2019 Caching Diary » The Gardners > Caching exploits in 2019

Objectives

As another year ends it’s time to write my 2019 Caching Diary. I didn’t really plan anything for this year, because if I’m really honest I was running quite low on enthusiasm. It proved to be my slowest year ever with the exception of the very first (see 2010 Caching Diary).

I enjoyed the caches that I found and the days out that I had, so maybe the slow year wasn’t all bad. I returned a little bit to thinking about why I enjoy caching in the first place. So, no targets, no ambitions, no regrets. Just a bit of caching when the mood took me.

January (No finds)

For the first time in several years, I didn’t go caching at all in January. Not once.

February (20 finds)

On February 4^th I was on a business trip to Edinburgh and there happened to be an event nearby on the night I arrived – 3 finds
On February 23^rd we were on a weekend trip to Brighton and spent a sunny afternoon on the South Downs at the rather beautiful Devil’s Dyke (see Devil’s Dyke) – 17 finds

March (1 find)

On March 28^th there was a “Roundabout MK” event in the evening – 1 find

April (149 finds)

On April 14^th I headed for Titchmarsh and got my year going (see Titchmarsh) – 83 finds
On April 20^th and 22^nd we made a couple of incidental finds whilst up in Sunderland visiting Kas’s folks – 4 finds
On April 28^th I headed over towards Cambridge with the Happy Hunter to complete a series shaped like a cartoon rodent’s head (see Mickey’s Mystery Tour) – 62 finds

May (15 finds)

On May 13^th there was a “Roundabout MK” event in the evening – 1 find
Between May 28^th and 31^st we had a family holiday in the Lake District – 14 finds

June (103 finds)

On June 1^st we were still on holiday in the Lake District – we walked up Helvellyn – 7 finds
On June 16^th I drove over to the border between Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire for my biggest single day of the year (see Heidi Rose Bunny Hop) – 95 finds
On June 22^nd there was a Saturday afternoon event in Milton Keynes – 1 find

July (84 finds)

On July 6^th there was an event in the park right outside our house – 1 find
On July 21^st I headed over towards Cambridge for a big day out (see Eltisley) – 79 finds
On July 22^nd I went for a run in the evening, accompanied by the ladies of the house on their bikes – 2 finds
On July 29^th there was a caching event in central Milton Keynes – 2 finds

August (223 finds)

On August 8^th to 11^th I travelled up Aberdeen for the 2019 UK Mega (see Aberdeenshire Mega). I was trying to colour in as many Scottish regions and administrative units as possible – 144 finds
From August 16^th onwards we were on our family holiday in France (see The French Connection) – 79 finds

September (48 finds)

On September 1^st we were driving home from Grenoble and there was a cache at one of the places we stopped (see Tunnelling) – 1 find
On September 11^th and 12^th I was on a business training course in London and grabbed a few caches on the way there – 5 finds
On September 17^th I drove around Milton Keynes finding a few local caches – 17 finds
On September 20^th I found a nearby puzzle that had been solved but unfound for some time – 1 find
On September 22^nd I hit a load more local caches – 23 finds
On September 23^rd there was an event in Milton Keynes – 1 find

October (No finds)

October was a stressful month at work which overflowed into the weekends, and as a result I made no finds at all.

November (4 finds)

On November 16^th I was on my lads’ weekend away in the Brecon Beacons and made my only finds of the month – 4 finds

December (2 finds)

December saw very few finds also – just a couple of finds on puzzles out in the sticks, that I found whilst walking a part of my series Flags of All Nations and doing some maintenance – 2 finds

Summary

So there we have it, the end of my 2019 Caching Diary. A year of very little caching, by recent standards. Aside from odd ones and twos done whilst on holidays there were really only a handful of days when I managed to get out.