barondriver

..glad it wasn't just me..going after some this morning..oh well..I'll deal with it..just love automation

I was geocaching in Branson,MO..early morning..sun was just coming up. I was in a city park..walking along the edge of some woods and as I walked toward the cache I heard noises in the woods nearby..probably deer or some animal..I think. I kick at the bushes and make a little noise and then make the turn in the woods to look for the geocache. After looking for abit..I hear a grunt noise and turn around to see a Deer Bowhunter in his camo attire and paint holding his bow. I had scared off the deer that he had been working. I question that he was legal to be hunting so close to a park in town. We talked a little about the sport..he was interested. He did make a comment that a good deer hunter would never shoot without having the deer in his sights...but still quite a surprise.

..found a small snake guarding a coleman jug cache once and actually had a black snake of some kind jump at me as I headed down a trail...and seen a few from the georig..

I don't see no freakin' ammobox!

..hmm..I just counted..looks like I'll turn 55..wife's three years older..whatever than is ..hmm..I sure don't look 55...but do feel that way sometimes...been cachin since 2001..

Get to know some of the other local geocachers..life lines always come in handy!! yes..maybe I'm a wimp...but it doesn't take me too long lookin' before I'm ready to use one to help me find that micro..even after 3100+ finds. I'm not quite as eager to do it if I'm not out huntin' solo and have more than two eyes lookin'..

I don't know why any cache owner would object..I really appreciate it when a cacher removes junk..replaces logs..leaves a new ziplock baggie. Anything that will keep the sport going and make the next geocachers visit more enjoyable is a GOOD thing. I've often replaced missing logbooks, left new ones, added pencils, removed junk and added some new trading stock, and even replced cache containers that have gone bad..

How you 'Project a waypoint' depends on the GPS. Some units, you can 'Find' the waypoint you are at..bring up a menu and select 'Project'..enter the degrees and distance..make sure that you have it entered right..you can change the mileage to feet..etc..and then 'Go to' it. Worst scenario.. you can 'Mark' the waypoint that you're at..head off in the direction that it sends you..30° would be northeast..220° would be southwest etc. for the distance. If you add 180° to the degrees it gave you..you can cross check it as you go.

I have had my share of falls and scratches but nothing broken..other than the front of my Garmin Etrex. My wife and I were on a trip and while out hiking down a hill from a geocache in the Phoenix area..she fell. We ended up at an Emergency clinic where they xrayed her..a small broken area in her ankle..they wrapped it and she ended up going through airport security in a wheel chair. She ended up wearing one of those big black boots for awile while it mended.

..personally I'd log it if I found the actual geocache container..if it's the difficulty rating is a 1 or 2..if it's a 3, 4, or 5..then getting the container is probably part of the challenge. A proof picture would be best if you have a camera. I have logged some caches that I have found hiding in a big patches of Poison Ivy. I email the placer and give them enough info to prove I was there and log a "find" and mention in the log "be careful if you have a problem with it".

I have the oldest Geocache in Wichita,KS....placed 9/25/2001..GC1FEC called Flying Crown..http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=57a22e91-5432-4b97-9f6f-850873c9c9af It is still in it's original hiding place and container..not bad for an old plastic green tacklebox bought at a garage sale. There is an older cache east of town at El Dorado..but the container has been changed out and the original owner no longer plays the game. Mingo is still in it's original spot but the container has been changed at least one time.

CACHE RESPONSIBLY - HIDE RESPONSIBLY As a hider of 235 caches..my feelings are: Although I am not for a cap..I have always tried to consider other geocachers. My rule has always been to never hide more than one or two a month. I started geocaching in August of 2001. I traveled alot on my job so I tried to hide most of my geocaches away from my local area but where I could still maintain them. This would allow other local geocachers an opportunity to hide theirs..and give me something to go and find and expand the sport in areas where there were no caches and place caches where traveling geocachers would have geocaches to go'n find. The sport in western Kansas where I hid most of mine has expanded now and there are local geocachers in those areas that are hiding geocaches and now since my heart surgery..I don't travel as much out there..I have geocachers who are willing to maintain or take over my geocaches. I think that half of the fun is watching the logs of other geocachers who find yours. The caches that I place locally, I spend time planning. I understand that there are alot of "numbers" geocachers but do you really enjoy finding that 35mm film cartridge in the tree crotch? I feel that the growth of the sport depends on giving new geocachers an opportunity to do the whole sport..hiding as well as finding...just consider when hiding a cache..am I making the sport better?? now and later...will I keep hiding them?? yep.. well..that's my two-cents..

so..are yall just given this guy a 'bum steer'?? ..hey..I've always wondered about that term..is that a 'homeless male cow'? ..oh maybe that's a 'bum stear'?? oh well.. I've found several homeless or whatever you want to call them 'living off the land' here in Wichita, KS..even one camping on a grassy island in the middle of an on-ramp...yep..a cacher had placed a geocache not too far away..

..I use those maps for planning my geotrips..map comes up and when I start to scroll I see the blue box..and when moved just parses and stays there..XP and IE Version 6.0.2900.2180. After mention of alternate browser..I booted an old Opera and it works fine...hmm..guess I'll use it til it's fixed or I can figure out something else..

This issue has been addressed before..a search in the forum should bring it up..

..well..let's see..GPS several times..but always went back after them and found them..cellphone at least 3 times that I can remember..but found them..usually by the car where I got out..one in Colorado I did overnight at a nearby motel and rehiked my trek to the cache and found it en route where I had stopped to take a picture. I lost my $500 digital camera and a travelbug in New Orleans and can't belive that that travelbug didn't help my camera get back to me I dropped my car key once when placing a geocache and looked awhile to find them in the dirt beside the car...

+ yes..that would make a cool geocache! ..or I wonder if I could make a cool geocache out of that? + I wonder if that Garage sale has any cool geo-treasures? + did you know there a geocache hidden there? + what geocaches are along our route to...? + yes..I've now seen and been to every page of the Delorme in Kansas & Oklahoma..and there some really cool places to visit! + a 1 is Easy and a 5 is hard! + what's this still doing in my pocket? + I really hate TICKS and POISON IVY! + ..gotta go'n check my email..and of course see if there are any new caches..

I had certificates on most of my VIRTUAL caches and have removed them due to all of the 'VIRTUAL' geocachers who try to find the VIRTUAL geocaches by Internet homework or by breaking the 'password' on the Zip file or MS Word doc. I have specifically placed a comment on mine that the 'Geocache has to be found in person' but still have some try to do them without actually visiting. I really liked the Certificates..oh well.

..so..what I wanna know is..are you carrying SWAG? Do you arrive at Church or out to eat and reach into your pocket for change and pull out a geocache item? Is it just part of the normal items that you put in when you change pants? ..or even change purses? Isn't it just normal to have a plastic bug, geocoin or personal trading item along...just in case..

I pick up interesting geo-treasures at garage sales..not too many McToys though..and it gives me something to look for while my wife is looking at the rest of the stuff..

I'm guessing that your software is just not set up right yet..make sure that the little checkbox is not set for USB..been there..done that..if it isn't that..I'd just mess with setting..hmmm

..had a friend geocacher place an interesting one..the coordinates took you to a wireless doorbell button under a picnic table..you pushed it and listened to see where it rang..that part was attached to the geocache. It was a cool idea and worked great for awhile but moisture and batteries seemed to be a problem and I believe that the last I knew it had been archived.

I have a 35mm micro sticking out of the mouth of a plastic lizard under some bark..and a 35mm micro hidden inside a cute garden bunny in the base of an old cottonwood tree..both get a few surprises and some interesting logs..

I had a interesting one this past week. I was emailed the coordinates for a new cache by a geocacher. The cache had not been approved yet. It was located near an airport that I fly out of often. When I arrived, I found the geocache located across the road from a county maintenance yard. There was quite abit of activity going on. I followed my GPS to the cache, which was located in a small tree row and find it. Hmm..interesting container...camo-painted PVC pipe with a screwlid. I open it..no pencil..trip back to the truck..get one..log..leave pencil for next cacher..replace back in hiding spot and cover with a few sticks and leaves. Mid afternoon, I get an email from a local geocacher that works at one of the television stations. Did I know that the bomb squad had blown up a geocache? He wondered if it was one of mine. I call him for more information. An hour or so later I get a call on my cellphone. It is an ATF Agent. He is at my front door. I hadn't heard the doorbell ring as I was downstairs and busy. I go up and answer the door and he flashes his badge. I invite him in. He tells me about the incident and how the maintenance men had seen my truck and me walking and wondered what I was doing, One of them went over to check after I had left and found a suspicious container and called it in. He told me how they had had to close the airport, how he had blown the container up, had pieced together pieces and found my log in what was left of the logbok. He said that it had a bullethole in it. My geoname had lead him to the airport where he got my name, address, etc. He said that he was looking for someone to pay the bill! He had his notepad along with information that he had collected and printouts from my personal website as well as some geocaching ones. I explained that it wasn't my container but that I had gone to check it out. He calmed down and we talked about geocaching. I showed him the geocaching website and discussed the the kinds of people that play the sport. He was really surprised to see how many geocaches were in the area. He expresses that he felt that the containers should be well marked and that there should be a way to check on them. I did show him that they are all listed with their coordinates. Later, we went together to see and pick up the two geocaches that I had at the airport. They were well marked and he looked at the items inside. He even seemed interested. He felt that they should be removed for security reasons. I really hated to see them go as they were special to me and had had alot of visitors, but I could understand his concern. I put him in contact with the geocacher that had placed the container. They talked. The Agent expressed his concerns with placing a container that looked like a pipebomb close to an airport. I was so glad that the outcome of this turned out okay. The experience was a lesson to all three of us. I think that we all learned from it. Geocachers must be very concerned with how and where they place their containers...and one local agent is aware of our sport.

..just a couple of pictures..the baron that I have been flying and a picture of the Pteradactyl Ascender that I used to have sitting near a B-1 at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, KS..I flew it in for an Air Show with some other Ultralight pilots..