Mingo, The Oldest Active Geocache

 So by now you might have some pre-conceived idea of the what and where of Mingo based on all the hoopla of a 3 day celebration involving a thousand people from all over the US. You might be disappointed after reading this post. (Over 600 have logged they attended the Mingo Madness event as of this writing.)

The plaque was placed for Mingo's 20th birthday, May 2020. By visiting the plaque, answering a question and taking a selfie, credit was given for a type of geocache called a Virtual.

This is the Mingo. It is along a fence line off I 70 and County Rd K. It is a container holding a log book (notebook), trinkets people leave which geocachers call SWAG (stuff we all get), and travel bugs hoping to be moved to a new or special cache location. I'm quite certain the container was a lock 'n lock (Tupperware sort) of container when we stopped and found it in April 2014. At that time it was on top of the ground and held in place by a large rock. Now there is a concrete lined hole in the ground that holds the polyvinyl chloride tube. Stones are placed over the top. I know previous containers have gone missing every now and then. The local farmers know about geocaching and are used to all the traffic and visitors.

Some of the first geocaches were placed to test the accuracy of the satellite signals. I imagine an open area in the middle of Kansas was a good test site. Some caches were placed on mountain tops, some in forests, some along bodies of water. Some have lasted. Some have not.

Signal the Frog in the photo is the mascot for geocaching. This Signal (plush animal) was gifted to me by a fellow geocacher, Team 360. I bought a much smaller Signal that has traveled with me to some geocaching events and some geocaches. Signal will be the main character of the memory photo book I'll create from this Mingo Madness Adventure.

An Adventure Lab cache has been added to the location of the Mingo cache. Completing the trivia questions gave us credit for 5 geocaches in our cache total count.

There's a Bug on the Bump on the Log

This creative traditional geocache was across the road at a defunct gas station. We had found this cute decorated wooden container in April 2014 on our first visit to Mingo. It is quite awesome to have 4 different geocache types at one location. There were two mystery caches just down the road, less than a mile away. For the geocachers trying to accumulate 13 different icons (types of geocaches) in one day, 5 of those 13 are at the Mingo stop.

It was possible to get 13 icons on Saturday of the Mingo Madness event. They had to travel 100+ miles to do it, but 13 was possible and we know a number of geocachers who did it. We have 12 icons in one day and are very satisfied with that achievement.

This small screen shot of the area will give some perspective. The village of Mingo is on the far left around the yellow smiley circle. The next yellow circle is the traditional geocache, the bugs on a log. The third yellow circle is the Virtual geocache, the plaque. Next you see only one circle, but there are two nearly on top of each other. The first would be the Adventure Lab and next is Mingo. Just below Mingo was another traditional cache we found on Saturday. Across I 70 to the right are the two Mystery geocaches. They were field gadget puzzles. (You can click on the picture for a larger view)

Now to the village of Mingo. Mingo is so small there was no sign announcing the name of the community on either end of the main road, County Road K. The word Mingo was nearly unreadable on the white concrete elevators along the rail line. The only indication was the sign for the church.

We drove into the village because of this geocache, Geo-General Store. If geocachers are wowed or appreciative of a geocache, they can award a Favorite Point. The favorite points let the cache owner/creator know how much others like what he or she has created. The Geo-General Store has 953 favorite points as of when I am writing this post! (Mingo has 3153)

The outhouse was built to hold the log book. There was no puzzle to solve. Nothing hard to find. No batteries were necessary. Just walk into the large trees in front of the church and admire the handiwork of the cache owner. 

Ladies from the church were serving cold water and lemonade and offering cookies to the geocachers who stopped. Their generosity of free cookies was advertised, but we had no intention of partaking until we stopped to get Geo-General Store. We and others offered to give a monetary donation, but they said it was their way of thanking the geocachers who visit Mingo (the cache and the town) because we help the economy. "We love geocachers!" is what we were told.

It was a warm 81º Saturday afternoon so the lemonade tasted especially refreshing. I chose a sunflower cookie (because it had frosting!) and Hubby did his usual, chocolate chip. Some of the cookies were bakery products, most were homemade. A very nice gesture by the community.

We drove on to another community and found some geocaches before driving back to Colby for another event and opportunity to see friends. Thus ended the main events and doings for Mingo Madness weekend. 

Hosting the main event on Saturday allowed Sunday as a travel day for geocachers to get back home. We talked to a group from AZ who were traveling through the Dakotas, MN, WI to the UP and south through AL, AR before getting back to AZ May 24th. I met another couple at a geocache who were from WA and traveling through NE, the Dakotas and MN as they had not cached in the the Midwest. Attending Mingo Madness gave them the opportunity to add more states to their cache count. See-we aren't the only crazy geocachers!

Saturday, The Main Event

 I can't imagine the planning, worry, rescheduling, stress and sleepless nights the organizers for the Mingo Madness Event must have experienced since 2018 when the seed was planted. Geocachers knew about the event June 23, 2019 which was scheduled for May 2, 2020. We all know what happened to that date. It was then rescheduled for September 12, 2020 when most of us thought Covid-19 would be over and the world would be back to normal. And again, the date had to be changed to May 8, 2021. The world has not returned to normal, but geocachers came to Colby KS anyway to celebrate the 20th birthday of the oldest, active geocache.

We started the day late because we really needed a good night of sleep after the previous day! We arrived at the main event mid-morning, found some friends to visit, and collect the one cache related to the event we did not collect the day before. 

Then it was off to find more of the creative gadget geocaches placed in Colby. 

This cache was Hannah's Butterfly House created by the young daughter of the cache owner. When we arrived at the location, we were the only people there. We were quickly joined by a guy and gal.

The locks were magnetized and removal-able. The lock needed 4 numbers to open and release the cache log book.

The size of the group grew quickly, some offering very politely to help, but no one knowing exactly what had to be done to get 4 numbers from the 8 colorful blocks. Since the cache was a butterfly theme, the initial thought was to create butterflies, which might reveal painted numbers.

It was at this point I recognized a group of geocachers from North Dakota, several of whom we had met, some of whom I knew only by their name. I left the trouble shooters and went visiting.

I truly have no idea how long it took that group of 3 (2 on-lookers) to figure out what to do, but they were polite enough to let us know they had solved the puzzle and we could sign the logbook. I made certain our names were on the tablet before they put everything back!

This is the group from ND. One graduated high school with our son. One is a very distant relative of Hubby. One is the guru of geocaches in Gilby ND and attended one of my events in AZ. One is responsible for creating the GeoTour of Fargo Moorhead. One is a good bud of a Watertown MS teacher we know. We had an awesome visit! Small world.

This was my favorite cache of the day because we had no one waiting to help us solve it. It was a simple concept. Books are Fun at the Colby Library. The 3 small wooden books, of different sizes matched the black boxes on the inside door. Each book had a hole. When the correct book was aligned to the correct black box, a number was revealed through the hole in the book. Three numbers were needed to open the lock. Simple, but solvable. Creative and fun.

This one at the Visitor's Center required two 9 volt battery to complete the operation. A wire on the left needed to be connected to the correct 1 of 6 metal nodes. The wire on the right had to find the correct 1 of 10 nodes. We did not have a 9 volt battery with us, but the volunteer at the Visitor's Center was leaving and offered to loan two to us.

The older gentleman was so talkative and helpful and probably very pleased to visit with someone as I don't imagine many geocachers actually went inside the Visitor's Center. He also helped narrow the choices to open the drawer and reveal the log book. 

The frog needed to be released from his cell. Again, one we could figure out on our own. No ones in line waiting for or watching us to show our ineptness. Again, lots of time and creativity went into creating this cache. ALL of these gadget caches were created by the same person, who lives in Hays KS about 50 miles away. 

We completed what we wanted to do in Colby, so we headed south to Mingo (it will have it's own blog post) and then to Oakley because there was an Adventure Lab and several geocaches.

Do you think we can find the location of this cache?????

Another 10 caches from this location.

The statuary at the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center. (We did not go inside.)

There was one more event Saturday evening. The Travel Bugs was the main entertainment. He is known for his songs about geocaching. He has played at events in the US and in Europe. He has a good voice and entertaining songs.

I figure this guy took wearing a mask to a whole new level! I know he could not see well with his armadillo head because he kept lifting it to look around. His shirt said something about armadillos.

As we were driving back to the camp ground at the end of the day, we received a phone call from our geocaching friend in Germany. Josef had planned to attend Mingo before Covid-19 struck. He shared how his part of Germany is still in a semi-lock down state: he had to have a negative test before he could get a haircut. Department stores are only open by appointment. Grocery stores are open, but at a minimal level. Restaurants are not open other than for take-out. He is tested twice a week at work. He has received his first vaccine shot and gets his second in mid-June. Masks are mandatory. 

Josef was not the only European or out of country person who had planned to attend Mingo Madness. Canadian geocachers were also not in attendance. And as many times as the date changed, so did plans for geocachers. The organizers had no idea how many people would invade the area. I will say, the eating establishments were prepared with enough staff and service was speedy and excellent in Colby. 

When I looked at the attendance just before posting this blog, 516 people posted they had attended the event. Maybe another 200 came along with those 516 who are not geocachers or might be family members. It will be interesting to see the final count. We had a great time. After a year of being so cautious and socially distant, this outdoor event just filled my soul. But I'm ready to head home... 

Friday of Mingo Madness Weekend

 If you are not a geocacher or care about geocaching you may want to skip this post. Or you may want to try to figure out why we do what we do regarding geocaching. As much as anything, this post is for friends who are geocachers not able to attend Mingo Madness weekend.

Friday was the pre-day of events and activities to the BIG CELEBRATION in Colby KS which starts on Saturday. For us Friday was all about meeting up with some geocaching friends and finding geocaches. Both goals were accomplished. The morning was devoted to finding the caches that were the palm tree geo-art. Palm trees in the western KS? Why? Colby is known as the Oasis on the Plains, thus palm trees. We drove dusty roads (no gravel on these roads!) south of Colby in farming country. At times the dust being kicked up by the vehicles on the road was so thick, you could not see what was in front of you, including the vehicle you were following. The truck cab and box are covered in fine KS soil. We were after 128 preform tubes attached to electrical poles along the county/country roads.

Preform tubes become water and soda bottles. They make very good geocaching containers as they are a hard, thick plastic in this stage and do not disintegrate in the sun and withstand extreme temperature changes. 

Chasing after preform containers on dusty roads resulted in this picture of geocaches. To find the geocaches we drove on roads, not in the fields as displayed in its final format.

Once that was complete, we headed back into town to begin completing the Adventure Lab caches. Fourteen of them had been placed around the outskirts and in the town of Colby. These new cache types are intended to be in place for years to come, not just for the Mingo Madness event.

These are just 3 of the 14 we completed. We added 80 Adventure Labs to our total! AND there are a few more in the area we have on our list to do over the weekend.

And as if 208 caches were not enough for one day, we also found some creative gadget caches in the town of Colby.

some involved 9 volt batteries

a rare large container

most were made of wood and secured to a sturdy host

All of them were creative, involved time and resources from their creator and were fun and challenging to complete for the geocachers.

The third part of the day was meeting geo friends we have not seen in the last year or longer. There were 4 scheduled events throughout the day. We made a point of being at each one so we could look for people we know and have met somewhere along the way in our 9 years of geocaching.

event #1 in a city park

I met Joshua, The Geocaching Vlogger from Minneapolis area

event #2 for a special icon

we were recognized for financially contributing to Mingo Madness

Who knew???

The maze was full of interesting facts related to geocaching. Thank you Gladys!

a Plinko game for those who wanted to play

signing the logbook/board at event #3

the Pre-Mingo Madness event

Hubby recognized these 3 folks from GA 

We attended 2 of their events last summer in the Black Hills. They were traveling through states with their son during Covid-19, looking for a new home location when they retire in a couple years. 

The 4th event ended our day. It was held in the parking lot of a hotel. We were able to visit with some other folks, some from SD, AZ, MN.

More fun tomorrow! More events. More gadget caches. 

Traveling to Mingo - Day 1

Hubby and I are on another camping/caching adventure. This time we are traveling to Colby, Kansas. Why Colby KS? Well, Colby KS is hosting a large geocaching event (called a MEGA) to commemorate the oldest active geocache in the world, Mingo. (near the village of Mingo KS) Geocaching was born May 2, 2000. (See/read story here.) The Mingo geocache was placed May 11, 2000 making it the oldest (not first) continuous, active geocache. There was to be a big celebration May 2020, but Covid-19 interfered so the party was moved to May 8, 2021. We have been looking forward to this celebration for two years.

Because we have the time (we are retired!), we are spending a couple of nights in Nebraska going to KS and coming from KS to find caches in more Nebraska counties, hoping to eventually turn that state green like South Dakota and Arizona. 

But here is the pre-trip story. The plumbing issues on the travel trailer had been fixed. That meant the toilet, shower, and any other water usage was now available while camping. Woo Hoo!!! We brought the camper from storage on Monday morning, but one of the tow bars would NOT stay in place. We've had issues with that bar and it's slot for at least a year, but have always been able to get it to stay/hold eventually. Not this time. So we drove side streets to the nearest RV sales and repair shop to check if it was a fixable issue. It wasn't. We had to purchase a new hitch. Luckily, they were able to install it immediately. We were good to go. Woo Hoo! 

Our route took us through two Nebraska counties where we needed to find a few geocaches to turn those counties green on our geo maps. We also found two Adventure Labs we were not expecting that became the highlight of the day.

This first group of photos is from Columbus NE.

Duncan will be celebrating 150 years this summer

at the Duncan Fire Department

Main Street intersection in Duncan paved in bricks

the Lincoln Highway crossing Nebraska

one of several Lincoln Highway markers

Have you ever heard of the Lincoln Highway? I had not until last year. I learned through the geocaching groups I follow, there was a movement to create geocaches along the original US Highway 30, the FIRST coast-to-coast highway. The idea was to create an awareness of the history of the route, where it went, and places along the way.

To read more about this 1913 highway, who was the brains behind the idea, how it was built and why, who supported it, and who didn't, CLICK HERE. It is quite interesting!

The first Adventure Lab of 10 locations ended in the community of Duncan. The second Adventure Lab began along a still drivable section of the original US Hwy 30 and continued in communities to the west of Duncan.

Another unexpected adventure through geocaching. Definitely a history lesson! There is a movement to create a Route 66 set of Adventure Labs from Chicago to Los Angeles. It is not yet complete, but will be by the end of 2021. 

Now, there is a third part to the travel trailer mishaps. We arrived in Grand Island, our home for the next two nights. As we connected the campground water to the travel trailer, a small flood happened on the bathroom floor. A water pipe to the toilet sprang a leak. (The previous plumbing issues were on the outside of the trailer.)  Not just a little leak, but one similar to a bidet, IF it were inside the toilet bowl and not outside! The two RV services in Grand Island could not fix the issue anytime soon. 

Hubby and I have figured out a way to made due until the trailer can be fixed. The earliest is May 21 in Sioux Falls! We are gone and busy all day, every day on this trip. We were farm kids, growing up without indoor plumbing and running water. We'll use the campground facilities for showers. We can use our toilet without running water. We heat water to wash the few dishes we are using and to wash up. It will work until we can get it fixed. 

I'm blaming all this on Hubby's comment, "I was looking at new campers. Not that I want to buy one. Just looking." I know the travel trailer heard him and is getting even for those evil thoughts!

We were both looking forward to a meal at the Texas TBone Steakhouse. The last time we ate there, I was suffering from an inflamed gall bladder and could only eat mashed potatoes. We shared a delicious filet Tuesday evening and enjoyed the adult beverages. We deserved it and more after another travel trailer episode. Oh well, it is what it is! It could be worse.