Mr. Fantastic

I'd frankly skip the forums completely if I had unfettered freedom to be outside. Just last weekend I burned my prairie. The IEPA even gave me a permit. Outdoor activities are fun. I would be outside much more if I did not have family and job obligations. Being responsible for a class of students does not lend itself to dashing out to grab a cache. Luckily, I can access the forums during my lunch hour or before classes start.

I was very active last spring while I participated in a cache league. I then took the summer off to entertain my two year old daughter while mom worked on her doctorate. I started up again in September and have ups and downs as work allows. If I did it correctly, my average is 27.118 per month. That sounds like I cache more than I recall right now. I guess I should not use this data to persuade my family to cache more with me.

I really like the story behind Markwell's Mission 12: Blind Canal. He has a website that tells the story behind it, but I don't have a link for that.

I second the suggestion of finding Mission 12: Blind Canal. There is CCC- Carter's First Cache in the same woods. It's not as significant as the APE cache, but it is the same parking. Additionally, you can get off I-80 near Utica, IL to hit Mathiessen State Park for Cachiversary 1: Forget-Me-Nots by Markwell. All of his caches are good and Starved Rock/ Mathiessen State Parks are among my favorite in all of Northern Illinois.

Maybe you could ask local law enforcement if they know of any such activity in the area. You could introduce them to the sport and find out if there is reason to be concerned. Of course, public property would be the only option also. Since I cannot think of any ghost towns near me (Pannola, IL-pop. 33- just voted to remain in existence), I would be very interested in being taken to historical sites like this.

My wife would like to join me for caching more, but being pregnant and in a doctoral program have cut into her free time. She does not mind when I cache alone; she only minds when I do so for longer than I said I would be gone. I need to work on my estimates of time and everything will be OK. My daughter has her own account, but at age 3 she is not up for every cache I hunt.

I don't even know who approves caches in Illinois, but he/she rocks! I have only had problems that were my own doing. I thought I had marked all the caches already in the park, but I was too close to one. That was entirely my own fault and the approver was helpful in pointing that out.

Why would a county-wide cache be considered a vacation cache? I don't know of any counties large enough to require a vacation to see all of it.

Wascozookeeper has a very nice historical multi in the suburbs of Chicago. I cannot remember how many stages, but I have been to the first couple and it is really enjoyable.

I have mentioned it with some of my students. One has actually begun caching under his own name. Another staff member became interested via this student and took his Adventure Studies class caching when they were on a hike in southern Illinois. If I can entice the whole school to get involved (just over 3200 students total), think about how many hides there could be in my local area!

I'd suggest resubmitting your post without the picture. That may have been enough for the cache owner to decide it needed to be deleted, though I cannot offer a reason why it would have taken nearly a year to do. Mention your efforts to contact this person in your log. At least you will know they got the message if your log is deleted again. I'm no expert, but that seems to be the general advice given in similar situations elsewhere in this forum. Good luck.

Congratulations, my wife and I are expecting our own #2 in August. I have to agree with the two's the limit comment. Having the children outnumber us would only be trouble.

I had run a marathon two years before. Since then, the job got in the way and I gained significant weight. Geocaching has helped me bring my weight back in line. It is also a good family activity. My nearly 3 year old daughter loves finding the boxes. I do fewer yard projects, but don't really mind that.

I think it is a great idea also. My 60CS is a little larger than any carriers I have seen. I would certainly trade for one of your pouches if I saw it in a cache.

Here in the far western suburbs of Chicago, I can find gas for $2.10/gallon. It makes me wonder when the prices fluctuate so much from day to day, but it has not yet slowed my caching. Coaching a spring sport at the school where I teach has slowed it down a great deal more.

In the suburbs of Chicago, I have see owls and hawks, though they are not terribly frightening. I did see this at GCABA6. I wanted a picture of this, so I tried to approach it stealthily. When it started to trot away, I started to run. I know humans occupy the top spot on the food chain, but chasing a coyote might have been taking that a little to literally.

I have to admit that I am a little surprised that the owner of TC has not yet responded to questions about what was there. I saw it before the password protection was added and have to agree that it was in very poor taste. What's that all about?

On a trip to Grand Rapids last spring, I think we found 23 or 24 on one day. I was with a couple other cachers and they made the hunt more enjoyable. I have to admit that I am not likely going to repeat that again. I would rather find only a few but hike further.

I started caching just to get outside more in the winter. It has, at various times, been a great family activity, something my wife wishes I would do less, an obsession, a way to find small local parks I might not otherwise have encountered. Overall, I enjoy it greatly.

Being north of I-80 disqualifies me from what I consider Central Illinois. Oswego if fairly close to the central part going east-west. Hoorary for the far western suburbs in any case.

I paid for gc.com because I find it is truly worth the price. PQs and access to MOCs aside, the site is among the things that most interest me even when I cannot manage to get out hunting caches(like right now). I'd love to use GSAK, but there is no Macintosh option. If there ever is, I promise I will pay for it.

I know it is still a few days away, but I wanted to congratulate you and your wife. I know having a child has changed my life. I know people have commented that girls are more difficult when they reach dating age, but my two-and-a-half year old will give them a run for their money. Despite that, I would still call this the best move my wife and I ever made.

The tenor of this thread makes me appreciate the new ignore option all the more. Frankly, I think some of the posters should probably look into that option further. If you think lampost micros are not worth your time, then just ignore them. I find that I have little enough time to do the things I enjoy that I don't want to waste it slamming a person's cache placement. I don't feel the need to lambaste someone by posting a note to their cache page. If I don't like someone's hides, I just don't do them anymore. I find life in general more enjoyable when I don't get worked up over the insignificant details.

I think that is great. I cache in the southwest suburbs of Chicago and really enjoy when I find signature items or other cool things for trade.

The suburbs of Chicago is not really close to Pekin, but I would be willing to make the trek for a chance to grab a Moun10bike coin. They are very cool looking and I would love to see it for real.