2018-02-11 51 19

Location

Parking lot of a shopping center in Rzgów near Łódź.

Participants

Malgond
his family.

Plans

On Friday I have checked coordinates for the weekend and – hooray! There's an easy hash in a virgin graticule just north to my home one! Perfect hash for another level of Minesweeper. I only need to convince my family to go – or let me go :-)

The location itself is easy, fourth parking spot from the building in the fourth row from a small roundabout.

Sunday's hash.
Sunday's hash close-up.

On Saturday I have announced to my family that I want to embark on another expotition, this time to a point 250 km away near the city of my birth (though not of my childhood). The youngest boy was enthusiastic as usual, but the rest was not convinced initially. I have been able to buy them over by promising a dinner at a nice restaurant and a visit to the cinema (if time permits). The plan was to attend the Mass at 10 and then quickly change clothes to something more comforable and set out. Google Maps said it is a 2:50 drive, so starting at 11:15 a.m. we should be there just after 2 p.m. so there should be enough time to go for a dinner somewhere and then watch the Maya the Bee: The Honey Games movie in a cinema in the center of Łódź at 5:30 p. m.

Expedition

We started late, of course. The kids were slow to change, complained about being hungry so they had to eat something even if they had a good breakfast before, went to the toilet etc. Finally we got into the car and hit the motorway. Almost immediately we've found ourselves in a traffic jam. Great, I thought, I did not take into account that the winter holidays just started and everybody is trying to get out of the city. The middle boy started crying that we won't be on time to watch the movie and it it is his fault since he was slow to prepare. I have tried to comfort him saying that holidays are on and there will be plenty of time to go to a local cinema then. Luckily after some time the jam has disappeared as mysteriously as it had started.

There were no further problems, but we arrived in Rzgów much later than planned, aroud 3:30 p.m. The shopping centre seemed dead and empty even if I double checked it should be open this Sunday. I was afraid the only thing I would get after all this effort would be a No Trespassing prize because of closed gates. Interestingly though, the entry barrier was open even if the parking lot was completely empty.

I drove in, but to my surprise there was no roundabout. The markings on the pavement have been completely remade since the time Google got the photos of them. I've parked my car at the approximate location of the hash. The boys and myself went out and together we've started surveying the surroundings. I stood at the point I thougth the roundabout have been before and took a few photos.

View to the north.
View to the northeast towards a bus terminus.
View to the south.
View to the southwest.

Again, I started to worry about my long dreamed-up Minesweeper level-up, but looking at the ground more closely, I was able to find traces of the old markings: specifically, the dashed areas between the former lane and the parking spaces next to it. Having established my orientation I have quickly found the spot where the hash point must be. Three cheers! Another successful expedition! We've shot some more photos of ourselves at the hash and also of the mysterious hole in the ground that was probably a firewater reservoir.

Traces of old markings.
Old markings as seen on Google Maps.
Counting parking spots...
This is the place!
At the geohash.
In a hole in the ground...
Panorama of the hashpoint

The temperature was a little below freezing, so we gladly got back into the car and drove towards Łódź, the third largest Polish city, to have a dinner at a really nice restaurant serving traditional Polish cuisine. But there was a little more adventure: a retro-hash! It was the hashpoint from October 24th last year, located in the parking lot of another shopping centre, close to the restaurant. I really wanted to go there on its day back in October, but was unable to.

From this parking, we walked to the restaurant and arrived there just before 5 p.m. It was already too late to be able to go to the movie of course, but the dinner was definitely worth skipping it. Here is a photo of my boys sitting in an old wardrobe (cue Narnia jokes). I forgot to make photos of the food – sorry.

Kids at the restaurant.

Very satisfied with the dinner (and with a definitely lighter wallet) I led my company back to the car and drove back home. With a short stop for fuel and drinks we were able to be back home at 10:30 p.m. It was a nice afternoon, even if I got a bit tired driving.