2023-08-12 41 -87
| Sat 12 Aug 2023 in 41,-87: 41.8869944, -87.9711452 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Location
In a corporate building in downtown Villa Park.
Participants
Plans
Long time, no hash! Planning on visiting this one sometime in the afternoon. -Haberdasher
I'll try to make it for the official 4pm meet-up time. - Tarasaurus
Expedition
I had the day free today and had vague ideas of checking out the Illinois Prairie Path in my area, perhaps walking a chunk crossing through Lombard and Villa Park, but decided to check the geohashing spot of the day in case that would give me a new destination before heading out... and as luck would have it, it was in Villa Park, not far from the Prairie Path! Clearly, it was meant to be!
Unfortunately, I didn't check the website again in time to see Tarasaurus' comments here, and it had been long enough that I forgot about the whole Saturday 4:00 official meet-up thing, too. D'oh!
The walk on the Prairie Path was pleasant, if a little warm and sunny, and unfortunately while much of the Prairie Path is nicely shaded by trees, the Villa Park segment is decidedly less so. Still, I came prepared with a water bottle and sunscreen, and I kept at it until reaching where the Prairie Path met Villa Avenue, not too far from the hashpoint. I checked the hashpoint's location and saw that it was near where Kenilworth Avenue met Myrtle Avenue, so I walked north on Villa until I hit Kenilworth, then headed west until I hit Myrtle, then got out the geohashing app for more details. (As an old-time geohasher, I am very appreciative of the convenience that comes with having the app now, rather than having to haul around a whole different device!)
As I got closer, the hashpoint area looked more residential than I had been expecting. I thought it was a corporate building, and maybe it was, but the surrounding buildings at least were living spaces, not businesses. I had hoped that there would be a business open to the public where I could wander around inside, but no such luck.
I started to do the hash dance. Sticking to Myrtle, I couldn't get closer than 10 meters. Taking the unknown side street on the west, I could get to 8 meters, but no closer. I was starting to think that this expedition might be a failure...
...until I saw the corner of the building right by the hashpoint and edged closer to it. Eight meters became seven, then six, then five... and I got within GPS accuracy of the hashpoint! I'm still not sure I reached the hashpoint exactly, but it was within accuracy, so I'll take it!
As my app screenshot showed, my successful hashing happened around 3:15 PM. If I had seen Tarasaurus' post, I could have hung around the area for another 45 minutes, no problem. (Ignore the phone battery; my preparedness included bringing a battery charger.) As it was, I wandered around the area aimlessly for a similar length of time before heading home. An unfortunate near-miss on the meet-up front, but a success on the geohashing front, at least!
