Flatouts

You know what they say about opinions...yes everyone has one including me...Mrs Flatouts. So excuse me as I turn around and expose mine..... This thread has gotten way out of hand. At my request...could a moderator please lock it??? Okay I exposed it, so please be gentle with your reply....

Most caches are hidden by a cacher and they somehow find a way to place it so they don't get injured in the process, after all they have to maintenance it too you know. Well, at least one assumes they will. However, I see it as someone giving their opinion as to the conditions of the hiding area. It could be that changes occurred at the GZ location such as plant growth - it could happen. Also letting others know what they might expect (saving you future complaints) Done right it can be helpful - done wrong perhaps leads to a thread such as this. Most times we look at the area and sometimes a different approach is less troublesome. This might mean going 50-60 feet out and around - anyone that spends a little time on trails and woods surely knows that you can't always go directly like the crow flies - we're not crows even though our GPSr's think we are. In any case I have to side with folks that would say deletion of a legit log might not go over to well. (perhaps a message/email sent to the logger working out an appropriate edit would serve better). Here's a sign for your page It's another beautiful day here, IDKU but we're going cach'n see ya on the trail.

The first rule we were taught by our mentor in geo-caching is..."there is no whining in geo-caching" With that being said, I would like to offer some cheese to go along with all the whining in this thread as a peace offering... My understanding of the game is that it takes people to locations of either interest and/or of beauty that they might ever have visited before. Even urban caches can accomplish this if they are thought out by the person placing them. We have been caching for almost a year....have just under 200 finds and only two hides. We have lived in the Orlando area for many years, my husband grew up here...and we have discovered places that we didn't even knew existed before, that we drive by sometimes on a daily basis. How kewl is that? Yes we too, have the hides that are strictly nano's, pico's that are hidden in the parking lots of businesses and such, and those are kewl and there are some of the same in the wooded areas too. By now your most likely wondering what's this persons' point?? Excuse me as I clear the cheese out of my throat...okay here it is... It shouldn't matter what kind of a hide it is....or where it is...as long as you play the game as it was meant to be...fun. The fun being...the trip to get there, stopping to take the time to look at the surroundings to see if you can see what the hider saw that they wanted to bring you there in the first place. Not finding it should not provoke anything less than the concept of, boy this is more of a challenge than I thought it to be. Finding it should be the icing on the cake. The true concept here is it should be fun and sometimes even educational, now that's really kewl!!!!! Like an earlier post on this thread said and I quote "don't sweat the small stuff" Life's to short as it is, let it go and have fun with it.

We've only encountered a snake once while caching along the econ river here in the Orlando area. We were with a group of friends and it a slithered under a rather large fallen tree trunk we were getting ready to step over. It wanted nothing to do with us as much as we wanted nothing to do with it!! When it came my turn to step over the trunk I was extremely cautious as where I was stepping on the other side Down here we have our share of snakes so I am told, even have a few black racers in our very own back yard. I see them once in a great while out sunning themselves. I don't like snakes much, but I have a greater fear of spiders. Those of which we see much more of while caching. Than there's the fire ants...oh my..don't even get me started on those little boogers. Got a bite from one of those once on my foot...my whole foot swelled up and the top of my foot turned purple. I'd hate to see what would happen to me if a venomous snake would get me.

Wow this is a strange thread too... Do Do Do do do do

Looks like Christmas Really Cool Really Really strange too!

True - Heck I just found out about the Geocachers Creed the other day. Lucky for me I've been properly advised and guided which really enhances the experience. Perhaps the concepts would be clearer if they were part of an introduction to geocaching... This stuff ain't hard, some puzzles are but the rest is pretty straight forward.

We yak from home. Both of us work in fields where we can't yak from. Speaking of work...I better get off my "yak" and get out the door! Have a great day everyone!

We recycle And try to make ones that are interesting and fit into their environment when possible - course we have only placed a couple caches being newbies. We're not on a roll but it just happend. For some unknown reason I like to make them up and have made about a half dozen different types. Someday I'll put them out perhaps. Here's one not in the wild yet. Here's one that is - can you guess what it was before it was put to better use than the recycle bin? Sorry here it is after you grab it (darn leaves make it hard to take pictures) it's got a few big Oaks over it so leaves are a constant problem) you might say it's one of them caches that take on a new aspect once in the wild - nature takes care of it. This ammocan - pretty standard - needs a good spot one day. The Mrs Flatouts requested I post these she finds this thread one of the most interesting ones on here, so do I Working on some Micros although I'm not a component of them as they don't hold TB's or trade items, they do have there place and can be quite fun. I figure I might do a couple and make them well, different and this thread and a few finds have got my evil side going pretty darn good. I don't have pics yet and some work still needs to be done. Even so I don't think posting them would be a good idea as it may spoil the fun later. But imagine looking for critters that look real only they have a log where the sun don't shine unlike their real cousins. No not a snake or rodent or anything gross, well Okay one is pretty gross, enough said.

I've always been taught that dumb questions are the ones that never get asked in the first place. The way I see the question is the person who asked this question is concerned for the environment and there is nothing wrong nor dumb about that. Kudos to you for being caring, smart and responsible enough to ask the question in the first place. There are however such things as dumb answers/replies. Those would be the ones who do so with a negativity towards the person asking the question in the first place. Getting back to the question...I'm 100% sure that all of us at some point in time, in fact, more than we care to count, have tossed, discarded, sprayed, etc...something that is even more harmful to the environment then placing a cache container.

Okay, I've found it but I'm not good at posting links, so here's the number GCPB5C and the name Red Touches Yellow. Let me know if this helps and keep me posted on it's success!!! Good luck. Perhaps sometime in the future if my journey takes me your way I'll be able to hunt it down and sign the log!!!

We found a cache here in Central FL that was hidden inside a fake coral snake that was attached to a tree. I hate creepy crawlies and things that slither, but this was a fun hunt and a cool hide. I'll have to do a little research as to which one it was and I'll try to come back with a link to the cache page so that you can see how they went about setting it up and hopefully this will help you place your hide idea in your local area.

Thanks

Wow this is inspiring and I wish I could participate but although it's included in my mission statement nobody has taken the time out to post a picture. If it's part of the mission I do my best to follow through. Here's one I talked a buddy into dressing up for the picture... And here's one I fixed up (all it had was the dog tag and a name tag when I retrieved it) ORIGINAL: Florida Makeover: (couldn't find another Orig) We made a custom GeoSurf board for him. Dale n Barb retrieved it next and took pictures - they are really good about that for all bugs they handle.

I think he means :TB3A78 and TBNMJJ (far as I got) logged into GCQ4DP. Maybe a reviewer can go by and edit it out. Dag, you folks are goooood... Yes that is the page I made the initial discovery - and yes TBNMJJ is the one I noticed then went from that point to the cacher profile to send a friendly message (curiosity took me beyond that). I'm thinking every Owner involved would like to know where and who - if you look at the TBs involved a few are now with ?Unknown, some were retrieved by this cacher but not dropped and some have been found and grabbed. At this point I've done a lot more research than I ever intended. If someone doesn't step in I might be compelled to send my message to this cacher even though it might make for an uncomfortable situation at a meet and greet down the road. But IDK where you got TB3A78? I know from first hand exp that it's real easy to screw these things up, misplace and so on. I also know how important it is to the owners who watch as they progress - let alone the time, expense and page space. It would seem that there should be some kind of wide spread etiquette that needs to be applied - I personally think it's already there and clear enough but obviously it's not. That is probably why there are so many missing in action, lost miles...ya da ya da - as for steeling or just plan collecting well some people just can't be helped. I know that I've put out only a few and a couple are very nice and limited editions so if you take one of mine be prepared to answer to me FACE TO FACE as I track them very carefully. Sorry I got carried away a bit - this kind of stuff is everywhere it just stinks it's in this game/sport - it's taken us a little while to discover and will take a lot longer to get used to it. I choose my friends carefully and choose the ones I tell about this activity even more carefully - lucky for me I am surrounded by really decent people by choice.

I was composing a friendly letter and the more I researched and found that this was the case for ALL 41 TB that they had handled the worse the FRIENDLY Letter grew - me being somewhat of a Newbie telling someone that has be doing this 3 times longer than myself I found nice words harder and harder to spell correctly... This is a huge mess - in involves 40 TBs thus 80 caches approx Thus I thought perhaps someone with ah some kind of authority might be better received by the perpetrators. I didn't want to post TB# or Cache Page IDs as it would be amplifying what damage has already been done - who knows who reads this forum. Nothing personal just need to know whom I should send the info to? Sorry I didn't respond last night, I was/am a bit under the weather and had crashed out after posting.

I came in here looking for a person(s) to directly ask what should I do - I've stumbled onto what appears to be a Cacher (with 345 finds - even owns 3 TBs) that has a misunderstanding of how TB's work however, they did do the one GEO coin hey encountered correctly as far as I can tell. Now I've read a few posts and the real shocker - they have brought others into this sport and thus might be spreading this misunderstanding I found this out whilst watching one of my coins recently dropped to see just where that was and then I noticed a horrorable sight TB #_______ right there in a posting - OMG So I did some looking and found this was a common practice that not only did this cacher post the serial number but never logs the retrieve or actually does the drop. So who should I contact or posting the cachers name on here do the job...?

Hum, I guess I stumped em all...

Unactivated Geocoin - my first cache published today However, I went to Space Coast Geocachers convenience store and found items from GS and other sources that they had I didn't even know existed. Really cool stuff so I loaded up. One such item I think is really cool and will be hard to let go of is a FTF Card Game - comes in a really nice tin - it will go in an Ammo can for FTF I have planned in the near future. But I have GEOCoins that are unique like a Surfboard, an Everglads National Park Geocoin, these would make nice FTF if placed Unactivated. If you want to see where this stuff ends up you might want to keep track of the serial number... Hind sight is 20 20 - I failed to do this on my first one out the door - On FTF coins they may never be activated so it wouldn't matter, just thought I'd mention. Do make sure you clearly note on the item it's unactivated and instructions as to where you can get the activation code - be a shame if they dropped it at the next cache not knowing it (they wont figure it out until they try to log and then it will be to late).

If south is what your looking for than you might as well come on down to Orlando, Fl. Several thousand caches here in the metro area alone not to mention some really beautiful parks and lakes all around town. I've lived here since 1991, my husband grew up here and since we started geo caching last April we have discovered areas of town we didn't even knew existed!!! From what we have been told there are even some caches located inside some of the theme parks. We haven't ventured that aspect of it yet, but I'm sure it could prove to be quite interesting and challenging. We also have done quiet a few along our eastern seaboard from the Oak Hill area south to Melbourne. There are even some caches hidden on the spoiler islands in the inter coastal water ways. The ones we find most interesting are the cashes that teach us about our local history. I'm from Va Beach and still have family that live there. It's a cool place to visit and go caching too. My daughter lives in MD in a little town known as Bryan's Road and it's really a pretty area, very scenic and a lot of fun caching there too. Aw heck, now that I think about it, you might as well ask the boss for another 10 days off and make it a full 20 so you have enough time to hit all the areas mentioned on this thread!!!! No matter where you decide to go, you can't go wrong. Happy hunting and don't forget to post when you get back as to where you ended up and the fun you had getting there.

Forgive me. I am new at this. So I have a lot to learn. But I have a question... Why? Why is recruitment's a necessity? If everyone is a Geocacher there wouldn't be very many mugglers now would there? It would soon get old and boring and the thrill would be gone and be something our kids look back at and think - Man they were weird... crawling around looking for junk in the shrubs...what were they thinking. Surely it would linger for years, like Naturalist and fishing and other things I guess. I learned of this really cool little game from friends and I think that the aspect that most people around me are clueless is what intrigued me the most.

We're now back in Orlando. Had a wonderful time in Va Beach and managed to sneak in about 6 cache's in all. Only one of them was a micro. the others where amo boxes and to our surprise rather nice ones. Thanks for you replies. Perhaps on our next trip back we'll plan on trying the parks in Newport News. I grew up in Va Beach and am a grad of First Colonial High School. It was great to be back home for the Holiday. Va Beach has certainly grown since I moved away 17 plus years ago. But the memories are all still there. My brother and his family still live there and my sister lives in Chesapeake. We introduced them to this crazy but wonderful sport. They had a blast and I think we got them hooked. Time will tell. Spent our last few hours there at Mount Trashmore and managed to find two of them there. Climbed to the top carrying my 1 yr old grand daughter. Asked my daughter if she remembered playing there as a child and rolling down the hill with her brother. She did. It was a great weekend and can hardly wait until my next trip back.

Totally awesome thread!! Congrats to all the winners!

I did a search and came up with this thread. I've noticed the same problem with Jeep TBs - In Maryland we sought after 2 in caches near by and both were missing - that was in mid October this year - they are still missing or should I say listed in those caches. More recently yesterday I had my eye on a cache here in Florida that was listed with a Red Jeep - checked the entries carefully nobody had been to the cache. So it must be there. Well it was a couple days and my loaded PQ was not current - I found the cache but alas no TB. Looking at the log there was somebody there in fact they logged twice - once for the cache and then once for documentation of the TB noting it wasn't listed yet? Not listed ah then how did it get listed to the cache... I think part of the problem is not knowing how to log a TB - even some coins the number is hard to decipher (that could just be an old timer problem sometimes my reading glasses require a magnifying glass to read that tiny print...lol) but you know when you got it right... It really isn't hard. I must admit I'm into the Bugs and think they are a cool aspect to the game... A missing one or lazy logging is as disappointing as a poorly maintained or missing cache. I've just received 6 new TB tags to enter my own into the game. I don't care if I loose them but would like to see their progress. I also just received 2 of the gold US coins that I hope to put out. Considering the cost it's not a big deal but folks need to be considerate that they aren't cheap swag and that they require almost as much to release as putting a cache together and they aren't free. A web page is also produced much like a cache... For the owner to follow up certainly isn't wrong and there shouldn't be any problem with a friendly reminder. I hold bugs sometimes to help them on their journey (at least that is my intent). I have a few that are over a month - but I contact the owner when I get a warning (over 14 days) I tell them of my intent and if they approve I go forth if they ask that I place it soon I do that. I will not put a bug in a lousy cache just to rid myself of it (I've found some in some really bad caches that were all but destroyed and salvaged the TBs). Because we've been traveling lately I can't always put a bug back right away that doesn't want to leave the area - same with the ones that want to travel to certain destinations like the moon or space lab - yes I have one that want to go to the space lab and we know someone that might be able to make that happen but getting a hold of them and approval will take time plus with us traveling even more time but we're working on it (waiting to hear back in fact). I wouldn't mind a reminder but I probably wont get one as I've already contacted the owner after 14+ days. That brings me to my question; I wonder if it would be improper to contact a cacher that obviously picked up but didn't log it correctly - should this be solely an owners problem or as a fellow cacher could I contact that cacher and ask if they need help logging it... I mean after a week isn't it obvious they might not know how??? Reason I ask is: When it's in a contest it doesn't seem fair to the rest of us if they hold or fail to log it. Also when it's part of a major release like the Red Jeep contest - is there an individual owner? If there are deadlines for these and folks should move them quickly as a courtesy to others JMHO. Besides if other cachers were to take up an active roll perhaps less would go missing - who wants to be the one other cachers are saying C'on Bubba lets get on with the game put that TB back out where it belongs or log it or something... Perhaps just offering help to them as a nudge... Course you can see how that would cause more problems than it's worth... I certainly wouldn't want to be flooded with derogative comments when I've worked out something with the owner... Forget I said it... My tongue hurts as I've searched for 4 or 5 of these in different areas and came up empty on every one... I wont be loosing sleep over it as I do this to relax (I used to fish until competition started causing anxiety attacks...lol). BTW if a TB Person needs to know the cache & TB in question please let me know or check my latest

Wowzers finding em is hard enough in my area (everything is changing so fast here). I guess after finding some that were in the GC Database then actually adding them to the hunts along with Waymarks trying to locate them all in a given area we were happy but made it hard to accomplish in an outing. But we've found and taken pictures of 5 times as many that aren't listed in the Database that we couldn't log and found this to be disappointing... We're still to new to this I guess. But we're finding it's just way to much to pack into our hunts. Because Waymarks are their own separate entity not sure it's worth it either. If I'm going through the effort I'd like to at least log the find - doing caches is so much more organized and rewarding. I guess I'm saying from a Newbie standpoint if it were a contest like some listed above it would be far to complicated to bother with. I would stick to KISS - JMHO / Maybe it's not intended for newbies...