MamaKatS
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Posts posted by MamaKatS
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If it's not an Olympic event it's not a sport.
At least that's what my non-geocaching wife tells me.
Using that criterion baseball and rugby are not sports, yet synchronized swimming and curling are.
I thought there was an olympic baseball competition though? Or was that softball? I totally don't do sports, LOL>
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For the record, to me it is an excuse. An excuse to get off my tail. An excuse to get outside. An excuse to go someplace new. An excuse for lots of things.
Yep, I agree with this. It's also a sneaky way
to get the GeoKids (and sometimes, with some motherly 'persuasion' (a/k/a threats of grounding, but let's not be nit-picky here, hehe) one or more of the GeoTeens) unglued from the TV (gasp!) 
and go spend time doing something definitely different and interesting.There are a number of caches within no more than six miles of us - I mean, OODLES of them - so we don't even have to wander very far (with gas prices and all, that's a GOOD thing!
) - or, in the alternative, we can go way far if we want to. ;-) -
Welcome to the obsession! I'm a new cacher, too, with all of five finds to my name, LOL. I'm directionally-challenged and technologically impaired - this is probably the last hobby anyone who knows me would think I'd latch onto. But, I'm having a blast and obsess over which caches I'm going to hunt once the weekend finally hits. ;-) I've heard there is no cure for this, which is fine, because I don't wanna be cured.
Enjoy!
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And it's complimentary to geocachers. Since we're not muggles we must be wizards!
Pretty slick, if you ask me.
cool...when do I get my Nimbus 2000?????? ;-) Geocaching Quidditch would be extremely fun. ;-) (all Harry Potter references, for the four people in the world who may not have read the series, hehe.
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Oooh, neat idea. My biker vest needs some new patches.
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Ditto to what CindyJ said... the term muggles doesn't bother me (after all, I was one for 37 years, hehe) and my kids adore the Harry Potter-esque connotation of the term, hehe. I've never had a muggle encounter yet, but then again, I've only found five, so i'm just getting started. I don't see it as being a problem though. Some good points raised elsewhere were that someone not familiar with what you are doing could possible (a) report the cache as a possible bomb or (
find it themselves and outright steal it. Hence the need for "stealth" or discretion. -
What Mulvaney said.
Plus
You might want to put two or three small swap/swag items in your pocket. Not all geocachers bother with the whole "trade up or even" thing but it is one aspect of the geocaching game to be aware of. (Some caches don't have trade items and most will have nothing you want in any case!)
Many cachers will add a small item to a cache box even if they take nothing. Families caching with children appreciate finding something in the box. Items such as foreign coins, small erasers, mini bouncy balls etc are cheap and fun.
MrsB
Ditto... my kids go NUTS when we find a cache with stuff in it.
A trip to the local Dollar General got us nicely stocked up for many future outings. -
Yep... I do that juggling act all the time, hehe.
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One of the approaches that I use is that I'll check the bearing/distance (I rarely use the compass) and even when I'm as much as 300' away I'll try to estimate the distance/bearing and identify the general area where the cache might be. As I get to 100' or so, I'll start looking for potential hiding spots. If I see something obvious I'll head right toward that object and start to search. As you get more experience you be able to recognize potential hiding spots better and be able to estimate distances as well.
THANX!
All good stuff to keep in mind for this weekend. :-) -
You can be walking toward the cache ... 50 feet ... 30 feet ... 5 feet, and now you think you're there. But, the GPSr has been anticipating where you're going and suddenly "corrects" itself to show itself 30 feet away. You've actually walked PAST the cache. This is especially noticable if you are walking quickly.
Yep, I did that several times on our last cache of the day Sunday, LOL.
Advice: When in the vicinity of the cache, stop and smell the roses before walking all the way to the cache. Stop at 30 or 40 feet and watch the GPSr readjust. In a short time, you'll become accustomed to this overshooting. Just the way it is.
Good advice. Once we were "somewhere around it," the kids started looking all over the place and my nine-year-old located it.
I'm still standing there trying to figure out my GPS, and they are off actually finding the darn thing, hehe! ;-) Practice makes perfect. -
Does your GPSr have a compass? If so, are you using it? Or, are you in BEARING MODE?
Many GPSrs do not have a compass, but work off of a BEARING. Even if your GPSr has an electronic compass, it might not be the default setting. Many people, includin me, use BEARING mode even though we have a built in compass. In BEARING mode, the arrow you are looking at on the screen is a BEARING to the cache, not a compass POINTING to the cache. In bearing mode, the GPSr will point to where the cache is RELATIVE TO THE STRAIGHT LINE YOU ARE WALKING. It takes a little while of straight walking for this to work.
If you are walking a varying path, then the arrow will not point to the right area until you are on a straightaway again.
To practice this, go in your backyard and MARK a waypoint. Now, walk about 50 feet away, and walk the bearing back to that spot. The arrow will be pretty accurate. Next, try it again, but walk a curving path through the yard and see where the arrow points. Interesting?
Yep, that does sound right. For example, I KNOW I was headed in the right direction yesterday, but the path was very curvey (and there was a creek/deep ditch between me and where it WANTED me to go, so barrelling on thru wasn't do-able, LOL). I just kept following in the general direction, and once we rounded that curve, it started behaving more.
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It varies how close i am to when it jumps around. sometimes its somewhere in the middle of the trek; and yes, often it is when we are closing in. It will say I'm six feet away from it, then jump and say 30 feet if I turn wrong, LOL.
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welcome to the obsession!
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One thing I'm trying to get used to is learning how to correctly read & follow the GPS (I have a Magellan GC). I will head off towards where the cache is located on my GPS, and then suddenly, it will jump to the right (or left, whichever way I'm NOT going). Then, when I change course and head in THAT direction, it jumps again somewhere else. Definitely doing a LOT of zig-zagging back & forth & all around. Is that the nature of the beast, or do I need to be doing anything differently?
Be sure to recalibrate the compass when first starting out. May help with some of that.
thanks! Um.... how do I do that? ;0
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THANX! I will check that out.
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One thing I'm trying to get used to is learning how to correctly read & follow the GPS (I have a Magellan GC). I will head off towards where the cache is located on my GPS, and then suddenly, it will jump to the right (or left, whichever way I'm NOT going). Then, when I change course and head in THAT direction, it jumps again somewhere else. Definitely doing a LOT of zig-zagging back & forth & all around. Is that the nature of the beast, or do I need to be doing anything differently?
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OK, I'm happy... another day of taking my GeoKids and my Magellan out to hunt for caches, and we were successful five out of six times.
They were all 1/1 or 1.5 level (but seemed challenging to me, yikes! LOL!) but the kids had such a good time this weekend! We found five caches, and saw three bunnies and one frog. I've been motivated to start a Geocaching blog to chronicle our adventures (http://geocachingadventures.wordpress.com/). Feel free to follow along if you wish. Hopefully will add pics soon if I ever get a camera. G'night everyone - hope your Monday goes smoothly.
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Geocaching is a great activity to do with your kids. Mine really enjoy it. Look around for an event or club in your aea to meet some other cachers to hunt with.
I agree.
Me and one (or two) of my GeoTeens are planning on going to the Georgia Geocaching Association meeting next Saturday (assuming that Life does not derail the best-laid plans, LOL). Definitely wanna connect with folks who have been doing this longer than me, LOL. -
Well, I did a little looking and found one of them called bone yard. I have two suggestions for that one.
1) read the description carefully. Looks like a hint is hidden in it to me.
2) I could be wrong but I suspect the name is a bit deceptive. Near, but not in.
Running out of energy so I didn't search through all of the possible caches for the second one. I guess I'm not really the energizer bunny after all
Yep... I plan on going back there after church for sure to hunt for that one.
I caught that hint in the description...only problem is, there are several of those things around...never know which one is actually it. The search continues!On the bright side - me and the GeoKids went out today and found TWO! One in Loganville Plaza, and another elsewhere. Kids were elated (and so was I). Yay! About durn time!
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OK, I've searched and found four more "regular" size with a difficulty level of 1 or 1.5, within a 1.5-mile radius from my home. i'm so totally finding SOMETHING tomorrow! New year's resolution #1!!! roflol.
Nite, y'all. be safe and see ya later!
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whoops, my bad - that was a typo - meant to say "largeR" - it's a regular, not a small. Wish it was a large cache, LOL - with neon lights and an arrow pointing down with the aforementioned cache elf saying, "HERE IT IS!" haha. Sorry about that - off to fix typo now.
Happy to email you code if you are still interested, though it's just a regular old, well, REGULAR size. -
oooh, what a deliciously evil idea!!!! hahaha! I'll have to make a mental note of some of these great ideas. hehe.
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Hopefully it doesn't rain TOO much tomorrow, so I can go back out and try this again with more than 30 minutes of daylight, LOL! Then again, we are having family over for the traditional southern new year's day dinner (collards and black-eyed peas, anyone?) so I may not be able to escape. Then again, we're having family over for the traditional new year's day dinner, so...it might be the BEST time to escape! Oh, wait, did I say that with my out-loud voice? oops.
hehe. Just kiddin. Honest. Worst-case scenario, there's always sunday afternoon after church.
But I'm impatient and don't wanna wait THAT long! LOL! -
this is my real-life nickname that just about everyone calls me, so... it just works.
to get the GeoKids (and sometimes, with some motherly 'persuasion' (a/k/a threats of grounding, but let's not be nit-picky here, hehe) one or more of the GeoTeens) unglued from the TV (gasp!) 
and go spend time doing something definitely different and interesting.
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find it themselves and outright steal it. Hence the need for "stealth" or discretion. 
Hello all, I have a question
in How do I...?
Posted
Welcome to the obsession!!!!