Whew! What a crazy, wonderful, mixed-up month we have had here at Geocaching HQ. In the last few weeks, we hosted a party that brought geocachers from all over the world together (Geocaching Block Party – maybe you’ve heard of it?), celebrated International Geocaching Day, and unveiled the first ever International Geocaching Film Festival (GIFF)….all while keeping the 31 Days of Geocaching streak alive. Okay, we didn’t all go #31in31. There were some frustrating 13-hour DNFs and some waking up at 12:08 am only to realize what was forgotten the day before. But we all learned a bit more about what it means to be a geocacher and what it means to work and to play at Geocaching HQ. So overall, not too shabby. And as if that wasn’t enough, rumor on the street is that we’ve made “orange headbands” the hottest fashion trend of 2013 (you ‘ll want to keep reading to learn more).
We thought Week #1 of 31 Days of Geocaching was pretty great, but it turns out that Week #2 was two times the fun! This week we learned that every day can be an adventure if you choose to make it one. Here is a photo recap from our HQ explorers:
Day 7: No hitting the snooze alarm this morning! A few caffeine-loaded Geocaching HQ explorers skipped up a mountain to catch sunrise over Mt.Rainier and grab an early morning Smiley before work. (Pssst…check out our new geocaching and Forest Service volunteer friend photo-bombing from the fire lookout.)
Day 8: What do you call a race that involves running, biking, swimming, and geocaching? A geocachalon. This heart pumping adventure was the brainchild of Videographer Reid Kuennen (Username: reidsomething). Office Manager Maria McDonald (Username: AKprincesswarrior) jumps into ice cold Lake Union to celebrate sweet victory.
Day 9: Copy writer Derek Hamilton (Username: scattermycaches) struggled to figure out this smarty-pants geocache hidden by one of our own, Community Volunteer Support Coordinator Cindy Potter (Username: Frau Potter). Derek says, “Call Bill Nye! There’s science in this tube!”
Day 10: On Saturday, Partner Programs Manager Annie Love (Username: Love) decided to lead her family off the beaten path. She reports, “Even though the geocache was 100 feet away, our group decided that exploring the creek drain and jumping in the swimming hole was necessary before we started our search.”
Day 11: Community Manager Annika Ledbetter (Username: Lebbetter) was a hero on Sunday (coincidentally also her birthday). She says, “This dinosaur was saved from extinction. After almost being lost for 4 years on Bainbridge Island, I rescued Dino and brought him to Geocaching HQ. We gave him a warm welcome and a day full of fun.”
Day 12: These intrepid travelers journeyed for hours (mostly because they have terrible navigational skills) to a hidden marvel that (for once in their chatty lives) left them speechless.
Day 13: Product Manager Joel Werdell (Username: Tieyak) takes his geo-parent responsibilities very seriously. His daughter Bennet says cheese after finding some sweet swag.
Day 14: Watch out for Troll droppings! Today marked the release of the Geocaching HQ GeoTour. We created this Tour to help share our favorite places in the Center of the Universe with all of you out there in our geocaching galaxy.
Day 15: Beering up for Block Party – our Keg Squad organized a refreshing get together at a local micro brewery. Armed with tiny beermugs, we made our way through Ballard’s breweries. As we crossed a busy street to our next refill, Geocaching Reviewer “The Leprechauns” remarked, “This is not jaywalking, this is urban bushwacking!”
Day 16: UX Manager Nick Botner (Username: Whiskey Bones) and his team take the cake for best Team Trackable. (Yes, it is actually a flying shark. Jaws has nothing on this monster.) Less than 24 hours left in the count down to Geocaching Block Party and International Geocaching Day 2013! But don’t worry – we still managed to earn a smiley in the midst of all the party planning panic.
Stay tuned for more adventures from Geocaching HQ. What are your favorite tales from the 31 Days of Geocaching trail? Tell us about them in the comments below.
Click for a printable version of the 31 Days of Geocaching Calendar
Geocaching HQ staff are joining geocachers at Mega-Events around the world to celebrate and share the adventure of geocaching. One of the founders of Geocaching.com, Bryan Roth, a.k.a. Bryan, traveled from Seattle, WA to Lisbon, Portugal last June for the 13 Years Lisboa Mega-Event (GC42FFG). He says he was inspired to go by the exciting and growing Portuguese geocaching community and by other Geocaching HQ staffers who attended a Portuguese Mega-Event and raved about their experiences.
The Seeker awards.
After arriving in Portugal, Bryan did what any geocacher would do—look for a geocache near the hotel. There was only one problem: the geocache description was in Portuguese. However, this didn’t stop him from searching. Luckily, Boonieh& Cllydeh, some super-friendly members of the Portuguese geocaching community showed up. They helped Bryan find his first geocache in Portugal and decided to attend the Mega-Event as well. With a geocache found, it was back to the hotel before meeting the Geocacherzone Portugal team for dinner and then a good night’s rest before the Mega-Event.
Fraldinhas, the Mega-Event’s host.
The next few days brought tons of activities for geocachers from Portugal and many other countries around the world. In fact, the event gained so much popularity, there were a few stories on the local news channels about it. The Mega-Event host, Fraldinhas, with help from his parents, Xana and Nuno, and many volunteers, created an exceptional four-day event that included night caching, a Lisbon bus tour, a much-needed CITO Event (GC4BNP8), an awards ceremony, a traditional Portuguese singing group with a rendition of “Geocaching Portugal”, a number of meet-and-greets, “Bruning” with the local Geocaching Volunteer Reviewers, and (of course) plenty of geocaching. The awards, known as the “Seeker Awards”, were given out to geocachers in multiple categories, including Best Maintenance, Best Log, Best Cache and more. Bryan ended his trip with another Mega-Event Cache hosted by Fraldinhas, the Hike @ Belém, that featured a walking tour of a number of geocaches at historical places within Lisbon.
Bryan says, “It was truly an honor for me to attend this International Mega Event, spend time with so many exceptional geocachers and experience Lisbon, Portugal in such a unique way. I would thank all of the organizers for all the work they did to plan multiple days of fun geocaching activities for everyone that showed up. I also want to thank all of the geocachers who took the time to speak with me and make me feel so welcome in Portugal.” He would also like to give a special shout-out to Fraldinhas, Xana and Nuno for all of their guidance and support during his trip.
Check out some more photos from Bryan’s trip:
Attendees of the Hike @ Belem.“Bruning” in Lisbon. It’s kind of like planking, but on your back.The Geocaching ChoirThe 13 Years Lisboa pinboard. Can you find Bryan’s pin?Night caching in Portugal
It’s a “Will Attend” that will fuel memories for years to come. We’re inviting the entire worldwide geocaching community to join us at the 2013 Geocaching Block Party on August 17 in Seattle. It’s a Mega-Event not to miss. This year’s Block Party weekend lasts longer, promises more geocaching fun and has plenty of events for everyone. You’ll even be able to grab a cozy spot in front of a giant outdoor movie screen for the first annual Geocaching International Film Festival (GIFF). GIFF will showcase the best videos from geocachers around the world. You and the rest of the audience will choose one lucky video to receive the “Audience Award.”
The Thursday and Friday before the Block Party, you can reserve your spot on a behind-the-scenes tour of Geocaching HQ. You’ll get to find the Geocaching HQ geocache, meet some of the folks at Geocaching HQ and see where all the geocaching magic happens.
Saturday from 11AM to 6PM, you can soak up the fun at the Geocaching Block Party. Activities include a new GeoTour near Geocaching HQ and meeting the Geocaching HQ staff and many of the volunteers that assist the worldwide geocaching community. Sound like a lot? Don’t worry. You’ll be able to refuel at the onsite food trucks. Log your “Will Attend” now, then share this new Block Party Invite video with your friends. We’ll see you there.
Still want more? Wrap up your weekend in Seattle on Sunday with the Going APE Mega-Event. The journey through a long mountain tunnel delivers geocachers to a majestic and legendary location.
How was I supposed to know the fire hydrant WAS the cache?
Tell us your funniest caption for the above picture of these two geocaching dogs, like, “I have no idea what I’m doing.” You could even win a ‘barely coveted prize’ in the 38th Geocaching Caption Contest. This picture was discovered on the Recent Geocaching Log Images page. You can discover the 1000 most recent images from recent logs.
Submit your best caption by clicking on “Comments” below. Please include your Geocaching username in all entries. Then, explore captions other geocachers have posted.
Barely Coveted Prize… or is it?!?!
“Like” the caption that you believe should take home the barely coveted prize. If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers, your friends, and family to “like” your caption. Geocaching HQ staff will vote from the top finalists to decide the winner of the contest.
Click on the image to see the winning caption from this Geocaching Caption Contest
The winner receives this month’s ‘barely coveted prize.’ The prize, which might be coveted in many circles, consists of three vintage Signal the Frog pins, including a rare 2007 Happy New Year pin.
Click on the image to your right to discover the winner of the last Geocaching Caption Contest.
Explore all the winning captions by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests. If you have suggestions for Geocaching.com Caption Contest photos, send a message and the image to pr@groundspeak.com.
