greyhounder

Those Quiznos "things" sort of frighten me. I'm worried that I'll go to Quznos and find one of"them" on my sandwich!!! But at the same time, I'm strangely drawn to them..... (Wish I could get that song it sings out of my head.......) Bec

That would certainly be MY worst nightmare...... Bec

Female Cacher here! I am mostly a solo cacher, but have gone with other, more experienced cachers (I'm still new at this) and with some friends. But mostly it's just me and possibly a dog. I did this because....hmmmm....it just sounded cool. I like to be outdoors. I like to hike. I needed more exercise. I can take my dogs with me most of the time. I'm sort of a techno-geek. I guess for lots of reasons. I had heard about this activity from a fellow greyhound owner over a year ago. It took me a while to actually look it up though. The whole idea of finding something that someone has hidden was just a neat concept. Numbers don't mean much to me -- I at about 30 finds right now. I am excited to reach 100 finds though. After that, maybe 1000 would be a good milestone. But I am highly competitive, so I'm anxious to be FTF someday. I do get up early to go to new caches, but as yet, my experience there. Soon though! I was trying really hard to be FTF on one this past Saturday, got to the first waypoint by 7:30am, but got stuck on waypoint 2. I had to go to work, so I had to leave and was not FTF. Oh well. I'm having a great time! I've met a number of local cachers and have been getting to see places I've never known existed. Bec

I suppose I would be a 1-ish. I've been doing this a little over a month and have around 30 finds. There's still so much to learn! Bec

Peanut is my super cool geo-dog! She's a little mixed breed terrier. As you can probably tell by my name here, I also have a greyhound. Please refer to my avatar to see what he tends to do for fun (actually, he's 12 years old, so he'll be caching in nicer weather -- whenever that arrives!) Bec

I too can applaud the Geko 101. This is my first GPS and I've not had any trouble with it. I always gets me to the cache and entering the coordinates by hand is not that taxing. Mine has the added bonus of being curry scented (set a container of Singapore Mei Fun on top of the GPS and a little "juice" leaked through.) Apparently not only water resistant, but oil too! But I am already looking towards getting my next, upgraded GPS. I'd like to have the cool mapping stuff. Bec

I consider myself left handed as well. I write and eat with my left hand, but I have adapted myself to use lots of right hand tools. Couldn't use left handed scissors if my life depended on it. But my brain is definitely left handed. I have trouble with clockwise & counter clockwise concepts (just have a lefty try to unscrew something upside down) and analog clocks are always a little confusing as well....but maybe it's just me..... Bec

Hmmm...yes, Cachew, that was a rare moment for me -- climbing without injury. Got some lovely bruises and scrapes from the adventure for sure. But had a great time (again, thanks so much for all your help!!) Bec

Being the sick puppy that I am -- I am loving these stories!! Thanks for sharing. Stay tuned, I'm sure you'll be hearing some great tales of self-destruction from me in the future! Bec

I started geocaching this January. I live in Wisconsin. All my finds have been in the snow. I just prepare for the weather and go. I have one cache that I know I will probably not find until spring -- I've been out to it 3 times without finding it. I've been in snow up to my knees, and not being dressed, turned around again. I'v even climbed a rock ridge this past weekend over snow and ice (not the safest thing). I'm having a blast geocaching in the snow. I just figure it's going to make caching in other times of the year seem so much easier (or not!!!) Bec

I have already taken a peek at El Diablo's walking sticks. I will be purchasing one very shortly!! I just wonder what sort of injuries I will get from the walking stick (trust me, it will happen. I was shooing my greyhound out of the way last night and sprained a finger!) Bec

No -- not discouraged in the least. Falling is an art form for me. In winter, I do it about twice a week. I really laughed all the way down the slippery slope. Even funnier was watching my dog come sliding down after me (with much more grace than me). I just thought it would be fun for others to share their stories. It would make my pain heal so much better....... As of tonight, I have found another 3 caches. Haven't fallen since. Bec

Hi! I'm new to geocaching and wiped out finding my very first cache. I thought it was just me being a bit too out of shape, but here it is two days later and I'm a hurtin' unit. I went to my water aerobics class this evening and was really able to locate my aches and pains. I apparently twisted my entire right leg, bumped the right hip, bruised up my butt (that was mostly from the first fall of the trip. That was a simple slip on a patch of ice. The other was a sacrifice fall to the cache. I could see it from the trail above, but the terrain was icy and I had to sort of crash down to get at it.) And, the worst of it is someting owie in my lower back. Nothing serious, but I'm no young pup here. Not that it will stop me at all! I expect to make even more spectacular diggers in the name of geocaching. But it left me to wonder what other people have injured during geocaching adventures. Share your stories, if you dare to tell them! Thanks! Bec

Okay, thanks all! I guess I will find some cool greyhound trinkets to add (my ulterior motive is to make every last one of you adopt a greyhound -- :lol). I wanted to be sure I'm putting in appropriate stuff. I have all sorts of little things around my house, so I should be okay. I have the day off tomorrow -- hoping the weather is nicer and I can find a few more caches. I'd like to set The Tick TB on his way. Bec

All right, I've only been to 2 caches so far, but I want to be sure that what I leave is on a par with what others have in the caches. I've seen a bunch of kids meal types of toys in one, and the other (which had some cool stuff in it) had things like CDs and even a T-shirt. Is anything usable? What would be considered a "no-no"? I'd like to leave stuff that identifies me, like greyhound (and greyhound adoption) type things, but I don't want to be stepping on toes by trying to push my "opinions" on others (although I think everyone should adopt a greyhound ). The at the church cache I was at today had some things of a religious nature. I think that was great, but I know others might not, and therefore might not like this one, or participate in it. I've got a small stash of small star shaped metal picture frames, a few keychains, and some other cutsie stuff. Are they okay until I get my "themed" stuff? Thanks in advance (again) for any help in this matter! Bec

Sparky -- got your email and replied. Thank you!!! I actually somehow stuumbled onto doing it right and the travel bug is logged as mine, for now. He's so cute -- sitting on my computer grinning at me! I've been checking out some of the caches in my planned vacations for this year (Kansas and Delaware, and probably Illinois as well.) I just can't wait to get this going in earnest (I'm going to be a bit more cautious in the winter months and stay local.) Bec

I found Wild Turkey Roost today -- I wrote about my falls in there (certainly not afraid to share my trials and tribulations ) but an electronic log would be nice as well. I'll bet if you go to this cache while the temps are still cool, you'll see my bum prints in two locations (at the start of the trail and then right before I went sliding on down the slope!) I was planning on checking out a few more places, but given the weather and surface conditions -- thought better of it. Thanks for the replies folks -- it's really appreciated! Bec

I'm actually keeping a little journal of my caching adventures. I write down the coordinates and some info about the cache and my experience (such as my two slips on the ice today!) So I do have the waypoint info readily available to me for whenever I might want to see it again (I like the idea of introducing someone to geocaching through a spot I've already visited -- that would be one so far!) You are all so very helpful -- THANKS! Bec

I wasn't yet looking for a GPS that can connect to a computer. That's down the road. Although I'm quite pleased with the Geko 101 so far. Besides, I have a Mac, and oftentimes, technology is not Mac-compatible. And yes, I'm still trying to figure out how to retreive the TB. It's in my inventory, but it still shows up as at the Turkey Roost too. There were instructions in the baggie the TB was in, but it's not syncing yet.

I don't even know if this is what is customarily done, but I enter the coordinates of the cache location as a waypoint and then it's saved for future use. Do I need to keep it? I've found the cache -- is there any need to return to it? Looks like the GPS has saved my home and my parking location (I used the GPS to find that too.) Sorry if I sound dense, I can be sometimes..... Bec

Good notes! I took my dog Peanut (very small, high energy terrrier) with me today for my first geocache experience. She enjoyed it quite a bit. I also have a greyhound (hence the greyhounder name) who will join me on other treks as well. A pokey stick is a good idea. And one of your fabulous walking sticks, El Diablo, would have been just the ticket in helping me climb back up the slippery slope after my find (I'll be ordering one soon!) I was thinking earlier that I need to invest in some good hiking shoes. I used to always buy hiking boots, just because they looked cool, but rarely used them for their correct puprose. Now I can get a pair and put them to good use (I used to have a neat purple and pink pair -- wonder if I can find some just as cool.) And I wore sweatpants on my adventure and come home with really wet cuffs. This too, is part of the learning process, I believe.

I did my first geocaching experience this morning!! I took Peanut (my crazy little dog) with me and set off for Wild Turkey Roost. I know this area really well (grew up playing around the old train tracks when at a friend's house) and I knew there was no way to get lost (a major highway runs right next to the path.) Of course, it had sleeted (is that a word?) last night and the fact that I had to break sheets of ice off my truck windows should have been a clue, but I barreled ahead, getting a big kick out of the GPS counting down the miles. There were 2 parking options, so I took the further one (dog and I can get some exercise.) My first step onto the path and I slipped and fell on my butt! Ouch! Undetered, I kept going. Met one older couple coming my way (they thought Peanut was a rabbit! ) but after them, we were along (except for the traffic flying by on the highway next to us.) I found it, BUT -- it was down a small slope. Remember the ice and my earlier spill? But I tool the chance and slid down the embankment in a spilt legged fashion (not by choice). Peanut had less trouble coming down after me, but did a little sliding herself. Found a travel bug even! Climbing back up to the path was a challenge (again, not for Peanut) but the walk back to my card was great! I was in such a good mood and excited for my next adventure. Due to the slippery weather and my rear being a little on the sore side, I will wait for slightly better weather to do this again. But what a great time! The Geko worked great! I'm already hooked. I'm going to find all sorts of cool stuff to leave in the caches. I even have some ideas for caches of my own!

Thanks everyone for your great advice (keep it coming!!) I did slow down (a little -- my nature's not to be too slow -- ) and read through the manual -- it's not very big, so it didn't take long. But it also isn't the most informative. I think I've got a general idea though. Not sure if i'm going to try it out today or not (I want to!!) as it's pretty snowy outside. There are a couple of caches really close to me (I'd say within 5 miles) so I really should just give it a whirl. Today is the warmest it's going to be for a while. Might be nice to take one of the dogs with me for a little adventure. Wish me luck! I'm going to turn on my Geko now! Bec

Hi! I'm Becky! I'm so new, I just bought my first GPS a few hours ago. Haven't started it up or anything yet. I got a really inexpensive GPS (Garmin Geko 101). Thought that would be a good place to start. Haven't really figured out how to get my location stuff entered yet, so any help you can offer would be great!! I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl and of course haven't really sat down to fully read the instructions yet. I do see that there are a number of caches in my area, so I'm excited! I do a fair amount of travelling too, around parts of the US as well as my home state of Wisconsin. So, what sort of infor can you all give me to get me going in the right direction? What are the secrets? And aren't these guys cute? How many female geocachers do we have out there? Thanks in advance for any help!