Gilby Gone Wild

 I chose this particular weekend for our road trip to Gilby because the community was hosting their second Gilby Gone Wild event. I knew of the event last year but it wasn't until I had visited with a group of the organizers (at the MINGO event in May in Kansas) it became the September road trip for 2021. Hubby was skeptical of another road trip to northeast North Dakota, but I know he is willing to return next year. He had so much fun and met so many cachers he knew. 

okay, but how do you open it????

Factory Outlet

my other favorite cache on this trip

a post with lettered outlets on all 3 sides

and several electrical cords with plug-ins

it didn't take Hubby long to figure out what to do 

and...

the platform rose and the log book appeared in a plastic container

a Gilby farmer creates spinning metal works

and free standing metal sculptures

this one is for you Sherry & Jon

metal works of all kinds for sale

some horses near the road on another farm

Little Strong Man

no pounding necessary

hmmmm...how to open

this group had gathered at Strike Zone which wasn't working

we supplied the ladder to climb the tree trunk to reach the lever

that released the container when hit with the attached softball on a wire

the wire cables had a few kinks which were 'unkinked' with a pliers

it worked when we all left

town mural

some of the city park signage

cachers gathering for the group photo and raffle prizes

the schedule for the day

The Gilby community has a new community center; a place to gather for coffee or play games or cards, to socialize with others in the community. They (folks from the community) offered a $10 lunch of hamburger or hot dog, salad, chips, soda, and a cookie. It was so appreciated because there is NOWHERE to get food for miles and miles. (The bar did have toaster oven pizza which we did eat on Friday.) The cost for lunch was a fund raiser for the community which supports all the geocachers who come to visit.

cachers from CA, WA, ME

and places between

most were from the tri-state area

no Canadians this year

however, they did gather on their side 

of the border for a group photo

event host Trycacheus on the left and right-hand man on the right

vivacious helper Ariel in the middle

most of the crowd for the group photo

drone photo of the Gilby Gone Wild gathering

Hubby's door prize win

wireless water resistant speaker

my first raffle drawing win

my second raffle ticket win

a great haul of caching tools

in a very awesome bag

just one of about 20 raffle prizes

the Gilby Gone Wild geo-coin

back side

It was a great event gathering. The small community out in the country meant we were not fighting traffic or crowds. The 150-200 attendees (maybe more) was just the right size. If we saw somebody we knew, it was easy to find them and chat. We met folks from Facebook groups I follow. One of the attendees had attended one of my Watertown geocaching events in August 2016. I remembered him because he was from San Diego visiting his sons in Britton SD. We visited with geo friends from MN and our caching family from Sioux Falls, and friends from Aberdeen (the two Adventure Labs we completed last week in Aberdeen and Mobridge). The Fargo/Moorhead and Grand Forks geocaching community are so supportive of the event as is the community of Gilby. I, like our host Trycacheus, hope it doesn't become a MEGA event.