TFTC

Ooh, thanks for that, drool, drool.... what, work? wha?

Hey, is this Team Gecko's cachemobile?

Hey, we're not far from page 136, are we?

Hopefully we can go wherever TrailGators can since our truck is similar to his. But that's encouraging! Thanks!

We're going to try to make it Thursday - is there a sequence planned in case anyone is running late? And are these caches kid friendly (sounds like they would definitely be educational)? Would anyone like to plan a return trip on Friday or Saturday to do Bear Valley and any straggler SCCC's?

I haven't found a way to do this in Google Earth itself. If anyone wants to experiment, here's what the resulting .kml file looks like (note: the image file (TC.gif) is one I just downloaded from the GC.com cache page - one for each cache type): <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0"> <Document xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3/org/1999/xlink"> <name>GPS device</name> <open>1</open> <Style id="defaultIcon"> <LabelStyle> <scale>0</scale> </LabelStyle> </Style> <Style id="hoverIcon"> <IconStyle id="hoverIcon"> <scale>1.299999952316284</scale> </IconStyle> </Style> <StyleMap id="defaultStyle"> <Pair> <key>normal</key> <styleUrl>#defaultIcon</styleUrl> </Pair> <Pair> <key>highlight</key> <styleUrl>#hoverIcon</styleUrl> </Pair> </StyleMap> <Folder> <name>Waypoints</name> <Placemark> <name>100A/TR38/FFFF: Trail Mix at Pinyon Mountain</name> <description>http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=4874ef09-e4f3-4f60-8734-3fe58bb92b90</description> <TimeInstant> <timePosition>2001-07-09T08:00:00Z</timePosition> </TimeInstant> <styleUrl>#defaultStyle</styleUrl> <Point> <coordinates>-116.303167,33.050933,0</coordinates> </Point> <Style> <IconStyle> <Icon> <href>C:/Keyhole/Images/TC.gif</href> </Icon> </IconStyle> </Style> </Placemark> (snip all the remaining placemarks) </Folder> </Document> </kml>

A few more examples of what you can see with Google Earth:

Here's a bit of banter about Google Earth (from the SD Cache Events topic): Here's what I do: I have all the caches in GSAK. I export whatever I want in Google Earth to a gpx file. You can use one from GC.com directly, I'm sure, but later on I need to make sure the waypoint label is in a specific format so I can know what kind of cache it is. I open the gpx file in Google Earth. Then I right click on the GPS Device folder under Temporary Places and save it as a Google Earth .kml file. That's really an xml file (text, so you can edit it). Then I use a program I wrote (in Visual Foxpro) to hide all the labels unless I mouse over them and to change the cache icons to the ones from the GC site. Then I open my converted .kml file in Google Earth. The labels only appear when you mouse over a cache icon. Like so: Don't be afraid to save anything you are looking at in Google Earth to a .kml file and take a look at it in Notepad. I've figured out how to superimpose real-time SD traffic, weather and earthquakes onto Google Earth by doing that. If you copy and paste this into a text file and open it with Google Earth, you'll see the SD Traffic map superimposed over San Diego: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <kml xmlns="http://earth.google.com/kml/2.0"> <GroundOverlay> <name>San Diego Traffic (DOT.CA.GOV)</name> <color>49ffffff</color> <Icon> <href>http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist11/d11tmc/sdmap/sdmap/sdmap.gif</href> <refreshMode>onInterval</refreshMode> <refreshInterval>600</refreshInterval> </Icon> <LatLonBox> <north>33.28695264330658</north> <south>32.50506664469541</south> <east>-116.7800202535866</east> <west>-117.7026227665829</west> </LatLonBox> </GroundOverlay> </kml> Like so:

OK, I'd like to hit SCC #3, #4 and #16 then hit Bear Valley then Proctor Valley Monster at dark. I can split off for Bear Valley so you guys can complete the SCC caches... I'd be coming down the 15 to the 8. I could zig over to 67 and come down that way too... Drats - too bad this is Thanksgiving day instead of one of the three following days! We have to be in Carlsbad by 1.

I'd be happy to share my Google Earth experience under the SD Banter topic so as to not drive all the SCCC info off this page before Thursday! But the bad news is that I had to write a program to do that. If you know any programming languages that can manipulate a text file, you can do it too.

Ha, it'll probably take us the better part of a year! The cluster appears to be in Bear Valley. No relation to RM - just becoming a pretty good Google Earthling!

(img snip) Ok, thinking optimistically , SCCC's + possible collateral cachage:

And the rest (that I could find): Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 1 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 2 ... Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 4 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 5 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 6 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 7 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 8 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 9 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 10 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 11 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 12 Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 13 ... Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 16 This sounds like a lot of fun, but at our usual pace, I'd probably find two (hopefully) before having to head back home!

This appears to be the next cache event - quoted from the San Diego Thread: Sandy Creek Cowboy Cache No. 3 Please ignore my cryptic waypoint label!

I'm coastal - still debating whether to go today or maybe next weekend (possibly with TrailGators) and have the option of hitting a few more caches at the same time...

I'd like to but I'm playing Dad today and running kids to school stuff, hockey games, etc. They always seem to plan that stuff whenever the Chargers are playing... Anyhow, I wish this has been done on a Friday or Saturday night but I'll make it down there someday..... If I don't make it tonite then maybe we can plan another excursion (and maybe hit some of the Otay Lakes/Sweetwater Res. caches in the afternoon) soon. I haven't hit any caches south of downtown yet mainly because I usually have the kids with me and that's a bit of a cruise for us.

Anyone from North County thinking of heading down to Proctor Valley?

I think this shows the meeting area (and cache start) for the Proctor Valley Monster cache:

Hmm, don't think so? But anything is possible - we put all our stuff on the ground there - I assume everyone does!

Hope this will do: San Diego Cache Events

This thread is to arrange group outings to tackle particular caches.

Ha! We're early birds, been there done that and are back home before you guys even get started!

Once we get our post count here to record levels, maybe we should spin off a SD "cache event" thread (unlike "event caches", these would be events to group hunt for certain caches) to make it easier to keep track of such events. The post count here is so high that they slip off onto old pages in a day or two.

This Saturday is Joshua Tree if you want to camp at Indian Cove (and geocache) Sunday evening is Princess Toadstool organizing the evening/night caching Thanksgiving is the 630am start (place to be determined) for the Sandy Creek geocache series. That is all I know. I will be going for The Forbidden Forest on Sat night if all goes well. Anyone else want to go? So who gets to wake me up on Turkey Day? It has been years since I saw 6:30am. That one sounds do-able! What time? I'm wondering if my kids can handle it