Clan Delaney

The Clan is reserved at site 16! Howdy neighbors! This is where the mead will be! Bring a designated... uh, walker.

Start brewing that mead NOW!! Funny you should mention that.... I was just cleaning up the "brewing corner" of the garage! It's cider season!

Never considered actually hiding a cache in the PO Box... you'd just open it, take an envelope with directions to the next leg, and close it up. Just like pickin' up the mail.

Fun comes standard on this model! Those dates look good. The Clan is in!

A cache at the Post Office isn't a completely bad idea, IMO. I've been considering a cache with a PO connection for awhile. The plan was to use a small PO Box as a stop on a multi. I ran into the issue of hiding something near the actual building when it came to where to hide the key for the PO Box. (Finally! a real use for a magnetic key holder!!) I wanted to put it close to the building, but my wife talked some sense into me, the whole gov't building issue and all. Best to be safe. I'll probably use a location across the street on the town common.

I went caching today! This morning. Got beat to the cache by 2 other locals and a couple of (supposed) teens that weren't even cachers! Fun fun. And my day's not over yet. I may go again!

I like this idea. A suggestion: perhaps broaden the category to Ghost Locations, or something of the like. For example, I have an abandoned amusement park near me. It's not a ghost town, but it's certainly a ghost park. I'm still not clear on how many sub categories a category can have, so forgive me if I'm not up to speed yet. It seems though that a Ghost Locations (or some suitable better term than "Locations") category could divide into ghost parks, towns, old businesses, etc.

Oh yeah, broken glass. (Ow! Ouch! Sonofa....)

I think my wife and I have a truce of sorts. She doesn't ask how much I'm spending on my hobby, and I don't ask how much she's spending on hers. For the record, she bears no ill will against geocaching. She actually goads me out the door for FTF's!

My friend and I only started caching back in November, but since then have taken at least 20 FTFs, either solo or working together. And guess what? We work 40 hours a week. We got them becasue we wanted them bad enough to get them, not because we had a world of free time. Heck, our first came after only caching for a month, and we succeeded where 6 other locals came up empty. Lost sleep? Yup. Got up early? Went at night? Got cold, wet? Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup. Left our wives/girlfriends warming the couch a few times? Uhhhhh, nevermind that.

My question result from a friend who was preposing a cache that had pieces of paper in it with things like: diamond ring, Porche 924, House, Airplane etc.... on them. To log the cache you had to leave a piece of paper with an equaly extravant trade item listed. It was declined as you can not force people to trade. There is NO guidline for this so when does it become the reviewers personal OPNION to approvea a cache or not? cheers That reminds me of an idea I had. Start a cache and list some high quality items as starting swag, except there's just regular swag in the cache. When the cacher gets to the cache, there's instructions for them to virtually pick-up one of the imaginary items, and leave something equal or better. It'd be a private joke that only the owner and visiting cachers would be in on. I.E., took digital camera case, left Lord of the Rings Box Set DVDs. Or just plain silly: took Angora rabbit, left half gallon rocky road. Never attempted to have it approved. Maybe in the future. I'll say this: when there is no specific guideline, that's exactly when it becomes the reviewers' opionion to approve a cache or not. I've never seen this process as: "It doesn't say I can't, so that must mean I can". But I may be in the minority.

Thanks to all for your input. It's given me some more to chew on, surely. If I ever get this thing up and running, (or something that closely resembles it) I'll drop a post.

You're gonna need this:

Yes, but by geography teacher told me that 3 rights make a left!

(jumps back in bed, pulls the covers up, and pretends to be sleeping. Zzzzzzzz.)

GO for it! West, huh... Hmmmmmm. Aren't there caches set miles apart where logging finds can only be done by coordinating with a cacher at the other end?

Oh, It's fine with me if people want to explore all the possible story lines. As for making each step an independent cache... they're going to be spread out over almost 15 miles. I believe that if you're gonna take the time to drive to more than one destination inside an are that large, you should be able to log more than one smiley for your efforts. Also, all the places I've looked at are more than suitable for a good regular sized traditional cache. Micros containing nothing more than coords would be a bit of an insult, both to the area and the persons seeking the cache. I see your point though, about the tediousness. I don't know, I'd have to think about that... It might just come down to not being able to please everyone. Some would strive to collect all the caches, while others might be content with one "story line" and others could just get wildly frustrated. Eh. At least you wouldn't have to go back to the begining each time. Nothing would be stopping you from writing down each set of coords, chosing one and saving the next for another day!

Whew. Thanks Speedster. I took the girls out caching today, and despite my fears, I decided to stop hoarding the SAL Red Bell TB #47 and begin hoarding the UTB TB (all hoarding transactions made at the Brattle Bug Retreat). If anyone has a problem, Sara has graciously offered to take the flack.

I would have each cache page contain links to all the others, with instructions on how to start the series. The bogus coords for each cache would be parking locations. It would allow people who wanted to try to do an entire story line in one shot (or ALL story lines!) some preliminary info on where they'd be headed. No info would be given on the cache pages about which cache leads to which cache, though. Dang. I'm talking this up so much, I'm gonna be expected to produce some results! Better clear my schedule!

So, what is the difference? Does moving it along make the difference? If so, then we're back to the question of how long is someone allowed to keep a bug before it's deemed as being "added to their personal collection"?

Is it still there? What was it called?

So... just as a point of reference, since I'm looking at the Official (3 volume) Compendium of Geocaching, Travel Bug Edition and I don't seem to be able to find it... after exactly how much time does holding a travel bug become stealing? It would help if I knew down to the half hour. Also, in the past, I have taken Jeeps from caches, and I decided to keep them in my cache sack. Should I not do this? It wasn't mine, and I didn't have permission to take it (or did I? Was the permission implied?) this is confusing. I thought TB's were supposed to move, but how can they do that if people don't take them from caches and keep them till they drop them again? I'm afraid to grab any TB's now. I might be accused of stealing. Can you smell the sarcasm?

I haven't worked out any of the hard details yet, but yes, I'm aware of the possible exponential nature of cache placements. I was going to battle that by combining some of the caches, meaning that you could arrive there from more than one preceding cache. The final incarnation may even look more like one starting point and one end point, but many different lines (representling series of caches) connecting them, and some lines may share points. Some lines may even be dead ends and not even lead to the final cache! The most difficult part of that would be to create a story that makes sense no matter what path you choose. Distance isn't really an issue, as the cache placements are all at least a mile apart. The biggest logictical issue I've imagined so far would just be making sure that all the caches are listed at the same time, but that could be solved easily enough by working with my reviewer.

That's exactly what I had in mind: a real story that branches and develops as you travel from cache to cache. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a geo fantasy adventure (did I just coin a new genre? Where's that copyright paperwork?) The first inkling of an idea for a story actually started something like this.... "You are woken out of a fitful sleep by the ringing phone. Its insistent intermittent interruptions into your slumber evoke a long groan, and force you to roll from the couch. Your head is pounding. You reach up with one hand to rub your temples, while the other gropes for the phone, and realize you’re still wearing your headlamp. A sweep of your eyes across the floor in front of you reveals a pair of muddy boots, still wet, and socks peppered with the clinging seedpods of various varieties of flora. Unconsciously your eyes shift to the end of the couch and the wet, muddy mess where those boots had just been. You groan louder. Where the hell is that phone? The unnatural weight you feel on your back reminds you that your headlamp isn’t the only caching accoutrement you failed to slough when you collapsed in the living room three hours ago. You shrug your shoulders a couple times and your cache sack hits the floor with a thud. That’s when you spot your phone on the table across the room and realize with a full and sudden awareness that the ringing you hear is coming from your feet. From inside your sack. …. The cachephone. In a practiced series of movements you never thought you’d have to use, you bend to zip away the false back of your cache sack and unbutton a series of straps. You straighten holding a small wireless phone, the whole unit pulsing green in time with its ringing. For a moment all you can do is stare at it, as if mesmerized by the light and sound. You press your thumb to the colored stone Geocaching emblem attached to the front. The phone stops ringing and springs open and slowly you bring it to your ear. You already know who’s calling...

That looks like a good one, and not all that far from me. A day trip though, to be sure.