5 minutes with Dave Abildtrup, Creston geocacher

AGE: 66

HOMETOWN: Audubon

FAMILY: Wife, Barb; three adult children, Sara, Scott and Brad; six grandchildren

PREVIOUS JOB: I owned NAPA (Auto Parts) in town. Now, our daughter, Sara, owns it. I retired in 2015.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN GEOCACHING? Since 2008

WHAT FIRST GOT YOU INTERESTED IN GEOCACHING? A balloonist sponsored through NAPA got us started. We had a lot of free time, so we jumped on it.

WHERE IS THE FARTHEST YOU’VE GONE TO GEOCACHE? We went to the Arctic Circle just to get a cache. We were in Alaska at the time.

FAVORITE CACHE YOU’VE FOUND: We’ve seen a lot, but I guess the birdhouse we found north of Highway 34 in Eddyville. It was an elaborate, three-story birdhouse, and you had to turn a crank to bring the top of the house up, and the cache was in there. It was hard to find.

HOW MANY CACHES TOTAL HAVE YOU FOUND? 2,089. That’s a drop in the bucket. Some have found well over 50,000.

HOW MANY CACHES HAVE YOU PLACED? After (the Hike-N-Seek event) this weekend, we will have placed 37, and all 37 are in Union County within 15 miles of Creston.

WHAT IS ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PLACES YOU’VE SEEN WHILE LOOKING FOR A CACHE? In Alaska, the (route) took us to a Russian Orthodox church and cemetery. It was very interesting.

FAVORITE PART OF GEOCACHING: The locations you get taken to. There’s lots of neat scenery and interesting places. On the way to a cache, you end up seeing things you wouldn’t have normally seen if you were just passing through.

HOW MANY STATES HAVE YOU FOUND GEOCACHES IN? 33 states and seven provinces in Canada. We’ve found 105 caches in Canada.

ONE PLACE YOU PLAN TO GEOCACHE IN THE FUTURE: We’re planning to go to Key West in November, and we’ll do some caching there.

WHAT’S THE LONGEST YOU’VE GONE WITHOUT SLEEP AND WHY? 24 hours. My wife and I rode a motorcycle from Creston to Litchfield, Illinois, and back nonstop for an Iron Butt (Association) run.

DREAM CAR: ‘71 Mustang

ONE THING YOU’D LIKE TO SEE IN CRESTON: Better streets and get grants to fix up the downtown buildings