This event is at Wicked Weed Brewing in Downtown Asheville from Noonish until 2pm.
Come hang out with me on a sunday afternoon in anticipation of a momentous occasion in my personal geocaching history that will happen just a few hours after this event concludes. Not a milestone or a cache-iversary but actually getting to attend "An Evening With Kevin Smith," at the theator nextdoor, which is where my geocaching screen name came from.
Let me put this in perspective.... Pay close attention. There will be a test...(with crappy prizes)
On February 23, 2003, I cracked open my new DVD of "An Evening With Kevin Smith," and being a huge fan of his movies, especially Dogma, I watched all 5+ hours of content.
Fast forword 5 days and a friend who owns a backcountry resort in the Sierras emailed me to checkout his brand new website and give him notes on my impression.
I was really into digital wilderness photography then, and when I saw the tab marked "Geocaching at VVR," I wrongly assumed it was a photo contest but what it turned out to be was a life changing moment. I already had a Magellan GPS 2000 for wilderness hiking the Pacific Crest & John Muir Trails which converge nearby VVR which is where my friend's resort is located on Lake Thomas Edison. I later hid a cache there. But I digress...
The very next morning as the sun came up I was on the trail to find Land-O-Lakes (GCD9C9) which was the closest cache to my house in the SW Houston Area. BOOM! DNF. I had no clue how to find anything with my GPS. I had only bought it to mark my favorite spots and places I had stashed useful items along the trails. (I was a cacher of sorts at least 21 years before geocaching existed.) So, I kept walking around trying to match the numbers up. I went home and called it quits after well over an hour wandering aimlessly. Geocaching was apparently not for me.
The next day there were more logs on the cache page and the logs inspired me to look again, but I made the same mistake. DNF! That's it. I'm done. No more geocaching for me. I'm OUT. Not gonna try again on a humid, cold, windy day. Probably not ever. But there were geese hanging out near the parking area so I decided to go home and get some old bread and crackers for them.
When I returned and was feeding the geese, A guy parked then pulled out a mountain bike and trucked off in the direction where I knew the cache must be but not before punching some buttons on the exact GPSr that I still had in my pocket. It took me just a few minutes to figure out the goto button and I was off to my first ever find.
Next came logging online. I needed a name and Snoogans came to mind immediately because Jay Mewes had walked onstage completely unannounced and interacted with the audience. One person asked, "What does Snoogans mean?" The short answer minus the f-bomb was, "I'm Kidding." That fit me like a glove and it has been part of my identity for nearly 23 years. More people know me as "Snoogans" than ever knew me by my real name.
I owe so much to geocaching for the positive changes it has brought to my life. I had found MY people. Most importantly, I met my wife as a direct result of helping plan & host GeoWoodstock IV (the first geocaching Mega event) and we just celibrated 20 years together in June. We have a 17yo son who will be 18 in December. I have made dozens of lifelong friends and had hundreds of amazing adventures and now that I have regained my GeoMojo the adventures continue.
On a serious note, Kevin Smith's art may have actually saved my life. I'll try not to spoil Clerks III, but suffice it to say that I recognized Randall & Dante's symptoms in myself and got myself to the doctor immediately the next day and yep, I don't need a bypass just yet, but the meds have eliminated my symptoms. Clerks III probably didn't actually save my life but it certainly extended it. At least I don't have any stories like the character Randall & Kevin Smith himself have to tell about "THE BIG ONE" that they got away from. My widowmaker mischief has been managed, Thanks Kevin, Randal & Dante! I bet I'm not the only dude you've inspired to get their ticker checked.
Door Prizes YO!
Everyone that atteds this event will receive my 2 main geocaching signature coins. If you give me the GC# of a One Degree of Separation cache you have found, you will get an additional ODS coin. The first 10 attendees will also get 2 more special coins for their next traditional or multi-cache hide.
You may want to put a watch on this event because I will probably delete any extra special announcements within a few minutes of making them so you will need to check your email notifications.