggles. I looked at the cap and goggles, which looked very familiar. I turned to Mr. Aarinen and asked, “Are these the same…?”. He cut me off in mid sentence and said, “Of course they are the same as you received in the bunker. We noted that you left them at home, so we brought them for you.” He added, “You really should be more careful.”

I just looked at him as though he was from another planet and shook my head slowly while my mouth moved, but no words were forming.

Mr. Aarinen and I stepped off the airplane and the arctic air hit me hard. At –30C (-22F), your exposed skin has only about 30 seconds before it starts to freeze. Your cheeks, ears, and nose are the most vulnerable. Since there are no jetways at this airport, we stepped down the metal stairs to the tarmac and walked towards the terminal. At first, I thought that the cold was not too bad, but by the time I made it to the bottom of the stairs, I was ready to jog towards the expected warmth of the terminal.

When we passed through the door to the terminal, we took a sharp left, away from the other deplaning passengers, and into a medium sized room with several couches and a fireplace. On one side of the room was a small, linen-draped table with a variety of hot foods and drinks. I eagerly stuffed some smoked salmon into my mouth, enjoying the salty flavor. As I reached for buttered rolls, I realized I really hadn’t eaten since I left the house. I usually pass on airplane food. Just because they serve it, doesn’t mean you have to eat it. Words to live by.

I plopped into a large, plush couch and sipped on the coffee Mr. Aarinen poured for me. As I blew across the top of the steaming liquid, I ask him, “So, what’s next? Is this when the secret police join us?” Just then, a door opened and three burly men entered. One threw a bag at me, told me to open it and to change into the cold weather gear...quickly.

Mr. Aarinen told me that he had to leave now and that these three gentlemen were entrusted with my care. He strode to the door and turned towards me, giving me a sort-of half salute. “I’ll see you soon,” he said as he turned again to go.

I stripped down to my boxers and put on the cold-weather gear. I turned to one of the three men who seemed to be in charge and asked him, “ So, what’s your name? Do you know what’s next?”

He simply nodded at me and said “Mika”, then made the “hurry up” gesture. Once I was changed, I gulped the rest of the coffee. I was almost feeling normal at this point. Of course, that would soon change.

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 December 26, 2007 by GrangerFam

I awoke to a loud ringing of bells. Not just any bells, but it definitely sounded like sleigh bells. As I sat upright on the cot, with my feet on the floor, the door opened and in walked a big man with a red suit. “What the…”, I thought. I tried to wipe the sleepiness from my eyes, but he was still there!

Now I’ve met Snoogans a couple of times before, but I’ve never seen him in this, well, Santa Claus outfit before. I actually stifled a laugh when I asked him, “No way, you’re not…” and I left my sentence unfinished.

He looked at me with a sort of are-you-some-kind-of-idiot expression and said, “No way, dude. We’re just a distribution center for the old man. He’s got several of these centers around the world. I run this one and another in Southeast Asia as well. The logistics of his gig are absolutely enormous. I just help out”

I just looked at him as it all soaked in, eye blinking. “Good”, I said in slow deliberate way. “I thought for a moment that this explained how you knew so much about all of the cachers who do the Quantum Leap cache.”

Snoogans just smiled at me and said, “Well, the job does have a few perks.” Then he paused and said, “After you were preparing for WWIII when you started the cache, I just felt that showing you the operation here would help you remember what’s important.” With that he turned and said over his shoulder, “Come have a look at the operation. It’s really amazing. Oh yeah, you still have a log to sign.”

I nearly lept to my feet to follow, with a million questions popping into my head at once. Then I stopped short, suddenly remembering my business meeting for that day. He turned and actually winked at me and as if reading my mind said, “That business issue was all just BS to get you over here. Your parts are fine and last a long time. You’ll be home in time for Christmas with no problem.” My shoulders sagged in relief and I thought to myself, this was a most excellent caching experience.


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 November 29, 2007 by carolyn247

Thanks for this cache Snoggans. It was a challenge. BTW, be careful right after you start into the bunker, to the immediate left was a huge rattle snake. It was cold so I snuck by without an issue but in warmer weather he could be a bit more active!

Also, this is a very good cache to do in the colder weather, I am sure that the bunker gets stuffy in the summer!

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE HUNT!


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 November 27, 2007 by ZSandmann

Finally as I had almost rotated around 360 I caught a glimpse of something metallic on the horizon. A little focusing and I determined it to be some kind of small vehicle, (turns out it was a four-wheeler). I recorded the beaing and used the built in range-finder on the binocs to estimate it's distance and projected a waypoint to the ATV. When I looked at it on the map I noticed a problem however, it was on the other side of a large gully from my location. To drive there was about 100 miles one way, it would be about 4 miles as the crow flies, not counting elevation changes.

I decided hiking was probably going to be quicker although much more painful. So I set off after asking the new fellow to watch my ride, to which he responded he already was... I didn't really trust the guy but what can you do? So I took off making fairly good progress until I reached the gully, or actually it was more of a gorge... a canyon? How does one decide the apporpriate name? I made it about half way down before I stepped on a weak sandstone outcrop that dropped from underfoot and sent me rolling down through god knows what into the muck filled channel at the bottom. Joy! I was freezing but determined and managed to make my way up and out of the chasm. After that it was a straight walk to the vehicle. Once I got there I put on the helmet and opened the banker's tube tethered to the handle bars. All it said was "One of these rocks are not like the others, one of these nice rocks just doesn't belong." That was when I noticed a line of rocks stretching along the rim as far as I could see. At least it didn't take me long to figure out key #1 was for the ATV and I started rolling along.

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 November 27, 2007 by ZSandmann

It was about a three hour drive to the airport so I figured I better get going, I carefully navigated my exit and tore off for town. I finally got back in around Houston and stopped at a McD's for coffee and WiFi. It was a 12 hours drive to the Quarry so I checked the travel site and saw that there was a small flight from Bush to Amarillo leaving at 3 AM. I booked a seat and rushed to the airport, it was around 1:30 I think and I knew I'd be close with security and such. Luckily I made it, although I can't say they were happy about checking a ladder wrapped in garbage bags. After I touched down I went to the rental car counter and woke up the attendant to get the Land Rover I had booked. I figured it was probably a bit much but heck I wasn't paying for it so what the heck!

Overall, I got the the Quarry about 5 AM and found a guy named Frank there waiting for me, he said he had to teach me how to descend in a climbers rig so I could find my "teasure stash". He seemed pretty clueless about caching but I guess you told him enough to get me down there. I have to say though that large people like myself are not exactly inclined to being lowered over steep cliffs which hover over razor sharp rocks. I banged myself up pretty good, I certainly see why the native peoples used this stuff for weapons. I asked Frank for gloves but he said I would n't need them while chuckling, I think he was giving me the old greenhorn hazing. Also, glad I brought the extra rope as he said you told him to lower me 18 feet but it was more like 40. Come to think of it you did that on purpose didn't you?

As I got to the spot where I suspected the stage to be I saw a small yellow Otter Box clipped onto a small bush protruding from the cliff. I carefuly locked my line to allow free use of my hands and opened the box expecting to find the next stage. Instead I found another note in the same handwriting which read "Did you bring the note? It makes a great coaster for a warm beverage on a cold day." Fantastic, now there are riddles. So I got Frank to help me up the cliff and I carefully wrapped my blistered hands, darn you Frank! I sat down on tailgate of the Rover and drank a cup of coffee, I didn't offer Frank any What the heck I thought so I rifled through my sack and found the letter Snoogans had sent me, I placed it down and put my thermos cup of joe on top and allowed ample time for it to do whatever it was supposed to do. Nothing.

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 November 27, 2007 by ZSandmann

Well Thanksgiving Holiday came and went in a blur, I knew I was nearing 700 finds but didn't know I had passed the milestone till I was entering my logs from the trip. We finally arrived home last night and checked the mail to find a huge stack of bills and junk. But at the bottom of the stack was a manilla envelope made out to ZSandmann with my address written in both the send and return spaces. The writing was a familiar calligraphy. I opened the envelope and inside I found a short note and two keys. The note just said "Begin" but I knew right away that my challenge had begun. I am writing this log at a Waffle House hot spot on I10 around Beaumont, Texas. I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, I've had no sleep, or a shower. From people's faces I probably stink a bit. One more cup of coffee and I am off again. I'll post more at the next place I get a WiFi signal.

Z Out

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 October 31, 2007 by teamCull

It’s a long drive to New Orleans. As we crossed the Sabine River, Graham fiddled with the radio stations until he found Zydeco music. It’s to get us in the mood, he reasoned. In New Orleans there is still a great deal of debris & wreckage left over from Hurricane Katrina. We reach Highway 46 leading us SE out of town until we find State Road 300 heading south. We enter Plaquemines Parrish to reach the town of Delacroix.

GeePerS indicates that the final point is at the edge of town along a dirt road, Rue de Sacre. In a few minutes we see our final destination; a cemetery. Why do we always hit graveyards at night, and this one on Halloween! A fog hangs low to the mushy ground as we make our way past the creaky iron gate. In this part of Louisiana, the ground below is too wet for graves. Instead, cemeteries have mausoleums. We look past the names atop the markers; Boudreaux, Fontenot, Duplantis, LeGros… I stop dead in my tracks. Ahead of me is a humongous mausoleum with the name Hades. THAT was the blurred word on the envelope from the file cabinet; “The Other Side of Hades!” I look on the other side of the plot. Nothing! Snoogans won’t make this easy.

I’m glad my son was with me. It took both of us to push open the mausoleum door, and besides I sure didn’t want to be here alone. We shine our flashlights into the crypt area. The walls are lined with plaques. Each deceased is marked with their name, life dates and a small picture. The stench inside is gut wrenching, like rotten cabbage. The middle of the room had one large crypt. We approach with our flashlights shaking. The name was Lucifer X. Hades, born 6/6/1866 & died 10/31/1907. October 31, 1907 was 100 years ago tonight. Graham shines his flashlight on the photo. It looks remarkably like Snoogans, except with long black hair & goatee.

In shock I step back. I trip, hit my head and black out. When I came to, my son was bent over me. I had been unconscious for about fifteen minutes. I had tripped over a wooden box about a foot long with ivory inlay of the letter “S.”

Graham says, “It’s close to midnight. I don’t want to be here any longer. Let’s go.” Good idea.

On our way out we see a misty shrouded figure fading into the darkest corner of the cemetery. He turns slightly in our direction and a voice akin to Snoogans spoke into my mind without moving lips. “Well done.” He turned and disappeared into the night.

At the car, we try several ways to open the box. Finally, instead of pulling on the box, my son pushes in on the ends and the inlay pops up. A long cylinder slides out of the box and into his lap. The only item contained inside was a single white rose.

It was a long quiet ride home.

#850 for the team.


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 October 30, 2007 by Artcollide

By now, you probably have guessed that I was told to build a bomb shelter and to be prepared for Bush’s second war. If you look real close, you can barely make out the words: HoustonControl. My little toe is already hurting and he hasn’t even touched it!

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Scare Tactics

 October 28, 2007 by teamCull

At home, I examined the courier’s pouch. It had characters from one of those anime cartoons on the front. Otherwise, it was nondescript. The only item inside the pouch was a hard piece of paper, somewhat akin to a manila folder. A series of raised bumps formed neat rows upon it. Braille! What a vast array of resources does Snoogan’s possess! After some search, I found a listing of a Braille alphabet and after about an hour or so, I had decoded its message. The only problem was…the message was in French! Once more, good fortune prevailed. Audrey, my daughter, had taken French in middle school and had her English/French dictionary. We commenced translating the text. After a while, she noticed that something was wrong with some of the translations. The phrases seemed out of context for her knowledge of the language. Then it hit her.

“Dad, these phrases are odd for modern French. I think this could be an archaic dialect of provincial French.” She said.

I just look stunned at her.

She laughed and continued, “I think this is Arcadian French. This is what they speak in the lower parishes of Louisiana.” It was slow work, but we finally finished translating the message.


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 October 25, 2007 by teamCull

There were only 8 pictures. The first one was a map of the SE corner of Texas with a dot for my next waypoint. #2. A large circular concrete embankment like a gun placement. An arrow had been inserted to indicate to go past this. #3. A long low-slung building with long windows with another arrow. #4. A Cross of Golgatha with roses intertwined. #5. An enormous magnolia tree. #6. A small black courier’s pouch. #7. A Musketeer with a gag in his mouth. #8. The Supernanny with a paddle in her hand.

I arrived at the town of Sabine, TX, late that night. A road led further to the SE corner of Texas. I passed by the gun mount and I recognize that as a virtual cache, GCGF0M. I knew I was on the right track. In the distance I see the long building. I pull up with my lights off and turn around in case I need a fast getaway. The full moon lit up all around me. To the east, I could see lights across the Sabine River into Louisiana. To the south was the Gulf of Mexico. I could hear the waves slapping the shore. I shivered in the cool night breeze. The smell of salt and dead fish wafted in the air.

As I walk past the building, I see a room dimly lit by candle light. I see the Cross of Golgatha with the roses intertwined. Thirteen people are inside and I hear faint bits of Gregorian Chant. When my eyes adjust, I am surprised that I recognize most of the people there. I see Snoogans in a saffron robe with lightning bolts around the neck. The Snoogstress (in all her fertile splendor) was to his right. TDW was dressed in a crimson robe, but the rest were all in white; Pepper, ATMA, Parker +, nctrnlrdhd, and FSH. The rest I couldn’t recognize or see because their back was to the window. I felt it prudent not to ring the doorbell.

To the west stood a grove of trees and one menacingly rose above the rest. As I reach the magnolia, I pull out my flashlight to look around. After about 15 minutes, I conclude that the pouch must be in the tree. As I ascend each rung of limbs I inspect each level for my prize. I grimace each time I bump my head on a limb. This goes on for about a half hour. Finally, I see the pouch near the top branches. It takes another five minutes to work my way through the thick limbs. I grab it and start my way down. As I reach the ground, I let out another whoop of joy.

Several loud screeches come from all around me. It takes a second to realize that the noise is coming from a flock of peacocks nestled in the trees around me. They continue their protests as I run break-neck to my car. I see a light come on outside the building as I fumble with my keys to open the door. I hop in and I am way down the road in a cloud of dust before anyone is out the door.


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 June 15, 2007 by nefariousrogue

“Your journey is almost complete. The items in this chest will help you reach your goal, and the coordinates below will tell you where to go.”

The diving guy just acted his cool self, even though he was probably in on the whole thing. We went back to shore, I returned to my vehicle with my supplies, and threw the coordinates into my GPS. Wow, this is the first time I get to actually use my GPS on this journey. I guess the cache does comply with the geocaching.com rules. I notice once again a black car with two men in it in the parking lot as I am starting my car. They start pointing at me and I see one of them shift the car into drive. If they want a chase, I’ll give them one! I smile, wave as I roll by, and once I saw them pull out of their parking space, I hit the gas. They were eating dust by the time I hit the I45 Bridge back to Houston. The coordinates I was given took me out in the middle of nowhere, but to an area that seemed to have the only cliffs and rock formations contained in this otherwise flat as a pancake state. I’m lead to an area in the rocks that seems to have a small opening on the surface. Armed with the rope and flashlight, I crawl down inside. After searching for a short period of time if find… wait for it… wait for it!!! an ammo can! Complete with “congratulations you found it” and stash note, and TBs. After all this work, I was expecting something more than an ammo can, but this is cool too. The journey kind of reminds me of the movie “The Paycheck”. A packet full of stuff that leads to other stuff, that leads to a great reward. I sign my name, right at the bottom of the log, and begin to climb back to the surface. I should say TNLN, as the only items I had in my possession at the time was the flashlight and the rope, and I wasn’t trading either of them! I get back to my car, with satisfaction of this excellent journey under my belt, I put on my sunglasses, and drive off into the sunset.


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 June 14, 2007 by nefariousrogue

“You’re visit to the Arch is over. Your journey will take you back to Texas, to a place described in your set of pictures. You’ll find some necessary items in a locker on the main level, you did remember your key didn’t you? Figure out where you need to go, and head out.”

That’s all I get?!?! I guess I’m back to making guesses about where to go now. I make my way back down in the car, only to find the woman still stuck inline with a mass of people behind her. “Can’t I just jump the bar and keep going?” she exclaimed to the workers. I kept walking, got to the lockers, and tried out my key. Success! Inside was another key, cleverly labeled 13, and a note.

“Fly into Houston, and use the key. The rest is straightforward.”

I leave the arch, find out that my rental car is still in tact, and the black car is gone. I retreat to my hotel, and collapse on the bed for a short nap.


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 May 1, 2007 by Snoogans

The park is closed until later this summer! Treaspass at your own risk. If you get arrested because you didn't read this WARNING, thank Prime Reviewer. Sheesh!

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 April 24, 2007 by nefariousrogue

April 14th, 2007
After watching and waiting for this cache for almost a year plus, we had the opportunity to travel to Texas in order to attempt this adventure. Avas, the cache was still disabled at part one due to the construction in the park as described in the cache logs. In attempts to contact Snoogans via e-mail, maybe he would be nice enough to get us to that ever so important second location, and to our folder. E-mail complications left us empty handed, and our trip to Texas became a business only trip. Only upon returning back to Iowa, did we receive an e-mail from Snoogans, saying he would prepare an envelope especially for us. He assured us that a fantastic journey would await us, yet his e-mail said not a word more. Friday the 13th rolled around, and still no e-mail. What else happened that day would turn out to be the start of one big mystery. When I arrived at my apartment last night, tired and weary after a long day at work, I found a mysterious package sitting on my doorstep. Addressed to me, with no marked postage, and the words “from texas with love” written on the side of the box. We live in a pretty rough neighborhood here in Iowa, so frankly, I was amused that the package was still sitting on my doorstep. Though, the box would lead one to believe it was either a bomb, or perhaps some anthrax or other not so happy contents. With that in mind, I picked it up, shook it a bit, and took it out into the parking lot. It was extremely light, and no rattling, so in order to dispatch the bomb theory, I chucked it across the parking lot, and since it didn’t explode, I figured it was safe to open (I wouldn’t advise you to use this test for unknown packages on your doorstep, I’m no expert). I opened it right in the middle of the parking lot. The contents included at least 3 cubic feet of foam packing peanuts, and at the bottom, and one well sealed 9x12 manila envelope. Well, we’ve gotten past the bomb theory, now we’re left with the anthrax theory. I would have hesitated opening the envelope, with the exception that written in large letters on the front of the envelope was “to lucasayoung c/o Team Nefarious” and also brandishing the logo of a pirate flag. This was our envelope for Quantum Leap. The thought sprung forward in my head on how creepy this was. I never gave my address, or anything other than my e-mail. And here was our envelope.


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 April 4, 2007 by Team Perks

Finally, I hopped on a plane to attend a day-and-a-half long conference, which should have been interesting, except for the fact that I could barely pay half-attention to the speakers because I knew that as soon as the proceedings were over, I would be out the door and driving, driving, driving, and driving some more in the hopes that my envelope would be there waiting for me. At long last, 1:30 pm rolls around, the final speaker is done, and I bolt for my hotel room to change clothes and toss some extra food & water into my rental car. (I asked for an SUV; they gave me a Chevy Cobalt instead. Great. Now I may have to walk from the road to the bunker.)

Armed with the instructions from the Dead Drop, I jump in the car, plug the coordinates to the bunker into my GPS, set it to auto-route, and off I go. And go. And go. Geez, Snoogans was right. It's one heck of a ways out there. And there isn't much in the way of gas stations, either. I discovered that the hard way when I realized I was getting low on gas and had better fuel up soon. Nope, not a station in sight. Twenty miles later, I'm stopped on the side of the road, out of gas. Fan-friggin'-tastic.

Did I mention that this place is out in the boonies? As in, "no cell signal" boonies? Well, there wasn't exactly any calling AAA from here, and no pay phones for miles around. Finally, I manage to flag down one of the local country bumpkins (I'm not being mean here, this guy really was, down to the overalls, the stakebed truck, and the mangy hound in the passenger seat) and he agrees to let me bribe him to drive me back into the nearest gas station, about 8 miles to the west (I was so eager to get my envelope I would have siphoned the gas from his truck had it not been a diesel), and drive me back. Ten awkwardly silent minutes later, we were at the gas station filling a jerry can and, another ten awkwardly silent minutes later, I was back at my car pouring 5 gallons of gas (enough to get me to the bunker and back to the gas station to re-fuel before heading back to Houston) into the tank. Bubba (okay, his real name was Russ) and I said our farewells and he chugged off down the road. I was alone again, and it was starting to get late, so I knew I had better hurry; the gasoline debacle meant I wouldn't get to the bunker til right around dark, and I wasn't keen on being there very long once the sun went down!

(Continued...)

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 March 8, 2007 by ZSandmann

ZSandmann (and Wife if she would be so inclined):

Having finally met you I have deemed you worthy of my Quantum Leap cache. But I am fearful that you may not complete it if you begin now. Before you can receive your first clue you must find 146 caches. Once you have done this visit the bunker.

SNGANS

146 seems like a strange challange but that would make Quantum Leap my 700th find if I count correctly. 7 being a number of great power of course. I will update regularly with my status. Consider this mission accepted.

Z

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 March 8, 2007 by Texas Dreamweaver

Snoogans had given my wife final instructions to stop by the Revolution Lounge after the show. The bar was filled with all things “Beatle”. There a waitress handed me one last yellow envelope.

Written on the card was this:

“Album 15 Track 6” (just so you know that is the Magical Mystery Tour and the song was “I am the Walrus”)
It is appropriate that you are in the Revolution Lounge since you have come full circle on your Magical Mystery Tour. Dude, you are finished leaping!!!! Goo goo g’ joob. Snoogans

***It is now 2 hours later and I am logging this on the plane back to Houston. Finally, the adventure is over and you know what? Despite the runarounds and other stuff, I am going to miss it. Truly the best cache ever devised. Thanks Snoogans, “The Magical Mystery Tour” was a wild ride. Goo goo g’ joob.

SEE PICTURE


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Celebrating at the REVOLUTION Lounge

 March 8, 2007 by Texas Dreamweaver

As I write this final chapter, I am on the return flight home from proudly logging a find on the most awesome cache adventure that I will probably ever have.

If you have been following my Quantum Quest, then you know that this is the final leg of my journey. I can tell you now that my original instructions back in August had included my flying over to England for a final quest and of course it was centered around Ringo Starr. I was to meet with the former Beatle and bring some of the star’s computer art back to Snoogans.

Unfortunately, work and personal obligations seemed determined to prevent me from completing this final task. Luckily for me (and despite the mental abuse he has visited on me), Snoogans has become my friend.

Yesterday as I traveled home from work, my cell phone rang. It was my wife. She told me there was no time for questions but I should meet her at the kennel where we leave the dogs when we travel.

Puzzled, I made the detour as she requested. As I pulled up, she was standing next to her car with two suitcases. Without explanation, she told me that we needed to hurry if we were going to get to Hobby Airport in time. She then handed me a yellow envelope with Snoogans handwriting on the outside. Quickly tearing it open, I was greeted with the now familiar instruction to listen to my iPod. (Album 17 “Yellow Submarine”, Track 6 “All You Need is LOVE”)

Puzzled I looked over at my wife and she just smiled. She too had a yellow envelope and obviously knew what was going on. Sooooo, we proceeded to Hobby, Southwest Airlines, Las Vegas, Mirage Hotel…all courtesy of Snoogans (and his hundreds of ODS minions).


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 March 2, 2007 by Snoogans

I had planned to let it stand, so he can repost it if he wants.

Thanks for giving everyone a good chuckle S.O.B.

The Easter Bunny should be next on your chopping block. Make hossenpheffer of that baaaad 'ol bunny. You Rock!

Sngans

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 March 2, 2007 by RanHefner

First "Son Of The Beach" and now you!!! My day is ruined.


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 March 2, 2007 by Team Perks

You're my hero, Son of a Beach. What would I ever do without you?

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 January 22, 2007 by Rhone

Despite the intense anticipation, I didn't open the envelope until I got home. What a surprise! Nothing but blank sheets of paper. What now? I guess I'll have do try a few tricks and see if I can determine if there is actually something there. If all else fails, perhaps an E-mail to Snoogans is in order. I was hoping that by this time I'd have some idea of what my assignment was, but that was not in the cards. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Hopefully I will get lucky and it won't take to long to solve this enigma.

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 January 17, 2007 by Snoogans

If you have solved the puzzle, send me the proper coords and I will email you the directions to The Bunker.

Sngans

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 December 8, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

As I headed up the subway steps and out onto the street, I was greeted with the sound of music. Heading into the park I became a part of a large crowd. I began to imagine what it must have been like to have gone to Woodstock. The crowd consisted of the strangest assortment of characters - a transvestite in a mink coat and Victoria Secret underwear, a midget mime, a group of Greek Orthodox nuns on holiday and a couple of Sumo wrestlers as well as many, many more.

Snoogans is a genius. I am on this quest in NYC on December 8th. The anniversary of John Lennon’s death and my GPSr had brought me to Central Park and the Imagine Memorial where hundreds are gathered in memorium to John Lennon. SEE PICTURE

My assignment is NOT to find a cache, but rather to HIDE a Cache…in front of these hundreds of people. I must hide a cache “within 150 feet of the memorial during the official candlelight remembrance of John’s death.”

That gave me about 2 hours to scope out the situation, find a cache container, hide the cache in front of hundreds of muggles. I then had only 3 more hours to head back to the Newark airport OR I would miss my ride.

My first task was to figure out the best hiding place. After scoping out the nearby bushes and trees, I rejected them in favor of a park bench. Although a part of the Imagine Memorial “area”, the traffic here was minimal even with the huge crowd. My next task was to find a store that would sell a magnetic keyholder.

Being a boy from the suburbs, this was more difficult than you might think. Where’s a Home Depot or Ace Hardware when you need it? Racing out of the park, I had to jog several blocks before I entered a small mom and pop grocery. There on a bottom shelf, I found what I was looking for and stumbled back out into the cold.

Returning to the park bench, I sat down and tried to place the container into it’s hiding place. The keyholder was too large! Not only did it not fit, you could see it from about 50 feet away.

Although the memorial service was at its peak with the crowd singing “Come Together” and “Imagine”, I was still pretty much alone. Pulling out my Swiss Army knife, I preceeded to “widen” the hole. Okay, I was defacing public property, but I was running out of time.

After a few minutes, I managed to scrape away enough material to get the container to “disappear” from everyone except a cacher. Finally I was able to tuck the container out of sight and sauntered casually away. ***If you ever go to NYC and find this cache, please put it back exactly as you find it so that it will remain hidden.

With my task complete, I joined the crowd in a final chorus of “Imagine” and then ran back down into the subway. Retracing my journey on the transit system, things went smoothly. I boarded the ferry for New Jersey, took the bus back to Newark and after passing through security was able to finally board Snoogans “borrowed” jet.

Detailing my day to Snoogans (I was right he was watching me at the record store), I then connected to GC.com and published my “Imagine” cache. Snoogans had already arranged with Jeremy and the guys in Seattle to allow the cache to be published under pseudo-account and listed as a puzzle cache. Even if you find the keyholder, you can’t log the cache without figuring out the puzzle and vice versa. So far no one has been able to do both. The cacher that does will get a whopper of a FTF prize from Snoogans.

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Stuff placed that day on memorial

 December 8, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

Having successfully completed 50% of my adventure, I am beginning to understand how Snoogans goes about sustaining the craziness of Quantum Leap. At first I thought that he might have connections in the intelligence community, but I’ve come to realize that the guy manipulates everyone he meets.

If you look at this cache page there over 200 cachers who have Quantum Leap on their watchlist. This is only a small part of Snoogans Army. For every log you read on this cache, there are at least 6 other cachers who are in “mid leap”. They have been to the bunker, but are still completing not only their adventure, but the many, many tasks that they agreed to do for Snoogans.

Some own limos, others are pilots. Other individuals have hidden talents, like finding out when a particular Texas cacher is going to the Carribean or if he happened to be in Los Angeles, who would he call for help. This kind of “intell” takes a lot of time and coordination.

Have you wondered how Snoogans finds all of his minions? Ever heard of the One Degree of Separation Project? It’s stated goal is to: “unite the entire geocaching continuum together at one point using the "Small World Theory"… If even half of the nearly 13,000 caches originally released, no geocacher in the entire world should be able to go much beyond 3 degrees of separation from every other geocacher in the world, but the REAL object is to bring that number down to 1 degree… One Degree of Separation is a project that has been taking shape and GROWING for nearly 3 years…but few know just how far back the idea goes.” There you have it in Black and White…a glimpse into the mastermind’s plans.

So you see, whatever you have to barter, Snoogans will find a way to use it. I work in video production and have for over 30 years. That is why for this leg of my quest, my instructions were to bring a camera package from work.

Taking a vacation day with some sort of an excuse like “my rental house bathtub needs a new drain”, I arrived at the Sugar Land Airport early on Friday morning. This time the private jet was a Boeing 737. The interior had been redesigned to have a conference room, office area, sleeping quarters as well as an expanded galley and bar.

Snoogans was on board and as soon as I had loaded my gear, the door shut and we took off. This time we headed EAST. As soon as we were “free to move about the cabin”, I set up my gear. For the next 2 hours or so, I taped Snoogans talking about numerous Quantum Leap adventures and quests. These were instructions for about a dozen different individuals who were in “mid-leap”. (Before I am free of this Mega-Manipulator, I must edit and burn the segments to multiple DVDs as well.)

Just as we finished the last video (Snoogans mentioned something about Tibet and the Dali Lama), the fasten seatbelt sign went on. Stowing my equipment, we then proceeded to land in Newark, New Jersey.

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 November 25, 2006 by ozan831

Found with cowgirl_what
Yeah!!!!!!!


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 November 5, 2006 by Rhone

I had been reading the logs for Quantum Leap for some time cursing the fact that the Dead Drop was a good 8 hour drive from home. I could hardly believe it when I was asked to accompany one of our field agents to visit a customer in Texas City. Upon arrival at Houston Hobby, I rented a car for the short drive to Texas City. Fortunately I had been able to get a flight from Little Rock that arrived in Houston in time to allow about 3 hours to spend searching for the Dead Drop.

Having done some homework ahead of time, I knew where to park and how to approach the area where the cache was hidden. As I zeroed in on the cache, it became obvious that this was not going to be quite as straightforward as I had anticipated. The area was pretty well overgrown, and I was unlucky enough to get tangled in a mess of thorny bushes. As I struggled to free myself from their evil clutches, I suddenly heard a ripping sound and realized that my left pant leg had been ripped from about half way between my ankle and knee all the way to the crotch, but since I was only a short distance from ground zero and no one was in sight, I continued on my way and after about a 30 minute search I had the cache in hand and was on my way back to the car.

Upon reaching the car, I quickly retrieved another pair of pants from my bag and managed to finish changing just before another car pulled into the lot. After stopping for a quick bite to eat, I drove down to Texas City where I met the field agent. We discussed our plans for the next day, had a nice dinner and retired to our respective rooms.

Looking at the information that I had retrieved from the Dead Drop, I soon realized that the encoded information would not be quite as easy to decipher as I had anticipated. After studying it for some time, I tucked it away in my brief case and went to bed.

After returning home the next evening, I again studied the document and again had no luck in discovering it’s meaning.

The rest of that week was very hectic at work and I hardly had time to think about cracking the code. It was a couple of weeks before I had time to really work on it again, and after several hours of trial and error, I finally stumbled upon the secret and was able to decode the message.

Since the Bunker is also a good distance from home, it may be some time before I’ll be able to make the trip, but rest assured, I will head for the Bunker at the first opportunity.

[This entry was edited by Rhone on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 1:29:24 PM.]

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 November 4, 2006 by fizzymagic

The tunnel was actually pretty easy to follow for the first couple hundred yards. It looked to me like it had been blasted out my miners, maybe back during the gold rush. The stream trickled down the center of the rocky floor, and I proceeded on pretty easily. Then I saw an aluminum arrow wedged into a crack on one side. It had a square of colors painted in the Geocaching pattern on it, pointing up into a fairly narrow crack on the right. It was pretty clear what I needed to do.

It was at about this point that I realized I was alone and out of reach for a rescue, should anything happen to me. Believe me, it is spooky to be by yourself in a cave in the pitch black, with nobody anywhere near! I got a little nervous, and decided to go back to the cave entrance to leave some kind of a sign that I was inside in case I got stuck. Once there, I took my red jacket out of my pack and left it spread out on the ground, held down by the ammo can, which I certainly wasn’t going to need inside the cave! I left the camera, the GPS, and the cell phone outside, too. I was worried that they might get wet. This small gesture done, I went back inside and wiggled my way into the crack.

For a while, I honestly didn’t think I would make it. I kept telling myself, “if Snoogans can do it, then so can I!” But it was a tight squeeze. A couple of places, I was on my stomach with my pack in my arms out in front of me, slowly inching my way forward. Suddenly the cave opened up. My light didn’t reach the other side, but I could tell by the echoes that I was in a large chamber. I pulled out a flashlight with a more powerful beam than my headlamp and turned it on.

And stood, stunned by the sight I beheld. The room was probably 100 feet across, and easily 60 feet high. It was covered in crystals, which sparkled like diamonds. Directly across the room from my entrance lay a formation hanging down from the ceiling almost to the floor that was clearly the “white curtain!” It was amazing. I now knew where I had to go. But between me and it, the cavern floor was a lake of unknown depth.

I made my way down to the water and shined my flashlight into it. It was hard to accurately gauge the depth of the crystalline water, but I guessed it was at least 6 feet. So I stripped myself down to my underwear, prayed my flashlight would be waterproof enough, and carefully picked my way across, holding the light above my head, swimming part of it. The water was very cold! But I made it, and I let loose a shout of jubilation I saw the ammo can tucked behind the white curtain! I retrieved the ammo can, and immediately upon opening it I knew I had found the cache. Snoogans has asked that I not say what he left for me, and I will respect his wishes in this matter. Suffice to say that it was well worth the effort to reach it!

Back across the lake, I jubilantly got dressed again and prepared to head back out. I climbed up to where I had come out...

-- continued --

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 November 4, 2006 by fizzymagic

When I showed 3.6 miles to the coordinates, the valley got a lot steeper and the road climbed a series of switchbacks to a ridge. I was really nervous because I was not at all sure that I’d be able to turn around if I needed to; there was no room at all and the hill fell off steeply right at the edge of the road. And there were rocks in the road, too. I managed to very slowly make my way around them, and to straddle a couple of washed-out spots, but so far, so good. And I was gaining elevation, which was good. As I topped out onto the ridge, I looked at the GPS. 2.9 miles to the coordinates, but I was at 2700 feet elevation, and my research had showed the coords to be only at about 3000. Not much of a climb left.

But pretty quickly I reached the end of the road. A tree had fallen across it, and though I could see where the 4WD vehicles had gone around, there was no way my little Mazda was going to make it. So I backup up until I found a wide spot and parked. I marked a waypoint, packed up all the equipment and set out on foot.

Most of the hike to the coordinates wasn’t bad at all. A pleasant walk along a road. When I got to 0.26 miles from the coordinates, I headed off the road and up a steep hillside. Steep, but by no means impassable. I will confess that at this point I was slightly disappointed by the lack of difficulty. It really didn’t look like I was going to need my climbing equipment. When I reached ground zero, I found myself at the base of a large rockpile; clearly, the cache was on top. But climbing it didn’t require any special equipment, and I zipped right up. There it was, in plain view: an ammo can. Triumphant, but slightly disappointed, I opened it up.

There was no logbook, and no reward items. Just a single sheet of paper and a key.

-- continued --

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 October 29, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

After another FOURTEEN PLUS hours…and 100 more miles, I had twenty more caches and was out of gas. It was Saturday morning, 10:45 AM. I had to fill up, but decided that I would save $5 “just in case”. 59 caches down, only Snoogans knows how many more caches to go. I also had to find a place to change into my tux and arrive at the party (where ever that was) in only 8 ½ hours! Yea, I better save $5 just in case.

After putting gas in the car, I proceeded to the next cache (#60) and FINALLY I got a break. This cache was at the White Hut in Pasadena, a local greasy spoon. SEE PICTURE

Not only was there a note telling me that this was the last cache, but there was $100 cash. Boy what a welcome sight. Enough for a White Hut breakfast and a cheap hotel room.

Sitting down at the restaurant, I ordered steak, eggs and coffee. Reading through all of the clues that I had retrieved from the caches, I began to try and make some sense of them. As before the clues kept sending back to my iPod and my collection of Beatles songs. I sat there and decoded until I came up with a playlist.

Everything was on Album #16 --- the WHITE Album. Without boring you even more than I already have, the final message was composed of White Album song titles in this order:

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da"
"Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
"Good Night"

Using the titles and a note included in the final cache, I skimmed through copies of the Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter. Almost immediately I spotted what I was looking for. There was a gala that evening at the Los Angeles Zoo to raise funds for a new Great Apes Exhibit. It started at 7:30pm. One of the auction items was a guitar owned by George Harrison…gotcha! (Reread the Playlist if you are confused.)

I phoned the Evil Puppet Master on his cell phone, confirmed my final location and then ran out the door to find a nearby place to shower and change.

[This entry was edited by Texas Dreamweaver on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 10:11:15 PM.]

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White Hut

 October 29, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

As we began to approach the runway I noticed the mountains and ocean were in the wrong spots for us to be landing at LAX so I guessed it would be Burbank. I guessed wrong. Stepping out of the plane, it took me a minute to get my bearings. Brown mountains to the north, Green mountains to the south…both about the same distance. It must be Van Nuys, right smack in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, 15 miles north of downtown LA. It was also just 2 miles from where I used to live back in the 1980’s. Now how did Snoogans know that?

I looked around and there was no one to meet me. I turned and stepped back into the plane. The pilot was waiting for me and said, “Uh, I am not really sure what all of this is about, but I was instructed to fly you here and then give you this envelope. My boss told me that it is some kind of practical joke but that you would understand and pay me $100.”

Flabbergasted, I pulled out five twenty-dollar bills (leaving me with only $40) and gave them to the pilot. Tearing the white envelope open, out dropped a key chain, a parking receipt and a note card. Written on the card was simply, Album 12, Track 01. Scrolling quickly through the playlist on my iPod, I hit play to hear “Drive My Car” off of the “Yesterday and Today” album.

Adjusting my watch for LA time, it was now 6AM. It took me about 15 minutes of going methodically through the small parking lot to find my ride, a white 1972 Mercury Capri…a little 4 cylinder piece of crap that nobody liked when it was new. Hoping the thing was safe, I turned the key. It started right up.

Searching for a clue, I found a large 11x14 white envelope folded in the glove compartment. Ripping it open, I found that my “bushwhack” was to be a multi-waypoint cache which would take me all over LA. The rules were simple, go to each WP, and gather clues and the next coordinates. Eventually I would find the last cache, decode all the clues and arrive at the final destination. I was then instructed to pick up an item for Snoogans and return to the airport by 2AM Sunday morning – 44 hours from now. The forty bucks was all I had for parking, food, and gas. The clues would lead me to my final destination - a black-tie affair. On Saturday evening (today was Friday), I needed to show up at 7:30pm looking presentable or I wouldn’t be let in. REMEMBER, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.

SNOOGANS, you … you …

Since I did not know how many waypoints or clues and noting that I had only 35 ½ hours to get to the final location, there was nothing to do but head for the first waypoint.

Here, it would be best to note that the actual caches were basically standard stuff --- light pole hides, bison tubes hanging from a branch, magnetic key holders attached to security camera brackets. etc. My only real regret is that by the end of the day I knew that I would have beaten my personal record of caches for a single day and not even get one Smiley face. Now I know why Quantum Leap is a 5/5 cache.

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 October 13, 2006 by GrangerFam

I had been to this area before, so I knew where I wanted to park to get to the cache. I found a nice trail which went more or less in the correct direction. I saw a red dog leash hanging from a tree at the trail head. Was this a clue? Do I need to pick this up?

Along the trail I saw fresh footprints. It seemed that I may not be alone. Since I had pretty much announced my intentions of coming out today, was Snoogans waiting for me? Surely not!

I got to GZ and began the search. Just as I started, my cell phone rang with an unknown number. This is too weird. A chill went up my spine. "No way!", I said to no one in particular. I answered the call with a shakey, "hello?". A wave of relief washed through my body as it was just work calling...and bothering me while I'm trying to start this adventure...but I was still a little creeped out.

While I was hunting, I recalled the e-mail Texas Dreamweaver sent to me saying that he noticed on HGCS that I said I was going for Quantum Leap and wanted to wish me luck. He mentioned that it was really daunting and was really time-consuming. He is still in the midst of it now.

After 15 minutes of hunting, I didn't find the dead drop, I finally phoned TDW and hoped maybe he could offer me a clue. I was thinking to myself...this is the easy part. What am I going to do when I get the real mission?

TDW had, unfortunately, picked up the dead drop from the prior location, so didn't have first-hand knowledge, but was able to read the hint to me. As we talked he was telling me how cool his adventure was and asked if I'd read his logs. He said that he was still a little behind in updating with his latest re-direct.

Armed with the hint, I thanked him and continued the search. After a few moments I hit paydirt. Yesssss.. Finally, I have the coordinates for the bunker. After getting home, I checked them out on Google Earth, but I am a bit puzzled how to get there. I suppose the aerial shots are out of date and were kinda fuzzy. No matter, I'll need to get some supplies before I head out. At this point, I'm not sure if I should bring the boys. I really don't want them to get injured through this. We'll see.


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 October 1, 2006 by ozan831

Had a bit of climbing to do in order to get to the cache. Well worth it though.

Let the adventure begin.

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 September 30, 2006 by Pepper

Pepper

[This entry was edited by Pepper on Sunday, October 01, 2006 at 7:46:03 AM.]

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 September 28, 2006 by seamus_tx

Step two. Pick up the "Dead Drop" Ouch. I got up early to do this before work and arrived as Dawn was spreading her rose fingers across the placid lakes. As I walked down the well groomed path, I had to admire the way dew glistened off Dawn's brilliant radience. The moment was gossamer and fleeting because once I got into the woods it was all spider webs in the face, chiggers in your pants, mossies in your ears and sticker vines. I made my blood sacrifice to each of the afore mentioned obstacles and finally found the "Dead Drop" after 30 minutes. On the way back to my cache-carriage, I noticed, just off the path about 15 feet, a pile of clothes and a towel on the ground. My curiosity piqued, I went to explore. As I got to the clothes, I noticed that the grass was bent down going toward the lake and heard some light splashing. At this point, I thought I had a good idea of what was going on so I quietly made my way down to the lake. Staying in the shadows of the brush, I peeked out into the lake. There in the water, exposed from the waist up, I saw the young nymph splashing and swimming in the early morning mist. The moment was surreal. After about a second, I was struck by the reality of the situation. A creepy old man, in the bushes, was spying on a woman(?) taking her morning dip. The moment was no longer surreal. Yadda, yadda, I got out of there as quickly and quietly as possible.

Step 3 Hit the Bunker. I am going to make a go at the bunker this weekend.

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 September 20, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

I then set off with the family on the standard guided shopping tour offered by the cruise line. My GPS was set on the coordinates Snoogans had given me and sure enough the dark blue tour bus drove right to them…a traditional Jamaican market. SEE PICTURE

Now to use my clue: play Album #12, Track #03: “NoWhere Man”.

As we got off the bus, I quickly began searching (with GPS in hand) the entire market. Unsuccessful, I returned to the bus and tried to calm down. What if I couldn’t find the “NoWhere Man”?

Standing at the door to the bus, I was looking around for my family when I noticed that the shop right in front of me was called “Jeremy’s Jamaican Junk”. Wait, a minute, in the movie The Yellow Submarine, the Nowhere Man was named….you guessed it, Jeremy.

Dashing inside, I found a Rastafarian garbed individual who smelled like “burnt rope”. I politely asked if his name was Jeremy to which he replied yes. “Has anyone ever called you the NoWhere Man?”, I asked. He replied, “Only Snoog-mon…are you the one called Dreeeeamweaver?”

I told him that I was the one he was waiting for and he handed me an blue envelope with my name on it. I asked if there was anything else and he said that the “Snoog-Mon” had already compensated him. Saying goodbye, I returned to my seat on the bus.

Inside the envelope was a new set of coordinates and the following instructions. “Play Album 15, Track 04 on your iPod.”

Per Snoogans pre-departure instructions, the only music I had loaded on my iPod was the downloaded Beatles Collection. As the driver closed the door to the bus, I scrolled quickly to the track…a lesser-known song entitled “Blue Jay Wray”.

[This entry was edited by Texas Dreamweaver on Wednesday, March 07, 2007 at 10:03:21 PM.]

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Jamacian Market

 August 25, 2006 by scubatime

After drive around in the middle of no where... I mean now where. Stop and fill the truck up with gass, It was a good thing we had a five gallon can in the back, with a come-along. But that is another story....

WE finally find the mine, after hours of driving. It's dark and there are creatures living in it.... I don't like snakes but they seam to like me. AGH.... And why is it 13? why not 12 or 14? No, it just has to be that lucky.

I don't want to give to much away... there is water in the mine. lots of water.... We couldn't see how deep it was at first to we used the climbing gear to belay down the mine.... Is it 13 regular steps or paces? I will let you figure it out.....

To make long story short I used the scuba gear and everthing else. But I SL and left a Green Jeep "Mammoth Moutain" Just cause it matched the mammoth adventure that we had too fugure this one out and then to locate the cache. Don't worry if you can hold your breath for one minute you don't need scuba gear.....

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 August 6, 2006 by Snoogans

The QL cache page is under reconstruction and will be finished later today. You can NOW solve the Eye of the Tiger Puzzle to get to this cache as well if you are having trouble with the "Leap Year" substitution code.

The "Dead Drop" is NO LONGER an easy park-N-Grab as that other cache's logs will attest.

The hints will be changed as well. LOOK UP when your GPS reads within 10ft.

DO NOT replace the cache any higher on the tree please. No climbing should be necessary for a cacher about 6ft. tall or even a little under that height.

Enjoy!

Sngans

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 July 2, 2006 by Insane_Dog_Posse

Now we only had one problem, how do we get back out of the mine? Do we walk back out? We noticed that there was a small radio taped to the outside of the mine cart. We tried it and the guys outside asked if we were done. We said yes and they had us get back in the cart. A rope was attached to the cart and they used that to get us back out of the mine. They then blindfolded us again and took us back to the truck and we made our way back home.

WOW, what an adventure. This time I say thanks sincerely, Snoogans. This was one I’ll remember for a long time.


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 June 27, 2006 by gaits

Gaits

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 June 3, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

The morning after visiting the bunker, I woke up with a headache. Probably the combination of my big fat cigar and the “Soylent Green”. After a couple of pots of coffee, I went to look for Snoogans. At his campsite sat OddJob. He was spraying coffee cans with camo paint and then dropping 35mm film cans inside. As I approached he looked up and grunted, “Snoogans say you leave now. He let you know when you go do tour.” He then turned back and continued to spray the canisters. I began to suspect his “mangling of the King’s English” was a result of sniffing paint as he painted the ODS seedpods.

I walked away more confused that ever wondering what OddJob meant by “you go do tour”. So far it is a mystery to me.



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 June 3, 2006 by Texas Dreamweaver

“Corporation T-shirt, stupid bloody Tuesday
Man you've been a naughty boy
you let your face grow long”
P.S. Wait for it

As if by magic, I heard the sound of a diesel engine approaching. Squinting into the late afternoon sun, the silhouette of a large Greyhound bus appeared. As it pulled to a stop, I noticed that it was painted black with some red and grey pinstripes. It looked like a tour bus for some rock-n-roll star.

With a woosh, the door was slung open and I put my foot on the first step. I was greeted by a short grunt from the driver. He was Oriental, large and powerful. He was wearing a bowler and reminded me of OddJob in the 007 movie “Goldfinger”. Slowly climbing up the stairs, I noticed several fellow cachers scattered about the cabin. I barely had time to find a place to sit before the door whooshed shut and we burned peeled out.

The “hostess” appeared, looking as if she worked weekdays at Hooters. She handed me a tall drink, greenish in color. “Have a Soylent Green”. Well, I don’t normally take strange drinks from big busted women, but the anchovy pizza had made me extremely thirsty, so I accepted.

I didn’t pass out…just kinda went numb. From that point on, the entire ride was a blur. I do know is that the bunker isn't as close to Houston as I first suspected. Makes sense because down south the water table is too high to build a basement; however in Central Texas it is a different story.

It was late when we finally arrived. As everyone began to exit, OddJob stuck out his arm and held me back. “Snoogans say, you last”. So I waited. There is no way that I could have broken OddJob’s iron grasp.

After what seemed an eternity, the other cachers returned. I could see excitement, fear, dread and even disgust on their faces. What happened while they were in the bunker is still unclear to me.

They had been instructed to leave the hatch open so I jumped off the bus and ran the 50 or so yards to the bunker entrance. As I got close I thought I saw a skunk exiting the hatch but it was wearing a rhinestone collar? Hurrying down the steps, I realized that the smell wasn’t as bad as I had feared. Stepping past the mattress and the toilet, I approached the filing cabinet. For some reason it wasn’t against the back wall, but sat at an angle. I could see that behind it was an opening. I glanced in and saw a dish of cat food.

Returning to the filing cabinet I opened the top drawer and flipped through the envelopes. Nothing for Texas Dreamweaver.

I moved to the middle drawer, nothing but some empty chewing tobacco tins and a plastic card with the periodic table printed on it. Opening the bottom drawer: An envelope with TDW on the outside. Followed by “Do Not OPEN until you are alone with Snoogans”.

Grabbing the envelope, I dashed back to the bus, sealing the bunker behind me. The entire ride back everyone sat in silence, no one willing to discuss their envelope or bunker experience.

It was about 3AM when we finally pulled up to Casa de Snoogans. We stumbled out into a party at the campsite. There were so many people that I couldn’t get Snoogans off by himself. As I sat smoking a cigar (well-deserved I might add), I glanced over to see Snoogans staring at me with amusement in his eyes.

“Expert, texpert choking smokers
don't you think the joker laughs at you…
I am the walrus
Goo goo g' joob”

Boy, I’ve got a feeling that I am in deep doo-doo.

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 June 1, 2006 by Roland_oso

Did I say “in the right place at the right time” ?

I had heard the whisperings of Quantum Leap at several large gatherings I had attended over the last 2 years and seen Snoogans basking in the spot light as cacher after cacher exclaimed “So you are the Quantum Leap Dude”. I had made mental note to see just what this was all about but by the time I had got home, I had forgotten as the comforts of home lulled me into the numbing bliss of air-conditioned apathy.

So, yes I was in the right place and at the right time. When the bus pulled up to take us on the special cache run I climbed on board and figured I could get some rest on the ride to and from the Drop Zone. To my surprise the bus had been equipped with several Banana Hammocks that we could rest in for the long trip.

Did I say “in the right place at the right time” ?

It was just my luck that when we came to a stop, Snoogans got a call from back at GW4. Apparently there was some sort of “Criminal” mischief concerning “snot rags” and “pocket lint” going on and they needed someone from the TB team to return to camp immediately. With a look of father telling his son goodbye before shipping him off to war, he turned to me and asked if I would be willing to sacrifice and go back and investigate. He assured me that he would select me an envelope and bring it back and hand it to me personally.

After returning to camp I was assigned to collect a sample of “pocket lint” from everyone who had attended GW4, and I got so busy that I forgot to check back with Snoogans to get my envelope. I doubt that I will be able to start my QL task any time soon, as by the time I started gathering the “pocket lint” samples several people had already left GW4 and returned to their home states or country. I’m now left with the daunting task of e-mailing everyone that I was not able to secure a sample from.

If there is anyone reading this that attended GW4 and I did not collect a “pocket lint” sample please contact me ASAP.

[This entry was edited by Roland_oso on Thursday, June 01, 2006 at 1:52:41 PM.]

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 May 30, 2006 by Insane_Dog_Posse

We went to a small place outside of Roanoke, Virginia. It was called Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing. It seemed like a nice enough place, but knowing how strange it had been, we were sure it was not going to be a walk in the park, like most caches.

We went to a booth at the entrance and found that they were expecting us. We looked at each other wondering how they knew we were coming. We were given tickets and motioned on in. A man met us on the other side of the entrance gate and said to follow him. Hoping he would lead us to our next envelope, we followed along. He kept a brisk pace and at one point we looked up and saw a high ropes course. I was thinking please don’t let it be up there. The man noticed us looking and just smiled.

When we reached our destination, we were looking at a very long zip line. I’m not real thrilled of heights so this was going to be interesting. Especially since we had to go down the zip line and find something at the end. So off I went down the zip line screaming the whole way like a little girl. Did I mention I hate heights? Thanks Snoogans.

After getting to the bottom, I took a little while to collect myself and to make sure that I didn’t need to change my underwear. Luckily I had held strong and was OK. Other than it being quite a thrill to do and wishing I had never started this adventure, it was quite fun.

I looked around for a minute and spotted an obvious hiding spot. Yes, we have found the end of the tunnel. We have completed our quest. We have, wait a second, there was another blasted envelope in there. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh but yes it was and the quest was not yet over. You have got to be kidding me. And there were no clear instructions in this one, just a bunch of gibberish. Well time to head on home and finish this daunting task another day.


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 May 29, 2006 by Insane_Dog_Posse

After figuring out what the temporary tattoo meant, I knew that I would be able to move one step closer when we left Dallas for home. Our next stop was on our way. Snoogans plans for everything apparently.

We made our way through Arkansas and did minimal caching since Memphis was our destination for the next leg of this journey. We were getting more excited the closer we got, but after that last one, I was worried as to what we would find once we got there.

The tattoo, once decoded, had given us an address in Memphis. We arrived at the address only to find something that just seemed a bit absurd but also normal. The address was to a store that was closed but out in front of the store was a small band and an Elvis impersonator. An Elvis impersonator? I’m not sure to go with cheesy or genius on this one. He was obviously performing for tips since people were dropping money into a bucket he had there, but when he saw us, he could tell we were geocachers.

He asked if we were looking for a specific cache. We told him we had gotten this address while trying to solve a mystery cache named Quantum Leap. He smiled and started singing “Heartbreak Hotel”. We waited until he finished to ask if he had our next clue but he just smiled and turned away. Now what were we suppose to do? After a little thinking it came to me and I went in search of a phone book.

Once I found the phone book, I opened it up and there was the answer. There actually is a Heartbreak Hotel in Memphis. There are really two which made for a trial and error process. We chose the closest because, well, it was the closest.

We got the hotel and walked in. The man at the desk asked if he could help us and when we asked about geocaching and Snoogans. He smiled at us. Bingo, we got lucky and picked the right one. He reached below the desk and pulled out an envelope. I reached out with a shaky hand hoping that we were almost done but knowing it wouldn’t be that easy.

We waited until we got out of the hotel to open it and read what was inside. A message along with coordinates awaited us on the piece of paper the we pulled out. The message said “So far so good, but there are still some stages left. HANG in there.” We wondered why that was capitalized but decided it might be a clue.

The good news was that our next stop was in Virginia and it was on our way home.


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 May 27, 2006 by gaits

As I lie on the table I begin to drift off to sleep. Just as I begin to drift I hear this noise. I jerk and the shackles get tighter. I raise my head and ask “who’s there?”, no reply. Again I hear the noise this time it is obvious that is someone’s footsteps, so again I ask “who’s there?”. Nothing but silence, then suddenly I hear the scariest noise I could hear at this moment. I hear a chainsaw crank up and out from the far wall steps a this massive man. He is coming towards me with the chainsaw. Above me this light begins to flicker, I am thinking to myself this is it. This is no game for this freak. I am thinking that caching has led me to the pits of some psychos torture pit. I have found Texas’ Jeffery Dahmer. I lie there squirming trying to get out of the shackles as this guy approaches with his chainsaw. The shackles are now so tight that I cannot move anymore. Lying there stretched out unable to move an inch this massive man is standing over me. The chainsaw going at full speed. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes and letting out this cry of mercy, was the chainsaw coming towards me. Just as I feel the wind from the chainsaw blade nearing my chest it shuts off. The light above stops flickering and comes on. I hesitate and then open my eyes and notice that this massive man is just standing there holding this chainsaw above my chest. He was standing there as if though frozen.

I look at the man and suddenly the man leans into my face...... “YOU MAY NOW LOG THE CACHE”. The lights once again shut off and I feel the shackles releasing. Not waste anytime I grab the flashlight out of my pocket and tear out of there. I reach the front porch and again no one is there. Sitting in the drive is my truck, I have never been so happy to see that truck before in my life. Not bothering to question anything I start it up and the Tennessee country boy tears out of there. Just as I began to feel safe I hear a cell phone in the glove compartment begin to ring. I reach over get it out and flip it open. The voice on the other end informs me that the coords for the hotel are in the GPS. For one final scare the voice closes the conversation with “Your time in Texas has come and gone. I will be watching you at GW4".

THE END

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 May 27, 2006 by gaits

After what seemed like forever we arrive a at this old abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. The house reminded me a lot of the house in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The man driving the van handed me a GPS, informed that the coords that I needed were loaded. I step out of the van and turn then GPS on. It is then that I notice that the GPS was mine, how did he get this I think to myself. The coords have me with 150 feet of where I need to be. So with the arrow leading me I head off to my destination. As the coords are counting down I am noticing this mound in the middle of the field. I reach the mound I notice that there is a door, and on the door there is a note that simply says “ENTER AND FIND YOUR FILE”. I walk inside and with the provided flash light I find several filing cabinets lined up against the wall.

I eagerly head to the cabinets and find the one marked H-K. There I find a folder with my name on it and inside are the new coords. After punching them into the GPS I realize that the new destination is over five miles away. “Great !”I think to myself out in the middle of nowhere no one around and now I have to hike for five miles. As I am stomping out of the bunker my flashlight hits something over at the trees. I go over to explore and I realize that it is my Trek mountain bike that had been taken earlier. At this point I did not know whether to be happy or upset, regardless at least now I had some mode of transportation. So I hop on the bike, set the gears, mount the GPS and head off to the next destination. Needless to say I was very glad that I was in the flat plains of Texas with the distance I had to bike. After biking the five miles in the hot Texas night I reached my second destination. The coords had me within 10 feet of the new destination. On the back of the piece of paper containing the new coords was a hint, “It is in the trees.....1.5/1.5". Recalling earlier experience from the day I knew it would take me a while to find this container. Sure enough after 20 minutes of looking I come across a camoed pill bottle fastened to a tree limb. I open it and find a note inside that simply reads “ GO TO THE FRONT PORCH SIT AND WAIT. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE YOU GUIDE WILL COME”.

At this point I am becoming not only exhausted but also very frustrated. With no other choice I go around the house to the front porch and I sit and wait. I wait for seems like an eternity. There is no one around for miles and the only light that I have is the small flashlight that has been in my pocket all day. At this point I am over it , I figure it may be all I have but the bike is better than nothing. I mean I had my GPS so I could find my way back. Just as I mount the Trek mountain bike once again I see headlights in the distance. The arrives and both the woman in black and the man in black emerges, both with these huge looks of disappointment on their faces.

The man in black informs me “you were told patients was a virtue and that your guide would come. Now you must pay the price for not being patient”. Attempting to explain why I was on the back the man in black gave a wave of the hand as to silence my comments. The woman black steps up with two envelopes and begins to explain that due to lack of patients I must complete the difficult tasks in both envelopes in order to be able to log the cache.

continued

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 May 27, 2006 by gaits

I rush over to his house and he goes into this story about this Quantum Leap cache it seems that he had been working on it as well. He tells me that ever since he had worked out the answers he had been receiving strange emails and was feeling very uneasy about it. He said that he was so uneasy about it that he was considering not going to Texas for GW4. I informed him that he was over reacting and that caching was only a game and that there were no mafia type people out there stalking him over the internet. Besides he had to be there I had been asked to perform a few songs during open mic night at a poplar spot in Dallas. After a few hours of this conversation I return home and begin packing for the trip to Texas.

The next morning after packing everything into the car I decide to check my email one last time before heading out. I notice that I have an email with a simple subject title, Texas. I open the email and in bold print it reads “YOUR TIME WILL COME IN TEXAS”. Recalling the conversation the night before with my caching buddy I concluded that it was him playing a trick on me. I delete the email and head out to meet up with the rest of the gang to begin our 14 hour drive. The entire trip I never give the email a second thought and finally we arrive in Dallas. Being totally exhausted all I can think about is hitting the bed and crashing.

Once we are checked into the hotel my caching buddy says that he must check his email before turning in. I tell him to go for it but I was going to crash. Some time later I hear him easing out of the room. Then in what seemed like minutes I hear him storming back into the room and jumping into bed like a frightened child during a thunderstorm. I raise up and ask him what is going on and he replies “go to sleep, I knew that we should have never come to Texas”. I could not help but roll my eyes at him and think what the heck. I roll over and return to my peacful slumber.

The next morning while everyone is showering and getting ready for the cache run of the day I go into my email account. At the bottom of the list I notice the email with the simple heading "Texas". I think to myself "I deleted that", but something is telling me to open it. It was a new message....."WELCOME TO TEXAS, YOUR TIME WILL COME SOON". Again I blow it off as the caching buddy trying to freak me out.

continued

[This entry was edited by gaits on Monday, June 05, 2006 at 11:58:48 AM.]

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 May 27, 2006 by cudlecub

Sean Earl Jones weaves thru the traffic with the greatest of ease. The lull of the highway puts me in a deep slumber and I wake up to find we've arrived at a swamp in Louisiana. I'm informed that Mr. Snoogans is having mercy on me and giving me a short cut after the Mako incident. But the coords are putting me in the heart of the swamp. An all water QL adventure for me, huh? I somehow muster the courage to start the trek into the dreaded swamp. I see the water rippling in various areas and the thought of gators cross my mind. Is this payback for wearing them on my feet? I slowly continue at a slow pace as the gps shows me 250...240....230..220...210...it keeps counting down. I hear something in the water behind me when it has gotten to 50'. I'm not sure whether to continue on or see what is causing the stir behind me. So my body and mind freezes. I decide the danger behind could hinder my path of victory so I slowly turn to see what company I have acquired. I see the ugliest sight I have ever seen with 2 sinister eyes locked on me. It was in fact a gator that had me locked in it's gaze of death. How can I escape? Will I make it to the cache? Will I survive this cache? What should I do? I start going towards the cache that's in a grove of trees thinking that will provide me with cover. For every step I take, the gator keeps an equal distance between us. It's like an old west showdown going on. I end up with my back against a tree and can't back up any further. The gator has stopped and the gps has zeroed out. I look for an escape route but the most obvious one has the gator between me and the safety of solid ground. My guide starts yelling in his deep voice to get the cache. Standing in waist high water, at a tree, I know the cache is either underwater or overhead. The danger is at my current level so I start stumbling around the tree to have me between the gator and tree while our eyes remained locked. The trees are now between the gator and myself while my guide is telling me that I better be ready to get wet if I want to score the find. I know it's got to be in the mass of roots that are now wrapping around my feet. All the while the stare down continues with my cowboy boot's grand father.

By this time I'm determined to git r dun. I start barking like a hound dawg at the gator. I swear there was a look of puzzlement that was becoming visable on that rippled face that was peering just above the surface. Maybe this was my chance for a quick grab? I reach into the mass of roots that has enveloped my feet and feel for something, anything that could be hidden there. I'm coming up empty and the look of puzzlement on leather head has turned into one of agitation. I'm once again part of the food chain and this cub ain't gonna be anybody's dinner. Again I start with the hound dawg bark but this time it's answered with what I would call a grunt from behind me. Ok, I have a tree between leather face and myself. What grunted behind me? Do I dare look? Yes, I must. I slowly turn to see another gator about 75' behind me but holding it's position. Now I must get the cache and get out of here so again I go down feeling in the roots while my head darts from side to side as though I'm watching a tennis match in fast forward.

Continued......

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 May 27, 2006 by cudlecub

As the miles go by outside the window Mr Sandman is making a return visit and I'm snoozing again soon. Out of nowhere I hear a scream and look out the window to see nothing but water. Needless to say I screamed also and then my hosts lets out a belly laugh that was nearly deafening. I realize we are stopped on a pier, but where I'm not sure at the moment. Just as I notice a sign saying something about Galveston, I'm told to jump on a nearby boat for the next step.

My guide and I jumped on the boat and off we go into the beautiful Gulf. We continue for what seemed like hours as I see a structure getting larger and larger on the horizon. I hear a ruckus and notice a vast selection of scuba gear being laid out before me. I'm told to suit up and a rather intimidating figure is giving me a run down of the rig and what to expect underwater. I was warned of schools of barracuda that often hang out around this particular rig but in my 11 years of diving and 1,200+ hours underwater, I've never seen barracuda in schools. As I approach the swim platform, I'm handed a camera to avoid having to write down the coords and capture my experience. I was told we were moored within 250' of the coords but it was up to me to figure out in which direction. I shoot some compass bearings and made the giant stride in the majestic waters.

I try to use my head in thinking I wouldn't be put right on top of the coords so I swim on a heading to the Southeast leg of the rig. I start a slow descent checking all around the leg for the coords. Out of the corner of my eye I notice a flash and look that way. It was a barracuda. No biggie, they've been my dive companions for many dives. They're solitary creatures and are only curious about the invaders to their world. I continue on my search, slowly dropping, looking all over the leg of the rig and then I find them while hoovering around 145'. I snapped a couple of pics to be sure I captured them clearly and I start my slow ascent. Fortunately I was given a relatively nice uwatec computer to use on the dive. I still had over 45 minutes of air at my current depth with no deco obligations. Continuing up I notice the boat has moved into my vicinity and it keeps getting larger and larger as I continue upward. Once again a flash in the distance catches my attention. Barracuda again is my thought and when I look, there's a HUGE school of them. They were hoovering between the boat and myself in roughly 20' of water. I had to make a safety stop in the vicinity of them and I was starting to worry. I lost sight of the boat because of the silver sky that had appeared above me. I took cover on the opposite side of the leg of the rig and slowly entered their level in the water. Some of them came over to investigate me and I proved the fact there's 2 types of divers in the world. Those who pee in their wet suites and those who deny it. But I had comfort in knowing this wasn't my wet suit. But, wait..that means someone else has.... anyway I made it back to the boat which I was glad had came to the vicinity I was surfacing.

Continued....

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barracuda at rig up close barracuda

 May 26, 2006 by dhenninger

Fast forward to Monday, May 29th. I took the envelope in my carry-on so the airline would not loose it if they lost my suitcase. Luckily I did not get asked the dreaded question at the airport “Did anyone give you anything to carry on the plane with you?” I boarded my plane and was headed back to New Jersey. Shortly after touching down at Newark, I opened my envelope. There was an airport security ID and some instructions. I was to contact the baggage handling security director. After asking many airport personnel, I was directed to a small office at the far end of the airport. I spoke to the man and showed him the ID. He made a call on his radio requesting one of his employees to come to his office. When the man arrived, the director told him “This is the person Mr. Snoogans sent to pick up that bag that has been sitting in the back room for months” After a winding trip through several security zones we got to a storage room filled with luggage. He gave me a small wheeled suitcase, and said that he was glad to finally be rid of it. He lead me out to the terminal and asked for the ID back.


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 May 24, 2006 by Oilman

We though the second ( and as it turned out to be the final location ) would be just as easy. “You next destination is roughly 5,000 ft. due west of this coordinate in a dilapidated cabin”. Huh? Why not the exact coordinate? Well two weeks ago, we gathered the off, lunch, and tossed a quick change of cloths in the backpack to make the final run. When we got there, it was another park in Louisiana. We parked and walked down the path towards the location given to us. When we were standing on the correct location we were on a pear sticking out into the swamp. Well, this one was going to be interesting, we were NOT going to walk to the final destination. After mulling it over for a bit, and not finding a solution, we walked to the truck. When we were leaving the park we passed by the offices and noticed they had canoes for rent. That is just sneaky.

We picked up a park map and kind of guessed where the cache was. Yep, we could get there by canoe. In fact, a boat was the only way to get there. We grabbed the stuff we needed, tossed it into the bottom of the canoe, and set out for our cache. It was a very nice paddle over to the swamp island. You could see small gaters basking on the shore and a few in the water. They were no bigger them 7 ft. I am sure there were larger ones out there, but we did not see them. There were lots of birds, white egrets, cranes, spoon bills. Neat.

We though we would have trouble locating the final spot, but when we got in the general area we spotted the cabin with no problem. When we talked to the ranger afterwards, it turned out to be an old trapper lodge they use to hunt gaters from before this area became a park. When we pulled up, there was a small gater in the spot where we could pull up the canoe. We chased him away and got out of the water. It did not take us long to figure out that the cache was not in the cabin, because there was noting in the cabin at all. We walked around it a couple times till we noticed some loose boards around the base in one corner. Since the cabin was up on stilts there was a large crawl space underneath the house. My wife unanimously elected me to go under and look for it. It was surprisingly dry under the cabin, probably because it has not rained in a while. There was the cache. I bought it out so that we could take a look at what was in there.

There was nothing exciting in there, just the typical cache items, but we did get a pair of travel bug tags. We will launch another bug from them in a couple of weeks. Like I always say, it’s not the having, it’s the getting that is the fun part. We paddled back to the truck and drove back home.

I will load a couple of images we took along the way so that you can see how nice it looks in the swamp.

Thanks for the cache,
Oilman w/ Fuzzylogic



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Gater in the canoe landing area Mossy area going to the final cache Calm water with nice reflection

 May 8, 2006 by Snoogans

Hope is not lost! I will have the old (destroyed) dead drop and the NEW dead drop replacement at GW4.

All anyone has to do to get one of the coveted dead drop notes is show me that they have broken the leap year substitution code! Show me the coords or the substitution cipher and you'll be on your way to the bunker!

Save the gas driving to Houston for a drop note at $3+ a gallon and you'll be a heckuva lot closer to the bunker in DFW anyway. :)

Mark aka Sngans


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