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Thanks to all of you who sent support and advice when I mentioned my 12-yr old girl Zoe-dog is having some hip problems! We had our vet visit yesterday, and he almost didn't catch the change in her gait. When he started to exam her though, he realized that every time he tried to move her hip and leg back, she resisted him and tried to pull her leg back. He strongly suspects that she does have some arthitis in one hip and maybe one shoulder too. The good news is he's confident she does not have the degenerative nerve disorder he says shepherds sometime get late in life. For now she is on a regimen of prescription pain killers/anti-inflamatories and glucosamine. After her two weeks of pain killers, we may be able to reduce that to a buffered asprin. I feel pretty confident now that she'll keep moving for quite a while yet. By the way, I asked her again if she wanted her own GC account, but she still says no. She says she's not a numbers hound and it's all about going for a ride in the car and going for a nice walk -- finding a cache is a bonus!

Here's a picture of my girl Zoe, affectionately called Zoe-dog in my logs. She's a mostly German Shepherd who's almost 12 years old (she was 11 in the photo!). She goes crazy when I put on my hiking boots! She loves caches of all sizes because it means going for a ride and going for a walk. She'll even wear her own backpack!

I revisited a cache to leave a travel bug and discovered that the cache had been found by Forrest Gump and he was next going to look for Jenny. I also re-visited another cache to pick up a travel bug and found the bug missing because it had been picked up my some people by the last name of McAnally. Hmmmm. Not sure about that one! They have yet to log the cache or the TB online. One of my own cache in an old cemetery that family takes care of was visited by two teenage girls who thought the game sounded fun.

That's exactly what my Zoe-dog was thinking! And that's the real reason why she doesn't have her own account. On a side and non-caching note, Zoe (12yr "mostly" German Shepherd) is having problems with an arthitis in her hip right now and it's really slowing her down. She has a vet visit next week. She and I would appreciate any advice and treatments suggestions.

Here's my dog-themed cache. A Doggone Good Cache! I had to disable it because the fencerow it was hidden in burned! And burned the cache container slightly too. Mixed reviews on it, I think. Some really enjoyed the dog/cat theme. Others just sought it out as another cache. If I were going to a pet-theme cache, I would definitely have a pet item to trade.

Thanks for all the replies. Nothing has panned out yet, but I did get a good suggestion from a cacher who emailed me. He had encountered a travel bug that "talked," and scared the crap out of him from inside an ammo box. The TB was a little wood crate that said stuff like "Hey, you! Hey! Somebody let me out of here!" Now that wasn't what I had in mind, but it might work. . .particularly since the cache in a cemetery! (My family are the caretakers, so it's definitely placed with permission!)

Just had to check to see if MaxB was #1. Of course! Two others Lost Scouts and Geopigs are also big bug movers in my general area.

I just bought a toy for my little nephew -- it's from that new movie "Cars," and it's a stuffed tow truck that has a sound box in it that says things whenever the toy is moved. Guaranteed to drive my brother crazy! Especially since it's very sensitive to movement; I could barely stand to have in my grocery cart, it talked sooo much! Anyway, I was thinking it'd be cool to have a sound mechanism with spooky sounds for a cache I need to replace. It's a "haunted" cache, and I thought it'd be cool to have the cache emit these sounds or voices when it was opened, scaring the unsuspecting cacher. I did a brief internet search but didn't come up with anything yet. Does anybody know if such a voice box or sound mechanism exists and where to get it? Maybe it's not financially feasible, but I'm interested in knowing.

Thanks to 501 Gang for placing the first (I think) ISQ caches in St. Joseph County. I went out and found both today. So add me to that famous ISQ finders list! PS: Do I beat Torry since I have 2 finds??

Go to http://monarch.tamu.edu/~maps2/ to create your own map.

I have an Indiana map on my profile showing which counties I've cached in (I'm sure I learned about it somewhere in this thread). I'm not a big-time cacher who's able to get big numbers every week, but I did add my 6th Indiana county last weekend. Yea! So how many counties does everyone else have?

147,000 miles?! Shoot! It's just getting broken in! My 1998 Buick is the young'un of the family with 154,000 miles. The hubby's Chevy cargo van rolled over the odometer for the third time. . .over 350,000 miles now and still going (barely!).

But in answer to your real question, yes, I would like a list of the coordinates for the rest areas along the Ohio Turnpike. I know I have some of the caches but maybe not all. I'm not a premium member so I can't create a bookmark list and can't create pocket queries.

Actually, if you look over at geotruckers, there's a rest area cache category in the forums. I post over there as MXTravelTrailer and have listed several Ohio Turnpike caches as well as Indiana Toll Road ones.

Here's my (perhaps, nah, probably) missing TB: Pot 'o What? Wee Zoo Spoon The Pot o' What? Wee Zoo Spoon was last sighted in Froggies & Spiders & Snakes, Oh My!!! in Florida. The TB was dropped off on January 7th. On February 2nd, a new cacher visits and reported taking a "geo bug." On March 12th, which is the next time the cache is visited, someone posts a note on the cache page that the TB was not there. The note wasn't posted on the TB's page so I didn't see it right away. I emailed the cacher who I believe took the TB and offered to help them in logging it, but no response. I know this TB hasn't been missing too long but since this is a new cacher who only has two finds (only one find since picking up my bug), I am concerned. Pot 'o What? was my first travel bug and I'd hate to lose it. Any attempts to help are appreciated!

I haven't bought one yet for Zoe-dog, but when I do, she'll be wearing it. She always wears a bandana. She says she feels naked without one!

EricF, May I offer you a nice washcloth to wipe that egg off your face? We all hate to hear about irresponsible off-roaders or park visitors or anyone who does not respect the environment so I understand where you're coming from. Hey! So what do you drive while geocaching??? (edited to add a big smilie for EricF!)

So is this the famous jeep that you take onto "hiking trails, sidewalks and public parkland"? (Monterey Herald article) As someone just getting interested in this activity, it was pretty discouraging to find that it has attracted yahoos who only seem interested in ripping apart the countryside with obscenely overpowered gas guzzlers in pursuit of "the numbers". Why on earth would anyone want to brag about finding a cache in 7 minutes? Get a life! Fortunately, it seems that such people are the exception. But it really is too bad that a search on geocaching brings up an article that includes a quote by someone who so evidently is out of synch with what attracts most of us to the activity. Gosh, I don't even drive one of those "obscenely overpowered gas guzzlers in pursuit of "the numbers,"" and I find your post offensive. I've searched for geocaches by car, by truck and travel trailer, on foot, on bicycle, and on off-road motorcycle. When I'm on my off-road dirt bike, whether I'm geocaching or not, I'm certainly not "ripping apart the countryside," since I always ride in designated areas where off-road vehicles are permitted. I'll stand by other off-roaders and say that you, my friend, need to get a life and stop worrying about what others do.

Well, it sounds like the balance problem is an issue with probably all packs. Darn. I like the looks of teh Kelty Chuckwagon saddle bags a lot, although it's probably more than we need. I might just try to customize Zoe's backpack by adding another strap or something to try to prevent slippage. I've had two water bottles in it in the past, and when the bottles were full, the pack rode pretty well. But as they emptied and load became more uneven, the pack slipped more and more. Zoe has never minded her pack even though she didn't start wearing it last summer at age 10, almost 11. Since she is older, I am careful not to pack too much. Mostly I like her to carry her own water.

I bought a doggie backpack for my girl Zoe-dog. It works ok, but unless it's very evenly packed, it tends to slide to one side or the other. I'd like to get her something else. Does anyone have any suggestions? She mostly just carries her water, drinking container, snacks, and maybe some cache swag. I can't remember right now the manufacturer of this pack. I bought it on eBay. It fastens across the chest and just behind the rib cage.

Check over at www.geotruckers.com and look under the Rest Area Caches. I post over there as MXTravelTrailer and have created topics for I-80/I-90 Rest Area Caches along the Indiana Toll Road and also the Ohio Turnpike. Email me if you need more info.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say 1. Oh geez. . . I feel like an idiot now. Oh what one letter can do. . .

I thought that someone had a map of that once. If I'm remembering right (and I'm not sure I am) there's no ISQs in St. Joseph County although there's at least one in Elkhart Co. and a couple now in LaPorte County. That's my excuse for not having any ISQs on my tally -- none in St. Joe. Co.

As a Hoosier living near the Michigan state line, there's two states easy. We go to Pennsylvania twice a year, so there's Ohio and PA. We go to Wisconsin/Minnesota once a year so there's two more. We go to Florida once a year so we pick up Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. We went to St. Louis so we picked up Illinois. I'm kicking myself for not having enough time to get one in Missouri. Indiana Michigan Ohio Pennsylvania Wisconsin Minnesota Illinois Kentucky Tennessee Georgia Florida That's 11 states in just over 100 finds. I think it'll be awhile before I can add any others though.

I have, along with some others, noted some rest area caches over at www.geotruckers.com. You might look there too. I post over there as MXTravelTrailer.