Markwell: GDFK-CUJY

[Scout bot]

Player: Markwell
Team: Trailblazers

GDFK-CUJY is near Plainfield, Pennsylvania, USA.

> Date, Points, TeamPoints, Dashpoint, Country, State, Lat, Lon, Distance
2021-06-20, 3, 3, GDFK-CUJY, USA, Pennsylvania, 40.2273, -77.3334, 5M

Number of previous hunts by Markwell: 457

State: Pennsylvania
Date Found: 6/20/2021 5:21 pm
Hunters: Markwell, Younger Son, Steve
Temperature: 54°F/12°C
Closest Distance: 4.5 meters
Just north of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, 24 miles (39km) west of Harrisburg, PA
84.99 miles from home

Dashpoint Name: Fathers Day in Plainfield (PA)

((Updated and Complete Report))

I just realized that I never filed the full report on my Plainfield report. When we realized this was the last game of Geodashing, we expanded our search radius to the full 100 miles (161 km) that I had done in Illinois. This expands the territory out to Wilmington, Delaware to the northeast all the way to Charlottesville, Virginia to the southwest, Harrisburg, PA to the north and Richmond, VA to the south. So it was with great surprise that I found a dashpoint very near to a little town in Pennsylvania named "Plainfield" - identical to the town we just left in Illinois. So on Fathers Day, my youngest and I took our newest Corgi Steve on the 137 KM journey to the north end of Maryland, crossing the border north of Fredericksburg.

As we crossed the Pennsylvania border and then drove past Gettysburg, we noticed a staunch difference in the make-up of the people. Without entering our own politics or showing any favoritism, Maryland is strictly a "blue" state, but this particular area of Pennsylvania still has many banners in yards and flags that are waving "Trump-Pence 2020". But driving through the farmland, my son and I were struck by how similar the area looked to that of Plainfield, Illinois, with the exception of the vertical differences. Here in Pennsylvania, they have hills. Otherwise, the farmland fences could have just as easily been in the middle of Illinois.

Honing in on the dashpoint, we crossed the Pennsylvania turnpike and ventured to a tiny little inlet of land that had some fairly nice farmhouses. As we pulled closer and closer to the target, we knew we'd get within 5 meters or so without getting out of the car. The closest spot was opposite a beige farmhouse with dark brown trim, with a large matching garage to the north.

After snagging the dashpoint, we visited Plainfield, Pennsylvania, stopping at Plainfield Auto Sales (now defunct) to capture a quick picture of proof and let Steve, and both the younger and older Markwells stretch their legs. While this was only a 90 minute drive, I didn't realize that I hadn't driven any long distance in over a year. My hamstrings ached from maintaining speed on the hills with my foot instead of using cruise control (there are hills, you know), and I'm definitely middle-aged, not the 34-year-old that I started this game as.

I'll post the picture of the beige house, and the picture of my younger son and I (who now towers over me). But as I reflected on Fathers Day, and that my 21 year old volunteered to come on this dash hunt with me, I was nostalgic enough to go back through my early dashpoints to find the first photo that I had submitted with the same son in an image. I found him in GD7-03926, with this image:

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/Album/Photos/GD007/GD7-03926.jpg

Yep, that's the same boy that now towers over me at Plainfield Auto Sales. It's been a wonderful 20 years. I plan on hitting at least one, if not two more points before the end...

3 Great Points for Markwell and Trailblazers

http://geodashing.gpsgames.org/cgi-bin/dp.pl?dp=GDFK-CUJY