Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is a very special day - it's my moms birthday.  Most of you have gotten to know her over the past year through my blog.  If you're a regular here, you know that she

likes to hike.....

Reach new milestones........

Visit historic locations......

Catch really nice size bluegill......

Find geocaches......

Play Peek-a-boo......

Take lots of pictures.....

Sometimes get a Katy-knot!

Make the best ham noodles in the world.....

Reach new heights.....

Play in the snow......

Is always up for Phooning......

Most of all, she likes to get out of the house and have a good time.  My buddy Big AL over at CacheCrazy gifted her with a very special present this year for her birthday - one of his gorgeous, hand made signature items....

That really made her day - thanks Big Al!

Mom, thanks for joining us on all our crazy adventures.  Have a happy birthday - I love you!

2 FTF's for the PapaNonny Clan

On Sunday the PapaNonny Clan was up and out, bright and early, grabbing some Chicago caches.  We come across a lot of "Blue Star Highway" signs when we geocache....

The next one was an Illinois Spirit Quest cache and located just outside a cemetery...

Papa made the find...

We had a couple that we had to be extra stealthy on....

We were headed back towards home when 2catchick checked her phone alerts and realized that 2 new caches had just published and we were less than a mile away from them.  We decided to try for the FTF (first to find).  In our area, we have some FTF hounds that are super speedy and it's practically impossible to beat them to a newly released cache.  But we thought we might have a slight edge since we were already in the car and less than a mile away.

Louie pushed the pedal to the metal     drove cautiously over to the nearest cache.  He had barely rolled to a stop before the car doors were shoved open and we all rushed out, dashing across the parking lot towards the woods.  I'm almost embarrassed to say that we left my mom in the dust.  Hey, it's a FTF and it's every man for himself!

The GPS showed that we were a couple hundred feet from the cache and we quickly picked our way over logs and brush to ground zero.....

Success!  A pristine log and we got the FTF!  Papa checks the date and time and 2catchick logs us in....

We quickly looked up the 2nd cache that just published and realized that it was less than 2 blocks away.  2catchick and I briefly debated running across an open field to get to the cache, but since it was only about 25 degrees out, we decided Louie could drive us around just as quickly.  We ran back to the car and pointed in the general direction we needed to go.  Louie maneuvered us around a couple of parking lots and pulled up less than 300 feet away from the cache.  Off we went again, eyes scanning in all directions, shocked that none of the usual FTF hounds were pulling up yet.

This cache was hidden in a rather marshy area, but when you're going for a FTF, you don't care if your feet are getting wet or muddy.....

Look at this cute little guy - this was the cache....

We signed our 2nd FTF log of the morning!

Any day spent geocaching is a good day, but any day with TWO FTF's is even better!!!

Cache Crazy Celebrates ONE year!!

Congratulations to all my friends over at CacheCrazy - Today they are celebrating 1 year of blogging!

CacheCrazy is put together by a really wonderful and fun group of geocachers.  As many of you know, I'm a frequent author over there as well, and I really enjoy sharing my posts with them.  Kevin, aka Bloodhounded, is sort of our fearless leader.  He keeps us all organized and does a damn fine job of updating the blog with new features.  When he first contacted me and asked me to guest post over there, I was so honored.  Since then, I've posted many times and made new friends with a great bunch of people.

So to all my friends at CacheCrazy, I'd like to offer a big congrats on this milestone.  Here's to another year of great writing and new adventures.  Thanks for including me in your group.

google images

Phooning with The PapaNonny Clan!

In the geocaching world, around our parts, my family is collectively known as "The PapaNonny Clan."  Local geocacher Walt Grogan dubbed us that awhile back, and it stuck.  He called us that because there are so many of us in our family that are always caching together.

So here's most of the PapaNonny Clan phooning over the weekend!

World Record Sanibel Stoop

Yesterday was an exciting day on Sanibel Island.  Over 700 shell lovers gathered on the beach to set a Guinness Book of World Record for the most people doing the Sanibel Stoop at the same time.

The Sanibel Stoop is when you bend over to grab a shell.  The Sanibel Stoop is a familiar sight all up and down the Sanibel shoreline.  At all times of the day or night you can see people on the beach with their butts pointed skyward while they snatch up prized shells.

To read more about the Stoop record and to see some fun pictures, head over to i Love Shelling and read Pam's account of the day.  It looks like it was a lot of fun.  You might see some familiar faces from my blog as well.  Captain Brian from Observations on the Water was there, Karen from The Essential Beachcomber was there and Rhonda from Shellbelles Tiki Hut was there.  I'm just sad I didn't get to go as well!

Pam, Brian & Karen.  (photo courtesy of Capt. Brian)

Be sure to stop by their blogs later on as I'm sure they will have lots of pictures posted.

Cache Containers

I am constantly amazed by the creative and different cache containers that people can come up with.  Some are rather large......

Some use everyday objects in a new way...

Birdhouses are a popular theme....

Some take a bit of time to construct.....

Some are hidden in plain sight....

You just never know what kind of container you are going to find -  And that's part of the fun!

What's the best one you've ever found?