2015-05-28 41 -87

Location

Just inside a building along Archer Ave in Brighton Park

Participants

Plans

Mystrsyko - Drive up from Springfield and arrive around 4pm

Expedition

We made it and had a great meetup! Details coming. -- OtherJack (talk) 01:12, 29 May 2015 (EDT)

Mystrsyko & Dolphintreasure

After reaching our first point of the day, we hurriedly completed our household chores for the day and were able to leave for Chicago by 12:15pm. The plan was to stop by Mystrsyko's sister's house to pick up her hash-chicken hashscot (said sister was at work), and then head into the city to find the point. A relatively uneventful 3.5 hour drive later, we had Geo the hash-chicken aboard and made our way for the interstate.

Having moved out of the area 8 months ago, we almost had forgotten about the traffic volume the Chicagoland area is known for. Not long after our first message to OtherJack to let him know we were on our way, we had to inform him that we might miss the planned 4pm meeting time. Traffic was slightly better than it first seemed, though, and we reached the area by 4:15. As we looked around for landmarks to get our bearings, we passed our turn, and needed to loop back around once to find parking. Once parked at a nearby auto parts store, we made our way on foot down Archer Ave towards the building that contained the hash.

After finding a gap to cross the road, we made our way behind the building, which seemed to be under construction inside. Try as we might, we couldn't get the GPS to read any closer than 18 feet away, and with an impressively tiny margin of error. Why is it always when we need a large M.O.E. we always end up with a tiny one?

While discussing what we should do next, Mystrsyko spotted someone walking towards him and waving. He tried to deliver the standard geohashing greeting: "Are you from the internet?" He couldn't tell if the man responded, but after Dolphintreasure spoke up the man did, in fact, confirm his identity as none other than OtherJack!

Once greetings were exchanged and OtherJack was informed as to the correct pronunciation of Mystrsyko's username ("psycho", not "sicko"), he too sought out the point with his trusty pair of devices. Once the we were satisfied that we were as close as we could get, we made our way around to the front to find out what the building was and if, perhaps, there was a way to be let inside. A prominent sign on the front window informed us that it was under construction to prepare for a soon-to-be beauty shop to move in. OtherJack checked the door, but it was locked, and there didn't seem to be anyone inside.

While talking and sharing stories, the group posed for a picture, and then Mystrsyko and Dolphintreasure opened their bag to get their hashscots. However, they had inadvertently left a number of other stuffed animals that were intended to be left at his sister's house in the bag, and so began an accidental attempt to set the world record for most hashscots at a hash point.

Standing around in the hot sun was uncomfortable, though, so after everything was packed back up, the group of us made our way to a hot dog stand/shop across the street to get some cold drinks and continue our discussions. Who would think that random strangers from the internet could have so much in common?

Soon, our time geohashing together came to an end, as we all had other obligations to attend to. After goodbyes, Mystrsyko and Dolphintreasure went to meet her parents for dinner, and then stopped by Mystrsyko's sister's house to drop off her hash-chicken (which has been to more geohashes than she has) before heading for home late in the evening.

OtherJack

I had a much easier time getting to the point than the others, since I was already on the South Side with my friend 2pacchacha, at a cafe in Hyde Park. Unfortunately I could not convince him to achieve his second hashpoint and first meetup, since he'd come through the hash neighborhood a few hours earlier and encountered such abominable traffic (due to construction at Archer and Western) that he did not want to return for any reason.

So I set out alone a bit later than intended, took 47th to California avoiding the supposed traffic, and found Mystrsyko and Dolphintreasure well after the 4:30 goal time. Sadly, I didn't hear you ask if I was from the internet! I wish I had... I'm somewhat hard of hearing from my old rock n roll days. Anyway, we had a great time as you can read above... Mystr and Dolphin are really cool people. I got my android to read ~2 meters away behind the building so I'm calling this reached. Not sure what was the difference between mine and Mystr's.

Coincidentally, I also saw my own sister (and her girlfriend) immediately following the expedition, over seafood in nearby Chinatown. This was a near ideally placed hashpoint for my schedule!