Geocaching?!

[Chino]

Found 15 caches today. 10 in Pennsylvania, 3 in New Jersey, and 2 in NY. I've now found caches in 1/10 of the states in the United States!

[Nick]

Still haven't done that puzzle as I haven't been able to have any big GC time lately, but tried to get a FTF today and ended up being 4th, but met 3 other cachers.

[rumborak]

Did one cache the other day, just to see what it's about. Although I didn't find it, I can definitely say it's not my thing. The aspect that I could like about it, i.e. the navigation part, is essentially taken out of the equation because the GPS tells you exactly where to go.

rumborak

[Nick]

That's the type of response I'd expect from a pineapple loving goat.

[Chino]

So I got to work today on my series of caches that I thought up last week. Quick back story... While I was caching in PA a few weeks ago, one cache I found was named something like "George is grate". The cash was in a pill sized aluminum bottle dangling by fishing line 15 feet into a sewer. I thought that was very clever and unique. I never saw anything like that while caching in CT. So I decided, even though I was not a fan, that I would make a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. I bought four large aluminum pill tubes off amazon for this project. I plan to have each of the four caches hidden in four different sewers around my town. Each corner of my town is completely different than the rest of the town, so it should give out-of-towners a good look at where I live. I plan on sanding the anodized coating off of the tubes and painting them a dark green. The green should help with camouflaging, as well as go with the turtle theme. Once painted, each aluminum tube is going to have a different colored headband painted on it along with a pair of eyes. The caches are going to be called " TMNT *insert ninja turtle name here* Cache", and they will correspond with their respective head bands. I was debating using the sewers of only pizza places in town, but it would be too repetitive as well as boring.

I plan on buying my paint on my day off tomorrow. I think the Connecticut/geocaching logo was a nice little touch.

 

[Nick]

I'm in PA and there was a cache just like you described not 5 minutes from me, thought it was pretty nifty.

[Chino]

I'm in PA and there was a cache just like you described not 5 minutes from me, thought it was pretty nifty.

I was surprised by how many like that were down there. I found 15 that day (planned on getting more but found a fireworks store) and I think 3 or 4 of them were that sewer style.

[Chino]

Painted the containers for my TMNT series.

[Nick]

Nice. May I suggest making this some sort of multi/puzzle cache where you figure out a coordinate at each one somehow so when you get all four you can find a final cache with a picture of Splinter on it.

[Chino]

I have actually been contemplating that. I was thinking about getting a fake rat and turning it into a cache. I've seen a bee, a bird, a gnome, and a hotdog.... I assume there is a rubber rat cat toy I could find. I was thinking of putting it in the sewer of the pizza hut in town.

[Nick]

Fantastic idea. 

[Chino]

[ich bin besser]

Awesome!! 
I fully support the idea of multi cache. The effort will be worth it. Regular caches, you find everywhere.

[Chino]

Awesome!! 
I fully support the idea of multi cache. The effort will be worth it. Regular caches, you find everywhere.

Wrong emoticon? 

[Nick]

Holy shit dude, this is going to be epic. Nice work!

[Chino]

Thanks dude!! 

[ich bin besser]

Yeah, wrong emoticon. Sorry. 

[Chino]

[Chino]

Man... Finding sewers in my town that aren't in heavy traffic is a lot harder than I thought 

[ich bin besser]

Do you know yet whether it's gonna be a multi cache or not? If so, what would the multi be like?

[Nick]

Chino inspired me to use part of my day off today to do most of the legwork for my first hide. Basically there are 7 funeral homes located in a very small area, and I'm making it so you have to get info at each one to get final cords. I found where I'm going to hide in a nearby cemetery, and just need to fine a cool container (will be something funeral related), plant it, and submit the forms. Here is generally what people will be doing:


N 40 EF.CGA
W 075 EG.BDB

A = Go to Bachman, Kulik and Reinsmith FH. The waypoint takes you to the main entrance off of Hamilton Street. There are several large decorative rocks a few feet from the sidewalk around the driveway to the parking lot. Take the number of rocks + 1 to get A. Note: This is only the rocks a few feet from the sidewalk, and includes the total number of rocks on both sides of the driveway, not the number on each side. DO NOT include any large rocks that are more than 10 feet from the sidewalk.
B = Go to Weber FH. There is a walkway from Hamilton Street leading to the front door. If the flagpole is on the west side of this walkway, then B is 0. If the flagpole is on the east side of this walkway, then B is 1.
C = Go to Burkholder FH. If the main sign is Teal, then C is 0. If the main sign is yellow, then C is 3. If the main sign is gray, then C is 6. If the main sign is burgundy, then C is 9.
D = Go to Judd funeral home. If the main sign is red, then D is 2. If the main sign is yellow, then D is 3. If the main sign is blue, then D is 4. If the main sign is green, then D is 5.
E = Go to Elias FH. On the top of the main sign there are Greek columns depicted. E is the number of columns depicted.   
F = Go to Stephens FH. The front of the building has a plethora of awnings which are primarily white and one other color. If that other color is red, then F is 2. If that other color is yellow, then F is 3. If that other color is blue, then F is 4. If that other color is green, then F is 5.
G = Go to Weir FH. Look at the front door, on the right side of the door, right next to the mailbox is a window. If that window is oval shaped, then G = 0. If that window is circular shaped, then G = 3. If that window is rectangular shaped, then G = 6. If that window is square shaped, then G = 9.

[ich bin besser]

Cool idea! The container has to do be funeral related, indeed.
Just make sure that the hiding place is as far as possible from any graves...

Kinda reminds me of a cache for lost travelbugs I saw here in Germany. Someone put a wooden cross near a quiet street with a name on it that sounded like "travelbug" (can't remember the exact name). There were some candles and decoration in front of the cross so that it looked like a real memorial place. The logbook was in one of the decoration parts.

[Nick]

It's going to be in a tree across a path from any graves, so no worries there. Going to poke around work tomorrow and see if I can dig up anything usable.

[Chino]

Do you know yet whether it's gonna be a multi cache or not? If so, what would the multi be like?

I didn't make it a multi-cache. In all honesty, I didn't want to be bothered. These were my first hides. If all goes well, I'd like to do a multi in the near future.



 

[Nick]

I've started getting the box together on mine as well...

(trying something new from phone, pic might not work)



The plate is the same kind we use on top of caskets and would typically display name and birth/death dates. The box it's on is the type of plastic container we receive cremated remains in before we transfer them to an urn (unless the family doesn't purchase an urn in which case that is the urn).

Because the end caps don't really go on and off easily I'm either going to put a tupperware container inside of it, or put a big freezer bag around the whole thing.

[Nick]

Also, I'm relatively sure my girlfriend either bought or made me a few caches for my birthday. She's artsy crafty, so if she made them I'm sure they'll be awesome, and if she bought them I'm hoping for like the fake rocks or pinecones and shit to really screw people over.

[ich bin besser]

Because the end caps don't really go on and off easily I'm either going to put a tupperware container inside of it, or put a big freezer bag around the whole thing.

Nah, please avoid freezer bags. A tupperware container would be much nicer.
Looking forward to your birthday cache! That's a great thing having a cache dedicated to you.

[Chino]

The box it's on is the type of plastic container we receive cremated remains in before we transfer them to an urn (unless the family doesn't purchase an urn in which case that is the urn).

So that's your most modestly priced receptacle?

[Chino]

Also, I'm relatively sure my girlfriend either bought or made me a few caches for my birthday. She's artsy crafty, so if she made them I'm sure they'll be awesome, and if she bought them I'm hoping for like the fake rocks or pinecones and shit to really screw people over.

I was looking at a post on the geocaching forums earlier. One guy hid a cache in a stump, but hung fake pine cones in the trees around it. Everyone kept getting thrown off by the decoys 

[Nick]

Because the end caps don't really go on and off easily I'm either going to put a tupperware container inside of it, or put a big freezer bag around the whole thing.

Nah, please avoid freezer bags. A tupperware container would be much nicer.
Looking forward to your birthday cache! That's a great thing having a cache dedicated to you.

I was vague, she's not actually putting it out and activating it on my birthday, I think she plans on just giving them to me so I can hide them. Still really awesome I think!

The box it's on is the type of plastic container we receive cremated remains in before we transfer them to an urn (unless the family doesn't purchase an urn in which case that is the urn).

So that's your most modestly priced receptacle?

At a price of free, yes!

[Nick]

Also, I'm relatively sure my girlfriend either bought or made me a few caches for my birthday. She's artsy crafty, so if she made them I'm sure they'll be awesome, and if she bought them I'm hoping for like the fake rocks or pinecones and shit to really screw people over.

I was looking at a post on the geocaching forums earlier. One guy hid a cache in a stump, but hung fake pine cones in the trees around it. Everyone kept getting thrown off by the decoys 

From afar, that man is my hero, however had I gone looking for that I would despise him with all of my soul.

[Chino]

So I am having trouble getting my caches enabled. Two of them when live without a hitch. One was found not even 8 hours after it was approved. I got a message about the other one being good to go, I just have to include the state in which it is located?.?. I have resubmitted that one. The fourth one is in violation of the proximity rule. I need to be 528 feet away from another cache, but I'm only like 415. I'm begging the reviewer to let it slide. It's so hard finding good sewers lol. Not to mention the cache is only under 528 feet if you draw a straight line. If you actually walk it out, it's closer to a half mile to actual get to it.

[ich bin besser]

Afaik, there won't be exceptions from the proximity rule any longer. You can try to, but don't be disappointed if not.
But yes, you have to keep in mind quite a lot of rules when submitting a cache...

[Nick]

Here is my write up so far, less the portion of notes I have at home with the questions about each funeral home, and the coordinates. Let me know if anything jumps out at you as being red flagged or wrong.

Welcome to my very first hide!

One of Allentown’s somewhat odd features is the number of funeral homes located in a rather small area around center city. On Hamilton Street alone there are three between 16th and 17th (Bachman, Kulik & Reinsmith/Weber/Burkholder) and two additional ones a little farther down (Judd/Elias). And if that’s not enough, nearby on Linden is Stephen’s, and on Turner is Weir. I’ve heard the Hamilton Street homes referred to as Funeral Home Row, or Death Row, or other such names and that’s how this cache gets its name.

While you could technically drive around to complete this cache, as the name would suggest the point is to walk around and have a good look at this cross-selection of Allentown’s funeral establishments. If you take my suggested route this cache will result in a 2.5 mile walk and can be completed in around an hour. But what is the suggested route you ask? The starting coordinate is at 17th and Hamilton where you can find street parking on either street. Walk down Hamilton until you get to Elias F.H. and then go north a block to Linden. Take Linden to West Park (passing Stephen’s F. H. on the way), and then cut through the beautiful park to Turner Street. You can take Turner Street to Weir funeral home and then will be able to find the final cords, get the cache, and return to your vehicle.

I suppose I should back up once again and let you fine folks know how visiting all these places will actually help you find the cache. Well, here are some nice puzzled cords for you:

N
W

-Space Filler-

This is set up so you don’t have to actually go on the property of any of these establishments, and of course if there are any engagements going on I ask that you be as discreet as possible as you pass by. I do work for one of these homes, so if you have any questions on them or the funeral industry in general feel free to send me a message. You can also message me if you are color blind, and I will give you the answers to the color related parts of the puzzle.

The actual cache itself should be quite easy, and the only reason this is a difficulty of two stars is because of the time and exercise required. While the research portion of this cache can probably be done 24/7 as the funeral homes are generally well lit at night, you must get the actual cache during daylight hours.

The container keeps with the theme of the cache, and is an actual box used by a crematory in which they would place cremated remains when there is no urn, or when a funeral home will be transferring the ashes to an urn themselves. Fear not, a bag is used to line the box, so nobody’s ashes actually touched the box. On the outside of the box is a plate with the name of the cache etched into it. Typically these plates would be place on top of a casket to display the name and birth/death dates of the decedent. Since I do not have coins, I have decided to place an additional plate in the cache as a unique trophy for whoever claims first to find. Plenty of room for trackables and trade items in the cache, good luck!

[ich bin besser]

Looks good!
I'm curious how many people will actually walk the route.