careygang

Our son is looking after our house while we're in the US. He has been feeling unwell for a while and on finally going to see the Doctor got told he has a mild case of Lyme Disease. Probably from a mozzie bite after the mozzie had fed from a deer or other carrying animal. He's got 2 weeks of Antibiotics - Yes, he had been out caching in the woods a couple of weeks previously.!!

I've pm'd Tarmac, if he doesn't post this evening, then I have a question ready which I'll post around 1am UK time

Unfortunately those of us outside UK can't watch it

Surely the idea of posting to the forum is to use the forum, so I still don't see why you would ask a question and then say you may not be back. Incidentally, if anyone does want to email you, they will do it just by following the link from your profile. I acknowledged the fact that you had found some 20 caches before placing your own out, which is a reasonable number to actually understand geocaching, because after that number of finds you have begun to get an idea of what is and is not a bad/reasonable/good cache. There have been many examples of bad caches placed by a newbie;, I once found a newbie's cache that was a cardboard box in a white plastic carrier bag hung in a tree near some fly tipping. Needless to say I reported it as Needing Archiving. The point I was making to you, was to get your equipment right before running off and placing more caches. If I recall correctly, before you edited it, your original post mentioned that you were considering sticking with your "off" coordinates and just giving picture clues once people got somewhere near (or something like that), so I think I was entirely reasonable in suggesting that you get to either learn how your phone works/discover what is wrong with the way you are using it/discover if it is broken (delete as applicable). And if you think my comments are cause not to come back to the Forum, all I can say is it's a good job you haven't been around these parts for the past couple of years. But a belated welcome and I hope you get it sorted. Perhaps another 'phone' cacher can help?

If you're having problems with your equipment, then why not stop placing caches until you have got it sorted. It's not a race to get new caches out. Seeing as you have found 59 yet placed 14, though I acknowledge that you found around 20 before placing your first, perhaps you're trying to run too soon. And then you tell us your email because you may not be back in the forum? Then why post?

The economy is biting hard so there's plenty of offers around, both on accommodation and entertainment. There are several Travel websites, e.g. Travelzoo.com, which you could use to search for offers with up to 70% savings. We just saw Fleetwood Mac at MGM Grand Arena this weekend with 1/2 price tickets from the internet. It's possible to stay on The Strip from $50 a night, with additional benefits such as Casino Credits or Drink Vouchers included.

Cult series made in mid 60's by and staring Patrick McGoohan after he finished with several years/seasons as 'Danger Man'. Supposedly what happens to character John Drake when he resigns from the Secret Service. Only ran for about 20 episodes. From what I recall ITC, ATV or whoever the money was behind it, decided to pull the plug, and McGoohan just wrapped it all up in a rushed final episode, which was well tripped out in surreal 60's style such as it is probably still argued as to what on earth it was all about. The really worrying thing is that one of the US companies is supposed to be making a 'mini-series' of it this year!

As long as I visit death valley, (i don't mind which part) and do a cache i shall be happy, i will do any caches along the way that are doable, i will have a teenage daughter and the wife, so they will be looking after the car. How long will it take to drive to get there from the strip. We are staying in The Planet Hollywood hotel? Then hoping to pick off a few caches during the week, if "i happen to walk past them" We were only looking to have af the car for a day or two. Looking to do an organized trip to the GC as well. Death Valley is a reasonable day trip, including stopping for a bit of walking around. Basically, 2 - 3 hours each way, give or take a bit. See the map. I'd recommend the Red Route as it is circular so no repetition and allows several roadside caches, including this one Moosecow and a brief stop as you pass Mercury Test Range GCM0EF. If you're in Nevada, you might as well take in a bit of history about nuclear testing... If you want something a little shorter, use the Blue Route, but either way you need to enter Death Valley via the 190 from Death Valley Junction and take the road up to Dantes View to see it from on high before going down into the valley. You can then exit via Badwater GCH657 which is the lowest point. As to Grand Canyon, the choices are a long trip to the National Park 'South Rim', where you get to see how far across it is, but that is an overnight stop to make it worthwhile (almost 300 miles each way). Or, a day trip is the West Rim, where the Hualapai Nation will get their monetary revenge for centuries of exploitation and you get to see the depth, but it's quite narrow. Compare the websites and make your choices.

We've encountered several caches in the US, some locally, where the Owner is long absent and local cachers have maintained the cache in their absence. On one of these I made a note that the cache needed maintenance not because the cache was physically in need of it but the cache page was some years out of date, needing TBs removing from the listing where the TB owners were similarly 'retired' and other out of date info. There was an immediate Note from another cacher who defended the right of this abandoned cache to survive; perhaps they were the mysterious benefactor maintaining it, clearly it was on their watch list. Another cache was DNF'd several times and a well meaning cacher who frequently hiked that extremely large hill/small mountain went and replaced it as the owner was rather absent. Personally I'd rather see these caches archived and let fresh blood into the area, but it would appear there is a certain latitude in the way abandoned caches are policed around the globe. I could perhaps understand it in specific circumstances, but the ones I've encountered have been nothing special.

In Nevada and I imagine most if not all the other States, the DMV also issue State ID Cards for those who are not drivers. Unlike the UK where HMG are proposing a massive charge for ID Cards, Nevada charges have just gone up by about $2 to cover the cost of new higher security cards. It's now $22 for a 4 year licence. The non Driver ID will cost $12 ($6 if under 18). EVERY time I have visited USA in the past three years my credit card has been compromised by the time I return to the UK. In that same period of time here in the UK it has not happened once! The first bit of advice I got from the Bank on opening my account here was NEVER use a card in a Restaurant unless you are watching everything at the till., i.e. never let the waitress take it, only use it at 'pay on exit' establishments. The last time I had a UK card compromised it could be traced to an internet purchase.

Well if it does, haven't you just fanned the flames?! Personally, I'd be perfectly happy to carry ID (that is, if I had pockets which I never seem to) and my driving licence lives in my car anyway, but then again, I've nothing to hide that isn't already, as you point out, caught on CCTV every which way anyhow. That's why I concluded with "OK, perhaps I've now taken the lid even further off the can," I just couldn't resit falling into the trap. The OP was a sensible post of some useful advise. We Brits just seem to have this 'attitude' that it is 'Awfully Un-British' to have our identity questioned. It's a case of 'Of course I'm who I say I am - how dare you think otherwise'. It's like some pompous stereotypical 1920's Agatha Christie novel character.

Strange, when I was recently in Florida, I was never asked for any form of photo ID when using my credit card, and I was able to pick up my hire car using only my UK driving licence, they didn't want to see my International Driving Licence. By the way, my UK driving licence is dated 1983, and is still a green one, not even old enough to have any pink bits on it, and certainly no photo. You've not been acting suspiciously over there have you? Back to the thread, I was stopped by the police on one occasion, walking away from a cache near the perimeter of Luton Airport. Luckily I had a copy of the cache page with me which I was able to show whilst I explained about geocaching. A couple of weeks later the police made anti-terrorist swoops, and set up camp in the woods iat High Wycombe. I imagine it might vary 'State-to-State'; of the states I have visited since living here (Florida not amongst them), they all want Photo ID for a Credit Card purchase above about $10, but Debit Card purchases are normally just taken on the card PIN, much as UK cards. For some reason the CC industry out here has not taken to PINs, whilst the Debit Cards have. Seeing as Debit Cards are generally branded with the major CC companies, it's a bit confusing as to why.

Oh Great! I do hope this bit of sensible OP is not going to go off on a Civil Liberties route about the evil of ID Cards etc, etc. The fact is that the UK was one of the few WWII combatant countries that abolished ID cards when the population had been quite happy to carry them throughout the war and you have to question the sense of that decision. With ID Theft an ever growing crime area, plus all the other troubles in the world, why are people so obsessed about the 'Big Brother' aspects. You are already trackable through your everyday functions, from using your Debit/Credit Card, to your bus/train card, to your tunnel/bridge access pass, to just carrying your Mobile Phone (even if switched off). Let's not forget all the cameras that monitor our movements either by foot or vehicle. I can't use my Credit Card in the US without showing a photo ID to back up the name on the card (OK, so the US banking system is retarded when compared with UK), but that only need be my Driving Licence. Terrorist, Illegal Immigrant, on the run from the Law? What is the big deal about having some form of ID? People wouldn't question showing ID if trying to gain access to something they needed, like their bank account, so why not just accept that ID is a good idea? OK, perhaps I've now taken the lid even further off the can, but being an unidentified person in a major civilised nation is not a good idea.

Can't help with rescuing any coins in Boston (Lincs or Mass), but I don't see what your problem is with GSAK? Are you saying you haven't updated your database for almost 6 months? I update my GSAK for whichever database I'm planing to use on that trip and my PQ's always update it with those that are unavailable. If Archived they are removed and if Disabled they appear highlighted in Red.

Looks like you're going to be seeing plenty on your Road Trip, but if you want to escape 'The Strip' for 1/2 or a whole day, I'd recommend the caching around Red Rock area. It's $5 for a day ticket; there's a 13 mile one way sightseeing road and lots of places to stop off and cache. Equally, there are a fair few that don't require access to the park area. As to Las Vegas itself, as with any city there are 'better' areas. I would put the E/NE of the City low down the list.

Plan on doing caches that don't take much more than 5-10 minutes out of the car. You will fry. Last time I was in Death Valley it was 117F. Best tip: leave someone in the car so you can keep the air-con running. 10 minutes away and the car will be like an oven. Check the log for August 28th 2008 in UBEHEBE We did it in March this year as our 500th and that was on the warm side. As Chudley says, the inside of a car can easily reach 200F within 15-20 minutes of parking up, even with a sun reflector in the windscreen. That's the principle behind why DV gets so hot, the hot air can't escape the valley, the sun keeps heating the valley floor by direct radiation and the hot air starts to circulate, taking the heat from the valley floor.

Terry As far as Vegas and Death Vally are concerned, it depends how much time you want to spend caching. We've lived here 18 months and all we use for Maps is a print of the Geocaching.com Google Map of the area we are going to, showing the 20 or so we might be after. Then it's just the VistaHCx and the PDA for the Cache info. It also depends on if you are planning to bag lots of Nano/Micro in the suburbs, or venture out into the desert/mountains for some more traditional caches. Either way, US maps aren't that great, especially their topo. Take a look at this cache of mine and follow the various mapping links.GC1P9VK You'll find the TerraServer Topo map is dated 1983! As for Death Valley, are you planing on caching all the way there and back, or just in the Valley (you do realise that DV in August is so hot you won't want to get out the car!)? Being a National Park, all caches in the valley are Virtual/Earth Caches. There are so many caches between LV and DV, you'll need a few days each way!

There was a case reported on Fox News recently of a woman somewhere in the USA (I don't recall where) who decided to look at all her friends houses on Google Street View. Was she surprised to find her Husband's car parked up outside her best friends house!! Divorce papers followed.

My scheduled PQ's arrive every Thursday and Friday without fail...

Welcome! Take a look at this page here Also, see the pinned topic at the top of the UK Index about UK Resources. Berni (careygang)

Or you could read this item where the USAF are improving the Sat coverage... Patrick AFB 24 March 09

My Friday ones came through OK and I'm on PST so that would be early Saturday for UK...

What a bunch of clowns! They could have found that without the GPS... The cache itself is not a good example either. Out in the open, a plastic pot stuffed in a plastic bag, inside a bit of pipe. With a IP Address outside the UK, the website initially wouldn't let me view it, but unlike most of the UK Media sites, it gives a pop up window which allows you to provide a UK postcode and override the block. So that was nice to see.

I wonder how long the 'pointy thing' rule has been there in that form? There is a cache in my area which is still active after 5 years (hidden March 04) which is at ground level disguised with a realistic plastic plant. Lifting the plant reveals a container which is sitting in a slightly larger pot which is flush with the ground. Another one we found recently is a small tree log, which when picked up had the cache fixed to the underside, dropping down into a recessed plastic pot. I believe this rule is not 100% observed, just a little more than believing that every single cache has individual permission from the land owner concerned, be it private or publicly owned. Every nano fixed to a street sign, micro in ivy, etc etc

And another Vote too... Well done Caesar!