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August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Highlighting Maryland's finest cachers!
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Calvertcachers
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August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by Calvertcachers »

It is a pleasure to introduce Ksullivan in our August 2013 Member Spotlight. Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to get to know Kelly and she is a lot of fun!! Her recent trip with Tabbikat out west to visit the National Parks was amazing. It was fun to follow their journey through FaceBook and I was amazed by all of the wonderful pictures!
Say hello to Kelly!

Caching Name: Ksullivan
Real Name: Kelly Sullivan
Interview Date: July 2013


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1. How did you become involved in geocaching? When did you start?
A teacher at one of my schools had students do an activity with GPS’s similar to geocaching and it sounded interesting. I tried it out and thought it was cool. I decided to try the real thing and borrowed a GPS. My husband and I looked for a couple of caches. We found one very easy large cache- GC14QAF (Find Your Way(point)). We looked for the second one and realized that we didn’t know what we were doing. That was in June of 2008. I gave up but was still interested. Around a year later, there was still a push to use GPS’s in school. I signed up for a summer class on using GPS’s in the classroom. This triggered an invite for the DEN(Discovery Educators Network) annual geocaching day in May of 2009. This time my husband and I were paired up with someone who knew what they were doing. I had seven finds by the end of the day. At the end of the summer class, I had 15 finds and I was hooked.

2. How did you choose your caching name?
I kept it simple with my initial and last name. I had no idea what I was getting into when I started!

3. How many caches have you found so far?
I’m up to about 3300

4. What brand/type of GPS do you use?
I started with a Garmin E-trex and I still use it to place caches. It is very accurate. I just got a Garmin Oregon 450t . I use my Droid phone sometimes, but I prefer the handheld GPS.

5. What programs/software or hardware (PDA/laptop/phone) do you use to make caching easier?
I love GSAK for a lot of reasons. I also use http://www.cachemaps.com (GPX to Google maps) that will show me a whole GSAK file on a Google map. It helps me see where just the caches I have chosen are located on the map. It’s especially good after I have a bunch of corrected puzzle coordinates and am planning a route.

6. What type of cache do you prefer seeking – traditional, multi, puzzle, virtual?
I like them all! As long as they take me some place that is interesting or I am with my friends, I am happy.

7. Which caches were the most challenging – physically/mentally? Why?
GCJG49 Arches National Park-Delicate Arch –This was a 3 mile round trip hike and it was hot! There is next to no shade and the trail was like nothing I’ve done on the nice flat Eastern Shore. Not only does the trail go up, but it is also at a higher elevation than I’m used to. I had to stop and just catch my breath. Much of it was over “slick rock” and the trail was marked by piles of rocks. It was very rewarding once I got there but the whole time I was thinking about how wonderfully the human body responds when you push it to extremes!

GCMWWH The Holy Grail- was by far the most challenging physically and mentally. To get the coordinates for this cache you had to find the 5 other caches in the series. Each of the other caches was a puzzle cache. You had to solve the puzzle in the cache to get coordinates for the next cache. There was no geo-checker either. Each cache ended up being miles away from the other and pretty far from those little blue question marks on the map too. I did this one with my sister and nieces. It was cool because we worked so well together. At one stage, I had no idea how to do the puzzle, so I just handed it off to my nieces and they solved it. At one stage, I was the only one brave enough to go through the crazy tall weeds to get the cache. At another, I made a stupid math mistake and we found it when we were in the car regrouping after not finding the cache. The terrain was also pretty challenging, especially since I live on the nice flat Eastern Shore! We were in searching lots of rock ledges. The final was in a beautiful spot and we got it on our last day before we had to fly home.

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GCMWWH The Holy Grail (PegasusMoon and Emilia2012)

8. Do you have a favorite or favorites among the Maryland caches that you’ve found?
(Feel free to list a favorite for each type of cache) Do you have a favorite in a nearby state?


Traditional: GC3FJ8Q WGD 2012 Wetipquin Creek Kayak Cache (It was lots of fun to retrieve)
Multi: GC2EGZJ- Alas Poor Yorick (very creative in the concept and the container—enjoyed it!)
Puzzle: GC3AQC Livin on the Edge (Loved the Gallows Pole cache and then the hike to this beautiful spot)

In Delaware, GC3DYYT “ Your Key to the Cache” is the biggest most unusual creative geocache that I’ve ever seen.
In West Virginia, GC3NQWO “Up Periscope” was a lot of fun

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GC3FJ8Q WGD 2012 Wetipquin Creek Kayak Cache

9. What’s the most unusual thing that you’ve ever found in a cache?
My mom and I were caching and it was so hot. We were getting frustrated, our cords were putting us in someone’s yard. (Luckily there was a hint.) I was commenting that they only thing we would find would be “chicks and tiggers” (meaning to say ticks and chiggers). When I opened the cache, it had a little figurine of Tigger in the swag. I had to make a trade!

10. What are your current caching goals? Is there a certain cache that you can’t wait to do?
Get my husband to do some more caching with me.
Attend at least one mega-event.
Hit 4000 finds.
Cache in another country (London/Paris trip planned for end of July).
Do the 1000 Steps cache.
Do a few challenging caches with in a group.
Make more caching friends.
Place a really, really cool cache.

11. How many caches have you placed? Do you have a current hiding goal?
I’ve placed 3 official caches, 5 if you count events. They are pretty much park and grabs. I’ve also placed a couple caches for local events. I’d like to do something more creative back in a nice woodsy area. I’m looking for a good spot that doesn’t already have a lot of caches. I keep picking up containers….

12. What advice would you give someone that wants to place a cache? What steps do YOU take when placing a cache?
Be sure to get a lot of finds under your belt before you place a cache. Experience is the best teacher. Read the guidelines on geocaching.com and use the forums on the Maryland Geocaching Society’s website to see regulations for your area.

When I place a cache, I am meticulous about getting the right coordinates. ( I use my Etrex because I’ve found it to be pretty accurate.) Go to the place several times on different days to get the coordinates. It can also give you an idea if muggles are a factor when you go to the area at different times of day. Also think about what the GZ is going to look like during seasons other than the one you placed it in. Your natural camo may disappear, or the area that was great in the winter is now impossible to get to when everything is green.

13. How often do you go caching?
I try to go at least every other weekend. Sometimes real life gets in the way. When I have to go out of town for work or anything, I always look for at least one cache to retrieve. I like to mark that I was there.

14. What advice would you give a beginning geocacher?
Go caching with an experienced cacher who can show you the ropes, or at least talk to other cachers. When I first started, I couldn’t find a light pole cache. Who knew the base lifted up? It’s much easier to learn the game by playing with someone who has played before.

Attend events and meet other cachers. I’ve made some very good friends!
It’s okay to log your DNF’s! Either you can get help from the CO, or the CO will know the cache is missing.

15. Have you completed CAM in the past? What was your favorite aspect?
This year was my second CAM. I can’t imagine missing it! I consider it an 8 week geocaching party. It got me to venture out and see parts of the state that I had never visited before. I think the best part is the social aspect. During CAM, you are likely to run into other cachers on the trail since you are looking for the same geocaches. It is a lot of fun arranging trips with friends and family to go get the caches. There’s nothing like a walk with great people to a beautiful spot (that happens to have a geocache along the way.)

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GC3BEWH CAM 2012 Pretty Boy Dam and Watershed

16. Do you collect geocoins? Of the ones that you’ve collected, which is your favorite?
I have bought a few really pretty coins, but I hesitate to release them because a few of my travel bugs have disappeared. I like geocoins that I have to earn. They show I’ve met a challenge or participated in an event. I think my favorite is my GeoWoodstock coin because of the design, because it was my first Mega, and because I had such a good time traveling with Tabbikat and Evanspack on that trip.

17. What type of gear do you carry with you on your caching trips? What’s in your geopack?
I carry tweezers, a flashlight, spare batteries, a pocket knife, extra MGS pathtags, extra pens, and an extendable magnetic wand with a light on the end. In my car I keep bug spray, wet wipes, a hat, bottled water, hand sanitizer, and sometimes an extra pair of pants! I’m trying to remember to put some extra logs and baggies in my bag for cache maintenance.

18. What is your most memorable caching experience?
I did Cave (GC2MD1H) with a large group of people. It was an amazing time! My sister and niece have the same sense of adventure that I do, so they went with me. It is a 5 difficulty, 4.5 terrain cache, yes, in a cave! We attended an event by WVTim where he shared plenty of information about this cache, that both prepared and frightened us just a little! We were at the front of the crowd and Snurt did an awesome job of telling us how to maneuver and what to check out in the cave. The fear disappeared and was replaced by fascination because we had so much trust in Snurt and WVTim. It was an amazing experience to have that helmet and flashlight and be crawling through a keyhole tunnel, maneuvering around rock formations, trying to slide down and climb up these slippery surfaces. Caching in a wild cave—another example of finding myself in an awesome location and seeing things that I’ve never seen before because of geocaching.

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19. What is your best caching story?
In West Virginia, GC3NQWO “Up Periscope” was a lot of fun. I had read the cache description and put out a call to my Facebook friends for a bike pump. My dad brought me this lovely air pump that plugged into your car’s cigarette lighter. When we got the place, we realized that the GZ was at the end of the dock. No driving out there! We scoped it out, but knew we weren’t going to be able to go for it. We did caches in the park, but we really wanted Up Periscope. We live about 4 hours away. We were heading to another cache in the park and two cars pulled up, one with bikes on top. I decided to approach the people (or kind of chase them down since they were headed to the woods.) They had to have a bike pump, right? I asked the two guys if they had a bike pump that we could borrow for 10 minutes. Of the two cars, the one without the bikes on top had a bike pump and the man told me to go ahead and grab it out of his car. That was weird going in a stranger’s vehicle. My sister and I took it over to the GZ and retrieved the cache. We returned the bike pump to the guy’s car, grabbed another cache, and headed on down the road. That turned out to be one of my favorite caches.

20. What do you like about geocaching? What keeps you going?
People keep placing caches! But seriously, I have met the nicest people and made some really great friends through geocaching. I have discovered how much I love to be outside and I enjoy hiking because of this sport. I love planning a route or looking at a map when I go some place new. I love discovering places that I would have never noticed if I hadn’t been looking for a cache. There’s always a challenges you can choose to try. It allows me to forget about the stress of everyday life and just have fun. You get focused on finding a cache or enjoying a walk and the rest of world just waits.

Recently I took a vacation with a friend (Tabbikat) that I met through geocaching and geocaching events. The trip was to see out west to visit Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone. The parks are so big and there was so much to see. I didn’t even know where to begin when planning what to see in each park. I used the virtual caches and Earthcaches and looked at favorite points to figure out what to see in each park. We ended up in amazing places, thanks to geocaching. The Earthcaches were cool to help us learn about what we were looking at. I would tell (and have told) others that geocaches are great tool to use to explore a national park.

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Grand Tetons

21. Besides geocaching, what other things do you like to do?
I love travel but now that always seems to involve geocaching. I make quilts that take forever because I quilt by hand. I love to ski. I like having a good novel to read on the beach while my husband fishes. I love listening to music and have two local acoustic duos that I try to get out and hear often. I also find math pretty fun!

22. What question did you expect us to ask but didn’t. What is the answer?
What part of Maryland are you from? I live on the Eastern Shore.

Bonus Question:
How do you promote and share geocaching with others?

I often set up activities at the two schools that where I work. The activities integrate geocaching and mathematics. I’ve given seminars for teachers on how to create and manage geocaching activities in their classrooms and helped teachers when they have implemented activities. I also serve as a merit badge counselor for Geocaching. I will talk to anyone who will listen about how much I love this hobby!!
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cooley1103
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by cooley1103 »

Great write up for a great friend
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Bocco
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by Bocco »

Nice to meet you, Kelly! Thanks for sharing your adventures :dance: I would love to be able to do GCJG49, that sounds amazing. Hope to meet you on the trail someday.
wizardofmd69
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by wizardofmd69 »

A great write up for a great and fun cacher. We've cached before on a few caches with her sister PegasusMoon and we had a ball. Kelly you deserved the spotlight! CONGRATS!!!
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2B's
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by 2B's »

We met Kelly through Maryland geocaching. She reminds us of the Energizer bunny. When she caches, she keeps going and going. She's fun to know.
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OhMelli
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by OhMelli »

I've run into Kelly at a couple of events and talked briefly... have not had an opportunity to cache with her. Sounds like it would be great FUN though! Would LOVE to take that trip you and Tabbikat took out west - that's for sure! I've always wanted -- and do eventually plan - to see the Grand Tetons! Great interview!
Snurt
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by Snurt »

Good timing on a great write-up...having just watched the spotlight cacher take the West by storm and now Europe.
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coupleocachers
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by coupleocachers »

Awesome Write Up. It was really fun to read about you.
We are now Mr. And Mrs. Coupleocachers and Proud parents of AmeliaGrace
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Hixon
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by Hixon »

Wonderful write-up! I really enjoyed your stories. It's always great to hear more about what's going on in the lives the fine folks on the other side of the bay, as our paths don't always cross.
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hostanut
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Re: August 2013 Spotlight - Ksullivan

Post by hostanut »

Kelly has been good for Geocaching!!!! She has helped the scouts, hidden caches for organized geotrails, talked to muggles about caching, helped fellow cachers and supported events.

Kelly is a super friendly person....I feel honored to have met her!!!!!
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