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| Soothing creek by Cluedo cache |
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| Unsoothing bug on grandfather's tree! |
My youngest went on a field trip to the monuments in DC and I was chosen as a chaperone. A lot of the virtual and earth caches by the monuments involve some detail work that I wasn't going to force the elementary school students to do. Luckily, The View of an "Honest Man" only required a photo, so I got one smiley on the trip.
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| At Lincoln Memorial |
I went back to Bacon Ridge Park to find some caches and avenge some Did Not Finds because the foliage was too dense. I snagged Random Wiki Puzzle: Erie to Pittsburgh Trail, Nothing to See Here Challenge, and The Ultimate Attributes Challenge. Since I was there, I signed a couple of logs for challenges that I have not completed yet.
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| Bacon Bridge |
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| Some swag |
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| Does this really not count as something to see? |
Tracking Maryland Mammals is a mystery cache that requires identifying scat to get the correct coordinates. The container is suitably decorated.
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| What the crap? |
Agnes Deadend and SSB - Baltimore National Heritage Flag House were finds of opportunity in Baltimore during a visit for Mother's Day. The flag house is where the Fort McHenry flag was made. It is famous because it was the "Star Spangled Banner" that Francis Scott Key was inspired by for his poem that became our national anthem.
In Bowie, I made a string of discoveries: Butterfly Garden Little Free Library #101699, The Girl Scout Law, Calvin & Hobbes: #4 Snow Goons, Calvin & Hobbes: #6 Alter Egos, and The Cat Who Stole My Heart. The Calvin & Hobbes series has some in-field puzzles that I have yet to solve and a final once I have all the code words from the six caches. I also didn't sign the log for Ireland's Crazy Encryption Puzzle Tutorial #2 because the container was out of reach.
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| Butterfly Library has no butterflies in it |
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| Nice container, impossible to reach without assistance |
Closer to home I found Kerckhoffs #1, a mystery cache that wants finders to write a program to decrypt but I did the decrypting by hand. The cache was in an out-of-the-way place but near some shopping, so I was in the location anyway to get groceries.
A tricky one to qualify for was OCCT #30 Alphabet Soup: The Puzzle Challenge. I had to find mystery/puzzle caches that all started with different letters of the alphabet. Kerckhoffs made my last missing letter, so this cache was my find the next day.
The next day I made a couple of finds, basing myself around Strip Mall Jumble #1: Lakeside Plaza. This mystery requires names of stores from the mall and then unscrambling certain letters into a code. Nearby I signed logs for Noah Gives It a Try, PEC#6 FORRRREEE, and LSLS #8 Rick Loves Rides. I didn't find the mystery Cured Pork Belly but I sent a photo to the cache owner for where I thought the final was. They confirmed it was right spot and let me go ahead and take credit for the cache.
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| Container FORRRREEE the cache |
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| Empty GZ |
Undefeated Champ! was an easier mystery find the next day. I also qualified for the Baltimore County Icon Challenge, requiring at least six different types of caches in the county. Sailor's Tattoo has some interesting folklore behind it and a tricky cache once the final coordinates are discovered.
Next I found There's Gnome Place Like Gnome (see the cute container below), Quickest Whereigo Tour in Maryland (REALLY), and Walking Around Columbia Wilde Lake. The Whereigo was indeed quick, though I was slowed down by a stop sign that was clearly thematic.
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| 3D-printed gnome |
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| Why the CO picked the spot |
While my wife shopped at Ikea, I went to Dunkin with my youngest and found FOFD #8: Deep Concern. The find wasn't hard (faster than getting the donuts). Next, I picked up Quarantine Matter #4, a puzzle placed during the pandemic shutdown. Then I visited my brother in Virginia and got Geo Whiz: Puzzle Cache for a New Dad which was an easy solve and find, even in the rain.
The month ends with a grand total of 1852, with 32 found this May.
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