Erwinia of B & E

I think a geocaching "singles" Or "caching buddy" group would be fantastic! My husband and I are separated now and I would LOVE to go geocaching this weekend. It's just not very fun for me to go alone. Please let me know if anyone ever does come up with this idea! Erwinia

This is in the Wiamea Canyon in Kauai, Hawaii. Here is the cache link: Why Me?. Here is a view from a cypress swamp at Nixon's Stash .

I have to admit, there was just a bit of selfishness there when I recommended Sunday afternoon.... That is really the only day of the week we would be able to do something like this. So, how would that sound to anyone? If we try to put such an event together, we will give plenty of notice so everyone can have plenty of time to free up their schedules. I think a lunchtime gathering followed by a cache hunting expedition would be just what the Dr. ordered. We'll start trying to put something together, maybe for mid to late February. If anyone has any fun ideas, let us know. We're looking forward to it already. B & E

Well...... We did have a group here in the Charlotte area for quite a while. We had monthly dinner meetings, and sometimes a week-end gathering thrown in the mix. We even had a couple of fun campouts (one really fun campout, one really fun rainout). In the last year or so, though, most of the folks involved seem to have really lost interest. We are still here, and would be very interested in reviving that "Geocaching Carolinas" group. We always enjoy meeting other local cachers and getting together with the friends we have met in this group. All it would take, really, would be for someone to plan a simple get together somewhere in the Charlotte area. Our experience has been that Sunday afternoon events seem to be the best attended in this area. If no one else comes forward soon, we will try to put something together in the next couple of months. We would really like to see this game take off again in Charlotte, and we'd like to meet some of the new people already playing. Hope to see you soon. Botrytisfree and Erwinia

We have been geocaching for quite some time now, and talk endlessly to all our family about our adventures. However, my wife's parents just don't get it at all. They are from Indiana. I have never been there, but they tell me there are lots of Geodes to be found there. So, the other day, we told her father we were going out geocaching. He told us we should just go to Indiana, that's where they all are! We have tried to explain it to him several times, but he just has that image of geodes in his mind, I guess. Anybody else have any funny stories about people who just don't get it?

I heard that: Geocaching is about to be purchased by Sam Walton, just so that K-mart and Target can't get their hands on it.

Also, as for Golden Retrievers being "dumb as a brick", I would have to completely disagree. When the AKC first began its National Obedience Trials, the winners for the first three years were all Goldens. They have won numerous titles since. They are very intelligent, highly trainable dogs.

Gotta cast my vote for any of the retrievers. I'm definitely partial to Goldens, but I think that the black or yellow labs are also very good dogs (never cared much for chocolate labs, they seem to have a different personality). They are bred for being out in the woods and hunting, and you would be hard pressed to find a better family dog. Our golden retriever, as well as our black lab mix, are as much a part of our family as I am. Another opinion: I will never again own a male dog. My experience has been that females make much better pets and are generally easier to train (they seem to have a better "attention span"). One final note - Every minute you spend with a dog when it is a pup will pay off 10 fold when that dog is grown. I wouldn't say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but it is a lot easier to teach new tricks to a new dog. Good luck with your new puppy.

We would personally never take anything from a cache - travel bug or otherwise - without leaving something in it's place. I would consider that depleting the amount of "stuff" in the cache, and adding to the problem of caches deteriorating into nothing but junk. Anyway, I am sure that we leave better than we take virtually every time, so our conscience is at ease: that's really all that matters. BTW, found a cache the other day with this log in the book: took keychain, left beer caps. Sure enough, there were 3 beer caps in there!

The flower you're not sure what it is, but you liked it is: Purple coneflower (Echinacea). It is a fairly common perennial; should be available at most garden centers.

We tried to find a cache recently in a local park. Every likely hiding spot we checked was filled to the brim with Heinekin bottles. Must have been 1,000 or 2,000 of them hidden all around the hillside we were searching. We carried out all we could haul, but we didn't even put a dent in it. It really makes me wonder about the person leaving all the bottles here. They must have been visiting this spot a couple of times a week for about the last 5 years or so to make so many empties. We have notified the park authorities, but it is doubtful that they have done anything about it. Maybe we can organize a CITO event in this area.

Actually, I disagree that Travel bugs are not trade items. When we find a travel bug and want to take it, we always replace it in the cache with something we consider to be of equal or greater value. When we later leave that travel bug somewhere else, we don't hesitate to take some other item if there is something we take a liking to. Most all of the items we take end up going right into another cache anyway, so I don't guess it really matters that much. This is just how we handle it. B & E

Here are a couple of pictures of our signature items. We make miniature birdhouses and sign and number each one. Each one is about 2" to 3" tall, and most have been made out of hardwood. People really seem to like them. We try to keep track of who gets them, and to date, we have put out about 90 of them. We number them corresponding to the number of caches we have found. We like to find hand made items in caches, so we thought we would come up with something hand made of our own. There is quite a bit of work involved in making them, but people really seem to like them.

As to the question about TV shows with concerning Geocaching: There is a show that airs every so often on the Travel Channel. It is one of those "Top 10" deals. Something about top 10 places to find treasure, I think. One of the places is a geocache somewhere in California. I haven't seen it yet, but have arranged for the Travel Channel to e-mail me in the morning the next time it is coming on.

We really miss the "stats" site. We weren't really concerned with the competition aspect of it, but it really made it easier to keep up with what was going on locally. On the GC website, it takes an hour or more to wade through all the caches and find the recent logs. We found it much easier to keep track with Dan's site. We think Groundspeak should address this issue as soon as possible. It seems to us that most users of the website agree.

We ran into this guy and about 200 of his friends at a cache off the coast of South Carolina. Also, one of us about stepped on a water moccasin on the same trip. It was a real adreneline rush!

Dog 2

Dog 1

I wear boots all day every day. Have for ten years or so. Vasque boots are O.K., but I tend to wear them out in a year or so. The best, most comfortable boots I have found are Birkenstocks. Those of you who have worn the sandals before know how comfortable Birkenstock's are. The boots feel just the same, but with more support. I wear them for 12 hours a day, then come home and don't even bother to take them off, since they are so comfortable. They give your feet plenty of room, as well as plenty of arch support. Anyone who has problems getting shoes wide enough to fit should check them out. Mine are waterproof, and cost about $270.00 (worth every penny), but there are several cheaper options (including a low cut hiking shoe, also waterproof) for someone who doesn't need that much boot. Anyway, here is my recommendation: http://www.birkenstock.com/styles/442051/manager=ProdDisplay&category=20o40&prodType=40o43o46o49&simple_color=40&simple_material=10&user_id=0&store_id=0&page=1&cat=adv

O.K. We're not really "newbies" to geocaching. Actually we're been around the game for quite a while. Thing is, until just recently, we have been on WebTv. Our unit recently got struck by lightning, and we were forced to join the 21st century. So, now we have a computer, and don't know how to use it. My first question is: If I wanted to include a picture as part of this post, how would I do it? I have looked through the "help" section, and it says to use the paper clip icon to attatch a picture, but I'll be darned if I can see any paper clip icon anywhere on this screen. I am sure this is a pretty basic question, but we are in the very basic stages of learning. Any help will be greatly appreciated. B & E

One other note about hats... Baseball caps are fine, they definitely keep the sun out of your eyes. But they leave a couple of important areas exposed: First, the back of your neck. Spend a day out on a boat with the back of your neck uncovered and see how sunburnt you will get. Second, the tops of your ears. This one might seem like a little thing, but it is one of the most common spots for skin cancer to pop up. Cancer prevention is one of the main reasons I wear a hat all the time. I am out in the sun all day almost every day, and my Grandfather had problems with skin cancer on his nose and ears. That's all the encouragement I need. Wear those hats, and use sunscreen.

The best thing about Tilley's guarantee is that you don't have to send your hat back to them and wait for it to be replaced. Just take your worn out hat to any place that sells them. They will give you a new one, and Tilley will replace it for them. It works. I have done it. 50-60 bucks might seem like a lot of money for a hat... but with a lifetime guarantee???

If we don't sign the log book, we don't count it as a find. Simple as that. The only question is whether we post it as a DNF or just post a note. Different circumstances, different types of logs. There was one time we didn't sign the log. We found the cache. It was an ammo box. We opened it up and..........someone had taken a big fat dump in it. We promptly closed it back up and signed the OUTSIDE of the ammo box with a sharpie marker. Came home and let the cache owner know about the mess. It was fixed right away. This is the only time I can think of when we have counted a find without actually signing the logbook.

I have to agree. I always wear a Tilley hat. I have worn one out, Tilley replaced it. I am working on wearing out my 2nd one. I wear it every time I go outside. Summer, winter, everytime in between. My wife thinks it has grown to my head. Don't leave home without it!

Our favorite cache by far (out of 313) was this one: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=4188 We had to walk through an "alligator alley", dodge water moccasins, and deal with the most killer mosquitoes and bugs we have ever seen. It was AWESOME!! We found it about a couple of years ago, and no one else has been there since. It is very close to Charleston, SC. Cost us a $60.00 ferry ride to get to the island. It was all worth it. The beach was awesome. We were the first people on that beach in several days. Very secluded and very pristine. We highly recommend it. B & E