Frank and Beans!!!!

Once Josh got bitten by the geocaching bug, there was no stopping him.  After the 19 cache adventure, he wanted to get out for more. I had a couple of errands I had to run but knew that with Josh taking the day to get some errands run himself, there had to be a little caching in the day. After setting up his account the night before, where he used name made from his nicknames from his youth, we hit the road with the monkey for a little more "treasure hunting". The group consisted with two-thirds of the Unlikely Family and the newest member of the group, Ralph J. Beans.

Find #77

I needed to head to the local hardware store to gather some ideas for a project I am working on, so I checked the app on my phone to see if there were some caches in the area. Sure enough, right next to the store we were headed to there was a cache.  That was where we were going to start.  The GPS showed where the location for   You Silly Skirt Lifters are the Lowest was, but as we hit the zone, we had trouble finding it.  We searched some places where a cache normally would be hidden; there was a hollowed out tree nearby, a couple of light poles with "skirts", even a pine tree.  None of the tricks I had learned from past caches helped find this one.  Back to the drawing board.

As Josh looked in the trees, I scoured the past logs looking for clues that might tip me off to the location and he came up with a possible solution as soon as I saw the pic that tipped me off to the location.  "The name reminds me of that picture of Marilyn Monroe, with her skirt being lifted by the draft from the street", he said.  Sure enough, there was a sewer grate right in the GZ, so we looked closely and hanging from the grate into the sewer by fishing wire was the cache!

Find #78

After looking in the hardware store, ideas and project costs all gathered, I searched for more nearby caches.  There was one at a nearby park that we decided to head for.  This was a small park tucked in among houses, so it needed to be a quick grab, but with the monkey in tow... I knew it couldn't be.  As soon as we got to the park, Lexi grabbed the caching bag and Ralph and I headed to find the cache.  I could tell that caching in a park with a 6 year old could have issues... sure enough; once we found the cache we turned around to get a pen from the bag to sign the log... no bag, no kid.  Somehow... the six year old was distracted by a slide!  :)

Once I pulled her away from the toys, we were able to sign the log, muggle-free and head back to the car, ready for more.  But, it was lunch time!

I checked the app for any other caches in the area and found one nearby.  By the name of it (MMM Toasty)  I figured we could kill two birds with one stone... a cache AND a meal.  To Quizno's it was!  This cache was "hidden in the usual place" according to the description and when we got to the parking lot... the only "usual place" in that lot was under a lamp skirt.  It was a busy area.. so we tried (unsuccessfully, I am sure) to be casual as we were lifting the skirt of the lamp post and feeling around.  Sure enough, there was the little magnetic container I expected.  We quickly signed the log and headed in for a bite.

Once we were refreshed with full tummies, it was time to find more!  MORE, MORE, MORE!  Another quick check of the app found one just a few blocks away.  The description talked about where to park and how to get to the GZ, which was located in a bunch of bushes by a nearby creek.

#80 was a small  lock-n-lock

Lexi wanted to take the lead on this one, so we pointed her in the direction and let her go! She has enough experience that she should know the basic areas to look.  Once we got into the group of bushes where the cache was located... she got to the hunt!  It didn't take long for Ralph to see the cache and we directed Lexi through a path forged before us to get to the location.  She was so excited she opened the large cache right up and we signed it, took a few pics and headed out.

It was getting a little later in the day and Josh needed to get some actual errands done, so we decided to call it quits.... after ONE more.  This last one, the cache closest to us was called "The Big Red 'A'".  Anyone from the Ann Arbor and Ypsi area knows that reference... but I knew that it was going to be high in muggles.  It was just a short drive to the GZ, and as we approached the area I figured I knew right where is was.  Once we got to the sign where "The Big Red A" is located it was easy to find the magnetic container and quickly sign the log... knowing that we were being muggled the whole time.  It was hard not to, since we were in plain view of a busy restaurant and one of the busiest roads in Ann Arbor.

Sometimes, to get the smiley you just have to get creative... and maybe break a rule or two!  ;)