The Shortest Caching Month!!

 More Traveling!!

Went to Semiahmoo Resort and Spa just past Blaine, Wash. on Jan. 27th for a Walkaround Gig. I did some walkaround for this same company 2 years ago. I love weekday gigs and repeat clients.

Went down early of course so I could grab a few caches.

Susan and I were here back in 2022 so most of the caches here, I have already found.

From several of the caches in the area you could see Canada. Here is a picture of White Rock from one of the caches I got.

This was a cool cache. Took me a little bit to find it. I eventually picked it up to see if the caches was hidden under it and saw that it was inside the piece of driftwood

You can see the underside in the next picture.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become BIGGER!!!

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

Ucluelet Trip

Booked a gig over on the island in Ucluelet on the west side of the island. 

Went out there early to do some caching and meet up with a couple other magicians in Nanaimo on my way thru for a chat.

Was able to find 8 Traditionals, 1 Puzzle Cache, and 1 Virtual cache

Kamloops Trip

Booked 2 shows in Kamloops on Saturday Feb. 21st

Headed out early of course so I could grab a few caches. 

This was a Gadget Cache in Merritt. There is a old road in Merritt that has several Gadget Caches along it.

If you are ever in the area, I suggest checking it out!!

This one was called "It's a Flush"

Inside the tiny Outhouse was the toilet, and gameboard to figure out the code to the lock.

Took me a bit longer to do this than I wanted to as there was snow in the area and a bit chilly in the shade

Also on the way home Sunday morning I swung thru Hope to grab several.

While looking for this one a couple of muggles walked up and showed me where it was. They said they were gonna get into caching, they just have to download the app.

This one is called "The Watcher of Hope"

He is staring at the cache, but the funny thing about this statue is the other side as you can see in the next picture

Found only a total of 7 caches only on the 2 day trip, but they were all cool caches. I am about the quality, not the quantity!!!

Next month, I will be heading to the States for a few shows.....But more about that in Next months Blog....

Well that's it for this month!!

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Trippin!!!

Kelowna Trip

Was able to get some caches I didn't get last time thru here as there was snow on the ground. Got a bunch of Whereigo caches and a couple more Challenge caches, while on route to Kelowna for a show.

Also did a cool Gadget Cache called "Key's to the Castle"

You can watch the video of me doing it, "HERE"

The strip of road where this cache is located is loaded with gadget caches all built and placed by a cacher named BeRiddled. The road is I believe the old highway and now called Hamilton Hill Road. It has been dubbed "Gadget Alley" or "BeRiddled Alley"

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become BIGGER!!!

This is the map of all the Gadget caches along this road. 

As you can see there is some space for more, and it seems almost every time I come thru here, there is a new one placed.

Also you can see how popular they are by the number of Favorite points each one has.

I am headed to Kelowna again for a show in early July and hoping a new one will appear!! LOL

A quick trip across the border

Susan and I popped across the border for the day and we were able to grab some caches of course.

Back in February I completed an online Jigidi Puzzle before heading across the border to be able to get a Wherigo Cache called "TS-Spare Parts" 

To get the codes for the Wherigo, I had to do a 396 piece online Jigsaw puzzle, which would give me the codes needed to input into the Wherigo. A few days before the trip, I started the puzzle and It took me 4 hours and 50 minutes total to finish it. Yikes!!!

I wasn't able to grab it back in February as we did not have enough time, so this trip we made the find. Here is the cool Jigsaw puzzle I had to do.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

Grabbed a cool bolt cache on June 20th to receive the souvenir for Summer solstice.

There are two bolts in the pole that come out but only one is the cache. I pulled out the first one and didn't see the other one right away and thought, maybe its not a Bolt cache.

But as you can see by the pics, I got it!!

Did another quick trip to Sechelt and was able to grab one cache since I missed a ferry and had to wait for another one. This one was down a trail to the ocean and there was a large erratic on the trail.

Next month I am off to Kelowna again for another show, I think there is still some caches I need to get. lol.......but that can wait until next months blog.

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Well that's it for this month!!

Keep on caching!!

Magically yours,

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

October and November Adventures

Day Trip to Blaine and Semiahmoo Park 

Susan and I went across the border one day to spend the day grabbing some caches. I got 31 caches that day including one FTF as we left the house, before heading south across the border.

This large piece of driftwood looked like a dragon. And yes there was a cache hidden within. (Spoiler)

A large water tower stands on the spit to this day. It is not being used anymore, but was used back when the fisheries and Salmon cannery was running.

The huge one that is the iconic Semiahmoo Water Tower landmark of the Semiahmoo spit. Most people look at it without a thought to how it came to be, but this one was probably built between 1900-1920

It stands tall and not used, amid the scenic backdrop of mountains and ocean.

This was my 6666th cache. I got this one on the spit, and just like when I got my 5555th cache, thought it was worth mentioning.

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!

Be BEAR Aware!!!

We live in Bear country here, so you always have to be Bear aware when out caching, but you also have to be aware of them crossing the street. lolThis is a normal site near where I live. This is about the fourth time I have watched a bear cross the road in front of my car, just down the street from where I live. I almost hit one once as he came running out of the bush and across in front of me. I have even had bears come into my yard and knock over the compost and garbage bins. Please be Careful out there.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

International Geocaching Day

This year International Geocaching Day was held on October 8th and 9th. That's right, 2 days to find an earthcache and receive a souvenir. 

We decided to got to grab "Maplewood Mudflats Earthcache"

There was several other caches and 2 Adventure Labs as well. The house on stilts you see in the picture is not a full size house. It is a miniature version of the houses that used to be here. By the 1940's, an informal but cohesive community of squatters was living in the ramshackle cabins that lined the area's intertidal zone.

Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver is a 311-acre conservation area managed by the Wild Bird Trust of B.C. Maplewood Flats contains over 3 km of trails lining a beautiful and peaceful tidal marsh. It is a serene birding, nature observation, and walking area.

Merritt trip

I had a show in Merritt, so of course on route I grabbed a few caches. I had to wait for this guy to cross the road to go further down the road for a cache. lol

This is one of the bridges that was washed out last year during the storms.

Stopped at this very old cemetery to grab a cache

Found this Library cache also.I actually got this one purely accidentally. I was doing another local puzzle cache called "Murals of Merritt." It has 7 small pictures from a part of different murals and you have to go to them. The description said if you are having troubles finding all the murals to ask the locals or go to the library for help. I assumed they had a book with all the murals listed and where in town they are.

I stopped by the library to ask as there were a couple I could just not find. The librarian said there is actually a cache in the library. Wow, I assumed this was the final to the puzzle I was working on. I said could I have it for a few minutes and she led me back to the bookshelves and passed me this book. When I opened it, I realized it had a different name on it, then the cache I was doing. So I was able to log it without completing the puzzle. lol

"I AM GROOT"

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65

Caching in the Pacific Northwest

Weekend trip to Newberg, Oregon

Just back from Vegas in May, and I went to Newberg, Oregon in June for another Magic Convention. This one was held on a family farm and one of the barns was built as a theatre with stage, lights, and all the necessity's for performances. 

During my quick trip down here with 3 muggles, I didn't get many caches but grabbed some when I could. I would always check for a cache in the parking lot whenever we stopped somewhere. lol

This cache was close to our hotel at the nearby Drive-In. Got up one morning and decided to walk down to it, before heading for breakfast. Where could it be?? 

Shocking that I found the logbook!!!

Submarine Virtual

Got the guys to stop to do a virtual cache called "USS Blueback" on the way back to Canada.

This Submarine was the site of a cool Virtual reward.

The Blueback, a Barbel-class diesel-electric submarine, was commissioned in 1959. She was the last non-nuclear submarine to join the United States Navy and in 1990 was the final conventionally powered combat capable submarine to be decommissioned, leaving the United States Navy with a fully nuclear submarine fleet. The USS Blueback earned two battle stars for her Vietnam War service. She appeared in the 1990 movie The Hunt for Red October, and the 1970's television series Hawaii Five-O. 

NOTE: The highlighted or underlined words in my blog can be clicked on as they are links to other cool stuff!! Also if you click on any of the pictures they become bigger!!!

First to Find

One day I was sitting at home and got a notification for 2 new caches, I looked and thought those are close enough to walk to from my place. I got 2 FTF's each less than 100 meters from my house.YAY!!

Magic News

Also this month I competed in the Fraser Valley Magic Circle Stage Magic Competition. Look at the new 2022 Stage Magician of the Year!!! Here is my friend and fellow Magician Michael Likey giving me the award.

Day trip to Blaine, Washington

We decided to do a quick trip to Blaine, just across the border for a day of caching. The first three caches we grabbed after jumping across the border were caches that were up high in the trees in Lincoln Park.

Lucky that I have a 16 foot extension pole which made easy work for these caches. 

Shortly after we found a cache called "Rusty 911 Firefighter"

It sorta looked like a cacher with a pole doing high caches. We met up with another cacher already looking when we got there. Always nice to chat with other cachers while hunting.

Also stopped by a very well kept TB hotel and you had to scan the QR code on it to get a clue how to unlock it.

Always nice to stop by these, and trade TB's.

PS: On the right hand side of this webpage is where you can find my YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram, links. Please feel free to check them out and follow or subscribe!!!

Looking at the Fishy's. I already found this cache several years back in 2019 while over the border for a quick trip to pick up a parcel. Should I tell her it's at the other end? Lol

Lots of cool art work and statues in Blaine. This was a piece of old growth tree and was carved into some salmon swimming up stream. (Click on the pic to get a better view)

 Next stop was the Peace Arch for a virtual that I have been trying to get for several years now. Just have not had a chance to stop anywhere close enough on trips across to do it. Well, today was the day. Also completed an Adventure lab while in the area.

Peace Arch Virtual

Peace Arch park is right on the Border of Canada and the United States of America.

The Peace Arch, dedicated in 1921, commemorates the Treaty of Ghent and the Rush-Bagot agreement ending the War of 1812, which "provided for peaceful resolution of U.S.—British disputes and an unguarded U.S./Canadian border." The United States side was established as a state park in 1931. The Canadian side was established as a provincial park on November 7, 1939.

A cool statue in the Park.

We went back into town for a bonus cache to one of the Adventure Labs we did and something to eat before heading back across the border. While we were deciding where to eat we met Sasquatch:

Obviously I had to get a picture with him

We then said goodbye to Washington and headed back over the border, and found a few more caches back in BC before calling it a day!! One of them was a cache I had been hearing about on FB and from other geocaching friends, so we had to make a trip to get it. Read the story below!! 

The Tardis

You must make a trip to "Dr. Who-FVCB5"!! This is one super cool cache, and it is close enough to the site of GeowoodstockXVIII that it will see lots of action during that time. Once you step inside you have to figure out the code to get into the cache contents.

I was fortunate to chat with the CO after doing this cache and he told me that this cache container took over 50 hours to build. Very nicely done Gearhead!! You will see why this has almost 100 percent favorite points. It is unofficially the largest cache in BC. I am pretty sure it is the largest in BC.

Was this Litter?? Nope

Spoiler Alert. I just won't say what cache this was!!

At the end of the day, I had found 24 caches and 1 and a half Adventure Labs, spent some time with my sweetheart and saw some cool places. Not a bad little day trip adventure!!

 Geowoodstock is Coming

Where will you be on August 11th to the 13th??  All the cool cachers will be at Canada's First Geowoodstock!!!

Check out the website for details at: "Geowoodstock XVIII" and make sure you mark your "Will Attend" at "GC86VDF"

There is also a "GPS Adventure Maze", and a "Midnight Madness" event that you will not want to miss!!

Be on the lookout for these two very cool people at the events!!  I will be hanging out at the Registration Event doing some close up magic on Friday, and will also be doing a stage show during the main event!! And Signal has RSVP'd and said he will be there also!! This will be an awesome event, that you will not want to miss!!! See you all there!!

If you have not registered yet for this event....what are you waiting for???

Well that's it for this month,

Keep on caching!!

Chris Yuill

Magicman65