Steve&GeoCarolyn
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Posts posted by Steve&GeoCarolyn
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Wow! You guys rock! These are great photos. Someone here has a tagline that says "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not." I think these photos definitely show that everyone here packs a bit of the beautiful in their cacher's gear.
Here is another from downtown Memphis, right near our Pyramid:
Ramsses' Tomb (If you're ever in Memphis and enjoy puzzle caches, this is the one to go for.)
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I would like to humbly bump this back into life. I would really like to see this feature enhancement.
Carolyn
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Not every beautiful place requires a hike. Some beautiful cache locations can be found in the city. Please post your favorite urban cache photos. It would be great if you'd include the GC number or link to the cache.
I'll start with Chickasaw Gardens GCTFPX, which is a breathtakingly beautiful park located in central Memphis right next to the Pink Palace Museum.
Houses along the Park
A Bridge
Like an Impressionist Painting
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Used to play GuildWar online
Used to do housework
Used to maintain the house
Used to work on my car
Nopw I pay people to do the work and I cache.
And people say geocaching is a cheap hobby! Who knew that it required hiring so many people?
Carolyn
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It hasn't replaced any hobbies because, well, there wasn't much time for hobbies with our jobs and workouts anyway. Instead it has replaced housework. Every Thursday my beloved says, "I think we should just stay home this weekend and get things done around the house" and I say, "Yes, you're right. We should."
On Friday I say, "I found an interesting cache we could go to sometime."
Then on Saturday morning he says, "OK, we're caching this morning to find that interesting cache plus a few others and then we'll do some work around the house this afternoon and we'll cache on Sunday."
We get home late on Saturday afternoon. I spend an hour or two logging. Then he says, "I'm too tired to do housework."
I say, "Does that mean no Sunday geocaching?"
He says, "No, no. We'll still go geocaching tomorrow. We'll do housework next weekend."
And so it goes. Our list of necessary house projects keeps growing larger.
Carolyn
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by the way, i am not "statophobic"; i find stats interesting.
however, i find the STORY much more interesting and i think too many people wish to substitute stats for story.
every time i meet a cacher who wants to know my find count, i answer vaguely and excuse myself from the conversation quickly.
my numbers are important to me. if my numbers are important to you, i consider you to be suspect just as much as i would if my income, my weight, or the size of my squishy bits were important to you.
I also find stats interesting (at least those that relate to me) and I keep them on my page because it is a convenient place to do so. We primarily use it at this point to track our oldest caches and to track our grid. Once I get my act together, we will track our beaver caches as well. Also we adore our little badges.
As to the story, what sort of thing do you desire here? In my life, the public parts about me are pretty dull and the exciting parts are private. So I don't tend to reveal much on a public board. If you met me I'd reveal more. If you were a close friend, even more. And if you were sleeping with me I'd spill everything. But since you're not sleeping with me and not a close friend, I'm not certain why you would want to know the dull portions of my life.
As to the size of my squishy bits, I've actually never met anyone who asked me that question. I am now wondering if this is a statistic I should be tracking in my life. Does everyone else know the size of their squishy bits?
Carolyn
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In case you didn't hear it yet. GeoSnippits is heading for the TV air waves. It will be featured on a RFD-TV Network show called Michigan Magazine. Introduction Interview with MMTV is already in the can and the initial segments are ready to go.
Congratulations!
Are there other good places to purchase swag besides the dollar store?
My favorite place is the bargain area of Claire's and Joanne's during sales. Claire's bargain area will often discount jewelry, little purses, and other items from $10 to $1-$2. Joanne's has little dollar items for kids into crafts (watercolor kits, etc.). The items from Claire's look fantastic and I know for a fact that they have the little girl segment of the population all sewn up.
What dollar range to you value swag that you put into a geocache $1.00, $5.00, $10.00 or more?
$1-$5
Have you ever put an item in a geocache for swag that you would consider above the norm? What was it?
I placed a beautiful snake charm in Six, Sicks, Icks because it was simply perfect for the theme and the challenge.
Finally the biggie, what was the most expensive item you traded for in a geocache?
A harmony ball. I didn't know it at the time but they're bought in pairs for $30-$45. (I looked it up on the internet. I truly regretted that I didn't trade equal at the time, but I'm terrible at assessing worth. I hadn't realized they were so expensive.)
Carolyn
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I have only 6 hides, but even my first took into account the delicacy of environment, keeping bushwhacking to a minimum.
I wonder if this word is part of the problem. From what I can tell it means various things. It means going off-trail while being sensitive to the environment. It means going off trail carelessly and leaving a path of broken branches and disturbed earth. And it means taking a machete to the vegetation. The last definition is the only one I'd known before geocaching.
As a newbie, I had trouble understanding what it meant in a cache description when it said, "Some bushwhacking required" (or "No bushwhacking required"). When we got there I couldn't understand why the cache owner meant us to cut a path through the woods when it was perfectly reasonable to simply walk through the area carefully. (I ended up deciding that some people were just crazy-destructive but that we didn't have to be.) Now I know that the word has multiple meanings in the geocaching world and I am comfortable with it. However, I suspect other people may have some of the same confusion I did.
Carolyn
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Here's an "Instructable" on making fake rocks from the stuff:
Very cool! Have you tried doing this? Or something similar?
Carolyn
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Darn...I was hoping you had a time machine...
Yeah, I like the time machine approach. Let me know when you get it!
My assumption is that one gathers the components for the time machine in the various 5/5 caches. Isn't that correct?
Carolyn
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Okay, I must be an idiot or something, because I just went out looking for three sites. OMG but why can't I find them. I'm not liking to admit that these are not marked as difficult.... I have my GPS and when I get to the site, I set it to Pedestrian.... but still NO luck. I was in hopes this would be something my husband and I could do together (quality time, yeah, right....) but since we have bombed out on this, he's not willing to even try going out again. So, someone out there clue me in, please......
Thanks,
Sandra
When you say that you set your GPSr to Pedestrian, does that mean that you are using a Nuvi or similar car-oriented GPSr? And if that is the case, are you trying for urban or non-urban caches?
We've found that our Nuvi in pedestrian mode is terrible in the woods. In urban environments it's ok, but it does not bring us as close to the cache as our Oregon does (or any GPSr made for trail use). My sense is that the Nuvi tries to force the location to the closest point to the road. Also, we've found that our search radius needs to be about 40-70 feet with the Nuvi rather than the 20-40 we use with the Oregon.
So if you are using a car-oriented GPS, it may mean that you have to widen your search area, trust it a bit less, read the clues, description, and title and rely more on those things along with your own powers of observation.
Carolyn
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Thank you so much to everyone!! I understand now. The date can be edited. No time machine required.
I think I'm ok with the mystery and multi caches in the area, though I will ask the reviewer for thoroughness. Now I'm off to paint my container and set up my page. (I have the coordinates.)
Carolyn
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I use a slightly different procedure.
1. Figure out what I want to do, series or single cache.
2. Using maps, GE and mapsource (other caches in the area with 0.1 mi circles. can be done with GE) find likely places.
3. Get a cache page, do some preliminary editing. I have my GC #. Make sure you uncheck the cache is active box.
4. Go scout out the exact area, get some co-ordinates.
4a. Contact my reviewer and make sure I'm good to go. I generally am because I most likely have done the multis and mysteries in the area.
5. Put together the cache(s), GC numbers on the logs.
6. Go place the caches, take some more co-ordinate readings.
7. Finish editing the pages, average up the final co-ordinates
8. Check the cache is active and submit.
Doesn't that mean that your Date Placed date will be wrong? Is that something that can be edited? Or am I obsessing over something that really doesn't matter?
Carolyn
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An old WWII powder factory being retaken by nature
The stacks:
Odd sections of the factory:
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I know that I must be making this over-complicated, but I'm not getting past it. Here is my understanding of the sequence of cache placement/listing:
1. Build cache and find location.
2. Place cache in the location and get the coordinates.
3. List cache on Geocaching.com and get GC number.
But there is a step that I can't fit into this simple sequence. How do I get the GC number on the logbook before I list the cache?
I already tried listing the cache on geocaching.com with a future placement date and it wouldn't let me. Do I place the cache as inactive, get the GC number, rush back to the site to write the number on the log book, and then activate the cache within the same day?
Or do I change the placement date later to reflect the actual date the logbook was put (with GC number) in the cache?
It is really seeming to me that I need a time machine to get the GC number on the logbook while keeping the placement date accurate.
Carolyn
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As the 2004 and 2006 winner, I can vouch that Briansnat's claims of wins in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 are true (though I felt that I should have won in 2008 but the he unjustly influenced the vote, not that I'm bitter)
No no! I wasn't saying that the claims aren't true and I apologize if it seemed like that! I just want to know what the award is! Again, not at all trying to malign anyone or say that their honors are misclaimed. Seriously just curious about what that award is
Grats on dethroning the king for those two years Look, if you have doubts about the legitimacy of the award, you can call the board that selects the winner. It consists of my wife, step-daughter, mother. father and Aunt Jean. I'm still upset at the fact they chose Clan_Barron in 2004 and 2006.
Ohh... I get it now
I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award or anything... I've just always been curious about it seeing it in your forum title. There's lots of geocaching I don't know about so I didn't know if it was a national award or a regional accolade or a neat thing that your family did It's neat. Thanks for the clarification!Edited to add: I was thinking it was maybe something from geowoodstock or something... The fact that it was not every year made me think that it was a big national award. I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award -- if someone put "world's best father" it similarly wouldn't bother me... Just in this case I didn't know what it was and was curious if it were something sanctioned that I didn't know about
Thanks again for the clarification.I appreciate you asking, Mrbort. I also thought it was an official award from Groundspeak or GeoWoodstock and my competitive sense had woken up and was making plans. I'm glad to know that I can cross this one off my personal list of angst.
Carolyn
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How would you feel if there were a law for your spouse (etc) to tell you they loved you, at least once a day? Would you feel more loved?
I think that if such a law included material evidence (chocolate, flowers, computer memory upgrades, etc.) I would feel a great deal more loved. Perhaps you could champion such a law.
Carolyn
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Another update - is there a site that will allow it to remain a PNG?
You can open a free Wordpress blog account and use the media library to upload your png. They accept pngs and do not modify them.
Carolyn
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Now wait a second!!!
There is NOTHING shameful about living all the way over here in Oregon.
But it's kinda funny that you Suhthanahs are jealous.
I need to get on that Mt Hood Challenge....
Not shameful that he lives in Oregon, but deeply shameful that he isn't here in Memphis organizing geocoin challenges.
Carolyn
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Not sure if this is the type of challenge you are looking for but.....
I'm not picky about other people's challenges and what type they are. I just like to know how they organize their minds and how they make their own fun. I am fascinated by how individual everyone is and that you can see their personalities peeking out through their personal goals. I'm also surprised that most of the goals focus on finding rather than hiding. Also, the goals are almost all non-competitive. I didn't think that would be the case.
The only other one I can think we do aon a regular basis is we find a cache that we really like and, if it is a prolific cacher, set up bookmarks to complete all his caches.
We do this as well. When we find a fantastic hider we set our hearts on finding their caches.
Carolyn
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A geocoin challence is either an event that revolves around a challenge - or series of caches laid out - that participation is rewarded with being given an unactivated geocoin of a specific design, usually specifically minted for that individual event.
Currently we are working on The Mt. Hood Territory Geocoin Challenge, a series of 10 caches hidden in the region. Inside the lid of each is a code word. once you return all 10 (in some cases 7 of 10) code words, they award you a geocoin celebrating the challenge.
Wow! That is deeply cool! I want to do a geocoin challenge. It is a dreadful shame that you live all the way off in Oregon.
Carolyn
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Wasnt this topic raised earlier in another thread
All topics were raised earlier in a previous thread. If you ever find the first mention of a topic, there is a good chance that you will fall into a rift in the space/time continuum and never be heard from again. (Which is why it is important to either have your GPS with you at all times or to have your own desert fortress with a space/time stabilizer and list of previous threads like Kit Fox.)
My beloved and I don't cache in groups and don't have a code phrase. So our cache finding dialogue goes something like this:
A: "Is that.."
B: "The cache?"
A: "No, wait it must be.."
B: "No, no it's..."
A: "There?"
B: "You think?"
A: "Do you see it?"
B: "No. Wait! Yes"
A: "Is it wet?"
A and B are interchangeable.
Carolyn
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I had a run-in with a beaver on a dark rainy night, scared the living heck out of me when I was hunched down reaching for a cache and it charged out of its den... It jumped in the water slapping its tail which woke up the ducks which woke up the neighborhood dogs which woke up their owners. As they were all out in the rain yelling at each other to shut their dogs up, I calmly signed the log and went back to my car.
It is my secret hope that if this thread devolves into off-topic heated words, as so many do, that the topic of the controversy will be "Beavers: Cute Mammals or Furry-Faced Fiends?"
I am a coin hound and fully admit it, we try to do all the local coin challenges as a family. We have a few pages in my coin book dedicated to those endeavors.
<snip>
Trying to get more local communities to do geocoin challenges - that's a big one for me.
What is a geocoin challenge? I haven't run across that and while my mind is frantically circling trying to figure it out, nothing is gelling.
Carolyn
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I didn't have any quirky personal challenge until I started using FindStatGen.
And what do you have in the way of personal challenges since FindStatGen?
Carolyn
I really wasn't questioning the legitimacy of the award or anything... I've just always been curious about it seeing it in your forum title. There's lots of geocaching I don't know about so I didn't know if it was a national award or a regional accolade or a neat thing that your family did 
Thanks again for the clarification.
Multicache
in General geocaching topics
Posted
I love multis but we don't do many of them because we can't predict easily how much time we need to set aside or whether we will need special equipment. Often we don't know whether there are 2 or 200 stages. I get especially frustrated when I discover a multi-cache with more than three stages because it means that I should have brought a notebook to record data and didn't. So I want to be warned.
Here is our very favorite multi and one of our favorite caches of all time:
Six Sicks Icks GCWD3A
From the cache page:
One thing that we liked about it was that it was so clear about what to expect and yet was still a difficult one to puzzle out. And it is in a beautlful location. Here's stage 1:
We DNFed this one the first time we tried it because we thought we had the wrong route on Stage 2. It turned out that we'd encountered forces of nature that made it inaccessible. But we were warned so we went back the next week and handily found it.
In addition to the excellent information on the cache page and the warnings, it has a fun theme which made the log a lot of fun to write. To me, this is what a multi-cache should look like: well-described, fun, mysterious, mentally challenging, fun to write about, and featuring a nice walk in beautiful surroundings. If I ever create a multicache, this cache will be the one that I check my own against.
Carolyn