Ma & Pa

I can see the ALR prohibition working where there is a threat of deletion of a FOUND log for not following the CO's TB restriction. However, the ALR prohibition does not cover cases where the CO has placed restrictions on TB removal but has not threatened log deletion. A clear guideline would avoid lots of conflict and would perhaps eliminate the insulting email I received in the case I cited above.

I agree. I have looked a long time and found nothing I have seen cachers use the following links to quotes from EARTHA when arguing on this topic. http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=142059entry2422784 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=272897entry4690169 http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=94185 I believe that Eartha has said to use these links which implies that there is nothing else on this topic in the guidelines. I have heard of a cacher posting these links in logs on a TB Hotel and the CO deleted the logs.

GOOD POINT In our mind the trackables (TB’s)want to travel so we like to help out. When we travel we take all the trackables with us that we find before leaving and on the way and drop them off in caches at our destination. We pick up all the trackables we see during our travels and bring them home with us. All the trackables that we bring home, get a visit to our Lobster cache for mileage and to entertain the TB owner. So far 466 trackables have visited that cache, even though there is no room for a trackable in the cache. We take many long trips that include geocaching. We took about 40 TB’s with us to California in April and brought about 40 back with us. The previous trip there, we moved over 50 in each direction. We took a bunch with us when we went to Virginia. It is about a 20 hour drive to get there but it took us 2 weeks because of caching. We picked up more in Quebec and Ontario on the way. We also picked up more in the US as we drove down. At one point during the trip we had over 50 with us and dropped them in caches during the trip. We picked up a few down in the US and brought them home with us. We often have WI-FI during our trips and we can check where the TB’s want to go and we try and help them. We have moved a lot of TB's to and from UK, Ireland, and all the way down I-95 from Maine to Florida We take all or nearly all the trackables out of the caches we visit, even the Hotels that may have rules about taking only as many as you leave. Some of the CO’s state that the rule is to ensure that there are trackables for the next person who wants to come and take some. This may be OK for Hotels on major highways and at airports, but in our experience most Hotels do not get visited much after the local cachers have logged it. So trackables often spend a lot of time in the older hotels. Bottom line to us is that trackables want to travel so we grab them all and move them. If a cache owner owns a Hotel it should be part of their responsibility to watch over that cache and move the TB’s that have been there a long time. On the same subject, I do not understand the new trend that sees cachers discovering trackables that they see in a cache but not taking it with them. To me this goes against what caching is all about. Caching works because people are doing things for others, for example, preparing caches, helping maintenance, holding events, moving trackables, etc.

Got an email from the owner of a TB Hotel. He did a bit of digging and discovered that we had taken 15 TB’s (of the 25 in there). He was not happy. He said he put his rules in large bold coloured letters and I had no excuse for taking that many. He said that if everyone acted like us, the hobby would have died a long time ago. He closes by saying that he hopes in the future that we will be more responsible and respectful of the basic rules in geocaching as well as those in society in general. He states the following on his cache page: FOR EXCHANGE of TRAVEL BUGs and GEOCOINS. You can take ONE TB OR ONE GEOCOIN without exchange if you are sure to move it in the right direction… Thanks. I looked closer at the cache page and his profile and at the list of past trackables that had been in the TB Hotel and I found the following. *One cacher had taken more than one TB in mid May but returned them and apologized for breaking the rules *The CO has logged over 4000 trackables. Likely he enjoys the high numbers so he discovers all the TB’s in his caches. *A number of the traackables had been in the cache for a long period, and had been discovered by a number of local cachers who had dropped by the cache to discover them. My reply stated my philosophy about trackables and I gave examples of all the TBs that we helped travel during our many trips. I mentioned that he had put 25 TB’s in his cache and wanted people to only take one. On that basis, some of those TB’ would never leave. I closed by saying that we would not change our approach with regard to Trackables. I suggessted that he get the opinion of other cachers.

I dont know much HTML but know enough from copying, etc., to allow me to add links, photos, etc. I have a large number of puzzles that use the same preamble, so I copy the HTML from previous caches of ours and paste on the new cache page. When I first started doing this, some of the graphics links information would get screwed up and text would appear where the graphics should be. I found a solution to the problem. When I first start on a cache page, I indicate that it is html, but I leave the text empty. I then submit. Then I edit the page and paste the html information, and it all comes out OK when I submit. Before writing this reply, I tried preparing a new cache page without following the above, and the graphics links were messed up. I then redid it with the above step and it worked perfectly. I am not very knowledgeable about computers, so I dont know why this is. Likely somebody will tell me.

I note that the background image is now visible as the cache page seems a little transparent. This affects puzzles which have information in the background

The cache listing pages now show a yello happy face and a star for finds and hides. I find them small and unclear. I much prefer the red check marks and arrows. So much easier to spot

Some of my puzzle caches use large letters. These letters now overlap and cant be read. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...e1-6946aee60466

That's helpful. Thanks. I'm sure they will fix ugly. Well I certainly hope so

GC1Z40P The letters are overlapping on the math equations for sme of my logic puzzle caches.

Some of our caching friends think we are getting out of caching. It seems there are more than one Ma & Pa (Ma and pa)

Actually It is not the root of the problem, it is a similar but less disgusting action by the cache owner. Before commenting I should mention that I started the thread on the MGA to bring to light Misha's action. It should also be noted that this thread was started by WAM which is the name that Misha's mother uses when she caches. It is likely that Misha himself started the topic here. For those whe havent read the MGA thread, here is a summary Misha was upset at El Nimrod because he had indicated that some of Misha's caches needed maintenance and Misha disagreed. They apparently had words about it at an event. (Misha has indicated lately that he found El Nimrod to be a shady individual) Some time later El Nimrod and 3 caching friends did a power caching trip. Misha claims that they did not close containers properly and some were thrown in ditches. On a recent caching trip, Misha was confronted by a home owner who was upset because someone had walked over a newly sodded lawn, traipsed mud over a deck,, gone through a garden and broken through two fences. Misha assumed it was cachers and found that the 4 power cachers were the last to find the nearby cache. He then decided to delete all finds of his caches by these individuals, in one case this amounted to about 140 caches. Note that there is no evidence of anything here. In any event one of the cachers has protested the attack on his character (Not the deletion of his caches). Misha has since advised the other 3 cachers that he shuld not have found them guilty by association and will allow them to relog their finds, but has stated that he will look at El Nimrod's case later. I know that GC rules don't address this. Deletion of finds is at the discretion of the owner. But in my mind, such deletions should relate to the actual cache and not the person. Pa

another vote for Cache Agent

I think this is a great idea. These would not necessarily be drive by caches but could actually be interesting areas that travellers would not have seen otherwise. In the Moncton area for example there are a number of areas such as magnetic Hill, with more than one cache very close to the TCHW. Also many caches in Mapleton Park and Irishtown Park. The Sackville NB area also has quite a few interesting caches. It would be important as you say for the owner to indicate time that it would take to get to the cache.

its ok to have moved but I posted cause I wanted to share what I thought was a good idea. Also, if any maritimers arent aware, the MGA site is very active with a large number of cachers.

moi aussi j'aimerais savoir. Je converti les lat long en min et sec

This is cache placement weekend in the Maritimes. Everyone was looking forward to it and we had great cooperation from our approver. We have been hiding for a few eeks and the approver has been holding them. So just after midnight last night, the caches started to be posted. About 175 caches have been added so far. Its been great fun and now we have a whole bunch of new caches to find. Here is Maritime Geocaching website.

Our log from one of our first finds: Centennial Creek Great day for a walk in Centennial Park. Temperature minus 25 C and wind chill minus 45. We were bundled up and spent 2 hours looking for the caches in the Park. The cold weather did not bother us but it froze the moisture on my eyeglasses and played havoc with the GPS batteries and affected the readings. The hard packed snow on the main trails supported us pretty well and the exercise kept us warm.

Our grandkids Jake & Ben are here in Moncton from Ottawa with their parents. We decided to open a few gifts today. The first gift was an envelope for us. Inside was a card from the family with coordinates written on it. We put the coordinates in our GPS and found out it was about 200 meters from home. So out we all went to locate it. It turned out to be a micro with coordinates written on it. This lead us to a walk around the block and three more micros and finally a gift hidden behind our baby barn (shed). We brought it inside and discovered a great geocaching gift. It was a power tool box with the words GEOCACHING and MA & PA inscribed across the front. The box had a few compartments and a tray at the top with small compartments. It was full of goodies. The tray had tons of small trading items and there were a few larger trading items in other places. There were a number of log books and pencils and erasers as well as a box of zip lock bags. Also inside was a beautiful zippered portfolio (briefcases) with dividers inside marked with sections for new cache pages, , previously found ones, etc. This also was inscribed GEOCACHING and MA & PA What a wonderful gift. It is going to stay with us in the truck all the time. PA

We are having the same problem, so we tried going to preferences. When we input our Legend and went to settings it showed com 1 and a baud rate of 9600. there was no way to change it. Any suggestions? Thanks Pa

While reading in the forum the other day I saw this statement: Failure is a hard pill to swallow until you realize the only failure you can really have in this sport is the failure to enjoy yourself. I can't recall who said it and I don't know if it was an original quote, but I thought it was a great motto. In fact it is likely a motto I should live by. In any event, it made me wonder if geocaching had a motto, and if we need one. PA (MA & PA)

My wife and I were camped by a river in Fundy National Park when a young couple stopped by our site. They were doing a day hike. They were a newly married couple from Italy on their honeymoon. The young lady could only speak Italian but the man could get by with a little English and a lot of French, so we spoke French. He had always dreamed of visiting Canada and he was really excited to be here. They had flown into JFK in New York, had rented a car and drove up Interstate 95 and crossed the border into New brunswick. Their drive brought them to Fundy where they got out of their car and started walking a hiking trail. So here he was in the middle of the woods in Canada, living his dream. He pulled out a small brochure about Canada from his pocket and started asking us about Canada. It soon became clear that he had no idea about his dream country, and had no idea where he was. He turned to a hand drawn map of Canada in his brochure, pointed to Hudson Bay and asked me how long it would take him to drive there.

We have been looking for caches for only a few months now, here in South Eastern New Brunswick, Canada. We still have a lot to learn. One thing we have learned is that there may be more than one way to get to a location. Another thing is that the sport around here is different in Winter than in Summer. Some caches are not available in Winter, and we recently found out that some caches may also be a problem in Spring. Here is what happened recently when we went out thinking most of the snow was gone in the woods. (Don't be too hard on us, we are still newbies) "I am reporting our no find for the benefit of other newbie cachers. We tried to get to this from Gorge Rd. Tried to get to it from closest spot on the road but the water was too deep and fast. We then drove down the road and crossed the little foot bridge. We were now 200 meters from the cache and had to go up and along a steep hill. We wore rubber boots thinking the snow wouldn`t be deep , but it was over our knees in spots and we had to take off the boots a dozen times to remove the snow. Eventually our socks and pants got soaked and our feet began to freeze. We had to bushwack in precarious places and couldn`t hang onto trees, as many of thenm were rotten and would fall when we touched them. We persisted till we got close but the tree cover played havoc with the GPS, so we had to get back to the truck for our own safety. A 1.5 hour adventure I suspect there is a better route to get to this cache. I would not recommend the direction we took, (especially for children), because of the snow , the steep incline and the many rotten trees."

Hey there fellow New Brunswicker We are avid backpackers. Our best boots were Vasque Sundowners which we purchased partway through our appalachian trail thru hike in 1999. They are mid weight and provide good support and we both found that there was no break in period. After many trips, the sole finally wore down to a point that there was no more grip, so we needed replacements. Unfortunately the price had gone up and many outfitters refused to carry them. I see that there is a newer and cheaper version out there, but I don't know about the quality. We always wear sock liners and hiking socks. It prevents blisters, although some hikers only wear one pair of socks and swear by that. I have a thin polyester Tshirt that wicks moisture away from my body. I also often wear it as an inner layer in cooler weather. You may want to check out MEC.ca for a great selection of stuff in Canada. You can order by mail or even visit their Halifax store Ma & Pa

We did some geocaching in Virginia a few weeks ago and the geocaching was a joy. Most of the caches were hidden from prying eyes but when you got close, you could soon spot them. In my home area, however, there are a few cachers (some very prolific hiders) who place caches way off the beaten path and when you get close, you may end up spending a long time in a fruitless search because the tree cover affects the accuracy and the cache is hidden under one of many roots in the area, and then completely covered with dead leaves. I recently read a no find log where the person got very upset with the practice: "Even after reading all the instructions and comments it was a no go. There's something rude about hiding a film cartridge in dense forest when you can't get better than 10m accuracy. After reading all the past adventures/problems and no new hints, I'm not going after this one, sorry but it's not my idea of fun." I have heard that the cache belongs to the person who hides it, but are there etiquette rules, etc.??