The Nitwitmobile!!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...The Nitwitmobile! This is the van that the Nocturnal Nitwits purchased a few weeks ago for use in our caching trips, and events. We've also talked about using it as a camping venue when the opportunity presents itself, and after we get a chance to shampoo the carpets. I wouldn't mind sleeping in the crud myself, but there are those who do indeed mind. :)

The Nitwitmobile is a 1981 G20 Chevy Sportvan. The previous owner used it to haul materials for home renovation. The inside is free or chairs with the exception of the front driver and passenger. Two large hard metal posts stick up in the floor behind those. They hurt when you hit them. The ladder rack you see on top has been removed and the inside scrubbed as clean as a few people with brushes and soapy water can get it. We purchased this fantastic example of American Automobile History (That's right, the Nitwitmobile is an antique!) for a mere $500! A steal really, when you consider how much the parts and metal alone would be worth, not to mention the ladder rack, which we're going to resell. Anyone interested? $150 and that rack is yours!

Anyway, I just repaired the passenger side door handle, so now the front passenget can exit the vehicle without assistance. Psyferre fixed up the DC jack in the front, and together we got the lights and CD working again. I'm afraid I might've killed the horn. oops. The night we bought it, we removed and painted most of the dash, and taped and painted the rest. Lac'Nala and Jade can be entirely credited for wiping the filth from the walls, blinds, floors and ceiling. I take full credit for changing the oil two weeks ago. Psyferre helped by being present with his undeniable man-aura, which aids in the changing of automobile fluids.

We have a list of future improvements that we're working toward. I hope to supply before and after pictures for the more visually dynamic projects. Actually, I hope to provide them whenever I can, regardless. Upcoming investments to the Nitwitmobile include, but are not limited to:

• New Tires: The ones that came with the vehicle are in poor shape to say the least. They've been fine so far, but I believe that when the right rear goes, no amount of Fix-A-Flat is going to get her up and running. While we're on the subject, something to change the tires with would be part of this investment. A good jack and a nice wrench are in order as there are neither to be found on The Nitwitmobile.
• New Seats: We need to increase the seating capacity inside the van. Currently, only two can crew her at one time. We have seats for the Pilot, and Navigator. We are in need of the two rear seats for Tactical Positions. (Maps, Decoding, tactical planning and Geocache Printouts). I am currently monitoring local salvage yards as well as E-Bay for this equipment.
• Body Repair: There are a few small areas of rust on the exterior of the vehicle. I checked underneath while I changed the oil, and remarkably, she is dry and solid there. The only three locations that contain significant rust damage are the front quarterpanels, and the grill directly below the windshield. These parts are readily available on E-Bay for approximately $30 per panel. This will be a later investment, as internal comfort and functionality are more important to The Nitwits. We don't mind looking like so many terrorists for the time being. We just have to be careful where we park.
• Re-Paint: We do plan to re-paint the Nitwitmobile once all other repairs are completed and we are reasonably certain that the van is functioning to our satisfaction. "What Color?" you might ask. Well, we've decided to go for something resembling the old A-Team van. A semi-glossy black, with a red racing stripe. Perhaps even the spoiler, but that would be a little bit flashy perhaps. Spoilers on vans really don't serve much of a purpose after all do they?
• Auxiliary Power: Once the van is a sound automobile, there are a few improvements that can be made to make it a truly viable Geocaching command center. First and foremost, auxiliary power. We intend to install a second battery to run electronics such as chargers, laptops and PDAs. There is a device available for approximately $50 that will allow a second battery to be set up in sequence with the main, and allow both to charge, while the vehicle is running but will disconnect the auxiliary from the main when the car is not charging them.
• New Horn: Since the old horn no longer seems to be working, a new one is not only in order, it's necessary. I plan to find something either extremely loud, or extremely puny. Either way would be excellent. Along with the horn, I hope to find a PA system which would allow us to play the A-Team theme song when we roll up to an event. (MacGuyver would also work)
• Internal Shelving and Storage: I have a basic idea for bench storage that would run along the insides of the van, and double as trunk space and seating. I also would like to see a cabinet or two inside. I am unsure how doable this would be, but further research is definitely in order.

Additional Equipment: As a professional Geocaching team, we need to be prepared in any event for what lies ahead. I envision onboard inflatable rafts (1 two-person and 1 four-person), Tents, camping gear (stove, tent, dry/canned goods) and of course survival gear such as flares, rope, first-aid etc, all stored abord the Nitwitmobile at all times.

There you have it. The tentative plans for The Nitwitmobile. How long will it take for this to happen? Hard to say. Perhaps that MTV car makeover show will come out and do it all for us. That would be the best case scenario. Of our own accord, at least a couple of years? Maybe. Who knows. :) Thanks for reading!

Go Nitwits!

Trudger

Co-starring Jade_Dragon as the Pink Ninja

Well.

It appears that the Nitwits have been bloggified.

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jade_Dragon. I like pirates, ninjas (only the pink ones), the green M & M's , chicken-friend rice, panties, old ugly vans that smell like ass, black sharpies, most animals, good quality toliet paper, anything with glitter on it, stale coffee, Mr. Spock, canned air, Sean Connery, socks, Psyferre's nipples, and, uh....

Oh, yeah. Geocaching. =)

I suppose my Geocaching experiances start in about 2003 with the "Rainy Cache". It was a great first cache that I went on with Trudger, Lac'Nala, Agent Squawk, and two other cacher-friends of Trudgers. Psyferre was absent that day due to working late and buying me an engagement ring (of which I didn't know of at the time). It was a fairly uneventful cache, save for the part where I got to know Lac'Nala by catching her by the butt and shoving her up a muddy hill we were both sliding down. And where were the guys you ask? Helping us? Not a chance, They were snapping pictures. =D

Since then the Nitwits have been through a lot together - being lost in the woods for ten hours, getting stranded and spending then night in a veeery tiny car near an old abandoned school, multiple car break-downs, etc. It gets interesting around here.

So sit back and be prepared to be Nitwit-ified. Or at least mildly entertained. Or confused. We'll take confused, too.

Until next week - same Nitwit time, same Nitwit place!

~Jade~

Psyferre... Sounding off !

Yo ! Welcome to the Nitwits Blog! I suppose we'll post our zanier hijinks here, and somehow I'll try to restrain myself from talking about my nipples, which are fantastic by the way.

Dangit.

So my geocaching adventures began long ago... sometime in 2003. My first cache was in Ashland, KY's Central Park and it has long since been archived. I don't remember much about it and never logged it, so I'll have to tell you about my 2nd caching experience.

We almost died.

Okay, so we didn't almost die... not really... but it was a heck of a day. Trudger and Lac'Nala called us up and wanted to go caching at Beech Fork state park. Beeing somewhat new to the whole thing I imagined that it would be something like the stroll in the park that the first cache had been. Wrong! This cache was a 17 mile hike in and 18 mile hike out! (editor's note: numbers inflated by 15 miles to heighten dramatic effect.)

So we hiked in with no problems. It was a really nice day, I think we got a late start and went into the woods around noon. We hiked about for a while and within a couple hours we found the cache.

"Should we go back to the trail?"
"Nah, looks like we can pick it back up a little further along just over this ridge!"
"Sweet! Less walking!"

If you're ever out caching and hear an exchange like this one, I recommend you find a sharp stick and poke yourself in the eye. You might wake up! We eventually found a trail... it wasn't the trail we thought it was. We didn't come up with that conclusion for several more hours.

We hiked...

and hiked....

and got lost....

and more lost.....

Eventually we called Agent Squawk (who had not been able to go along that day) and gave him our GPS coordinates. He was able to pinpoint our location on some fre map website and tell us what side of the lake we were on, and what the lake looked like around us - that let us pinpoint our location on our map of the park, which had so far been useless since we couldn't figure out where on the map we were. A few hours later, we had blazed a trail back to the car and stumbled out of the woods a little after dark.

Intrepid adventurers, armed with the latest in technology and several maps, lost in the forest for about nine hours. 72 miles of hiking, constant ninja attacks, and velociraptors at every turn! What adventure!

Nitwits, Roll Call!

I'll Begin. My name is Trudger (Pronounced with an -udger). My first cache find was in a local city park, at midnight, with my then girlfriend, and now wife, Lac'Nala. I acquired my first GPS that day and after searching for fun things to do with it on the internet, I happened across Geocaching. I dragged my then girlfriend, now wife Lac'Nala to the park, and there proceeded to "Trudge" around in the darkness and rain, while she watched on from the much less sloppy sidewalk. Well, I found it. A small film canister in the crook between the roots of a tree. I signed the log, and came up with the name right there on the spot. Trudger after the trudging I had just done to find my first cache. Would the rest of the nitwits care to join in on introducing themselves and telling about their first cache?

-Trudger

The First Post

Hello! We're the Nocturnal Nitwits! We are a Geocaching group from the Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky Tri-State area! We do most of our caching together at night. Hence the name. We are also nitwits. Hence the name. :) If you'd like to know more about Geocaching, visit http://www.geocaching.com. It's a a little bit Indiana Jones, a little bit Technophilia, and a little bit Environmental Protection, all kind of rolled into one fantastic, and exciting hobby!

If you'd like to know more about the Nocturnal Nitwits, stay tuned!