What would he look like? I had absolutely NO idea, so I had made up a big sign with the geocaching four-color logo on it, in order that he would recognize me.
I was running late because of traffic, but finally made it to the parking garage at the Phoenix Harbor International Airport. For the past couple of weeks, Seth! from Washington, had been in contact with me and was flying down to Arizona to interview Dave Ulmer for “a big geocaching DVD” he was going to make.
I was supposed to pick up Seth! from the airport and drive him out to meet Dave, who was here in the north Phoenix area, camped out in his RV. I found a spot, parked the Camaro and hurried to the gate.
As I turned the corner into the airport greeting area, he stood up and greeted me by my team name. What a relief!
That went easy enough…I apologized like crazy for being late, and helped him with his bags as we went back to the car. This guy was loaded down; he had two big bags and a hard case for his professional video camera, along with a tripod and a ton of other stuff I had no idea about!
Although I had reserved a couple of rooms at a local motel, their system had not been working right and we had an hour wait before we could check in. When we finally got settled, I decided to take Seth! out on the town for a little taste of the Phoenix-area nightlife. Karaoke time!
We drove to a little bar called Ernie’s Inn at Scottsdale and Shea roads, where I used to roam. There was karaoke on one side, and a jukebox/band on the other. Of course, the Karaoke side was jamming, as it was a Saturday night and the place was hoppin’.
I put in my Karaoke request and managed to get up and sing a fast Alan Jackson song: “Married to a waitress, I don’t even know your name”, and had the place rockin’. Seth! was chillin’ like a geocachin’ villain at the bar, so we stayed and talked up some caching for a while before calling it a night.
The next morning found us (after a quick trip to the local Denny’s, of course) in search of the elusive inventor of geocaching himself, Dave Ulmer. I had been previously emailing Dave and had his campground coordinates, which placed him in the north Scottsdale area.
Well, Dave brought out his astro-turf lawn and set up a lawn chair while we got the video equipment ready for the big interview. Seth! is a real pro at that kind of stuff and was busy checking the lighting, the sound, background noise (there were a lot of motocross and ATV riders buzzing back and forth).
We finally got a quiet period and managed to get some really good Q&A from Dave about the beginnings of geocaching. It should make for a very interesting DVD, and I can’t wait to see it. As we wrapped things up, Dave suggested we go see a nearby Virtual Cache, A Sign from the Past IV. We all jumped in my Camaro and drove out to see it, only a few miles down the road.
Man, I must be outta shape…the hike up the hill to see the Native American ruins really left me breathing heavy…Dave and Seth! made the climb like they were mountain goats! It was interesting to read the history of the place and imagine what life in the area was like so many years ago.
Dave was all over the place, climbing out on ledges and leading the way around the deadly cholla! It was all I could do to keep up and try not to let them hear my wheezing, which was scaring small animals for miles around.
Back at the car, we decided to hit a few more caches, so I drove Seth! and Dave out to the East Valley and down the Apache Trail to hit two of my caches. Then we headed back into town and stopped at the local TGIF restaurant, where we had dinner and a very interesting conversation about where geocaching might go in the not-too-distant future.
A couple of local cachers who are friends of mine showed up to meet Dave and say hello. I admit it: I tipped them off that we would be there!
We dropped Dave back at his RV, said goodnight and headed back to the other side of town. Of course, this being Seth!’s last night here, we just HAD to go back to Ernie’s, but this time, when we got there, it was Seth! who put in a Karaoke request slip! He got up and sang Elvis’ “Can’t help falling in love” to all the ladies there, who immediately mobbed him, grabbed his hair and ripped off his shirt! Okay, okay, they didn’t do that, but Seth! IS quite the singer!
And talk about drinking like a fish! Seth! was over at the corner table, doing straight shots with a burly Tibetan Sherpa, who couldn’t keep up and passed out. Victorious, Seth! challenged the next contestant…okay, okay, it didn’t quite go like that, he only had a couple of beers…anyhow, we stayed for a bit and then decided to call it a day.
The next morning we hit one more cache, In memory of George on the way to the airport. This was a quick one in a small park, and Seth! commented on how easy the terrain was, being that it was mostly hard dirt with a few small scrub bushes. (If only he had time to do Bronco Butte, or RTW-1, local caches with killer hikes up the mountains, he would be going home on a stretcher). A quick “see-ya-later” at the airport and he was on his way back to Washington, to make the geocaching dvd that is now available to buy. Can’t wait to see it!
Well, that was my big geocaching experience down here in Arizona, home of some of the friendliest cachers around. If you ever get down here and want to do some great caching, look one of us up, we are a great bunch of cachers and would love to show you some Arizona hospitality!