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Wow, that's W 3.5mi. from my home coordinates. Thanks!

LOL! I like that idea. Should I also twirl the end of my over-waxed moustache? Dang. And I thought I had it all figured out, too. I was thinking of going full Rockford. I'd go out in a white hard hat and an orange safety vest. I'd have roll of blueprints under my arm and stare intently at my iPhone, occasionally holding it up to my ear. My wheels? A white pick-up truck with the 4-ways on while it's parked. Seriously, though, thanks for the replies. What I really need to do is get on with it and relax. I'll just be upfront and polite and not worry about it.

I'm fairly new to this. Been doing it on and off for a few weeks and have 44 caches. They're spread all over: Mammoth, the Oregon coast, Orange County, where I live, and Santa Monica, where I work. I picked this up in rural country, where I got really excited about geocaching. But now, at home, I find that I'm often uncomfortable rooting around in a urban/suburban environment. Several caches I've gone after don't seem to meet the private property rule, and those that do are close enough to private property and people that I wouldn't blame anyone for a curt "What are you doing?" I mean, I'm suspicious of me, you know? Know that I'm 40+ and usually on my own, trying to fit in a cache or two while driving home from work, at lunch hour, etc. My daughter is into it when we're on vacation, but she has less time back at home. She only goes out on caching runs when they're near the house. And compared to the 1-star easy caches in rural country, which are often huge ammo cases covered by obviously unnatural piles of rocks--truly "easy"-- I find the in-town hides to be more difficult, yet the same 1-star rating is almost always applied. Yesterday I went out for 5 "easy" ones and came back with only 1 find. Same thing at lunch the day before. Perhaps a lot of folks don't actually change the difficulty rating from the default when they register a cache. Or maybe it's what they're used to, so it's "easy" for them. Whatever. My success ratio is awful in town. And that's probably because I get self-conscious after about 5 minutes of looking. I don't know how much bush-whacking and rooting around is typically necessary. When is the best time of day? What should I bring along? Flashlight? Mirror? I need to chill out an relax a bit. I need to sit down and talk to a pro. I'm in Yorba Linda, CA. Are there any regular local club gatherings or meetings nearby? Thanks

I like the iPhone app a lot. And at $9.99, it's a lot cheaper than a handheld unit. In fact, the existence of the app is what led me into geocaching in the first place. My wife read about geocaching in a tourist magazine in Mammoth, so I decided to see if there was "an app for that". There was. We tried the free 3-cache trial version and were hooked. Later, at my dad's place in rural Oregon, I got a chance to do a side-by-side comparison with a Garmin E-Trex Vista C. He's had this unit for a couple of years, but he's not a geocacher and he didn't even know how to use the most basic functions. My daughter and I worked it out, then we went caching with both units (the E-Trex and the iPhone 3GS) side-by-side. iPhone app good points: easy to see cache listings in your area (or any other area - you can pluck addresses out of you phone contacts list as a search point in a snap), easy logging, easy access to description and hints (unencrypted, though). Good maps via Bing or Google. Topo maps, too. You can log trackables in and out. You never need to attach the unit to a computer with a cord to update your logs and look for things to cache. You can do everything except establish a new cache right on the phone -- if you have 3G coverage, that is. Also, it's a stealthy way to cache--it looks like you are texting or looking up a number, and you can hold it up to your ear when muggles appear to make it look like you are simply talking on the phone, an activity that instantly explains your aimless wandering and absent-minded kicking of dirt, etc. Most of the time, the Garmin and the iPhone gave similar distance and direction readings. Because it can incorporate cell-towers, too the iPhone actually seemed to hold a lock better while driving in a car, with the unit in a passenger's hand. THis makes sense because Smartphones are the source of Google Maps traffic data. I suppose you could solve puzzle caches that need internet searches right there on the same device, too. iPhone bad points: Battery life is TERRIBLE when using geocaching - much worse than normal smartphone consumption. Three or four caches and you are done. Lack of 3G or wi-fi coverage negates most of the above instant interactivity. You can pre-load and save caches before you leave a coverage or wi-fi area, and do the rural field stiff off-line, but I have yet to figure it all out. Sometimes the compass doesn't orient itself as quickly, but I can't say the Garmin was perfect, either. Also, you have to have AT&T to use this phone, and you have to pay for the data plan. If you already do, this is nothing. For geocaching alone, it's not worth it because of the cost of the data plan over a year's time. But if you are a geoccaher trying to decide on a smartphone that you need or want for other reasons anyway, this $10 app certainly tips the scales in the iPhone's favor. There is a way to enter waypoints for a puzzle or multi-stop cache, but I haven't found it yet. E-Trex Vista C good points: Four or Five times the battery life, if not more. AA battery replacement easy in the field (the phone has to be recharged, over time). Very good lock and compass. Has the ability to measure, average and store coordinates for new caches. Breadcrumbs. Very detailed maps can be uploaded. Non-geocaching GPS functionality (speed, breadcrumbs, etc.) E-Trex bad points: the Vista C is obsolete, the new replacements vary from $150 to $250, depending on whether or not you want to be able to buy and install detailed topo maps for extra cost. Small screen -- a real eye chart for me when maps are on-screen. Iffy base maps -- iPhone has Bing, Google (street or satellite) with the pinch zoom feature. Descriptions on dad's Vista C are rudimentary -- they're more like titles, and I couldn't find the hints. Caches are listed by their code names, which is annoying. Anything logged as "found" doesn't actually get logged to your account as such until you plug in to your computer, later on. Also, because it doesn't have any phone smarts, it can't talk to cell towers. This means it has to ride on the dash while driving to stay connected. A handheld GPS unit looks more suspicious to muggles than a phone. My bottom line: I'm going to by a handheld GPS unit (probably not the E-Trex), but only for use in these scenarios: 1) as a back-up when the iPhone loses 3G coverage in rural areas 2) so my daughters can geocache while I'm at work (the iPhone is my work phone) 3) as a back-up when the iPhone runs out of power on longer caching days. 4) as a way for two family members caching together to each have a compass to look at. 5) as a way to establish solid coordinates when I establish a new cache Yes, that's a lot of scenarios. The iPhone is extremely easy to use, but the many high-level advantages it possess largely depend on 3G coverage, and, worse yet, its battery life is poor compared to regular GPS handhelds. I don't know how much better the iPhone 4 is in this regard -- it's supposed to have a better battery, but I imagine it doesn't improve enough to bridge the gap and the inability to simply pop in a couple of fresh AA's is still a reality.

I'm new to this game. I picked up geocaching while on vacation in a rural area. But now I'm home in a suburban caching environment. Last night, my daughter and I drove to a cache at a park. A pair of squad cars were parked door-to-door, and the guys were talking to each other. We drove a couple of hundred yards past them, parked, and walked toward a cache at the far end of a baseball diamond. We were using the Geocaching iPhone app as our GPS, so nothing looked obvious. I could have just as easily been texting or looking up a phone number. Turns out, we'd approached from the wrong side and came to a fence, so we headed back to the car and drove down the hill to go around the block to the other side. After we passed, the policeman broke off their conversation and both cars followed. After a couple of blocks, they turned aside and went off on their separate ways. Maybe it was coincidence that they headed down the hill at that moment. Maybe not. So here are my questions: To what extent are local police, county sheriffs and the highway patrol aware of geocaching? I would think that it's a big enough and potentially suspicious enough activity that they'd actually talk about it in conferences and in training. I'm sure, like everyone else, some of them partake with their kids during off hours. But what's the general awareness percentage? If they are aware of it, are they aware to the extent that they know where some of the local caches are? Someone put one 20 feet in front of a bank near my house, perhaps within range of security cameras. That would seem to be inadvisable. I feel weird prowling around for that one. Am I going to have to get used to this aspect? Does law enforcement generally see geocaching as harmless fun or a pain in the butt? If, for example, I say in response to a question, "I'm geocaching, sir," will they instantly ease up or run me off? (Assuming I'm not in a trespassing situation, of course.) Would a small geocaching.com logo sticker be a good thing to have on the window of one's parked car so they (the ones that are aware, anyway) know why a car is parked in a particular spot, or would that be a bad thing? Thanks Dan