rstefano52

I'm surprised this wasn't listed yet but I'm looking forward to the day when my GPS takes me to the location of the "Original Stash" in Oregon! I don't know when or how I'm going to get there but I do plan on going there some day.

I hate being a male chauvinist but even I get the creeps when I go out by myself. I always like to have at least one person (usually my son or my brother) along for the ride. If you a good knowledge of martial arts or something like that I guess it would be okay but it still wouldn't help with the non-human types that you might encounter. As much as it might be enjoyable going along, I would strongly suggest have a "swimming buddy" along - whether you are male OR female - to me the sex doesn't matter - either one could be vulnerable.

It seems to me that those cachers who find the FTF's are either retired or work at jobs that allow them to hunt either while working or on off hours. As for the "instant" notification suggestion, yes that helps a little and I'm sure that the "FTF Hounds" use this technique but not everyone can afford that - it does get quite expensive. I'm not much of an FTF hunter myself and the few that I got were just dumb luck and my first one required some extra help from the CO. It was a good feeling but I don't expect it to happen that often. I want to offer one other opinion though and I know that I'm going to open a "can of worms" but I almost wonder if some of these hounds have "inside information". As suggested, it almost seems humanly impossible for some of these caches to be found as quickly as they are. I just wonder! I'm not accusing anyone but curiosity is sometimes overwhelming! I found something out recently that is very interesting using my Blackberry phone but I'm keeping that under wraps for now and it IS something where you have to have "inside information". No, I'm not going to use it to my benefit because it involves having some special "connections" which I do not have so it's a mute point. I just wonder if others might be using that somehow.

I don't know what kind of phone service you will have in the areas that you are going to but here in the states it seems that more and more people are using their phones with internet access to acquire cache data on the run. My brother just recently got a Blackberry and is using Geocache Navigator with it - he says that you almost don't need a GPS! I, myself, am looking into a similar option. It's just another option to think about - that way there's no need to take "extra equipment" along because you will have access to the GC site wherever you go.

I haven't been on here in a while and I can see that I have a VERY LOT OF CONGRATULATING TO DO - so here it is - CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU "NUTS" who keep on going like the Energizer Bunny and making those numbers go up through the roof! I'm just 26 away from 600 so I'll be having my name up here soon too! Happy caching to all - stay safe and enjoy!

As many of the previous responders, I used "Date placed" and the state. I have already download NJ, PA, NJ, and MA. Now, all that I do is run updates on those using a date range that starts with the ending date of the last update and ends with the most current date that I can use. I use GSAK to manage all of this and more recently, I've used a CountyExport macro that I found so I can just select the counties that I want to cover when I go out. I guess that everybody has their own tools. I keep as much data in my PDA as I can so that if I'm out and I find one that's not in my GPS, I can always manually enter it. I also keep as many "waypoints" in my car GPS as possible for the same reason. Most of the time this helps when I'm out in an area that I've not been to before and aids in getting some extra caches that weren't "planned" for.

You're always welcome at the Central Jersey Geocachers event at FuddRuckers in New Brunswick on the Third Tuesday - no bugs (except TB's) and very little humidity (except when the beer is flowing) and I'm sure someone can through you a GPS if needed. Welcome back.

Congratulations but what I find interesting is that there's another "bird" whom you know very well who seems to be lacking 29 finds to reach this goal - I wonder if she was sleeping???

That's exactly what I did - I selected a state and then entered date ranges. I have databases for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Here's an example of the ranges for NJ - the third column shows how many caches were returned (I did a preview before finally submitting the PQ) and then named the query accordingly. Geocache Date list (NJ) 6/1/2000 4/1/2004 440 NJ1 4/1/2004 4/1/2005 356 NJ2 4/1/2005 1/1/2006 405 NJ3 1/1/2006 7/1/2006 370 NJ4 7/1/2006 1/1/2007 390 NJ5 1/1/2007 5/1/2007 423 NJ6 3/1/2007 7/1/2007 439 NJ6A 7/1/2007 10/1/2007 370 NJ7 10/1/2007 12/1/2007 212 NJ7A 12/1/2007 3/1/2008 376 NJ8 3/1/2008 5/1/2008 388 NJ8A 5/1/2008 8/1/2008 495 NJ9 8/1/2008 8/8/2008 NJUpdate Good Luck and happy caching.

I have to agree with JerseyGirl - when I first started caching, my wife went with me and she was the one who was finding the caches. She's not much of an outdoors person but she goes with me in "safe" areas when she can. She's tied up with school right now so it's hard for her to get out but she does enjoy it. I suppose it's like anything else in this world the boys get the toys and they don't always play and share well with the opposite sex. Is this one of those "hunter-gatherer" things?

GOOD NEWS! My GPS was found! Thanks to ekitt10, I know it's safely back in the hands of an experienced geocacher who won't let it out of his sight until I can meet up with him again. Thanks again Nik!

I am issuing a plea to anyone who might be caching in and around the Freehold, NJ area - specifically near GCQA2P (Coming Out on Top) to help me find my missing GPSr. It's a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx and I think I might have dropped it on the way back to the car. We parked just near where the bridge reconstruction was going on (just off of Robertsville Road - we couldn't find Pond Rd.) and walked down the paths toward GZ. We tried in vain to search ourselves but there was a very bad storm going on at the time and we had to abandon our effort. If anyone happens to locate it, I believe that my name and address might be stored in the unit's memory. Of course by the time anyone will find it the batteries will probably have died and even though Garmin says these devices are water proof, I'm not sure if it will have withstood that storm - it was pretty bad. I will be glad to make arrangements to pick it up or to send money for shipping the unit back to me if necessary. If anyone has any questions, you can contact me through my GC ID - rstefano52. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Is this where I'm supposed to say "Aw shucks" you didn't have to do that? But you didn't mention that JGSTEF hit his 300th cache find over the weekend and he didn't even want his picture taken! Congratulations to yourself - you couldn't have done it without me (just joking ).P.S. I had to put my note in big letters so that you could see it!

I'm not going to be fancy with the graphics but Congratulations MC - that was a very interesting series to say the least. It was also one of my favorites because of the theme.

Congratulations to these and all the others listed here - I'm envious but hope to reach 500 very soon.

I can't be left out of this - Congratulations Laura - it's great to know that "one of our own" has made it this far. Keep on cachin'.

I can't be left out of this - Congratulations Laura - it's great to know that "one of our own" has made it this far. Keep on cachin'.

Gerry - congratulations - what can I say - great placements and many finds - a sign of a well rounded cacher! Keep on cachin.

And what would Condor be without the EAGLE!!! Congratulations to you both on a job well done.

Eric - you only have 7400 to catch up to StayFloopy - keep on cachin!

Yes, 100 is a really great feeling and my congratulations to you on reaching that milestone.

Congratulations - Marc - I can't keep up with you all but I am in awe of those who can make these finds - especially the type that you have done. Keep on cachin'.

Congratulations Po - we miss seeing you at the FuddRucker's meeting but I suppose seeing you on the trails will have to do. Keep on cachin'.

Quick congrats - if I stay here typing much longer, it will take me 20 years to catch up!!!

The Central Jersey Geocachers put on an event on the Third Tuesday (GC181RD) at FuddRuckers in New Brunswick. If I'm not mistaken, there are some cachers from your area who come up to the event. I'll see if I can get them in touch with you.