Seven is Heaven: IL Road Trip Challenge (GC3XY7E)

[neonride93Participant]

First Come First Serve for

WI Hibiscus and lmcgisme

Or anyone else I guess – I also pitched the idea to my grandma ( inbedby10 from Water town ) and she said she would possible if we need to fill up a vehicle.

First firm commitment from anyone gets the 4th seat?

[WStempleParticipant]

@neonride93 wrote:

First Come First Serve for

WI Hibiscus and lmcgisme

Or anyone else I guess – I also pitched the idea to my grandma ( inbedby10 from Water town ) and she said she would possible if we need to fill up a vehicle.

First firm commitment from anyone gets the 4th seat?

Good call on the Park and Ride lots. There are several around. I will check them out to see which is better to us. I will look at how busy they are so that we are not they only cars there. First thought is the one at American Family Center – Lot 13-04. It is located where Wis 151 and US 39/90/94 all come together.

I am sure that your grandmother would enjoy getting out with some new people! 🙂

[neonride93Participant]

Thinking out loud – 3 caches – 7 states – can we do 21 counties in one day?

[WStempleParticipant]

@neonride93 wrote:

Thinking out loud – 3 caches – 7 states – can we do 21 counties in one day?

That challenge I completed 2 weeks ago w/KCSearcher. We did 4 in a couple of states and grabbed TWO FTF’s in Iowa. We need 2 per state, but if we can grab 3, then you guys will also qualify for the one up in Appleton.

I will double check the challenges and their requirements this w/e. Getting slammed at work and I have a vacation day tomorrow that I do not want to loose. Should have the routes firmed up also this w/e.

Can you PM a phone number so that I can call you this w/e?

[WStempleParticipant]

@neonride93 wrote:

Thinking out loud – 3 caches – 7 states – can we do 21 counties in one day?

We would qualify for The Run for the Border Challenge if we just make sure that we have 3 different icons among the 14 caches that we need for the primary challenge.

I happen to qualify for the Micro, Earthcache, Virtual and Size not chosen challenges in this Seven is Heaven series.

[neonride93Participant]

The only reason I am looking for 21 counties is for my GSAK stats – 7 states in one day nice enough, but the demolish my county record of 7 would be even better. We should be able to beat it, just want to add to the number 🙂

What is the run for the border one?

[neonride93Participant]

LOL I just realized I got excited for this run without ever looking at the main cache page! I now know what one the run for the border is 🙂

[WStempleParticipant]

@neonride93 wrote:

The only reason I am looking for 21 counties is for my GSAK stats – 7 states in one day nice enough, but the demolish my county record of 7 would be even better. We should be able to beat it, just want to add to the number 🙂

What is the run for the border one?

😆 😆
What GSAK stat would that be? I may look to see if there are any caches along the way that would complete my 366 On the day they were placed challenge. I only have 4 spots open.

[neonride93Participant]

Just the most Counties and States in one day.

[Todd300Participant]

You guys are insane, lol.

I’m looking forward to hearing about the adventure when it does happen.

[WStempleParticipant]

@todd300 wrote:

You guys are insane, lol.

I’m looking forward to hearing about the adventure when it does happen.

It is a crazy sport. We are just taking it to a new level. 😆

I have complete my tweaking/review of the first route on GC. Go ahead and check it out and make and suggestions on route changes. I will have the second part reviewed later this w/e. It should be easier, as there are not as many county roads to work around. For some weird reason, TomTOm wanted to take me farther west in northern Iowa. 😉

A quick check of the caches along the first part reveal a couple of EC’s that will be easy. There is a virtual also that I already have the information on. We just need to actually make the stop there. Those two, plus the other traditional caches will qualify us for the second challenge.

[WStempleParticipant]

OK. I have finished looking at four of the seven states and here are the caches that I think we should go after. My thought process was to not only qualify for the second challenge, but to also get the required caches shortly after entering that state. Any caches after that in said state is a bonus. In Illinois, I targeted the rest areas to give us a cache and a chance to stretch.

IOWA
GC1AV5N Twin Springs GCA749 All Veterans Memorial Park
GC1VHAF Suite to be in the Country
GC273QJ Cows being milked GCD934 God Bless The USA

Missouri
GCY4B8 First or Last cache in NE MO
GC3C1KR Flood me not GC32W9B Dead End Road

Illinois
GCN623 Great River Roadside Cache
GC1AD3M Keep your motor running
GC38MR2 TAR-Zhay
GC409DE Illinois I80 Eastbound rest stop
GC31QDD Stop & Rest A Spell #7 Beverly Hillbillies Mansion
GC18YQ7 Midnight at the Oasis

Indiana
GC38HRG I feel Love – Donna Summer
GC38HRK Don’t Leave Me This Way- Thelma Houston
GC1M7PB “Sailor30’s 1000!” Travel Bug Resort and Spa.

I will get the other 3 states researched and posted in a day or two. Please let me know your thoughts on these. Except for the last two in Missouri, I kept the D/T to 2.0 or less. The 2 in MO read like they should not be that hard.

[Todd300Participant]

Sounds like you really are being prepared.

Wish I had half the preparation skills that you do when I go out caching.

I’m not one to go out and hunt specific caches for a challenge or anything like that. I just load my GPSr’s and just go where they take me. I’m the spontaneous type.

But back in the day before I had my Nuvi to help me drive to cache sites, I used to have to map out my caches. I would make a list of what to hit, note the approximate locations on a paper map, and go get them.

Now I just grab the Nuvi, Etrex, and go.

[WStempleParticipant]

@todd300 wrote:

Sounds like you really are being prepared.

Wish I had half the preparation skills that you do when I go out caching.

I’m not one to go out and hunt specific caches for a challenge or anything like that. I just load my GPSr’s and just go where they take me. I’m the spontaneous type.

But back in the day before I had my Nuvi to help me drive to cache sites, I used to have to map out my caches. I would make a list of what to hit, note the approximate locations on a paper map, and go get them.

Now I just grab the Nuvi, Etrex, and go.

I would also agree with the grab and go approach for most cache trips. When you have a time restriction, then you have to get prepared to the max! [:D]

Thanks for the compliment on preparation! I just call it an occupational “hazard”, as I am a Sr. Developer. I love to play the “devil’s advocate” and ask the questions that are sometimes forgotten.

I have found the using tools like Topo USA helps to find the best route or to just tweak it a bit. Picking the caches ahead of time lets you plan, should you need a tool or something. It also lets the other people review and comment on the selections. Unfortunately with a road trip like this, one cannot afford to go after higher D/T caches and know that you will finish before midnight. I do believe that we have a good cushion on the time, but one never knows.

[Todd300Participant]

Anything can happen. It’s always a good idea to be prepared. Also look at other caches on the route as a backup if you run across DNF’s. I’ve had to do this when I would get specific caches on a route to set up a milestone. I had a few DNF’s which forced me to take a slight detour on the way to the milestone cache.

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