boasark

Are you nuts?? I have been dying to get a Magellan Meridian color GPS. Saving my pennies and nickles. I don't like the Garmins I have used - Magellan much easier in my book. Of course I guess it depends on what you start with. Just had to put my 2 cents in. Wish I had a Garmin to trade you. boasark

Hi everyone, Just a little FYI for all of you with caches at Saylorville. I have talked to one of the rangers there about putting out a cache. They don't seem to have a problem with geocaching as long as we apply for a permit BEFORE we place a cache. The permit states that a Geocache Placement Permit application must be completed and approved by the appropriate Corps of Engineers office before posting the cache on a geocaching website. Each office sets their own rules for this type of thing. The permit is good for 1 year. After that date, the cache must be re-permitted or removed. They also say that "Unauthorized cache(s) on Corps of Engineers land will be removed and the responsible person may be cited under the Federal Code of Regulations, Title 36, Part 327." The reasoning is the security issue. They want to know what is where on their land and who is coming and going and why. If you would like an application, you can email Jeff Rose - Jeffrey.W.Rose@usace.army.mil and they will send one out to you. I want to keep us on their good side. Let's all comply with their rules from now on. boasark

Hi everyone out there, Wanted to put my 2 cents in. I have a Magellan Meridian. Love it! I think it depends on the unit you start with. I have down loaded topo maps and streets into it. We use the mapping as we are locating a cache. Then we turn to the compass and let the compass take us to the cache. One of my friends has the color Magellan. I am saving my pennies to buy one - they are so much easier to see - especially if you have the topo maps. I got my granddaughter an Explorist 200 for Christmas. It is great for her. She is 8 and picked up on using it in about 15 minutes. She doesn't need all the mapping - just to tell her which way to go. I don't like it for me - have arthritis in my hands and it is too small for me to use - buttons are small and closer together. I guess that's another reason I like the Magellan. If there is any way that you can try out a couple of different brands in the field, I would strongly suggest that you do just that. I think they are probably all good units - just depends on what you want. I vote for the Magellan Meridian Gold - it is reasonably priced and works well. Also the antena is built in. boasark

A friend of mine and I usually cache together. We take her 2 year old grandson and my 8 year old granddaughter a lot of the time. The 2 year old doesn't really care about the caches. He just likes to be out doors. My 8 year old loves to do things outdoors and with grandma. I am enjoying taking her so much - we have lots of bonding time and I am getting to do all of the outdoor things that I enjoy with her. When my kids were little, they didn't care to do most of the things that I liked to do. Still don't have them hooked, but the 8 year old certainly is. I asked her what she wanted for Christmas the other day and she told me a GPS. She actually takes mine part of the time and uses it. I told her that if she got a GPS she probably wouldn't get much else from Grandpa and Grandma. She told me she would have to think about that. A little later she said she had decided she wanted the GPS, so guess that is probably what she will get. I have another friend who doesn't have the patience to take the kids. We babysat our gd for the first 6 years of her life, so she has grown up in our home. Maybe that is the difference. I would much rather see her be outside and getting some exercise than sitting in front of the TV. Kuddos to anyone who does take them out. What a great time for all! We have also gotten some great pictures of the kids climbing on every log, rock etc while in the woods - but isn't that the fun of it? We have taken them on some pretty long and hilly caches, but they don't complain too much. Once back in the truck, they either crash or the 8 year old can't stop talking about how much fun it was. -

I think I agree that the ammo cans are the best, but I can't always come by them as easily as the Rubbermaid/Tupperware type containers. I go to the Salvation Army or Good Will stores. You can pick up the plastic ware containers for 25 to 50 cents each. If they don't last more than a year, you aren't out a lot. I just make sure that they don't have any cracks and that the lid fits really tight before I buy them. You can even get some with screw on lids. These are the best as they seal a little tighter. boasark

A friend of mine and I had an encounter with the police this past weekend. We were going to a lake north of where we live to cache - the town just before the lake has several caches in it - 1 being under a phone booth at the local Casey's and another under the phone booth at the local Walgreens, so thought we would hit those. I had already done them, but was just getting my friend and gd to log a few extra easy ones. We were sitting at Casey's for about 15 min. - by the time my friend and her grand daughter had found the cache - logged it and then we logged in our own books. Went on to Walgreens - did the cache there and were sitting in the van logging when a cop comes up to the window of the van. He was parked behind us blocking us in. He asked us if we had just come from Casey's and we told him yes. Then he asked if we had bought gas - we told him no that we were geocaching and gave him one of the brochures from geocaching U. He asked us if we would go back to Casey's with him to get it straightened out so back we went. The kid at the counter thought we had gotten gas then pulled up in front of the store. They had someone drive off and not pay for gas at this time and because we were sitting out front for so long, he had taken our license plate # down and then when we left, called the cops. The van is bright red, so very easy to see. Anyway, we got it all straightened out and did not have to go to jail. We are both Girl Scouts and were wearing GS shirts - that could have been a story! I guess we got our excitement for the day. boasark

I am a female geocacher. I went to a Girl Scout Outdoor Conference in New York and learned about the sport with a female friend. We are both hooked (more like addicted). She is divorced and my husband is a wimp - it hurts his knees to walk far or I worked all night. I would rather go with my girl friend. We can cache all day and into the night. If I take my hubby, he is done after about 4 caches (easy ones at that). I have been getting a lot of kidding at work about being so addicted, but I have gotten at least 4 other female friends into it too. By the way, we are all adult Girl Scouts so it is right up out alley. We are the ones in our council that train the camping stuff. I have also gotten my 8 year old granddaughter into it. She is wanting a GPS for Christmas. I was having a lot of problems with my knees - Drs. had done all they could - only thing left was to lose weight so I have started that and the caching is giving me the exercise I need. I was out both Sat. and Sun. this past weekend and knees were a little stiff today - a girl friend and I went out and hit a couple after work and they feel much better. (Is it my imagination?) I say more power to the women cachers!!

A friend of mine and I are going to hide some caches in our areas. We geocache as a team most of the time, but each have our own caching name. We would like to post the new caches under a team name. Can we each get credit for the caches we hide? Thanks, boasark

I usually take my cell phone too. I got lost without it one day and got a little scared. I also bought a fishing vest with a bunch of pockets in the front - like it better than a backpack cause I don't have to take it off and set it down in the PI. After caching in Missouri, we decided to add a snake bite kit to our stuff - lots of rattlesnakes there - check out the country you will be caching in and plan from there. boasark

Thanks everyone. That was kind of a DUH!! moment. boasark

Can anyone out there tell me how to add a photo to my log? I have not been able to find the answer and no one here at work can figure it out either. Just call me computer illiterate. Thanks, boasark