texasgrillchef

It's incredible how much impact forbidding the use of GPSr at historic locations can be for games, tourism wanting to use GPS devices, and local governments forming GIS programs. By this legislation, all Waymarking of historical places would be prohibited in South Carolina. This would be the quintessential cutting of one's nose to spite one's face. I was thinking that myself.... I don't think it made it through legislation. Even if it did. I think it would be challenged to the United States Supreme court as well. TGC

There are exceptions to that law. I know this because I went to a funeral that was held at the gravesite after dark. However after the funeral everyone was required to leave immediately. (The guy that died was strange, his will required that he be buried after the sun had set and the moon was visible in the sky) TGC

I can't speak for other states. However in Texas it is legal. Providing that the "Entity" that manages/owns the cemetary aproves. This only applies to cemetaries privately held. (Ie any cemetary not owned by the City, Country, State or Federal Government) That vast majority of Cemeteries in Texas are actually privately held. Very few cities/counties in Texas actually own any cemetery land. However, those states that have banned so called "Gaming" inside cemeteries have loop holes. If you have a member of your family buried in said cemetery & they have a headstone then it could be possible to place a cache. Just recently we had to buy a new headstone for our Family grave site in Oklahoma. (Ie the main headstone for the family plot that just lists the last name for our family members buried in that section of the cemetery) the Original gravestone was destroyed by a twister. Anyways the new headstone has a spot for Flowers to be put in it. One could easily put a cache in the bottom of that spot below the flowers. Legally speaking though, I would actually like to see if someone actually would get arrested for geocaching in a cemetery and actually see if it could hold up in court if the law were challenged. I personally don't think it could be upheld in court. TGC

Did anyone happen to notice an episode of "CRIMINAL MINDS" actually had geocaching in it as well. IT even showed the "LADYBUG" Cachekinz travel bug! TGC

I Love Power Trails. Especially on days when I want to find alot of caches and want to do it in as little time as possible. I also love power trails when I am doing alot of traveling. If their is a Power Trail on the road I happen to be driving down I love it, because I don't have to leave my main "Road" of travel. Sorry to hear that some of you don't like it. Some of us do. If you feel like it doesn't give others a chance to place caches... All I have to say is Tuff. First come first serve I believe is the rule on placing caches. (Providing they meet all the other requirments as well). So now I am off to do a few more power trails! So I give a BIG THANK YOU to those who took the time to make a power trail for me. TGC [Edited by moderator to remove potty language. Don't be a potty mouth.]

PI is very very hard to kill. IT requires using "Poison" to do so. The problem with that is the poison needed to kill PI is extremely toxic to other plants as well as the native wildlife around. If you try cutting it down with a "Weed Wacker" you will get a very bad rash, as the "OILS" in PI that cause the rash are even stronger in the branches and wood of the PI. So DON"T try to cut it down or mow it down. Also DON'T try to burn it. Think of Mesquite/hicory smoked meats? they get that flavor because the oils from the wood are in the smoke & then are left behind on your cooked smoked food. Same thing happens when buring PI/PS/PO. Except this time the smoke gets into yoru lungs, causes inflamation to your lungs & can KILL you! If it is such a good spot. Then just notate in your cache page that their is PI around, & use the attributes feature as well to inform potential searches of possible PI. TGC

I just thought of this when I was making a suggestion in the iPhone app forum. One of the OTHER reasons a Trackable can go missing is because many are now using the iPhone to geocache. There are many times I am traveling and I will pick up a Trackable at one cache & drop it off in another cache during my travels. Because I can log my geocaches found/DNF'd from my iPhone, & do in about 99% of the time. I know there have been many many times that I have FORGOTTEN to log a trackable because I was unable to log it from my iPhone app. I had to wait till I got to a computer with internet access. When I do remember, or write it down so I will remember. There are times it has been a couple of weeks before I do get a chance to log it because I haven't been able to get to a computer to log the Trackable. Once Groundspeak adds the feature to log trackables from the iPhone app, then this issue will be resolved. Just thought I would bring up that thought as well. Now that I know the limitations. I try my best to not "Forget" about the TB's I have picked up & dropped off before I can get access to a computer. TGC

I noticed how many geocachers are using a variety of wonderfull little programs that provides an interesting array of geocaching statistics for that geocacher. I find reading through the statistics & looking at the charts & graphs of many of the users to be very interesting. I just started using one of these wonderfull little programs for myself as well. I learned a few interesting things about my geocaching habits that I wouldn't ever have thought. Now I am wondering now if there are any programs that can provide similar type statistics, graphs & charts for our Travelbugs as well? The program I am using for myself doesn't provide any TB statistics. The kind of statistics/charts/graphs that I would love to see of course are not provided directly by geocaching.com. Some of these include... Average number of miles traveled per hop. Which hop & geocacher that took it the longest/shortest distance. Which geocacher had it the longest amount of time, took it the most number of hops, as well as who took it the most number of miles & if that geocacher did that in one hop or multiple hops. How many geocachers "Discovered" it. Grabed it, & retrieved/dropped it. How many caches did it visit? What type of caches were those? (Micro, Small etc..). Which cache did it have the longest stay at & for how long? Whats the average length of stay at a cache? Does it stay at a cache most of the time, or is it dipped more? These are just a few stats/graphs/charts that I could think of off the top of my head. I am sure their are more one could come up with as well. All of which could be determined by a program reading the TB's logs as well as reading the Geocacheinfo & possibly even the Geocacher's profile page as well. Sure... There will be "Errors" in the stats/charts/graphs for many different reasons. But that is normal for ALL stats/graphs/charts that you might make about ANYTHING in life. No statistical analysis is perfect or 100% correct in this world. What I would like to know... is how many of you out there would be interested in something like this? That could then be included in the TB page just like it's included in some Geocachers profile page? TGC

Just keep in mind though. That international customs for SOME countries have issues even with NON-Live ammunition. Meaning you can't have any form of ammunition on your person or luggage of any form. As a result this could severely limit where your TB would or could travel too. I know I would not want to even attempt to take your TB to another country. I say this because a I actually witnessed at Heathrow airport a guy who had a non-live round on a necklace. It was even engraved. As well as two lead bullets that he had appearantly been shot with in Vietnam. The British customs would NOT let him enter the country with his necklace. This was POST 9/11 as well. TGC

Sounds good to me... But then how do you keep them from just starting/opening a new account? By IP #? Mine changes everytime I log on. I also make use of alot of "FREE" wifi "HOT Spots" too like many others. All have different IP's and they don't track who is on an IP either. So while having Groundspeak kill of an "Abusers" account. They could just reopen one. Not to hard to do. Oh and even if you can't use the same email addy. Not to hard to grab a new on on the internet either. TGC

I don't think that how you connect your TB to your "item" will make much difference on if it "Dies" on you or not. The reason I say this. Is any means you use to connect your item with your TB can still be CUT. Not that I ever have, or would. But I do have to the tools myself to easily cut through just about anything you might want to use. Cables, Chains, ties, etc. If my heavy duty cutters don't work, their is always my dremel tool. I don't, I never have & I never will "Steal" a persons travel bugs. Just not right. Even so, if you feel better about it. Then by all means do what you think is best. Personally I think the biggest deterrent to keeping it from getting "STOLEN" is the cuteness/ugly factor. The more your TB item is "undesireable" to others the less likely it will be to get stolen. On the other hand though, make it to ugly & unapealing it may just sit there and nobody will want to touch it! Then it won't complete it's mission. I know one TB I picked up and moved along simply because I loved the TB & had somewhat of a connection to it. Thus I wanted to become a part of it's life and move it along to complete it's goal. This also leads to the concept of having a TB that won't apeal to younger kids as much. IF it doesn't apeal to them or look like it could be a toy to them. Then maybe it won't end up in their hands to get lost by them or even remain in their toy collection. Personalizing your TB will usually make it more undesireable for a person to keep. Unless of course if you happen to be a national &/or international celebrity of some sort. I also think that a good number just plain get lost. Not really stolen but actually lost. Regretably I have to say that I lost a couple of other peoples TB's for a few weeks. I eventually found them and got them on their way a month or two later. (Found them under my car seat, stuck between the plasic cover & the Bolt that secures the seat to the car frame) The other big thing is size. On more than one occasion that I was going to drop off a travel bug, only to find that it was a micro, or sometimes a small that was to small for the TB I had at the time. (When I geocache, I don't pay attention to cache size I love the surpise more when I find it). So I would have to agree with others. TB size makes a huge difference. If it's to big, then it makes it harder to place in a cache when your looking for a place to put it. Make a TB to small and it becomes a 1000 times easier for it to get lost. The mission can be to complicated as well. I don't think this has much to do with your TB getting stolen or lost. But can have a big impact on the little guy completing his mission. I came across a TB that had a mission to get somewhere I was going to take it to where he wanted to go. Only problem. There wasn't any caches placed where he wanted to go yet. So he couldn't complete his mission because their were no caches for him to be placed in when he completed his mission. Go figure! Also in regards to your mission. Make it a fun one to complete, or for someone to become a part of the mission, so they can have fun in it's existance will make it more appealing to a geocacher & for them to get it placed as soon as is possible. For what it was worth.... (probably not much LOL) Those are my thoughts on the subject. TGC

I just bought a bunch of different types of travelbugs. "Cachekinz" etc... In my mad rush to activate them. I accidently activated one of the bugs in my name, instead of my wifes geocaching name. How do I go about changing OWNERSHIP of the travel bug? My wife & I did it before.... See (TB31583 TX-Butterfly). That was along time ago & now I can't remember how we did it. I did a search through the forums/posts but was unable to find any instructions. Maybe I am not searching on the right search terms. I did search on the "Travelbug ownership change" but it pulled up a ton of other junk. Nothing related to what I need to do. Maybe someone could post the answer in on of the "Stickies". I am sure I am not the only one with this issue. TGC

I have tried many of your suggestions. But I still haven't found a truly decent workable solution yet. 1. GPS only holds 1,000 waypoints/geocache's. POI's are NOT uploadable to the unit. 2. Pocket Queries are limited to 500 caches, and you can only create/produce 5 queries per day. This means you can only produce 2500 caches per day in queries. DFW metroplex that I travel around on a daily basis has OVER 5,000+ cache sites. I have downloaded GSAK, and it appears to be an interesting program. I just haven't quite figured out how to use the darn thing yet. I also haven't figured out how to get it to access the internet and my geocaching account either. I will figure it out though. Just been really busy lately. It would be nice if PQ's weren't limited to 500 caches, &/or 5 per day. It would also be nice if my GPS unit could handle more than 1,000 waypoints as well. But at least it's alot better GPS than what I started out 15 years ago using! I do thank each & every person for thier suggestions & input. Thank you very much for the time & effort each of you have made. I am actually using some of the suggestions & have changed the way I do some things as well. It has helped. Just not at the perfect solution yet. I do realize that a perfect solution may not be acheivable at this time. At least not until a better GPS unit or better software or upgrades to geocaching.com have been made. Again thanks... TGC P.S. I do love my iPhone & the geocaching.com app. Just wish it could be more accurate. It would also be nice if my Garmin GPS unit could accept waypoint uploads using Bluetooth from the iPhone app as well. Maybe someday in the future.

Keep going everybody... I have loved reading all your comments about what you enjoy as far as caches go. I have learned alot by just reading what I have read so far. Of all the caches I have found so far. There have been serveral I have enjoyed and liked very much. Some that I haven't. However, in defense of the caches I didn't enjoy very much at the time were mostly because I wasn't in the "mood" to find those. I am not a quiter and hate to quit in the middle of a search just because. In the upcoming weeks, I am taking this vast knowledge and submitting a number of caches that incorporate a few of the following items. 1. To be a challenging cache to retrieve. Something clever (I hope) 2. Placing a few caches that make for something as an easy PNG yet provide something of a challenge in finding the cache or be an interesting place to go. At least from my perspective. Thanks... and keep going I enjoy reading & hearing about what you have enjoyed in your finds. Sure beats reading those who have rants about caches! LOL TGC

Keep in mind that for some geocaching is about where the cache takes them. For others (such as myself) geocaching is about the challenge of finding the cache. Now from your description it doesn't sound to me much like a challenging hide as far as finding the container, either. Unless they wanted to make it easier for some. Now as far as beauty goes of nature, the enviroment or the surroundings. Remember one things. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What you found to be a little drab & uninteresting to you someone else might find very interesting. I will give you an example. I am not all that fond of sandy beaches and coast lines. I love mountains & deep dense forests. So a mountain cache stuck in the deep forest is more interesting to me than a cache located on a sand dune near the coast. I also find caches near interesting architecture to be very nice. My wife on the other hand has no interest in architecture. So she finds those caches boring, unless the CO made the cache challenging to find. Thats the one nice thing about geocaching. There are caches for all styles & types of goecachers. Caches in all types of enviroments. In urban settings & in the wilderness, even under water. However... I will admit. geocaching.com needs some improvement on making it easier to find those caches a person would be more interested in going to find. TGC

Did the cache have the GC code listed on it? On all my caches I put my GC number on it. Since your in Texas as well, many cities in Texas now require the GC code be listed somewhere on &/or in the container. What was the GC code in your GPSr? It is possible it could have been archived between the time you downloaded it and the time you went to find it. Let us know what the GC code is. Thanks TGC

Very interesting. What I noticed so far with the posts in this thread is that everyone here finds that WHERE a cache takes them to be the most important part of what makes the cache enjoyable. A couple listed but I took it as their second most importat part of the cache is the cache itself and the challenge of finding the cache. Even then the way I understood it though, was even they said that where the cache takes them is the most important part of making a cache enjoyable. I find that very interesting! That it takes a cache to get someone off their butt to discover something new & what got them off their butt isnt what they find the most enjoyable. ie the challenge of finding the cache. In that case... it shouldn't really matter if you log a cache as a found or dnf. You just discovered somethign wonderfull! right? Anyways... keep going folks I want to hear more.... And anybody have links to some of their favorite caches?

We men always quibble about that 1/2" in fish &.... well you should know... TGC

Just asking here.... so for you. It's more about where the cache takes you, not so much about the challenge of finding the cache itself? Good thing to ponder. So before I wrote this I went back to check logs. Funny thing. The cache with the longest "Average" log was my Multicache LPC, in a micro.... My other most popular cache is long logs as well. Go figure. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...c6d5-452b-9cda- http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...ba-f4bbd9fcc4cc TGC

So far all very very good points to ponder. Thanks for everybodies input so far. I will tell you this. When I have a camping/hunting/hiking trip coming up. I do just as many of suggested. During my normal research for where I want to go. Such as making reservations, & other normal travel plans & arrangements. I do scope out the caches in the area that I am going too &/or be in. I take the time to read each of the cache pages before I have even left home. So I know what caches I want to attempt before my family even gets there. When I am there, thats when I use my iPhone, Netbook to see if any of the caches I am interested in have been disabled or archived. (Assuming I have 3g/internet access when there of course) Very easy process when I know exactly where I am going to be & when. Same thing I do for all the caches that are within a 10 mile radius of my home. Those I am still slowly working on. Just haven't found an ideal solution yet for when I am out & about & have no idea what "sub" area (of the larger area) that I am going to be in. I will check out GSAK and see what I can make of that program. I will also check out Garmins POI loader. I don't know if it will work with my 530hcx unit or not. Thanks so far.... Will also stay tuned for anyone elses replies as well.. TGC

After reading who knows how many number of posts and threads about people not liking this cache or another. Including not liking nano's, or micros, or in some cases even smalls. My curiosity has peaked and now wonder what you do find fun, good interesting in a cache. I also ask this, because at the time of writing this post, I have 22 cache hides. Several are multi's, I have some Deadend (Dead end, Dead-end) caches, gaurdrail caches, LPC's, Garden caches, Some in Parks on the trail system. Some are PNG's, Some require some hiking time, some require thought. I have micro's, small, & regular. Of my most popluar caches (Being with those that have found/DNF'd the most) one is micro, one is a small, one is at a dead-end (Deadend, dead end), the other is an LPC. My least poplular with only a few finds, is a multi, is in the park, requires a little brain power, and good 15 min hike (one way). The final is also in an ammo can. All other stages/waypoints aren't physical, but questions to answer. The ones in the park on the trail system aren't the most popluar nor are they the least. They are hovering around middle of the road. So I kind of scratch my head when people say they don't like micro's, LPC's and gaurdrails as those caches of mine that are getting the most hits are what everybody says they hate! So now I ask... Think back (I know this might be hard for those of you with several thousand finds or more). But what one cache is your alltime favorite? By favorite, is I mean the cache that you have found to be the most enjoyable cache you have ever found. (Provide a link to that cache if possible, please) and tell us why that particular cache you found to be the most enjoyable. Also, if you wish to add & I hope you do. What are the 3 most important criteria that you look for in a cache that helps you determine if you will pursue that cache or not. Thanks... TGC P.S. I don't want this thread to be about the caches you hate, but to be about the caches you love & why.

8 Cubic inches holds about 4.5 fl oz of water. or just a little over a 1/2 cup. 64 cubic inches hold about 35oz fl oz of water. Just over a quart... 1331 Cubic inches is just over 5gals. Yet I jsut looked. they are also saying a 5gal bucket is considered large & not regular. Personally I would consider a 5 gal buck as large & not regular. I also think that very very few spots would be a good place for a cache that large. Otherwise it would be just way to easy, even if you did camo it. Which in turn for me would make it just as bad as some nanos', micro's and smalls that are kinda boring by themselvs. The only redeeming quality a large container would have, would be if it took you somewhere cool & decent. You know I really hear alot of bad being talked about micro's, nano's and even some smalls. Sure there are some pretty lame hides. But I have read more than a ton of lame hides that were regular in size as well. Personally I think what makes a good cache site, is one that doesn't have anything to do with size, but how chalenging it was to find or if it takes you somewhere cool. I can fully understand why sometimes people just log "TFTC TNLN SL" and nothing else for a log entry. It's probably because there wasn't anything exciting or interesting about the cache. It wasn't challenging to find, or took you somewhere cool. I have done that on some caches of regular size! LOL tgc

Does this include respecting the Dead.. such as Hitler, Mengle, Himler etc...? Not that I do respect them... Just saying... TGC

Hello everybody... I am looking for an easier way to cache. No I am not looking for easy cache's or a way to find caches easier as far as the actual hunt goes. Equipment used: Garmin 530hcx GPSr iPhone with geocaching.com's iPhone app. Netbook with AT&T wireless. (Used only when I am out caching in my truck) Mapsource software that came with upgraded map software for my Garmin GPSr. My S&R trained Beagle named Sara. (Not always used) Currently this is my process... I download using PQ's the new caches for DFW with the following filters. Within 250 miles, Traditional & Multi, New within the last 48 hours, Active, Not Mine, Not Found by me. I then import these into a pre-existing mapsource file. This pre-existing mapsource file allready contains all of the geocaches for the DFW area that I had download previously. Minus any geocaches that I have previously found. Once I find them, I delete them from this mapsource file & move them to a new mapsource file I call "Geocaches Found". Currently in that main mapsource file, I have about 12,000 geocache sites. Obviously including more than just DFW. Now... My Garmin 530hcx GPSr will currently hold no more than 1000 waypoints. Doesn't matter how big a microSD card I have installed. Currently I have a 16gb microSD card installed. It would be great if my GPSr could hold all 12,000 plus waypoints. But currently it is unable to do so. Who knows maybe in the future Garmin will store the waypoints on the microSD card instead of internal memory. I use Mapsource to transfer those waypoints/cache sites to my GPS. I also use it to transfer back to Mapsource any "potential cache sites" that I may find & have marked for possibility as a future cache site. Here is my problem and why I am looking for a better way to do things. I travel frequently for many different reasons the entire DFW metroplex. For those who have a map, or live in DFW. I travel as far north as Denton, to as far south as Waco, to as far east as Rockwall, to as far west as Weatherford. Most of the time I am in my Truck, but not all the time. About 20% of time I am in my wife's car. (With or without her) Now if my GPS held all 12,000 plus waypoints (Cache sites) I wouldn't have a problem. As a result, each day before I leave I quickly download about 850 waypoints/caches to my GPSr for the areas that I might be in for that day. (I leave a space for about 150 waypoints in case I need to mark a location for anything. Geocaching related or not) One of the problems with Mapsource and importing PQ's to it, is that it adds new cache sites to my database, but it does not delete those cache's/waypoints that have been archived. As a result, when I transfer those 850 waypoints/caches to my GPSr some of them will have been archived or disabled. Of course I could use my iPhone to check for each cache prior to going, but realize how time consuming that would be to check 850 caches to see if they have been archived or disabled! Same thing applies to using my Netbook with AT&T 3g internet. So right now... when I see I am near a cache on my GPSr that I think I might want to get. I stop and look at my geocaching iPhone app to check it out. (&/or my netbook as well). I will then take some time for the small area I am using either my iPhone or Netbook to see what I want to get & put them in my GPSr que. As you can tell a very tedius process sometimes. I would use my iPhone alone, however as we all know it isn't as accurate. Besides that sometimes (especially when I am camping, hunting, or doing some hiking in the unknowns) I don't have 3g access. I am sure anyone with an iPhone or AT&T can relate to that. In which case all I have is my pre-loaded GPSr, hunting for a cache that might be disabled or even worse archived! Anyone have any ideas of how I could do this in an easier way, using the equipment/software that I allready own so I don't end up looking for non-existant caches? I was thinking is their a way to get a list of those caches that have been archived in the last "X" days so that I could then delete them from my Mapsource file on a weekly basis? Or maybe someone who has a Garmin 530hcx knows how to use the microSD card & load more than a 1000 waypoints on the unit? Another ideal solution I thought of, besides having a GPSr that could hold an infinite amount of waypoints (Based only on the amount of memory available via microSD card) would be to have a program that could load all 830,000+ geocache sites into it, then automatically load all the new cache sites on a daily basis and & the same time remove all the ones that were archived. (Using filters of course) Have it do all this automatically on a daily basis. That way I could quickly & easily download/update my GPSr & know that all the cache sites I updated my GPSr were active and available. Problem with PQ's is that they are only limited to 500 caches, You only get 5 PQ downloads per 24 hours. As far as I can tell PQ's won't give you a list of archived/disabled caches & even if it does. Mapsource &/or the GPSr can't use that list to automactically delete those waypoint/caches. Anyways... any ideas? TGC

Haveing been a proffesional chef. Now a retired one. Sandwiches can be of any size. An Oreo cookie by definition of "sandwich" is in fact a sandwich. So then if a small is defined to be that of a container that can hold a sandwich. Any container that can hold my Oreo cookie is in fact a small. But in all seriousnous (sp?) thats why I suggest that container sizes be rated and sorted according to actual volume that they can contain. (See previous post) Doing it that way, would leave no room for doubt. Other than ones stupidity for not being able to figure out how much volume is in their container. TGC