[Significant Caches]

I'm in the mid 600's now. Only two of my milestones have been planned more than a day in advance. Number 100:

 

This is a special cache log for me for two reasons.

 

First, it's my 100th find.

 

Second: I had planned to use this cache for when I needed an easy find on a day to keep my streak of days alive, but when I started getting near 100, I knew I wanted to make this the milestone find. My Grandfather was laid to rest here in '06. I haven't been out to see him much, but this was a great time to visit. My Grandfather was a wonderful human being. He served in WWII well before I was born of course. He and my Grandmother had 4 children, 7 grandchildren and so far 5 great-grandchildren. He was always ready with a joke. He told me once he went to D.D.S. school, but not for dentistry. His D.D.S. stood for Ding Dong School. My grandparents lived here in Battle Creek until about 1990, when the moved to North Carolina for a while. I only got to see him for once or twice a year for the years they were gone, but they were fun times. When they knew his time was near, they moved back home so he could be near most of his family, including a couple surviving siblings. I/ we had about 2 years with him back home. His hearing was mostly gone by this point, so he wasn't involved in most conversations, but when he was, the jokes were right there with him. He died 22 days shy of his 79th birthday.

 

Thanks to gunner226 for this cache that will always have a special meaning to me.

 

and number 500, one of the oldest in Michigan GC651. I'll probably make 1000 something special, but I've got a while to think about it.

[Can I log a "find" if i give directions to someone else ?]

While the real answer is "play any way you want", I would feel this is not in the spirit of the game. Technically speaking, your name would be on the log, and if you didn't reveal how you did it, the CO would never know and therefore couldn't delete your online log.

[Has anyone tried this?]

Is the Geomate Jr a fancy GPSr? No. Does it work? Yes. When my daughter and I started, we used only my iPhone 3G. It wasn't very accurate and I also wanted to give her something to hold/follow/use. I bought her the Geomate Jr. She has since quit caching, and I use it. I have never used a fancy Garmin, Magellin, etc... but from what I understand, they need a cord to connect with the computer and after you load the data, the cache can be archived. I would suggest you get past the "pre-loaded" statement. It is true that it comes preloaded, but with the cord, you can quickly update it to have all the new data. It is true that no description, attributes, or hints show, but if since you are already finding caches, I assume you have some device. (I know it's not good to assume, and finding caches is possible without any GPS.) If you are using a smart phone, like I do, you can supplement your Geomate with that. If you are looking for a secondary GPS for a kid, like I did, this is perfect. If on the other hand you are looking for your one and only GPSr, I don't recommend this.

 

Another draw back that I just thought of is, while it is possible to do multis, puzzles, and ECs, it is not convenient. Also, the Geomate doesn't not load caches with a difficulty or terrain higher than 4, so no 5/5s.

 

Hopefully that gives you more understanding from someone who actually owns one, and uses it on most of his caching trips.

[whats the most expensive swag item you've seen in a cache before?]

I put an iPod in one cache and a digital camera in another. I had upgraded each and was hoping to improve the swag in caches that I really enjoyed. That practice ended rather quickly, when I ran out of good stuff I could give away .

[Epic Multi]

Don't know or care about the OT parts of this thread, but on topic, I think part of the problem with very cool puzzles like this is this: as a general rule, you can't count on cachers to go back to all the stages and replace the tools they retrieved. I don't know how far apart each stage is, but if we are talking a mile or more, I imagine most people wouldn't take the time, unless they had to go past each stage again to get to their vehicle. Then you can't count on them doing it right. That is my thought, though I loved the idea.

[Geocaching goals of 2012- What are yours?]

No major goals, but I will add between 4-6 states to my map in January as I drive across the country to Portland. (New states will be Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Oregon for sure. Possibly Colorado and Washington.)

[Parking Waypoints]

...

These days a lot of people seem to want their hands held by the CO and expect him to do everything short of personally handing them the cache.

 

And I think there are some who want this as well.

[Interstate Cache?]

I would never look for a cache that required I pull over on an interstate, regardless of how rural the area. My vote is "bad idea." Now, if the cache could be accessed in another way, but overlooked the interstate, I'd be more likely to attempt it. My vote would be "better idea."

[Cache feedback]

I am only speaking on my own behalf, not Groundspeak or any other cacher. I don't think there is a lot of rage towards agendas on the forum as you say, but discussions of what is and isn't an agenda. Agendas of any type are prohibited by Groundspeak on the cache page. I do think if you suggest people sprinkle tobacco as an offering, you are promoting an agenda. Also, I think tobacco in a cache is a bad idea because 1.)minors find caches and 2.)animals find caches. But if you do still put the tobacco in the cache, you can mark it as "Not A Trade Item" and put a note with it for its purpose. Agendas in the cache container are allowed, just not on the website cache page.

 

edit: add what Chokecherry said about reasons tobacco is a bad idea.

 

edit again: as always, when in doubt about agendas, or any other issues, your reviewer has the best answer.

[Unique Icon for Ranger Rick Caches]

I have no idea who or what Ranger Rick is...

 

Me either, care to explain?

[More information, please]

I mostly disagree with the OP, and I travel a lot and now most of my caches are from out of town. I would slightly agree if the OP is talking about caches that are specifically designed for people traveling through, quick PNGs just off the highway. Anything else, I don't want directions. Maybe as t4e say, a parking waypoint, but that's about it.

[A memorial cache?]

nevermind, you fixed it.

[A memorial cache?]

My very first cache hidden in Sept 2011 was placed in memory of a family friend who lost his life on 9/11. I doubt

 

I'm guessing not Sept 2011, but maybe 2001? If you do have a time machine, let me know, I'd like to go to some events in the past.

 

edit: not geocaching events, personal choices.

[Splitting out Challenge Finds]

oops.

 

Yeah, my stats say 639 found/completed. 638 are finds, one is a challenge

[Splitting out Challenge Finds]

Do I understand that "Completed" will no longer be a "Find"? If so, I hope no one reached a milestone this week after completing any challenges.

 

Personally, I don't care either way, but somebody is bound to be screwed up by this.

[Stop me if you've heard this]

I particularly like the part where the muggles walk by.

 

What's a KAY-shirr? (Okay. Cute video.)

 

The same two thoughts I had. Funny video.

[Challenges: Now that they are released]

"If there were virtual caches, all physical caches would be banned in the parks" from a local park superintendent that had complete control of whether geocaches would be allowed or not in the local county parks.

 

I'm not sure the most politcally correct word to describe this statement, and, be aware, I am not talking about you, but the park superintendent. This is a stupid statement. If the park superintendent has complete control of whether geocaches are allowed, and doesn't want physical caches, as he has stated as much ("all physical caches would be banned"), then he should ban them regardless if there are virtuals or not.

[Challenges: Aren't Action and Photo Challenges the same thing?]

I've made a suggestion in the feedback site for a learn challenge type similar to the way EarthCaches are setup. I've seen a suggestion for a Answer a question challenge type.

 

I would support this idea wholeheartedly. But my question to you is this; Who would I send my answer to since nobody owns the Challenge once it is submitted?

["I'll pick you up a cache!"]

Not geocaches. But I collect smashed pennies from places I go, but my family doesn't seem to understand that concept, and try to help me get more. I have explained to all of them several times, but they don't seem to understand.

[Challenges: Now that they are released]

I just won't do a challenge unless it fulfills my criteria of being like a cache. If it takes me to some place and makes me see something, then I'd be willing to log it and take the smilie....

 

So far this is the best response I've read. I have only seen 2 or 3 challenges, since almost all the others everyone is linking to have been archived, and apparently there are none near me, so I can't say anything good or bad about them. But as almost all the forum regulars' mantra goes "just because it's there doesn't mean you have to do it." Who cares if someone else' smiley count goes up. I don't see how (I may be overlooking something) a bogus log will affect you, it's not like a missing cache has been logged as found and you decide to go find it now.

 

It's if very strange for me to be on this side of the argument, I almost never like change and usually resist it to a fault.

[Public House Nanos]

Providing all other guidelines are met with, it sounds like ordinary nano caches to me. Be careful to avoid advertising for the pubs, though. The wording of your cache pages may be the most difficult.

 

+1 There are plenty of these around where I cache.

 

I had to look up "public houses" as I had never heard that term. I would have never known that "pub" is short for something. I had always just thought it was a word.

["interesting set of finds for someone that just joined today"]

I was thinking it may have been one of the many people coming on asking how to split an account, but didn't bother changing the find dates. Then I looked at some of the finds, including being the only person to find a couple of the Antarctica ones and one that had no finds and was archived in January, so that ruled that out. Though still theoretically possible (the person s/he split from could be a non-logger, not in it for the smileys or numbers), I'm going to go with this being a bogus cacher.

[Excellent Geocache music video]

First time I've seen it. I almost gave up on it during the first verse. Glad I didn't. Pretty funny. Thanks.

[Found caches displaied on home page]

Not sure if I'm understanding exactly what you are looking for, but try this:

From the page that shows "Last 30 Days" click on "Your Public Profile" to the right, under your avatar

Then click "Geocaches" tab

Then click "All Geocache Finds"

 

I think that's what you are looking for?

[Finding a group of geocache's]

Try this link.

 

edit: or IkeHurley13's