Our new signature item: Gerome

We've been looking around for a waymarking signature item for quite awhile now. When we geocache our signature item is a tent stake that says "Hikenutty was here," but for waymarking we wanted something with more personality. We considered using our waypup Frodo as the team mascot, however, as you read in an earlier blog interview with Frodo, he isn't especially fond of the family hobby. We needed something a little kitschy without being tacky, fun without being cutesy.

Enter Gerome the Gnome. While shopping at Borders Bookstore we happened upon this little gent who came to the U.S. straight from the gardens of England (by way of Taiwan.) We decided it would be amusing to photograph Gerome at different waymarks on our camping trips, road trips and hiking adventures and use them for visits that require a team member to be in the photograph to "prove" you were at the spot. My son is even considering helping Gerome get his own blog up and running.

He's been wandering our yard and inspecting the flower beds, but soon he'll take a waymarking trip with us so keep your eyes peeled for the newest Hikenutty team member.

War of the Roses

War of the Roses. Well, one rose that is. A compass rose to be exact. I have been trying to spot a compass rose ever since I started waymarking and this last weekend I found not one, but 20 plus compass roses. Do I get to waymark said roses? No. See, I forgot to lay my gps on the floor of the Capitol so I could submit a photo WITH GPS in the shot. Lame. Oh so very lame. I was obviously there. It's not like there's a huge amount of photos of Washington State Capitol's floor that I could steal off the web and claim as my own.

I know I just recently ranted about this but it's my blog and so I'll rant again. What is the point of the gps in the shot? How does that make the waymark a better waymark, I ask? This category lost a great waymark.

The Capitol's floor is inlaid marble. Beautiful craftsmanship. A hall encircles the rotunda, and the entire length of the hall are compass roses. Inside the main entrance is a larger compass rose and in the center of that one is a stone that is engraved and tells of the time capsule buried beneath it. I was able to waymark it in the time capsule section at least. Other waymarks on the Capitol campus included the WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Vietnam POW/MIA, and Law Enforcement memorials, the Capitol's moon tree, the cast bronze doors of the Legislative Building, Temple of Justice (courthouse), the Olmsted designed campus grounds, and many others that I'm forgetting right now. There were enough great finds that it took the sting out of losing that sea of compass roses. Oh well, maybe someone else will visit and put their gps on the floor so they can post the waymark, but not me.

End of an era

Today I archived 2 of our geocaches and will archive another in a couple of weeks. My heart's just not in it anymore, but it still felt sad because it broke up a series of caches that I had created called the "Sculpture Scramble". I kept the 3 caches that are still in place - the other 2 were muggled recently - and will archive the final "mystery" cache after I give cachers that have found all of the clues a chance to find the final.

I got tired of heading out in the rain and digging through leaves, twigs and banana slugs to maintain my caches over the winter; tired of some of the pissy South Puget Sound cachers that emailed about how I could do the series better. Plus, in my area there are a ton of geocaches and good spots for caches are at a premium. I don't want to keep someone from placing a new cache because mine is still there.

In Washington you can cache year round if you don't mind getting soggy 8 months out of 12. I mind, and so our caching adventures were limited to camping trips and road trips over the summer. We'll still cache when we travel because it's a great way to stop and stretch your legs at rest areas. In fact, in the next few weeks I'll be creating routes to find caches along the roads we'll be travelling in the midwest. However, waymarking is where it's at for team Hikenutty at this point.

We had a great waymarking day trip to the Washington State Capitol and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge this weekend. We posted 26 waymarks, with 8 in new categories. It was a waymarking bonanza! I'll post about the adventure later this week.

Iconography: a top 10 list

If you are new to waymarking let me explain the website's icons. Each category on waymarking.com has its very own tiny square icon. Each waymarker has their very own profile page and on that page is a tab that shows you a large grid. Each square on this grid represents one category. The square will be filled with the category's icon once you have posted or visited a waymark in that specific category. We waymarkers, already a compulsive bunch, have become even more so since Groundspeak introduced this grid feature to the waymarking user profile.

Anyhow, I was looking at the Waymarking category grid and there are some of the icons that just make me laugh and some that I think "how does she do that with so few pixels?" Groundspeak's icon creator extraordinaire, Koko, goes above and beyond the call of icon duty at times. I believe the following are her top ten masterpieces.

1. The waymarking whore (aka Dance Club icon) - need I say more?
2. Beatlemania - fab
3. Nude beaches - hilarious! - I came upon a similar scene when I was hiking in Olympic NP last year.
4. Martial Arts - It's a Shaolin showdown!
5. Pet Cemeteries - I love Fido's ghostly head floating above the tombstones
6. Japanese Gardens - Okay, not funny, but very cool icon. I'm especially partial to it since I created the category.
7. Shoe tree- this is one of those where I wonder how she got that image with so few pixels. Very cool.
8. Postcards - This icon perfectly captures the category
9. Disney Benchmarks - How can you resist a benchmark with ears?
10. Ginormous everyday objects - A giant hot dog - what more can you ask for?

There are probably some great ones that I missed, but you have to admit, these 10 are classic.

Reviewer Rigidity: Lighten up! It's a game!!

I have found that some waymarkers become so rigid in their interpretation of category requirements that they take the fun out of the game. I'll use a waymark that I posted last year as an example, because it still burns me up.

Last August I was in Portland for my little sister's wedding. She had rented out this incredible octagonal barn that McMenemin's Restaurant rents for functions. I, of course, immediately thought of the "Octagon Shaped Buildings" category. It was a great barn and how cool is it to waymark your sister's wedding, I ask?! I took pictures of the barn, inside and out, and detail shots of the structural work you see when you looked up at ceiling. The picture to the left is one of those pictures. When we arrived home I researched the history of the barn and the many owners of the farm before it became a restaurant and then I wrote up and submitted the waymark. Well, in my excitement to photograph the things that are important to tell a building's story I forgot to take a picture of the building with my GPS in the shot. DENIED. I wrote back explaining that I could send a picture of the wedding invitation which would prove that I was there the same day as the photos were digitally date stamped. Still a no go. According to the reviewer they had refused to make exceptions in the past and didn't plan on starting now, no matter what kind of proof I had. The worst part is that it was first approved by a different officer, then denied, then approved again when I resubmitted with an explanation, and again, overturned and denied.

What is the point of this, people?! What's important is a well written, and well photographed waymark to adequately describe a place. If someone has a great picture of a building without their GPS in it, then who cares. Another common denial is because there's only one photo of the building (that clearly shows the sign within the shot) but not the second photo showing only the sign. Is that omission really worth losing a cool waymark to your category?

If they were logging a visit, I might understand the GPS requirement, but even then this whole GPS picture grinds me the wrong way. If someone visits my waymark, takes pictures and wants to log that visit why would I be so uptight about if the blasted GPS is in the shot. Are people only allowed to log visits that were intentionally planned with waymarking in mind?

Now, some of my categories require visitors to a waymark to upload a picture with themselves or their GPS in the shot. I want them to at least give show another shot of the waymark, but if they had a great experience there, and can describe the place and tell us their story, well, isn't that exactly what the log is for? As I write this I realize that I want to go back through the 8-9 categories that I've created and rewrite the logging requirements. Pictures are an important part of waymarking, but stories and history are equally important.

That's it for the mid-week rant. I need to go edit some category requirements. I'll be back to post later in the week once I decide the details of this weekend's waymarking daytrip.

Goodbye, Tacoma. See you in September

Every Saturday since mid-September I've spent 2 and 1/2 hours waymarking and drinking coffee in Tacoma while my son has orchestra rehearsal. I've learned so much about the history of Tacoma, it's art, it's museums, its coffee. But today was the last full rehearsal before the end of the season concert and my freewheeling waymarking Saturdays are now a thing of the past.

To mark the end of this great "waymarking/symphony season" we decided to hunt down some waymarks for my new favorite category - Neon Lights. I had googled "Neon Tacoma" during the week and found 3 signs that I just had to waymark, and so we headed out this morning in search of great neon. Great neon we found. The thing about these signs is that in context they might seem cool and maybe a bit funky but nothing to make you gasp. The peeling paint and broken tubes tend to blend into the transitional neighborhoods that they are often found in. But once you get home and upload your photos, you realize how great they really are. A close-up photo crops out the tacky storefronts, city dumpsters and beat up cars. All you see is the sign - every flake of paint and broken tube. For me, the timeworn look of a neon sign is part of the beauty. It says, "been there, done that." It becomes a glowing, buzzing memory of what was and a truthful tale of what is.

Last September I thought these Saturday's would be a dreadfully boring, but I've had so much fun waymarking in Tacoma that now I'm sad to see the season end. Saturday mornings spent waymarking and finding new coffee shops will become Saturday mornings spent working in the yard. Ugh. Maybe I need to declare Saturday mornings as waymarking time. That way I still get to enjoy the calm quiet of waymarking for a couple of hours before life catches up with me. So maybe I won't wait until September to get back to Tacoma, after all.

Along with a few waymarks in other categories, we posted waymarks for 4 neon signs in Tacoma today. If you're interested in checking them out, the signs are the Flying Boots Cafe & Spur Room, the Golden City Cafe (seen above), the Lucky Silver Tavern, and Tacoma's Elephant Car Wash.

Happy waymarking,

Hikenutty

Poll results: One is the lonliest number

Since there were only 12 votes on the last poll, we can't exactly call it scientific, but from what I saw, waymarkers are a lonely bunch. Of the 12 voters 6 of you waymarked alone, 4 with family, 2 with a spouse, and NOBODY waymarked with friends. Is this a frightening reality of waymarkers? Poor lonely souls wandering the streets alone, GPS and Blackberry in one hand, camera in the other? It's just too depressing to contemplate so I'll move on to the next poll.

For the next poll voters can weigh in as to how they feel about waymarking fast food chain restaurants. Do you love it? Not care? Consider it a black eye to waymarking? Or do you just want me to shut up about this topic already? Let me know how you feel and vote in the poll you see in the sidebar.

Seattle Center: Waymarking Overload

My son's orchestra, the Tacoma Strings Philharmonic, was playing at the Seattle Center last weekend. We dropped him off at practice in Tacoma. The Orchestra bussed in together so Troy and I had a whole morning and afternoon of waymarking before his 1pm performance.

Now, anyone who's visited Seattle has likely visited the Seattle Center, home of the Space Needle, Monorail, Pacific Science Center, and much, much more. The place is a Seattle Landmark, and loaded with a nearly unlimited amount of waymarks. I had made my list of what I wanted to hit but knew there would be no way to hit it all. My goal was to pick up waymarks for categories for that are difficult to find waymarks for, but with this kind of history how do you draw the line? I skipped easy stuff like mini-golf and carousels that you can find anywhere and instead focused on things like"Beatlemania", "Elvis", "butterfly houses", "children's gardens", and "yellow arrow look up". Unfortunately the 3 yellow arrows that had been placed in the Center had all been removed. But by 1 pm we had succeeded in locating waymarks for 11 categories we hadn't waymarked in before and a grand total of 36 new waymarks (3 of them in Tacoma and a couple in South Seattle.) Those 36 waymarks were just a drop in the bucket. There were already a bunch of waymarks placed at the Center and we left plenty for future waymarkers. For example, we waymarked 2 penny smashers near the Space Needle. I know of 5 that are located there along with the 5+ coin op binoculars that are at the top of the Needle. I didn't bother with the Seattle Children's Museum, Intiman Theatre, Seattle Reperatory Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre because I was too exhausted by then and figured I'd leave them for someone else. I also know of 3 fountains and at least 4 more sculptures that I chose not to waymark due to extreme waymarking overload.

How do people do this type of marathon waymarking? It got to the point where the compulsion to waymark made it stop being fun, and at that point we ordered coffee and called it a day. The Seattle Center will still be there the next time I'm in town. It's not going anywhere and now I have a few waymarks to look forward to for the next time I visit.

The concert went well, other than the crazy lady sitting next to my husband that he was too nice to ignore and the hundreds of screaming children there for the Whirligig Festival. We drove home and I browsed through the digital photos that I had taken throughout the day - over 150 pictures in one afternoon.

Following are a few of my favorite waymarks from the weekend: R2-D2 Mailbox in the "All Things Star Wars" category, Space Needle in "Picture Perfect Postcards" category, Elephant Car Wash sign in "Neon Lights" category, Olympic Iliad Sculpture in "Abstract Public Sculptures" category, and Starbucks Corporation in "Publicly Held Corporation Headquarters" category.

Hope your weekend was as fun and waymarking filled as ours was. Cheers!

Hikenutty

The Sunshine has Arrived!

What a beautiful day to live in Washington State! Every Spring in Washington there is a day, usually in March or early April, when the sun comes out and the thermometer hits the 70's and you walk outside, breathe deep and say "Ohhh, that's right! THIS is why I live in Washington!" For most of the year it's miserably damp and gray, but when the sun starts to shine, watch out, because you'll never want to leave. Well, not until October at least.

Today my son and I stopped in at the West Hylebos Wetland Park to waymark the peat sinkhole in the new category, Natural Sinkholes. Right after we started down the trail we saw a rabbit and soon after a blue heron flew out of a tree that was overhead. As usual, I was hoping to see the elusive, native red-legged frogs that live in the peat sinkhole, but no such luck. We did see oyster mushrooms and a cool dayglo orange fungus. The Nootka roses were blooming as were the bleeding hearts and the skunk cabbage. As always it was peaceful and calming. An incredible chunk of ancient wetland in the middle of sprawling suburbs. Be sure to stop by some day to visit. It's an amazing place.

I have 7 waymarks at this place for you to come and log: Natural Sinkholes, Places of Geologic Interest, Municipal Parks, Scenic Hikes, Trail Registers, and 2 Relocated Structures, (second structure's link). These links will take you to my waymarks, not the categories. There are 2 awaiting approval at the time of this posting so they aren't yet visible on waymarking.com.

Waymarking Hits the Newstands

The Tacoma News Tribune article on Waymarking came out today. I would have completely missed it except that we received a bunch of emails stating that my husband was in the funny pages (it's on the cover of the "Soundlife" section, which has the funny pages in it.) He's going to have a hard time living this down. Hmm... This is a strike against my campaign to interest him in waymarking. Anyhow, the cool thing is that they have posted a contest as part of the article. Anyone who can post a "News Article Locations" waymark using a Tacoma News Tribune article can enter their name in a drawing for a prize. They don't say what the prize is, but hey, I'm going to be wandering around town on Saturday waymarking anyhow. Might as well get a cup of coffee or something out of it. For details on the contest link to the article.

Convincing a Spouse to Waymark

You all know that I've been working on my husband to get him a little more excited about waymarking. Well on Sunday, April 1st, he decided to poke around on the waymarking site to see what's there. At first I thought it was a cruel April Fool's joke. He'd come running upstairs and say "let's go waymark some sculpture, J!" and we'd end up at the dump or something (which is a bad example because in King County, Washington the dumps DO have great sculpture). But he was for real. In fact he came up with a list of favorite categories - took notes and everything. Here's his list:

Immortalized by Lyrics - This is his number one. It came as no surprise to me. This is a man who spends hours on itunes or lyrics.com. On rare occasions he will actually sit through a disco song. Whether to torture me or because he's actually enjoying it, I'm not sure.
Border Crossings - Again, no surprise. He has a college degree in Geography and worked on a survey team through college, and when he's not on itunes or lyrics.com or listening to disco he's staring at maps.
Names from the Bible - Now this one threw me. This from a man who describes himself as a born-again atheist.
Devilish Locations - Okay, now this makes much more sense. THIS is the man I married.
Places of Geologic Significance - We hike and camp a lot in the Summer so this is one the whole family can enjoy.
Your Name Here - I think he likes this one because it's so easy for him. The only way I'd find a sign with my name on it is if I painted one myself and stuck it in the front yard. Hey, would that work??? ;)
Corporate Headquarters - When this category first came through peer review I'll admit I was skeptical. When I mentioned the category to him he thought it was one of the coolest categories that I'd told him about. He likes it so much that he's actually turned me around and has me thinking of when I can get to some of the other big corporations in the region.

He has two "Immortalized by Lyrics" waymarks scoped out that we'll find this weekend. So, 7 categories out of 496's not bad. It's a start. I'll turn him around yet!

Daffodil Fields Forever

It was a rather slow weekend as far as waymarking is concerned for this household. However, I did post 5 new waymarks with 3 of them in new categories for me. My favorite of the week was Puyallup Valley Daffodil Fields in the Flower Fields category. It took us a bit of wandering to find a good spot to view them, but they were quite spectacular when we did. They were an appropriate waymark for our official "400th waymark posted" distinction.

Of greater importance, my husband spent this morning digging around and exploring the waymarking.com website. He made a list of his favorite categories and even has an Inspired by Lyrics waymark planned for next weekend. I was flabbergasted. My diabolical brainwashing is actually working. :) More about his change of heart in a later post. Cheers!
- Hikenutty