Editor’s note: Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. this year to share smiles, shake hands and make geocaching memories at more than a dozen Mega-Events worldwide. Dani Isbell, a.k.a. Dani, attended the Mega-Event GeoWoodstock IX in Warren, Pennsylvania, USA. Dani has been a Lackey since 2009. This is her account of GeoWoodstock IX.

By Dani

I had the privilege of attending GeoWoodstock IX with MissJenn in Warren, Pennsylvania.
This was my second Geowoodstock in as many years and I am so happy that I got to be in attendance again!

Our adventure started with a four hour delay in Chicago due to inclement weather. MissJenn and I finally arrived at our hotel in Warren, Pennsylvania around two in the morning.  Then it was up at ‘em and by 8AM to get to our first event, the “Geowoodstock Express.” This pre-Geowoodstock event had more than 500 geocachers in attendance to mingle and ride the Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad through the Oil Creek Valley.

MissJenn and I, never ones to shy away from the dramatic, make our grand entrance by running for the train as it is about to take off.  We had gotten a bit turned around by the area, the road construction and misleading train tracks.  We finally found our way and climbed aboard to much laughter at the Lackeys who were unable to navigate. We laughed at ourselves as well and were welcomed with open arms. The train took off from Titusville at Perry Street Station and ended at Petroleum Centre Station in Oil Creek State Park. When we arrived at Petroleum Centre Station, we were greeted with a great buffet spread, warm smiles and helpful park staff who loved having so many geocachers in town!

The train ride back was full of chatter as we made new friends and reconnected with old ones. People were also busy sending postcards from the train back to family and friends. That’s right… FROM the train!  The Oil Creek and Titusville Railroad operates the only working Railway Post Office in the United States. I could not think of a better way to get to know the history and neighborhood we were visiting.

After the train ride event, I received a message from Jessie. a.k.a. Foxfire, from Groundspeak HQ in Seattle. The message I received was that gooseygal, a lovely cacher I had met hours earlier, was in a pickle! Her car had broken down on the way back to her campsite from the event. If that wasn’t bad enough, her poor dog was stuck in her camper! She was worried that her dog would overheat and not be able to go outside for another several hours. Uncomfortable at best and at worse, well, I’d call every number I had too! She made a call to a number she knew, in Seattle, hoping the message would reach me in Pennsylvania. More than two thousand miles and back, the message was received!

I was with the infamous Keystone at the time who bolted back to the campsite to check on gooseygal’s dog. Luckily, gooseygal and her friend were not far behind Keystone, but the help was much appreciated. This is just one example of thousands of how the geocaching community is truly amazing!

The main event, Geowoodstock IX, followed the next day. After catching up on some sleep, MissJenn and I arrived at the main event bright and early. We were immediately greeted by old and new friends. It was wonderful meeting so many people the day before. It made all of the new friends met at Geowoodstock a little less overwhelming.
There were so many things to see and do!

The “Meet the Reviewer” panel was a great opportunity for many players to put a face to the name that is always next to their “Published by” logs on their caches as well as to ask some of those burning questions they’ve wanted to ask. On-going activities such as GPS accuracy tests, Trackable logging and trading, merchandise purchasing and the Geo-Bingo Icebreaker game kept all busy throughout the day. If that wasn’t enough, live music, various classes, kids’ activities and a Geo-Poker tournament ensured that there was a little something for everyone.

It’s always a bit surreal to attend a Mega even as a Lackey. There’s this recognition and appreciation from geocachers who are just so happy to meet you. Perhaps the surreal part on their end is how equally happy I am to meet them! I love meeting the community that makes geocaching their life and passion. It’s not about the finds. It’s truly about the people you meet.

Happy caching!

 

You can also find a Lackey at one of these upcoming Mega-Events:

HQ in Washington State, USA – Groundspeak Block Party

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany – Geocoinfest Europa

Catalunya, Spain – Mega Event Catalunya

South Carolina, USA – Geocoinfest

Share your genius for witty captions in the 26th installment of our Geocaching.com Caption Contest. You could earn a barely coveted prize. What caption would you write? “We’re saving thousands on our around-the-world honeymoon this way!” You can craft a better caption.

You can even influence the voting process. “Like” the caption that you think should win.  If you think your caption should win, convince your fellow geocachers, your friends and family to “like” your caption. Lackeys vote from the top finalists to decide the winner of the contest.

The winner receives a barely coveted prize from Groundspeak Headquarters. This contest the barely coveted prize is six Cache In Trash Out caption stickers.

26 Lackeys voted to award the winner of the 25th Geocaching.com Caption Contest a barely coveted prize. Click on the image at right to discover the winning caption from the 24th Geocaching.com Caption Contest.

Explore all the past winning captions by checking out all the Geocaching.com Caption Contests.

Editor’s note: Groundspeak Lackeys are traveling thousands of miles from H.Q. this year to share smiles, shake hands and make geocaching memories at more than a dozen Mega-Events worldwide. Jenn Seva, aka MissJenn, attended the COG (Central Ontario Geocachers) Spring Fling Zero-Zero-Seven Mega-Event (GC1MGER) outside of Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Jenn has been a Lackey since 2007. She was a volunteer reviewer between 2004 t0 2007, a geocacher since 2001, and she says, ‘a geek since forever’. This is Jenn’s account of her trip.

By Jenn Seva (MissJenn)

On June 11^th, my not-so-secret mission was to infiltrate the Canadian province of Ontario and attend the Spring Fling hosted by the Central Ontario Geocachers. It wasn’t their first Mega. These people are pros. In fact, it was their Double-Oh-Seventh iteration and they pulled it off with nary a stray bullet.

I arrived early enough on Friday to help the organizers prepare registration packets the day before the event. Well, they thought I was helping prepare registration packets. Really, I was studying their organization, getting to know the masterminds and taking notes. 😉 [My report back to HQ: What a dedicated – and nice – group of people who created very engaging activities!  Must see them again in future missions.]

One the day of the event, I hitched a ride into the location to be greeted by uniformed Russian guards marching in lockstep. I felt like I had traveled back in time to the Cold War era. After showing our credentials (my expired driver’s license was no good but my trackable name badge worked), we were allowed past the gate and then were welcomed by the OctoBeaver. Allow me to explain that this was the mascot for the event complete with a yellow felt tail. He gave everyone a tiny piece of that tail as a gift! How nice of him. Beavers are an important and industrious part of Ontario’s ecosystem, and hold a special place in the heart of the locals.

Mission dossiers (because a mere “schedule of events” is too boring) handed to the geocachers contained instructions such as directions to Central Intelligence, finding certain individuals in the crowd with suspicious characteristics or Bond-ish connections, and also how to find the Debriefing Sessions later in the evening. The names of the caches specially prepared for the event were so much fun: Ammo Cans Never Die, Diamonds are for Decryption, The Giving Daylights, Don’t Cut the Red Wire, Gold Drinker, Moneypenny’s Diaries, The Spy Who Quizzed Me, etc.

You see the theme coming together here? Not just the names but also the actual cache designs either tickled my fancy or really challenged the noggin. Some did both. Groundspeak and I had some fun too with a cache called From Seattle with Love, containing the best-dressed logbook of all time. You’ll have to go find it and see. All of the caches were published by the European reviewer James Bond, on behalf of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Nice touch.

 

This theme was beautifully carried throughout. The kids had their own activities as “Agents in Training.” Thanks to the GeoFreakZ for making it so much fun! The adult Agents were encouraged to solve a 5-part mystery called For Your Eyes Only: Guess Who? The event volunteers (mostly humans plus one bird) were all in tuxedos, of course, much like James Bond usually wears. In order for us attendees to find them easily, though, these were orange tuxedos. Geocachers doing it with style. As the event drew to a close, the biggest prizes were awarded to 7 lucky people: each prize was inside of a (what else?) briefcase so none of us knew what was inside of them. After a brief bout of stealing and horse-trading briefcases from one another, 6 of the winners got to open them and claim their gifts.  The final grand prize was in a briefcase that had a combination lock! How to get in? Well, a three-digit code was needed and soon enough, the clever geocacher figured out the numbers she needed. Double-Oh-Smart!

Have you seen a theme carried out as nicely as was done here? Bet you haven’t.

A final thought: Mega-events are usually characterized by the fact that there are so many people around. That’s the hallmark of a mega, after all. Somehow, the COG Spring Fling managed to keep it feeling small – in a good way. This event utilizes land of the beautiful Nottasawaga Valley Conservation Authority. Because the activities and special caches are all within this lovely forested area, and because the trails are set up to crisscross, geocachers were able to see one another several times throughout the day as one group went hither and another group went thither. It felt neighborly. Maybe it wasn’t the location that did that; maybe it was the genuine friendliness of the people. Maybe it was both.

 

 

See MissJenn’s pictures from the Mega-Event here. For those that attended, The souvenir icon for this event is currently being revised. You can also find a Lackey at one of these upcoming Mega-Events:

Ohio, USA – Midwest Geobash

Wales, UK – Mega Wales 2011

Wisconsin, USA – West Bend $1000 Cache Ba$h

HQ in Washington State, USA – Groundspeak Block Party

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany – Geocoinfest Europa

Catalunya, Spain – Mega Event Catalunya

South Carolina, USA – Geocoinfest

 

The “Greatest RV Event in the World” gets even better. Geocaching.com is sending a team of Lackeys to share the adventure of geocaching with RVers at “The Rally” in Redmond, Oregon. The Rally runs from July 14 – 17.  It draws tens of thousands of RV’ers from around the United States and Canada. Groundspeak Lackeys: Nicole (Louie Bliss), Jessie (Firefox) and Lisa (barendje) will be shaking hands and introducing RVers to a perfect addition to their road trip, geocaching.

Watch this video to see the team launch on their road trip down to The Rally. If you’re attending The Rally, make sure to stop by and say hi to the Lackeys.

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