My 300th Find

My 300th Find - Sparky's Hiding Spot

(GC2QYKY)



FTF goodies from my 300th find



Just the other day I was trying to decide which cache I should choose for my 300th find.  I had settled on Bridge Creek Falls (GCVB0H).  It sounded interesting and should have been a nice little hike for me and the boys.  I was all pumped up for going and getting it next weekend but sometimes opportunities present themselves and having my 300th find be another First to Find was just too good to pass up.  The tricky part is, if you're not the FTF on a landmark cache it's just another lack-luster find and not very monumental at all.

The e-mail notification for a newly published cache came across my iPhone while I was running errands in town and since I was only 4.5 miles away I decided to take a chance and head down the road.  With boys in tow the uber-cool minivan was fired up, the shift lever put in drive and the skinny pedal on the right was depressed.  Away we went at near light speed (or 40 miles per hour...)!



Whenever I'm making a run at an FTF opportunity there's always that little voice in my head that says, "I'm too late, I'm too late, I'm too late..."

This time was no exception.  This cache wasn't out in the woods, or on some obscure beach, or even out in the rural farmlands that are prevelant in the area.  This was two blocks from downtown Hillsboro, Oregon.  There was a likelihood that I wouldn't be the FTF on this one.  I kept checking the logs using my Geocaching.com iPhone app but that's no guarantee that someone hasn't found it.  There are still a large number of geocachers that haven't gone paperless and must wait to get home before logging their finds.



Nicely camoed urban cache container

As we neared GZ (ground zero) I flipped the van around and parked next to the white picket fence where the cache is located.  I located an electrical box with the combination lock on it, entered the house number and lowandbehold the cache was stuffed with and electrician themed bag of SWAG (stuff we all get) and an FTF gift.



YES!  FTF AGAIN!

This cache container is perfect for an urban setting.  It's not just an electrical box attached to a fencepost, it's an electrical box complete with conduit running in to the ground and the padlock will help to keep all but the most determined of non-geocaching-type-snoopers at bay.  This cache was nicely done and I may just go back and take a picture so I can post it here.

Anyway on to the contents...

I grabbed the bags and strolled back to the van where the boys were waiting.  Normally I would let them get out and follow me but the road where the cache is located can be busy and I'd rather play it safe, especially since TommyToes has absolutely no sense of mortality.  I browsed through the contents of cache bag and, as is my custom when the boys are with me, signed my, TommyToes and Buggabugga's names as co-FTFs. 

Time to open the FTF prize!

WOW!  This is without a doubt the most generous FTF prize I've come across!  Usually there's no FTF prize or there's a geocoin, or a special trinket of some variety.   I hit the motherload with Sparky's Hiding Spot.  The cacheowner has gifted this FTF with a ball cap with an LED illuminated bill (for difficult night caches where you need your hands free), an immitation rock geocache complete with log (this will turn in to a tribute to the cache owner at some point), a ladybug CacheKinz trackable (for setting free and seeing where it goes), and a compact pen (for signing logs of course!).  Not just one item, not just a trackable, but four items!  All in a bag clearly labeld "For FTF",  I triple checked just to ensure that I wasn't plundering the cache.



Thank you kekoaaloha for my 300th find, my 16th FTF and the best FTF prize I've come across so far!