Caching in Cape

Over the last few months I have been looking for new places to cache. This past year, I did cache in Canada, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Louisiana, and a little deeper into Mississippi. Pharmd93 called me and wanted to go caching this past Saturday. We decided to target Cape Girardeau, MO. I had been through the city a few times on the way to and from St. Louis to see the Cardinals play baseball. But that was over 15 years ago and I had no recollection of Cape Giradeau. I have thought about caching the city, but knew nothing about the caches with exception of the virtual Cape Rock. Even though Cape Girardeau is within the River Valley Geocaching group, caches in Cape have not been discussed, to my disappointment.

Pharmd93 and myself went to Cape Giradeau and were not disappointed with our trip. Most of the caches we found were quality and in interesting areas and do plan to return. Few of the caches were of the Park and Grab variety and some we did have thrilling views of the Mississippi River. About half of our finds required some walking, a couple needed a degree of hiking from the truck. Consideration in terrain was also required, thankfully, the area was not rocky.

After concluding caching in Cape, we headed south along I-55 and grabbed two caches in small Missouri towns and last, we avenged a DNF in Sikeston.

Hear that Harmonica

Hear that Harmonica by dalls is one of the must do caches near Jackson, Tennessee. Cache is located in a cemetery where Sonny Boy Williamson is buried. Sonny was a famous blues recording artist.

I found the cache on March 10, 2006 while passing through the area. At the time, I had begun to use a Garmin 60cs and was getting used to the auto-routing feature. I pulled onto the road where the cemetery is located and stopped to change the auto-routing to the off-road feature when a local noticed me. Knowing that I didn't belong there, he asked if everything was OK, I asked if a cemetery is nearby and he pointed me in the right direction and found the cache easily.

Reaching for number 2,000 (Last One Standing)

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I found my 2,000th geocache. I reserved a much talked about geocache called Last One Standing in the Land Between the Lakes area. The cache is near an old Catholic church that has been restored. The LBL was once settled area until 1963 and made into a National Recreation area. I picked Last One Standing due to its interesting location and was not let down.
I saw Friday after Thanksgiving would work out for me and planned to go alone when other cachers were unable to their schedules free. Weather turned out to be great. Minnie Mouse didn't want to go caching but didn't want to spend the day with her grandmother and so opted to go with me. I adjusted to what I wanted to go after and limit caches that required a lot of hiking. We begun with a park and grab in Mayfield, then onto Draffenville for three caches in a park. Being that another park and grab was unavailable in Mayfield; we went a sure thing at Confederate Cemetery Cache and then backtracked to Grand Rivers and found 2 of 3 caches just off I-24. I didn't go after a micro since it required a mile of hiking round trip. We hit the LBL and quickly found KL Overlook and then went after the most difficult cache Night Rider Spring. Night Rider Spring proved to be the most physical and a hunter's camp was very close by. We went east towards Last One Standing seeing many deer hunters along the way. As we approached Last One Standing, driving about a mile on a one lane dirt road, a deer hunter was at the church. He told me he was scouting the area, I told him we were caching, and he asked why I was wearing orange. He told me the deer season begins the following day. Since I didn't know if the deer season was on, I wore orange so I wouldn't be shot geocaching. He mentioned that was a good idea.
Found the cache and took some pictures of the area and thankful I chose this cache to by my 2K milestone.

RVG Meet & Greet Event, LBL Night Cache Run

I have been wanting to complete the night caches in the LBL for quite some time. I had seen that KTAG (Kentucky-Tennessee Area Geocachers) has had 3 Ghost Chase cache runs with good success. With fall approaching and the fall back with the clock in early November, I chose November 8th to be the date. A good cache run would also help me with the disappointment felt on the evening of November 4th.

Held the RVG Meet & Greet at Martha's Restaurant and I expected 15-20 cachers to be in attendance. Using the Will Attend logs has my guide. I had called Martha's the day before to let them know who many to expect. I arrived about 10 minutes before the event to see a full parking lot. Went inside and staff told me of the long table and one booth for the RVG guests. Well, over 40 cachers from many different parts arrived and I was extremely happy with the turn out. Cachers from Central Kentucky, Indiana, Jackson, TN, several cachers from Memphis, TN and a host of cachers from the local area of Murray, Mayfield, Paducah in Kentucky and from Paris and Hollowrock in Tennessee. Cachers were from many groups to include River Valley Geocachers, Geocachers of West Tennessee and Jackson Area Geocachers. After dinner and door prizes, we headed outside to form up to caravan to the LBL.

Our first cache was By the Eflin Moon, in which a huge mob descended onto the cache. Cache proved to elusive and quick study by pcsenn, the cache was found. Going after this cache was nice in the fading light and being able to see the lake from the hills. Next, on the list was Pass the Troll-Night Cache. This was a fun walk in the woods but the part I remember most was -boatman- losing his dog, we waited around for his dog to return. Some of the cachers took the opportunity to hunt the nearby multi Hurricane Andrew.

After -boatman-'s dog returned the caravan headed towards Midnight Cow Night Cache. Parking was difficult but thankfully, no one parked in the ditch. After this cache, a few cachers took the opportunity to head home. The next cache was Double Barrel, it as short hike and we were off to the next cache Crickhollow-Night Cache. What I remember the most of this cache was the caravan driving past the cache and to turn around again to be heading in the right direction. Bitbrain, driving Tiger130's truck became stuck, JAG members, Dalls and Leprecon Jr jumped out of their car and muscled the truck back onto the road.

Later, we headed over to the most difficult night cache Midnight Maze. Being that I had already found this cache, I took the opportunity to rest and watch the hunt. I could tell the hunt was not going well, turned out that the cache needed maintenance after storm damage and covered some of the reflectors. Bitbrain and Tiger130 returned and noticing Tiger130 was not feeling well and needed to return to her truck, Solarwib, Kodiak62 and myself escorted Tiger130 back to her truck. Tiger130 recovered and everyone headed to the next cache, Flashlight Required. By this time I was beginning to tire and didn't intend to go along. When I told Pcsenn about the micro on the way to the starting point, he didn't have it in his GPS and I went along. Found the micro and we along with a small group to the starting point. By this time, we were no longer hunting the cache in a large, but divided into small groups. While chatting, we passed the starting point by over 500 feet and walked back. I didn't recall the long hike it was for this cache. Turned out to be about a mile of walking all together. I was in the last group to find the cache, heading back to the parking area, a grandfather to one of the cachers met us and was concerned about his grandson and his friend Turns out both boys were some distance behind us but we could see their lights.

At this point, the difficult caches were completed and went after Dead Fulks Night Cache. This was the most remote of all the caches on a one-lane road. Going down the road, I was really concerned we would met groups heading out. We arrived to see a few vehicles at the starting location but much less than starting out the night. I think Flashlight Required took out the energy from some of the cachers and it was getting late. I knew this cache was not very long and had already found it, I stayed back in the parking lot and rested. The group in front of us had turned out their lights in an attempt to play a prank on the last group.

The last cache was A Creepy Place, which was a short hike and quick find. All of us were exhausted by this time and the group was now to about a dozen cachers. It was a fun night and a night that I will remember for a long time.

Stillhouse Hollow Falls

When Stillhouse Hollow Falls cache came out and word of it spread on the forums, I put it on my watchlist as a must do cache. With a trip to Columbia, with the cool and nice weather, I went after the cache. Arrived at the parking location and found the micro cache there and after a short break and study of the map, I went for the stroll. Being from West Tennessee, there are not many caches that require hills and climbs over rocks in my area and this hike was everything I was not used to. Going up hills both going and returning from the cache. About 1/2 way to the cache location, I was wishing I brought along some water and hiking boots.

Arrived at the top of the falls and took some pictures. GPS still pointed that I had some distance to cover. Reviewing the topographical map at the parking lot, I knew that I would not be following the arrow until the last 300 or so feet to the cache. I went onto the valley and on towards the cache. I went past the cache location, which is some distance behind the chimney of an old structure to observe the falls. I took more pictures and thankful I took the time to come after this cache.

Went back to the chimney and did more hill climbing to the cache. Found the cache as the Garmin 60csx beeped. Signed the log and took a break to reflect on this journey.

This is one of the best caches and I thank Monkeybrad for setting up this cache.

Caching goals for 2008

With the anticipation of being on active duty in 2009, I set some geocaching career goals at the beginning of the 2008 caching year.

1) With the huge influx of micros, I sacrificed numbers and went after regular size caches with more determination. I wanted to find a career total of 500 regular size caches and that goal was met.

2) Finding caches by 500 different hiders. That goal was recently reached.

3) Obtaining the Platinum Earthcache Award. That was accomplished this summer with a trip to Michigan and Canada.

4) Adding counties to the Tennessee County Challenge. While completing the challenge will be very difficult, I did manage to add one county this year, that being Sumner. With no future trips to the Knoxville or Chattanooga area on the horizon, I don't figure this goal will be any closer.

5) Finding a cache using a boat or kayak. That was done this year using an inflatable kayak.

6) Logging 2,000 finds. That goal should be reached in November or December.

Caching in Jackson, TN

Being that my job places me on the road so often, it's hard to ignore the caches in the Jackson area. My job constantly takes me to Henderson, Memphis and Somerville, TN, one to four times a month. On the way to those places, I will go to or pass through Jackson.

When I begun caching in February 2005, I noticed Jackson has some caches. Nothing like amount today. My first find was Waters of Renewal. I chose it to be my first caching in Jackson since I knew exactly what it was referencing to and where to park. However, my first attempt was a DNF since I had no idea what a bison tube looked like. I found it the next trip on March 7, 2005. Since that find, I have found a cache in Madison County for 43 consecutive months.

Even prior to caching, I knew Jackson for the most part, the main roads (Highland, 45-By Pass, Airways, Carriage House and etc). I knew the shopping areas like Van Drive (Sam's) and Old Hickory Mall. However, I didn't know about the extensive park system and the two Civil War battlefields. Thanks for geocaching I think I have seen every park in Madison County and in some cases, multiple visits to the same park.

Prior to 2005, it was common for me to kill time at Sam's, EZ Paintball, Books a Million, Best Buy and Lowe's. Since, it's been more for caching.

Hurricane Relief

Being a member of the Tennessee Army National Guard, I have twice been called up to active duty for hurricane relief duty in Louisiana. In 2005, my company, the 1174th was called to active duty with a mission to haul fuel after Hurricane Katrina. We were based in New Orleans. Driving to the base of operations and from the base I could witness the devastation caused by the high winds and flooding. We were assigned to haul fuel, but after arriving at the base, civilian truck drivers were performing the mission. We stayed about a week with some members of the company working security for search and rescue missions and guard duty at the base.

This year, my unit the 1171st Transportation Company was called up to active duty to conduct relief missions for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike. Being that the 1171st is a medium truck company with flatbeds we were involved in several missions all over the state of Louisiana. Trucks delivered supplies to New Orleans, in and around Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. Overall, the military response was better organized than it was in 2005 in response to Katrina. But we were not happy to live a day and half at the infamous "Chicken Coops" near the Alexandria airport.

Our stay in Alexandria was almost two weeks and the accommodations were better with air conditioned barracks, but with we were in tight quarters. While in Alexandria, my first cousin Kathryn and her husband Jody travelled to Alexandria to visit me.

Herb Parsons Lake

For quite some time I have wanted to complete the caches around the Herb Parsons Lake which is located east of Memphis. My job takes me to Somerville at least once a month, but attempting to work these caches on a lunch break is impractical.

On August 2, I decided to attend the Searchingforit nails 1K and we get to celebrate, I took some time to find a few of the caches despite the 100 degree temperature on that day. I hit four caches, the first was most difficult Follow the Leader followed by easier caches Foggy Bottom, Bullfrog Landing and last was Armageddon. Even though I did the easy caches that day, the experience gained that day would pay off later. During the first visit I took pictures of the first stage of Herbie #1 to do the math at home and plot out my course for the August 29th trip.

Returned to Herb Parsons Lake on August 29 with Hoot Owl, Pcsenn and Chimps8mybaby, at least one of the remaining caches would require teamwork to complete. Pcsenn and Chimps8mybaby completed the 4 caches that I found on August 2 in quick fashion. Then we headed around the lake and found Go All the Way Around , MaximusWilliam's Second (Third Published), Blackjack, Pan's Labyrinth, Herbie #1, Lure U N, this is where we ran into a snake on the trail. We went on to complete, MaximusWilliam's First Hide, Let's Go Fishing and end the day with Panda-MOAN-ium.

Panda-MOAN-ium proved to be the most difficult and it didn't help that all of us were fatigued after more than 5 miles around the lake. The cache required teamwork to climb trees and Hoot Owl amazed us with his knot tying skills. This was in impressive hide and I would have never completed it alone. Thanks for all those involved yesterday to make this happen.

At the Corner, another forgotten cache?

While browsing the caches in the Jackson area, I looked around to see who had been caching after me and to my surprise I see that At the Corner had not been found since I found it on May 25, 2007! This cache is made possible by one of the best cachers in West Tennessee Canoe Guy and this cache should be found more often. The experience offers good scenery and physical challenge.

Johnny's Cash

Been wanting to find this virtual, Johnny's Cash for quite some time. Been making trips to Nashville on a regular basis and for the most part cached out what I wanted between Dickson and I-40 and Briley Parkway. Began to look further East of Briley and saw this cache, being the grave of the Country Music singer Johnny Cash. Not being much of a country music fan I am still intrigued with Johnny Cash's music.

Prior to the trip I was talking to Pharmd93 on the phone and told him I was going to Nashville and could spend my lunch break caching. We met in Dresden and I drove to Hendersonville, TN and found the virtual. We spent some time taking pictures and found a few easy caches nearby to complete Sumner County for the Tennessee County Challenge.

Day 4: Final Day

On Sunday, cachestalker94 and I got up early

and after a breakfast from the nearby McDonalds, we headed to the home of Rattrak in Roseville, MI. From his home, we drove to SQ-Workman's Circle, it was a great cache location at a Jewish Cemetery. We noticed the graves were in Hebrew and English. We also saw the memorial for the Jews murdered by the Nazis in World War II. Soon, we headed towards the tunnel in Detroit to take us to Windsor, Canada. First we stopped at St. Mary's Catholic Church and read the historical markers which told about the church being used as part of the Underground Railroad where runaway slaves from the South stayed before finding freedom across the river in Canada. We later visited the virtual cache The Gateway to Freedom, a monument depicting runaway slaves looking across the river to Windsor, Canada.

After the virtual find, we left the United States and drove through the tunnel into Canada. We were prepared with our passports. Thankfully having Rattrak in the car was very helpful since he crossed the border on a regular basis. We grabbed several caches in the Windsor area including two earthcaches. Windsor's Halite a salt mine and Windsor Tallgrass. With the completion of these two earthcaches, I have completed my quest for the Earthcaches Master's program and to receive the Platinum Award.

We completed many caches in the area, mostly along the river front. We liked the view along the river and the Ambassador Bridge. We stopped to shop at a couple of places, one being a Tim Horton's. A coffee/donut shop, there were many of these stores around. The locals call the stores "Timmy's". A stop there, a souvenir store downtown and the duty free store at the border gave me an opportunity to drop a few US where's george bills into the Canadian circulation.

After a delay at the US border, we drove back into Detroit and found CD - Battle of Bloody Run - SQ . The first stage was a historical marker about a massacre during the French and Indian War. Being at this spot, I can say that I have been to at least one battle site of every major conflict East of the Mississippi River. Just short of Rattrak's home, cachestalker94 wanted to try out different food and we found a Middle Eastern place, where cachestalker94 got a lamb gyro to go.

We proceeded to the airport without delay and fly home.

Day 3

I had initially planned to find 20+ caches on this day since there were so many close to where we were staying. After seeing the traffic patterns, I doubted cachestalker94 and myself would find that many. Begun the day eating the continental breakfast at the hotel and enjoying fellowship with relatives. By 8:00 AM we were off caching. We begun caching near a community college and saw so much area under construction it was difficult to get to the caches. We did find a few caches in that cluster. I saw our time began to run out and we made a beeline to the Clinton River Park. There we found three caches, including the Dodge Park Esker Earthcache which turned out to be my 1,800th find. This one was a treat since it was in reference to a glacier, something that will not be seen in Tennessee. Cachestalker94 and I found two more caches in the park, Easy Green and Wood you not like to find it?. I was very impressed with the park; most of the trails were paved and the park was busy. Even saw a black squirrel. I liked the clever hid of Wood you not like to find it? being the cache was a fake stump.

We ceased the caching after the three finds in the Clinton River Park headed over to Borders Bookstore and later the motel to ready ourselves for the wedding. This was one of the few breaks we had during our stay. After refreshing ourselves, we drove towards the chapel, finding one cache along the way, a simple park n' grab. Attended the wedding and later the reception. Had a good time visiting with relatives and making new friends.

Day 2

After arriving in Detroit, cachestalker94 and I were shuttled over to the Alamo car rental place where I let cachestalker94 pick out the car and she picked a gold colored PT Cruiser. We immediately got the laptop going and set a course going south to Luna Pier where there was a cluster of caches. I found the How Low can you go in Michigan an earthcache and really liked Your Honor Sir. This cache was at an American Legion building where there was a small monument for a fallen soldier from area who served in Iraq. We found the cache despite that the coordinates were not loaded onto my GPS and when I asked cachestalker94 to route us to the cache, she accidentally moved the waypoint. Found the cache because the container is hanging on the monument itself. At Luna Pier it was cachestalker94's first view of the Great Lakes and she took the time to put her feet in the water.

After Luna Pier, we moved onto Toledo and found a few caches on the north part of the city. It was enough to add the state of Ohio onto our profiles. It was beginning to get hot on us and we put the car back on I-75 and headed north. Our last find was a rest stop cache. I simple micro made difficult by attacking mosquitoes.

Arrived at Utica and found the motel. The drive was long and had the experience of the Michigan Left Turn. I can't say the experience was pleasant.

After regrouping at the motel, cachestalker94 wanted to go to the mall. A huge mall was located a couple of miles away, with the horrid traffic and Michigan Left Turns, the couple of miles took about 20 minutes. Found a cache at the mall and went shopping. Had dinner at Red Lobster and retired to the motel.

4 Days of caching: Day 1

Thursday, July 17 began a 4-day caching trip that took cachestalker94 and myself to caches in Clarksville, Ashland City in Tennessee to Michigan, Ohio and Windsor, Canada. The purpose of our trip was to attend a wedding for a cousin in our family in Sterling Heights, Michigan. I have family strung about in: Michigan, Louisiana, Texas and Tennessee, I have not had the opportunity to visit the relatives during their high school graduations and marriages. This time, I had the opportunity to attend. As for geocaching I set myself a few goals:

Myself to top 1,800 finds.
Cachestalker94 reach 400 finds.
Find earthcaches in two new states/countries to obtain the Platinum Earthcache Award.

Day 1:

After being delayed with repairs on my truck, we left Dresden after noon to headed towards Ashland City, Tennessee. In Ashland City, we would stay the night at the home of brickbat66 and be less than an hour from the airport instead of getting up at 4 am and drive 2 1/2 hours. Along the way we picked up a few caches along Hwy 79. The best cache we found was Riverview Cemetery by Team Hall-JTSJT. The cache was a simple micro, but I enjoyed looking at the old cemetery and reading the historical markers. We travelled onto Ashland City to a series of caches by jd_stitch in a somewhat new park. We found all the caches in the park even though it was very hot and cachestalker94 let me know about the temperature. After signing all the logs, we retired to brickbat66's home for dinner and relaxation.

Clearing Mayfield

When I begun caching in 2005, there were only two caches in Mayfield. Not a Pine Box was my first find; what I remember most about that cache was the way to get there. Being from Dresden, I recall making a couple of visits to the town. Much of what I knew about Mayfield was it was the exit to take from the Purchase Parkway going to Paducah. When we moved from Martin to Dresden, I began to make some trips to Mayfield, mostly to the Wal-Mart Supercenter which is south of town. During that trip to Not a Pine Box, I didn't have maps on my GPS and turned and turned again, over and over to get the arrow straight to take me to the hospital grounds north of town near the Purchase Parkway.

Later I returned in the same month to find, Its all right Pizza , which is a skirtlifter and was a DNF my first visit. Up to that time, I was not familiar with skirtlifters. For two years there were no new caches in the Mayfield area. The summer of 2007, new cachers began to place caches on the Mayfield area which suited me very much. First to come was The Pearl of the Purchase and Woolridge Monuments, both of these caches placed by Pirates of the Cache N Carry. The next month came a series of caches by Influence Waterfowl Calls. His caches were different on some aspects and and some were similiar to what I have found in other places. Some of his caches are based on old TV shows such as the "Dukes of Hazzard" and the move "Oh Brother, where art thou?".

In June of 2008, with help from Pharmd93, I finally cleared all the Mayfield caches with Behind the Castle Gate! being the most difficult.

Confederate Ghosts

While staying the night at the KOA Campground at Paris Landing, I took the opportunity to find the night cache Confederate Ghosts. I am a veteran of night caches, three in the LBL and one in Bartlett, TN. However, this was different, I was alone. Near the cache is a Tennessee Historical Marker which I waymarked which referenced the burial place of the Confederate soldiers who died in battle at Ft. Henry.

I found myself needing more up to date maps, I parked at the historical marked and hiked to the cache in the fading light. By the time I arrived at the starting coordinates, it was pitch black. Saw the cemetery and was in awe. A few patriotic Southerners have take the time to upkeep and mark this graves of these fallen soldiers. Being a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and a 20-year veteran of military service, I said a short prayer and thanked these men who stood their posts did their duty and did what they think was right in the War Against Northern Aggression.

Proceeded onto find the cache and quickly found a set of reflectors. Note this is a night cache where one normally has to follow small reflectors to find the prize. Went on and about 200 feet away, the reflectors end. I tried and tried again and nothing. Finally, when about to give up, I called Regnad and he told me of the problem. These small reflectors, sold in the archery supplies are used by bow hunters to find their stands in the pre-dawn darkness. That was the trail I was on. Not deer hunting tonight, I wanted a cache. Regnad told me to turn the opposite direction and I quickly found the other set of reflectors and found the cache very soon. Regnad also walked me to the access road and I went that way to my truck.

I was elated to find a night cache alone and also such a great spot. Next day, I took my family to the spot and took many pictures which I will share with my Sons of Confederate Veterans Camp 323.

Caching in Germantown and Collierville

Having a business trip that would take me to Memphis and later to Henderson, I researched some of the caches, I wanted something interesting but not something hard terrain since I would not be dressed to hit the trails and be hot and sweaty. I was surprised to find a tucked away virtual called A Little History Lesson. It was a remarkable virtual and took some time to investigate the park and take many pictures. Many months ago, I created a topic on the GOWT forums to database all the Civil War caches in GOWT, the responses were few and seemed to be little interest. Maybe one of the reasons, this virtual slipped by me. I have been within a mile of this cache. But, it was found today and in the coming days will be waymarked.

Another interesting cache was Superman's Transition by bitbrain. With the reputation of this cacher and being the cache is a micro, I wondered a little bit. However, I also know this cacher will take me to an interesting place and that it did. I spent a good 20 minutes in the courtyard looking and the monuments, history and the battle history. I had recently read where Gen. Sherman arrived at this location when a Confederate raid was in process and escaped capture or death. That would have been something, Gen. Sherman was the best Union general in the West, after Gen. Grant took command of all Union forces. It was Sherman's tactics of avoiding a drawn out fight by outflanking CSA forces in Georgia that led to the fall of Atlanta.

Only had 6 finds on this run and was happy to include the two above caches in this journey.

Tunica, Mississippi

Made a recent trip to Tunica, MS. Not being much of a gambler or the night life, I took part of the family to visit the area and find a few caches. The reason we went was that cachestalker94, my oldest daughter had a flight to catch early Tuesday morning and we took a couple of days off to see the resort town and eat at the famous buffets.

We made a short break at the Welcome to Arlington cache, formerly owned by Spencersb. I didn't look up the cache page and cachestalker94 and I took cannotreadgps to find the cache and unable to find it where we saw it last. I assumed that it may have been archived. Looked up the cache and the hint indicates a different hiding place than were I found it and yet no log where the coordinates were moved. The stop was a planned break anyway, I normally use Exit 25 on I-40 as a bathroom break/rest stop since there are usually clean restrooms at the Welcome Center or the Horizon Travel Center nearby. Exit 25 is the last easy exit into Memphis.

Going around Memphis on I-240, I made a stop at The Grotto a virtual cache. The best virtual cache in West Tennessee and one of my all time favorite virtuals. I had found it last year and took cachestalker94 and cannotreadgps there to visit and they were in awe. Both grabbed cameras to record the visit. Got back on I-240 later to I-55 and into Mississippi.

I had already cached much along I-55 in Desoto County and didn't feel the need to grab caches along the way since cannotreadgps and cachestalker94 are not into the numbers. We headed into Tunica on I-69 a brand new Interstate. So new that my new Garmin software version 8 didn't show the Interstate and watched on the the icon (vessel) travel across the screen where there were no roads. I-69 ended and soon came up on an easy cache A Grand Treasure. Cache page has little information and since it was a regular size, I figure lets go after it. Arrived at the location, found the cache with ease and then noticed the surroundings. We were in an African-American cemetery. Many of the stones seemed to be homemade and with hand writing etchings. We stayed a while and took many pictures. Last cache for Sunday was at an earthcache The Mighty River. I needed another state for the next earthcache award and this cache had been watchlist for quite some time. We visited the Tunica River Museum and really enjoyed it. About that time, we were really hungry and the locals told use to visit the Paula Deen buffet at the Harrah's casino. It was pricey and possibly one of the best casino buffet I have visited, Paula Deen's and the buffet located in the Luxor in Las Vegas, NV are the two best I have experienced.

On Monday, we wanted to see some of the Mississippi country side and went after Old 304 Access, it was a good cache located in the swamps. We were able to drive to within 150 feet of the cache, didn't get wet or bitten by a snake or 'gator retrieving the cache. Later, we drove to Hernando, MS and saw some of the old home and historic downtown area. Grabbed a few caches in the town, visited the park and shopped at Wal-Mart.

AATN

AATN is All About The Numbers, a term used in geocaching that some cachers are only concerned about numbers, not the quality or location of the geocache. This makes my 41st post and with the exception of my very first post, I have steered away from geo-politics and other controversial topics.

This post will be a controversial post and will reflect my views. In times past, issues of the micro vs. ammo can, rural vs. urban, interesting location vs. non-interesting location used to pop up from time to time on the GOWT forums but more available on the River Valley forums in more recent past. On GOWT, I did respond often and sometimes the matter became a little heated. Didn't bother me that much since I was a forum veteran from the History Channel Discussion forums and often got into heated discussions with Marxists. Even had one poster say he was going to buy a gun and shoot the conservatives on the board. I kept the porch light on, no one came by. I held my ground on GOWT and didn't mind seeing the parking lot caches come up in Jackson and later in Memphis and especially the LTL series along Interstate 40, at the displeasure of others. In 2006, I was on a warpath to reach the 1K by my 2nd geo-anniversary and took any cache I could find. I guess it's only fitting that my 1,000th cache was a geocache in a parking lot. In 2006, my average was 12 finds a week.

After reaching the 1K, I did slow down and doing more quality caches, more hiking, working some of the puzzle caches in Memphis. The quality cache issue has come up from time to time on the River Valley site. One cacher made a trip to Clarksville and came home disgusted with the parking lots, guard rails and storm drains. I personally know him and he is in for the numbers and I should have prepared him for the types of urban caches he would encounter. I did reply to his comment. But other topics that included the influx of earthcaches in the RVG area, I have pretty much stayed out. Can't say much since I have 3 earthcaches of my own, one that requires to pay admission and the place is closed more than it's open. An artisan well earthcache right next to a micro geocache and an very out of the way earthcache at Ft. Pillow State Park.

While reaching the 1K maybe somewhat easier today than it was in 2006 and prior, since there are more caches around. Going for the Golden Ammo Can takes much patience, stamina, drive and perseverance if they want to complete the goal in a timely manner. Cachers will have to do the guard rails, storm drains, skirtlifting and seeing more of today, the stop sign caches. Cachers will have to endure long days, early mornings and sometimes stomping in the woods at night.

For the cachers that want the quality and long hikes and like to maintain the 2.0 difficulty and/or terrain average caches, you do have my respect. In the last few months, I have found more of the hard terrain caches including two 5/5 caches in the last 6 months. However, when out of town and on business, I normally have to stick to the 3 or less star terrain caches since I am not dressed for the occasion.

AATN has also produced an issue where final coordinates were given out for a puzzle cache, this topic came up on the Uncle Mack's Blog. Was it ethical? Probably not. We can go further, are PAF's ethical? It is the choice of the cache hunter whether or not to take the coordinates or not. The blog also has a recent post of using the ignore bookmark. I also have an ignore bookmark, it's more for caches that I have no intention of doing, being the caches are behind stores, where I can have a police/security encounter, something I really don't care about, such as a micro in the woods, or a cache that I will never want to go find.

These are only my opinions.

Memorial Day "Everything",,,,"for me"

This Monday is Memorial Day where we honor our war dead. I plan to attend the Memorial Day event at the Weakley County Courthouse in Dresden as I have for the past few years. A committee of people read the names of the war dead from Weakley County. The flag is lowered and later raised by members of the 1171st Transportation Company of the Tennessee Army National Guard. A guest speaker will be asked to share some words or memories. To finalize the event, the Weakley County Sheriff's Department deputies will fire a 21-gun salute.

Last year, my oldest daughter complained that she didn't want to attend the event. I guess she preferred to stay home and watch TV, a teenage thing. Afterwards we talked about it, I asked her how much time of her day she gave for the event, she replied "I guess about 1 hour". I asked what did the men etched on the wall give? She replied "Everything". I asked a followup question for who? The reply "for me." 100% correct, the men and women who have their names etched on the memorials at courthouse lawns, city halls, parks and other places didn't serve for themselves but for others.

Tigrett Bottoms - A Duck Hunters Paradise

Completed my first water cache today with my caching partner from Martin, Pharmd93. Recently I purchased a 2-person inflatable kayak over the Internet from Wal-Mart. Kayak cost $88, with tax and shipping was about $100. Today was the maiden voyage of the kayak and was an adventure. It was Pharmd93's first experience in a kayak and my second time.

While blowing up the kayak, a couple of local fisherman investigated what we were doing. We did ask questions about the TWRA lake since they were familiar with it. They left about the time we put the boat in the water. Being that it's summer time and venomous snake such as water moccasins and copperheads are out, we armed ourselves with 9mm handguns.

We headed out and quickly figured out we were going to have a tough time. Trying to keep the boat on course was difficult and didn't help both of our GPSr's had a hard time keeping a course. We ended up going the long way around. Fighting the wind was not easy either. We made a beeline to the other side to get out of the wind and then coasted towards the cache. Ended up in still water and expected to see snakes. Thankfully, we didn't see any snakes. Took some steering to maneuver to the cache location. I wanted to make certain where we made land fall, we were in the correct place.

Getting out of the boat was a chore and found out my waterproof shoes were not waterproof when submerged. Ended up getting my camera wet and my handgun was soaked. Found the cache and unable to take any pictures with the damp camera. Headed back and had less trouble due to the wind being at our back and we were finally figuring out how to steer the craft.

Some lessons were learned.

1) Wear crocs or sandals. Kayak and geocaching, one will get wet.

2) Find a pond and practice steering the boat.

3) With the kayak I am using, I will have to stick to water caching in the summer time. I will get wet.

Urban Assault Training

During my short time (3 1/2 years) in the 438th Military Police Company in Murray, KY; I did participate in Mout training at Ft. McClellan, AL. Training took place over a couple of days to include rappelling, entering a high window, crossing open terrain to deal with enemy snipers and room to room clearing. Currently, I am in the 1171st Transportation Company of the Tennessee Army National Guard and have been involved in training for a future deployment to Iraq. During training this past April at the Milan Training Center, the company participated in urban warfare training.

Combat in our modern times is now in urban settings in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to World War II, armies generally wanted to avoid combat in urban settings. Early during Operation Barbarossa, German forces placed Leningrad under siege than to endure the high casualties assaulting the city. Lessons were learned by many armies in the battles of Stalingrad, Berlin, Manila, Mogadishu and in Hue. Lessons learned were that tanks and other heavy armor, and defenders using fortifications in open streets were not effective. Urban warfare is generally fought with infantry.

Which leads to why does a Transportation Company need urban warfare training? Our training we received in April were provided by infantry from the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment of the Tennessee Army National Guard, which has served a tour in Iraq. Our training was for general purpose to know the fundamentals of urban combat but not to be experts since our primary job is to transport materials.

I have found the tactics to be interesting.

Room Clearing: In Milan, we used paintball guns to simulate rifles. A 4-man team is used. A team is stacked to one side of the door and communicates using touch. After the door is opened, the first man takes the path of least resistance, takes out enemy, finds windows/doors and alerts the team verbally. Second man, goes opposite of the first man, takes out enemy, sweeps part of the room. Third man which is the team leader, sweeps part of the room. Fourth man, is rear security and is armed with the M249 SAW. The first three men are armed with M-16 or M-4. Enemy encounter will be shot using the double-tap or the politically correct term "controlled pairs". Since the M-16 using the 5.56 mm or .223 caliber round, it does not have the knockdown power and two shots are needed.

Dealing with a sniper: Tactic may have changed, but during my 1990's training at Ft. McClellan, a team will form up in a V formation, each member holding onto the web gear of the person in front, the team will run across open (street) to cover and disperse. The idea is if the first man is hit, the others will hold him up (hence a human shield) to take further rounds.

Building Clearing: If possible, clear buildings from top to bottom from one end to the other and leaving one end of the building unblocked. Leaving one end unblocked lets the enemy escape were our friendly forces are in position to ambush the enemy in the open.

Shelby Farms

For nearly a year, my job takes me to Memphis on at least a monthly basis. Normally, I would choose to do the P&G caches, good for numbers and keep going. Back in August, I was busted by Circle K contract security at a gas station micro. They are not pleased with the game, me being where I was (side of a car wash) and the cache being there. I began to rethink my caching efforts and now I am gun-shy of P&G caches that are in busy areas, can't disguise what I am doing (pretend to use the payphone) or use my truck to block what I am doing at a light pole or guard rail.

In 2008, my cache numbers are down to 6 finds a week, verses 12 per week in 2006. But on the bright side, I am going after more physically challenging caches and targeting Shelby Farms more often. While there is a muggle presence in Shelby Farms, I figure any encounter in the park will result in a positive experience.

I have been to Shelby Farms once before. In spring of 2006, I drove down to participate in the GOWT CITO. My time was very limited and had my two young daughters with me. We knocked out the virtual and attended the CITO. I been back to the park again to go after the West TN Mega Multi Up the Creek Up the Wolf. This week, I returned to look at getting Alexis' Cache, but unable to go after it with the high winds. I spent the rest of the lunch hour and found Welcome to Geocaching, Christmas 2005, A Sturdy Bridge and Pandora's Box. I enjoyed the adventure in the park and plan to return on future visits to Memphis. I will only be about to get 1-3 caches at a time and will probably stay away from the long hike multi's for the time being.

"Crazy" Cache

One of my all time favorite caches is "Crazy" Cache located just outside of Camden, Tennessee. I begun working for the state in 1996 and in 1997, I was given the caseload for (Camden) Benton County. Benton County is an hour from my home office in Dresden and 30 minutes from Paris, after I was transferred to the Paris office. My caseload rarely exceeded 10 cases and most were in custody. But being that I worked the court, I was in the county one to two times a week. With the distance from the office, more than once I was placed with time to kill between visits or court.

I had seen the movie about Patsy Cline and recall the movie mentioning her plane went down in the bluffs after leaving Dyersburg. Later, I began to wonder about the statement in the movie, the area around Dyersburg is flat....No Bluffs! A few months into working Benton County, I was the sign about the plane crash and followed it to the shrine and boulder. After I began caching in 2005, I wanted to place a cache at this location. But, I don't work the county anymore.

In November of 2005, I saw the new cache pop up and put it on my do-to list. Having the day off on November 11, 2005, I took a drive and sweep all the caches in Benton County and found this cache. Took the opportunity to make pictures too. In my opinion, this is one of the top 10 caches in West Tennessee.

Explosion onboard the USS Iowa

During my senior year in high school, I debated what I wanted to do for the next few years. My family wanted me to apply for the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York. I applied, received the nomination from Congressman Ed Jones, and took the medical physical and the ACT test. However, my ACT test was not high enough to gain an appointment. During that time, I set up a backup plan and after taking the ASVAB test where I scored high, I joined the United States Navy. I was guaranteed an “A” School at NAS Memphis in Tennessee, in Aviation Support Equipment Electrician. After completion of basic training, “A” School and later a “C” school in NAS Jacksonville in Florida. While in “A” School, I selected my first duty station in Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Arrived in Roosevelt Roads in May of 1985, where most of my tour was uneventful. After a year at the job of ASE (Aviation Support Equipment Electrician), I learned that I did not want to make a career of the job. During air operations, hours could be very long; I recall 16-hour days up to a week at a time. When I look at my left wrist, I am reminded about the long days. While rushing a job, late in the evening, I reached to connect a battery cable, electrocuting myself, where my metal wristwatch melted. Since then, I have never worn metal jewelry, with the exception of dog tags.

Year after year, air operations came and went. F-4 Phantoms were replaced by F/A-18 Hornets. Ships came in and went out. Being the port was shallow; the capital ships did not come into port. From a distance, an aircraft carrier or battleship could be seen. Even when not seen, we knew they were there. At the time, the island of Vieques, was used as a bombing and gunnery range. In the Clint Eastwood movie “Heartbreak Ridge”, the US Marine vehicles landing on the beach of Grenada, was actually filmed at Vieques Island. From my apartment, I could hear the guns of the battleships and bombs hitting the island.

On April 19, 1989, just three months before I left the island, there was a mishap on the USS Iowa Battleship. The number 2 turret exploded killing scores of sailors. I watched the news on TV that night and went to work as usual the next day. But the next day was far from usual; the media was descending on the base and airfield. Some of us were asked if our dress whites were available. Since, I lived off-base, more than 30 minutes away, I was not considered to be one of the honor guards. Some in department were called to extra duty, it didn’t take me long to figure out what was going to happen. In the hanger were many silver colored metal coffins. Helicopters were landing close by and members of the department were asked to transfer the deceased sailors, whom were in body bags, to be placed in the coffins. Later in the day, sailors in dress whites placed the coffins onboard a C-5 Galaxy US Air Force cargo plane.

Caching A,B,Z's

Since the GOWT re-organized and came back online a topic was brought up called the Fizzy Challenge. I looked at it and knowing that many of the requirements of 4 and 5 star caches will elude me, I lost my interest. But the topic of Geocaching A through Z did grab my attention. The basis to log that cache is to first find 26 caches for each letter of the alphabet. Forum conversation continued. One day, I was going through my all finds query on GSAK and noticed I have met the requirement. Went back onto the forum and asked for the GC# of the cache. Informed the cache was not ready yet and Tinksdad01 put out the cache a few days later.

Sprout wsa FTF and some cachers have descended onto the new cache. I delayed my business trip to Memphis to await this cache and later for the rain to pass through.

After my visit in Southhaven, MS, I had nRoute take me to the park for Caching A,B,Z's. Found the first stage after some looking. Seen this type of hide before but not at this type of location. Completed a multi More Fun than a Barrel Full of Monkeys, and waded through one foot of water. Then made the 1/2 mile hike to the final stage of Caching A,B,Z's. I had the trail all to myself, I could not ask for better. Found the cache and was very impressed with what I found. Took me some time to coordinate all the blocks. I did have the misfortune to develop a long caching name (Titansfan) in which I log micros with the simple TF and date. After taking the required pictures, I went back to the truck and ended my caching day. Two good caches in the same park and had fun.

Caching in Southeast Missouri

If one looks at my profile, it shows well over 1,000 finds in Tennessee, Kentucky is next with over 200 finds, followed by Mississippi with over 30 finds. After that, the other states have less than a dozen finds and Missouri with one find. A hurry-up and get the cache for the state in Caruthersville, just across the Mississippi River from Dyersburg, Tennessee.

Pharmd93 called about making a cache run on Sunday, March 9. We agreed on working Southeast Missouri to improve on the stats and not show just one find in a state about 50 miles from our home area.

We had to cross the rivers at Cairo, IL; crossing the Ohio and then Mississippi Rivers on a narrow two-lane bridge. Neither bridges make my most favorite bridge list, with both being so narrow. We began our first cache at Mounds in New Madrid. This marked my first ever visit to New Madrid, MO. New Madrid is just 50 miles from Dresden, but a river separates the two. New Madrid is also famous for the early 1800's massive earthquake. The cache location was unusual, a very high mound in a very flat part of the country. Cache was well stocked.

Next cache was Swift Ditch Access, the only hiking cache of the day, about 1,200 feet from parking. This cache had very good camo using the modern military pixel design. The cache was well stocked and information page in plastic attached to the ammo can. One of the most professional caches I have ever found. Area was interesting too, follow the hill from the cache and there was a river.

I found seven caches on that run, but want to highlight another cache, Airport Park (Veteran's Park). Even with the cold wind gusting, we enjoyed looking for the final stage of this multi and viewing the military displays. One of the displays was a US Navy F-4, an fighter-bomber that I used to see during my time in the US Navy from 1985-1989.

Old Salem Church Cemetery/Battlefield

Before I begun geocaching I had heard of the battle fought near Jackson, Tennessee in December of 1862. I had read about the engagement in a book written by Dr. Lonnie Manass, a history professor at the University of Tennessee at Martin, called "The Untutored Genius" a book about the military career of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

On May 6, 2005, I had business in the Jackson area and found a few caches on that day and my last find prior to meeting the wife and kids at Pringles Park for a baseball game was Old Salem Church Cemetery/Battlefield by -boatman-. I had saved the best for last. It was a little warm that day and the briers was my biggest challenging in finding that cache. In fact, the briers were so bad, I ended up stomping around and my foot found the cache. That was before I used a hiking stick to poke around.

Found the cache and having some time to kill prior to the baseball game, I walked around admiring the cemetery/battlefield and appreciated that a game that I had found just a few months prior led me to such a great location. I consider this cache one of the best in Madison County. Won't place it in my forgotten cache series; it has been found nearly 100 times. However, I do think the cache should be on more cachers 'to do' list and it does have easy access from Highway 70 and Interstate 40.

Since finding the cache, I met Dr. Manass at a Sons of Confederate Veterans meeting and told him about geocaching taking me to Civil War locations. During the meeting, I purchased Dr. Manass' new book "Lighting Warfare" Forrest's First West Tennessee Campaign December 1862. The new book had in depth information about the battle at Old Salem Church.

Three years later.....

Finding the geocaching site by accident on the evening of February 16, 2005, I created an account the next day with the intent of finding a few benchmarks, in our hometown of Dresden, Tennessee, for my daughter's 4th grade Science project. Being that there was only one cache within 20 miles I didn't have any intention of being a geocacher. Finding benchmarks proved to a difficult challenge and we struck out. On Sunday, February 21, 2005, my daughter (who later became cacherstalker94) set out for the Big Cypress State Park outside of Greenfield and using an old Garmin GPS 12 found the Big Cypress Cache and our new hobby was born.

Since then I have logged 1,601 finds in 11 states, finding caches in 60 of Tennessee's 95 counties. I have learned much of the history of the Land Between the Lakes region finding about 1/2 of the caches located in that National Forest. I have been to the graves of notable people such as: Legendary Sheriff Buford Pusser, Chicken George (of Roots), Country Music Entertainer Minnie Pearl, Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a man claiming to be the sole survivor of Custer's Last Stand, and also important to mention the graves of three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. Geocaching has taken me to many towns in Tennessee that I have never visited before, such as Pulaski where I visited the monument of Confederate hero Sam Davis and the building of significant history that occurred after the Civil War.

Geocaching has also given me the opportunity to find friends that normally would have never met. Meeting cachers along the trail, through email contact, phone contact and notable groups: GOWT, JAG, KTAG, RVG, and MTGC. I have had the honor and privilege of attending many of the events hosted by these groups.

Scary Loop

After I begun caching, I noticed the cache called Scary Loop Cache by Yogi and Dolphin and saw it was in Carroll County. About a year into my job with DCS, I was transferred to the Paris office and worked Carroll County, therefore I had a little knowledge of the area. But I worked Carroll County for just over a year and didn't know about this area. Studied the cache page and learned more about the haunted Palestine Church. I knew I wanted to find this cache.

On July 12, 2005, I ventured off course and found the cache after many back roads. At the time, all I had was a Garmin Legend and a Tennessee Delorme Map. GPSr played tricks on my and wondered if a ghost was haunting the signal. After much searching, I decoded the hint and found the cache. Later, I took the time to look inside the church and the nearby graveyard.

Later, on June 10, 2006; I was in the area again, this time with cannotreadgps, she wanted to see the church. We attended the GOWT BBQ hosted by Yogi & Dolphin earlier in the day and drove to Jackson for Mackheath's 1K event. Afterwards, we got back on I-40 and back towards Carroll County, this time using the Garmin 60cs with auto routing. Routing it did, one turn after another turn for another turn. We were about worn out making all the turns when we arrived at the cache location. Cannotreadgps found the cache and we began to look around, when a truck pulled up, three muggles got out of the truck, the man driving asked what we were doing, I explained to him of geocaching. Turned out, he was the Sheriff of Carroll County! He wanted to know more about GPS and Geocaching. I showed him the cache and the GPS.

We continued to look around and went inside the old church. Technically, this cache is a Park and Grab, not requiring any hiking; the history is all worth the trip. Thankfully, this cache gets regular activity, even with its remote location, I guess since it's not far from I-40. This is a must do cache.

Graham Cracker, another forgotten cache?

Graham Cracker is a cache adopted by BigDaddyD and had been on my list of to do caches since I begun caching in early 2005. But waited nearly a year to complete this cache, for a variety of reasons. My work takes me through the Jackson area several times a month, but the area of Graham Lake is off the main route, the routes being Highland, 45 By-Pass and I-40. Also was intimidated by wooded area caches until the leaves have fallen while using a Garmin Legend. Also, I am not normally dressed for woodland caching. Being that I pass through Jackson on a regular basis I don't find myself making cache runs through that city. On January 2, 2006, having the day off I headed down early to grab Graham Cracker and Just Ducky-Revised. I completed both caches that morning and not finding any others that day. I did have a DNF on a Park and Grab, it was a new cache and was hoping for a First to Find. I realized that when going after caches that require a physical effort, it's best to ignore everything in between. I had a great time hiking for both caches and having to dodge the rain showers too. Just Ducky-Revised was a feat in land navigation. Following the arrow was not enough.

Graham Cracker, which has been on the list of best caches in Madison County has 63 finds in it's nearly 7 years of existence. 2007 has seen an influx of new cachers in West Tennessee, I am disappointed that the cache was found only three times in 2007.

Some could say, "Titansfan you haven't found XXXXXXX hard terrain cache in Madison County". I will say, "you are correct". Titansfan will just have to take a day off and go after:

Raccoon Hideout
Over the Deer
Forked Deer (South Fork)
Frogmore

Day off and where to go?

This being a 3-day weekend, I was thinking about caching on Monday, January 21. The 21st being a federal holiday in observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and for me being a Son of a Confederate Veteran, I also observed the 201st anniversary of the birth of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

On Sunday, I had yet decided where to go caching. Most directions (Jackson, Trenton, Paducah, Mayfield) I have made many trips to in the past several weeks. I awoke and saw the clear but cold weather. Thought about Mousetail but images of the freezing wind off the Tennessee River did not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. So I thought about Retreat to Ft. Donelson. Hmm.... About 3 miles round trip hiking in one of the best caching places around, the Land Between the Lakes. I made up my mind, it would be the southern part of the LBL today.

Set up my PQ and off I went, leaving the house before 9 am. Stopped for gas, water and snack in Paris and in about 1/2 hour I was at the trail head for the cache. GPS said 1.3 miles and I saw the trail. I decided to go at it alone today. Recently, I have had knee pain after 3-4 miles of hiking. Being alone, I would not have to keep up with anybody and could go at my own pace and take breaks when I wanted to. Took a few rests along the way and studied the Topo map on my Garmin 60csx. Since I climbed the hill I wanted to stay on the ridge line, but when I came within .19 of the cache, I began to get further away, so I made a beeline and ended up climbing another hill, this time a steep one. Found the cache and rested for a bit. Found a trail at the cache and took it in the direction of my truck. One part of LBL caching, it's very wise to mark your parking location. Headed down the hill and came to a clearing. Saw the road about 1/2 mile away and I had enough of hill climbing. Went to the road and a quick trip to the truck.

Next cache was A Trip To Tip Top, by Writergirl. Having met this legendary cacher before I wanted to find one of her caches. Attempted to find this one before, but my software failed to show any of the back roads in the LBL. Today, I was armed with Topo maps on my laptop and with nRoute, I found the right roads and easily found the cache.

With my knee getting tender, I decided to go after just one more cache. Set my sights on Aunt Tinas Lost Cache-Revisted. Again, this was another cache where I couldn't find the parking area. Found a place to park and found the trail. Started up the trail and my GPS told me I was going away from the cache. More bushwhacking and .25 later I was at the cache, an old homestead. Nice area and took some time to make a picture.

Kelley's Point Battlefield

Planning a trip to Nashville, I looked forward to hitting some caches on the return part of my trip. Being that I already have my Golden Ammo can, I am not concerned about the numbers and wanted something special to find. After loading my PQ's onto nRoute, I browsed the caches. Hesitated, I looked at the area of Exit 201. I had been there before when I had a legend without maps and vowed never to return. Being that I cache much of my time during the week, I face the traffic in busy areas of Nashville, Jackson and Memphis.....alone! My previous cache trip to Exit 201 was horrible, I steer away from Cracker Barrel caches during busy times and found myself having to make left turns just to find a skirt lifter. I gave up and went home.

Browsing, I saw Kelley's Point Battlefield, a cache now maintained by JoGPS. Reading the cache page, it had my interest. However, I was very concerned about the recent DNF's. I called JoGPS and he assured me the cache was there and gave me an additional hint.

After my visit in Nashville, I made a beeline towards Kelley's Point Battlefield. I had used Google Maps aerial image prior to my trip and saw the parking area. I normally don't use the aerial images since the resolution in Northwest Tennessee is terrible. Found the parking area and read the information of the Battle of Nashville in this part of Davidson County. Proceeded onto the cache, just a short hike taking a little less than 10 minutes. Stopped at the overlook and read more about the Confederate Cavalry stopping the US Navy on the Cumberland River. Using concealed artillery and constantly moving the guns, the CSA forces were able to stop traffic on the important waterway. With my military experience, I looked at the position and could see how the Confederates used the position to their advantage. A bend in the river prevented the bigger guns from the naval vessels from using their longer range to their advantage. The bluff, while not towering, gave the Confederates a height advantage. Also, moving the guns from one fortified and concealed position to another, prevented the US Navy gunners from finding their targets.

The cache proved be difficult to find, I had to call the cache owner to find it. With persistence, I did find it. To my surprise, this cache, while in close proximity of I-40, has well less than 100 finds, while nearby park and grabs have well over 100 finds. This cache proved to be one of the best in Nashville.

Completion of the West Tennessee Mega-Multi

With my three year Geo-Anniversary coming up in less than two months I can finally log this cache and be apart of the elite cachers in West Tennessee to have completed this series! I had just taken up geocaching about two months before when the West Tennessee Mega-Multi series were unleashed in May of 2005. Being that I am from Dresden, a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from Memphis, I had my doubts that I would ever complete the series. But I would find the caches as they came around.
It would take my two and a half years to complete and would take much persistence, thought and sweat to find all the stages. A couple would take more than one trip, another, I came within 1/4 mile only to see a fence and no trespassing sign. I caught some breaks along the way and the my recent adoption of a cache no longer part of the series paved the way to complete this mission.
First find was the closest to my home, Kingdom of Skullbonia by WestTNdawg on 5/11/05. Being that I knew this store and unique sign I didn't have any problems.
Geocoins going down the drain by Primofam. This one took two trips the first trip it was pouring down rain and the Legend took me everywhere but where I needed to go. Second trip on 6/9/05, the cache was found.
1st Settlement by pcsenn on 6/24/07. Another one that took more than one trip, took my girls and we found it. Very quiet cemetery, one of the best caches in Northwest Tennessee.
Firestone by MFDFircam was found on 12/29/05 along with others while caching in the area upon completion of the Bridge, No Bridge.
Now that I had one of the Shelby County caches in the series, I started to re-think my tactics and go after the series. After being disabled for a time, Empress by Empress Luci was found by myself on 7/26/06 on a hot day.
On 10/13/06, with cachestalker94 on fall break, we made a Memphis cache run and we knocked out No Way by Risket323 and Lake View by Chibongo. No Way was a hard cache and glad it was the first of the day. We completed Lake View on the way home.
Prior to attending sskaysee 1K event, I went by and found spencersb's Deja Vu cache and was thankful not to fall in the water on that one.
On a trip to Memphis, I swung by In the Rough 2.0 by Tuck Sackett on 1/26/07 and found that cache.
On 2/23/07, I nabbed Wishing Well by jbgreer. This was the first time to try out the waypoint projection on my Garmin 60csx.
In the fall, I began to kick up the intensity a bit and while in Memphis, I met up with Hoot Owl to give back the and he pointed the way for his Osprey Nest Platform trail entrance. Found that cache on 10/5/07.
Still needing two to go, one cache was no longer part of the series and I adopted it and made Garrett Lake II part of the series. With that clue I had one left and it would prove to be the most difficult. Found Up a creek up a wolf by Hoot Owl this morning. With everything set I was going after the final.
This weekend, armed with 13 of the 14 clues, I had figured out 95% of the coordinates. With today's last find, I came up to the final stage and one of the largest caches found by me in West Tennessee. It was well stocked. Normally, I don't take or leave anything, but this morning I stopped and bought a DVD "Lost Boys" a classic horror flick and placed in the cache. I also took the time to reflect on the moment. Overall, this was a better feeling then when I found my 1,000th cache. My 1K find was on a return trip from Tullahoma, I was in a hurry, traffic was bad and the cache was a simple parking lot. This find was one of the best. Thanks for Hoot Owl for this cache and all who have made this journey darting up and down and across West Tennessee and what a way to end the 2007 geocaching year out!