2011 Caching Diary

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The Sketch

2011 Caching Diary – My second year of caching, with the speed of finding picking up a bit from the previous one. 2011 yielded 731 total finds over the year.

Let’s start with a more few numbers.

My “Days Found” matrix improved from 88 to 184 days, so there were 96 days in this year that I hadn’t been caching in the previous year. The “Days Placed” matrix improved from 140 to 268 days and the “Months Placed” improved by 30, although 12 of these would be “this year”, so don’t really count.

My “Difficulty/Terrain” matrix improved significantly to 43 out of 81 slots completed.

And geographically, I went caching in 9 new UK counties and one new country (India).

So what did I actually do on the caching front in 2011 then?

January (56 finds)

1^st January – We took a New Year’s Day stroll around Willen Lake – 2 finds
2^nd January – We travelled over to Long Compton for a New Year’s event (see Long Compton) – 16 finds
4^th January – I made a single find locally in Milton Keynes – 1 find
5^th January – I made another single find locally in Milton Keynes – 1 find
6^th January – The same again – 1 find
9^th January – I scooted out to the east side of Milton Keynes – 5 finds
14^th January – I headed up to the north side of Milton Keynes – 7 finds
15^th January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes – 6 finds
16^th January – I popped out from home for one local find – 1 find
18^th January – I popped out of work at lunchtime to grab a new cache – 1 find
21^st January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes again – 3 finds
22^th January – I returned to the north side of Milton Keynes again again – 7 finds
25^th January – I made a business trip to Blackpool and grabbed a cache on the way home – 2 finds
26^th January – I popped out of work to make one find – 1 find
28^th January – I popped out to Little Brickhill at lunch, trying to avoid getting covered in mud as I walked around the edge of a field – 2 finds

February (79 finds)

2^nd February – I scooted out of work at lunchtime to grab a few – 3 finds
11^th February – I shot around Milton Keynes in the evening to grab a few while the girls were off up north for the weekend – 5 finds
12^th February – I travelled down to Chesham for a bit of a monster day, in which I walked absolutely miles in the freezing cold (see Chiltern Hundred 1) – 60 finds
13^th February – My feet hurt but I went for a stretch around the north of Milton Keynes – 2 finds
15^th, 16^th and 18^th February – I popped out after work to grab a few caches – 4 finds
23^rd February – There was a caching event on the A5 down towards Leighton Buzzard and we went to grab a few in Stockgrove Country Park – 5 finds

March (40 finds)

2^nd March – I made a business trip to Preston on the train and managed to grab a couple – 2 finds
5^th March – I went up to Salcey Forest with Ami to meet up with CASH and Gary – 7 finds
10^th, 11^th, 12^th, 14^th, 18^th and 28^th March – I popped out of work to grab a few caches – 10 finds
29^th March – I popped out for a while in Milton Keynes – 4 finds
31^st March – There was an event down in Leighton Buzzard – I left work promptly and met up with another cacher to grab a few before the event – 17 finds

April (68 finds)

1^st April – I popped out from work to grab a handfull of local drive-bys – 5 finds
2^nd April – I went up to Salcey Forest – 4 finds
4^th April – I made a one-day business trip to the north-west, travelling up via the M6 and back via the M1 – 2 finds
6^th April – I scooted out after work up to the north of MK – 2 finds
7^th April – I went over to the east side of MK, but have absolutely no recollection of doing so – 3 finds
11^th April – I grabbed one in a car park in Leeds whilst on a business trip and then another in the woods near home once I got home – 2 finds
13^th April – I scooted out of work at lunchtime to grab a new one nearby – 1 find
16^th and 17^th April – We were up in the north east and I grabbed one on each day – 2 finds
20^th April – We were at my folks’ in Measham and I went out to grab a couple – 2 finds
21^st April – We were still at my folks’ in Measham and it was Easter weekend. I completed a long day doing the Burgo and Beans series – 29 finds
22^nd April – We were still still at my folks’ in Measham and I drove to the other side of Coalville to grab a few in the morning – 4 finds
24^th April – We were back home and I did a couple of local caches – 2 finds
25^th April – I went up to Salcey Forest again – 4 finds
27^th April – I was working in Bracknell and stopped off for a couple of drive-bys – 2 finds
28^th April – I popped out in the evening to grab a cache at Bletchley Railway Station – 1 find
29^th April – I made a few local finds – 3 finds

May (37 finds)

8^th May – I grabbed a couple on an otherwise dull Sunday afternoon – 2 finds
10^th and 12^th May – I grabbed one each on two work days – 2 finds
13^th May – I grabbed 3 during the work day and then went out on my bike in the evening for another – 4 finds
14^th May – I grabbed a couple up near Oakhill Wood. One was only for ladies, so I had to take the kids with me – 2 finds
15^th May – I cycled to north MK to do a few – 4 finds
24^th May – I took my car up to Stony Stratford in the evening to grab a short series – 8 finds
25^th May – An event over towards Stewartby. I left work early and ran round the lake whilst grabbing caches. I went to the event slighty smelling – 15 finds

June (67 finds)

2^nd June – We were down in that there London and grabbed a handful whilst walking around – 3 finds
5^th June – I’d just arrived in Bangalore on a business trip and I hired a taxi for the afternoon to take me out caching – 2 finds
12^th June – I popped out on a Sunday afternoon to find a few local ones. They turned out to be truly awful – 4 finds
13^th June – Another “grab one at lunchtime” day – 1 find
14^th June – There was an event in Chesham to celebrate a caching milestone of Dr Solly’s (20,000 finds, I think). I took a couple of hours off in the afternoon to have another go at the Chiltern Hundred series (see Chesham) – 43 finds
21^st June – I did an array of caches spread out across Milton Keynes, so I’m assuming there were a few at lunchtime and some more on the way home from work – 6 finds
25^th June – A Saturday morning stroll to Coombs Quarry with Ami while the other two ladies were having their hair done – 4 finds
30^th June – I went out on my bike in the evening in the general direction of Winslow – 4 finds

July (59 finds)

3^rd July – I went down towards Winslow again, in the car this time, to grab one I hadn’t reached earlier in the week – 1 find
10^th July – We were up at my folks’ and I did a few whilst on a morning run – 8 finds
11^th July – A single find done in lunch break – 1 find
16^th and 17^th July – A number of finds in MK parks – 8 finds
18^th July – A single find done in lunch break. It was so close to work that I walked there – 1 find
22^nd and 23^rd July – Kas took the girls up to her mum’s while I stayed at home. Notionally I had some work to do, but I didn’t feel like doing it on a Friday night. By Saturday afternoon it under control and I went to finish the Chiltern Hundred series (see Bozeat) – 28 finds
31^st July – A bright and sunny Sunday morning at my folks’ house – 12 finds

August (43 finds)

3^rd August – We were still at my folks’ and I dashed out to grab a few local ones – judging by the number, I was having the day off – 7 finds
4^th August – I made a single find in Lancashire, so I was evidently on a trip to Blackpool for work – 1 find
5^th August – I was back at my folks and we went to Breedon-on-the-Hill to grab a couple – 2 finds
10^th August – I was on a business trip to Blackpool but had time to go out in the evening when I got home – 9 finds
15^th August – We were having a week off up at Kas’s mums, and we made a few finds in Cleadon – 3 finds
16^th August – The week’s holiday was interrupted by a work meeting that I apparently couldn’t miss. It was in Warrington, so I got the company to provide me with a rental car for the day. I filled in a lot of counties on that day. I chose to drive over the M62 and come back up the A19 through North Yorkshire – 6 finds
17^th and 19^th August – I was back in Whitburn and grabbed a few more – 6 finds
20^th and 30^th August – Both yielded single finds near home – 2 finds
31^st August – A nice evening. I persuaded the girls to come out with me to do a few after work – 7 finds

September (112 finds)

3^rd September – A singler in MK – 1 finds
6^th September – Must have been a day off because there’s no way I could have done this many if it wasn’t – 12 finds
11^th September – I was on a business trip to Bangalore again and got a taxi driver to take me out for a find – 1 find
15^th September – I arrived at Heathrow Airport and drove straight to Birmingham without going home. I was far too early so my evening event, so I went caching (see Bats in the Belfry) – 23 finds
16^th September – I drove home from Birmingham via a couple of caches, emptied and re-filled a bag, and then travelled with the ladies of the house up to the north-east for the weekend – 2 finds
17^th September – We were in Newcastle and made a handful of finds – 6 finds
18^th September – It was the Great North Run and I found a cache at either end of it. This is a record for my greatest distance travelled on foot in one day between two caches – 2 finds
19^th September – I grabbed a few on a trip out from work at lunchtime – 3 finds
24^th September – There was a caching event to celebrate The Other Stu’s 40^th birthday, and he’d set new caches. I did some with the family on the 24^th and then returned on the 25^th on my own (see Getting on a Bit) – 47 finds
27^th and 28^th September – I did my usual trip out at lunchtime – 3 finds
29^th September – I was back up in Newcastle again. This it was a business trip where I’d travelled up by train and rented a car – 12 finds

October (61 finds)

3^rd October – I did a lunchtime dash – 1 find
9^th October – Me and the girls walked around Peterborough for a bit while Kas ran a half marathon – 6 finds
14^th October – I did a lunchtime dash – 2 finds
16^th October – I went out in the car and did a fairly widespread bunch – 5 finds
18^th October – I grabbed a handful after work on a run – 3 finds
20^th October – I was in Blackpool working and had time to find one – 1 find
22^nd October – We were back up in the north-east. I grabbed a cache with the kids whilst doing a parkrun – 1 find
23^rd October – We left the kids at Kas’s mum’s for a couple of nights and went up near Bamburgh to enjoy a mini break – 1 find
24^th October – We were still in Bamburgh. I got up early to go for a run / cache before we went home – 10 finds
We didn’t go straight home because it was half-term. So on October 27^th I went for a run from my folks’ house – 10 finds
28^th October – I wasn’t working and went for a run around Kingsbury Water Park (see Kingsbury Water Park) – 21 finds

November (48 finds)

2^nd November – I went by train on a business trip to Preston – 2 finds
5^th November – We went over to Ampthill, met up with a couple of people and did a couple of puzzles – 2 finds
6^th November – I FTF’d a new(ish) puzzle in Milton Keynes – 1 find
17^th November – I made a quick find on the way home from work – 1 find
19^th November – I popped up to the north side of MK with Izzy for a bit of a walk around – 10 finds
23^rd November – I made a quick find after work – 1 find
24^th November – There was an event over towards Letchworth, so I skived off work early and drove over – 9 finds
26^th November – I noticed Simply Paul had released a new series, and it seemed a shame not to go attack them on their first day (see Life Begins) – 21 finds
30^th November – There was an event over to celebrate SP’s birthday, and the new series I’d already done most of – 1 find

December (55 finds)

3^rd December – I went to finish of the series of SP’s – 16 finds
6^th December – I made a quick find on the way out to work – 1 find
7^th December – I was on a business trip to Leeds and stayed the night – 10 finds
10^th December – I drove up to Wolverton for a few Saturday afternoon quickies – 7 finds
11^th December – We met up with a bunch of friends to do a night cache in Linford Wood – 1 find
23^rd vI nearly got an FTF locally – 1 find
24^th December – I went out for a few in the afternoon with Kas while the kids stayed at my folks’ – 9 finds
27^th December – We’d migrated to the north-east and went for a walk round a local country park – 8 finds
28^th December – I drove down to the northern edge of Sunderland to grab a couple of new ones – 2 finds