[Downloading Waypoints]

BTW, the newly released version 6.5 of Garmin's MapSource supports reading directly .GPX files that you get from pocket queries. You can therefore import waypoints directly into MapSource, pick the ones of interest, select the accompanying maps and download maps and waypoints in a single download to your MAP 76S. Much easier. Version 6.5 was released January 3, 2005 and is available for download from the Garmin website. - FearlessBob

[Batteries???]

I am also a recent fan of the Energizer Lithiums. They do last considerably longer. Other points in favor of lithium batteries are a long shelf life (not that useful if you geocache a lot, but they will keep their full charge up to 10 years when stored), and they are fairly immune to the cold (definitely useful in my neck of the woods for geocaching during the winter).

 

Downside of course is price, they cost roughly 3 times as much as regular Energizers or Duracells.

[Man, They Are Watching For Terrorists!]

This tells the discovery of the CoinCache (GCKD7F) placed last weekend on the Jacques-Cartier bridge in Montreal (this is one of the main bridges linking the island of Montreal to the continent...). My buddy etrekker_mtl and I went there last Wednesday afternoon.

 

It was quite an adventure! To start with, finding a place to park was a challenge, ended up parking at the Longueuil subway parking lot. We then walked to the cache area (0.5 km away), looked all over the place, we were on all fours on the bridge walkway looking for the cache. Then my buddy etrekker_mtl finally located it! A small magnetized black box, probably a former cough drop box, Sucrets or something like this, rather well done as a cache container. The thing was hidded under a guard rail post. Please note that at this point on the bridge, you are about 150 feet above the St. Lawrence River, with raging traffic on all five lanes of the bridge at rush hour. And here we are snooping around on the bridge walkway...

 

We exchanged coins (took Alexander McKenzie House of Commons coin, left Lester B. Pearson coin), noted this in the logbook and walked away. As we started heading back, we noticed a nearby surveillance camera tracking our every movement. Uh oh... Then I realized that I forgot to sign our names in the logbook, so we went back to sign it. Replaced the cache and walked away again. Camera was still closely following us.

 

We had not made 200 ft on our way back, when 2 provincial police (Sureté du Québec, SQ) officers on bicycles intercepted us, looking very official and concerned. They inquired whether we had found something back there. We explained the Geocaching game and had to go back to the cache to show them. The officer looked intrigued, and ended up confiscating the cache, explaining that they patrol the bridge at least twice a day, topside and under, for suspicious packages and jumpers... They noted our names and let us go free. Phew!

 

So, sorry cache owner, but your cache is now safe in SQ hands.

 

This whole adventure begs for two questions:

- How could the owner place the cache there in the first place without being intercepted?

- How could this have been approved by the cache reviewer, since it is in conflict with Geocaching rules (no bridges, overpasses, railways, etc.)?

 

Anyhow, in the end all ends well and we now have a fun memory of this cache. We were the first, last and only finders for this cache... I posted my find on the same day (this very text for the most part), the owner then archived his cache, and sent me an email apologizing for the inconvenience.

 

I never thought Geocaching would have me interacting with the police, but this was rather amusing...

 

TFTC!

 

FearlessBob and etrekker_mtl