31 Days of Geocaching: Day 10

Yesterday was an AMAZING day!

My sister, Lorna, (caching name WikidKriket) just completed her 366 challenges (she cached every day for 366 days completing both a streak and her 366 grid). In celebration, we spent the day Geocaching from Harrison Township to near Jackson, Michigan, picking up challenge caches along the way!

Blue dot is home base

We started early, after a snack stop at 7-11, heading East. First stop, Harrison Township where I claimed my 500-day caching streak challenge. We drove along the Eastern coast. We found Virtuals (more on this later), regular caches (called "Traditionals"), more challenges, and puzzle finals (you have to solve a puzzle to assemble the final cache coordinates).

One of the more memorable challenge finals was the Pulling Teeth: The 365 Day Streak Challenge. It was located behind a dentists' office. I was having sympathy pains as I had emergency dental work the day before!

After completing the East side, we cruised to Heritage Park in Farmington Hills. On this beautiful, blue day, Lorna and I walked the 1/2-mile River Path to the 366 Calendar Date Challenge cache.

Although the trails don't appear on our GPSr, I've been here enough times over the past year to walk us right to it!

We found it! Lorna tried to eat it (just kidding)!

But that was a HOT walk - a mile, round trip, in and out of the direct sun, up and down some undulating paths. After that was a break in Pei Wei's air conditioning!

OK, off to Scio and Jackson!

A friend of ours likes to hide geocaches near the former sites of movie theatres, ballrooms, and Drive-in Theatres (the Michigan Cinema History and Detroit Cinema History series). In his cache descriptions, he includes the history of the cinema and the history of that particular structure (often accompanied with the most amazing photos).

All that's left of the Scio Drive-in

On the way to Jackson, Lorna and I stopped at the Scio Drive-In Theatre. This drive-in has 2 very interesting factoids:

1. It was the first drive-in in Michigan that featured double ramps to compliment its 65' screen.
2. It was closed under controversy because the last owners projected porn on its 65' screen, making it easily visible to the motorists on I-94.

After that, we headed further West for one last joint challenge cache, the 365 Straight Days of Caching. This place was in the middle of.... Michigan... and nowhere. Just fields and fields of green and one lonely cache! I took a picture of the only tree nearby. Really peaceful, even though the road ran parallel to the highway.

After that challenge, onto Ann Arbor for Cherry Republic! Yum! For those not from here, Cherry Republic is a community-minded, environment-devoted, Michigan-based company that sells cherry products. The best cherry products. And they have a storefront on Maine Street. Outside the store, we saw two things of interest: a wolf playing violin and a fairy door. There are doors throughout Main Street catering to the wee folk.

As we left the store with Cherry Root Beer, Cherry Gingerale, Cherry Brownies, and Cherry Mustard, Lorna and I realized we had time for one last adventure... A Virtual!

A Virtual is a grandfathered cache type - very rare and can no longer be created. They were a way to draw attention to a site, usually of historic or artistic significance, where a traditional cache could not be hidden. To prove that you have visited the site, you must generally answer verification questions (and, sometimes, take a picture of yourself).

One of the Virtuals in Ann Arbor is The Wave Field. This field was created as a memorial for a former U of M graduate by his Baroness mother. And, let me tell you, it was DECEPTIVELY comfortable!

Now, THIS is caching!

After another small stop (we'll discuss Earth Caches another day), we headed for home where my Sweetie had hot chocolate chip cookies awaiting.

I love Geocaching because of the people I meet, the places I go, and the things I learned. And that sums up my motivation for my 526 (to date) day streak.