[Geocaching] Delorme Challenge Grids for Virginia, Maryland and Delaware

I've been working on the Virginia and Maryland + Delaware Delorme Challenges. Tracking which rectangles I've completed is a bit of a pain, so I made a couple of draw layers for Delorme Street Atlas. I had to guesstimate the longitudes on the inner edge of the Gazetteer, but everything should be accurate to within about 30 seconds.

As of right now, they only work in Delorme Street Atlas, but if I have time, I might get around to making them compatible with Google Earth. Hopefully I should have Tennessee and Louisiana up by the end of the week.

Download:
Virginia Delorme Challenge Grid
Maryland + Delaware Delorme Challenge Grid

To use, go to the Draw tab, click File, and import the file as a new layer.

A Tall Order

One of the reasons I tend to stick to "boring" wish list items like books or date milkshake mix is because the stuff I would really like just doesn't exist yet, or at least in a form I would find acceptable enough to warrant becoming an early adopter. My Garmin 60CS bit the dust last month, and I've had it so long that it's just cheaper to buy a new one. So of course Garmin releases the upgrades to everything but my line of GPSrs. But wait.. Magellan released a new line that looks kind of interesting...

A part of me would love to get an all in one device like the new Magellan Triton. But then I realize, it's been awhile since I've really used my ipod and the built-in camera would probably be used about as often as the one on my Treo (once or twice a year tops). The only thing I'd definitely use would be the flashlight, because Paul manages to always sneak my little flashlight and headlamp out of my caching bag. Thats kind of an expensive upgrade if the only additional feature I used was the flashlight.

I am at the point where I take a GPSr, Treo 600, camera, laptop, power inverter, eneloop batters, along with various cables/chargers when I go on a caching trip. There's a reason why I rarely go on roadtrips with companions who want to call shotgun. My passenger seat quickly turns into a disaster area when I get everything hooked up. (Ok, even more of a disaster area than it is after taking a 2 year old on a week long roadtrip.)

In a perfect world, I'd be able to get down to a bluetooth capable GPSr/pda phone combo for navigation, so I could leave my laptop and battery charger in my overnight bag, my camera in my caching bag, and the inverter for emergencies. And also, Garmin would go ahead and announce their upgrade to the 60CSx line before I lose my patience and buy the current model. (Which was exactly what happened when I got my 60CS. The new model was announced about a month and a half after I got it.)

Future Trips

Clayton with a fully loaded bike, near the trailhead in Cumberland, MD

For those interested, Clayton is on his second full day of the C&O tow path currently, and has stopped at mile marker 72 for the evening. His total mileage so far should be around 112 miles for the past two days, and he has 72 more miles to go before he hits DC.

Now that I've visited all the states east of the Mississippi (save Rhode Island and Wisconsin), I've noticed that I'm less interested in planning a 10 state 3 day weekend road trip. Things like bike touring and walking long sections of the AT are beginning to catch my eye.

I've had my eye on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail in British Columbia for awhile. It's 280 miles long, so I could probably do it (along with some sightseeing side trips) in two weeks. If there's not much elevation change, I could probably do a 15-20 mile ride today. But I don't think I'm in good enough shape yet to make that ride every day for 2 weeks.

I've also been looking at some of the 5 star terrain caches. Most of the ones I've been eyeing aren't terribly far from here, but require a camping trip. There are some good ones in the Youghatomac area that have a relatively low mileage, but cross through some pretty tough terrain.

There are 3 challenge caches (Run with the Big Dogs) within 5-10 miles of me that I'd like to hit in one day. When combined, they require nearly 30 miles of hiking. I can handle about 15 miles in one day, so I'm getting there. It's been hard to get out for a good training hike with Paul, so I picked up a copy of Leslie Sansone's 5 Mile Challenge Walk and have been doing the 5 mile and the 3 mile walks most days. I think I should be able to finish all of the Run with the Big Dogs series in 3-4 weeks.

Birthday/Christmas Wishlist

I am notoriously bad about nothing being able to actually answer the question "So what do you want for your birthday/Christmas?" with something besides "uhhh, let me get back to you on that".

Last year, when I was on my epic cross country road trip, I stopped to do a cache in Dateland, Arizona. To my dismay, I discovered Dateland was a very busy place and there was just no way to attempt the cache while I was there. Since I already had a souvenir for Paul from my earlier stop in Algodones, Mexico that morning, I decided to get some dates for Clayton. I picked out one of every kind we hadn't tried before, and walked out with about 6lbs of dates. While I was in line to check out, I heard a couple of people raving about the date milkshakes. I was dubious, but they were actually pretty good.

I ran across a link to Dateland and discovered they had an online store. So if you'd like to give me something besides the usual book off my wishlist, I like the milkshake mix and Halawi dates.

[Things to do Before I’m 30] See the Perseids

Earlier this year, I ran across a neat geocaching event out in Washington state. It was located at one of the better places to view the Perseids. However, it required a several mile hike with a quite of bit of elevation change and figuring out what to do with Paul if I went. I'd be fine carrying a backpack with my camping supplies by myself, but I had really wanted to have a mini vacation with Clayton, since I'd run across a couple of cache by bike spots in the general area. Read more »