2012-06-11 41 -90

Mon 11 Jun 2012 in Quad Cities: 41.6293200, -90.7595563 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

North of Walcott, just past the I-80 Truck Stop, behind a large building on a farm off the paved roads.

Participants

• Nimby

Plans

The location showed up less than half an hour away from my home, and checking directions on Mapquest showed simple enough driving route that I could get there on my own. I'd figured out the camera enough to get pictures. I would take I-80 to 60th Ave, take 220th St to 70th Ave, then pull up to someone's house and explain my presence (having the Diplomatic Passport prepared), hopefully getting someone willing to take the necessary pictures, but at least to let me take them, getting what Achievements I could manage.

Expedition

Surprisingly, the drive up wasn't bad (I have a bad track record, so prepared to counter that). It changed when I passed the Truck Stop (in the correct direction at least). I saw 220th as I passed it and watched for a place to turn around. At 240th, I turned and eventually got to a driveway that I felt comfortable turning around at. I headed back, again missing the turn and had to pull into an Arby's parking lot to make my third attempt at reaching 220th.

I saw why I missed it the first time - there's a mailbox before the street, so I assumed it was a driveway. Against my assumptions, I headed down 220th for about half a house (measured by the house next to the road) before seeing the Road Closed sign. I had just reached the house's garage and turned around in front of it. No one seemed to be watching me do this, but I really didn't know the road was closed (looking at the picture after - probably because there was no road). I got turned around and decided that it was quiet enough to snap a quick picture in case that was as close as I'd get - I wasn't going to leave my car there.

Heading back out, I decided to attempt to approach from the other side, heading across 230th - it was better maintained, although 70th was back to a gravel road. From a distance, I saw what looked like the long buildings near the hashpoint that were different enough to help identify that I was at the correct spot. The road was empty, so I stopped to get a picture, in case it was the best shot I could get, and continued on.

From the directions, I got an address, but the mailboxes I saw were at least a couple hundred off. Further along, there enters "B-level" maintenance with an 'enter at own risk' type sign (I didn't get a picture as I was confusing another person driving). I turned around after encountering the other side of the "Road Closed" sign, seeing that the addresses increased as I went, but the last one was still a couple hundred off. Problem is, 70th and 230th is a T intersection and so doesn't continue on. A bit confused, not wanting to turn around again, and seeing that the likely place's owners were working, I headed home.

I missed my first exit, and headed into major construction. Luckily, my second exit was working perfectly fine - very happy to see the 'City Limits' sign on the side of the road.

Achievements / Prizes

Nimby earned the Blinded by Science Consolation Prize by failing to reach the (41, -90) geohash on 2012-06-11 through technological ineptitude.