2010-08-07 42 -72

Sat 7 Aug 2010 in 42,-72: 42.8714800, -72.7146075 geohashing.info google osm bing/os kml crox

Location

In a field in Marlboro, Vermont.

Participants

Sara with her daughter and son

Expedition

We started out by picking up my daughter from a sleepover party in Easthampton, Massachusetts and then drove to Northampton and went to a playground and then ate lunch in a restaurant. Then we drove about an hour north and parked on the side of Route 9 right near the hashpoint.

I figured no one would mind if we walked in the uncultivated field, but there was a house within view, so just to be sure not to create ill will toward geohashing we walked over there and rang the doorbell. Just as we decided no one was going to answer, someone shouted for us to come in. We entered and had a very nice quick chat with a friendly elderly gentleman who seemed to be glad to have visitors. He said he didn't own the field but he was sure it was ok for us to walk into it and take pictures. Like the other homeowners and neighbors to whom I have explained why I wanted to walk onto their property, he didn't act surprised when I said we were playing a game on the Internet wherein one had to go to a random location. He asked if we had parked in his driveway and I assured him that we hadn't, and he said "Oh, you could've parked in the driveway!" He suggested that I take the children into his back yard so they could pick wildflowers. He asked if we were from the local area and I said no, we had come all the way from Springfield Massachusetts just to walk into that field.

So my son joyfully led us on the GPS dance, and we found the point and then the children really enjoyed playing in the tall grass for a while. I love to see them enjoying nature like that, but also it's too bad they think it's such a special treat to experience tall grass instead of just a playground. I didn't get time to make much of a marker for the point before they made me go see their "fort."

On the way home we stopped for ice cream at our usual Brattleboro, VT ice cream place. Along with playgrounds, our longer geohashing expeditions usually include ice cream.

Photos

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  Our first stop was a small playground in Northampton, Massachusetts. We try to include a visit to a new playground in each geohashing expedition. This pose was my daughter's idea.

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  My son led the way across the field, following the arrow on the GPS. The kids really appreciated the bramble-free geohash.

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  Proof of location. Did I mention that this point is in Vermont and that therefore I have geohashed in all four states in this graticule?

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  I marked the location discreetly.

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  These grins are actually a few meters away from the hashpoint, because as soon as we got to the point, the children ran off into the shade to roll around in the grass and make a "fort".

Achievements

Sara earned the Reverse regional achievement by reaching hash points in all 4 regions of the Springfield, Massachusetts (42, -72) graticule on state level.

Sara and her children earned the Ambassador achievement by obtaining permission to access the (42, -72) geohash on 2010-08-07.