Grandpa F and I have known each other for a long time, having worked together in the same office for many years. During that time my co-workers and I had to endure an average of about 1.3 jokes per day, all of them presumably taken straight out of Boys Life magazine.
After he retired, Grandpa F (andagrandma) found themselves a home away from home close to a large lake downstate. He chose the location primarily because he loved to go fishing.
Years later, when I retired, he invited me to come down and stay at his place for a weekend. Oddly enough, we didn't do any fishing while I was there. Instead he drove me all around Lake Shelbyville, while introducing me to another sport that he had just recently taken up...called geocaching. We found several caches that weekend under his leadership. I was a little skeptical at first, but after just a few caches it started to seem like something I might really enjoy doing.
So as soon as I got home, I went to the geocaching website and was fascinated at what I read and saw. I immediately made up a name for myself and got an account. The next morning I brought my granddaughter along, and we "teed off" on the Geo-Golf series near my house. We DNFd the first "hole" (an omen?) so Geo-Golf #2 became my 1st find. Suddenly feeling more experienced and confident, we went back and found #1 before moving on to #3. By that time I had already fallen for the game; hook, line and sinker. But I only told you that so I could tell you this.
Last April they invited us to come down and stay with them for the weekend, when Lake Shelbyville was hosting MOGA 2013. We all had a great time that weekend, and one of the biggest highlights for me was "re-finding" the first cache I ever found (as a muggle) and finally logging it, as #2345.
So congratulations Fred, now it's time for your 1000th find!
Now I know you're kind of a "traditionalist" at heart, but, in return for all of those Boys Life riddles that you relentlessly hammered us with, I give back to you........ a puzzle cache!
Don't get excited, I think you might like this one. But first those eight words you don't particularly like to see.
But I'm going to be nice about it, to a certain "degree", so... N41 and W087
And now I have another story to tell, that gets bigger and longer every time I tell it, because it's..... well...... it's a fish story.
Once upon a time Grandpa F took his boat up to a quiet cove at the north end of the lake. It was a raw damp and drizzly morning, the kind of day he thought might swing the advantage in his favor. Not that he needed the advantage. In all the years he'd been coming down to this lake, he had reeled in a total of 958 fish. This particular day would prove to be a most memorable one.
Before 9:00 he had caught 3 green sunfish, 6 brown bullheads, 4 yellow perch, and 3 white crappies. After that he got no bites (except for mosquitoes) for over an hour, so he moved the boat a little closer to the shore and reeled in a couple of black buffalo and a red herring.
By now it was only around 11:00, so he ate a tuna fish sandwich and then navigated his boat down to Ninth Street Cove, a small west arm of the lake. Here he started catching smallmouth bass one after another, totaling 9 in all! During the next two hours he caught 5 catfish and 8 bluegill. By now it was getting a little late, so he moved out to the head of the cove, near the boat ramp. But he couldn't stop fishing now, he knew he was on the verge of a milestone. It didn't take long, just five minutes later he hooked a big one! The fish put up an amazing fight. Grandpa F got a good glimpse of it, as he almost had it a couple of times. It was the biggest walleye he'd ever seen! Then suddenly..... snap! The line broke...and the walleye got away! Discouraged but determined, he chose his very best rod & reel and soon caught a good sized northern pike. Minutes later he heard a familiar voice calling from the shore, "Fred, bring the boat in, it's getting late!" Only about a hundred feet from shore, he shouted back "Noooo, not yet.... JUST ONE MORE!!" He quickly cast his line in, and almost immediately he got another bite. It was a big one, and he wasn't going to let this one get away. It took a good minute, but he finally reeled it in, another northern pike... his 1000th catch from this lake! He triumphantly brought the boat in, along with his 42 fish! (he threw the herring back in). "I'm sure glad you saw this" he remarked to his wife, "who else is ever going to believe a fish story like this!"
Note: The original cache was muggled in November 2014, and replaced in a new spot nearby. The puzzle has been changed for the new coordinates. The cache container is currently a small tupperware, not a tackle box. The bushwhack right now is easy, but in other seasons may increase. Either way, it's a short one.