2014-03-04 35 -92
| Tue 4 Mar 2014 in Conway: 35.1097639, -92.4253595 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox |
Contents
Location
A parking lot in Don Owen Memorial Park in Conway.
Participants
Expedition
After months of mediocre to downright impossible hashpoints (as per usual in a graticule filled primarily with fields and forests), today's hashpoint was only two miles away, in what looked like a publicly accessible parking lot! Great, right?
...except it's icy and slick out, the weekend's frozen precipitation having melted just enough to be more slippery and dangerous than when it had freshly fallen. And I'm sick.
I asked several friends to drive me there, but strangely, the request "Do you want to drive me two miles in the ice to go to a random parking lot?" didn't generate many positive responses, though it did give me the opportunity to introduce a number of people to the idea of geohashing. One friend, P, suggested riding her tandem bike there, but aside from the difficulties with icy roads and finding bike-friendly paths, her schedule meant that we wouldn't be able to go until after dark. (I half-jokingly suggested doing it anyway, to which another friend advised, "Do not ride your bike in this weather at midnight. You're sick. You will die.") Finally, one friend hesitated rather than immediately saying no, and while I tried not to push him, P got excited on my behalf. Eventually, the friend who hesitated offered to take me as long as we could go to Wal-Mart afterwards. I happily agreed.
The main road we took most of the way was one I'd been on countless times, but I'd never gone down the side road which led more immediately to the hashpoint, or even noticed that the turn-off for it was there. I could tell from Google Maps that the area was a park or a stadium, and it turned out to be a little of both; different sources call it Don Owen Memorial Park and Don Owen Sports Complex, and it was basically a park covered in sports fields of various kinds. The parking lot containing the hashpoint was deserted, and I found the point easily enough with a little GPS dancing, though I had to go back after forgetting to take a picture of my stupid grin. All in all, an easy hashpoint aside from the difficulty with finding a means of transportation. It took me two months to get my first hashpoint of 2014; hopefully the next one will be sooner, and as close by as this one, and perhaps on a day with better weather.
Pictures
GPS
Sunset
Stupid Grin
GPS
