Mick-n-Nick

We never limit ourselves by anything but what we have on hand to put back in the cache...so knock yourselves out!

Sorry...no clue. You can always send a message to the cache owner and ask for some help...I've done that and they've always been willing to give a hint or 2...or sometimes more when I've needed it.

We've been approached every so often by the common Joe (sometimes just making sure we hadn't broken down.) The only time we were approached by someone 'official' was in a state park and the ranger drove up to us as we got out of the car and very nicely chatted with us for a minute and we told her what we were doing and chatted back. She left seemingly satisfied and we found out later at the ranger station that they were on the look-out for a poacher. That's been it, though. I find that a gps in your hand lends a look of authenticity even to people who are clueless about geocaching.

I have a Delorme PN-20 that I got as a first-time user maybe 2 years ago. I've been happy with it...but I don't use all the software that came with it. I load the maps I want onto the SD card and I generally load my caches on one-by-one (I don't usually bulk-cache and I found the Topoware software a bit clunky.) I don't rely on the directions-while-driving too much...I print out a map of the area from geocaching.com and use that to get me close...or if I'm desperate I plug the coords into my Tom-Tom which I have used when I've forgotten my gps or as a back up and it has been satisfactory. Overall, I've been pleased with the Delorme PN-20, but what I REALLY want is a gps that mimics the geocaching app on cell phones (minus being able to download away from the computer.) I would love to look at a map of the area (bigger than allowed right now on my Delorme due to loading times) and then choose the cache I want from the map by simply touching on it...and then being able to go back to the map after logging in my find so I can choose my next cache myself. Thought I had found this with the Triton but got a lemon with bad memory that messed up every time I changed screens (I returned it) and it has made me afraid to venture back into that territory. My Delorme has been reliable with very few easy-to-fix bugs, and I'm grateful I chose it! That being said, I have no experience with Garmin so can't really compare the 2.

I don't collect too many things because then you have to find a spot for it. But the little tykes collect anything that catches their interest...even swag that I have just put in the cache to leave behind I prefer moving TB's and geocoins on their journey and seeing where they've already been.

A cache my family will seek with me...without complaints from the little tykes! (Believe me, these can be few and far between at times )

Seriously off-topic, but every time I glance at your avatar using my peripheral vision, I see an elephant's trunk turned up at the end...then I look again and realize it's a compass on a rock. Yet I still see the elephant's trunk the next time. Very clever picture! Edited: Trying to add the avatar

I love that option...very well-worded and invitational instead of offensive and confrontational. Excellent suggestion!

So apparently you know what bug it is since it was on the inventory list of that cache...so email the owner and maybe ask for the 'secret code' and make up a new bug for them using that code. What I mean to say is..."I'm sorry, I lost your travel bug. Can you tell me the code that's etched into it for logging it online? Then I can transfer that number to a new travel bug and get it going again." Losing bugs happens...but that doesn't mean the code can't be used still...right? Just a thought.

Anyone else have any experience with this stuff? I"m not familiar with anything besides DEET and Permethrin...DEET's not so great by itself, IMO...and permethrin is hard to find in any truly effective percentage (even at army surplus stores it's hard to find anything more than a 2% or something like that.) I'm interested in how effective this stuff is before I pay for shipping, esp living on the Gulf Coast when you go outside and are immediately swarmed. Edit: Just read the ingredients list closer and realized this stuff IS DEET...I'm guessing it's more effective because it's 95% DEET? I'm not convinced...deep woods off is fairly worthless around here so not sure upping the percentage would really help much. Any other opinions on it?

Does that mean the game is gone?

Off subject, but I think your avatar and phrase are hilarious!

Last year while searching an area with 5 or 6 caches, we met up with an 'older than us' couple who were also caching. They gave us a hint for the one they had found and we gave them a hint for the one we had just found as we passed in different directions. We never could find the one they had just come from, even WITH their hint! We were very humbled as our group had 3 adults AND 2 kids and they were just the 2 of them and not as 'limber' as us. That day I became convinced that while geocaching may be a sport of the body, it is also VERY much a sport of the mind as well...and obviously our minds had handicapped us much more than their less 'limber' bodies had handicapped them.

What a lot of fun! Glad you got to be a part of it!

That's good to know...now I won't bang my head against a wall trying to fix it. Oh well...that map was fun while it lasted. Thanks!

Yeah...it definitely needed another ending...like after the bunny drops the shooter could say, "That's one more smiley--for me!"

I enjoy geocaching. I enjoy Groundspeak. I enjoy (most) forum posts.

I'm updating a few of my TB's, including the map of their travels. Problem is...I can get the map to show on the editing page, but when I visit the actual log the map has an X in the corner and is empty. What gives? I must be missing somthing in the coding? <img src="http://chart.apis.google.com/chart?cht=t&chtm=usa&chs=440x220&chf=bg,s,336699&chco=d0d0d0,cc0000&chd=s:9999&chld=WANVCAID" width="440" height="220" ><br/>visited 4 states (8%)<br/><a href="http://douweosinga.com/projects/visited?region=usa">Create your own visited map of The United States</a> I have clicked 'source' so it changes to html format...that's how I got the pic to show at all on the editing page. What else am I missing? http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=2270642 is the TB page. Thanks!

I used photoshop to stick a pic of a turtle and a frog together....the turtle b/c the hubby likes tortoises (owns a red-footed tortoise.) The frog because I've always had a thing for frogs like the frog prince...kind of symbolic for the fact that you never really know who people are...and generally they're both a frog AND a prince (depending on how much sleep they got the night before.) Notice that the frog is riding on the back of the turtle...that's on purpose. In theory, it's supposed to mean that if a cache requires serious physical investment to retrieve, HE should do it while I should sit back and 'enjoy the ride.' But reality is that I care more about logging it than he does, so I generally end up doing it.

Why, yes. Yes, I was. She she says takes her dog to a park with caches that have been around since before she stopped caching. You're telling me she didn't hunt them? Just in case anyone missed it: I'm calling shenanigans. So, you think that girlscoutcookies created that account in 2006, just in case something like this happened? I don't get it. I don't get it either...I understand you're saying something is fishy, but that's all I get. Is that all I'm supposed to get? I think that he merely thought that it was suspicious that a former geocacher happened to know Mrs. Kravitz and had discussed this issue with her and happened to be wandering around in a forum for a hobby in which she no longer participates to notice this thread. Thank you...I can be a little s*l*o*w sometimes

My cache wasn't necessarily high cost, but... I bought a $10 bird feeder with the long inside that has a few levels for birds to feed from...then I put a skinny glass inside and placed the cache inside the glass with bird seed outside the glass so you couldn't see it...you would only know to take off the lid and get the cache because I placed a geocache sign on the top of the bird feeder as a marker. It lasted about 3 weeks until the ENTIRE bird feeder went AWOL. I haven't spent more than a few bucks on a caching container since. But do whatever you enjoy as long as you won't get too upset if it AWOL's or gets damaged.

Why, yes. Yes, I was. She she says takes her dog to a park with caches that have been around since before she stopped caching. You're telling me she didn't hunt them? Just in case anyone missed it: I'm calling shenanigans. So, you think that girlscoutcookies created that account in 2006, just in case something like this happened? I don't get it. I don't get it either...I understand you're saying something is fishy, but that's all I get. Is that all I'm supposed to get?

Maybe it's evil, but I'm really loving these stories! (Maybe mostly because I can so seriously relate to them!)

I totally agree with this statement. What exactly have you given the cops to go on with those phone calls? A big fat nothing, since nothing was up...all you did was freak out a little girl and her father. BUT if you REALLY thought something was up, maybe you could ACTUALLY FIND OUT first! Happen past the 2 with your dog...follow them for a while until you know what's up...actually INVEST something of yourself before you force the investment of others. (I'm not suggesting to do this if it would put you in danger, of course...but maybe if you peeked at these people when they were not suspecting you could actually SEE some activity to give the cops something real to hold the guy for if he WAS guilty...or maybe find out you were way off-base.) I may get blasted for this, but in my experience people are very quick to point the finger at you for potential wrong-doing, but very few actually take the initiative to find out the whole story. And as I've seen in my own experiences, when it comes to sexual allegations these days if you're male you'd better watch out! You'd better be ready to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're innocent, and even then it's a roll of the dice (unless you're rich and famous)...and this is being written by the female half of the team. But back to the main topic...I am soooo horribly sorry that you and your daughter have had this traumatic experience! I hope you're able to shake it off, but what makes it really scary is not what DID happen, but what could have happened...and that's harder to shake off. You have my sympathies, and I totally agree with your point of view!

Sometimes I feel silly when explaining geocaching to someone and they answer, "So what do you do? Just write your name on a piece of paper?" Well...yeah...but there's really so much more! Welcome to the magic!