Difranco

I would but Im Tenative so Im not absolutely positive about going. Can I unsign up if I can't make it for one reason or another?

I'm a Tenative Yes.

Seems the general sense of signature items is: 1. Not Trade Items 2. Should be logged if picked up 3. Are somewhat collectable

Don't worry I have another cache brewing as I type. (been trying to get it past the reviewer for a week) I haven't seen any events in the Oly area on the calendar. :|

The Stats come from a free macro that I run in GSAK. It outputs an html page to your drive locally, I just cut and past the source code html into my profile. There seems to be about a handleful of cachers in Thurston, mainly Frisbee'r, Ohjoy, FirefighterJ, Baseball Monkey. Their names at least seem to pop up most in the logs. I may go to the Shelton event... hard to tell at this stage.

There are quite a few cachers in the Tacoma Area. In fact the WSGA has been interested in starting a South Puget Sound chapter for some time now. There have been a few meetings in Lacey (I think), but no official chapter yet. Last I heard (it's been awhile), the group in Thurston county and all points any direction but north, was not interested in doing anything formal to become a WSGA chapter. This doesn't mean there isn't anyone around wouldn't be opposed to meeting a (new?) cacher and caching with them... You just need to put out the word. Try contacting some locals. It will either work, or they'll think you're crazy and you'll never hear from them. michelle This is me throwing out the word... I'm not necessarily looking for a WSGA chapter just other people to scratch chins with on those tough caches..

So far, most of the Geocaching I've been doing has been solo. I've been looking for groups or others to go cache with on a semi regular basis with. I've been to the WSGA website and the Puget Sound Chapter seems to be focused mostly on those living north of Tacoma. Any others around?

I am fairly new to geocaching so this question has probably been answered a hundred times. But when I visit a lot of the caches in my area, I see that some cachers get wooden/plastic nickels with their logo and name emblazoned on them. These are non-trackable items. Is it okay to pick these up out of caches? Are you supposed leave something in exchange or are they not trade items like TBs and geocoins? Are they left for the cache owner to pickup?

I have found this Gauging Station benchmark disc Skookumchuck River below Bloody Run Creek However, I have searched the NGS Databases in browse mode and haven't been able to find the PID? This is the first benchmark I've found. Thanks for all the help.

The owner of the cache is having difficulty loading that page.... is there another way?

I looked all over the forums and I didnt find that link and see anything about adoption in the FAQ's. Thanks for that info!!! Difranco

Double Post.

Well I just got an email from the cache owner and he is cool with it: So if I can get an admin to help with this that would be great!!!

I'd Like to adopt the cache known as "Cache In" (GC7F45) the cache owner states the following: While I may not live there, I did grow up there and visit the area at least once every 3 months if not more often because most of my family lives in the area. On my next trip I plan on replacing the container with an ammo can and I've already ordered the "Official Geocaching" stickers etc. I did send a message the original cache owner about this subject to see if they had any objections, hopefully I will recieve a response from them soon as they haven't been on the site in since January.

Well I logged a Note to the disabled caches asking a status, I guess if by the end of June they aren't fixed or archived then I will submit an SBA.

What about Cache's that have been disabled for repair/maintenance for over 4 months and the owner hasn't been active in 2 of those months? A particular cacher has had 2 down in my area for quite sometime.

Sorry to hear about your troubles TeamFrog... by the looks of it, I could have written your version of events myself. Anyway here is the email I sent to Garmin: Inquiry: Is GPSCrazy.com (a.k.a. BN Electronics) an authorized reseller of GarminGPS Units? I recently tried to purchase one of your units through them. Only afterbeing charged on my credit card and never recieving a product did Idiscover that contact information on their website is a fiction. Anyand all email inquiries go unanswered. Thought you might want to know that one of your resellers is damaging the reputation of the "Authorized Reseller" branding. Sincerely, Difranco PS.. I ordered and recieved my unit from PCNation.com after filing adispute with the CC company. I love my new GPS Unit! Here is Garmin's Response to my email: Thank You for contacting Garmin International, Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. We willinvestigate the situation and take appropriate actions to hopefullyprevent this from occurring again. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us. Best Regards, Mark Stephens Dealer Technical Support Specialist GARMIN International 1200 E. 151st Street Olathe, KS 66062 1-800-800-1020 <http://www.garmin.com/> Fax 1-913-440-5488

I didnt have any "finds" in my profile before I started posting here; questioning GPSCrazy's business practices. But its hard to have any finds if the company you ordered your GPS from doesnt send it to you; especially if you are just getting started. I think his point is that if he ordered a product from a particular company; they billed but did not deliver merchandise. That in and of itself is valuable information.

Did you get a refund from CrazyGPS? My credit card company temporarily backed off the charges and is waiting a response from the retailer or in their words: "Thank you for providing us with the necessary information we requested. We have issued a conditional credit to your account and have forwarded the details of your dispute to the merchant. We will notify you of their response within 65 days. Thank you for your patience in this matter."

PCNation order arrived today. This is awesome and already found my first Geocache. However, I think I'm going to need more than the basemap.

He's coming directly to the forum webpage, not logging in on GC.com first. The main website and the forums are run on different servers. I want to know how an account like "gpscrazy.com", which is obviously created just to pimp his company, has been allowed to keep posting in the forums anyway. Usually commercial posters are killed pretty quick around here. Since he has never logged a cache and hasn't even logged into the site since shortly after creating his account, it seems pretty obvious his only purpose here is to discuss his company. You wouldnt believe it... I ordered my GPS from pcnation.com, and the customer service rep said it would be here on Monday. Free shipping to boot!

To Whomever it may concern, Since emails have gone totally unresponsive and the phone number provided in this email does not belong to GPS Crazy, I am emailing to cancel this order. As my credit card has been charged, no shipping or tracking information has been provided; I have called my credit card company to reverse the charges. I have also filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission for your deceptive marketing practices as well as with several other online business rating systems. Unsatisfied Customer, My Name

Well I tried calling the phone number on their website and it rings a few times then voice messaging picks up. The outgoing message (middle aged female voice) goes something like this: "You've reached 847 841 1468 this is not the number for GPS Crazy so please do not leave a message for GPS Crazy. Thank you." Yet this is the info on their website and included on their order confirmation email: GPS Crazy, Inc. 468 Telluride Drive Gilberts, IL 60136 CustomerService@GPSCrazy.com (847)841-1468 If I do not recieve anything from UPS/Fedex/USPS/DHL by 6pm this evening, I will be calling my credit card customer service (24hr service imagine that) and having the charges reversed by tomorrow.

Here is my response to the original poster. It is a myth that Cougars and Bears are more afraid of you than you are of them. I have a friend 2 years ago stalked by 2 Cougars up in okanagan county in Washington. He was 2 or 3 days hike into the forest, he ended up killing one of the cats causing the other to flee. Rangers will tell you that Cougars are solitary animals that never hunt together. My own personal experience also tells me different. Last August (2006) I was charged by a Black Bear in the Mt. Margaret area of Mt. St. Helens National Monument, I was only about a 1.5 miles from the trailhead. I had crested a ridgeline, were we both kinda of came up startled to see each other. He charged to about 40 feet in front of me stopped, stood up on his hind legs.... I started swinging my walking staff in a large arc over my head and yelling in as deep a growl/tone I could muster. He finally turned and bounded off in another direction. All the berries were ripe at the time; huckleberries and rasberries, he probably decided there were easier meals to be had. I got lucky. However, if I was to carry a pistol I'd be more worried about the 2 legged critters than the 4 legged ones. While National Parks are patroled by Rangers, they still tend to have a high crime rate as people tend to think they can get away with more in a national park. It is a long disproved myth that having a gun you are more likely to be injured by it than the threat against you. I would choose a nice hammerless air weight .357 Magnum by Smith and Wesson. However, a firearm will not do it alone, regular training/practice and being constantly observant of your surroundings will go a long way to keeping you and those you are with safe. I'd also recommend to always carry 3 days of food with basic survival equipment. Difranco Search and Rescue NRA Certified Range Saftey Officer For Outdoor Survival and Safety Gene Ward For Firearms training: Firearms Academy of Seattle

It's been 8 days since I ordered my Unit. My credit card has been billed. I have sent two nice emails without response and have not recieved any shipping/tracking information. I will wait until end of day Wednesday, if I recieve nothing (gps unit or email response) by then I will be calling my credit card company to back off the charges. If I get to that point I will do my part and write negative feedback and contacting their local/national BBB and filing a complaint.