Current at 11/6/2011 (Online waypoint URL) You have already found this cache! Master Index    Nearest Caches GeoVenture 2011: The Dharma Initiative by MBGA (1.5/1.5) (Archived) N50° 01.375  W96° 54.467 (WGS84) UTM  14U   E 649866  N 5543276 Use waypoint: GC2Q0F3 Size: Not chosen    Hidden on 8/27/2011 In Manitoba, Canada Difficulty:     Terrain:                               The Manitoba Geocaching Association (MBGA) is hosting its 5th Annual GeoVenture Event! Dharma Initiative video gets hacked! "We at the Dharma Initiative deny this report." GeoCachers judge for yourself. Training Video Friday, August 26th - Sunday, August 28th Group Use Area #1, Site #6 Birds Hill Provincial Park This event is open to everyone. Whether you've been caching for a long time, are relatively new at it, or are just thinking about trying it sometime, we are looking forward to meeting you! The main event will take place on Saturday, but feel free to drop by anytime. You can come for the day, or stay for the weekend. The group use area includes a picnic shelter with running water, electricity and wood fired grills for our exclusive use. There are modern, heated washrooms nearby. Showers are available in the main campground area. The MBGA will collect $15 per night, per camping unit, to cover camping fees. If you plan on camping, please post as indicated below so we can keep track of attendance numbers to ensure we have enough space booked. The group use site only accommodates tents, but camper trailers are welcome to set up in the parking area. There are no facilities for electrical or sewage hookup in the parking area. There are; however, electrical and full service sites nearby at the Birds Hill Park Provincial Campground that may be reserved by calling 1-888-482-2267 or online at Parks Reservation Service. Upon arrival, please check in at the GeoVenture 2011 Registration Area (the coordinates above) at the group camp site shelter Friday evening or Saturday morning. To help offset the unexpected cost of event insurance, there is a $5.00 per person or $10.00 per team cost which is only applicable to those participating in the challenge. The fee will be waived for those who are camping. Weekend Schedule Highlights Friday 11:00am- Check-in time (Campers may set up after 11am.) 8:00pm- Bonfire (Bring your own chair) 9:00pm- Group trail walk Saturday 10:00am- Pancake breakfast (Provided by the MBGA) 12:00pm- GeoVenture cache challenge OR group caching 5:00pm- Challenge and group caching ends 6:00pm- Group photo 6:15pm- Potluck BBQ (Hotdogs and hamburgers provided by the MBGA) 8:00pm- Cache Challenge Awards Ceremony 9:00pm- Bonfire (Bring your own chair) Sunday 11:00am- CITO (Cache In Trash Out) Group Site 11:00am- Check-out time. The Group Use area is available for our use until 11:00 PM Be sure to add this event to your watchlist as more details will be added to the event as the date approaches. To help us plan ahead, please log a Will Attend if you plan to attend. Also, please list: the number of people in your party whether you'll be camping if you plan to attend the Pancake Breakfast if you plan to attend the Potluck BBQ what food item you plan to contribute to the potluck We encourage everyone to bring your own reusable water bottles, travelmugs, plates, cutlery, etc. to help reduce garbage and its effects on the environment. However, we will have supplies for those who forget.

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8/27/2011 by Kabuthunk
It was nice to get out to GeoVenture again. As seems to be a running theme with me at this event, I unfortunately wasn't able to stay for the entire thing. It seems that every weekend in summer, I've already got plans of some sort going on. Although, at least this year my wife was able to come along for a little bit and relax there. However, since she doesn’t really know anyone there, being a non-geocacher and all, she was being really shy at the event. Then again, neither of us are really the type to actively go and speak to people we don’t know. How in the world we ever got married, I’ll never know .

In either case, it seems that when I showed up, most people weren’t at the campsite area, since the challenge was still taking place. I did run into Dani though, and otherwise chatted it up with other people that were kicking around. And I also learned a bit more about what this GeoVenture was associated with. Given I’ve never watched Lost (and never had an urge to), pretty much all of this was completely lost on me. On Sunday however, I happened to have seen one of the puzzles when it came back to the main structure area, and it looks like a fair amount of effort was put into this event.

Saturday morning would have been more ideal to head out, but that wasn’t in the cards this time. My wife needed to get to and from Dragonboat practice, so one way or the other I wasn’t going to have a car this morning. By the time all of that was said and done, I wouldn’t have been able to make it out there to start the challenge. But hey… Bird’s Hill park is still Bird’s Hill park, so Laura and I decided to swing by the event, and also get some beach time in. I figured the cool water can’t help but ease the soreness in her shoulders after paddling.

So after I chatted it up with a few cachers at first and signed the logbook, we headed out to the beach and played around in the water a bit. I went for a hike to circle the lake like I usually do, for no real reason other than ‘just because’, and happened across *butterfly*, who I saw for a few minutes before going to the beach. Seems her and the kids had the same plan as us. Chatted with them a bit (I still say you can work with stainless steel… it just takes some getting used to bending steel. You’ll have strong hands by the end, anyway) and headed back to my wife to bask in the sun a bit more.

As it turns out, the cold water may have helped Laura’s shoulders (slightly, anyway), but alas, it didn’t help the fact that she was completely shot from having done a ridiculous amount of exercise in the morning (it was an extra long practice). So we decided to head out, and I wanted to swing by the event again to say so long to the geocachers, and see what was going on. Looks like it was food time when we arrived the second time. However, since it’s a potluck, Laura didn’t… feel right about getting food when we didn’t bring any of our own, despite Dani’s ascertation that it would be fine. That, and I think she was pretty much destroyed from all of the activity in the morning and then traveling around. When we got home, she hit the bed like a cruise missile .

No problems though… I headed out again Sunday on my own to take part in the CITO and see what’s still happening. Laura was still half asleep when I left . Chilled with people yet again, cleaned up the area, and generally chilled with other geocachers… can’t go wrong . As an added bonus, after I left I decided to make a slight detour to head out to Grand Beach to get a free t-shirt for that new radio station. Not often I get in on the ground floor of anything new, so figured why not.

All in all, much like last year, it was fun, but I’ve got to try to plan it so I spend more time out here next year .

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry, Purr-fect Geo-Cat geocoin, and chainmail ball

7/20/2011 by Kabuthunk
I'll definitely try, but I unfortunately can't guarantee anything for these days.