2013-06-02 42 -82

Sun 2 Jun 2013 in 42,-82: 42.7328189, -82.6843241 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In a bush a quarter mile back from someone's house.

Participants

Nixill (talk)

Plans

610 bus to 560 bus up, bike out to hashpoint, bike a long way back to the bus stop, 560 bus back (Tron achievement)

Expedition

So I actually started an hour late and decided to nix the Tron achievement. I biked out to the 560 bus, grateful that the buses have bike racks. I would need it.

I knew Tron would be invalidated as soon as I got to Macomb Mall. The bus route is on a divided road, so the northbound bus goes past the mall, turns around and makes the stop on the southbound side of the road, and turns around again - crossing its own path.

I took the bus about halfway to the end of the route. At this point, this bus driver was done, and I almost didn't notice as everyone got off and on to the next bus to continue the journey. After that little mishap, I rode the bus all the way to the end of the route to a Salvation Army parking lot.

After that, it was all bike. The first half of the bike ride was easy - as it turns out, it was a slight downhill ride. I did get lost at one point and attempted to make a wrong turn, but I pulled out my phone and figured out that it was a straight at that point.

I found the road - Church Street - easily. I was about to pass it thinking it was a side street and wouldn't have a traffic light, but I saw the sign and knew it was my turn.

For a road with no sidewalks and no shoulder or bike lane, the speed limit was pretty high - 50 miles an hour (80.4672 km/hr) at one point.

I was stopped at one point by a small dog. The owner then thanked me for stopping, for the dog likes to chase things. But before he could get it back, a car drove by in the opposite direction, which the dog insisted on chasing. I continued on.

The house itself was a rather large house - which didn't strike me as unusual, given how big the areas were around there. The owner was a nice guy. I showed my phone, the Google Maps app open with the hashpoint starred, and asked if I could go out to where the star is to get a couple pictures, a request to which he complied. I left my bike in his driveway and walked the quarter mile there.

I got pictures. I called friends. I had made my first geohash.

Now I would have to get back. By this time, I had already been gone for two hours. I was hoping to get back after three, but that wouldn't be happening - the bus ride alone had been an hour and the bus only ran every hour.

After getting a cup of water from the homeowner and thanking him again for letting me do this, I set off down the slight hill towards the bus. I managed to make it down to that traffic light that I thought wouldn't be Church Street, asked the person with whom I was on the phone what time it was, and was told that it was already the time the bus I had hoped to catch was leaving.

Lovely.

So I continued biking. I noticed something unexpected: A Blue Water Area Transit bus stop. Blue Water Area Transit operates in Port Huron, about 38 miles away, with a bus route that connects the end of the 560 with Port Huron via the nearby interstate. I hadn't remembered the M-29 connector that travels via the lake shore - but even once I did, I found it weird that there would be a stop right there of all places.

As I kept biking, I kept my eye out for none to be found. What I did find, about a quarter hour later, was relieving: The SMART bus stop.

The bus ride home was even less eventful, and I got home and started typing this up.

Photos

Soon.

Achievements

Nixill earned the Land geohash achievement by reaching the (42, -82) geohash on 2013-06-02.

Nixill earned the Ambassador achievement by obtaining permission from a homeowner to access the (42, -82) geohash on 2013-06-02.

Nixill earned the Public transport geohash achievement by reaching the (42, -82) geohash on 2013-06-02 via SMART 560.