Saturday, August 13

GeoWoodstock XVIII - Abbotsford, BC, Canada

I was super stoked to find out Geowoodstock XVIII in 2020 was going to be on this side of the country and I could drive to it!  Abbotsford, BC was the city chosen to host the famous geocaching event.  I have always wanted to go but it's always been in a location I wasn't able to go to.  I started geocaching a few months after it was in Carnation, Washington back in 2010.  I was bummed out because I knew it wasn't going to be in Washington again anytime soon.  

When I found out, I asked Mom and Ben if they wanted to go, they both said yes, and we soon started planning our long weekend. Mom found a hotel near the event and booked it as soon as she could, and we all decided to take the Friday before off so we can travel up without feeling like we are in a hurry.  I talked to Brenda and Ray, and they said they were going and then I asked Bev and she said she and Bob were going to make plans to go up there as well.

I had my entire 2020 planned out and made sure I had enough vacation time to do everything I wanted to do.  It was hard to not take days off here and there because I didn't feel like going to work but I managed to do so.

Then stupid Covid hit and everything I had planned out for that year had to be cancelled.  Some stuff we got refunded and others we did not.  I was so mad!  The thing I was maddest about was the uncertainty of everything.  When were we going to be able to resume our lives?  We can't get that time back.  

That summer was sure boring.  We had to do different things to occupy our time.  We got a notification for summer of 2021 stating that Geowoodstock would have to be postponed for another year because the international border between Canada and the US was still closed.  It was a good thing we didn't make plans for the summer of 2021.  Early 2022, we finally got the notification that it was a go for August 13th. I still didn't want to make hotel reservations just in case it got cancelled or postponed again, plus hotels were more expensive than they were two years ago.  We all had our vaccinations so we could pass through the border without any problems.  Unfortunately, Bob and Bev couldn't go because they didn't get their vaccinations.  

I made the decision to get up early, drive up and come home in the same day.  It was going to be a long, tiring day.  I was determined.  Both Mom and Ben were game and knew we were going to be tired.  About a week before, I made all the arrangements.  I made sure the Escape was ready to go and had no issues, I got our ArriveCan all situated, made sure everyone had their passports, Enhanced ID's and Covid cards.  I chatted with Ray on messenger to find out when they were going, where they were staying and where we were going to meet up with them once we got there.  They were going to head over on Friday and leave on Sunday.

On the Thursday and Friday, I got the Escape vacuumed out and cleaned the rest of the chocolate off of the seat, did some laundry, did our weekly grocery shopping trip, packed things up the night before and went to bed as early as we could.  5 a.m. was going to come very fast.

The alarm went off promptly at 5 a.m. and I groaned..."it's way too early to get up."  I rolled out of bed and started getting ready.  I put the rest of the stuff in the Escape, made sandwiches, stuffed them into the cooler and then Mom called me.  She told me she couldn't find her keys, so she didn't leave when she was supposed to.  She had to find her spares and didn't leave Rainier until 5:20 and I wanted to leave at 5:30 just in case we came across dumb stuff along the way like traffic or construction.

She didn't get here until 5:50.  Ughhh.

We threw her stuff into the Escape, and we left as soon as everyone used the restroom one last time.  We got onto I-5 north and hoped it was going to be a breeze.  Luckily, there was no traffic on I-5 anywhere which was nice.  Along the way, Mom figured out how to use our phones while we were in Canada, which Ben should have done while we were driving but didn't and then waited until we were about the cross into Canada, then it didn't work.  We didn't stop until we got to Sumas.

We arrived in Sumas around 8:30 and stopped at one of the stores to get gas and use the restroom because I didn't want to worry about getting gas in Canada.  The gas was $4.11 a gallon and was the cheapest I've seen it in months. Ben went inside to get an energy drink and Mom hopped out to use the restroom.  She ended up talking to a bunch of people getting ready for a bicycle ride who also stopped at the store for a pit stop.

We piled back into the Escape, grabbed our documents and headed to the border.  We waited in line for about 10 minutes until it was our turn.  

I handed him the documents and he asked where we were going.  I told him we were going to a geocaching event in Abbotsford at the event center and we would be there just for the day.  He handed me back our stuff and told me to have fun and welcome to Canada.  I drove into Canada for the first time since October 2018.  Fun fact, my Escape was a fleet vehicle for a company in Canada before the sold it to Korum for resale. 

I handed Ben my phone so he could navigate us to one of the virtual caches I wrote down near where we crossed the border, Celebrating Abbotsford's Agricultural Heritage (GC88ZHN).  We found a place to park across the highway, near the Costco, and I got out and counted the children on the mural.  I got a selfie of us at it too because it asked for a picture to prove we were there.

Since we were driving right passed Roof Goats - GTA (GC9XD1Y) I decided we should stop and get it because we would need it for the Geotour we were going to do later on with Ray and Brenda.  They got us Tunnels and Bridges - GTA (GC9XCBE) the night before to save us some time the next day.  Roof Goats was a pretty easy grab, and it had a pathtag inside, so I grabbed it, signed our names and put it back.  

We got back on the highway and Ben gave me turn by turn directions to the Exhibition Park.  It wasn't too difficult; Canada and the US's roads and signage were basically the same except we use miles per hour, and they use kilometers per hour, so 100 KPM is 60 MPH.    

We got to where we needed to go, found a parking spot in the general parking area (at the north end), grabbed what we needed, locked the Escape and made our way down to the event to see if we could run into anyone we knew.  We lucked out and ran into Ray and Brenda and the SuperKnotts.  Vickie and Brian gave us one of their newly minted coins they produced.  We chatted with them for a little bit and their little dog was in a backpack.  

We wandered around with Ray and Brenda for a bit and tried coming up with an afternoon plan while we waited for them to open up the main area for opening ceremonies.  Luckily, we didn't have to wait forever, and they announced, after waiting for two long years, that Geowoodstock XVIII (GC86VDF) was finally here!

We found a place to sit and listened to the hosts, Busy Beavers, the mayor of Abbotsford and a local Indian tribe member of the Fraser River Valley, who blessed us with music and words.  We heard from Landsharkz and then they finally opened the other end of the event where the merch, TB's and logbook were.  We immediately went to go find the jar we needed to stick our cards into to win a set of the event coins.  One of my cards came from Mc3cats, the other came from a disabled final to a cache series near Kennewick and Mom got a card from The SuperKnotts.  Ray and Brenda also had a card to throw in the jar.  But no one could tell me where the jar was, and we had to run around the event area for a while.  Someone finally told us where it was, and we dropped them in and hoped at least one of us won. 



We signed the logbook and Ray and Brenda paid for the VIP version of the event, so they went off to eat their food they paid for while Mom, Ben and I wandered around some more.  We found a few caches and did part of an Adventure Lab.  Let's Get Fit III - Rotary Stadium (GC6MJN3), Abby BMX (GC7FM58), 861 Silver Fox (GC4PCK5), Exhibition Park - Discovery Trail (GC8Z207) and Exhibition Park - Discovery Trail North (GC9Y25G).  We ended up talking to a guy from Virginia about photography at one of the caches.

The day before, Ray and Brenda did the legwork for the four multicaches, Water - FVCB5 (GC9RYXJ), Wind - FVCB5 (GC9RYY4), Fire - FVCB5 (GC9RRWC) and Earth - FVCB5 (GC9RYY0) and got the coords for the final, The Fifth Element - FVCB5 (GC9T2M3).  Afterwards, we decided to do the Geotour with Ray and Brenda, but we didn't have a whole lot of time to do it together, so we split the list in half.  She and Ray did the western part of town while Mom, Ben and I did the eastern part of town. 

We agreed that when we finished, we would meet up at the event by 4ish, when the group photo and the prizes were going to be given out. Mom, Ben and I got in the Escape and started our section of Abbotsford.  It was hard at first because the Nuvi didn't work in Canada, so we had to rely on the maps on the geocaching app. 

The first one took us east on BC Hwy 1 (Trans-Canada Highway), towards Chilliwack, to a cache called All in the Beer - GTA (GC9XCZ8), we took a wrong turn and had to adjust, which adds more time to our travel.  We also took the wrong road and had to turn around again to get to the correct one. We finally got to the small commercial building with a tiny brewery called Raven's Brewing.  The cache was in the corner of the parking lot in a bird house with a fake bird attached to it.  I got our names on the logbook and figured out where our next one was.


Dark-Sky Preserve - GTA (GC9XCZN) took us along the Sumas River.  We parked, Mom stayed in the Escape, while Ben and I walked to dike trail to our coordinates.  We noticed that the cache was missing a code word but eventually got what we needed.  We signed it, got a photo and headed back to the Escape.

We backed tracked a little bit to get onto Sumas Mountain Road to head to our next cache, Sumas Views - GTA (GC9XCXY) which was literally on top of a mountain.  When we got off of the paved road and onto the gravel road and we just winged it.  There were a lot of people up their mountain biking and the parking lots were tight.  We did manage to find a spot and found the right trailhead to the cache.  It was a short hike to and from the cache.  

On the way back out we did pass a group of geocachers. We took a few pictures from the top of the valley down below and headed out.  

I thought about going the same way we came in because I wasn't sure if the road went through.  We went through into Riverside part of town.

This cache, The Great Trail - GTA (GC9XCXA) was a park and grab.  Mom stayed in the Escape while Ben and I ran across the parking lot and grabbed this one.  There was a set of cachers who were finishing up as we got there so we had to wait for them.  We got our names on it, put it back and ran back to the Escape.

Our next one, Farm Market Days - GTA (GC9XCYT) was another quick one once we parked.  Again, Mom stayed in the Escape while Ben and I walked to the tree in front of the farm's entrance to sign our names.  We tried not to be too obvious. 

Willband Creek Park and Detention Pond was our last stop on the Geotour.  Ray texted me as we pulled into the parking lot and asked how we were doing.  I told him we were on our last cache and then we were going to drive back towards the Exhibition Park to meet up with them.  He said that they were on their last one too.  Perfect timing. I got out and grabbed our last one, Farmland Stroll - GTA (GC9XCB8) was another quick grab.  I took the TB inside to move along.  I hustled back to the Escape, and we were on our way back towards the event.

I did want to stop at the virtual in town before it closed.  We would not have enough time to get this one after the event because it closed at 5.  We had about a half hour before they did the group picture and the prizes, so we stopped really quick. Gur Sikh Temple Heritage Site (GC9P501) is a temple of worship and was designated as a National Historic Site by the Prime Minister on July 31, 2002.  It was built by struggling settlers (from India) and started in 1908.  This temple is a testament to the pride, vision and steadfastness of a settler community at the turn of the last century.  We had to answer a couple question to claim this virtual as a find. Finding the answers were more difficult than we thought it would be.  Soon, there were a dozen geocachers trying to figure out the last question and no one had a clue!  After about 15 minutes of running around we figured it out.

We jumped back into the Escape and headed to the Exhibition Park to meet up with Ray and Brenda.  We parked and made our way to the stage area.  Ray and Brenda had some spots at the table for us.  They talked about the event, how difficult it was to wait two years to finally host it, they did the group photo, and we did not win the coin set.  They shared where the next Geowoodstock was going to be, and I was super disappointed that it was going to be in Kentucky again.  Ughh sucky Kentucky!!  We were hoping it would be in Arizona or a state that hadn't hosted it yet. 

After the conclusion of the event, we decided what we wanted to have for food and Ray found a place that was a couple kilometers away.  He gave me the address just in case we lost them while driving there.  It was called the Trading Post and it had some great reviews.  We had a hard time finding a parking spot because this place was popular.  I am glad we got there when we did, or we wouldn't have had a table.  

We shared the upstairs with a lot of the founders and lackeys.  I got an Amber Ale and for food a pulled pork sandwich. Both were delicious. 

We chatted about random things, upcoming trips and the possibility of me heading over to Spokane at the end of the month.  This was the first time my Mom got to actually meet and get to know Ray and Brenda.  We paid, saw Annette and Dick downstairs so we chatted with them and then everyone went separate ways.  We had a long drive ahead of us and Ray and Brenda were going to try to do the night event and then head back to their hotel.

I wanted to stop at one more place before heading back to the border crossing.  The International Friendship Garden and Golden Tree (GC891XD) was in the middle of down in Thunderbird Square.  We found a place to park and went inside.  


There were several geocachers doing the multicache and Adventure Lab when we got there.  I mostly wanted the virtual but ended up doing the Adventure Lab, Thunderbird Square Adventure, as well.  We answered the question and then went out to the square.  There were several Canadian geese and wondered if they were just called geese in Canada?





It was a short, quick Adventure Lab and Mom took several pictures. I wanted to know if there was a Walmart nearby, so I checked up the address before walking back to the Escape.  There was one nearby, so we made our way to it.  I find it interesting the different foods and beverages the US and Canada have and we weren't even that far away from the US border.  I ended up purchasing some candy, soda and some crackers just because.  Mom got a few things, and I bought Ben some candy to take home.

We drove back to the border crossing. It didn't take us very long to cross back into the United States/Washington and I handed the guy our stuff and told me not to put the Covid cards into the passports because they could get lost.  I told him okay and he didn't even look at the Covid cards so why do we have these rules?  The Canadian border guys were definitely nicer than the US ones. At least he told me welcome back when he handed them back to me.

We drove through Sumas and west towards Lynden to get onto I-5 there.  It was smooth sailing until we got to Everett, and we were stopped because of an accident, which delayed us about a half hour.  Then, some of the stupidest driving I've ever had to be a part of was at 11 p.m. at night just south of Seattle.  They closed down all the lanes except for one and NO ONE knows how to zipper merge.  We were there for an HOUR!  An HOUR to go less than 8 miles. I was so upset people were this stupid. Why was there so much traffic that late at night?  I was tired, crabby and wanted to be home and these people were not helping the situation, in fact, they were prolonging it! 

We eventually got out of the stupid mess and finally got back to our house just after 1 a.m.  We should have been home before midnight, but people are stupid and can't drive.  I told Mom to let me know when she got home because it was super late.  I got in a quick shower and went to bed as soon as I could.  We were all up for 20 hours that day. 

We came home with 35 international geocaches, 2 trackables, one personal coin and it felt good to not have that event hanging above our heads anymore. The last event we've been holding onto is the HQ Celebration event the next weekend and it will be great to finally get that event out of the way as well.  Covid, you suck!

**We received our Abbotsford Geocoin on September 11, 2022 in the mail.**

Next Adventure:  Grandpa's 87th Birthday

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