GO Geiger

Read the instructions!!! Definitely, and if you have any cats, be EXTREMELY careful!!!! Likewise, any pet wood ticks. Fortunately, I can answer 'no' to both (no pets of any kind at the moment).

I live in WNY and am one of those aforementioned tick magnets. Over the past few years I went from having 1 tick (on a trip to Ohio), to 2 ticks (within 15 miles of home), to somewhere around 10 crawling on me this year (Sleepy Hollow, NY; New England; West Virginia). Fortunately only 2 bites in that time and they were removed shortly after the ticks latched on. (When I informed my doctor's office of the second bite, his helpful receptionist said 'My daughter in the Hudson Valley gets bitten all the time. You'll live', or words to that effect. Great bedside manner! No tests were proposed even after I asked about them.) I can confirm that at least the New England ticks don't pay any attention to DEET, no matter what the side of the can says. For our next trip I've picked up some of the permethrin-in-a-can spray. Hopefully that will work.

I would list a puzzle-box cache as a mystery/puzzle cache. Consider the types of caches expected by someone who is searching only for traditional caches. Consider the types of caches expected by someone who is searching only for mystery/puzzle caches. Now consider the experience presented by a puzzle-box cache, and consider which person's expectations it matches. According to one of the reviewers at GeoWoodstock this year, a puzzle box/gadget cache should be listed as an Unknown type, since you can't just open the container, sign the log, and move on. You have to solve a field puzzle to get at the log. (I don't think all the reviewers on the panel were necessarily in agreement with her, but I'm leaning that way.)

The closest non-virtuals we've found to virtuals is puzzles and/or multis where you need to go to a notable location (building, sign, cannon, etc.) and collect information to either solve the puzzle or move on to the next stage. These can be really enjoyable and educational. We do think it's a shame they're not ghost-worthy, though.

... buried it in a pile of leaves next to the cache. Found a bowling ball TB last year. If I hadn't found the TB I never would have found the cache (a small plastic holiday candy container). I left the TB for the next (un)lucky finder to deal with.

Just a thought, as this has happened to us using the normal GC interface, but might it not be possible that the 3000+ in a day represents a fluke where they ended up double-logging all or most of their previous finds? Every so often when we download our field notes, the entirety of our finds list shows up. Not sure how or why this happens, but I could see where this could cause an issue when combined with using GSAK to do the actual online logging. Or maybe they're "honestly" trying to pull a fast one on everyone (or at least everyone that cares - I don't.)

We do a modified version of this - solve puzzles, look for large numbers of favorite points, and other nearby cool-looking caches and put those in a bookmark list. We run that as a PQ, but also do a 5-10 mile PQ around the hotels we'll be staying at (for after dinner caching or early-morning-before-the-rest-of-the-family-is-awake caching). We also do printed maps with the 'must-do' caches marked in the order that it makes sense to do them, as well as travel time between caches and an estimated 'search allowance' for each cache.

We are GO Geiger, from Upstate NY. (Mr. Yuck can vouch for us - we've met him!) We started caching when our daughter tried it out for Girl Scouts. Now we're 4 years into it and I (Mr. GO Geiger) have been lurking here for 2 or 3 of them. We enjoy puzzles, virtuals, ECs ("Oh, Dad, do we really need to take more pictures of rocks?!?"), and cemetery caches (although the exact order of preference will depend on the day of the week). If I say so myself, some of my puzzles are the talk of the caching neighborhood up here... well, they're talked about... generally with dread and foreboding. But some people like them... I guess... (or maybe they're just humoring me.)

Thanks niraD!!!!! This was exactly what I was looking for....I just wasn't finding it.....

Could someone sum up what the different terrain levels are classified as?? For example I would consider a 1 would be flat ground and I assume a level 5 may be like climbing a mountain face. How are the other levels in between defined so that I can better search for caches more appropriate for different members of the family. For example a level 5 would not be good for my 3 year old but may be ok for the adults in the family. Thanks for your help