Gram&Gramps

In the field, brief log via c:geo on my Samsung Galaxy phone. Log completed by editing later on the Android tablet or HP laptop using our account on geocaching.com.

I've recently noticed that trackables from my inventory are all automatically Visiting every cache we log. This has happened before and I was able to override this auto posting. This time I cannot do it. What's the process, please? Thanks, cya, Grandpa

Thanks - this is one of the caches we've identified. We are hoping for some first-hand acounts from others who've cached in the Cancun area recently. Grandpa

Hi - Gram & I are heading down to Cancun in about a week. Of course, we want to do some geocaching. But we are hearing some "serious concerns" from others about the wisdom of venturing out very far from our hotel. We are interested in 3 general areas: 1) Hotel Zone east of the city of Cancun, plus caches in the town. 2) Renting a moped on the island of Cozamel, and catching a bunch of the caches around the outside edges of the island. 3) The Paya del Carmen area, about 15 miles south of Cancun, where our hotel is. There are roughly a dozen caches in each of these areas that appear to be safely accessible, per the write-ups and logs posted. But we don't want to do something risky, either... Anybody had any recent caching or travel experiences near Cancun? Thanks. cYa, Grandma & Gradnpa from snowy Wisconsin

Is anybody here familiar with ESRI's ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (a/k/a AEJEE)? I have been asked to help a high school science teacher who wants to use this program to map waypoints from the school woods. She has used her Garmin GPS' to mark the locations of various invasive species, and would like to map these for eradication efforts this spring. The suggested activities from the tutorial don't seem to work, and ESRI won't support it as it is a free program for schools... Thanks a lot. I am hoping somebody will be able to jump in here and get us going. cYa, Grandpa Jim, part of the SetonCachers crews from WI

We also miss the map lines and the zoom in/out feature. We have released 125 school TB's this year and last. Our students track these on large maps posted on hallway bulletin boards. Since their geography knowledge is limited, these features now missing are hampering the kids ability to place map pins. This, in turn, affects the geography lessons which we tie to our travel bug project. Hopefully Groundspeak will listen to this feedback and get this fixed asap. Grandpa Jim the schoolteacher

Hi - I have been given a Magellan NAV 5000. It appears to be around a 1992 model. I have been unable to find much info about it, although the Magellan website has an online manual for a model which is similar, but newer. It seems to be in excellent condition, and I'd like to play around with it some. Are there any websites dedicated to old GPS equipment? Any info on this unit or leads to other sources will be much appreciated. Thanks a lot. cYa, Grandpa in WI

Thanks for the suggestions. Groundspeak handled this in less than 24 hours, and we have a happy grandson who now owns his TB. Now we just gotta get above 0* in Wisconsin so folks start cache hunting again! cYa Grandpa

We gave our grandson a TB for Christmas, which we registered as our own. He has since set up his own GeoCaching account, and would like to take over ownership of the bug. How can we officially transfer this to him? Thanks Grandma & Grandpa

Sorry, folks, but this Yank is still having trouble! We will be in Ontario in July, driving from Sault Ste. Marie north to Hawk Junction, and then via train up to Oba Lake (at train milepost 212). We'll have time for some GeoCaching. I've tried searches as suggested, and the GC webpage does not recognize any of the Postal Codes I am finding. I am sure there are some caches up in this region to be hunted and found, but I sure can't come up with them! Any specific detailed instructions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot. Grandpa from central Wisconsin, USA

If we find a TB, read the log, and know we cannot meet the criteria requested, we usually leave it for somebody else. The last time this happened was late last year, and according to the logs, it's still there! We see the TB criteria as another part of the Geocaching challenge - solving the puzzles, finding the caches, etc. It's pretty simple to find out ahead of time whether there are TB's in the cache we intend to visit, and it's not difficult to find out about a particular TB ahead of time, either. When we don't do that, and find one we don't know anything about, we read whatever is attached and try to follow the requested routes or places to visit. We did move one with what seemed to be a summer theme, at least here in WI. We figured it didn't matter what cache under a foot of snow it sat in! Gram & Gramps

Hello - Can somebody advise a website where topo maps for Ontario, Canada can be downloaded & printed, as at www.topozone.com for U.S. maps? We've been hitting a brick wall in our attempts to find any. Thanks Gram & Gramps

I asked about hiding a cache in a US Dept of Agriculture managed National Forest in another forum. We got one response advising no problem. Now we find all this going on. So we ask again, is it ok to place a cache in a National Forest, run by the Dept. of Ag? Or are they in the same camp as the fish folks? Will the cache be approved and posted on GeoCaching.com when we submit it? BTW, there are other caches in the same forest area which are listed on the website... The specific area we have in mind is 2000 acres with public access for hiking, cross country skiing, rustic camping, wildlife viewing, and 'non-motororized recreation'. There are numerous access points with established and maintained parking areas, and many miles of trails. Hope it is ok, because we plan to put it out this weekend. Maybe we'll reserve it for private use for a little while if concensus is it might be shaky. Too bad if that is the case, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of really cool National Forest countryside up north which is supposed to be for public use. Geo Caching would sure get more of the public into these areas! Thanks for the info. Gram & Gramps

Hello - We are Gram & Gramps. This is a nickname we picked up at the family camp in WI we attend. At this point, we have 71 adopted grandkids! No real ones yet, though, as our kids are both still single and in college. We also are volunteer leaders with the youth organization which owns the family camp, and participate in many outdoor activities. Canoe trips in northern Ontario and Ely, MN rank high on our list, and are sure to include some geocaching this summer. We also will be placing some caches near our cottage in northern WI, and will try to find some others up there next week. Wee look forward to some of you finsing our caches!

A friend from Florida introduced us this past summer. We learned more about it when we all attended a family camp in central WI, and we decided to try it with the youth camp we volunteer at. This Fall and Winter, several of us from camp have learned more about this fun sport. We now plan weekends around our GPS's, look for cache listings if we are traveling someplace, etc. This summer, several different groups of kids from various week-long youth camps will participate in finding existing caches, will hide new ones for future camps, etc. And we will still plan some of our weekends around our GPS's!

I know we cannot hide caches in national parks. How about in the national forests, managed by the US Department of Agriculture? The area I am considering is public access, does not have any overnight camping restrictions in the summer (or this time of year, I suppose...), and no hunting or trespassing problems. 4-wheelers and snowmobiles are not welcome, tho, but snowshoers & cross-country skiers are. Pretty much open access according to what I've been able to find. Anybody have any experience or knowledge to share? We'd like to place a cache in about a week if concensus is it's ok. Thanks! Granda & Grandpa