Triskeles

There's a beautiful "pocket park" that had what seemed to be a very tricky cache. The CO described it as being for those who enjoy a creative hide, and many teams had a hard time finding it. We'd been there twice ourselves. Finally, I sat down and read the logs from the beginning, and found out that the cache had been somewhat controversial when it was first published. Armed with clues from that, we found the cache. Turns out that one had to unscrew one of the covered nuts (enclosed nuts? not sure what to call it) from one of the bolts on one of the benches. A nano log was stuffed into the nut. Man...I felt soo gypped! My son saw it and yelled "That's it??!!" There was no container, per se, just a log stuffed into something that was already there. We just thought it wasn't keeping with the spirit of caching. But oh well.

I'm wondering what kind of batteries you use in your GPSr, and if you've noticed a difference between different brands/types of batteries...

Out here in the desert summers, that cd would warp pretty darn fast!! It's a fun idea in theory. Unfortunately, like a lot of things, reality tends to intrude.

I'm in complete agreement with the others, so I won't repeat what they said. HOWEVER, as a parent who regularly caches with their child, I feel it's important to make a few points. If you're living in Arizona with a child, especially in central/southern AZ, one of the first things you need to teach them is RESPECT for the nature that's all around us. Scorpions, snakes, spiders, javelina, coyotes, etc. aren't just living out in the desert. They can be found anywhere...even in the middle of town. Down here in Tucson, the javelina and coyotes travel the city via the network of washes, and it's not uncommon to see them around. I have a friend who regularly finds scorpians in her home, and another who's apartment complex attracts rattlesnakes. Teach the kids to watch out...no matter where they are. If they're too young (like a young toddler) to understand, then they don't need to be running free. My son seems to have a knack for finding micros, but to be honest, I'm okay when he DOESN'T find one. Disappointment is part of life, and a well-adjusted adult learns that lesson in childhood. Having every cache created just for them, and being a cache easy enough for them to find everytime is NOT doing them any favors. If a kid is upset or cries because they can't find a cache, then it's an excellent teachable moment for the parent. They take that time help their child learn to deal with disappointment, and to use that experience to try again. Geocaching with kids presents many teachable moments. And, on a non-child note, I'm also a relative newbie--we just found our 100th cache this past weekend. As a newbie, I'm finding that it's better for me to adopt a "watch and learn" attitude about caching. I think that going off on rants and making demands of the caching community is, in effect, burning bridges before you even have a chance to build them. Good luck to you!

Those little bags come from craft stores like Michaels. Or, since I dabble in beading, I get them free when I buy stuff. I keep 'em and use those. I'll leave the second question to the experts.

Spoon!!!

Twelve year old boys. You should see my almost-twelve year old boy when he's in stealth mode. It's hilarious. I keep telling him that when we've got the "we own the place" thing going we're less noticable then when he's being "stealthy".

Most of the time I cache with my tweener son. He's good company, interesting to talk to, and we have lots of misadventures and laughs that we'll remember for years to come. I have cached solo a few times when he's off somewhere, and it felt a bit strange. Not because of the "I'm alone and feel awkward" thing, but because I keep thinking "Nicholas would love this place!" In addition, he's a really good cacher and has a knack for finding micros, so the find ratio is higher when he's around.

This afternoon, young Triskele and I made a trip to our local JCPenney. They're having some decent sales and since I'm on their email list we also had an additional 20% "Friends and Family" coupon. Well, after the shoe section we wandered downstairs and found ourselves all the way in the back of the back of the housewares section. And what was on the very back wall? Authentic Lock & Locks!! And, many of their $39.99 sets were on sale for $18.88, plus I got 20% off of that. So, for about $15 plus tax, I got a 20-piece set (10 containers plus lids) of various sizes. That's about $1.50 per container!

Young Triskele is on lockdown until he finishes cleaning his black hole of a room. It's driving me CRAZY because caching isn't as fun when he's not with me...not to mention that he's really really good at finding them. There's a CITO event tomorrow...we'll see if he makes it or not!

I didn't upgrade for the PQ's....I don't use 'em. I upgraded to support the site. Even though I'm on a budget, $30 a year is cheap for something that brings so much fun to my son and I.

Now that is not true. Your account doesn't get suspended unless you are just a Basic Member. As a Premium Member your account gets downgraded to Basic before it gets suspended. hmmm...I wonder what happens if you get too many DNFs as a Plantinum Member...

Other than the obvious (extra pens, paper, batteries, cell phone, etc.) our "must haves" are: small first aid kit small manicure set (we've used the tweezers and other tools countless times, and they all fit in a nice zipper case) walking/hiking pole

I use my son. "Child, clear us a path to the cache!!" Not really. But he does have a hiking stick, and he does tend to just take off on the shortest route to a cache, which is inevitably through various plant life. I tend to have to stop him and insist that we we find an easier way around. But despite his bushwhacker attitude, I'm the one who winds up with scratches and blood on the trail!! He does seem to be taking things slower since I reminded him that the warm weather means more rattlesnakes are out and about!!

I guess I'm realllllly old school!! When a new cache comes in an email is sent to my Yahoo account, which in turn sends a text message to my verizon phone. Then, if I want, I can log into the internet on my phone to see the cache info, or if I'm at home or work, I just use that computer. I may just have to play with the stuff above...

+1 I'd rather visit a spot that's interesting in some way...either by location, art, a good story, a really amazing cache, etc.

I should put them under the lamp post skirts in the general area!

Yesterday young Triskele asked if I would hide the Easter eggs using GPS and then give him a list of coordinates. This'll be fun!!

Almost as funny as this morning when I had my son convinced that he slept through a big earthquake (in Southern Arizona) overnight and that many buildings, including his school, had cracks and were closed.

...just to throw out another idea, have you considered buying a good used GPSr? There are almost always people who upgrade to fancier receivers and then sell their older (but still good) ones. I've got a jar on my desk at home. Everytime I find money (in the washer, in my son's pockets, at the bottom of my purse, around the house, etc.) I throw it in the jar. I don't know why, but change just seems to breed around here. (Wish it was $100 bills instead of quarters!) We usually save it all year and then use it when we're on vacation. You could set up your own jar, but make it the "saving for a gps" jar. Every little bit helps!

I've seen nanos inside blinkies, and small fake bolts, and eppendorfs. Have you ever seen nanos in any other type of container? I'm not talking about fake gum/pinecone/poop/cactus outer containers that then have blinkies in them, I'm talking about the actual nanocontainer that contains the teeny weeny log. What other nano containers have you seen?

Okay...I teared up for this one!! Through the years, we've had many many cats, all rescues, and we're constantly rescuing animals and helping them find homes or their way back home. Any time my son sees an animal without a caretaker he wants to stop and help. We LOVED this story, and hope lots of good karma comes your way!!

Good point. Our first cache was muggled (er...landscapered) a few days after it went up. It was very educational.

Go to your profile. At the options on the right, under "Premium features", is a link to "set up notifications." You'll be taken to a new page which explains notifications and allows you to create some.

That's it!! Thank you