Cache-versary

I found my first cache (Sudoku Madness) exactly one year ago, on May 8th 2006. One year later, the counter displays 869 finds and 15 hides.

More than 869 caches found, here are a few things summarizing how this year of geocaching has been for me:

• It brought me back to hiking after a 3 years hiatus
• I rediscovered or discovered many great local parks
• I learned about poison oak, discovered my immunity to it (so far)
• I've been convinced for 364 days that I was immune to ticks
• I got my first tick bite (last weekend)
• I got stung by a bee
• I saw many snakes, including 2 rattlesnakes (and got rattled at by one of them)
• I encountered many black widows
  
• I drove through (almost) every single street of South San Jose
• I lifted thousands of (lamp) skirts
• I discovered incredible and secret places very close to home
  
• I got a bachelor of puzzleology
• I got my Geo Metro out of the garage
• I read both The Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring in English just for the multi series by mbrill
• I developed an interest in geocoins (somehow limited by the amount of money involved)
• I learned tons of English vocabulary (stump, fence pole cap, trifecta...)
• I let my cell phone fell in the Los Gatos Creek (it's still working)
• I lost my dear camera while searching for an evil cache
• I managed to wear out my GPSr battery (but I just bought a new one)
• I participated to a GBA deathmarch (and preparing a new one for this weekend - with a brand new battery)
• I hid a few caches (15 hides total including events)
• I posted more than 1100 times in the GBA (Geocachers of the Bay Area) forum
• I attended 3 CITO events (including hosting one)
• I attended 13 official regular events
• I attended many unevents at the boardwalk and one in the Peninsula
• I hosted an event
• I spent hundreds of hours playing with Google Earth
  

Most importantly, I made a lot of great friends and this is the best part to me. This has been a great Geocaching year!
Here's to the next one!