Fire Elemental: Well, at a simple conception point myself and Redwing_dave had talked about this trip early in its stages while taking a trip to Oregon to get the Original Stash cache. We started talking to some other cachers about making it a trip of INSANITY. It just blossomed from there. My motivation came from the idea of that many hours of caching with great friends and getting a lot of finds in many states and Canadian Providences.

UM: What did you hope to accomplish?
Damenace: I hoped to accomplish 1000 caches, this would have been a fun milestone to have obtained under the given circumstances. However due to fatigue, weather and general circumstances beyond our control I fell just short of that goal.

Fire Elemental: I hoped that by the end of the adventure I would have kindles some great friendships for years to come and stamped some awesome memories into my already great life. And then of course there is the matter of caching. I hoped to return with as many finds as I could get in as many undiscovered places I could get to.

UM: What is your most memorable experience on the trip?
Damenace: This whole trip was memorable, I would feel bad to name individual moments in fear of leaving something out but I will try:

Fire Elemental: It had to be the time we spent at Mt. Rushmore! We did not get much caching done during that time but the sights and sounds of that great place is just breath-taking. The crazy antics and fun times we all enjoyed at Rushmaore were Priceless.

UM: Was it worth it and would you do it again?
Damenace: Of course it was worth it!!! Despite the lack of sleep and having to log all 188 caches and 38 TB's, I could have my bags packed and ready to go this weekend.

Fire Elemental: It was most definitely worth it and I WILL be doing it again! Look for the sequel next Spring.

UM: If you were to do this type of trip again, what would you do differently?
Damenace: (1) Stay away from the Canadian border; (2) Stay in a hotel more than 1 night; and (3) Load my own GPS prior to the trip.

Fire Elemental: I would have to say that the planning is the biggest part of any success story as was the case with this trip. Next Spring I will research a little more about where I am going, weather forecasts, border crossing criteria and possible slow-downs there. I would just put a lot more time into the ultimate preperations for any future trips.

UM: Any last words?
Damenace: This trip took a lot of proper planning in order for it to work the way it worked. There is not enough I could do or say to those that made this possible. I am truly thankful to the other five members of the group for making it a success.

Fire Elemental: OUCH!!! LOOK AT THAT MOONRISE!! WHERE'S STEVE!? WHO WAS THAT!? WHERE IS MY GPSr!? WHAT WAS THAT GC CODE!? ARE WE THERE YET!? WOW!!! HOLY CRAP!!! TURN ON THE AC!!