We have run our feet off to reach a major milestone (5,000) before the end of the year. We will do #4999 on Christmas day and plan to do "the biggie" on New Year's Eve.

We'd like our find to be memorable. For #1,000, we ran our feet off in the weeks before we got married so we would be in position to do #1,000 while on our honeymoon trip. We made it -- to an all white ammo can decorated with lace and pearls that was handed to us out the drive-thru window of the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Very memorable.

We are asking for suggestions for this 5,000th milestone. We figure if we ask everyone, we'd get suggestions we might not be aware of and ones we hadn't considered. We have some criteria for the hide:

-- We would like to find a traditional cache (please no puzzles, Earthcaches, Multis, etc.) but are open to suggestion if you feel strongly. We are not looking for a night cache.
-- We'd Like to find a medium or regular sized container. Please no 35mm film containers or nanos.
-- Less than 5 miles round trip with no insane changes in elevation. We want to enjoy this not end the year with a "Suffer-fest".
-- No kayaking or biking required (we don't have equipment at the moment).
-- We are willing to drive 2-3 hours to get to the cache location, especially if it's worthy.
-- Lastly, we need to be able to take our dog along for the hunt. He is the namesake for our username. He has put in the miles with us and should be there. However, he is 10 years old and 80 pounds. We can't find ourselves in a situation where we have to carry him out even though he is in good shape. (It happened when he was little -- he was too tired to finish -- and weighed 50 pounds and we had to carry him for over 3 miles.)

OK, that's about it. Any and all suggestions are welcome. Just responding with a GC code is fine but if you would like to leave your thoughts as well, that would be fantastic. There is a lot to choose from and we think this will be a really great way to narrow our search and pick a target. Thanks so much in advance for your help!

The first cache that came to mind is GC39, "The Spot". It's a bit (OK, more than a bit) longer than 2-3 hours' drive, but it's worthy for sure. Oldest cache in NY, and third oldest active cache in the world. Hike is steep, but short. Might be snowy this time of year, though.

Closer to home, you could do "dElAWare 7{1}" (GC10A), Delaware's oldest active hide. That one is a short, flat hike through a nice Loblolly Pine forest.

Most of the other caches I can think of are puzzles and/or more difficult hikes. But, I'm sure other folks will chime in with good ideas also.

Paul

One other I can think of is Raiders of the Lost Cache (GC2HN2H). It's the traditional with the most favorite points in a 200 mile radius that doesn't belong to WVTim. It may be more climb/hike than you're looking for, but from what I've seen, it's memorable.

lpaulriddle: Thank you so much for your two suggestions. I think the first one (GC39, "The Spot") is going to be a bit too far for us to drive there and back and to do the cache in one day but we do have family in that area so this one will go on our bucket list for sure. I would also worry about planning our trip to do it and then the weather forecast changing and us being left unable to make the trip and ending up in a parking lot in Frederick signing a logsheet under the light of a LPC. Nooo! Your second suggestion (dElAWare 7{1}" (GC10A)) sounds pretty good! The dog would love it. So it is a definite contender!

zumbido: Thank you so much for replying to our post. Your nomination of "Raiders of the Lost Cache (GC2HN2H)" is not only worthy of being on our bucket list but might actually be what we are looking for. It seems like a real anomaly of a hide, very unique and meets all our criteria. Another definite contender!

Again, thank you both so much for giving us these suggestions. We aren't aware of what is out there and most of the finds that have been our favorites have been out west or overseas. Our timing to hit the milestone in the dead middle of winter on the Eastern seaboard was a somewhat ill-conceived plan... Everyone else, keep those suggestions coming! We're so excited and appreciate all your input!

Hi Janice! Long time...

I'm not sure Raiders of the Lost Cache would be suitable for your dog? The trail is fine and the cache isn't far off trail but I remember a lot of scrabbling over huge boulders. Mind you we did miss the most direct route to the cache and I don't recall what the minimum amount of boulder scrabbling would be.

I'll ponder alternatives.

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Sue, Vinny & Sue Team

Maybe

https://coord.info/GCA54 Top O' PA (easy to get to) I love the scenery in the general area.

https://coord.info/GC2F65Z Tombs (views) Hike might be longer than desired.

https://coord.info/GC12F9 Hoffman's Rock Scramble (multi but there are trads in the area too). Very scenic area. There are water crossings which might not be the best at this time of year.

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Sue, Vinny & Sue Team

Hit #1500 during the summer while earning the Smokey Bear Geocoin

With the release of the Aland Islands souvenir I have officially hit 300 earned souvenirs!

That is awesome! I truly do not know how you have traveled the world and done all that you have done. Can't wait until you make the MGS another trackable cake that we devour at one of our picnic events. Keep on moving and sharing the stories.

With the current environment, I find myself being particular about which caches to go after -- that said, I just filled my hidden by date grid -- WooHoo --

Still got 4 CAMs to go, but work has me restricted to an area that doesn't encompass the western and eastern caches... we'll see

Congratulations for being able to complete your grid. That was one of the hardest for me to complete. Got down to a few and at that time they were hundreds of miles away from home. Now you have to come up with your next personal challenge to persue. Thanks for sharing this with us since we have just started to venture out into the daylight.
Jerry
AL's Guide

Congratulations!!!

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

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Stacy
Always caching, always searching....

Doubled down today. Visited two of my favorite breweries in Montgomery County and made my 4,000th find. Wasn't the epic geocaching adventure I was aiming for...

Attached is possibly the worst selfie ever... If I can get the link to work...