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Life Journey

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Posts posted by Life Journey

  1. How funny! I'm also a packrat (who isn't doing too well at recovering) and I've been on a major cleaning binge lately, and I've created a huge box of 'geocaching treasures' - everything from keychain flashlights, never opened decks of cards, whistles, mini-mister-fans, a glowstick 'ghost' necklace - just for starters. I also found 5 or so of those mini FM radios with earbuds - some came on shampoo bottles, and I got a couple as gag gift/stocking stuffers - they are unopened and even come with batteries. If I didn't think that VHS tapes would melt in the heat - I'd give out old movies (I've replaced a lot of them with DVD and some of them - I have no idea what I was thinking when I bought them!).

     

    I've also got a couple of cassette players, flashlights, one of those wind-up flashlight/radio combos (left over from Y2K!) - but around here most of the caches aren't big enough for any of those.

     

    Of course, part of the problem with geocaching trading is that I still end up with more stuff! I think I need to try the took nothing, left something method!

  2. I picked up a TB at the Mississippi rest stop about a week ago. He was missing his goal sheet, but fortunately, I can help him on his way. However, when I look him up by his tag number, the cache he's currently in is not the cache I picked him up from. He was dropped into the cache he's listed in on March 18. How long should I wait for someone to log retrieving him from there and dropping him where I found him - so that I can log picking him up and sending him on his way? I don't want to put him into another cache until I've logged him - one cache behind is enough!

  3. Female solo cacher here. Started mainly because I am a 'gadget freak'. Also, from the time I was about 7 or 8 years old, I've been fascinated by latitude/longitude 'place on earth' sort of stuff. I've been looking for benchmarks all my life (although now as an adult I have nowhere near enough free time).

     

    I also enjoy the outdoors and hiking, although my hiking is limited here in my hometown (I worked in Sacramento for a couple of years and loved the hiking around there - but that was several years ago).

     

    I also really like the 'hunt' part of the game. When I found a cache near Disney World, I was thinking that wow, it's so neat that someone could hide a rubbermaid container 700 or so miles away from my home (I guess), post coordinates to it on a website, and using a GPS, I could find it!

     

    I'm not into the numbers game at all - and sometimes I have quite a bit of trouble with the discussions here about people faking finds and such - my mind keeps thinking - get a grip! :unsure:

     

    Anyway - I wish I had time to cache more - although sometimes I get a bit nervous going it alone. But so far, most of my friends just think I'm crazy!

  4. I first bought an Etrex yellow because I found it for about $80 on sale. I later bought a Magellen Platinum (and I have a Geko 101 - I am a gadget junkie, I'll admit it). Each has its own strengths and weaknesses and uses.

     

    For the money and quick-start ease of use - I recommend the Etrex yellow. It is SIMPLE to use (barely need the directions). I have not yet bought a computer cable for it, and still enter all my coords in by hand. I don't find it that big of a problem, and so far, I haven't entered in a wrong set - but I do double check as I make the entry.

     

    The Platinum is definitely more powerful. I also like the mapping capability. But I have found it has a fairly steep learning curve (but I'll admit I was spoiled by the etrex's simplicity and I am not all that patient reading directions).

     

    I also love my Geko 101 - for goofy reasons. It fits easily in my purse (so does the 'yellow', but that one's a little heavier) or hip pack - and I use it for crazy things - like marking my parking spot at the mall, or a hotel (I used to never find the rental car!), or while I'm at Disney (no more remembering I parked in Goofy 23 or such!). I mark the hotel itself when I'm in an unfamiliar town. I carry it on my exercise walks to see how far I go, and how fast, and to find my way back when I'm walking in unfamiliar areas.

     

    Good luck and have fun!

  5. I personally like the idea. I don't have a signature item yet (been working on it, but not a lot of time available), but, while I see the point that they are meant to be primarily traded in caches - I like the idea of having a collection of ones traded by mail. It would still be meaningful to me to have traded something with people of similar interests, even if I didn't find it in a cache.

  6. I don't think you did anything wrong. It would be different (and the way the original email from the cache owner read - it sounded like) if you had taken a gift meant for the 'birthday boy'. But my take here is that 16 years old is no 'kid' who should be getting upset because his log is not the first smiley face. I personally believe the cache hider is over-reacting, but I'll admit, I view this as a GAME - a fun, exciting game, yes, but a game nonetheless.

  7. I couldn't believe it when I started reading this today! I've been experimenting with shrinky dinks for a bit now (do great GEO-minds think alike or what!) - but I've been having trouble getting my sizing right. Also, I wasn't aware that a version was available to run through the ink-jet printer - the information I saw must have been outdated because it said you couldn't do it! I've been drawing and coloring mine (and I am NO artist - which is why I am having trouble).

     

    Yours look really cool!!! (mine have been coming out a bit odd) I am going to print this whole thread and try some of the suggestions here. I also like the sig item exchange idea - sounds like great fun!

  8. I recently stocked up on a few 'closeouts' from Target:

     

    Small waist pack with water bottle - I got them for $2.48

    Bottles of bug repellent - I think the name was Repel - I got them for .74

    Golf ball markers and divot tool (.74) - nobody likes golf balls, but I'm hoping someone will like a new pack of these.

    Frisbee type rings and boomerangs - .74 to $2.48

    A new softball and baseball - .74 each

     

    And from WalMart:

    Measuring spoon set (marked down to .99)

    Small screwdriver sets (marked down to .99)

    Small measuring tape (12 ft - marked down to .99)

     

    For the kids:

    Glow bracelets (44 cents each)

    I'm making a ziplock packet of 1 or 2 small coloring books (.50 each) and a 16 pack of crayons (.57) - I make 'theme' packets - dinosaurs, power rangers, Disney.

     

    Lots more ideas keep coming - everytime I'm at WalMart or Target, I see something else to pick up. Now I just need to find the time to actually go out and hit the caches!!!!

  9. My first find was a cache I biked to (not a mountain bike - Trek multitrak hybrid). I'd really like to do even more biking, but I live in a suburban area and the one I did is the only one around I could bike to safely. Lately I've been looking for benchmarks that I can bike to, but not even very many of those around.

     

    It's interesting to bike with my homemade geo-walking-poking-stick - I used an old broom handle - it's probably 4 feet long or so and it's not easy to ride with! The really good thing about it though is that it is made of metal - so it works on the sensors in the ground to open the gates to my subdivision and let the 'smart' traffic lights know I'm waiting if no cars are around!

  10. I haven't even found that many. But one of my DNFs I am almost convinced is missing in action - since I found it once, but a couple of months later (recently) I can't find it - twice.

     

    On the same note - am I the only one who leaves home with old printouts of caches - without bothering to check that they haven't been archived? I searched all over at a rest stop for a cache that had been archived and relocated 4 months prior!! (Did I mention the printout was old???)

     

    Edited because I can't seem to type!

  11. I don't know the exact name of the item - but it is a 'sticky pad'. You can get one at auto parts stores or WalMart or Target, or BestBuy for about $5.00 - you put it on the dash, put the GPS (or your cell phone, or PDA) on the pad, and it doesn't slide around. I have no problem with mine - I have the 'jelly sticky pad' version. My dash even curves forward a bit, and my GPS stays on it just fine.

  12. Now ya'll are creeping me out! I've had the thought on a hunt or two in a somewhat isolated area (that was very trashed up with the remains people leave behind when they've been drunk and think they've been hidden) - that the area could be a dumping ground for a body. I've basically written it off to an overactive imagination - and the fact that I was caching alone (topic covered elsewhere) - but now, to think people have actually found bodies. Ewwwww.

  13. Just a thought, since so far I have mostly TNLN (I've bought a lot of stuff to leave, I just can't seem to get my act together enough to remember it). But, maybe we shouldn't be posting in the online log what we leave. That might help eliminate some of the 'following' around of people to 'grab the good stuff'. I don't know, I kind of like the element of surprise on what I'll find in the cache.

  14. Stunod - thanks for the answer to my question above!

     

    I saw Arlo at Epcot's Flower Power festival last year - absolutely fantastic! He couldn't do Alice's Restaurant (only a 30-45 minute show!) - but he did do City of New Orleans - and of course told all the stories!

     

    What was really great was that I was actually one of the younger people there (I am sort of the end of the baby boom!) - usually at events I attend (like a rollerblading marathon for instance) - the majority of people are a LOT younger than me! And of course, in my office, it seems like they get younger every day!!!!

  15. Guess what again?  You don't even have to do the math.  Your GPS will do it for you:

     

    -  If your coordinates look like 45.12345°  set your GPS for DD.ddddd

    -  If your coordinates look like 45° 07.407'  set your GPS to DD MM.mmm

    -  If your coordinates look like 45° 07'  24.4" set your GPS to DD MM SS.s

     

    After you enter your coordinates as a waypoint,  you can change to any other format and the GPS will convert the coordinates.

     

    In a moment of minor seriousness :) (because I really don't know the answer to this ;) ):

     

    What is the proper term for each of the following formats (I sound like a test!)?

     

    DD.ddddd - I think this is decimal degrees?

    DD MM.mmm ????

    DD MM SS.s - I think this is degrees minutes seconds?

     

    Thanks

  16. I will add that I currently wear Vasque, but the brand doesn't matter as much as the fit. Unfortunately for me, I have a hard time finding boots in my size (Women's 4) so when I find a good pair that fit right, I wear them to the utmost limit. On the good side, the small sizes are almost always on sale when I can find them!

     

    Oh my! I thought my feet were hard to fit. My grandmother used to wear a 4 and had a really tough time finding shoes. I wear a Women's 6.5, but really need a 'narrow' width. There just aren't many made - and I've never found a hiking boot in 'narrow'. So I sometimes have the 'toe squish' problem just because my foot slides forward in the shoe. I can't really mail order shoes, because I need to try them on. However, I've learned of several new brands to look for from this post, and will be searching soon.

     

    BTW, right now I use an old pair (will have to check the brand) and some Timberlands (which I actually really like, but of course can't find anymore).

  17. Thanks for all the replies. I'll fix my logs. Now, I checked out another hide by this cacher (and finally dropped off the travel bug). - I found this one, but the camera inside was out of pictures - so I browsed through the logs for the cache and the last picture was apparently taken in August (and I don't the the hider has logged on since June). I am going to try emailing the owner of the caches. Maybe I can adopt them for maintenance.

     

    Thanks again!

  18. Ok, so this is a 2-part question!

     

    First - if I don't find a cache, I log a 'didn't find'. Now I go back out a couple weeks later and still don't find it - do I log another 'didn't find it' or a note?

     

    The twist in this one is that I actually found the cache last October/November - in fact it was my first find ever! (and I signed the log) I was really excited, but things (work) conspired against me as far as getting it logged here. So when thing settled down a bit, I figured I'd head back out to the cache to drop off a travel bug before logging it as an actual find (2 months after the fact).

     

    Lo and behold - I couldn't find it on the second trip. Now, I know what the cache container looks like from finding it before (the hardest part for me - to know what I am looking for). I found it in about 10 minutes the first time (and it was my first find), but couldn't find it in 30 minutes the second time.

     

    OK, I went out again this weekend - I STILL can't find the thing. This is very frustrating to me! But (now for the question) - do I log a second 'didn't find' or just a note (I logged the note, but I didn't know if that was right). BTW - someone did find it about a week before my attempt #2, but no logs since except mine.

     

    Now the second question, which I am just curious about. I checked out the cache owner's profile and it says 'active user', but that the last visit made was last June. What is an 'active' user? - Does this mean the owner hasn't logged on since June? And does my 'didn't find' get emailed to the owner - or is the owner just notified a log has been made and must log in to the site to see the actual log? I am just wondering - I am new to this (even though I joined months ago, my work kept me much too busy last year for me to have a life).

     

    Thanks!

  19. A little off topic I know - but where do you get the silica gel packs (other than keeping the ones that have come with something you've bought)? I've read that if you store stuff in your attic in plastic boxes, that you should throw some of the silica packs in the box to help with condensation problems. I am regretting throwing those things away over the years! So does anyone know where to buy some?

  20. I'm in the same boat and have wondered the same thing. What I've done so far is carry my cell phone with me, and get out when I start feeling uncomfortable.

     

    I did have a really weird time at the Mississippi rest stop - the coordinates (for what turned out to be an archived cache - I didn't check before I left home!) led to an area that was really trashed up - beer bottles and the like all around - along with a lot of other things I'd really not like to think about how they got there. I gave up looking in the area, mainly because I started getting paranoid about becoming a statistic - or a body floating in the water. It still gives me the creeps to think about.

     

    Anyway - I haven't figured out a good solution - the pepper spray seems like an idea. Thanks for the discussion.

  21. I went looking for Mississippi Welcomes You on my way home from visiting family for the holidays - at the MS welcome station right across the AL border. I slogged around in very wet leaves and pine needles and 2 inches of water in some places - got my arms and legs scratched up REALLY bad - poked in a bunch of areas (lots of hiding places here) - couldn't get a very good signal - lots of tree cover and very overcast (cloudy) - spent lots of time trying to figure out the meaning of clue #2 - never did find the thing - but I had a GREAT time trying!

     

    Here's my question - I think the cache is there - it is my limited ability (I'm still new) that caused me not to find it. So I don't want to alarm the owner by posting a no find, so do I just post a note to tell my story (of course I just told it here!)?

     

    BTW - what I learned from this:

     

    1) socks and slip on tennis shoes are not good geocaching footwear.

    2) shorts and t-shirts are not good geocaching attire.

    3) I need to learn how to use a compass

     

    ;)

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