May 21, 2005

Day Starting Line GBES ’05 Rally: The second part of the adventure begins...Who was that guy who helped out with getting everyone in starting order? He didn't seem to have a GBES officials' tee-shirt on.

Day Course Challenge 1 GBES ’05 Rally: Away we go!

Day Route Cache 1 GBES ’05 Rally: Our goal was to get all of the day rally caches. So far so good. Hmmm...could we possibly be heading for that bumpy levee again???

Day Route Cache 2 GBES ’05 Rally: I'm going to log this one a find. We were headed towards this cache on the correct side of the canal when we got turned around by 'The Flood'. Whew! A detour on a course that already seemed pretty round-about.

Day Checkpoint Challenge 1 GBES ’05 Rally: After doubling back quite a distance, passing what looked to be some sort of equestrian version of the rally, and crossing that #!$ levee...AGAIN (did we miss the turn off to the easier route, or was it flooded???), things appear to be back on track.

Day Course Challenge 2 GBES ’05 Rally: Hey! I'm getting good at these. I think I did this one in just over a minute.

Day Route Cache 3 GBES ’05 Rally: I can't remember exactly when we started up the canyon, but it was somewhere around here. Pretty flowers! Dangerous rocks!

Day Route Cache 4 GBES ’05 Rally: Lotsa fun going up where we came down last night. I'm still not sure which was scarier. The driver says, 'UP, definitely up was scariest!'

Day Route Cache 5 GBES ’05 Rally: I can't remember exactly where this one was, but we got it.

Day Route Cache 6 GBES ’05 Rally: High speed road caching: It almost felt drive-up micros back home.

Day Route Cache 7 GBES ’05 Rally: We played leapfrog with Team NorSoCal (and others) in this stretch.

Day Route Cache 8 GBES ’05 Rally: Did the Nevada Tourism board put up those signs? Did I tell you I love those guys???

Day Route Cache 9 GBES ’05 Rally: Hey! This is getting a bit boring...can we get back to some off-road stuff?

Day Checkpoint Challenge 2 GBES ’05 Rally: Hey, those porta potties were a good idea. I think we grabbed a bite to eat about this point too. Ever tried to hold a clipboard, work a GPSr, and eat a sandwich on a bumpy road all at the same time? It's tough.

Day Course Challenge 3 GBES ’05 Rally: Kicking butt and taking names.

Day Route Cache 10 GBES ’05 Rally: Hey, crossing that little stream was fun!

Day Route Cache 11 GBES ’05 Rally: Alright, so if you've been reading our logs in race order (not sure if anyone will ever do that...except us), you'll realize that we're feeling pretty good about ourselves through this stretch. Even cocky perhaps. Pride: will I ever learn?

Day Route Cache 12 GBES ’05 Rally: Somewhere around here we passed the team with the flat tire. A couple of the team members were underneath the back where the spare was. The navigator was reading the vehicles' instruction manual. Never a good sign.

Day Multi-Cache GBES ’05 Rally: This cache was the high point of the day rally (literally and figuratively!) With the incredible views, it seemed like something out of the 'Sound of Music' (...only dustier, and with more bugs, a lot more bugs!).

Day Route Cache 13 GBES ’05 Rally: Ahh yes. Lucky number 13. Why did we ever decide to go down that wash??? After walking down to survey the situation, and deciding that it would be okay (we were a little daft by then), we comitted ourselves a course that just never seemed to end. After quite a bit of angst, though, it did end, and we made the grab.

Day Route Cache 14 GBES ’05 Rally: All I remember about this stretch of the race was that I learned the meaning of the word speleology (the study of caves) from Davis Duo.

Day Route Cache 15 GBES ’05 Rally: That guy Doug sure must have loved it up here.

Day Checkpoint Challenge 3 GBES ’05 Rally: We passed through here. I'm sure of it.

Day Route Cache 16 GBES ’05 Rally: I must be turned around. It's the home stretch, but we seem to be heading the wrong direction.

Day Route Cache 17 GBES ’05 Rally: We're getting warmer!

Day Route Cache 18 GBES ’05 Rally: It really seems like we're the only ones still out on the course.

Day Course Challenge 4 GBES ’05 Rally: The course workers were so supportive! Thanks. I'll bet we looked pretty wrung out at this point.

Day Finish Line GBES ’05 Rally: Wow, we made it. Thanks for taking us across that dry lake bed in the car. COOL. With the checkered flag waving and the crowd milling around the finish line, we really felt like champs. What a great experience.

GBES 2nd Annual Navigational Cache Rally: We had a great time, and, for a couple of city slickers, handled ourselves pretty well, thank you very much. Through the race our emotions ran the gamut from anticipation (before the race), exhileration (both day and night multi caches), extreme frustration (I don't know exactly where we were, but it was about 1:30 in the morning), and a fantastic sense of accomplishment (when it was all over). Thanks for all the hard work putting the rally together! Winning a white jeep in the raffle was icing on the cake. This rally really exemplified what I love about geocaching: the opportunity to explore places you'd never visit otherwise, and learn more about yourself in the process.