Buggheart

The price of gas didn't really affect my caching either as there are tons of caches in my area and I started caching pretty much during peak gas prices. Now that prices have come way down ($1.50-ish) I'm not doing much caching but that's because it gets dark at 5pm and my new job has me very busy. Oh, and it's really cold here too. That kind of puts a damper on things.

Cachenots

Unless it is specifically stated on the cache page, how would you know if it is hidden in an electrical box, birdhouse, etc? Do you just walk up, get a sense that it could be there, and abort the mission if you get that feeling? YEP...pretty much! If the hider is acting at least somewhat responsible and marks the container (like they should for a cache of these kinds), I will KNOW I'm walking away, if not, I guess I miss out! No biggie to me as I am not out to "win" any kind of speed challenge lol I just think of how many times I've walked up and could have sworn it was in the electrical box only to find it elsewhere. Well whatever works for ya. We all play the game differently.

Unless it is specifically stated on the cache page, how would you know if it is hidden in an electrical box, birdhouse, etc? Do you just walk up, get a sense that it could be there, and abort the mission if you get that feeling?

Congrats on finding your first cache! I love the enthusiasm in your post and am happy you're having fun. Good luck on your next hunt

I don't have anything on my list either and have also found something enjoyable about every cache I've found even if it's just the company I'm with or the fact that I'm outside breathing in fresh air and not working. I'm not a big fan of multis with more than 2 stages, hiking for miles, or doing anything dangerous so I don't do those caches but I don't have those on ignore; I just don't do them. At some point I may choose to do them or a new one might be published that intrigues me but I'd never know it if I have it on my ignore list. And I don't even know how to put something on my ignore list anyway so I couldn't if I wanted to.

I love cemeteries and visit them when I'm on vacation or come across a particularly interesting one in my area that I've not visited. The history is interesting and I find myself seeking out caches in cemeteries as it gives me an extra excuse to go there. I don't think it's cool to hide a geocache ON someone's grave however. Of the several I have found in cemeteries, only one has been near an actual headstone. All the others were in a tree or up against a fence along the perimeter of the cemetery. Everyone is different though so if they bother you, don't do them.

I just usually walk up and ask "did you find it?" and that seems to work well for me.

No one here ever used the computer at the library? Or heard of a wireless hot spot? Not impossible to get a cache published without an evidence trail to follow. Also very unlikely to find a booby trapped cache. Terrorists want a target with LOTs of bystanders. You win the prize! Seems most people don't get the point behind terrorism. Eith that type of attack, you're only freaking aout a few thousand people. you want to freak out 10's of thousands if not more. -snip- EXACTLY! A terrorist doesn't want to wait (potentially) days or weeks for the next person to come along and get hurt or blown up by a cache. They want to harm or at least scare the pants off of as many people as possible and do residual harm as well. For example, strap on a bomb and stand in the Santa line at a few malls across the country (large and small cities) and harm children and families. Not only would it harm/kill lots of people, it would probably bring the holiday shopping season to a screeching halt and do further damage to our economy. I'm actually surprised something like this hasn't happened yet (don't blame me if it does). The unibomber blew people up via the mail (or by messing with mailboxes, I don't really remember) and there was that whole anthrax thing years ago but the mail still gets delivered and we all still go out to our mailboxes to collect our bills and junkmail and hardly anybody dies doing so. That said, I think that even if a few people were harmed by a rigged cache most of us would continue the activity without that it would still continue. I mean unless someone plotted to rig thousands of them to blow up. Then that's a different story. But the odds of even that happening I think are much lower than someone going postal at work and blowing me away, dropping dead from ecoli on my Taco Bell green onions, or getting into a car accident trying to be FTF. I'll be honest and say that yes, I have thought about the possibility of a geobomb harming me or someone else, but it was just a fleeting thought and nothing to dwell upon. And now that I've made y'all scared of Christmas (if you weren't already), I'm outta here....

If you go up to the light blue "Options" box in the upper right corner of your post and click on the downward pointing arrow a menu is displayed. From that menu select "track this topic" which will bring you to another screen which allows you to select options for being notified of updates. I think that's what you're asking for. I've never tried it before though.

Hey Red, Thanks for the lightning fast reply and for the advice. I tried the hard reset and think that it worked. Sort of. I held the appropriate buttons down and powered on, got the message inquiring if I really wanted to do that, held my breath and said yes. Nothing really happened in that all my data and settings are still there but now the GPS is staying on and not turning itself off. I really wanted to get over to Canada today to meet my goal of caching in either 2 different states or 2 different country before year end and thanks to you I was able to do so. You're an angel.

Hi there, Had planned to make a run over to Canada this afternoon to do a little international caching. Plugged my Venture HC into the USB and into my laptop but the thing won't stay on. Tried 3 different sets of new batteries and pushed the power button but when it starts to acquire satellites it just powers it's little self off instead. Has anyone had this problem and/or know how to fix it? Thanks! p.s. Yes the batteries are in there the right way and I went to the Garmin website to make sure I've got the most current software loaded as well by using the WebUpdater but it won't stay on long enough to be detected by the updater.

I've learned gobs! Don’t sit on a hollow log. Always pee before leaving the house and during any stops made between caches as caching partner will always do or say something hilarious and make me laugh til I pee. Don’t wear nice clothes. Keep first aid kid well-stocked as I will always cut myself on something. When I cannot find the cache within a minute or two I have learned to trust my GPS and my geo sense. If a situation feels unsafe, get out. How to run a PQ and get the results on my PDA which I also learned how to use. How to use a GPS. Lots of patience in teaching others to cache and to use their GPS. How to explain geocaching to dentist and dental tech during dental exam (between the scraping, cleaning, and spitsucking) and getting them involved in the hobby. That being out in the woods at night is not nearly as scary as my mind thought it was. To carry a really good and strong flashlight when night caching. Learned that the hard, creepy way. There’s a lot of trash laying around. Learned about some really cool wooded areas near my house. Learned that geocaching is only a game and nothing to get seriously bent out of shape over. To not be upset when I’m (or my mom) is FTF and someone else gets ticked about it. To get to the cache site before my mom does as she will almost always find it first if I let her get ahead of me. To attach a pen to my keychain so I don’t have to run back to the car when I realize I forgotten to put one in my pocket. To keep my GPS connected to the USB cord and near my computer at all times to I can quickly download cords and be on my way. To keep fresh batteries on hand at all times. At home and in my bag. That I can no longer throw away pill bottles and miscellaneous containers that might be good cache containers. I learned all about pathtags and now have some that were given to me by kind local cachers. That most of the local “heavy hitters” in my area are really great people who love to talk up the hobby and help newish-bies like me improve. That many of my non-caching friends/family think I’m a huge nerd for loving it. And that they still love me anyway. That I can persuade my DH to come along with me for a find or three if I phrase the request just right. That due to atmospheric conditions my GPS can send me in the opposite direction of where the cache actually is.

You could highlight the info you'd like to print with your mouse and copy and paste it into another document and print that which would enable you to just carry the most important info for several caches on one or two pages rather than several pages for each. Some people download cache listings to a PDA so they can carry all the listings along with them while caching and get to the data if necessary. I also do not like to print gobs of cache listings out so I was using a small notebook to plan out my daily route and to note certain things about each (Name, #, size, location). But when I started randomly caching on the way to or from somewhere I ran into problems as I didn't have the info with me and had to call friends a few times so I got a PDA and keep that with me and it works great.

Western N.Y. checking in. Yeah, it can be tough to locate caches in the snow, that's for sure. Really, only my first winter of geocaching (2003-2004) did we have like 2 feet of snowpack most of the winter, and local caching pretty much came to a standstill. Of course all caches in my area were "in the woods" back then. Sorry, couldn't resist. I like to go with the stick-poking, as someone else said. This works best for the light fluffy stuff. If there have been some freezing/thawing cycles, many caches will become frozen in. I like to think you can still find anything in 4" or less of snow. We've saved some Urbans just for the winter because of the snow (N42 - W76 checking in, 100 miles East of the WhiteUrkel) My mom and I are doing this as well so we have something to go after when there is too much snow to find things on the ground. Kinda makes me feel like a giant squirrel hiding my stash for the winter.

Hobby says it all. No hobby is FREE. I bet I could think of a few.

YEAH! And I also heard Geocaching hates handicapped chinldren! And the vertically challenged!

My mom does the same thing. She spends a great deal of time taking care of my dad who is ill so on the days when she cannot get out of the house to find a cache, she's solving and stockpiling puzzles for the day when she can get out. And it takes her mind off of illness and stress. We love them.

I sure can relate to that statement. My GPS has been really quite accurate but when I was out yesterday it was way off and so was my mom's. I went to a cache she had already found and she was watching me find it on my own and I was walking away from it. My GPS said it was 18 feet SE but it was actually 18 NE. It was weird. Someone told us it could have something to do with wet leaves on the ground, but I'm not sure if he was playing a newbie joke on us or if there is any truth to that.

If I'm being uninformed/naive please enlighten me, but how the heck would a plastic bag plopped in the grass be approved? I am not ready to hide a cache yet so I'm not up to speed on that whole process, but it just doesn't make any sense to me how something like that would be approved to begin with.

Can I just stick my name on the end of that? The only time I don't enjoy doing a puzzle is if there are mistakes in it or there are multiple ways in which to solve the puzzle and none of them seem to work. I looked into one recently where the clues were incorrect when it was published so cachers may have wasted time working with bad data until the owner corrected it 2 days later. Then there was another where there were multiple angles from which to approach the puzzle. When I finally found the right angle and actually walked thru the solution with the owner to show him how I was solving it, he had the approach backwards. So basically my only complaint/request is to make sure that the solution is correct by testing it out first. Not calling anyone's baby ugly, just sayin'.

OMG! I dont think I'd be able to bring myself to pick that up. Another option would be to think of non-obvious places in a park. For example, something hung down the hollow post of a fence, something rolled up and crammed into a hole in a telephone pole or one of those cement things used to mark parking spots (they must have a name but I don't know what it is).

Scooch over. Can I have some of that?

I've found lots of film containers tucked into holes in big trees so that might be an option too.

I notice things like that as well. I think it means we all have OCD or something.