Insane Train Part Duex: Rise of the Tweens

 

Insane Train Part Duex: Rise of the Tweens

 

 

 

  I have been going caching in bigger groups since our first cache machine GC10X8A March 2007. Since then I have been planning caching trips all over the western United States with my friends and family. Most of these trips have centered around power trails and big numbers for a weekend+ So now that I have 10,000 finds and have done way to many power trails. My focus for the Insane Train has shifted. First we are not taking a big group this time just four guys in a small car acting whatever age we want! Since our wives are going to be at home there will be no remorse for things we do. I am not going to fully get into that just use your own imagination for that, just think four twelve year old boys going cross country unsupervised! Now we will not be getting into trouble with the law or anything even close to that, but chili and onions are acceptable snacks on this trip. And bring on the Red Robin Onion rings! Second high numbers of caches is not on our list of priorities anymore. We are going after states and oldest caches this time.

 

 

You now know what is going but you don’t know who. You also know what we are going after but you don’t know where. And when may we be coming near you?

 

 

 So stay tuned for some new blog posts about 2013 Insane Train.

Getting back to the basics

Getting back to the basics

While I love the numbers runs with my friends from all over I am very glad to have hit my 10,000 cache (not logged yet Washington Delrome Challenge Sept 16^th) so I can slow down with all these self-imposed goals and deadlines and get back to what was the most fun about geocaching.

   

 
 

All these pictures are from our first three months of caching. September 16^th 2006 through December 2006. I loved caching with my family and while I still cache with them the last year has seen me go on these long weekend caching trips with friends while I leave my family behind.

Well I am happy to say we have cache a ton as a family since I got my 10,000^th. Almost all of the finds have been as a family, and most of those are day long caching trips.

These pictures are all from the last two months. While I am planning a couple trips for next year that will take me from my family, I am planning a bunch that we all go together. I am going to try and take them on a power run this spring, 5 or more waterfalls in a weekend. I hope we can get five to ten caches that weekend but who cares if we do, we are getting back to the reason I loved caching so much when I first started, adventure with the whole family.

Please don’t think that I am bashing numbers runs or anything like that, I just love geocaching and the fact that you can make this game anything you want it to be. I am just getting back to friends and family caching without a ton of numbers. Thanks for reading now get off the computer or phone and go caching!

Going Super Social

Going Super Social

Well if it wasn't for Geocaching I never would have even gotten a FB account. Now I am hosting a Live Google+ hangout televised on YouTube! How did I get here from there? 

Really I don’t know how it happened but with the rise of Google+ I have started to go super social. Accepting cachers into my circles from all over the world because of the relatively easy way to separate them from friends and family posts. And with the expansion of geocachers sharing things with me I have started to listen to more Podcasts and read more blogs that  are out there. I even have been featured on Cache-A-Maniacs Connections episode. Episode 8 Quadsinthemudd  This is something that never would have happened had Google+ not come around.

One other great thing from Google+ is the hangout that you can see and talk to others all over the world directly through your Google+ feed. I have not done a ton of this since you have to be stuck at a computer for this (my smart phone is not able to do it but some can). And Google has also made Hangouts Live, so now as someone records a show through Google Hangouts you can watch them live while they record it.

I was introduced to one such show Ultimate Caching Quests. This show while not my favorite has one of the best segments of any Podcast, Blog or Hangout. They challenge us to a geocaching related task every other week. This has become a fun way to cache for Globaltreckers and I. We live 7 hours away from each other but still have found ways to complete these challenges together.  I find that every other week I am just chomping at the bit to find out what they are going to try and get us to do. This has really inspired our caching and given us ideas at new ways to cache and we have had some fun thinking up some new challenges for them.  We even sent them a video challenge for them to complete.

So this brings us to the point of going super social.  We have been challenge to find a cache blindfolded while we are being directed by a fellow cacher. Sounds fun but there is now way John and I can complete this one together……..or……..wait a minute.

Technology + determination + geocachers = Super Geeky Fun!  We are going to use John’s smart phone with Google+ hangout capability, my home computer with webcam and Live Google+ hangout to find a special cache. I will be directing John from my home computer while he is blindfolded and searching for the cache all while you can watch this LIVE WHILE IT HAPPENS!  

So now I am blogging about my Super Geeky Social Fun. If my English teacher in high school could see me now writing for fun she would have a coronary right on the spot. 

Reliving my 2,000th find

Reliving my 2,000th find

Thanks to Dave DeBaeremaeker and his blog 

Only Googlebot Reads This Blog I relived one of my most memorable caching adventures. It was so big it took four log posts to log this find. So check out GC10DDH after you read my log it is a great cache.

Well this is a story about the diagnosis of OCCD*.

It was 2:30 on a Friday afternoon when Cache Assets called to tell me the airline messed up his kids’ flights so he was going to be up late at night and was wondering if I wanted to get my 2000 find while he was here. Without a slight bit of hesitation I said YES! The bad news was I was 32 caches away with only 220 caches within 50 miles of the house. For the average cacher it would have been a big road block, but for a cacher with OCCD* it was not a problem.

So at 4:30pm I headed up to Anatone to put in Mossman’s boat windshield before my adventure could start. That was the last thing that went right for the rest of the time.

Stop 1 Cache 0 Obstacle 1 Enee Menee Minee Rock I forgot the cords to this cache so we looked for a little bit at different rock piles but left empty handed.

Stop 0 Cache 0 Obstacle 2 The road across the Blue Mountains was very very muddy from all the rain and in my two wheel drive truck it was almost a no go. Slow and steady but we made it.

Stop 2 Cache 1 Obstacle 0 Brett's Birthday bash This was a text book find for me and the dogs loved it. The hiding spot was a little wet with all the rain but the cache was in great shape.

Stop 3 Cache 2 Obstacle 0 Lost in the Blue Mtns. Another quick find out in some beautiful county

Stop 4 Cache 3 Obstacle 0 The Sound of Music did blitz do that? Good spot for a cache but the fog was so thick we couldn’t see anything.

Stop 5 Cache 4 Obstacle 0 Misery Drift Inn the dogs ran all over on this one. A lot sloppy to get to but I had a no stop policy today.

Stop 0 Cache 0 Obstacle 3 Linville Ridge Rd This road was so muddy I almost wasn’t able to go down hill on it! I was sinking in the mudd three to six inches in places and was sliding around every corner. All the way down the hill there was spots were people would turn around and head back down because their 4x4 couldn’t make it up.

Stop 6 Cache 5 Obstacle 4 Rainbow Lake Revisited This was the worst cache of the trip. I drove up and down the road looking for the trail to the cache but it was dark and no such luck for me tonight. So we parked at the first camp site and followed some trials, one of the dogs ran off because she is afraid of water and the dark so I had to go back to the truck to leave the dog safe and sound in the truck. So back off to find the cache I went. I came to a spot in the creek were it was flowing over some rocks and not that deep. After crossing the creek I made my way away from the creek toward an imaginary trail that I thought should be just on the other side of the next sticker bush. I finally came to a spot were I ran out off dry land to walk on. So I started to use tree branches to stay out of the deep stuff. I was only about 65 feet away so turning back was not an option. I was now into “water” that was over my knee and smelled like cow crap but I was within 30 feet now. By the time I hit the trail I was bloody, wet and only a few feet away from the cache. It was a quick find and I was on the trail headed for the bridge over the creek. I crossed over the bridge and walked onto the road and turned around I really couldn’t see the trail I was just on. There was no way I would have found that in the dark. But I found it so that is all that matters.

Stop 7 Cache 6 Obstacle 0 Hopkins Ridge/Maloney Mountain This was a routine find for me tonight except for the mouse that almost ran across my hand.

Stop 8 Cache 7 Obstacle 0 Lewis & Clark Camp Nice cache I was able to stop and eat a little and also check my messages since I had cell signal again.

Stop 9 Cache 8 Obstacle 0 Pointing the Way quick stop and grab except for the traffic driving by.

Stop 10 Cache 9 Obstacle 0 Step Right Up...or Down very fast find

Stop 11 Cache 0 Obstacle 5 Flour Mill Park Cache Park is closed at night NEXT!

Stop 12 Cache 10 Obstacle 0 Touchet River @ Rose Gulch Routine find thanks

Stop 13 cache 11 Obstacle 0 Rest Stop Treasure Yes it was closed at night but you couldn’t see my truck from the road so off I went.

Stop 14 cache 0 Obstacle 6 Touchet River @ US12 20 mins and the clue with no find, Gone?

Stop 15 Cache 12 Obstacle 0 Touchet River @ Gallaher Road nice walk down the way thanks.

Stop 16 Cache 13 Obstacle 0 Whoop'em Up quick find must keep moving on.

Stop 17 Cache 14 obstacle 7 Wait This was a quick find in a field of star thistles. What was not quick was looking for the dog who followed her nose around the fence and couldn’t get back.

Stop 18 Cache 15 Obstacle 0 Learning Geography Thanks for the quick smiley

Stop 19 Cache 16 Obstacle 0 Gate to the Old Country Quick find

Stop 20 Cache 17 Obstacle 0 Eastgate Frontier routine find

Stop 21 Cache 18 Obstacle 0 EZ$ 2 Routine find

Stop 22 Cache 0 Obstacle 8 Waiting for a Ride To many muggles to look real well. Waited a bit but no luck with the muggles.

Stop 23 Cache 0 Obstacle 9 Menlo Park If the difficulty is really a 1 I need help. Or I am just a little fried and overlooked the obvious.

Stop 24 Cache 0 Obstacle 10 Memorial Pool Park As I pulled up a lady was letting her dog do it’s biz near ground zero

Stop 25 Cache 19 Obstacle 11 Xeriscape Revisited This one can be tough to get to if you are not going the right way on the right street and parking is limited except for the parking lot across the street that is also tough to get to.

Stop 26 Cache 0 Obstacle 12 Memorial Pool Park Was able to look this time but came up empty handed.

Stop 27 Cache 0 Obstacle 13 Organic Gardening Well we didn’t stop here since there was a bunch of people there this morning

Stop 28 Cache 0 Obstacle 14 Public Bench & Plaza How can anybody search in this spot? Waited for a few but a solid stream of muggles coming from the farmers market made it impossible.

Stop 29 Cache 20 Obstacle 0 Tektonik Shift Cache needs some help. Looks like it was a good one but the clue doesn’t work anymore since it has fallen apart

Stop 30 Cache 21 Obstacle 0 Tree City USA I found this one right away but as I turned around someone was coming up the path! Good thing it was just the cache owner. Had a nice visit and off to continue my trek.

Stop 31 Cache 22 Obstacle 0 Rose Parking Lot Quick find thanks.

Stop 32 Cache 23 Obstacle 0 EZ$ 5 Thanks as advertised

Stop 33 Cache 24 Obstacle 0 Washington Park Not as fast as I would have liked but still got it done thanks

Stop 34 Cache 25 Obstacle 0 Doctor's Waiting Room This is the way a cache run should go fast and not a lot of muggles.

Stop 35 Cache 26 Obstacle 0 Green Egg and Scram Water proof? Well it was thanks

Stop 36 Cache 0 Obstacle 15 Hit the Road, Jack! Way to many Muggles for me to get this one. But got breakfast instead!

Stop 37 Cache 0 Obstacle 16 Muffler Art Topped her to eat my breakfast and grab one last cache before I headed back to the quad cities. But people were everywhere so Down the food went and off we went.

Stop 38 Cache 27 Obstacle 0 Flour Mill Park Cache it is open during the day so this was a quick grab and potty break then go cache.

Stop 39 Cache 28 Obstacle 0 Reubens Roundabout After getting back to the valley and picking up some friends we were off to get three more caches so I could hit 2000. This one was just as advertised a quick walk great for the dogs easy to find and back to the truck in no time. This should be an easy finish?

Stop 40 Cache 0 Obstacle 17 The Ties that Bind Well as I had said before it had rained a lot so the southern road was impassable for a two wheel drive truck and the northern road came to a gate with no trespassing sign on it. Well since we were almost out of fuel and needed to get one more cache we went over to Winchester for cache and gas.

Stop 41 Cache 29 Obstacle 0 Kickin It At The Campground A quick cache to fill the void left by another cache. 

Stop 40 Cache 0 Obstacle 18 SPYDER CAVES Well this one is my fault that we didn’t get. I knew the general location of the final from pictures so we just started hiking. And not lookin at our gps. Well I thought the cords that we had gotten were for the final so we walked right past the next set of cords. And just kept going. By the time we got back to the cords we didn’t have enough time to go to the final and meet my wife who came back from Spokane early for the demolition derby that was postponed (no cell coverage to call and tell her) so we had to abandon ship for now.

Stop 41 Cache 0 Obstacle 19 HGBP - Rookery After dinner and a little sweet talking we were on our way to the only cache in the valley for me to get to fill the void of the missing spyder caves cache. Wel it was dark but we were going to cross anyways with flash light we needed this cache! But even I had to call off the attempt when I saw how high the river had gotten from those stupid rains.

Stop 42 Cache 30 Obstacle 0 SS-1 Well there was nothing in the valley I could get so up to Moscow we went. It was late so no muggles around for this find but once I found it I was signing the log when some people came out of the video store. It was no big deal I was just writing on some paper…are you a geocacher? Me? How did he know I was only writing on some paper? It was the cache owner. We had a nice little chat and back down to Lewiston we went.

Stop 43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50 U-turn 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Phone a friend 1 (sorry guys I will never tell who) Cache 31 or #2000! Obstacle 20,21,22,23,24,25 Picturing a Piece of Lewiston Thanks Debbie this one was one I have been bugged about getting since before we moved down here. I always have wanted to do it but never took the time. So I thought I would make it my 2000 find. Yes Dale you were right I should have finished the puzzle before and just save the final it would have made it a lot less stressful. We found all but one picture but that is okay since it was the last number in the cords we would still be able to find it...I hoped. Well I guessed on the number and I was right. The cords put me within 1 foot of the container. Thanks for feeding my OCCD (Obsessive Compulsive Caching Disorder). This disease can not be self diagnosed but must be observed by a panel of your closes friends with the verdict being unanimous.

So that was my adventure and have found 8,000 more since then. This game sure is fun at times ;)

More stamps I have made

More Stamps I've made

Our Route 66 Stamp

This is our stamp we used while on the Insane Train trip through Arizona, California, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Washington. It really sums up what most caching trips are like with us. 

Portland Cache Machine Stamp

GC2W3NR

The story with this stamp is, well, ummmm.... you get part of it but the other part is Portland Oregon is called the city of Roses. So Flower from Bambi doing what she does really embodies what we do :) 

Help me on this one!

Another stamp I made for a Cache Machine but for the life of me I can't remember which one. So if you know please post for me. Thanks.

Stamp it!

Some of the stamps I have created

On Google+ I was asked if I used stickers to sign the logs on power trail. No I don't I make stamps to go along with the group I am with and the area that we are caching in. So here are a few of my creations and the stories that go with them.

My Personal Stamp

I created this stamp for my personal use while caching. It uses brown ink so it looks like mudd.

The GeoShuttle Stamp

I created this stamp for my friends trip to the first ET Highway. The stamp is of a Ford Explorer as the Space Shuttle because they were taking their Explorer and they named it the GeoShuttle. After they returned home this stamp was made into a Letterbox cache GC2H38J.

NW Alien Hunter

This stamp was created for my trip to the second ET Highway. You can see this thing stamped in Nevada over 1500 times!!

These are just three of the stamps I have made. I will add another post with a few more in a bit. I really love to make these things for our different trips and friends. 

Will my wife ever get a weekend with me?

Will my wife ever get a weekend with me?

So it's not all about the numbers. But sometime it's a lot about the numbers. I'm in the final stretch of my 10,000 push. I am headed to Tonopah NV to get 450 caches this Labor day. I was hoping to get it done so I could spend it with the family but that didn't happen so off to the ET Highway again. Globaltreckers needs 805 caches and I need 465 caches. So I will be grabbing only ones I need and not signing the rest, then hitting up the others on the trail I have already found. 

How many of you would do that? I think I am kinda sick in the head, but loving every minute of it.

So the best part off this weekend is another chance for a car load of 12 year old boys to get together and have some seriously juvenile FUN! 

Stay tuned for some GoPro video of our high jinx :) 

10,000 Smiles

&

1 Long Frown

So how can you make your sixth anniversary more work than fun? Make a goal that is tough to reach!

September 16th I will have been caching for 6 years and what fun that has been. In the last few years I have done some serious power caching on the ET highway, Route 66 and a few other smaller power runs and I am burned out on numbers. So WHAT was I thinking when I thought of making my 10,000 cache by my anniversary? Shouldn't be tough I'll just hit some trails and it will be easy. 

Well I am now down to the wire, I have switched jobs so I can no longer grab a few caches everyday and I am totally burned out on power runs. So that brings us down to one month left and I need 800 caches (yup I know my profile says more but I am being lazy in logging also). So I will head down to Boise hit some trails and be done with it. One problem I start doing the power trail and I just want to go for a hike, get one with a ton of fav points, go swimming or anything but be stuck in a car all day getting the same cache over and over again. I do have some great fun with my friends (check this video out) but now I have to give up my Labor day weekend to go get 500 caches. So off to the ET highway again to get the newest caches and ride with my buddy while he gets another 500 caches I already have so he will reach 10,000 on the same day! Crazy? NO! INSANE? YUP for sure! My wife keeps saying just quit. But I can't quit it is not in my blood. So in a week and a half I will be driving 16 hours to cache all day and get 1,000 caches (only can sign 500) and driving back just to say that I have 10,000 caches in six years. Dumb, very dumb. I vow this to be almost for sure my last power trail!

If anyone is up in the Sammamish, Washington area on the 16th of September come see us at my party 10,000 Smiles in six years what a game and get a smiley for yourself.

Everytrail Trip Created

Everytrail Trip Created

I have created an Everytrail.com trip for the INSANE Train run. It is missing about 400 miles from the beginning and end of the trip that we were not caching. Check it out at Everytrail.com

Day 4: Expect the unexpected

Day 4: Expect the unexpected

The day after the power trail took a bit to get going for some of us we were starting to feel a bit sluggish.  Hurshh needed a few more caches so we could double his find count and push him to 2,000 caches, so off we went to another trail of caches. This first group of caches were in the Mojave desert just outside of Searchlight, NV.  This trail was down a long dirt road to nowhere with caches on both sides but we only got the ones down the middle since it was getting hot and we had a seven hour drive today to get to our hotel.

So with the minor trail done and it was getting late we decided to stop in Vegas for some grub before half of our train headed for Oregon while we headed back to SE Washington.  While in Vegas last time Grizz Rider had eaten at the Heart Attack Grill and said the burgers were to DIE for so with a quick straw poll it was decided, big fat greasy burgers it was.  At Heart Attack Grill there is nothing healthy on the menu but it all was excellent tasting.  This was a sad moment for me because Globaltreckers  were breaking off from us and we only had two days with them.

Gas and go we had a long drive and it would be 1am before we got to our hotel in Wells, NV.  So a quick stop at a gas station in NE Vegas provided a surprise. DR D a fellow cacher from the quad cities that was moving to Arizona this weekend. He stopped for gas at the same station at the same time as we did.  WOW that is unexpected. It was great to see the Doc one last time before he was gone.

ET 001 we had to stop for that cache since hurshh was the only one who had not found it. So he can say he did Route 66 and ET highway in one weekend ;) On the way to ET 001 I joked about we should just do another all nighter since we would be getting in so late and was feeling good and not too tired. So while we were at the ET sign Hunter made a call and we were free from the hotel reservations in Wells. So another all nighter it was. Time for the riders to settle in for the night while I braved the dark Nevada night.

As the sun was rising on us we were approaching Twin Falls ID and the Balanced Rock Series, we noticed that globaltreckers had not stopped either and had cached all night long on the way to Oregon. Quick call to John to make sure he was awake and enjoying himself. The INSANE Train was living up to its name and having a blast doing it.

As the Balanced Rock trail approached it was time for the crew to wake up and start getting ready for the assault on the last few caches we needed on the trip before we all died from lack of rest. These caches while close to the road were taking us forever to get because we all were very very tired and had lost the spring in our step. Yes even hurshh the young pup just wanted to get home! So only after 40 caches it was determined that hurshh had enough caches for 2000 and they all wanted to get home.

So you would think that that was the end of the excitement, nope not even close.  The roads were we were routed on were very bad and super sandy in spots so a little rally driving was needed to get us back to gravel. At time the Train was doing 60 MPH just to keep the momentum up to fly across the sandy spots. Man it was fun and helped bring a little life back into the INSANE Train. With the sand behind us and on a rocky road it looked like smooth sailing from here on out…..  With a stop for one last cache on top of a rocky butte the INSANE Train got one last scare/rush. SNAKE! On the climb to the top I almost got bit by a Rattle Snake and hurshh was surrounded by them.  I was able to use a rock to free us from the trap set by them and get my kids a rattle also. Yes we did get the cache but man that was a little to close for comfort. If I had not spotted the snake before I took one more step forward I would have been bitten. He never rattled at me until I hit him with a rock. After that every direction we tried to move there was a rattle.  At least we got a skin and a rattle out of the deal, I would loved to have saved the meat and tried it since I have heard it is good to eat and that snake would not have been wasted.

Now we are all super tired and still have seven hours home with a stop in Boise to pick up my family and have one more meal before the trip is over. A little BBQ in Boise and time for a nap while I ride with my wife home.  It is sad that the run is over but we all need to sleep!   We have  so many memories from this trip we could never put it all down for you to read, but over the next few weeks I’ll add a few things here and there about this trip while I post about things to come. And yes there are a few things in the works but like I said last year after the ET highway power trail NO MORE POWER TRAILS!! ;) 


Totals on the trip? That information is still being compiled. 

Route 66 Power Run day

Day 3 The Power Trail

Well today was the day for the route 66 Power Trail. On our trip so far I have had 10 hours sleep starting this day but with the energy hurshh had we would not be stopped.  The day started late with us leaving the Hotel about 7:15 so we didn't start caching until 8am. We cached non-stop for 12 1/2 hours to find 867 caches today. With hurshh doing most of the running with a few breaks from others and a crew stamping them and keeping him full of logs. While this has not been the highlight of the trip it is still something to say we have done with pride. 

We used two vehicles to move six people down the road. Stamping was done in my car and handed to the Prius to be delivered. 

This was all done over and over and over again untill there was no more light left in the sky, and then we did it over again. 

While the caches were all the same today there was a few bright spots we did find.

What a day glad to be heading in the direction of home, but I have no clue what the next two days will bring. Hopefully a few more hours of sleep.  

Just a normal day

Just a normal day today for the INSANE Train we only drove 440 miles and grabbed 24 caches.  That brings the total miles to about 1800 miles and 36 caches.  Not a power caching trip so far but a power run.

Today started out getting some real cool caches in Winslow AZ and taking a trip back in time to before I was born. It is great to see the history right before your eyes that you have seen on the TV and heard stories of.

From there we headed west stopping at some caches that were close to the highway but mostly ones we thought would be cool. Like this Old Bridge GC1CGFQ  what a fun off road excursion in the Contour to a bridge that was built in 1913!!! This cache would set the tone for the rest of the day. Fun caches and great scenery.

We then stopped in Williams AZ for some caches and was pleased with the feel of the town. A total Route 66 type of town. I can see myself coming back to this town to spend some time and ride the train to the Grand Canyon.

After that we got started to put the petal to the metal so we could get to Barstow and cache since it has a few power trails near it!  NOPE Another side trip for a few caches turned into a few hour stay with tons  of fun and a few souvenirs  purchased for the families. Seligman the town that Radiator Spring got some of it’s inspiration from was the highlight of the day for me. It was fun from start to finish. This town is kind of a tourist trap for car buffs and Route 66 lovers so I was in heaven. You really have to go to appreciate it.

So we would not get to Barstow early so why not go see the London Bridge. So one more detour was added to the trip but was well worth the time. The bridge was AWESOME and I was able to go off road with the car one more time today.  Sunset was great and dinner at Panda finished the day off great. We spent a lot of time at and on the bridge so it was getting dark by the time we left for Barstow.

We were halfway to Barstow from Lake Havasu when a cop pulled out behind us. Man I thought not again I wasn’t speeding and I had fix the license plate lights so I was sure he was not going to stop me. But I wasn’t prepared for him to pass me going over 100mph. So nothing broke and no cops today it was a good day. 

adding lake havasu and london bridge to our trip today

Just the beginning

Just the beginning

Oil everywhere, detour, friendly law enforcement officer and crazy hotel guy that kicked me out!

Well our trip started late because one of the riders showed up after six so a little behind but no big deal. Had a few things to do before we could leave town so off to get the last rider and the car washed before we left. When we got to the car wash it was closed and the car was smoking like it was on fire! So upon further inspection I noticed that when I changed the oil I forgot to put the oil cap back on so it blew motor oil all over the engine.

Next we changed the plans 8 hours before we left and decided to go to Potters Pond GC3B instead of Wyoming which would save us miles and cost us time. This was the best thing of the day so far. What an awesome place! We would love to come back with the quads some day. Also was able to get a new cache at over 9600 feet above see level!

Then it was off to the races! We were five hours behind and no way to make it up so blasting down the road we went. With only a few stops for gas we would stay only five hours behind until Hursh want to go to four corners to stand if four states at once. NO WAY WE ARE SOOOO LATE! But since it was on his bucket list we wasted another hour and twenty minutes so he can say that he has done it, but we did not get any caches.  So now we would not get into Winslow until 8pm if we did not stop to eat.  So 9pm it is with full tummies.

So now it is ten to 9 and we are three miles from our exit and along comes a nice police officer who stopped me because my license plate light was out. This was kind of an ordeal since the day I left I looked at the insurance card in my wallet and it was expired so all I could do was log into my account and save a pdf file of temporary cards on my phone with the date that I downloaded it and the valid dates for my policy. So while I was showing him all that info he asked me if I was burning oil…..well kind of and I had to tell the story of my stupidity to him. Then since I just got my new plates for the truck and the car when I put them on the vehicles I left the paperwork on my desk at home. Don’t worry it is probably safe and sound with the twelve volt splitter I forgot also. So I had to take a walk back to the cop car with him so I could give him all the info he need to bring up the fact that I was QUADS and that this was my car and I was not sad enough to steal someone’s 96 Ford Contour (don’t get me wrong I love the car but really I would steal something way better). After a few minutes he gave me some paperwork for the license plate lights and I will fix them on day two before we head for Barstow.

Then comes the fun of the night, a small little man who has nothing better to do than try and ruin someone’s night.  We arrived at the motel that I had book and was suppose have been charged in full at time of booking. So when he tried to charge my card again I asked about my reservation and told him they took my credit card info and was suppose to charge my card since the reservation price was nonrefundable and needed advance purchase.  Then he started to yell at me saying that I was calling him a liar and a thief. WHAT?! No I wasn’t there was a misunderstanding  and I just wanted to know what was up? So he kicked us out of his motel???? That’s fine we got a room it was more money and no breakfast but its all good. So if you are going to stand on the corner in Winslow Arizona do not ever stay at Americas best value inn!!!!!

Long day so good night.

28 Hours straight in the car it was well worth it. INSANE yes stupid NO!

but I would love to go back to spend 2 weeks riding the quads we are five hours behind posted route but will make that up with lack of sleep

finish the potters pond 1 of the most beautiful areas I've ever been to the united states was well worth the trip over at it why because the height of the road

new meadows idaho an hour behind schedule oil spilled all over the motor smokin funny stories and a sweeper and a complainer that it needs first

Clear the Tracks

Tracks have been cleared

The tracks have been cleared to GC3B Potters Pond in Utah so the INSANE Train will be making a course correction that will trade Wyoming for a cache placed in August of 2000

This decision was made 8 hours from departure but like I said before all things are fluid on this trip :) 

Train Schedule 

INSANE Train 2012 

Memorial day weekendish schedule

• Depart Uniontown, WA  6:00 pm Thursday May 24th  with stops in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona
• Arrive for the night in Winslow, AZ approx 6:00 pm Friday May 25th 
• Depart Winslow, AZ 8:00 am Saturday May 26th with stops along the historic route 66 in Arizona and California
• Arrive for the night inBarstow, CA Approx 8:00 pm Saturday May 26th
• Depart Barstow, CA 5:00 am Sunday May 27th with stops along the route 66 power trail
• Arrive Needles, CA Approx 9:00 pm Sunday May 27th
• Depart Needles, CA 8:00 am Monday May 28th 
• Arrive Wells, NV Approx 8:00 pm Monday May 28th
• Depart Wells, NV 8:00 am Tuesday May 29th
• Arrive Uniontown, WA 6:00 pm Tuesday May 29th

To see the PDF of the route click here

Don't forget to follow along.

Excess Baggage

The last two weeks have been very busy getting everything ready for the trip and life does not stop just because you are planning on going on an INSANE trip. While I have not got our profiles up for all to see who is truly Insane we should have enough windshield time to get something going for you. 

I did find another way for you to ride along with us as excess baggage. You can follow us from this blog post on Google Latitude. During our trip the live tracker map will be enabled so all can see our progress along the way. I have limited coverage on our trip but when we are on major routes it should update. 

So now you can follow us on Latitude, NeonGeo, and twitter.
To follow on NeonGeo you must enable friend follow and look for Grizz Rider, Quadsinthemudd and Globaltreckers.
To follow us on Twitter use link to follow

Virtual Passengers

How can you become a virtual passenger on the INSANE Train? 


We have a few ways you can follow us. The first is globaltreckers is in charge of the twitter feed that we have just started. https://twitter.com/#!/InsaneeTrain  also we use a android app called NeonGeo with friend follow so you can see real time on the map where we are. The Train will be in two pieces until we join up in Barstow on Saturday night. Just lookout for quadsinthemudd, grizz rider or globaltreckers on Neongeo to see our progress. Or for slow outdated info just keep watching our Facebooks and Google+ accounts. 


So jump on board the INSANE Train and take the trip with us!

The Crew The Stamp The excitement

With only 16 days until we depart the station the crew of the INSANE Train is getting real excited!  We are all in the final preparations for our journey with only a few loose ends to sew up.

So the crew is set:

Fairyhoney Port Orchard, WA

Globaltreckers Madras, OR

Grizz Rider Clarkston, WA

Hurshh Moscow, ID

Quadsinthemudd Uniontown, WA

We are coming from all over the Northwest to meet up and do some INSANE caching over the Memorial Day weekend-ish.  We are a group of cachers that before Geocaching we did not know each other.  But now we can all come together in one big fat INSANE trip to enjoy each others company.  This is really what the power trails are all about for me an adventure with good people. I don’t think I would do them alone and I know for sure I would not have done more than one.  So this week I am going to highlight the crew members of the INSANE Train so you can get to know us a little better.

And as with any power caching trip I have designed a stamp to use on the logs, to save time and make a letterbox cache when I get home.  We will also have shirts with our logo on it so all will know that we are certifiably INSANE!!! 

The Route

First I start off with Microsoft Streets & Trips to see how far the drive will be and what is going to be close. Then I set the fuel prices and MPG of the vehicle we are going to take so I know how much it will cost to take the whole trip but also how much it adds like if you want a side trip to add Wyoming. It gives me how much extra time as well as how much extra money that one cache/state will add to the trip to see if it worth it. 

Then once I have the route close to set I add start to look it over on the live map in Geocaching.com or on Neongeo on my phone if I am not close to the computer so I can see how many caches are close and if there are any that I can't/shouldn't live without. That is how I found the HistoricAZ66 caches in Arizona. Also I add the top 40 caches by favorite points for each state so if we are close to a super cool cache we will not miss out. 

So now we can see on the map some points of OUR interest without all the clutter. On S&T I can add departure times or arrival times to each stop so I know how long it will take to get to my next destination. With that information we know how many caches we have time to get without being late.  We still will be late but at least we know we will :)

So without caches and potty breaks it will take us about 6 hours to go from Winslow AZ to Barstow CA. Along the rout we can use the times for any given direction to know how long it will take to get to our destination for the day. So lets say we cross into Cali at 5pm we can figure on getting in to Barstow at 7pm. I can also add caches to the route and give them an amount of time that we think it will take to find it. 

So you can now see that by adding five caches burned up almost an hour on the clock and that is with only six minutes at each cache. That six minutes is from the time the car stops rolling to the time it starts rolling again. So you can see how time is very precious on these trips so better make it count when you stop. No light pole caches for us (unless it is at the parking lot of any place we stop).

I still have to go through the route and look at all the caches (within .5 miles of the route) to see if there is one we just have to get. this is a little time consuming but worth it if you ask me. I hate this part because I it shows me how little time we have and how many cool caches I want to get. 

So as the trip planner the most important thing to plan for is the unexpected. It is like a budget, not set in stone because anything can happen at anytime, so all you can do is look at the plan and manage the time as best you can. So Steve this means no Mountain Dew on the trip! LIMITED POTTY BREAKS!!!!

I hope this helps anyone out there planning a Geotrip from a small one to an INSANE one.