Treasures of our Town
Embark on an exhilarating voyage through the heart of America's captivating towns and cities with the enthralling travel podcast, "Treasures of our Town." Join your experienced hosts, Craig (Seemyshell) and Joshua (Geocaching Vlogger), as they unveil the hidden gems and extraordinary treasures that lie beyond the surface.
Delve into a world of cultural exploration as our hosts guide you through historical sites, natural splendours, and extraordinary local experiences. All their travels are guided by their love of outdoor games like Geocaching and Munzee. Whether you're a seasoned globetrotter or a curious beginner, our captivating city tours and off-the-beaten-path destinations will ignite your wanderlust and leave you inspired.
Are you ready for an unforgettable adventure? Tune in now and prepare to immerse yourself in the allure of "Treasures of our Town." Let us ignite your curiosity, fuel your desire for exploration, and set your spirit free as we unravel the secrets that make each town a true treasure trove.
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Website - www.treasuresofourtown.buzzsprout.com
Email - treasuresofourtownpodcast@gmail.com
Treasures of our Town
Wandering the Wolverine State & MidWest Geobash
We explore the hidden treasures of Michigan through Craig's recent two-and-a-half-week journey across 72 of the state's 83 counties, revealing why the often-forgotten Upper Peninsula might be America's best-kept travel secret.
• Traversing Michigan's varied landscape from farmlands to freshwater beaches
• Discovering the Upper Peninsula's unique character and wilderness (30% of Michigan's land area)
• Crossing the magnificent 5-mile Mackinac Bridge that connects the two peninsulas
• Finding pristine swimming spots like Perrot Lake with crystal-clear freshwater
• Visiting quirky attractions like the 500-pound "man-killing clam" at Seashell City
• Exploring Michigan's craft beer scene with creative flight presentations
• Experiencing authentic American moments like roadside lemonade stands
• Attending the Midwest Geobash event with its community impact on local businesses
• Using apps like I Overlander to find free overnight parking spots
• Witnessing spectacular Lake Michigan sunsets that rival ocean vistas
If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcasting app. You can also follow us on social media or reach out via email at TreasuresOfOurTownPodcast@gmail.com.
I'm looking at it right now. I'm looking at it. It says it's called it's in Sheboygan, michigan.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:It's called the man-killing clam.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's it. That's it, the man-killing clam.
Speaker 1:Do you love to travel?
Speaker 2:Do you love road trips?
Speaker 1:Do you love finding hidden treasures in towns all over the USA? Hi, I'm Joshua.
Speaker 2:And I'm Craig. Welcome to Treasures of Our Town. It's the podcast that explores the unique and charming towns scattered throughout the United States.
Speaker 1:Guided by our love for location-based games like geocaching, join us as we venture to some of the country's most intriguing destinations, uncovering hidden gems and local secrets along the way.
Speaker 2:On today's episode. Josh, this time it's all about me, me, me, me, me.
Speaker 1:It's all about you.
Speaker 2:It's all about me and my recent trips, adventures, travels all around the great state of Michigan.
Speaker 1:I am so excited to hear it. I have not spent a whole lot of time in Michigan myself. I've dabbled in Detroit, I've dabbled in Grand Rapids, but everything in the middle. I haven't really checked out anything in the middle. I've been on both sides, I haven't checked out. Oh, I've been. You know, craig, I've been up to the UP too. You did the up. Oh, there you go. Did you get up there? Well, we'll find out?
Speaker 2:We'll find out. Stay tuned, exactly out. Stay tuned, exactly. But, mate, it's been a minute since you and I have had a chat. We did miss last week's episode, but but, josh, in saying that, we're now back on track, see, because, remember, we missed out an episode after geo woodstock because we were slammed and busy as well and therefore we went off weeks and now we're back on the weeks again, see, so that's the positives.
Speaker 1:I'm a positive guy well, it is a good excuse because this is a podcast, a travel podcast, guided by our love for location-based games. And, let's just face it, all your travels have been guided by geocaching as you go to mega, to mega, to mega, and when these big megas arrive, like geo woodstock or midwest geobash, which you just attended, it's a little bit tough it's a little bit tough.
Speaker 1:It's a little bit tough to like focus on the content of the podcast. You gotta live in the moment, craig, you gotta be present for the moment, and so you were, you were focused on, I was I was your bash and you know what we're going to talk a little bit about that too.
Speaker 2:So there's going to be some high level geocaching content in this episode and we'll put that at the very end so we can get through it, and then if, and then, if you're not a non-geocaching oh I hate geocaching and they can turn it off at the end. So that's what they can do. But, mate, what have you been up to in the meantime? I will say now your beard is looking absolutely fantastic right now. It is grown, it's got depth, it's got body, it's got balance, it's got bounce, you know? And and that's the hair on your face I'm talking about, not the hair on your head, josh, please tell me you don't.
Speaker 2:The hair on my head has bounce exactly you don't blow dry your beard as well every morning, do you?
Speaker 1:no, I haven't. Let's see if the listeners can hear it ready. Here we go. I'm gonna rub it against the microphone.
Speaker 2:There you go.
Speaker 1:That's it. That's not my chin, that's hair.
Speaker 2:That's hair. And then this is mine, ready.
Speaker 1:Ooh, yours is a little scruffly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because mine's actually smaller at the moment. Mine's shorter than yours, josh, because I've just trimmed up. I know I've just trimmed up, but anyway, josh, quick question for you are you going to keep it?
Speaker 1:am I going what? Going to keep it the bead? Are you going to keep the? Oh? Am I going to keep it? Yeah, oh, I don't know. We'll see. You know I've gotten some positive responses about it, but you know how it goes. Most people, polite people, are not that don't like it, are not, just not going to say anything, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's hard to know, you know, if people really do like it or as we said so many people that don't say anything as I said last episode, josh, when we spoke about this, when you just started growing it as well, it doesn't matter what anyone thinks. Apart from you, sir, you and you alone. No one else should influence your decisions and the way you want to look, the way you want to dress, the way you want to act.
Speaker 1:I know this. I know this.
Speaker 2:You of all people, I can't decide.
Speaker 1:I can't decide if I like it or not.
Speaker 2:Fair enough.
Speaker 1:It's not gone yet.
Speaker 2:No, it's not gone yet, and before you do, Josh, I'm going to say this as well I would love it for you to put it out there on Instagram on a story yes, no, keep go. That's it, and that will maybe make your decision a little bit easier if you're still on the fence when you're thinking about actually taking it off or not.
Speaker 1:Maybe I should let the patrons decide.
Speaker 2:Yes, the patrons first. So much power, I know right, power of the patrons.
Speaker 1:Again, they're going to be polite. I think they're going to be polite and I think I think people also will like it, because it's novel Like Ooh, it's different, I like it, it's different.
Speaker 2:But, josh, I'm proud to say become a man like.
Speaker 1:If you look manly like you look like you're all grown up now you're not like a little boy anymore. You look like you look like a father of three adults.
Speaker 2:That's what you look like I don't need a beard to tell me that I'm a man. I'm saying you look like a father of three adults is more like it you know I don't.
Speaker 1:You can't see a lot of gray in my hair because I'm pretty blonde still, but with the beard you can see see the great clear, yeah you can see that I am actually, yeah, the age I am and that's what I like that, but also the the laughter lines.
Speaker 2:Give it away as well. Josh, you have a look at back, at your back in your videos. You know 10, 12 years ago your youtube videos, you didn't have the laughter lines like you do now, so it is what it is it's. But either way, it's what's inside that counts. It doesn't matter how you look, it's how you feel that matters you are preaching to the choir.
Speaker 1:You are you of all people I know, I know I'm actually doing your job back at you.
Speaker 2:That's what I'm doing there, you go.
Speaker 1:it's always good to have reminders, so, but we got to go to our upgrades and delays. We literally have not really talked to each other since the last time we recorded the podcast, which was like three weeks ago, right Two or three weeks ago. Two weeks ago, two and a bit weeks ago, Because people that don't know this, like we every once in a while. Well, you know, we'll do a little FaceTime and stuff and just check in, but we really it's been so, so busy.
Speaker 1:So, here's my delay. I'll tell you my delay first. Guess what I'm in the middle of right now.
Speaker 2:Middle of right now Work.
Speaker 1:Yes, but I am on call for jury duty. Oh no, I know. It's like the busiest time of year too. It's like the worst possible time to be called in for jury duty. So I got called in the first day of jury duty and guess what? I got picked for a jury. Dun, dun, dun.
Speaker 2:Horrible. No, it's because of the beard.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I trust that guy. I trust that guy. He looks like a father of three. Yeah, well, I know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I got well, Well, hold on. I got picked for the jury and then they're like okay, the trial's going to start after lunch. So I went to lunch, I came back and the judge comes in and goes we're not having a trial today because one of the witnesses didn't show up, so I got out of it. No more jury duty.
Speaker 2:So it's all done. That was it One day, that was it Done.
Speaker 1:How much did you get paid for that? Did you get paid?
Speaker 2:20 bucks, 20 bucks a day, really, wow, that's bad. Wow, wow, 20 bucks is 20 bucks. Some people say Anyway, I will never, ever, ever in my life get selected for jury duty, josh. Why One? Because I'm an ex-cop. So we are out of jury duty because we are way too biased in regards to the life of a police officer. So, yeah, I'll never get selected for jury duty in any way, shape or form. So do you have an upgrade? If that's the case, then, josh, or do you want me to go through mine?
Speaker 1:You go to your delay first.
Speaker 2:Oh, my delay, I'm going to say my delay, josh, is the fact that we haven't actually recorded. That's my delay, josh is being is the fact that we haven't actually recorded. That's my delay. I haven't had time to record this episode. Uh, to chat to you, um, to get things started and get things out underway. I mean, you and I, upon recording this, you know, tonight, right now, I come up with a show notes, this today, like so it was that last minute. You know what I mean. So, um, yeah, so my delay is is, yeah, the, the lack of time I've managed to get to actually record Very different. You know, I do the Munzee podcast every single week, that's every single Wednesday. Rob and I get tied down for that. The GCPC, I get tied down with that. However, last week not this week, just gone, but the week before I wasn't even on GCPC. I was that busy, yeah, busy, yeah. That is the thing you, I wasn't even on GCPC.
Speaker 1:I was that busy, yeah, busy, yeah. That is the thing. You have appointment recording for those other podcasts.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Maybe we should learn from those other podcasts and we should have a day set.
Speaker 2:I can't get you tied down to a date and time, and that's the other thing, josh. That's another reason why we like this to be recorded, rather than a live podcast too, so we don't have to settle on dates. We can record at midnight if we want.
Speaker 1:So that's my delay your upgrade, josh? What's your upgrade? Oh my gosh, I was sitting at work one day I don't think I shared this at the previous podcast, I don't think so and all of a sudden one of my coworkers says hey, does anybody want to go to the Yacht Club Music Festival? Now, let. Does anybody want to go to the Yacht Club Music Festival? Now, let me tell you what the Yacht Club Music Festival is. It's a three-day music festival in the Twin Cities. We're talking Green Day, we're talking Weezer, we're talking Sublime, we're talking 311. We're talking Hozier, we're talking Sheryl Crow All these big stars. Green Day is my favorite band, and she goes. Does anybody want to go? Wow, and green day is my favorite band, and she goes does anybody want to go?
Speaker 1:I got a. I got two three-day wristbands for this festival. This was two weekends ago. Yeah, I said yes, please, I'll take them. I was pretty free that weekend, and so I get there the first day to get my wristbands and they are vip wristbands what? They're worth a thousand dollars a piece. And you got two of them. I got two of them, wow. And so what the vip did? It got you into the special section where I had my own like own bathroom area and they had their own drink area. But the best thing, correct, the best thing is that I got to go almost right up to the front of the stage for everything. I had access to almost the front and I got to see some of my favorite bands, including Green Day. I never thought I'd get to see Green Day that close. It was so, so cool.
Speaker 2:You're living your best life, Josh. Last episode, your upgrade was the fact that you saw the Back to the Future guy as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Marvin Barry. Marvin Barry, he's my friend now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, You're living your best life, Josh.
Speaker 1:I tell you this summer I haven't done a lot of geocaching travel, but it is interesting. Good things have been happening to me, Strange good things fortune. So somebody's looking out for me out there, Yep Change good things fortune.
Speaker 2:So somebody's looking out for me out there. Yep, exactly right, that's fair enough, fair enough. And as we record this now, you're holding Goliath, good old little Goliath, and we'll say it's true what they say about dogs and their owners.
Speaker 1:Now, with you having that beard, Anyway, it's a haircut so bad you can't even see Poor guy.
Speaker 2:You need to shave, you can't see where your beard ends. And his first start my upgrade, josh, would be. The fact is that, yes, I've had an absolute blast of a time at Midwest Geobash over the last weekend. It's like four days three days of leap events and then the big day itself as well. I'd never been to Midwest Geobash. I was there with friends and we had a fantastic time, josh, it was a really good time, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a party, it's so fun and we'll talk about more of that, because there's different ways. You can play Midwest Geobash, but at the same time yeah, but at the same time, while I was there, they had two big munzee events on as well, you see. So you know, there was lots and lots of cards and, uh, if you're a munzee player, lots of points to be had and a lot of blasting to be done, etc. And so that was really really cool too. So that's, that'd be my upgrade, josh, is the fact that I've been, I've been playing all of our games like, yes, even me from home.
Speaker 1:I got almost 200 000 cap on points from midwest geobash. So thank you so much. You're welcome leading the way because there it went mega, there was over 50 people. Yes, that's pretty big. Um, that's huge. That has not happened. I don't know. I can't remember that happened at geo woodstock. That was the last timeo Woodstock. That was the last time it happened, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that was the last time it happened. And then it happens sometimes at the big planned ones. You know, minnesota is coming up in September, for instance, where there's a big planned one. There's already like 45 will attend for that. So those sort of those are planned ones. It always happens, but it wasn't planned to be mega. So that was good to see, that was good to see. All right, josh, let's move on now into the episode itself, into Michigan, josh.
Speaker 1:Michigan, which is the? I don't know. I know they're the Wolverines, the Michigan Wolverines. Is it the Wolverine State? People are going to have to message us. They're probably shouting at their radios. Is it the Wolverine State?
Speaker 2:No, a lot of tag plates. Is it the Wolverine State? No, a lot of tag plates I've seen talks about water. A lot of it talks about the water state, something about the water.
Speaker 1:I mean Minnesota's, the land of 10,000 lakes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not lakes, but this is about water, I think to some degree, so we'll find out.
Speaker 1:Why don't you Google it then? While I'm actually talking about it, I'm going to there you go exactly.
Speaker 2:Well, just a quick rundown, josh, where I've been. So it took me about two and a half weeks now in total and I looped up. I looped up from the southwest corner, so in other words near Chicago. I come up around from Chicago, up around that corner. There I then did the coastline along Lake Michigan itself. I then went up to the upper peninsula, the UP as they call it, and I did an anti-clockwise circle around the UP and then back down the east coast area and I'm back down there now as we speak for another block party, a geocaching block party called MIGO M-I-G-O. So that's how I went, that's the direction I did so far, josh, because I've been doing counties. So here we go. Here's a little geocaching thing for you counties. Counties are a little, you know, council areas, if you want to be one of a better word, um in states, and so there's a total of 83 counties in the state of michigan yeah I've found a cache at least one cache in 72 of the 83 counties so far in the last two and a half weeks.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:That is really good.
Speaker 1:There's 83 counties in Minnesota too, and it took me years, and I live in this state although I wasn't trying very hard. But yes, 72 counties in two weeks that is was that your? Was that your focus, was it? You're like this is how I'm going to explore the state. I want to just get counties.
Speaker 2:After I ducked into Michigan I looked and went I've got two weeks leading up to Midwest Geobash. What am I going to do? I looked and thought to myself hang on. Remember Mag Planner? Remember the guy we had on? I think it was going back to ready for this Josh, season 2, episode 14, which is July 8th of 2024. Oh, look at that, mag planner. Great memory, great memory. Um, if you haven't listened to that and you don't know what that's about, mag planner is a guy who literally did every single county in the contiguous United States in one year, in one year. Here I am patting myself on the back doing 72 counties in two weeks or whatever, and he did the entire united states, uh, in one year. So, yeah, big shout out to mag planner for for doing that. Now I know how it feels it's. It's rough, josh, it's rough I'm telling you about it.
Speaker 1:I mean, I'm sure you're seeing a lot of little small towns, right? I assume it's a lot of small towns a lot of small towns what's michigan like? Is michigan like a lot is a lot of trees is? Is it a tree place?
Speaker 2:Is it?
Speaker 1:farm country.
Speaker 2:It depends on yeah, a bit of everything which area you're in in Michigan, so it's not as farmy as what a lot of other states are, for instance Ohio, very farmy up in the upper area of Ohio. It gets a little bit farmy in the lower part of Michigan, but then it's just very green, josh. It gets a little bit farmy in the lower part of Michigan, but then it's just very green, josh. Lots of trees, lots of bushland, lots of wooded areas. And then you go up in the UP, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and, josh, I'll say this, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it's a bit of one of those secret hidden gems we like to talk about.
Speaker 2:Oh, I agree, because when you think of Michigan, I don't even think of the Upper Peninsula, to be honest with you, because when you think of Michigan, I don't even think of the Upper Peninsula, to be honest with you. Right, you know, and I always thought about the mitt. You know the hand mitt that Michigan's supposed to be, but that hand mitt doesn't include the Upper Peninsula.
Speaker 1:No, no, it doesn't Easily forgotten. It's almost like its own state Kind of yes. Yeah, there's kind of a different vibe up there. It is very much, so Very.
Speaker 2:Northwood vibe. Oh, yes, yes, yes, very much like the what do you call it? The Bigfoots, you know, and all that sort of thing. There's a lot of chat up there about the different things that may or may not occur with witchcraft and Bigfoots and other phenomenons that happen up in the Upper Peninsula and other phenomenons that happen up in the Upper Peninsula, and also it's only connected literally to the main part of Michigan by the Mackinac.
Speaker 1:Bridge or Mackinac Bridge. Yeah, so that's the only part I did communicate. I said you're in Michigan. I said, remember, I was like how close are you to Mackinac Island? Remember, we talked about it. We talked about it with Dave Barsky and it's been on movies and there's no cars there. It's a really cool place. I am curious if you actually went there.
Speaker 2:I did not go to Mackinac Island. What? There's a reason.
Speaker 1:There is a reason you didn't want to leave your van behind.
Speaker 2:First and foremost, we're talking about the episode with Dave Barsky Dirty Jobs, Season 2, episode 8, April 15th.
Speaker 1:Wow, good memory.
Speaker 2:Good memory. Dave did a great job on that episode. But no, the reason why I didn't, Josh, is because I was by myself and I thought to myself no, I'm going to come back up here anyway, because I'm going to do the rest of the counties later on, go straight up the middle, basically, and do the rest of the counties. So I'll come back up here with some friends or whatever, and go from there and I'll do Mackinac Island. I'll also do Power Island as well. For geocaching terms, Power Island is extremely old geocache and one very sought after for the grids that we fill when it comes to our geocaching statistics. So I didn't even do Power Island either. So I'll do Power Island and Mackinac Island next time when I come back up. So yeah, that's one that's smart.
Speaker 1:You can share it with someone you love, like me.
Speaker 2:I wouldn't go that far. Only if you keep the beard. Only if you keep the beard, oh okay. Okay, I'll keep the beard. Only if you keep the beard, oh okay.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll keep the beard. We'll go to Power Island and Mackinac Island together. We'll do some Mackinac Island cosplay We'll wear old-timey outfits with no cars and ride in horse-drawn carriages. That's what I imagine it's like up there.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:You know, just like horse-drawn carriages, because they can't have any motor vehicles.
Speaker 2:No cars, no motor vehicles at all. No cars, no motorcycles. It's just yeah, it's just horse-drawn, that's all it is. I did see there's two ferries that go across, one from the south and one from the north, the Upper Peninsula as well. So they're the ferries that go across every single day. As I said, I looked at it, but I didn't actually do it. Now you're talking about the difference, josh, in the Upper Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula is actually connected to the United States, but it's connected to Wisconsin all the way over the other side of Lake Michigan. So again, I didn't even know that because when you look at the United States, you just think that's part of Wisconsin. You don't realize. Hang on, no, that's actually Michiganigan, you see. So yeah, I've learned a lot, josh, in this travel I know you're becoming a real, uh american traveler.
Speaker 1:I wasn't gonna call. I wasn't gonna call you an american no, no, I'll never be that. Yeah, there's anything wrong with that just saying no, um, that's how I visited the upper p. I did it through wisconsin, that's how I got there, yes, up there. And then, when I was up there, I I visited a? Um, an old mine, going like these mine cart like this is iron ore country. It's like, yeah, yeah, and it is beautiful like lake, uh, superior is up there and also lake michigan is right next to lake Michigan as well.
Speaker 1:But, yeah, but beautiful. You were sending me some pictures of some Michigan sunsets facing the west, looking across Lake Michigan. Tell us about that.
Speaker 2:Well, I will say and I did bring it up in our last episode, josh, when I there was part of my upgrade in the last episode was about a Michigan sunset.
Speaker 1:We talked about a Michigan sunset.
Speaker 2:We talked about that Michigan sunset, but I had to go back, josh. I had to go back again for seconds and this time when I went back I didn't go to the same location. I went to a beach location and there was people that came down onto the beach and people were swimming and I was like this looks really strange to actually have a beach but then have fresh water in the beach. Like it's weird, it's strange to me.
Speaker 1:It's weird to you to me. To me it's weird and strange someone that lives has grown up near the ocean. We, yeah, our ocean is lake michigan, that's right like superior because you can't see across it you know, it kind of feels like, kind of feels like an ocean, because you can't see across.
Speaker 2:There's no big there's no waves or anything like that.
Speaker 1:It's very odd.
Speaker 2:It's very odd. So the second sunset I did see. I saw that sunset over the actual water itself. As it went down, there was a big ship in the foreground as well, which is really nice to see. It had nice little trickling waves, but not that big, but it had people playing on the beach as well A little trickling waves, but not that big, but it had people playing on the beach as well. There's one photo I took. There's a lovely couple walking literally along the water's edge, josh, and just as they got, I even looked at them. They're going to do it. They're going to do it. They walked across in between, directly in line of sight from me, to the sunset itself and so the sun, and so they were silhouetted by the sun. Did you get a picture? Yeah, of course I got a picture. It's on my social media. Check out, it's on my personal social media. Oh, okay, it's a personal one, that one.
Speaker 1:Do you want to share that on here?
Speaker 2:Absolutely absolutely yeah, no, no, no, it's Craig. Michelle Photography.
Speaker 1:So C-R-A-I-G-M photography, all one word check it out people, yeah, yeah, I did see that picture that was. It was beautiful. Now, craig you, you've been to 72 of the 83 counties tell me, was there? Is there any location, any city that like stuck out to you? You got there and you're like, oh my gosh, this is so cool, this is so unique. Was there any? Or were you just like you know? Next, next click, check, check, check I was.
Speaker 2:I was doing a lot of the check, check, check ones, um, and I was doing a lot of the the amount of dollar generals that I've visited. Oh, I bet, because, uh, when you okay, if people don't understand when you're geocaching, like I've been doing, and doing one cache per county, that's it, you want the quickest, easiest, park-and-grab LPC, that's light post cache you can actually find. And I'm just lucky enough that in Michigan there's an actual series of Dollar Generals and they're all kind of the same and they're all LPCs and they're all at the back of the Dollar General, the last light pole, so you're not, you're not muggled out or anything. That's what's up too. So, yeah, they're the easiest ones to find, quick grab and go. I the car still, I keep the van still running, so I don't even turn the van off to grab them. So that's what I've been doing, mostly for the smaller counties and the the other ones so yeah, that's a really good tip for people that just want to get.
Speaker 1:County after county, just search for the Dollar General in that county. Almost every little small town has one. My grandma lives in a town of less than 5,000 people and she's got one. She was really excited about it, because those towns don't have much other than that. You know they call them food deserts, craig yes, places where you can't necessarily get fresh food. You can just get, like the TV dinner at the Dollar General.
Speaker 2:That's right and any international viewers or listeners out there. Dollar General very much. In Australia we have like the $2 store, it's called like a. They even have a dollar store here as well. It's very similar to the Dollar General, basically a store where they sell all knickknacks and other food items and in different sizes. I do believe the dollar general sells things cheaper but it's actually smaller in size, the actual products.
Speaker 1:So there you go yeah, that's the strategy, the business strategy. Yeah, they're not dollar stores and also they like they have like almost like one of everything yes, yeah but just like one it's one and you're the one to take it.
Speaker 2:Yep, and you're the one, one, one one shoe, one pan, one earbud.
Speaker 2:Um yeah, no, that's so, that's what I've been doing, that's how I've been collecting those. But, josh, to go back to your point, and that is it wasn't actually a um, there's a really beautiful little town up the north, uh, northwest peninsula, right up top. Okay, beautiful little town. The problem with that I had zero cell service. I'm with at&t and uh and I had zero cell service at all. A lot in most, a lot of the upper peninsula had very poor cell service, I'll be honest, I'm sure, um, and for obvious reasons too.
Speaker 2:But as you, before you go into the town, you're going through this wooded area and there's this pull off and as you pull off the roadway itself, there is this look like a big thermometer, a big plaque, going all the way up the top. It's a big billboard sort of style, but the billboard is is vertical billboard, not horizontal, and on the billboard it's actually got the snow level because the upper peninsula has the lake effect, snow like degrees of lake effect, and I'm talking, josh, I'm talking. There's signs up there for 20, 30, 40 foot of snow. Oh, wow, you know that's insane because of the lake effect, of the snow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they get buried up there, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, that's rough this time of year, absolutely beautiful and green, like everything's come back too. But I went up and around there had a look. It was beautiful but, as I said, no cell service. So I came back down and around. I've been using an app and the app's called I overlander. I overlander is a a community-based app whereby anyone can put in a location that they've stayed at overnight, normally for free. So, in other words, you know, like my crack apparels, like rest stops, like some walmart's, that sort of thing too. It is a community-based app. So there are some times where you can get there and go.
Speaker 2:I'm not happy with staying here and you move on. But there was one spot there and the spot itself I'm gonna have to scroll down, I can't think I forgot exactly where it was um, the spot, spot it was. It's called, uh, parallel lake parallel lake, I think it was and I went in and there was a little bit of, um, dirt road. I'm like, okay, just trust this and get to the area, come across this beautiful, pristine, clean and glass lake. Josh and I get there early in the afternoon, so I had plenty of time in the afternoon.
Speaker 2:I went for a swim in this lake. It was fresh water, it was. It tasted fantastic, I'll be honest with you. So, um, yeah, absolutely fun. I loved it and literally put the van on it on when I put the van on the side, I mean, I put the van so when the sliding door opens up to the lake and to the sunset. So here I was, cooking my dinner with my, my back to the beautiful, another beautiful sunset over a lake, at this time instead of the uh, a big lake, sorry, small lake instead of a big lake this time.
Speaker 1:So so yeah, that's. Uh, that was the that was in the northwest corner of the up area.
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, that was northwest corner of the up per per per perrot lake I I'm gonna spell a lot of people.
Speaker 1:Yes, p-e-r-r-a-u-l-t.
Speaker 2:Perrot perrot, perrot perrot a-u-l-t like vault, vault, yes, perrot, like that's it perrot, but no vault, we'll move on.
Speaker 1:Uh, they're interested. Uh, that's really cool. Yeah, I love you know, I love that's the best thing I feel like I'm. You know, I'm assuming because I don't do this, but this surprises, especially when you get into these remote areas, this surprising things that you encounter that you're not necessarily planning for because I assume, craig they're. Probably there were areas that probably were not very many cracker barrels.
Speaker 2:No, there was none in the upper areas.
Speaker 1:I know, we know, you've done your harvest, host, I don't know how many? Of those you encountered, Were there less of those too, in these remote areas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, in the Upper Peninsula area there's very little area which you can stay. There's a couple of rest stops, but even then it doesn't look like they're van life friendly up there because the rest stops have these big gates that close overnight and they say and a big sign says no overnight parking. So when there's ever signs I see no overnight parking, I don't even risk it, I don't stop there. I don't want to be knocked on the door by a police officer at 2 am. No, thank you. So yeah, so I'll just move on and keep going and find other spots that are around.
Speaker 2:But to talk about I did some research, josh the Upper Peninsula. It spans approximately 36,000 square miles with 29% of Michigan's land area is in the Upper Peninsula. So about 30% of the actual Michigan is in the Upper Peninsula. It's big, it's big and, like I said, you don't really know too much about it. So hidden, forgotten part of Michigan. I do believe I'm looking at the show notes as well. When I said about the winters and the snow, yeah, they receive. Some of the regions receive over 200 inches of snow annually. 200 inches of snow.
Speaker 1:You can't complain when you're in minneapolis now buried you're buried yeah here's the interesting thing, craig I know people all over the country, right, I know people from every state. I don't think I could say I know anybody that lives in the up I don't know one person not in the up, no, not in the up.
Speaker 2:We know people in michigan. Good old daryl Darryl W4. Yeah, yeah, he lives in Michigan. And Merlin 1492, I think, yeah, that sounds about right, that number sounds about right. He's here in Grand Rapids as well.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, we know people in Michigan, but not the Upper Peninsula area. You'll probably meet some people this weekend at the Michigan Camp Out, mega, has that happened this weekend?
Speaker 2:the Michigan, campout Mega.
Speaker 1:Has that happened this weekend?
Speaker 2:It is, it is. I've already been to a couple of pre-events before today. Oh wow, I went to one again this evening before we actually recorded. And then another couple tomorrow, and then the big ones on Saturday, and then, obviously, you know, ceto cleanup on Sunday, et cetera, et cetera. They're all kind of similar. I will say I haven't said this at all to anyone yet, josh, anyone, I feel like I'm maybe getting a little event burnout.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Tell me more. I go to these events now.
Speaker 1:It's just a lot of the same Kind of a lot of the same. Yeah, a lot of the same, you see a lot of the same people to some people, yeah and so, and you always have the same joke, you know a long time.
Speaker 2:No see, um, yeah, it's the same, it's no different. So, yeah, I get out, I park up, get out of the van, you know, and you're going and you're having the same sort of conversations with you know other people as well, but you don't get that. Um, that excitement isn't there, like we had in, uh, you know, in geo woodstock, for instance.
Speaker 1:You know, when you're like looking forward to seeing people that you haven't seen for a long time yeah, exactly, exactly that's.
Speaker 2:I think that's what it is too and, as I said, yeah, a little little event sometimes, these pre-events. Now I'll I'll go to these pre-events, I'll say hello or whatever, sign the logbook and you know, I'll look around for five or ten minutes if I'm not really talking to anyone and then I'll just go Check. Been there, done that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's not a good feeling, to be honest with you, so that's a little bit of an insight for other people.
Speaker 1:This is a year. Next year might be a little bit different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:And we know you're heavily connected to Munzee, so that's kind of a different. It's a lot months we talked about before months. A little different because at those events you play, you play the game you play the game. They're not just social, so there's even more motivation to play the game um at those events.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's really it's really interesting.
Speaker 1:I I don't. I don't have that feeling because I have not been to very many megas this year.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been to Geo Woodstock and that's it.
Speaker 1:Wow, this is going to slow your head. Wow, that's it. Wow, I may, I may. I'm a knock on wood. I might see you in a couple weeks at West Bend Cash Bash West Bend, west Bend.
Speaker 2:Cash Bash.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's a fun one, craig. It's geocaching Like the event. Part of it is like two hours, yeah, but like the Friday and Saturday, they put 60 new caches, 66 new caches and they've got great hiders and they're all good and they're all like pristine and fresh. So, it's really fun to just if you like geocaching, you're going to like the Midwest or the West Bend.
Speaker 2:West Bend. The only negative to that is because you're gonna like the midwest or the only west bend. West bend, uh. The only negative to that is because you're at a mega event or a block party, whatever, with lots of people around. I'm not a fan of waiting in line to sign a logbook. You know what I mean. It's not too bad, craig. It honestly is not too bad.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, they're and here's another thing you'll you'll see they're really spread out, so they're like way different parts of the county, so it it really that in itself really spreads people out there's a little bit, but it's more. It's more like, hey, you're walking with somebody and you find a cash with them. Yeah, you go to the next one and you maybe see somebody different you know it's not, but it's not lines.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not like yeah, um, because you're woodstock or anything. So that's all right.
Speaker 1:That's all right um, so I yeah, I think you're gonna enjoy it. We're, oh, we're digressing. Well, we gotta get back to michigan. Um, tell it. Tell me a little bit about seashell city so, before I go to seashell, seashell, seashell I can't even say it properly.
Speaker 2:Um, uh, I had to come back to it. So from the, the area itself, cc um seashell city, I have all people should I have.
Speaker 2:All people shouldn't have an issue with that. Um, it's a tongue twister. It's located just as you come back across the mackinac bridge. So as you come back across the mackinac bridge, that's where it is. It's probably about a 10-minute drive south along the highway. You see the big sign saying Seashell City. Now I've been to a couple of small events here on the way around Michigan as well. Some people, josh they host events almost daily up here oh, really, one or two people going for a bite to eat or a beer, or even in a park, for instance, a bite to eat or a bee, or even in a park, for instance. And I got an FTF, josh, before this one event I didn't realize, oh wow, I didn't realize Everyone was saving the FTF for a joint FTF. I went, oops, oopsie, it was a reverse.
Speaker 1:You didn't know. No, I didn't know.
Speaker 2:You're not local, I'm not local and the funny thing is, everyone's like you know. Oh, where are you from? What are you doing and what are you doing? Australian, and I have no idea about podcasts or videos or any of that stuff.
Speaker 1:Really. Is that funny? That was funny. There's people that don't watch anything, anything at all.
Speaker 2:Nope, nope, they don't literally, they just go geocaching sort of thing. So but yeah, so I have met a couple of people doing that and doing those sort of events. But coming back over the Mackinac Bridge itself, it's a beautiful bridge, josh, the Mackinac Bridge. Oh, I'm sure it is. It's a gorgeous bridge. There's an area where you can actually stop and see the full bridge on the north side as well, on the peninsula side, and what it is. It's like a you would love it. You, of all people, would love it.
Speaker 1:It is souvenir heaven. So it's a seashell city. No, no, no, this is oh this is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's touristy, but I'm going to get to that in a minute because I want to talk about. I want to talk about this mackinac bridge souvenir shop on the upper peninsula. So you go in josh and it is souvenirs galore, absolutely galore. It's very much an American souvenir shop. Why I say it's American? Because under the counters, on glass counters, they've got these small guns. They look like small guns. Of course they do. If you rack the gun like it looks like and it racks the gun like you rack the top of the gun and as you rack the top of the gun the knife blade flies out. So it's actually a knife.
Speaker 1:I think you sent me a picture of that.
Speaker 2:We're like yeah, only in America. Knife guns. I did, I did, but you have to walk through the shop to go to the viewing area, the viewing platform for the actual Mackinac Bridge, now the viewing platform. Though you go up these stairs and you go where am I going? Then you've got more stairs. The stairs are on the roof of the actual souvenir shop. So you go up and you stand on the roof of the souvenir shop to see the McAdoo Bridge. So it was fun. It's all closed in, like it is safe. You know what I mean. So they do have barricades up in that too. So actually have people up on top of the roof of the building in order to see the full bridge. That's cool.
Speaker 1:Do you know what that place was called? It was just a Mackinac Island, right outside of Mackinac Island by the bridge souvenir shop. Did it have a name?
Speaker 2:Mackinac Bridge Souvenir Shop. That's what it is, mackinac.
Speaker 1:Bridge Souvenir Shop. It's exactly what it is.
Speaker 2:Exactly what it is. So mackinac bridge it's exactly what it is. Exactly what it is. Uh, so, as you, as you travel north over mackinac bridge, it's on the left hand side, so, um, you go around that side, you don't go to the mackinac island side. Mackinac island's on the right, this is on the left, uh, as you go across the bridge, so, that's where it is, I'm guessing.
Speaker 1:I'm imagining like the souvenirs over at on actual mackinac island are like classier, like that's what. What I'm imagining Like Mackinac Island's like a classy place. That's what I always as far as the pictures I've seen in the movies that it's been in. Yeah, it doesn't sound like a souvenir shop type of place, but maybe there's different kinds of souvenirs, I know, I know.
Speaker 2:A quick rundown about Mackinac Bridge before we get onto the seashell city, and that is five miles in length. Joshosh, it is a long bridge. Um, it was opened on november 1st 1957, from construction of may 1954, so it's completed in 48 months. That's it for the whole entire bridge, and the tower height is 552 foot above the water and the foundations of it itself reach 210 foot below to the rock ground underneath the water.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Whenever you see epic bridges like this, do you sometimes think to yourself how in the heck did they make that? I don't know Back in the day? How did they build it into the?
Speaker 2:sea. I know, especially back in 1957, where they didn't have the electronics and everything else as well.
Speaker 1:I mean, think about it, about it, yeah.
Speaker 2:210 feet below, that's so deep, yeah, wow yeah, I just I can't figure it out I know, I I did the same when it comes to australia and the, the sydney harbour bridge, and, uh, I went on a harbour bridge tour. You do a bridge walk and they give you the full tour of the harbour bridge itself and they go through the whole history of the bridge. And how josh it's the same here as well. These people, they didn't have harnesses, they didn't. They were literally sitting on beams and one person was heating up the hot rivets. And then they go hot rivet, hot rivet, and they chucked a hot rivet to the person who would grab it with the, the tongs, put it in the hole and slam the other side together and as it cools, it shrinks down. You see that the hot rivet cools, shrinks down and holds the two pieces of steel together. The amount of rivets that are on the bottom of that ocean, under the harbor bridge, is insane.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm sure you know what it takes real men to build those bridges, and they don't even probably need beards, no, or maybe they do.
Speaker 2:They did.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look at all the photos. All the men had beards. They all had beards.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they all had beards.
Speaker 1:That's right, but anyway, I had to do the callback.
Speaker 2:We're digressing. We're digressing. The Mackinac Bridge. One more thing there's four million vehicles cross every single year. It's about uh five dollars for the for the toll in both directions each way, um, which isn't too bad for that sort of bridge. It's a beautiful bridge, but they do close it down once a year. For the mackinac bridge walk. It's every labor day and they have between 40 to 65 000 walkers walk across the bridge. All traffic is stopped. Uh, for the event. This year, josh, there's an actual geocaching event an hour before the bridge walk, like at the base of the bridge.
Speaker 1:So you can get on the geocaching event.
Speaker 2:Well, no, no, it's only a 30-minute event and it's for the purpose of, you know, meeting other geocachers and then, if you want to go and do the walk, you can.
Speaker 1:So it's on the cache page that you can do the walk. You're not supposed to stack events. Just don't tell the reviewer.
Speaker 2:That's not stacked. That's not stacked Because the event itself is a city event. It's not a geocaching event, it's just a city event.
Speaker 1:The walk no, I'm saying that you can't stack events on other major events. So, like for, I tried to do an event during the Minneapolis Marathon Nope can't.
Speaker 2:Well, this is before the event starts. The actual walking event starts. You see, they do mention in the event page about how you can do the walk after this event's finished If you wish to. You don't have to blah, blah, blah. So yeah, it's about half an hour difference between it ends and then this one starts, so that's pretty cool.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a bucket list item. That's a bucket list item.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. Getting back to Seashell City, seashell City, by the seashore, as you're traveling south along the main highway, coming all the way south itself, you'll see the Seashell City. It's got big, huge signs Seashell City, shell city. It's got big, huge signs, seashell city. And a week before that I was at one of these local events and I got told that you know, oh, your name's see my shell, oh, you need to do this. This, uh, virtual cache. And he told me, the virtual cache, some clam or something. I went oh yeah, no worries, I'll look into it. Never, never, never, blinked an eyelid. I saw this seashell city. I thought I've got to stop there. And I stopped there. I had a look. It was the virtual that he was talking about, about the giant clam.
Speaker 1:There's a giant clam in the building.
Speaker 2:Inside the building there is a giant clam. Is it real? It's real giant clam. Wow, cool, yeah, 4,000 tons or something, no, not tons, something else 4,000 pounds for this giant clam, like it is huge, and so that's the virtual. You've got to go in there, take a photo and get some information and go from there. But, yeah, it's a really cool location and it is full, josh, absolutely full to the brim with seashells, like the entire store or warehouse. Oh, it's big fillers. Oh, wow, the warehouse, the warehouse, is filled with seashells and you buy that, you can buy any seashell you want. Pretty much in there. It's lots of souvenir stuff. There's shirts and, you know, signs and stickers actually, no, there's no stickers. Uh, everything else but stickers.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, I bought some shells. Okay, I'm looking at it. I'm looking at it right now I'm looking. It says it's called it's in sheboygan, michigan. Yeah, it's called the man killing clam. Yeah, that's called it's in.
Speaker 2:Sheboygan, michigan. Yeah, it's called the man-killing clam. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1:That's it the man-killing clam, because, yeah, it says this small nautical gift shop is the home of the 500 pound behemoth man-killing clam yeah, yeah, oh, that's my type of thing yeah, and it's right in center front and center of the actual inside the shop as well.
Speaker 2:So if you have a look at the cash page, josh, you might even see my ugly mug in there too. So next to the clam, so you'll see just how big it is, because the size of my head is big head anyway.
Speaker 1:Well, it says here the clam is considered man-killing because of its ability to trap divers by the feet. Yes, however, these clams are not carnivores.
Speaker 2:Well, that's good. I told you, yeah, yeah Again, it's a place where you know again, you wouldn't probably, you probably would go there because it looks so good, but you may not go there if it wasn't for geocaching and extra.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Get the extra smiley too.
Speaker 1:You get to visit the man-killing clam. That's. I love a virtual, josh. I love a virtual. There's more coming too. Virtual is 5.0 correct, correct.
Speaker 2:They're all happening. Do you think you're gonna?
Speaker 1:you're gonna be available for 5.0 no, because I got one at 4.0. I think the people that got ones at 2.0, 3.0 will have a better chance that means I've got a better chance.
Speaker 2:I got one at 2.0, I got the first.
Speaker 1:I think you might have a good chance I don't know if they're going to consider your home area, australia, or if your home. Have you changed your home area on geocachingcom?
Speaker 2:my home area is still good old us of a. Okay, so that's what they basically, because they yeah, they try to even them out.
Speaker 1:Yes, you should go you should make your home area somewhere really remote. You'll get one for sure. You'll get one for sure just in the middle of Montana. I live in Montana.
Speaker 2:I live in Montana. That's actually a good idea.
Speaker 1:Your home address is actually Florida.
Speaker 2:Technically. Technically, my home address is Florida, exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly, did you drink any beer, craig, on this Michigan adventure?
Speaker 2:Did I drink beer? You and I both know, especially listening to our good friend, minnesota Boy, minnesota Boy, minnesota Boy and his partner in crime, courtney as well, on the Brewery Adventures podcast, mm-hmm, and I've been utilizing the app Untapped a lot and I'll have a look and see the Untapped and it comes up with different maps and I'll then look at the breweries and all their rankings in the area and then I'll go and partake. Josh, I love a flight, I love a taster, oh yeah, a taster of the whole, especially if it's a microbrewery or something like that too. I'll have a full taster too. And and they've been very up here I'm telling you they're very IPA pushing forward, which is good, because that's my type of business. Ew Gross, they're not light beer forward, josh, because you know they're real men up here. They all have beards, so it is IPA forward. Yeah, yeah, I think, a real man drinks Miller High.
Speaker 2:Life. No, as you know, because I've been sending you some photos as well the actual flights themselves have been pretty cool to see. There's been one flight that I saw was made out of actual steel rod and welded together, like this thing was heavy without the beer in it. You know that sort of thing. And then the one I had even today, for instance, was an iron rock or iron iron bark or something like that, but it was an actual like a thor sword, like an actual full-on viking sword, and the holes were in the viking sword where the bees sat.
Speaker 2:So that's really cool, that's cool, that's really cool, so yeah, I love when they embrace their theme with the flights you know, because there's like up here there's a flight that's a ski like a ski. They put them in the ski stuff like that.
Speaker 1:I love that kind of stuff that's really cool yeah yep, it makes for a good photo.
Speaker 2:Photo op yeah, oh, I love a good photo op. And I was talking to the, the one of the brewers there today. He was behind and, um, you know, we're talking about my travels and what I do, etc. We talked about the app untapped. They are a premium Untappd member. He's very much forward in regards to keeping the membership and I did say to him I go, well, I found you on Untappd map and that's the reason why I'm here today. He said that's exactly the reason why, at minimum, they need to keep their subscriptions with Untappd. He said because, for that reason, I then took a nice photo of the, the flight and I was praising the flight. You know the whole lot uh, did it on my social media, on my, uh, tuesday's the vans social media page and tagged untapped because I'm getting a new badge as well. Oh, oh, who shared it? Untapped shared this okay that was so excited.
Speaker 1:We talk about untapped, so much on this podcast. We need to get them on here I think I don't think it's going to be that hard. No, because this is a podcast. Look, guided by location-based games. You can argue untapped is a location-based game. Yeah, checking in, you're getting badges.
Speaker 2:It's a location yeah, and it's gamified. You're drinking. We need to get. We need to stop talking about it.
Speaker 1:We need to get them, we do, we need to get them on the show. That would be really interesting. And then Minnesota Boy, Minnesota Boy, Minnesota Boy would be oh so jealous. He would be because he has a brewery podcast.
Speaker 2:Well, it's a travel podcast. There you go, Josh.
Speaker 1:That is your task for the next week for the next episode.
Speaker 2:That's your mission, okay to get uh to get, to get a. Uh, a representative of untapped on.
Speaker 1:You know I, you know how I get people's attention I just leverage, leverage tiktok, because I know you they see all those followers and they're like this guy.
Speaker 2:I'll talk to you a little bit. You know, yeah, little little. Yeah, we'll see. Yeah, yeah, that TikTok is unpredictable with views. I know that's another story. Wow, anything else? Craig, anything else?
Speaker 1:about Michigan that you know. It seems like you kind of you went through it quickly. And it sounds to me that you got to go back. You're in. Are you in Grand Rapids right now? Is that where you are?
Speaker 2:No, no, so I, is that where you are? No, oh, where are you? I'm halfway between a place called Jackson and Ann Arbor, and that's where they've got the MyGo events this weekend. You see is in like a campground area in between those Jackson and Ann Arbor, which is on the southeastern sort of side of Michigan.
Speaker 1:So it's only about an hour and a half north of Midwest midwest geobash. So oh, wow, that's close. I'm not surprised they. I'm surprised they allow that that's really close for two megas to be especially, yeah, like a week apart.
Speaker 2:So okay, cool, yeah but do we, do you want to go on the midwest geobash josh?
Speaker 1:oh yeah, we got to talk about speaking of midwest geobash speaking of this was your first time. This was your first time there. I've I've been there once too. It was many, many years, but I craig I only went one day. And as soon as I went that one day I realized okay, this is not an event that you just go for one day, this is an experience where you, where you're there at least three days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, is that correct? So this is absolutely correct and this is the closest I've felt to being at home as a mega event at home in Australia. The mega events in Australia are all like this. They're all like the Midwest Geobash and that is, they are a camping, on-site event where you camp with all your friends and all your geocaching buddies.
Speaker 2:Um, you go out geocaching during the day and then you come back in the evening and then there's the events in the evening and there's parties and drinking and all that sort of stuff too. So, um, or you don't have to, so you know, you don't have to partake in the alcohol. Um, yeah, just hang out and and uh, but this one, he was so well done, josh. We had, uh, um, all the, all the sub events and of course, there was between uh, what do you call it? Normal events and the, the community celebration events as well, which is different, icon again. Then they had a poker run as well. The poker one was really well done and I'll say this as well, he is a nice heartfelt story. If you listen to this, this podcast, right now, and you've got a small business and you're around a a possible mega event of some sort of geocaching and they come to you and say will you help us out with a poker run? Say yes, say sponsor, sponsor them.
Speaker 1:You've got to sponsor Because they go. You go into the stores and you get cards. Right, you get envelopes with cards in them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Well, they did it better. They did it one better. You don't get cards because all you do is you go into the store and they've got sheets of barcodes and you peel off one barcode and put that barcode on your sticker sheet and that barcode, when scanned, tells you what card you've got. So you don't know what card you've got, so you don't know what cards you've got. You see, until later on. That's how it works. So lots of fun. They had it for children as well, but it wasn't barcode, it wasn't a poker run, because they're not allowed to, it's illegal but they had like a dinosaur run. So they had dinosaur stickers for each one, because that was the theme.
Speaker 2:Right, dinosaurs was the theme dinosaurs the theme, but here's the heartfelt story. J Josh Ready for this. Okay, yep, there is a community-based orchard nearby and they saw. The organizers of Midwest a couple months beforehand saw that this community-based orchard was actually going downhill quite fast when it comes to their produce being sold and customers and whatever else as well. So they got them on board for the poker run and the amount of customers they had through the door they ran out of every single item of food. They had all their peaches, all their beeswax thing that they had, their honey, their maple syrup, star sugar, burst things and stickers. They ran out of everything. Now, in the three weeks leading up to the event they had 13 customers.
Speaker 1:In three weeks they had over 1,000 customers on one day, oh my gosh, and people bought stuff too.
Speaker 2:Oh, we bought stuff. Yeah, I bought a whole thing of peaches and they were good, josh, the peaches were so, so fresh. Like buying them from these vendors and stores, oh, it's fantastic. So, yes, and that's what they had and that's part of the poker run. So if you are a small, small store, et cetera, and you hear that there's something going on, even if it's vendors, markets or whatever else, well, my suggestion is put your hand up for it. You know, no matter what, it doesn't have to be geocaching, it'll be anything, because people are very receptive of it and very, very thankful for being part of it.
Speaker 1:You know that sort of thing too that's why I love mega events in like the small towns, because it makes a big dent. Like you, you know, you have a. Have a mega in a big city. It's like what's the what's into? Like you're not even blip, you know but if it's a smaller town people know you're there and you make a huge impact.
Speaker 1:So you know, sometimes there's more attendees at the event than the live in the town. So that can like turn a city's economy around in one day and like you did with this business. That's so cool.
Speaker 2:That's really cool. And one more thing as well. That's really cool. And one more thing as well, before we start to wrap it up, and that is I did something, josh, for the first time ever and no Australians do, because we don't do this, and I see it on the movies all the time. I was driving through the farmlands of Ohio, beautiful farmlands, cornfields on one side, soybean field on the other side, beautiful white houses here and there and positioned, and I went past and I looked on my right hand side, there were two young boys selling lemonade at the front of their house. I I had to screech on the brakes as best I could spin back around and and buy myself some lemonade. It wasn't very good lemonade, it was. It was warm, it was these poor boys. They were sweating, they were hot nobody was stopping.
Speaker 1:No, no, no, I hope. I hope you were like keep the change too.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely absolutely, but I will say for for a cup of lemonade. I saw some ten dollar notes sitting in there in their little drawer. So some people being the only person that- felt sorry for them no, no, not at all. Maybe they spritz themselves and people come past so they can look like yeah, exactly, oh, it's so hot out here. But, josh, I'll be honest with you, it was the only time I've ever actually felt like I was part of a movie like a traditional american movie the farmland, the green, you know the cornfields like oh it's, that's beautiful, it is absolutely.
Speaker 1:You know. That reminds me of craig. When we were traveling together through ohio, when we were doing the pizza tour and we were on the, we were even on the porch in cleveland, remember, and you were like, oh my gosh, what's that? I was like, oh, I was like craig, those are fireflies. Yeah, I've never seen fireflies. Yeah, yeah, and then we went out the country and they were everywhere. You're like, oh my gosh, I you only see these in movies and then you scared me, josh, because you were driving.
Speaker 2:You turn the headlights off in the back country of nowhere ohio, you can really black and I could really see him, but you were still driving. He didn't actually stop. But it's past more than six months, so the statute of limitations is gone, yeah, but then you look like you're going you know, when you turn the lights off and do that, you look like you're going through warp drive like on star trek or something yes, especially when they try and get out of the way.
Speaker 2:But you know, I have seen a few more of those over the last few months as well, up here in the north to the fireflies or they're kind of a dying breed.
Speaker 1:I heard that they are, they're. They're not, they're not surviving, they're more and more rare, which is sad. I don't know what's happening yeah, that is sad.
Speaker 2:That is very, very sad. Uh, but, josh, getting back, one more thing before we ended up, and that is the uh, the midwest geobash. It had a brand new adventure lab art. Now, this adventure lab art the midwest geobash has always had a flamingo theme. They've got a flamingo as their logo, that's, their mascot is the flamingo. This Adventure Lab art is in the shape of a flamingo. Once you click into the art itself and you have a look at all the pins, all the pins spell out MWGB25. So it's a double art. So that was really cool. Pasha88, a big shout out to her. She's the one that organized that artwork too for the Adventure Lab. Now we, you and I we did Midwest Geobash, no, sorry, we did Geowoodstock. I'm getting confused.
Speaker 1:And we did Texas Challenge yes. Oh, I have been to two megas.
Speaker 2:There you go, texas Challengeas challenge as well, but at at geo woodstock, josh, you and I, we were on stage and we, we, we gave a poll to everyone. We said anyone put up a hand if you've got adventure labs as your main find type. And and a few people put up their hands. Guess what, josh, I'm now one of those people oh really I have more adventure labs. My adventure, I find, is over 7 000 finds for more than your traditionals, more than traditionals at 6 800 6 800 traditionals, over 7 000 adventure labs yeah, that is not me quite yet.
Speaker 1:I think I raised my hand, but that's not true. I still have more traditionals. But yeah, you get you to go to these mega events. It is a bonus. And if people don't know what we're talking about, you're getting 700 fines for answering typically trivia questions inside of a parking lot yeah, how big was this? One craig was it? Was it the biggest ever? Some people. I listened to the geocaching podcast.
Speaker 2:You said there was 700. Burke said there was more, there was 750 and they're claiming Pasha claims to be the biggest in North America Not the world, but North America.
Speaker 1:I thought I didn't. I'm going to have to go back, but I thought Texas Challenge had over 800. I know, I don't know.
Speaker 2:If they don't, then they will now, because the Texas Challenge one they just add on, they just add on more, just add on more bigger.
Speaker 1:because everything's bigger in texas exactly.
Speaker 2:They want to be the number one, so they'll just add more. That's all they'll do. But uh, but yeah, no uh, the cell service oh josh yeah the cell.
Speaker 1:I'm sure it was rough because you got everybody on their phones.
Speaker 2:I remember that too, when I was there and I'm with at&t now, so at&T is really super rough in terms of zero cell service. So I put the van, I went and I drove, got the van there itself and it was. You know, the weather was okay. If you don't know, if you haven't been to Midwest Geobash, prepare for rain. Apparently it rains every single year and it rained pretty hard. A few people went home before People got washed out Josh in their tents.
Speaker 1:Oh I, and chucked their tents away. That event's been flooded before I know that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so.
Speaker 2:I brought the van up in the field area where you can park up and get all of them all at once. I took the van up there, I put my Starlink up. You see, oh smart, put the Starlink up. I had drinks, I had snacks and we sat in the van for two and a half hours clicking away for the adventure labs, for the adventure labs, yeah, for the adventure how was munzee, though?
Speaker 1:was munzee rough for people, were they?
Speaker 2:struggling. Yeah, everyone was struggling, except some people, and I didn't know this existed. Here's a tip for travelers. This is a good, this is a good travel tip. Josh, You're ready for this? Good friends of yours and mine, Frankie's name is Munzee. Prof is his Munzee name. Geo Prof is his geocaching name. He's got a phone On his phone. He's got AT&T, but he's got Verizon as an added bonus for cell service. So he pays I think it's like $30 a month extra, and he has Verizon on top of the AT&T.
Speaker 2:So he's actually got two bars at the top of his phone and you can see the AT&T, how strong that is, and then how strong the Verizon signal is, and it'll go off the strongest signal, which everyone's the strongest signal. That's what it goes off Fascinating.
Speaker 1:That's a good tip for travelers out there, yeah, yeah, it is Not a bad idea.
Speaker 2:Not a bad idea, but the Munzee was a bit rough for that. But I'll say this Josh, the Munzee itself, thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of cars, oh there were so many.
Speaker 1:I saw the map.
Speaker 2:There was a ton.
Speaker 1:Not only was the fairgrounds filled, but the whole town was filled. That was so smart, because there was an event in the fairgrounds and then there was an event in the town.
Speaker 2:So here's a tip for you. Here's a tip for you. Some people were watching me very intently because the Sunday before the Midwest Geobash so the Sunday before it happened I started placing all those cards between. I had a lot of cards ready to go and I placed them all between the two events and I did down each road, down the side road and down the road. I then got three different messages from three different people who were on another team, basically, and they all said we're watching you, craig, we're seeing what you're doing. And next minute I looked up and there was like all the cards were all following all my route. That I did because I knew the area. I know what Munzee players are like. They're also geocachers, so they're out during the day, so they're always going to cap cards. But, josh, you blast these cards and these Munzees everywhere. They kept coming back.
Speaker 1:People kept on placing them every single day. That was me Sunday morning. Sunday morning I was on my couch watching them expire and I was dropping them.
Speaker 2:I dropping the the crimson chalice right right on top of the event as the ones expired that was me, I'm sure I still didn't do you any well because you still got third place, but anyway that's another, that's a, that's a.
Speaker 1:That's one for the munzee podcast but it still has the best logo yeah, that's, that's fair enough.
Speaker 2:That's fair enough. But josh, going back quickly before we finish it up, and that that is these two boys themselves, you know, yeah, yeah, the lemonade dudes, the lemonade boys, how proud, would they be?
Speaker 1:Oh man, I'd say they're really proud of their town. If they're going to do a lemonade stand, they want to represent Wauseon and Ohio and they're like you know what these geocachers need? They need lemonade. And I'm so proud of their town. They're gonna love this town because I'm proud of this town. And then they will be proud and they will come back to midwest geocache because they're probably there's a damn rare thing.
Speaker 2:There you go, jeez, I'm your quarterback. Thank you, jeez. You're welcome. I just didn't want to edit later on, that's all it was. So anyway, josh, you're saying at the start you're saying at the start, though, in regards to, you're going to ask the patrons first about your beard, should I? I'm going to go to the page. I think you should. I think you should now, if you're listening to this episode right now, this is a bonus. If you're listening to this episode right now and you want to become, uh, you know, one of the, the few that have the, the voice for josh's bead. How do they get on, patreon josh?
Speaker 1:oh, you go to patreoncom backslash treasures of our town. You are supporting us. You are giving me advice about my facial hair there are important things. These are important things in the world and only you get to have the say. And maybe, maybe, if, maybe, if they're like I hate it, what, what you know? People might be like 51%, shave it. I might just listen, I might not, but I might, I don't know 51% may say keep it, and you might listen. This is true. And then I'll become, you know, like ZZ Top, who knows?
Speaker 2:Anyway. Otherwise, josh, how can people contact us if they want to contact us in any way, shape or form?
Speaker 1:Yes, feel free to reach out to us at TreasuresOfOurTownPodcast at gmailcom, or you can follow us on Facebook, instagram, x, youtube, or just go to our Buzzsprout website, just search.
Speaker 2:TreasuresOfOurTown on Google and you can message us there Exactly. So that's it for the show today. Please subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcasting app and as always, Josh.
Speaker 1:May your travels always lead you to the most unexpected and amazing hidden gems, like the man-eating clam.
Speaker 2:See you next time. Everybody Man-eating clam, bye, bye-bye, bye-bye.
