BooBooBee

Oh Oh! What does this mean for our Huasna hunt? Will they close the road? If not, I'm up for it in the rain. Adds to the adventure.

It's a buy-your-own pizza night, so whenever you get there, you place your order and VOILA! (Unless, of course, we use up all their dough...)

Thanks! Our last event had some giveaways, but we spent most of the time visiting with each other. Didn't know if a larger group would require more organized fun. Pizza, beer (or soda if we must), cachers and plenty of time to visit.

OK, so I thought we'd put together a little geocache event here to get locals together. We've done it before and had a couple dozen people show up. Well, GC18B3Y is shaping up to be a pretty darn big event for a "little local get together" with some 50 people signed up to show. This is an after-work, Friday gathering at a pizza place...to begin anyhow. We're placing new caches that day to up the ante. We'll be giving away cache containers loaded with swag. Who knows what else might happen? So, what makes a great geocaching event, IYHO?

I think we could get us all up there on the Jeep if we do something like this... heh-heh

DANG! We really want to do this one with you, particularly if SueBee's coming along. But we'll be out of town 19th. Can you make it the 26th instead? I have Jeep and tow rope, winch (and even shower). Happy to help any way I can!

Well, I'd love to go, but if the forecast is correct, this weekend's CERTAINLY out. Let's watch the weather and see what the future holds for us all.

SOOO glad you found the fly! The lint catchers are great, aren't they! It's amazing what I find in mine, what with the two kids n' all. (At least, I BLAME it on the two kids...what will I do when they grow up?!) The event has been submitted for approval. Waypoint: GC18B3Y I know 5 is early for some, but that's why we're running 'til the place closes! If you can't get down there 'til 7, we'll be there. Have to eat early before you head to your night job? We'll be there! Hope to see you all, and more, there!

Well, my swim season starts up pretty soon, so if I'm gonna do anything it better be quick. So I propose another Pizza & Cache event down thisaway. Why thisaway? Well, my husband can come, for one thing, and since we don't see him along on many of our activities, I'd like to do all I can to include him in anything I'm organizing. So, Friday, Jan. 25, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Giavanni's Pizza, Orcutt (at Clark/Bradley Road intersection). Let's call it...er...Pizza with everything (hold the Poison Oak). I'll post the even tonight.

Just got your message about heading out and sweeping the area as a team. (Just for the record, I don't usually get online 'til after the kids are in bed.) Woulda run out there with you, but you and the GPSr are probably SOUND asleep by now!

I know the POC had a website at one time, but I understand the cacher who originated it passed it on to African Queen who, as far as I can tell, hasn't been caching (at least under that name) since 2005, which is also the last year in which the website was updated. There's a new cacher in our area, EvilSpork, who I've e-met recently. He offered to host a site if we want to put one together. He writes: "if you guys need web hosting i have an obscene amount of hosting that i can share. if someone wants to put down the $9 and buy the domain name, i can host a site if someone wants to make it! www.godaddy.com for the domain name. " I use godaddy for two sites I maintain (www.BestFamilyAdventures.com - my first attempt at creating a website. It ain't pretty, but it does the trick; and www.tricitysound.org - a much-better effort IMHO) and it works well for me. I guess I'm asking if there's any interest in having our own page again, something we could, perhaps, provide a bit more maintenance for. I like the forums here, but GC doesn't send me updates and, honestly, I just can't seem to remember to check here regularly enough to keep up to date. (How hard is THAT? Too hard for this blonde, apparently.) Thoughts...?

What a GREAT day! As planned, PointSalJim and I shared fuel from our neighborhood to the meeting place, with a (relatively) quick stop at the locked gate at the western end of Cuesta Ridge (TV Tower Road) to stash our bikes. Then we high-tailed it for the hiking trailhead at Cerro Alto, MUCH too late to begin the trek with the other POC'ers who came: GeoCats, OreoPony, EagleChief. We didn't know which trail they'd taken, so we shot up the middle of the three most-obvious options. Too bad we hadn't paid more attention...we could have grabbed two more caches had we followed GeoCats' route! But we had a really nice walk (MAN, I'm outta shape...I feel a New Year's Resolution coming on). We met up with the other three along the ridge road, then sought out GeicoCave together with success. OreoPony raised an eyebrow when I put a TB in there (so remote) but I like the TB game and those bugs get me going to places I'd otherwise probably miss. Maybe it'll bring someone else out. Otherwise, I forsee another trek out thisaway. We continued along the ridge on this BEAUTIFUL day, 'til we all came to GeoCats Elevation Celebration which, lo and behold, was only about 17 feet from where PSJ and I had stashed our bikes! Too funny. We picked up our bikes and headed east for a mile or so (MAN, I'm outta shape...) before noting that we'd done a LOT of downhill speeding considering my new GPSr's topo showed it as flat. Opted to head back...GOOD THING. (Did I mention I'm feeling a resolution coming on?) Pedaled back to the Cerro Alto trailhead/ATT route and enjoyed a blast down the hill to camp. It was really nice to cache together again. I haven't seen OP in an age, and hiking with GC is always relaxing and educational. (Want to know about geology? Ask GC. If he doesn't know the answer on the day of the hike, he'll have it by that evening!) Thanks everyone!

I'd love to bring my family, but the logistics of getting the carseats to a shuttle car baffle us. So, the plan is that PointSalJim and I will ride together from Orcutt, bikes will be involved, not sure how we'll work that out with the shuttling. I do have some ideas, and will discuss them with PSJ to see what we can work out from this end. At any rate, we'll see you Saturday morning. Weee!

There used to be caches at Poly. I believe there was one at the Design Village, but I remember for sure that there was one at the old power plant (waypoint GCJ0WX). Perhaps they've changed their policy. There are, indeed, lots of GREAT spots at Poly for caches. It'd be great to get some up and running.

Thanks, OP, for letting me know the discussion is continuing. I'd like to participate and Saturday should be good for me. I ran Topo, and I'm not sure how far down the gates will be open along the ridge, so I ran it from Cerro Alto to the ridge road (3.3 miles, 1834-foot gain, 894-foot loss), then to the potential locked gate near Tassajara towers (5.6-miles, 2828 gain, 1311-foot loss). Many of you know I travel with my family, but I don't know what the plan for this hike is. Are we all out to the top, take no prisoners? Or is this a family hike?

I'd LOVE to have that kind of time. (I'd also LOVE to have the kind of life in which I could travel the world, caching all the way.) Someday...someday... (Like I said, I girl can dream...) But I HAVE learned my lesson, and while I don't spend a LOT of time researching each cache, I DO take the time to read not only the description, but enough logs to determine whether the cache is one that is likely to be of interest to me.

I don't require a large container, or really cool swag (though a girl can DREAM, can't she? ), but I do appreciate a clever hide. It doesn't have to be somewhere fancy, or even a long hike. (Hey, I'm a mom, a writer, a woman with a life outside geocaching, though for awhile there friends and family would've questioned me on that last one. So I like the quick grabs, too.) But throwing a rolled up bit of paper (no pen) into a piece of trash and throwing into a vacant lot filled with trash is going a bit far for me. This isn't creative...this is laziness. So, onto the "ignore" list it goes. (I'm thankful for the "ignore" feature. Out of sight, out of mind.) And as for O/C, yep, I've discovered that I MUST be a bit O/C. Caching led me to that assumption. Fortunately for me, the GPSr vanished for a couple of months, and I recovered some sanity. Still, the only thing that keeps me from finding them all (just because they're THERE) is that my GPSr has some serious issues...GOOD THING! I haven't always taken the time to read about the caches before heading out to grab them. They'd be on the way, or otherwise convenient, so I'd go for it. I've since learned my preference, and am taking the time to make sure the caches meet those preferences. I'll never be EMC Northridge material, or Tprints, or degreno. Heck, I may never reach 1,000! But I plan to enjoy the remaining cache hunts, even if I DO post a DNF in the end. Caching has been most fun when we're traveling. It's led us to some great spots off the beaten path (even in town) that we, as tourists, would otherwise have been unlikely to find. Regardless of cache size, shape or quality, THIS is what I enjoy. Hide and seek a micro in a haystack..eh. New places, new people and a game to play...right on!

When I started caching, I was gung ho. But too many parking lot caches burned me out. Really...who cares about a film canister under a bush in a mall parking lot?! Well, I'm a country girl, so pavement doesn't thrill me. But I've been trying to get back into the game, inspired by some friends. Tonight I thought I'd go for a couple of brand new caches here in town. TALK about UNINSPIRED! I've been to the parking lot of one before plenty of times. Why would I want to cache here? And as for the other, well, it's a vacant field FULL of trash. I posted a DNF note on both, and the owner actually sent me THIS back: "sorry you didn't find it yeah there is a lot of trash out there. you are looking for a old fog light. it was laying upside down so all you see is some metal hope you go back and try again have fun" It's in a freakin piece of TRASH thrown out into a field full of trash! What the?! So, I HAVE been inspired to go through and create my "ignore" bookmarks. If the owner doesn't site anything INTERESTING about the location and finders don't find any inspiration, then I "ignored" it. SHEESH! Might as well throw trash in the dump and call it a cache!

Well, I used to be more into swag, but usually there's just kid stuff. That's ok, too, I guess, when my kids are along. They choose their own toys to trade for toys at caches. They try to determine an even trade. (I, however, ENSURE that it's at LEAST an even trade.) Most of the time, they choose what I feel is TRUE junk from the cache (not the broken toys, but just short of that) and leave better stuff behind because they don't really get teh whole value thing yet. And if they make a trade that's uneven in their favor, I sneak in extra things. I've placed batteries in caches before (because I've run OUT before), but I mark them "new" and put them in ziplock bags (we buy them in bulk, so I can't provide original packaging). I wonder if I should continue doing this or if people just assume they're used anyway... I can't stand the religious tracts, business cards and the penny toys. I like to trade stuff that's useful in the outdoors. It doesn't have to be an expensive thing. I got a really neat little cammo bag that clips to my backpack. It's JUST big enough for a plastic grocery bag to CITO with. I've traded IN tools, kitchen gadgets (GALORE...in my "Kitchen Sink" cache), new sets of bungee cords (for strapping down the trunk after you CITO), etc. Business cards just don't cut it in fairness.

It depends for me, too. Sometimes I pretend I dropped something. Sometimes I just tell them what I'm doing. This CAN happen out in the sticks! So for those of you who say "I stay away from these types of caches," let me tell you a little story. More than a year ago I had mountain biked out to check out a cache that had long been on my list. When I arrived at the spot (a great lookout along a curve in the trail) there was a muggle sitting less than 5 feet from the cache, apparently enjoying his lunch. Well, I'd gone all that way, and I didn't want to leave it behind. And I'd ridden right up and stopped before I realized he was a permanent fixture. So, a conversation ensued. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, so finally I asked, "Can you keep a secret?" Probably freaked him out. Well, he couldn't believe his eyes when I pulled a one-gallon container out of the bushes, full of all kinds of great stuff. He immediately picked up the game and is now one of our most active and helpful cachers in the area, quick to help maintain caches (his or not), organizing events, encouraging those who may be burning out, and newbies as well. Of course, when a sheriff caught me looking in the bushes near a rural road, I had to share. I'm just not that into lying to law enforcement. (He's a cacher now, too.)

I'm tellin' you, it stinks when technology DOESN'T work. I'm still signed up for hte notices, but haven't gotten ANY of these. GOOD THING I checked in! We're available the last weekend of December. How 'bout a New Years' Eve (almost) mystery blowout cache day? I like PointSalJim's idea. I hear HE has a nice cache out Huasna way. I've had "Baby Bessie" and "Schoolhouse Rock" on my "to do" list forEVER. They're virtuals, though, and I don't know what kind of time we'd need to do them 'cause I haven't looked at them in a long time. Or how about all those along Irish Hills (like "Ambiguos")? Or, further south, "Extreme Cache". (Could we pick up "Wind Cave" on the same day?)

I don't know why I keep falling off this list! Perhaps that's why it keeps dying out! I suggest we renew, revive and otherwise reinvigorate our previous members to help develop our POC forum again. FORTUNATELY, PointSalJim is a great guy who contacted several people off list to let us know about Miss Heck's gathering in Orcutt. What a great party she put on. We all bought our own pizzas and drinks, then fell into easy conversation with old faces and new ones as well. I can hardly wait for the next gathering and, after a couple of VERY slow years caching, am excited to get involved in the game again. Heck, I've even gone back out (WAY OUT) to maintain some of my own caches - a chore I'd been sorely behind on completing! So, what say you all? When would you like to get together again? What works best for everyone/anyone?

The hike would start at the trailhead at the end of Reservoir Cyn road and looking at Topozone maps the hike is about 1.7 - 2.0 miles to SLO Highest. OK...so as usual I'm looking at this in a rush. So...er...you want to hike to SLO Highest, etc. not from SLO High (or SLO Junior High) but from the Reservoir canyon side? So, hike up Reservoir Canyon, then to the ridge, and back down and around. Is there a loop trail for this? I'm not seein' it. (Not that we always NEED a trail...) Er...ahem... I'm on for Wednesday. See you where ever you say, GeoCats, at 10 a.m. Please e-mail me off list and I'll send you my cell phone number. J/BooBooBee

Yes, I can do that. Now where would we meet, exactly? How long do you think the hike (round trip) will take? (I haven't studied up on those caches in awhile.) I need to be in A.G. by 1. Possible? And we ARE talking about THIS Wednesday, are we not? Ohhhh...I'm so excited!

Howdy, stranger! The girls and I were talking about that ridge just today. Erica, the 7 year old, said she'd like to go up there. Now, I don't know how you feel about hiking with little ones along. We're game, and our best days for caching are weekdays with a return to Orcutt deadline of 4 p.m. three days a week. GeoCats, can you make the trek on a weekday? Anyone else? Jen/BooBooBee