Half-Canadian

Speaking from experience of hosting the Bellingham CM, finding a suitable place for Saturday dinner is one of the most important aspects of a CM, and one of the things that people will remember afterward if it was a good (or bad) experience. I had made reservations for 125 people at the sports bar where we had the Bellingham dinner, gave them notice weeks ahead of time, and worked with them to develop an abbreviated menu that their kitchen staff could handle. As it was, there were over 150 starving cachers who all rolled in at the same time, between 5:45 and 6:00, and it took awhile to get everyone served. I can state with absolute certainty that you will have at least that many cachers looking forward to a hearty, cheap sit-down dinner at a place that also serves beer. "Invading McDonalds" would not be a good idea! On another note, a tip for whoever will be doing the route planning. MS Streets and Trips is not the best program to use for laying out a cache machine -- instead use its big brother Mappoint, which works basically the same but allows a lot more flexibility in routing, adding comments, etc. It's an expensive program to purchase, but you can buy a free 60-day full-feature demo disc from Microsoft for just the cost of shipping. That's what I did and it worked out really well. Mappoint Demo Disc Link The Mappoint layout that Travis originally set up for the cache machines has worked well, and people have really appreciated. Here's a copy of the Bellingham Cache Machine PDF that I patterned after Travis' template: BCM Route H-C

Scooter the Wonder Dog wants to know if she should vote in real years or dog years...

Hea I have license plate just like that hanging on my wall here at the house! Great idea. Pepper I wondered if they made you turn that in when you moved away, Pepper. I guess not! Do you suppose the people that make licence plates wonder why that combination of letters is so desirable?

For those that are particularly sensitive to poison oak, it is also helpful to launder clothes that have contacted the stuff with tecnu and hot water, as it helps to remove the oils that ordinary detergent won't completely remove from the fabric.

Ouch! Glad you're more or less OK. That's the important part. When I think about how many kilometres I've racked up on my car in the past 3+ years since I've been caching, I would have a hard time explaining that I don't commute to work to the government-run insurance corporation in BC if my driving habits were ever audited or I got into an accident -- that virtually all those kilometres are considered "pleasure driving", and not daily driving to work. I suspect many other cachers watch their odometers spin alarmingly fast as well -- this hobby can really take its toll on our cachemobiles! Safe driving, all!

Heck, even out here in Lotus Land things can get a little interesting at times ... Link

tecnu is a soap that lifts the oils in poison oak off your skin. It works best if you have running water available, but I've often just wiped it off with paper napkins when that's all I had available. I get it at REI, but it looks like it's available at Fred Meyers, Walgreens, and Rite Aid, among others.

I am also quite sensitive to poison oak, and nothing has ever worked for me except Technu. I keep a bottle of it in the car and immediate clean up with it after I've contacted poison oak. I have never had a problem since. Be sure that you follow the directions on the container carefully, and that you use a liberal amount on your skin.

If the kid has a passport you don't need a letter from the other parent. Not correct, Luckykoi... This from the official Citizenship and Immigration website (bold text is mine, added for emphasis): If a minor child is traveling with only one of his parents or with a legal guardian: He should have a copy of his birth certificate as well as a letter of authorization, preferably in English or French, signed by the parent who is not traveling with him. The letter of authorization should give the address and telephone number of the non-accompanying parent. It is not necessary for the letter to be certified, but a certified letter is acceptable. A photocopy of the passport or national identity card of the non-accompanying parent, with the bearer’s signature, should be attached. If the parents are separated or divorced and the parent who is accompanying the child has sole custody, a copy of the custody decision should be presented. If one of the child’s parents is deceased, a copy of the death certificate should be presented. If the child has been adopted or is under guardianship, a copy of the adoption or guardianship papers should be presented. Note: These documents are not always requested upon entry to Canada, but they may be. We therefore strongly recommend bringing them in case they are required by the immigration officer at the point of entry (airport or border crossing). A minor child will not be admitted to Canada if the officer is not satisfied that his parents or legal guardian have authorized his stay.

Good choice! That will be a fun and scenic trip.

Deception Pass is not a place for amateur boaters to navigate, and can be extremely tricky at any time in a kayak! There are lots of beautiful and tranquil areas to kayak nearby in the San Juan Islands without risking life and limb. I remember the time an unseen rip lifted my 27-foot fully loaded fibreglass fishing boat out of the water as we were approaching the narrowest point of the pass, and spat us back out about twenty feet away into a whirlpool. My passengers later told me they were all screaming, but I couldn't hear them because I was screaming too... You can get a splendid view of Deception Pass from the bridge's sidewalks, from the beach below in the state park, or on the hunt for numerous caches in the vicinity.

Thanks. I was in group discussion last week and was misinformed. What about the kids? The view down here was that the kids need passports too[obviously wrong, now]. The same requirements hold for kids and grownups -- passports on a plane, birth certificates are OK otherwise. One additional requirement for minor children -- if both parents are not accompanying the kids through the border, you must carry a notarized letter from the non-accompanying parent giving their consent to transporting the child or children outside the US. They are quite diligent with this requirement, in order to prevent children being abducted.

A passport is currently only required for air travel. Travel by private vehicle, train, or ferry into or out of the US requires either a passport or alternately a government issued photo ID AND a US-issued birth certificate. Passports will not be required for land travel until sometime in 2009. I speak from experience, as I cross the border several times each week...

I assume you're referring to Vancouver BC and not Vancouver WA Frankly, with only a week to spend sightseeing, I wouldn't recommend a day trip to Vancouver -- you'd spend most of the day in transit. From Seattle, it's about 2.5 hours driving each way, plus anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours wait time at the border. The July 1 weekend is a holiday for Canadians so the border traffic during that last week of June will be even worse than a normal early summer crossing. You've gotten great suggestions on the Ape cache (not to be missed) and Whidbey Island. The kayak company that you asked about works out of one of the most respected kayak manufacturers and outfitters storefronts on the west coast, so you can't go wrong there either. If you do have your heart set on a quick visit to Canada, check out Victoria Clipper, a high-speed walk on ferry that runs between Seattle and Victoria BC on Vancouver Island. Be sure to read the information about passports or other proof of citizenship! Victoria is a wonderful city that is well suited to sightseeing (and caching) without a car.

Half the time I can't remember where I left my keys, but I have remembered that bit of trivia ever since I visited the virtual cache there almost three years ago!

Oh, Dick ... that gave me a good laugh! What sweet irony that you and I have both logged the virtual cache in that park, Pretzel City USA - Final Step! HC

Edit -- Duplicate post

Dick, You are truly "an officer and a gentleman", and were it not for geocaching our paths might never have crossed. It is an honour to know you. Thank you for sharing your milestone and the memories it brought back to you. H-C

There will be plenty of room this year for everyone that wants to tent or RV so no need to worry about making reservations yet. The WSGA will be taking sign-ups when the time gets a little closer that will give us a head count for the goodie bags, Saturday BBQ dinner, etc. There will be postings here and on the WSGA forums, as well as an email sent to all WSGA members, when the sign-up list is ready to go. As in previous years, WSGA members who have paid their dues for the 2007 year will receive a discount on the camping fun! If you are unsure whether or not you're current with dues, you can check your status online at WSGA by logging in and clicking the membership button. You can pay your dues online through paypal or mail your payment to the WSGA treasurer.

I had thought about trying to make it to that event also, depending on if we gout back to the area in time and since it looks like I will be driving up to Mt Vernon by myself I don't have to worry about what any passanger want to do. Hope all you hardy snowshoers will make it back down the mountain in time for dinner in Mount Vernon! We'd enjoy hearing about your adventures! We'll try to save some food for you

Interesting discussions going, both here and at the other thread Moun10Bike points to in one of the general forums. Shortly after the bookmarking feature became available, various "couch caching" or "armchair caching" bookmarks popped up. If I was eating lunch at my desk, I would sometimes work on one of these bookmarked caches during my lunch hour that didn't specifically require visiting the site in order to fulfill the requirements. I found I often learned some interesting facts through the internet searching, and have earmarked some of those locations for an actual physical visit someday. During the extended snowy spell we have endured recently, I've been stuck at home for long periods without a whole lot to do in my free time, to say nothing of being able to get out to cache. And I did a few more of these "armchair" caches, picking virtuals that required emailing the cache owner with some requested bits of information that could be gleaned either through visiting the location or by using internet tools -- google, satellite mapping, reading through online cemetery records, etc. Even though I may never visit those spots in the Florida Keys, or Prague, or the South Pole, I learned some interesting things about those areas and fulfilled the requirements to log the cache. I don't feel bad or guilty about logging these virtuals, though frankly it's gotten boring and I can't wait to get out and do "real" caches again I've been following this thread with interest, and I've also appreciated the way that the subject was handled by the posters in this forum, who expressed their points of view without personal attacks. The parallel thread that was referenced here earlier by Moun10Bike includes postings accusing individuals who have logged virtuals without actually visiting the location as being "cheaters", or having "unethical behaviour" or "lying" among other things. The few of these virtuals that I logged over the past month or so did not require a visit to the location, merely a request to furnish the cache owner with some bit of information. I did not indicate in my logs that I had actually visited the site -- in fact in most of my logs indicated that I had used a google search -- so being indirectly accused of lying, cheating, or being unethical I find reprehensible. What changed my mind about this practice? Reflecting on Dick's original post in this thread. When I thought back to what lengths I went to in order to log his Windy Ridge cache last summer on a Delorme run -- a long drive and a lengthy detour out of my way, and a $20.00 entry fee -- and what I would have missed by not visiting that virtual cache location -- some breathtaking scenery, driving down a road that made my hair stand on end in places, and visiting a very cool historical building -- I would have felt that my efforts were cheapened had I discovered that hundreds of people had logged that cache in the past few months by an easy internet search. And conversely, those cachers that had gone to the effort of finding the virtuals that I logged via an internet search have had their experiences diminished by my actions. Going back over those virtuals I logged over the past month, I was astonished to see that in some cases hundreds of new logs had been posted for some of these virtual caches, and that many had been disabled or archived to stop the flood of this new trend. That troubled me too, as many of these virtuals I had bookmarked for a visit to someday, and now they are gone. In the parallel thread referenced earlier, I found the post quoted below to be insightful. My motivation in virtual logging was the enjoyment of ferreting out the information and learning things about places I might never have a chance to visit, not to increase my find count, but in doing so I may have in some small way caused the demise of some of these fine old virtual caches. I went through my cache logs last night and deleted those virtual finds that I logged over the past few weeks, as I can see now that that practice is to the detriment of all virtual caches. I will continue to crack those interesting virtual caches during my lunch hour by surfing the net, but from now on will either post a note to the cache page or just enjoy having learned something new and sharpened my detective skills

Just noticed that Markta found #1500 at Micro Tuba on January 14 in Denver! Congratulations, friend!

Interesting discussions going, both here and at the other thread Moun10Bike points to in one of the general forums. Shortly after the bookmarking feature became available, various "couch caching" or "armchair caching" bookmarks popped up. If I was eating lunch at my desk, I would sometimes work on one of these bookmarked caches during my lunch hour that didn't specifically require visiting the site in order to fulfill the requirements. I found I often learned some interesting facts through the internet searching, and have earmarked some of those locations for an actual physical visit someday. During the extended snowy spell we have endured recently, I've been stuck at home for long periods without a whole lot to do in my free time, to say nothing of being able to get out to cache. And I did a few more of these "armchair" caches, picking virtuals that required emailing the cache owner with some requested bits of information that could be gleaned either through visiting the location or by using internet tools -- google, satellite mapping, reading through online cemetery records, etc. Even though I may never visit those spots in the Florida Keys, or Prague, or the South Pole, I learned some interesting things about those areas and fulfilled the requirements to log the cache. I don't feel bad or guilty about logging these virtuals, though frankly it's gotten boring and I can't wait to get out and do "real" caches again

The Lajoie 5 clan hit 2,000 on a tricky micro in snowy Mount Vernon today at 2 LIPS Woo hoo!! Congratulations on the big milestone with the whole family. Belated congrats as well to rey del roble on his 3K milestone a few days ago!

I know the cache owner, and she has and continues to deal with health problems that are beyond most people's ability to comprehend. You might have caught her at a bad time and she needed to blow off a little steam. Please remember to be patient with other people and their caches -- sometimes life gets in the way of maintaining a cache right away -- not all of us have time to immediately take care of a cache that's in need of some attention. You did well to clean up the cache, restock it, hide it in a secure spot, and let her know what you had done. A week is far too quick on the trigger, though, to file a SBA note. Just another friendly suggestion -- cross-posting the same topic to other forums isn't going to win you any fans or solve a problem any faster. H-C