BigAl437

I received mine yesterday. I can't wait to drop it off and pray it goes far. Of course I'll take a picture of it first.

I also have the same GPS and I love it. You can PM me if you want and I'll try and help you out.

I'm about to turn 50. My wife is about to turn 53. The kids are 27, 25, 20, 19, and 14.

I too usually hit garage sales and the like. I make sure what I buy is in nice condition and would be desirable by anyone. Sometimes I get some really good deals when stores are going out of business. I pick up something for adults, children, and even pets (play toys, chew toys and such.) I also keep the pet stuff in the original container so folks with pets know who it is for. I make sure there is nothing that is edible since that would attract wild animals. I know most adults are just going for the smiley, but make sure there is stuff in there for them as well as kids. This makes everyone happy. Also, keep it well stocked. Check on it as often as you can especially once the warm weather hits. I would also check it more often if it is being found a lot since some people (adults and kids) may take stuff, but leave nothing. Yes, that does happen. That's why I check up on them. Have fun and I think you will do quite well. It's nice that you want to find a bunch before hiding some. That's the way to do it right. Cache on my friend.

I have used the Educaching curriculum and it is great. I taught a group of 6 homeschool boys and it was total fun. They each signed up for their own account and when we did go out to find local caches they could then sign it for themselves. Educaching teaches more than just finding caches. We did this once a month and they are all still at it. We even did a class TB project. We made two TB's One, and also twoand sent them out. They thought this was totally awesome. I would print out info on where they had traveled and show them the next time we met together. Most of them graduate this year and it will be neat if the TB's can make it back for their graduation. We'll have to wait and see. Give it a try.

We are part of a Homeschool group that meets once a month for group activities at a park during the summer. My son, unknown to me, had found a cache with another friend. They took it home and divided the swag. My son kept the container, which was a camoed pill container. I was telling my daughter about this new sport I was reading about called Geocaching. When I explained the containers to her she said it sounded like what her brother had found. When we got home I asked my son about it. He showed me the container and I knew it was a cache. I told him we needed to put it back where he had found it. I asked him if there was anything else in the container and he said yes. A paper with names on it. They had thrown that away, but the other boy had kept the little tag that was in there. I showed him a picture of a TB and he said that was what was in there. I called the friend and we were able to get the TB tag back minus whatever was attached to it. We put the TB tag back in the container and then I found the cache on GC.com and downloaded it to my GPS. We went out right away and I found the place it was supposed to be. My son said I was right on target. We placed the cache back and then I logged it as my first find. I then contacted the TB owner and told him what happened. He was able to go out and get it and resend it once again. And that is what got us into Geocaching. Since then my whole family has gotten into caching. It truly is a fun sport.

I always encourage those with me to sign the log if they are not members, yet. I say yet because maybe I can talk them into getting into caching and opening up their own account. I sometimes sign a second time and as was mentioned above I let the CO know the status of the cache. It sure is nice to get a note like that so you as a CO know its condition.

I see that you are a Premium Member on GC.com. It is true that you can download any number of caches as a pocket query. It would be best to read up on how to do this on GC.com's knowledge base. I'm not sure about the trex 10, but you might only be able to load about 500 caches on it. The person above me mentioned how to do it from the page on GC.com. They told you the correct way to do it in a very easy and helpful way. Try it the way they mentioned and see if that works before trying the PQ I mentioned. Also, try for some easy caches first like low difficulty of 1 and terrain of 1 or 2. You'll find more of them and get better at finding them quicker. Hope this was a help. If you need more help feel free to get back on here and ask more questions.

I purchased two of the etrex yellow GPSr to use in a class I was teaching. I went ahead and bought the cables needed to be able to download from GSAK or Mapsource. Like was mentioned above you can load up to 500 caches in these units. I have loaded each one with caches around my area for my kids to use after homeschooling is done. Then if they want to they can take a walk to the State Park and find some caches they have not found yet. They are a good unit, but you cannot add maps to them since they do not take a micro sd card. This can be a little discouraging if you come to a creek and it doesn't show it on the GPSr. It only shows where you are and where the cache is. Use this one for a while to find some caches. When you can afford it purchase another unit that is a little better. Anyway you look at it just have fun.

I agree with the above posts. I would not log it unless I actually held it in my hands, or the hands of someone I was actually with at the cache. Otherwise I would call a friend of mine in Nicaragua and have him find the caches around his area since I was there a few years ago, but that would just not be right. Keep it above board and honest. Remember, we are teaching our kids we take out caching what we think is right. Let's set the example. Besides, you were pretty sure from the start of what the answer was going to be. Now get out there and cache some more.

Welcome to our new Geocaching friend. I hope you find plenty of caches this weekend. And as was already mentioned please tell us of your adventures. This is a fun sport for all who get involved. Be sure to read up on the forums as to what to take along with you while you are out caching. Have fun and cache safe.

I have the Garmin Etrex HCX and I love it. It has a memory card slot and I can have 1000 waypoints. It has worked great for me for the three years I have owned it. The only thing I don't like about it is that in the note section you only have 30 character limit. I cannot get a lot of the hints put on it, but then I don't always need them anyway. Hope you find a good one.

Dave, Welcome to the sport,addiction, obsession of Geocaching. Glad you now have a family thing to do together. There are plenty of caches around to find. Get back out there and enjoy yourselves.

I use to drive a 98 olds Bravada, but then my daughter just crashed it during our last snow storm. Now I have to find something else to drive.

This sounds like something for a Challenge, which I am not really into. You can find info out on GC.com about them. I'm not sure where you live, or what's nearby, but the other thing you could do is hide a Geocache nearby and give it a name like vulture or something. Then on the cache page you could mention that people could take a picture of the sculpture and post it IF they want to. Most Reviewers don't like you to tell people to do something, which is what your origianl post states. Just to let you know that most people are really leery of trying to find a cache in someone's yard. Hope this helps.

Kendelle, welcome to the addiction. You could plan something for your trip as mentioned. Just use the hide and seek a cache main page to look for some where you will be going. Then all you have to do is download them to a GPS, if you have one, and then search for them once you get there. They are hidden all over the world. I just drove from Texas to PA with my son and we hit 8 different states and found about a dozen caches along the way. It's lots of fun. Purchase some small items that can be traded for the SWAG. Stuff We All Get. You could also look at getting some type of bag to carry all of your gear in. I use either a backpack or fanny pack. They both work great. You can check other places on the forums for what to put in your geobag as geogear. Enjoy your time together. This is a great family hobby to get into.

This bothered me too for a long time until I checked the box to keep me logged in on both places. If you don't check the box you'll either get use to logging in or you'll quit reading the forums.

You have acquired this nano so by all means find a nice place to take people to and hide it there. If you make it worthwhile some people will find it. It's up to you. You don't have to agree with everyone on the forums. Read what they have to say and make up your own mind. Don't let the fact that people say "only hide large containers because they are easy to find" be your overall guide. I have had to log a number of DNFs on large caches because we could not find them. Sometimes they don't get put back exactly where they belong. So all in all hide your little nano. Just go have fun.

Welcome to the fun. You'll soon be hooked for life, if not already. This is one of the most fun things our family does. Get out there and enjoy your new sport. And as was mentioned earlier, read, read, read, and read some more. Never stop reading and learning. Also, check out as many forum posts as you can. You'll be surprised at what you can learn from them.

It's always okay to take more than one TB or GC. Just make sure you move them soon. If you go back to a cache, whether it's yours or one you have visited already, take the trackable and move it along. Especially if it has been there for a while. You may have found a cache that most other cachers in your area have found so it may not get as many visitors as other new caches might. Just choose to "write a note" and then move the trackable along.

Don't worry, lots of people have that problem. I have the etrex Vista HCX and it does almost the same thing. Like everyone said, once you get to about 15 to 20 feet put the GPS in your pocket and start using your Geosenses. If you don't have Geosenses yet you will have really soon. Look for the logs out of place, tree bark where it doesn't belong, piles of rocks, things of that nature. You'll soon be chocking up those smileys in no time. Hope you find many more. Enjoy the sport.

I did not change my picture; I just wanted to do the test.

Hey, thanks for asking about this. I have never heard of that before and I have been caching for a couple of years. I just learned something new. Thanks.

I was taking my daughter and son (cachers) out with a friend (non-cacher) so he could see what it was all about. It was at night. Just as we were about to go into the woods the Park Ranger showed up. He didn't seem to happy so I told him we had been Geocaching. He then asked all about it and got quite friendly. We talked for a long time and I showed him some Geocoins I carry and gave him all sorts of info on caching. He really liked the idea and did not even know there were caches in the state park. He said he'd have to talk to the other Rangers who did know about it. In our state park you have to get specific permission to place them. I have one hidden there, but there are many, many more there. Maybe this guy will check it out and get into it. We ended up leaving and going to another cache of mine to show the friend what it was all about.

Ditto what everyone else has said. There is a cache near me that during the summertime the CO uses a green container and then in the winer he uses an orange container. It states that it is harder to find in the summer, but a little easier to find in the winter. That is unless it has snowed. These are all good suggestions I'll have to keep in mind for when I hide one in a tree. I right now have a two stage multi-cache and I used the first stage in a pine tree just because the needles are almost always green. Plus the item I used just looks more natural in a pine tree. Hope this helps you.