I'm an official geocache hider!

The way my luck was going I thought it would never happen. Back in Memphis, my first cache that I attempted to hide was discovered before I had even posted it online! Someone had to have been watching me hide it, because I went to check on it one more time before submitting it for review and the log had been signed. The handle, "MPD," was written and a handcuff key was attached. What? Was the Memphis Police Department messing with me?! I was a bit weirded out with that situation, so I just removed the cache and never posted it.

Fast forward to Hawaii. A couple weeks ago I came up with an idea for a puzzle cache based around the theme of the TV show, Breaking Bad, and a British explorer who mapped the Hawaiian Islands. Captain Cook was the name of the explorer and there is also a character on the show with the same name, hence, the link between the two. I was really excited about the cache idea and came up with a bunch of questions to solve the puzzle, an interesting write-up on the show, info on the Captain, the whole bit. I was really proud of it and thought it came together nicely.

My excitement turned into frustration though, when, after submitting the cache, the reviewer told me that it could not be posted because it was of a commercial nature. As in, I was trying to advertise for the show and force people to purchase cable to watch it. I was so bummed that I was on the brink of yet another cache failure! 

Well, I decided I wasn't going to roll over. I explained to the reviewer that I had no affiliation with the show, would in no way benefit monetarily, and on top of all that, I don't even have cable (let alone a TV) so it was silly to think I was trying to force people to buy cable just to solve the cache. Besides, I accounted for people who may not have seen the show by creating the puzzle so that it could be solved by just a few google searches if need be, anyway.

It took some more communication and involvement with the head geocaching regulation group, but in the end, I got approved! "Breaking Bad with Captain Cook" was posted July 17 at 5:12 PM and just over 2 and a half hours later it was found by GeoGerms. It turns out that GeoGerms is a power cacher here on the islands. He and his kids have found every single cache on the island of Oahu!! What?! I read his profile further and discovered that he also took a geocaching challenge which required that he find a series of caches on 4 separate islands, and he did it all in ONE DAY! This guy is a nut and I love it!

Breaking Bad with Captain Cook Cache

Anyway, that was the long-winded tale of my cache hiding adventures so far. This only completes a third of goal #17- Hide 3 geocaches, but now that I finally have one under my belt, I'm hoping the others will go more smoothly. :]  If you want to check out the cache you can click here.