Thank you. Now how to get another 500 in 5 months FYI - Not sure I agree with the law, (at least I see where they're going with it) only because I can't be the only one to find feathers on the ground...., but since it's a turkey feather (there are turkey's out there?) I won't be looking over my shoulder. Cindy J. Spurr Freelance Writer (757) 432-1423 Web site: www.creativeace.com Alt email: cindys@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ---- From: Jim Bensman <junkmailno@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: geocaching@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2008 10:45:53 PM Subject: [GeoStL] Re: indoor caches Re: Titus Hollow RE: Reaching milestone Congratulations on 500. Glad it was an adventure! This is an automated message from Geocaching You are receiving this email because you are the owner of this listing. Location: Illinois , United States VAEaglesFan found Titus Hollow Cache (Traditional Cache) at 1/20/2008 Log Date: 1/20/2008 #500 -- WOOHOO! Note to next cacher: this is a long log. Short version: The view is breath taking. Take a buddy with you, be careful, and plan for at least 1 1/2-2 hours. If you go by yourself (like I did), don't tell the spouse as they will not be happy you did this on your own nor a fellow out-of-state cacher who only read the description and will think doing this on your own is "stupid." Long version: this did not go as smoothly as planned on day 1 or 2. I was suppose to get this yesterday, after all I only needed 16. How hard could that be? It started out beautifully enough at 9am. Colder than a you know what, but I was determined. So off I go, rocking and rolling. Bump 1 came after #8 when I couldn't find #9. No biggie, I have several backups just for this occasion. So I set off for IL. Pick up a couple around the Alton area, no sweat. Quick bite to eat and off toward Brussles. Ferry running today, but confused as I'm trying to get GPS to route me via a road to Titus Hollow. Doesn't like it. Says it's in MO and tries to route me back to 270 then to 370. Now I know that ain't right. Upon closer inspection, I notice, there are no IL maps. I just have base maps for this area. NO WAY ! I had loaded the route the night before, but did not notice, that the maps were not highlighting in Map Source. Sent only the route. (Something to do with loading Map Source on a new laptop???) Got worse after I got off ferry and the gas light came on before I hit Brussels . Do you know there aren't any gas stations out here? So after much frustration, I took the signs for what they were and postponed my run for 500. Started back over this morning needing only 2 to reach my goal. 4 1/2 hours after starting out, I set out to find this awesome cache. This was the most athletic, frustrating, treacherous cache I have ever done. I did not have hiking boots, nor a phone that would catch a signal should something go wrong, but I was warmly dressed. [:-)] Several areas were covered in ice. I maneuvered around them by sliding (yes, sliding, carefully, but sliding none-the-less) down and around these patches. I could actually jump over a couple, but once ended on my back. Not good when there is a 200 foot drop in most areas. Luckily, this was not one of them. So I took the hint and took a break admiring the view for a few. Couldn't you have put this a little closer to the parking area? Oh, and as for the short cut (where would that be?), I think if anyone tries that, they should get bonus points, specially if they do it without special equipment. As for me, slow and steady wins the race and today, getting 500 was a win for me! Didn't see any Eagles, but did take pics of the views and picked up an Eagle feather I found on the path on the way back. Thanks again for this cache. I won't be one to repeat this, but it was worth it. Visit this log entry at the below address: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=3f9f3813-4f29-4ce4-846c-00f3657fae55 Visit Titus Hollow Cache http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=22128857-3c18-494c-8e04-a4701451cd2b Profile for VAEaglesFan: http://www.geocaching.com/profile/?guid=98268faa-5a50-4fb0-aa08-f0ef6975749f Jim Bensman "Nature Bats Last"