Jennifer&Dean

I've seen a few places that already sell them. Check out CacheAdvance.com as one place. Jen

try giving people a flag and tell them to put the flag where their GPS says is the ground zero for a set of coordinates. First, take some coordinates. Do the best you can to get good coordinates. Make sure you can find the exact spot again, either tie string to 2 trees and take the coords where the string crosses, or take a photo that gives you some way to find the particular spot again. Remove the string before giving out the coords. Closest flag to your spot wins... I've done a few fun multi caches using containers that would never last in the real world but are perfect for a single day event. Halloween themed with a fake crow, snake, spider, skull, leading to a final cache. Poker runs are fun as well, hide 5 caches with a deck of cards in each, each card in a non-see-through envelope. Folks can't open the envelope and see their cards until they turn them in. Opened envelopes are disqualified. Best hand wins. There are many variants...

mitsuko was a hoot! but for some reason i do not remember boblog. Still around... still caching. We were surprised to realize how old some of our caches were the other day. We were putting away some old logbooks and couldn't remember which caches we placed in 2002 thru 2004 and which ones were later. I spent yesterday doing some cache maintenance on two of our older caches and one of them still contains some of the same toys we started it with in 2005. I remember boblog and mitsuko and Markwell and the Sandbox. -Jen

Many years ago a Geocamping event was held in Montana where the camping area was a surprise. You had to follow a trail of film canisters placed at intersections to find the event. Now, these were forest service roads, not highways or anything with a lot of traffic. It was fun to work our way to the event by finding each canister along the way. You could try that method. The main reason this method was used... was because the event placer couldn't guarantee he was going to get a particular camping spot/area so he decided this would be the easiest way to handle the fact the he wasn't able to confirm the final coordinates until the day of the event.

I found some geocaching coloring sheets and puzzle sheets at an event in WA and have been copying them and bringing them to events for a few years now. A find a word and a few coloring books will keep kids busy for quite a while. Go to Geocacher U and look for the downloadables. I think they are at: http://geocacher-u.com/?page_id=60 Good stuff there. We also tend to let the kids participate in any games going on with the adults. So the geo-bingo is a great way for the adult cachers to meet the kid cachers. At one of our yearly events I try to have a really big metal drum about half full of dollar store and craft goodies. It is a tradeless cache, if the kids can find it, they can take one or two items. When the event is held in a park, the drum gets hidden within 100 feet of the event, just barely out of sight range so we can basically watch the kids search and trade but not feel like we are policing them. They seem to enjoy having something they can look for that is specifically set up for them. We have a few dogs that come out to the events so I try to put a few dog toys in there as well so their people can take them out to find a new toy as well. Jen

If you are in Portland, check out Dr Who. It is pretty cool. J

If anyone has some Marriott points to burn, the new SpringHill Suites in Wenatchee is only 20,000 points a night! I just finished booking our room. Looks like the two of us, Raynebeau and MTTRoutslayer will be there! Jennifer

I love that idea! Or maybe a 12-cache series, with a bonus mystery cache. Have the digits for the location of the mystery distributed in the other 12 caches. Maybe call the mystery cache "Serenity." If you look up the user Skydiver, you will find his archived 12 Step Program cache. It took us many months to do and we ended up putting a new transmission in our car halfway through it. Then destroying the oil pan out on the rental we were using while the car was in the shop. Jen

I agree completely! It is the stats and neat numbers that call to me. While Dean likes the caching and finding all he can, I am always trying to fill in something, or get the oldest or one that fills in a missing blank. We've been trying to fill in our calendar. It took alot of work for us to find the last 3 caches in December we needed to find since it was snowing, blowing wind and sub 0 temperatures each day we went out. There were only 3 possible caches we could even try to find since all the others are probably buried in the snow. But we preservered and had a blast making sure we filled in our empty days! The stats always make my day. The numbers runs... I can do them and have a blast but am more likely to fully enjoy a day that includes a hike up a mountain or around a single park getting caches along the trails. Jen

I like the TB idea. I've got a Donation awareness key chain I've been thinking of sending out in memory of the unknown girl I donated Bone Marrow and Stem Cells for a few years ago. While she didn't survive her illness, she has a place in my heart and I would love to make more people aware of the Be The Match foundation's work. If it wasn't for the Be the Match team, I would not have gotten into donating blood, as they were some of the nicest people I have ever worked with and really made me aware of the need in my community. Your post might be the instigator I need to put the TB out. Jennifer

5.4 miles to the nearest unfound for us. 210 unfound within 100 miles. Most of the unfound are the longer hikes or newer placed caches that we are saving for winter days. We are trying to fill in that day of the year grid and have about 30 days left, most in December and March. So we are trying to leave a few easy ones for cold days.

They were there first. They placed first, why would they give up a placement for a cache that you admit is not going to last more than 9 months, if that? The definition of Entitlement could use your post as an example. You have been caching for maybe 2 months. They have probably been around a bit longer. I didn't check who the owner of most caches around your area is, so I don't know for sure. You will be moving in a year or so. They are probably a bit more permanent in the community. So far, their reasoning for keeping their caches active instead of giving them up for you is perfectly reasonable. Have you placed a cache yet? Start with one. Then another one. Then learn from any issues encountered with them. Putting out 20 caches is a lot of work, and maintenance. Especially if, as you plan, you want them to be easy for all people to find. Constantly disappearing parts of a series or multi can be a huge disappointment and burn hiders and finders alike out on caching. Listen to the professor and do a nice private cache series that can be given out to people without conflicting with the existing caches. Try to not place one of your private caches next to one of the existing caches. If you really want to publish them, try one of the alternate caching sites. They exist and would love to have someone who wants to place 20 caches come to them. I've seen cachers come and go and retire and return. If you believe you have the right to ask someone to archive a bunch of cache placements that they worked to create just so you can do a bunch for a school project, you may want to put yourself in their shoes and try understanding their potential reactions. Jennifer

We found a GPSr at a cache, about a month after the owner left it there. And there were 2 finds in between their leaving it there and our finding it! See the owner's log at: log The worst part was that the contact number was an old cell phone number for him. But with the sleuthing work of the local cachers, we were able to ship the GPSr back to him pretty quickly. The cache was and still is one of the hardest caches we have retrieved the logbook for. Not a hard find, just getting to the logbook is a real puzzle! The Secret of the Lock Returns by Chumpo

Our overall goal is to see more of the world. We have an under-goal of someday having found 50 caches in each of the 50 states plus DC and then moving from there to 50 finds in each Canadian province. Then we may expand to trying for finds in small island countries with beaches and lots of sunny caching days. -J

Cool. Glad to see they worked this out.

We use ours as signature items, to give to cachers we meet and leave in caches we find and enjoyed. Take them, leave them, keep them, trade them, they are just something we leave/give to show we were there or met someone. Jen

She-She-Marie is from Plains, MT. Lets just say that the shopping options there are pretty limited. There is probably a small grocery store/mercantile or two. I remember seeing a few gas stations and restaurants and small motels when we passed through town about 2 years ago. Closest "big" towns are Thompson Falls, MT, Kellogg, ID and Missoula, MT. And I don't know if Thompson Falls even has a Wal-mart. There is a Target in Missoula and Wal-mart is in Missoula and Kellogg. When you have to travel pretty far (over an hour) to get to a Wal-mart, it is always nice to know where else may be worth planning a stop to shop for caching supplies. Also, some folks like putting geocache stickers on their caches to make them slightly more official looking and don't want to make their own or order them from online. REI sells TB tags and cachekin TBs too. And Nanos I think. I rather like Lookout Lisa's online selection of pre-camod tupperware (for when I am feeling lazy) and different colors of decon containers. And of course, the t-shirts and vehicle stickers and stuff. For the OP- There are a few places selling Ammo cans in Missoula. There is a kinda expensive military surplus/pawn shop in Lolo that had a few the other day. Let us know what you are looking for...

I hope you get one. An Ape cache is an Ape cache, all finders of Ape caches should get a souvenir. Maybe a different souvenir for the different APE caches? (we got ours for the Washington APE cache, but had also found the Illinois one in 2005) Jen

The REI in Missoula carries a few Geocache items. If you are heading to Spokane, check out Cache Advance as you can sometimes arrange a visit to her Cache Cave. Depending on what you are looking for, I might be able to point you in the right directions, drop me a line through my profile. Jennifer

Thanks for the reminder, we will be on FRS2. I'm charging our radios now. See everyone soon! Thanks also Ogeo, I hadn't read that about the red light cameras. Hope I remember to mention it to Dean before we get there. JEn

Folks will start at location 1. Some will be long gone before others show up. Some might not show up at location 1, but start at other places. About 10 in the morning the pack will be stretched out pretty well. You may cache with some for a while then others later, the pack that starts the morning likely will not finish together in the evening. You will likely have more than 6 to your credit before the day is over. Oh, and location 1 has been pretty constant through the iterations of the map. Make sure you have the final draft, there have been some significant changes along the way. Since you are new to caching and CMs, it may also help to "team" up with someone, either to follow their vehicle or actually ride with them. We've been known to "borrow" a local cacher during cache machines to help us navigate and find caches. Usually folks end up in groups of 3 or 4 vehicles traveling mostly together. Just watch for all the folks making U-Turns, that will be us. Jen

Just to add another voice to the mix... Get Satisfaction is not satisfying. The user interface annoyed me at first and now I just avoid even going over there. I LIKE the idea of the Feedback button taking folks to a FEEDBACK section of the forums. That would be ideal. That Get Satisfaction place was not pleasant to read through and explore. I haven't even bothered getting a login for it, I don't want to give them my info even if they are associated in some way with Groundspeak. Jennifer

Happens to us fairly often as well. We once were logging caches in California right behind some cachers we knew from Billings, MT. But we didn't have their number to contact them. Another time we took a trip to Vegas and just before leaving home found out that another couple of cachers from Missoula were also going to be in Vegas during our trip there. We spent an evening caching on the Strip with them. And then there was this time I was waiting for my flight at the Salt Lake City Airport and ran into a cacher from Missoula who was heading out on a business trip. Small world, trust me! You should look up the old Six Degrees game. I don't remember who it was that started it but most folks around here were only one or two degrees off from everyone else. And that was BEFORE the Geowoodstock mega events! Jennifer

Thanks for posting the update Grossi. Wish we lived closer. Hope some folks can make the memorial. Jennifer&Dean

I've been crying on and off since I heard the news. Brian was such a good friend and fun fellow to cache with and talk too. I regret not taking chances over the last few years to get to know him better. Thanks to Ambrosia for posting all the great photos. I'll add one of mine from the Luau to the mix. Jennifer