Our Plan

First, a few words about the background of this blog; we are a couple that have always enjoyed road trips, particularly if it take us on a back road route to an interesting spot. For instance, before we became involved in geocaching, we had made several trips to Chicago from our home in Marietta, GA. Becoming bored with the interstate highway route, we decided to make the trip back south using only US 41, the old Dixie Highway used by so many mid-westerners and Canadians as the direct route to Florida. That was such an interesting trip that we made driving the entire length of the highway a goal. Shortly after that trip, we completed the southern segment of the highway with a road trip to the terminus in Miami, all following the US 41 road signs.

With our involvement in geocaching, we have built our road trips around a geocaching goal. We made a trip to Oregon with the goal of finding the “Original Stash Tribute Plaque” (GCGV0C) which is located at the exact spot of the very first geocache. We found it on October 24, 2006.

Hannah at the Original Stash Plaque

Last year, we decided to make a trip to find a cache in each of the northern and western states that we had not previously visited, with the additional goal of finding the world’s oldest active cache, “Mingo” (GC30). That goal was completed when we found and logged “Mingo” on June 7, 2007.

Owl retrieving "Mingo"

We also finished one other long standing goal on last year’s trek when we drove up the final segment of US 41 to Copper Harbor, Michigan and logged “1990” (GCGM41), a geocache that commemorates the northern terminus of the highway.

Hannah at the beginning of US 41 swatting mosquitos the size of small birds

Our plan for this trek is to start early on Sunday, June 15 and head for the east coast at Nags Head, NC, continuing along the seaboard and the New England states to Maine where we will ferry to Yarmouth, NS and continue our drive to North Sydney, NS. There we will then take another ferry to Port-Aux-Basques, Newfoundland and then drive to St Johns, NL. The end point of our quest is the eastern-most point in North America which is Cape Spear, located just south and east of St Johns. Cape Spear lighthouse is a major landmark there; another is the “Extreme East” (GCWJZ3), a geocache by VO2WW.

Our return from Newfoundland will be via Prince Edward Island, Edmunston, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and then south using the Blue Ridge Parkway.