Sunday, August 31, 2014

Travel Bug Race 2014: August Update

Drone #1 in Colebrook Ontario
In April I sent 16 geocaching travel bugs out to the 4 corners of the world, and started an epic race to see which bug would get back to my home town first.  Details here.

Drone #1 has made some great strides and is now in the lead.  It started near Ottawa Ontario, and is now in Charlotte North Carolina, just an hours drive from its destination.

Interestingly two drones, #2 (released in Holland), and #3 (released in Germany), are both currently visiting separate islands in Spain.

Drone #4 has visited the Love Love... Espinho 2014 Portugal Mega event last week, which has awesomely clogged up my inbox with dozens and dozens of discover logs.

Drone #3 visiting Altenberbg Dom Cathedral in Germany
Drone #5, released in Australia, has made the jump across the pond, vacationed in Hawaii, and is now in a cache in California.

Drone #9, last seen where it was released in Scotland,  is in the hands of a cacher with promises to get it to Chicago shortly, which will be the second drone to cross the oceans.

Drone #10 is the second closest drone.  Released in Seattle, it has made its way to Lumberton NC, about 3 hours from home.

Drone #11, released in Michigan, has gone walkabout, and is currently travelling around South Australia, making it the drone that has gone the farthest in the wrong direction. It has, however, travelled 16,278 miles so far, making it also drone that has gone the farthest in any direction.

Drone #13, released in Tokyo Japan, has also made the pacific crossing and is in a different cache in California, tho it did take a detour thru Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Drone #14 enjoying the Arabian night life.
Drone #14 is having a wild adventure.  Released in South Africa, it has made its way to the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Singapore, and is currently located in the Czech Republic.

Finally, Drone #15 which was released in the Czech Republic, has travelled to Finland, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, San Marino, and is now in Germany.  Making this drone, by far, the one that has been in the most countries.  Hopefully it will soon be finished with its European vacation and will make the hop over the pond to the Americas soon.

So with two drones in the target state of North Carolina, and several more closing in, this is going to be a tight race.

However it is still anyones game.  The previous race saw the drone that was released the farthest away (Australia) be the only one to complete its mission.

This could end up being a real cooker.

Stay tuned for updates.