Team Red Oak

I'm impressed that you could do that over the phone. I would definately add a note telling how you participated in the finding of the cache. If you and your sister plan to cache together, sign as a team and mark it as a team find, also keep an individual account so you can mark the caches you found solo.

Hey we're in the SCA too (although not as active as we once were) and we're not geeky, at least we never thought so... oh gosh maybe we are. Now that I know other SCA folk in our area cache, I may just start leaving hand woven trim in some caches. I'll have to look Fergus' caches to start with in a few weeks. Dawn from Team Red Oak Bryn from House Red Oak (small and unknown in Atlantia)

This has been very enlightening, thanks to the OP for asking this question. It never occured to me to log a TB in and out of caches while I was holding it (but I've also only had one other TB). Currently we have 2 TBs we plan to drop off this weekend while we are out caching. We have 3 caches planned for Sat and 1 or 2 for Sun. One TB I want to drop off at our 3rd cache on Sat and the other TB I plan to drop on Sun at a location more fitting for it. Because of this thread I will take pictures of the TBs at each location we visit before we drop them. It won't add many more miles since all the caches are in the same area but I think it may be interesting for the TB owner to see where the TB has passed through. Thanks for asking the question!

Hi, We'll be visiting my sister in Kempton, PA this weekend and we plan to do AT Indian Princess, Pulpit Rock and the Pinnacle on Saturday. We'd like to start fairly early and plan to park at the Hamburg Resevoir. Would anyone like to join us?

We're doing Pulpit Rock and The Pinnacle this Saturday (not sure how to link to the cache page). Both are off the AT in Berks County PA; the nearest big city would probably be Kutztown, PA or Reading, PA. Both have breathtaking views.

I live in Maryland only about an hour or so away from Tyson's corner. If you want we can hook up and cache together, I haven't found any caches in VA yet. If you want to visit DC, I've seen some physical caches in out of the way parks I wouldn't mind doing. Most of the caches in DC that take you to landmarks are virtual caches and there seems to be nice ones out there with great views of monuments. Some of them I've been to BGC (before geocaching), but I never get tired of seeing them. I'd prefer to make the trip on a weekend, but if you're not going to be here over a weekend, I actually work near DC and can join you after work one day, or I could possibly become ill one day and not be able to make it in to work, or have to leave early (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

I like Team Cotati's avatar. If you could make him flex every now and again it would be even better. Half of Team Red Oak (the other half would probably not appreciate the avatar)

My husband was the last Scout Master for troop 98 in BK. We have or had (I haven't seen it since our last move) an old black & white photo of Boy Scouts raising the American flag on post dated from the 1970's. My husband said he didn't want to see the picture get tossed out since it was a part of history. We also have some of the old troop flags. My second daughter was in the last graduating class of Bad Kreuznach American High School "The best little school in Germany". I really miss BK too, and still have a German friend I correspond with. She has lived in BK for 30 years and has only ever worked for the Americans and now has to commute to Wiesbaden. You should check out this web site: http://www.stadt-bad-kreuznach.de/ There is a guest book you can sign.

To answer S&G. Davison: This seems like the cacher's first TB and he/she picked it up on 9 July. All the cacher's finds are in my local area so I can assume this cacher lives in the vicinity of the cache and he/she did log the cache find online. This cacher has been to three caches with TB's, but has only picked up this one TB according to the cache logs. Oddly enough the profile says he/she has been a member since Dec 04, but the cacher's first find wasn't until 8 Jul 05. Possibly was part of a team and is now on his/her own?? Although we went to the cache looking for this TB, it was only because we will be traveling next weekend so we were looking for any TB's in our area that we could help on their way and this TB was one we could have helped. We did find two TB's in another cache that we can help move next weekend. Thanks for the advice so far.

Yesterday we went to a cache specifically to pick up a certain TB, when we found the cache, the TB was gone. The cacher who took it, signed the log book that he/she had taken it. When we got home, I looked through the online logs and I see the cacher logged the cache find and noted he/she took the travel bug and the cacher says he/she will move it closer to the destination. (I don't read previous logs before I go on a hunt because I don't want any hints). I assume the cacher will also write in the log book when the TB is dropped. But the person did not log the TB on the TB site so it still shows that it is in the cache. The cacher is new with only 8 finds. So my question is: a) do I email the cacher and let them know they should use the tag on the TB and log the TB out of the cache, do I email the owner of the TB to let them know who has the TB, or c) do nothing and hope the cacher realizes he/she has to do something with the TB tracking number? I feel eventually someone will find the TB in a cache closer to its destination, but will not know how it got there. I'm not trying to be a TB cop, this is just something I happened to notice because I went looking for this particular TB. I am fairly new myself and at times not the most tactful person. So I come to you guys, for your opinion and I will follow the most popular advice. Thanks

My husband and I were recently looking for a well hidden cache in a wooded city park along a trail. It seems most of the people who use the parks in this area are they type who would never consider hiking in any real wilderness areas. I was a few feet off the trail with the GPSr and my husband was still on the trail. A woman walked by with a few other people and she asked my husband what we were looking for. He told her we were looking for spiders, she moved along at a faster pace.

I've sat here typing and erasing several times over because everything I write seems stupid and trivial. Just know we care for and sympathize with the people of London and the rest of the U.K. Dawn from Maryland, USA

It worked fine for me. I am not qualified for the position though. I do like the idea of the trail and I've walked a lot on part of the trail here in MD.

WOW! I decide to get out and cache over the weekend and not look at my home computer and I missed this whole thread. Way to go Webscouter. The thought of reading all the CTV posts just boggles my mind (or maybe it was Jeremy's electronic TB devices). I know this has been brought up before and I'm probably just beating a dead horse, but... My family belongs to another very large organization that has nothing to do with geocaching and last year one of the members who was in a position to mentor children was convicted of being a pedophile. It doesn't mean everyone is a predator. My boys are boy scouts and occasionally an adult involved with the scouts is a predator, there was a high school teacher in a neighboring high school who was arrested at the end of this past school year for having teen porn on his home computer. His house burned down and the firemen found suspicious things in the house and then police investigated. If it hadn't been for the fire the guy would still be a teacher! So no matter what you do the sickos are there, even in Wal-Mart! On the upside, I spent Saturday out with my family and found 2 virtuals at the national zoo and cathedral, and on Monday I logged a DNF in the woods while my husband and boys were fishing and we found another virtual in Baltimore while waiting for the fireworks to begin. Now, I'm pretty sure my employer would appreciate it if I got back to work!

I am certainly not giving advice whether or not you should take your GPSr to Russia, however there is a physical cache (The Wilderness of Russia) located in the woods about 30km outside of St. Petersburg. (sorry I don't know how to insert a link) I found the site by going to the main forum page and scrolling down to All Nations. It was placed by the German cache team JAV on 12 June 2005, it contains a travel bug and it has not had a FTF as yet. Possibly you could email the cache owners and ask how they arrived in Russia (car, train, or plane) and if any officials questioned their GPSr. cheers and happy travels.

I really enjoyed reading these. How very imaginative, at least I hope they are from someone's imagination. We would do these if we lived out west. I thinkg the other half of my team will enjoy reading them too.

Proud wife of a retired US Army SFC, MOS 19K. Our last duty station before he retired in 2001 was Bad Kreuznach Germany. We were there when they closed down the post and watched the 1st Armored Division's final march through the city. Other stations included Ft. Hood, Schweinfurt Germany, Kitzingen, Germany, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. The most unusual thing he did while in the Army was to go to Waco on 'Jesus Watch'. His unit provided the M1 tanks used during the David Koresh stand-off then each platoon rotated on a weekly basis to Waco in case the ATF folks needed help. I worked as a civilian for the 410th BSB, in Bad Kreuznach; the 66th MI Group in Darmstadt, Germany; and the US Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, DC before I went to work for Northrop Grumman. My daughter served in the Army reserve, my son-in-law served in the Army, they are now both contractors working in Germany. My younger daughter tried to join the Army and Air Force but due to a missing finger on her left hand they wouldn't take her, their loss as she would have made a great general! Currently my twin sons are still in high school, but one aspires to go to West Point and the other wants to go to the Naval Academy.

At least the sign didn't say Geocacher Shoot outs!

About 2 years ago when we were told we were moving to Maryland I was searching for a website with information on local communities. I found www.epodunk.com it is a great site that gives all sorts of info about schools, local attractions, census statistics, newspapers etc. Just type in the name of the city and state and click search. I found the site very useful in determining where we wanted to live when we had no idea about the area. Now my daughter is moving to Austin Texas in January so last night I visited the website with her. To my amazement Geocaching and Geography are listed as a subject and there is a link to Geocaching.com. There is also a map showing all caches in the state. Just 2 years ago this listing was not on the web site.

Please enlighten the rest of us who don't read Arabic... What does it say??

I'm not a dog owner but I do like other people's friendly dogs and I don't mind meeting them on the trail. As long as I can see the owner when the dog approaches me I'm okay. I've been bitten twice by shepard collie mixes so I'm a little skittish around them, but you can usually tell by the way a dog approaches you if he intends to snack on you. If your dog makes me nervous and I can see you then I can tell you to please call your dog back. Lacey certainly doesn't look very menacing in her pictures. I just have to tell a sad story about a dog who was young and not yet fully trained. We lived in an area where there were gorgeous hiking trails and plenty of wild life. One of my neighbors had a young female boxer about 2 years old (maybe), she was friendly and playful and so pretty. They were in the process of training her and took her up on the trails without a leash. She saw a bird and gave chase, unfortunately there were also cliffs in the area and she jumped. I'm sure she didn't commit suicide, she was just focused on the bird. They tried to call her back once she gave chase, but she didn't listen. So please ensure your dog is well trained before you let her off the leash, what if she gave chase and you couldn't call her back?

If I remember correctly 'Fluch' (noun) means curse or swear, I can't remember if it pronounced 'flux' with the 'u' sound short or long. 'Verfluchen' means to put a curse on someone and 'Verflucht' is the past tense meaning cursed as in you are cursed. I really didn't come across this word very often when I lived in Germany.

Thanks for the advice. We looked at Waterboy before I asked the question so I'm glad to see his caches come recommended. He seems to have enough out there to keep us busy for several visits.

What is a snow basket? I just have a wooden walking stick my husband made, nothing fancy basically bark removed and sanded, wouldn't call it wizard type, just convenient to have around.

Although I live in Maryland, I grew up in PA and all my family is there. In July we are going to visit my sister who lives near Kempton and Hawk Mountain. I can't seem to locate any caches on Hawk Mountain, which doesn't surprise me since the sanctuary is there, but can any one recommend any good hiking caches in the area. We've done Crystal Cache during our visit in May, but now we are looking for a cache which involves more hiking with awesome views. We're considering The Pinnacle or Pulpit Rock. Are there any others that may be good as well. I really am not that familiar with the area as I grew up in Allentown and have not lived in PA since 1983. When I did live in A-town, I was a young and didn't hike anywhere besides South Mountain which I could walk to from my house. We've only lived in MD since Jan 04. One last question, where can I buy a good hiking map of the area near Kempton? Would Hawk Mountain have maps for other areas? If any one would like to show us around that would be great since we do visit the area several times a year it would be great to go caching with others in the area. We will be up the weekend of July 23rd & 24th. Thanks Thanks