This topic contains 10 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by 
Lostby7 17 years, 2 months ago.
-
Posts
-
Many of us are pursuing the Earthcache Masters’ Program, I’m sure. I have reached the Silver mark, with Gold and Platinum yet to be reached.
Of course, one part of reaching those levels is to find earthcaches in other states. I’ve exhausted WI, IL, and MI and I suspect others in the Southeast corner of Wisconsin have done likewise. The next closest states are IA & MN. Problem is that with gas costing what it does, it makes it difficult to justify a several hundred mile trip just to do a few earthcaches. So. . . . . .
PROPOSAL
My thought is to get a few cachers together on a weekend day, depart the Elkhorn area at O-dark-thirty, journey over to the Dubuque area, then up the river to the southeast corner of Minnesota and do a few earthcaches along the way. We would return the same night so no overnight involved. I would estimate total driving time to be something like 9 hours not counting gas, caching, dining, and potty stops.
If we could put together a group of 4 or 5 cachers, with one of them providing a fuel-efficient vehicle that will comfortably seat that many, we could all increase our current Earthcache Masters level by one to two steps. There would be 4 or 5 to split the gas costs, and driving could also be split up.
I would offer my vehicle and services in a heartbeat but, alas, I cannot drive. Those of you who know me know that I am legally blind and the state of WI figures I should probably not operate a couple thousand pound vehicle on our public roadways.
SUMMARY – – – –
Who would be interested in getting to know a few other cachers (really well) by riding in a car for a full day?
Who would like to raise the level of their Earthcache Masters status by one or two steps? Or even those who want to get a start on it?
Who could provide a fuel efficient car?
What Saturday would work for everyone?
Let’s see what we might be able to put together!
Thought I’d add a cost estimate and an idea:
The trip would add up to about 500 miles.
In a car that gets 30 MPG, we would burn about 17 gallons of gas
At $4.50 / gal that would cost $76.50
Split 5 ways that comes to $15.30 per person. Split 4 ways it’s just under $20.
My personal addition to the pot would be that I would put in an additional $5 to pay toward the car owner’s portion. If the others in the car chose to do the same, the car owner would not have to pay toward the gas at all. Their contrubution would be the 500 miles we would add to their odometer.
i am definitely willing to participate. not sure about providing a fuel efficient vehicle, since i have a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, but i am still definitely willing to drive, and would be willing to foot the extra cost for gas if it comes down to that.
Sounds like nice idea, but I have already done most of the Earth cache in that area.
Keep posting future caching Tours. Some time or another you’ll start getting bites ……..
@marc_54140 wrote:
Sounds like nice idea, but I have already done most of the Earth cache in that area.
I have done several of those as well; there are some nice ECs there. It would be a nice trip.
it may help if a specific date. October 5th (sunday) is the first weekend date i have available. hopefully that one could work?
October 5 sounds like a good day. Let’s call it official:
EARTHCACHE ROAD TRIP ’08 IS SET
FOR SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5th ! ! !There wasn’t as much response to this as I’d hoped. Was hoping we would end up with 3 or 4 to share the costs and driving, but it looks like just two. Oh well !! Maybe we can get a couple more before then.
With just the two of us, Mrs. OuttaHand says she would happily join in and we could use our car. It gets about 30 mpg so the costs would be as I described above, except split two ways instead of 4 or 5.
Next thing to figure out is our route and how many caches we want to try to hit. Any thoughts???
.
.HWY 52 looks promising. just scanning the maps alone show 6 close by in iowa, and 4 in minnesota…
i have a really busy weekend starting tomorrow, but come monday i can compile a list of EC’s and others along the trip. between the two of us i’m sure we’ll have more than enough.😀
I love it when a plan (starts to) come together!!!8)
If you are heading to Iowa….be sure to check out this earthcache….it was excellent! One of my favorites to date. In fact the whole park is quite beautiful.
GC14DGF
> Maquoketa Caves Earthcache@lucy92979 wrote:
If you are heading to Iowa….be sure to check out this earthcache….it was excellent! One of my favorites to date. In fact the whole park is quite beautiful.
GC14DGF
> Maquoketa Caves EarthcacheYep…one of my favorites! Also don’t miss nearby Frankenstein’s Cave…
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.