Just One More Country: Our First International Geocache

Before the waterfalls and red ponchos, there was a McDonald’s parking lot.

The three of us were sitting there, trying to add international calling and data plans to our phones. A spontaneous trip into Canada had acquired a little administrative work.

From Bash to the border

bapierson, LEGOexplorer and I had been at Midwest Geobash 2017 (GC6R9J1) in Wauseon, Ohio. After the Bash, we made a last-minute decision to visit Niagara Falls. It became a quick side trip, with our Canadian finds spanning July 16–17.

On July 16, we crossed the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit into Windsor. There were new phone arrangements to make, and a new country to explore.

Crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit on July 16, 2017.Photograph © Steven Pierson

First Break (GC6JQXQ) gave us the opportunity to stop while we sorted out those international phone plans. We also found the container in short order and in good shape, signing as Team LEGOhead.

The owner of First Break had created the cache after a long wait to cross that same bridge. He had wanted a place to stretch his legs and wondered why there wasn’t a cache there. That is a fairly practical piece of geocaching inspiration.

For all three of us, it became a personal milestone. First Break was bapierson’s and LEGOexplorer’s first Canadian cache too. I had been caching since 2009, and this was my first find outside the United States.

A cache named First Break had managed to combine a practical stop with a milestone for the whole family.

The scenery caught up with the milestone

Niagara Falls supplied the impressive setting later. We stood on the Canadian side with the falls behind us and did what families at Niagara Falls have probably been doing for as long as cameras have allowed it: tried to get everyone into the same photograph.

The three of us at Niagara Falls, July 16, 2017.Photograph © Steven Pierson

Niagara Falls Virtual (GCABA1) gave us a reason to pause over a historical plaque as well as the water. My original log mentions both the amazing location and its sad piece of history. Our photographs with our GPS units record that stop.

At Table Rock Earthcache (GCMH1C), the landscape itself was the subject. The layers of sedimentary rock and the effects of erosion help explain why the falls look the way they do—and why their position has changed over time.

The American Falls in the foreground, with mist rising from Horseshoe Falls beyond, July 16, 2017.Photograph © Steven Pierson

An EarthCache is well suited to a place like this. There is already every reason to stop and look. It adds a reason to pay attention to what you are seeing.

A closer look, with rain ponchos

We also went out on a Hornblower sightseeing boat. The photographs trade the wide views from above for water, mist and a crowd of red ponchos. bapierson and LEGOexplorer are smiling together in theirs, with the falls filling the background.

bapierson and LEGOexplorer aboard our Hornblower outing at Niagara Falls.Photograph © Steven Pierson

It is a considerably more dramatic family backdrop than the one at our first Canadian cache. I like having both parts of the day in the record: the modest stop that marked a first, and the famous sight we had traveled to enjoy.

Our Canadian finds continued into July 17, but the milestone belongs to First Break on July 16. The Virtual and EarthCache were part of that same first day at the falls.

Questions on the way home

The return crossing gave me another memory: getting the “third degree” from U.S. border officials. That part of the journey has stayed with me too.

Between arranging phone plans on the way in and answering questions on the way out, we had managed to fit in Niagara Falls, a boat outing, and our first Canadian geocaches.

For a last-minute decision after GeoBash, it had given us quite a bit to remember.

Canada will always be my first international geocaching country. We got to share that first together, and First Break gave our spontaneous detour its opening smiley.

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Field Notes

Adventure

July 16–17, 2017 — a spontaneous Niagara Falls detour after the family’s GeoBash 2017 visit

Companions

bapierson and LEGOexplorer / Team LEGOhead

First Canadian cache for all three

First Break (GC6JQXQ) — July 16, 2017, Windsor, Ontario; also my first find outside the United States

Niagara finds

Niagara Falls Virtual (GCABA1) and Table Rock Earthcache (GCMH1C) — both displayed July 16 in all three accounts

Photographed experiences

Ambassador Bridge, Canadian-side Niagara Falls and Hornblower boat outing

Personal memories

Arranging international phone plans in a McDonald’s parking lot; getting the “third degree” from U.S. border officials on the return crossing

Source coverage

Six positive Canadian cache records across July 16–17; the export does not cover all unsuccessful searches or establish exact border-crossing times.