Doocc

I received a copy of the National Geographic Back Roads Explorer 3D for Christmas but have a Garmin eTrex Vista HCX gpsr. I dont have any maping software for my gpsr yet and am debating what I should do with the National Geographic software. Does anyone have/use this and what do you think? Is it worth holding onto this for mutzing on the computer or should I eat the postage and return it for the bulk of its cost and buy Garmin's topo or city navigator?

Placing a cache that solicits is against the rules for caches listed on this site. Swag is another thing, and even more freedom is had by finders when it comes to swag. This is what Freedom looks like. No. People all believe what they believe because they are free to do so. Thank god we are free to act on what we believe right down to leaving or hating tracts. That too is freedom. Bitching about it in a forum...that's also a freedom. Freedom like Democracy isn't always pretty in action, its just better than the alternates. I am only on page one of this thread but thought this was very well said and had quote it.

The Other day I found a Hillary for president in 2008 item. We all fell about the cache laughing. It was a classic moment. Now there's a reason to pray......... lol! I have found a whopping 18 caches and left my signature hand pained 100' Year's War figure at each (that I could). I only took items a few times and 2 of which could be called religious in nature. I felt that these were very tasteful and one of the few things worth taking. I don’t want a collection of McToy's. But a signature wooden nickel (with passage on back) and an ancient mini bible were worth trading for to me. They go great with the pirate duck and other signature items we’ve found.

The experiance must have been uncomfortable but your story is pretty funny. "So how do I get started?" I am pretty new myself and when searching for my first urban find several cars in the parking lot slowed down to see why I was standing out in the rain. I quickly held my GPSr up to my ear like a blackberry and began a very animated discussion with myself shaking my fist at the sky until they, embarrased, left. - All the while pacing and still searching for the cache

Very usefull for finding true north; but if you can see the sun, know the time, and cant figure out which way north is, then you have bigger problems. (Eagle Scout speaking here )

I too was under the impression that shorter logs with proper lingo were preffered when I first started looking into caching & logging. Bucking what I thought was the trend I have been leaving longer logs and having read this, will continue to do so.

I never knew this until we were recently hit with the late summer gas price jump + MI having the highest prices in the US... that credit cards have a max they will let you charge for gas. My pump hit $50 and click - it stopped. Confused I read a little card attendents had stuck on the pump explaining this. I wasnt around for $.22 gas but I was for sub $.80 gas. I may only get 22mpg but its sad that I cant top off my 19gal tank on a single 'charge'.

This Michigander just got his first GPSr (Visa HCx too) yesterday. I have not bought any map software yet - any recomendations?

My Wife and I started a cemetery cache in my area last night. The cemetery is a historical sight and the cache was very well done. It was dusk when we showed up and we were enjoying reading about the history and the accomplishments of those laid to rest that we decided to stop and not finish for the sake of finishing and come back when we will have more daylight. A cache like this is paying tribute to those who came before us and seemed very respectful. (GC15K6W)

yes Thats what I figured... I have done enough hiking/backpacking in areas prone to forest fire's to be leery of leaving matches where the 13 year old pyro-muggle might find them. A couple of kids made a 'camp fire' in the woods near my home this summer and burned out a decent section of a Churches back 40'. Too bad though - some of the matchbooks would be great trade items. I'll stick to the 54mm's.

I am fairly new to this but I took an old 54mm figure set that was collecting dust and have been painting them while waiting for my first GPSr (gets delivered today ). The set & paint was around $45 and came with 100's of "100' years war (medieval soldiers, archers, knights, etc)" figures. Its a little more time consuming but a lot cooler then a stamped wooden coin IMHO. The first one will get left today when my wife and I get home from work! I was also thinking of mixing in matchbooks from an old (30-40year old) matchbook collection I have. Most wont light except with extreme effort. (Are matches a no-no for caches?)

Up till now I have been tagging along with someone else learning the game and TNLN. The 'treasure hunting' part of Geocaching has motivated me to finish painting a set of 54mm 100' Years War Soldiers and I will be leaving these where I can. I also have a very old match box collection made by a friend of the family who passed away some years ago. Most of these dont light except with extreme effort so I may make a pile of the 'cooler' matchbooks and trade these. For the more experianced - Are matchbooks a no-no?

Deleted - Multi Post?!?

I am new to Geocaching as well and my first GPSr arrives today . After going geocaching with an experianced geocacher and researching the very good reviews on these boards, other GPSr guides, and my local REI - I decided to spend a little bit more at the get go (its your only real entry expense) and get a good GPSr. One thing you should know about buying a higher end unit is MAP - or Minimum Advertised Pricing. Something that most Garmin GPSr's at least have. Web sites cannot advertise below the MAP price but are really selling the units for far less. I ended up buying a Garmin Etrex Vista HCx for $240 (free shipping) even though the advertised price was $300+. The higher end units have a lot more in the way of features for not that big of a jump in cost.