Goodbye 2012...Hello 2013!!!!

Before the clock says midnight and rings in a new year,

 

I wanted to reminisce about 2012 and what a great year it was. Many great things happened through out the year, but I will just touch on a few of the more memorable ones.

Through the year I competed in several magic competitions such as the Ray Parker Unopened Deck Challenge challenge, which I won,

Ray Parker and I

 

 The Tony Eng close up award which I did not win this year but did last year, and The Mirth and Magic Comedy Magic award which I did not win, but there is always next year ;-)

I was voted in as the Vice President of the Victoria Magic Circle

I was nominated and won Geocacher of the Month, and was voted in again as B.C.G.A. Vice president.

I was on the committee and one of the sponsors for the Island Spirit Mega Event event,

and the committee for the Three of Clubs Magic convention

I travelled up to the Yukon and got to see a lot of awesome scenery and wildlife.

 

We also moved back down to Victoria from Courtenay, and will miss our friends up that way, but look forward to making many more in our new home.

But best of all was the package that the stork delivered(actually it was the nurse not the stork) on July 26^th 

 

 

 

Jenna and Oliver

 

I am looking forward to 2013 and what it has to offer, and wish all the best for the New Year to all my family and friends!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

 

 

Till next year

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

 

 

The end of the year is near!!!

WOW...where did the year go??

The end of November and beginning of December was a very busy one with packing, moving, Christmas shows, Christmas, and planning for the end of the world(lol).

We(Angelcheeks and I) just recently moved from Courtenay back down to Victoria. We will definitely miss the Comox Valley cachers and all the great people we have met in the caching community.

We will still be up that way from time to time for get together's and camping, and of course caching!!

We are still getting settled down here and still unpacking boxes, but we were able to get out one evening between rain showers and unpacking for a short walk to grab the two nearest caches to our new place. One was at the fire hall, and as we were looking two firefighters were coming out of the building and called over and said “Keep looking, it's there!!!” It's great to see the community putting caches in areas like this, so they are well informed of geocaching.

We also managed to get out to a 12-12-12 event at Ma Millers pub in Victoria, hosted by our friends Landsharkz. This is the last time we will see a triple date for another 88 years. It was a well attended event, and it was nice to meet some cachers from our new neighbourhood.

Lots of people attending the 12-12-12 event

Even bought a cool looking geo coin.

12-12-12 geocoin

 

 

I even took my Geocacher of the month coin with me

 that I received back in February when I was voted to be Cacher of the Month

Thanks again to my good friends Ray and Lynn for nominating me and to all those that voted for me.





 

A couple of weeks ago as we were moving I received an email from a cacher from the Comox Valley. I asked if I could use it in my blog, and he said he would be honoured.

 

I will copy it here, it's nice to see we made an impact in the caching community while there.

Some cachers mentioned in their e-mail to me that you folks were moving soon, and I wanted to contact you to wish you well in the future and to tell you that Heather and I will miss your creativity in the geo-caching community around here. It was you MM65 that gave us quite a kick start into this game, particularly in solving puzzle caches with your "It's Magic" cache just off Burns Rd.

Where are you off to? Wherever that is, the community there will be getting a great family and a great asset to their community. You will be missed here!

I hope your life in Victoria meets and exceeds all your dreams and expectations. I want to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and I look forward to seeing you folks again on the trails, or under a top hat! Best of luck, and best wishes!

Gord

BluHeron17

 

 

Till next blog

Keep on cachin'

and Have a very Merry Christmas

and a Happy New Year!!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

The Three of Clubs..was that your......Convention??

Well this months blog is Not about geocaching at all, but about my other love interest(besides my wife)  MAGIC!!!

This past weekend about 100 magicians appeared in Victoria for a small little convention called the Three of clubs-Tri city magic convention.

 

It was a weekend to be filled with Lectures, shows, special guests, contests, lots of prizes, and a ton of fun!!! It is a convention for the three cities of Vancouver, Seattle, and Victoria, and it gets rotated through each of those cities and hosted by the local I.B.M. club(International Brotherhood of Magicians)



This was the (VMC)Victoria Magic Circles year to host. I am very fortunate to be the Vice President of this great club and was one of the seven chosen by the convention producer and co-producer to be on the Convention committee. We were fortunate to have some great people on the committee,

 

 

who all worked hard during and before the convention to make it a success. A lot of planning and organizing goes into an event of this nature and size.

We had some of North America's best Magicians come to Victoria to teach, share, and also have fun and enjoy the weekend.

The weekend started Friday morning at 7am when I met VMC President Eric “Cool Magic Dude” Bedard at the host hotel so we could start setting up the event. We started by making up some gift baskets for the special talent we had coming in for the weekend.

 

Gift baskets for the talent and special guests.

They each got a basket and a six pack of beer from a local brewery.

 

 

 

Some of the other committee showed up shortly after and now it was time to build the stage for the weekend.



 From this............................

To this.......................................

 

 

We kicked off the event with a contest called the One-handed Cut-A-thon, which I was one of the judges.

 

 Seven magicians competed.

We then had an awesome stage show with some of next years host's(Vancouver) performing for us.

 

All the performers were voted upon a few weeks back as to who would best represent their city, and they did not disappoint!!!

 

 

After the shows we had a lecture by Andrew Goldenhersh. He opened by folding a dollar bill origami style into a butterfly, and then it turned into a real butterfly and flew off into the crowd. Very cool and magical. In the Gala show he showed a butterfly tattoo on his arm which he peeled off and it turned into a real butterfly. Click on his name to check out a video of his performance.

Origami Butterfly

 

After his lecture we had a midnight maddness show, were performers could sign up to take the stage and do 7 minutes of magic. A lot of very funny acts and some very cool magic was the order of the night.

Always at a function like this when magicians get together there is always magic and mingling late into the night and into the early morning hours. Some of us, including 2 of our special guests, took a walk down the waterfront to find a place to grab a snack. By the time we got back to the hotel it was 3am. Time for a few hours of sleep so we could awaken to another Magic filled day!!

Day 2

The following day was filled with more lectures, shows, and lots of magic. We had several lectures, a close-up show

 Steve Dickson doing close up magic

 

 and an evening gala show which was open to the public, and we had over 150 people at the show. There was comedy, magic, and Illusions.

 Joe Monti being weird and funny

 

Joe's show was possible through our good friends at Magicana and the Tony Eng youth fund. They sponsored this portion of the show and did an awesome article on it, which you can check out here:

http://sharingwonder.wordpress.com/2012/11/15/tri-city/

Joe Monti doing three card Monte!!!

 

Murray Hatfield performing a cool illusion

 

 



 

After all the stage shows there was some mingling before we kicked out the Muggles(Non-Magicians)

 

Hospitality area and dealers booths

 





 



We finished off the evening with another great lecture, and hanging out chatting about what we all love doing.

 Shawn Farquhar doing his thing. This is the guy who fooled Penn and Teller. I am glad to be able to call him my friend!!

 

Day 3

The following morning(Sunday) we had a workshop on Improv by one of our own VMC members, and one more lecture before we had to say goodbye to our guests and friends. It was then time for us to tear down the sound, lights, stage and clear out all the stuff. I am sure that anyone that was at this weekend was not dissapointed and went home with the feeling of wonderment and joy. I can hardly wait for the next convention!!!

 

 

Keep on Magicing!!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

 

Home at last...well sort of!!!

Finally back home from the Yukon, and I got to spend one day at home with the family, and then pack up my trailer and headed to Victoria. Oh well, now I am only hundreds of miles away versus thousands away.

Fairly busy week since being back on the island....Got to head out to a geocaching event nearby with some good friends who I have not seen for awhile. Plus I grabbed five caches on the way there. That's the most I've gotten in one day since going up north. Lol

Pub Event

Just this past Sunday I was interviewed thru google hangout by Ultimate Caching Quests, a group of dedicated cachers that chat about all that is caching on a live internet broadcast every week. I had fun doing it and they even asked me back at some time to guest host the show. They asked me a wide range of questions from my position as VP on the B.C.G.A. as well as my beginning into caching and my magical capabilities as well. Check them out live every Sunday at 10am.

Went to a great Mid Island Geocachers Halloween event where I even won for best costume.

Did not see that coming.

M.I.G. Halloween Event

Mingled with a bunch of great people and then went out afterwards with a group for some night caching in the rain. Got an FTF and Even got questioned by the police. A great time was had by all.

 

This coming week I will be very busy as I am part of the organizing committee for a magic convention called Tri-City, Three of clubs that is taking place in Victoria and is hosted by the Victoria Magic Circle which I am the VP of. Should be an awesome time with magicians from the 3 clubs(Victoria, Vancouver, and Seattle) getting together to do what we love doing!!!

 

 

Till next blog

Keep on Cachin'

Chris Yuill

Magicman65  

Yukon to BC to Alberta to BC and back to the Yukon.

For those that have been following my blog, you would know that I have been up in the Yukon for the past few months. This week I got to head home for a week, but I would not stay home, as we decided to go visit my family in Alberta.

So I left Watson lake and got to the airport in Whitehorse to fly home. My plane was delayed so I had time to go grab the cache nearby that I did not get last time I was here. Nearby the cache is a plane on a pole, and as I looked at it I was sure that it moved. Upon further inspection I realized that it does move.

                                                           CF-CPY, "The World's Largest Weather Vane"
Whitehorse, Yukon Territory Starting in 1977, the Yukon Flying Club restored this northern veteran to its Canadian Pacific Airlines colours for permanent display at the Whitehorse airport. The restoration took four years, but in 1981, she was raised onto the pedestal built by master welder Al Jacobs. Pivoting on its mount, CF-CPY always points into the wind, just as she would have while lined up on the runway for takeoff. Due to the fine balance point, it only takes a 5 knot wind to turn her.

 

Road trip to Alberta

Once home, I repacked and was ready for adventure with my sweetheart, my new baby, and the boys. The plan was to go from home to Victoria for one night as I had a show to do. The next morning we headed out to grab a ferry and we were off on an adventure.

The first stop(other than baby feeding stops, of which we had many) on the mainland was Hope. I have passed the cache at the entrance to Hope, at least a dozen times while on road trips and tours, but today was the day to finally get this one off my list.

The next stop after Hope was the Othello tunnels and some caches within. This area is where the movie Rambo First Blood was made.

“In November of 1981, Hollywood film crews began to transform Hope, BC into a rural American town for the filming of the blockbuster hit Rambo First Blood. Over the next several months Hope and the Fraser Canyon experienced gas station explosions, gun fire and stunt men. The Success of Rambo First Blood led into a series of 4 film made from 1981-2007

Rambo fanatics from around the world travel to the small town of Hope, BC to get a glimpse of what people now call Rambo town.”

 

Located in the most rugged section of the Coquihalla Canyon, the Othello Tunnels have a great history and scenery and make for a nice leisurely walk. Engineers forged through mountain cliffs and over raging rivers to construct a series of bridges and tunnels that blast through the rugged terrain.

If you get a chance to walk this trail, I would highly recommend it.

We stopped in Clearwater, BC for the night and would head on down the highway in the morning.
The next morning, Welcome to Alberta!!!

On the way thru Jasper we did not see as many animals as we have in the past, but we grabbed a few caches and even did a couple of cool Earthcaches.

Sand Dunes at Jasper Lake Earthcache

We made it to Fort Saskatchewan where we would stay for a couple of days. This is the town that I grew up in some several years ago. While staying here we took in a day at West Edmonton Mall. While living in Edmonton years ago, this is the mall where the Magic bug bit me. I even managed the Magic shop in the mall for awhile. We spent the day relaxing in the water park and enjoying some of the slides.(no line-ups midweek)

After our few days of visits, it was time to start making our way home. We started to head towards Calgary where we would make a brief stop. But as we were leaving Edmonton, I noticed that there was a new cache in Leduc. A quick stop and an FTF was in hand. (Yes.... I have notifications set for new caches where I am travelling. One of the many reasons to be a Premium Member)

On the highway further down the road, we came across what we thought was a transformer heading down the hwy.  But it was just some farm equipment being moved.

Going through Banff we did not see much again in the way of wildlife as we have in past years. They now have a lot of fences and some cool looking bridges for the animals to get across the highway safely.

 Banff National Park

Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 km west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses 6,641 sq km of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine landscapes. The Icefields Parkway extends from Lake Louise, connecting to Jasper National Park in the north.

We stopped for a cache just coming into Golden, BC which was placed behind a huge painted Inukshuk.

We headed a bit further up the road to Revelstoke, where we would spend the night.

The next morning we headed down the road as our next stop was Kelowna.

Coming up towards Kelowna we stopped at Dave's goat walk

Dave's Goat Walk

A place we have stopped before, the kids love to feed the goats. Here I was able to complete a challenge cache. A quick stop in Kelowna for a visit and we were on our way back to the island.

We got home just in time for me to unpack, repack and head back to the Yukon for my last turnaround. Sitting here in Watson Lake on Thanksgiving day, writing this blog, and looking forward to my return trip home.

Till next time, keep on caching

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

What to do??

With the closest geocache to get being 140km away and I need to save it until Thanksgiving as I need it to complete the
VLH-11-11-11 Challenge, I decided to head down the highway to do something else today.

I started out this morning thinking I would place a cache up here in the Yukon. I headed to a spot that I had stopped at before on one of my Whitehorse trips that I thought would be an interesting place for a cache. It was about 120km away. On the way there I made several stops to check out the scenery and took lots of pictures. One stop along the highway I noticed something big, brown, and moving off in the distance down near a small river. I was able to get off a few shots with my camera of a couple of moose moving thru the swampy area.

Moose

 

I continued down the Alaska highway marking cool looking spots with my GPSr knowing that I would stop on the way back to check them out.

I had talked to my wife(Angelcheeks) the night before and was telling her about this spot I was heading to, and she suggested that it may be able to be an earthcache. I got to the rest area that I wanted to place a cache at, and upon further investigation I decided I would try to get it published as an Earthcache.

The object of an EarthCache is to learn something about our planet. The reward is the lesson, not the trinkets in the container. Also, many EarthCaches are being developed in places where it is against the law to leave a container, such as in National Parks and at Geological Monuments.

Well, now I still had a fully stocked medium sized lock'n'lock container in my backpack...what to do with it?? Maybe one of the cool spots I marked along the way would prove to be worthy of a cache.

So off I head back towards Watson Lake, stopping at some rest areas and such. One of the places I stop is the Rancheria Falls recreation site.

I check out the area and notice the trail map and decide to grab my backpack and can of bear spray(Bears are everywhere up here) This is the first trip I took where I did not see one.

 

 

I head on down the trail which quickly turns into a well maintained boardwalk.

 

I get to the end and come across the viewpoint area overlooking the falls.

I believe this is a great place to put a cache to bring people here to see this beautiful view.

I take a bunch of photo's, hide the cache just under the viewpoint boardwalk area, mark it with my GPSr and head back towards the parking area.

On the way back to town, I make a few more stops, and take a few more pics. I even stop at the fire hall in Upper Liard to complete a worldwide geocaching challenge. (challenge caches are new to geocaching where you have to take a photo of yourself at a specific place, or doing something specific)

I also submitted a Challenge cache this week as well.

All in all a great ending to the week. This coming week I get to go home to my wife, new baby, and kids. Then we are off to Victoria, Edmonton, Calgary, and Kelowna (all within 1 week) but you will have to wait to read that adventure in my next blog.

 

 

Keep on Caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65