kyk96

Great! Thanks for the reminder! Got my order in!

oops, sorry for the double post!!

just emailed our order!! awesome!!!!!

Wow, what a beautiful coin design! too bad they were sold out when i finally saw them. I can't wait to find out which website will sell the remaining coins!

one evening as hubby and i were doing a multi, our jr. cacher wanted to go to a nearby playground. i was completely obsessed with finishing the multi and thought i could complete it before dark so i told hubby to take mini kyk to the playground and i would catch up with them. so i'm wandering around along the trail in this park in the metro detroit area. It's getting dark and i've lost a good gps signal. i am very disoriented trying to find the trail out and i hear hushed voices. i then smell something peculiar. i see three young men walking by and looking at me. walking real slowly. smoking. definitely pot. i'm not a tree hugger or gun toter or anything pro or con re:packing, but I'll tell ya, at that moment I would have given my right arm for some kind of weapon.

Wow!! That is absolutely amazing!! Great job on that birch bark. I wonder if the same effect can be achieved using other kinds of bark (not a lot of birches in our area). The birch bark is a lot thinner, which probably made it a lot easier to work with. The paint job on the first two ammo cans is awesome, too! I can't paint to save my life, but I always admire the camo painted containers. Great great job!

While I also don't like the pasted or the TNLNSL logs, I think I'm bothered almost as much by the "quick and easy find" logs. At times it feels condescending. We don't have that many hides - only 6 - and they are not masterpieces. We are new to hiding and they get better (I hope) each time. None of them are higher than difficulty of 2, and so yes they are fairly easy, but still I'd rather hear something nice about the cache and am a little offended by a simple "quick and easy". Maybe by some cachers' standards they are lame. I don't know. We have a lot of new cachers in our area and a lot of hard puzzle caches in our area, so some of us put out easier ones for noobs and younger cachers to enjoy and build a little experience with caching. I try not to get mad about the "quick and easy" logs, though, because that might be a compliment from a newer cacher. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that several times after i've read a log like that. Ultimately, though, I'm happy if people find it, regardless of what they post in their log. The logs that bother me the most are the DNF's. i take that personally and feel badly for the person who didn't find it. and we try to always reply to anyone who has found one of our caches. we've met some nice people that way.

prolly 15 or so. two of whom i knew before caching. the rest we either met along the trail, or i emailed them a lot and we eventually met, or met at an event. there's probably more, but my brainthinker's not working too well this morning... oops - 16! one woman came up to us after church and introduced herself and said "i think we have a hobby in common..." That was cool!

I like that one, the cache, that is My hubby has been wanting to do something like that for a while. Was the pipe already there, or did the owner put it in?

Hi, sorry i wasn't more explicit in my post yesterday. I definitely have NO intention of placing the cache on private property w/o getting permission. Sorry if my post gave that impression at all. I guess I am resigned to having folks get info from the marker and then having them go to find the cache. And, yep, I think it would be a good idea to let the property owner know there might be more traffic there. The marker is WELL maintained, so they obviously intend for people to be able to see it at least from the road. But I'm uncomfortable asking someone if I can place a cache on their property. So yah, it will either have to be a multi or a mystery cache (not enough of them around here, eh Rod?) I just want to figure out a way to make the final fun. The theme is history, and also education-related. So obviously I don't want to put the final at a school either. I like the idea of the stamp and making it a letterbox hybrid. I've only done one of those and don't know too much about it. Anybody else have ideas of how to make a final "go with" a hunt theme even if it's in a seemingly unrelated spot? I have SO got to download Google earth - if we could only lose the dial-up here... Thanks for all your replies! ps- Rod, thanks for the HLG info... that would be a perfect spot for another cache we're planning!

I'm not referring to cache containers. I'm looking to place a cache or two that bring attention to little-known history of the area where we live. There are two places, specifically, that are very historically relevant, but the structures are no longer there. The only thing remaining is a marker in the one location and I'm not even sure if a marker remains in the second location. These are not cemeteries - I know a lot of people don't like cemeteries, even though they are generally well done in our area. Anyway, I want to educate people about this great local history and bring them to these places. However, both places are now private property. The marker for the one place is visible from the road (I still have to find the second one), so people could see them without trespassing. But WHERE do I put the actual cache? It seems like a huge letdown to find this great information only to be led to a box under a log in a totally unrelated area. Had thought about placing micro's on the markers, but again, seems like a letdown to find these places just to sign a micro. Plus, I don't know how feasible it would be to hide a micro on a marker on private property. Any suggestions for handling these obstacles? I am hesitant to relate too much information. I know some of our local cachers spend a lot of time on the forums...... and are sneaky! thanks in advance! kim

The only time we've ever replaced a cache container was when it was seriously damaged and we had an intact container in the car that we could put in there. we've never replaced a log or contents. would never dream of doing that without contacting the cache owner first. and we always contact and get permission from the owner before replacing a container. i cannot imagine replacing a cache just because it is supposedly missing. why didn't anybody contact the owner and wait a reasonable amount of time for a response before simply putting a new cache in? i don't get that at all. i feel it's the cache owner's responsibility - if a cache can't be found and it is presumed to be gone, contact the owner. surely the owner would give hints if asked. even if the difficulty level is not appropriate, i would still contact the cache owner and tell them what i did to find it, where I looked, and ask if i was in the right place or could it be gone. if the owner doesn't do anything about it or doesn't reply at all for months or something, then aren't we supposed to contact a reviewer about adopting the cache site? otherwise, it's totally stepping on toes to replace a cache. jmho

We love doing cemetery caches. Because of them, we have learned a LOT about the county in which we live, as well as the surrounding areas. We've found memorials for people whose parents were born on the Mayflower. We've seen a lot of Veteran memorials and were able to have great conversations with our son about war and to have respect for our service men and women. We've learned a lot about the first settlers in our area. AND we've learned how to navigate all the back country roads around here! Whenever we place a cemetery cache, we ALWAYS state that it is in a cemetery and require cachers to follow cemetery rules. Most we've cached are not near graves at all. I get tired of finding so-and-so's birthdate and subtracting it from blah blah coords, but I still like to go and admire the beauty of the place after finding the cache. I really like the ones that tell a story about someone or give a history lesson.

Hi, this is very short notice, as my dh just called and said he needs to drive to the area of Brampton for work today from SE Michigan. He would like to find some caches along his way. I do not have access to a map, so I apologize if I sound clueless. He told me some of the routes he will be driving on: Provincial Routes 2, 22, 402, and 401. He would like to find caches that are along or on those routes since this is a day trip. He would prefer to find caches that are 1/1 or an occasional difficulty of 2, again because he's on a limited time schedule. I'm not even sure where to begin my search and he will be hitting the road before noon. If anyone has suggestions or a bookmark list for any of those routes in the area in which he will be traveling, I would greatly appreciate your help. thank you SO much!! Kim

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nope, never done that. wished i could once when i found the PERFECT hide location but it was too close to another cache.

Thanks, that is a great idea! I still don't know where exactly we'll be staying - I sure want to check out the Musical cache near the convention center.

One more tidbit about relationships, whether friendship or dating. It's all about give and take. Compromise. Putting the other person first. If you find a girl you like and she doesn't necessarily like caching or is reluctant to cache, try finding out what SHE likes. Participate in some activities that she enjoys and I guarantee she will be much more likely to come caching with you without complaint. And if you can incorporate some of her interests (does she like to go for walks, is she into fitness, does she like flowers, does she like history, etc.) into your initial caching ventures, you will be much more likely to find a partner to cache with regularly. Did I mention compromise? We've only been married 11 years and best friends for over 20 years, but that is the biggest word in our relationship. I wish you the best! I remember being 19. It was a little while ago. It's not an easy age. Dating is hard. Relationships are hard. But the good ones are worth the work. I promise.

my husband loves caching almost as much as I do. I get a little obsessed about it at times and he has to remind me "oh we really should get some groceries and/or mow the lawn". HAHA! I just don't see how food and a mown lawn are nearly as important as caching!!! Somebody explain that, please. my biggest problem is my 5 year-old who claims he hates caching and throws a fit every time the subject is brought up. But he has a blast every time we go (except for one time when we couldn't find our way out of a briar-infested woods and it was getting dark). His constant whining and complaining really puts a damper on our caching fun. So we don't go nearly as much as we would like. We try whenever possible to find parks that have playgrounds, paved areas so he can bring his skates or bike, etc., to make it not so much "all about the cache". Sigh. hopefully the cache bug will bite him soon. I don't want to sound preachy at all to the young man searching for a caching partner. So I'll do my best not to preach. If there is a girl you think you like, why not start out with a cache or two that wouldn't require her getting her hair messed up or trekking through mud? Get her hooked on a fun puzzle cache or a really easy but cool hide that you've found before. When you get to know someone you will develop interests together. She might find that she gets really hooked on caching. A lot of people look at my husband and I like we're insane when we describe caching to them. But if you take somebody on an entry level type but cool cache, a lot of times the lightbulb clicks on and they "get it". Oh, here's a thought: take her on a picnic in a nice park that happens to have a cache. I doubt any girl would say no to a picnic. i happened to get engaged on a picnic, in fact. hey that reminds me, we've never cached that park yet...................

This has been a fun and enlightening topic to read! I've been laughed at by my friends MANY times because I won't take my son fishing. I make my less-girlygirl friends do it However, when it comes to caching, those same friends are baffled that I will do almost anything for a cache. Of course, we live in SE Michigan/NW Ohio area, so we do not have problems with spiders as big as your head, rattlers, crazy grass that goes through your clothes (what on earth??? egads!), etc. I am deathly afraid of snakes, but have had several garters slither across my boots while caching and I just took a deep breath and continued on. If they were poisonous snakes, I would have gone back to my truck and dnf'd. I've reached into places that were dark and slimey. I've gone through poison ivy (long pants, long sleeve shirt, a little bit of cussing at the cache owner) and reached my hand into a tree hollow that was way to high for me to see what was in it and it was full of slimey water and no cache container. i've gone through briar patches in which other cachers have left blood in the log book. I will cheerfully cross small bodies of water (not raging rivers, tho) on slippery logs and crawl under just about any downed tree or bush. mostly, we really read all prior posts, or as many as possible, before we go into a situation we aren't sure about. Hopefully the cache owner is responsible enough to state clearly that there will be briars and then I wear appropriate gear. I always figure the cache owner should state in the description if special equipment (even a screwdriver) will be needed for the cache. If not, then shame on that person and it doesn't look at all impressive for a cache owner to have tons of DNF's on their cache. The one cache I refused to do (good thing, because it turned out the cache was actually 200 feet off coords) was reach into a hole in the ground that looked like an animal's home and I couldn't see anything. I poked with my walking stick a few times and felt nothing like a cache container and I was NOT going to reach in and have my arm bitten off or get rabies. After reading all these posts, I can see other caches we've done that we probably shouldn't have. We don't really consider the danger. From reading prior logs about specific caches, we usually have a pretty good idea of what we're getting ourselves into before we get to the cache site.

Thank you all SO much for your replies and suggestions! I'm not sure in which hotel we will be staying. I'm assuming it will be as close to the convention center as possible, but I don't know for sure. I will not have a vehicle while in the city, but I think I can con the driver of our group to make some of the stops along the way from MI to MN. She wants to learn how to cache - great time for her to learn! She will not have as much free time in the city as I will so she won't be able to drive me in the city. I guess one of the reasons I was asking for suggestions is that I've never done any real urban caching (unless the suburbs of Toledo counts - ha!) and I didn't want to get to the city and find that I'll need to cross 4 lane busy streets or crazy intersections, things like that, to get to a cache that "looks" close on a map. I'm going to ask my group if they know where we will be staying and hopefully that will open up more caching options. I'm so very excited about this trip - I can't wait!!!

Hi, I'm going to be at the Minneapolis Convention center in august for about 3 days and I was wondering if anyone could tell me whether there are any caches within walking distance. I will most likely have to cache in the evening and, since I've never been to Minneapolis before, I need advice on whether evening caching within walking distance of the Convention Center is feasible and advisable. I will be riding with a group from Michigan, so any suggested caching stops along the way would also be greatly appreciated! Thanks!! Kim