honeychile

Greetings! Just a note to let the coin collecting community know that tonight at 9:30 EST, my personal coin will be released for sale to the public. The nice folks at the Geocoinstore helped me with this exciting project. You can see the details and photo of the coin here. The design is mine, developed from one of my more popular button designs. It's trackable on geocaching.com with its own black widow icon (visible at the right of the photo). It expresses the sentiment we all understand: Bitten by the geocaching bug? The only cure is plenty of cache! Thanks for taking a look at my coin. --honeychile

I love it when a plan comes together! After nearly 3 years, one of my bugs, Bozo's Brogans finally achieved its goal to trek from North Carolina to Ontario. The map is a hoot as you see where these poor little shoes crisscrossed the country, putting over 6,000 miles on the odometer. It's a wonder there's any tread left on the soles of these shoes! Anyone have a suggestion for Bozo's Brogans' next adventure? --honeychile

I drive a Subaru Outback Sport (the little one!) for geocaching. The all-wheel drive and general toughness has never let me down, even when I do stupid things (that happens a lot). BTW, in Subaru's DRIVE magazine this quarter, there is a great article about geocaching. Someone may have already mentioned this, but if they haven't take a look at http://www.drivesubaru.com/CurrentIssue.htm for the gorgeous cover of this quarter's magazine. The accompanying article lives up to the cover's hype and can be read at http://www.drivesubaru.com/Win06_Feature.htm There's nothing new or extraordinary about the information provided, but it's a good primer for geocaching. I imagine the first link will change in a few weeks when the new edition comes out, but the link to the article should be good for a long time. honeychile

Well, as Trumpkin said, "a jibe won't raise a blister," although it may raise a ruckus. When I saw this, I started thinking about my own night cache and worrying about whether, in the daytime, I could even find all the markers I put out. I'm glad to hear it was just some friendly teasing going on. As a peripheral note, I had such a hard time finding a place for a night cache. In our area, flashlights in the woods are often followed by cops making sure no nonsense is going on. Sometimes, sadly, they think geocaching is nonsense. But it's such fun to follow the tiny glints...often seeing the eyes of a raccoon or rabbit reflecting back instead of the tacks! I hope you and your geocaching buddies have loads of fun with your night cache, Pushkin. --honeychile

This has been a very interesting thread. I'm honeychile (Vicky), the BumbleButtons gal and I'm pleased to see that some of you like the buttons. I have lots of fun designing these for general geocaching use and as unique signature items. My sister Donna is the Carolina Keepsakes gal and we collaborate on the Geocaching4Kids stuff. I carry buttons in my pack but I carry lots of other trading stuff, too. Sometimes I think that if Monty Hall appeared on the trail and asked me for anything, I could rummage around in my pack and make a deal personalized pencils. One of my customers shared some of these with me and they are really cool. Have you seen the double-ended pencil on the Geocaching4Kids website? That's something really cool kids can make themselves very inexpensively. Here's the link to the pencils. I buy the pencils and erasers at the dollar store and can usually make about 20 for $2. teeny tiny treasure bags. I got these on eBay (don't see any listed right now, though). It's a tiny ziplock of turquoise, fool's gold, garnet, and other mineral treasure. sealed Gold Bond medicated first aid wipes. The package says, "first aid to help prevent bacterial contamination of skin infection and for temporary relief of pain and itch associated with minor skin irritations, minor cuts, minor burns, sunburn, scrapes, insect bites, and rashes due to poison ivy, oak or sumac. This sounds like a litany of my geocaching experiences so I figure this might be useful in someone else's pack, too. I think I got these for something like 10 cents each. along similar lines, I have tiny little 1 oz. bottles of Ivy Block barrier lotion. You put it on before geocaching and it protects against contact with that noxious weed have you seen the geocaching squished pennies? Check out Smashing Pennies. A lot of people collect these, so they're welcome trading loot. extra ziploc bags. This isn't a trading item, but as someone else in the thread mentioned, I like to help rehabilitate "suffering" caches with extra stuff and sometimes a ziploc or two can help keep things dry. Oh! That's another thing I keep in my pack -- a bag of those little dessiccant packs. If a cache isn't terminally waterlogged, but is just a little damp, tossing in a couple of these can help make it a better experience for the next guy...and come to think of it, isn't that really what this whole thread is about -- making the experience more rewarding for the next person to find the cache? I read about people who find a crummy cache (contents wise) and leave it just as crummy. Part of the fun of geocaching for me is leaving something that will delight those who follow me. It's not that I'm so altruistic but it's like the fun of being Santa -- one of those tiny little pleasures that accompanies the bigger fun of geocaching. Happy geocaching! honeychile

One of my travel bugs, Shooby Dooby just reached her goal by making it to "A Shoe's Throw" cache in California. Her trek of nearly 5,000 miles (23 hops) began in piedmont North Carolina as you can see from the map. Many of my bugs have made longer journeys, but she's the first to reach her goal. Now her NEW goal is to reach Shoe Shine Kit in Florida . . . Ain't geocaching fun? honeychile

That's the way I feel, too. I've got 22 bugs, so every week I get a notice that the bug has been retrieved or placed in another cache. I just did quick look and see that of these: * 4 have been placed in the Travel Bug graveyard (lost or plundered) * 6 have been in the hands of finders for too long (several months) * 11 are in caches or being actively moved * I still have the remaining bug (not yet released) I've been placing bugs for over 2 years. I admit it's a little discouraging to see that roughly half of the bugs placed either end up missing or stalled by being held for long periods of time, but often there are surprises. Twice I've had bugs missing in action for over a year, only to have them resurface. Several times, I've had bugs appear to be missing -- one was kidnapped! (or is that "bugnapped"?) -- but they were found and placed later. The bugs are great fun for me because I've not had the luxury of being able to travel very much and so I enjoy seeing the geocaching world through my bug's eyes. I also enjoy the photos and witty logs that some people post. I try to remember to write to the folks who place one of my bug in a reasonable period of time to thank them for taking good care of my traveler. *+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_ honeychile_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'` (geocaching.com forum moderator) email: honeychile@geocachingadmin.com

The owner could send you the "copy" tag or you (or the owner) could create a new tag with the number on there. All that's really needed is the number, but a travel bug passport/sheet would be very useful, too, in case it got confusing.

You guys are so nice! Thank you! You've made my day.

Well...I suppose if a geocacher found it, he might log it in and back out of a cache. You might get email from people who found it so you'll know where it is, but I don't imagine that the geocaching.com tracking system will be too helpful. Did you take a photo before you tossed it in so that you can put it on the bug's page? [edited -- DUH, I mean with the tags showing. I see the great photo accompanying the first post. I'm such a dummy!]

Did you try grabbing it again using the tracking number? Then dropping it off again?

Me, too. Some of my bugs predate the bug sheet concept and I'd love to have the goal with/on all of mine. I think it underscores that bugs are not regular trade loot and helps the finder decide whether he can help the bug toward its goal before he takes it.

Sorry to pop in so late. Yes, forum moderators can edit messages and remove the tracking numbers if they are revealed. The "report post" function is a good way to let a moderator know there's a problem.

Placing caches on airport property is already prohibited by the guidelines: "Caches near or under public structures deemed potential or possible targets for terrorist attacks. These include but are not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings and airports." Reviewers won't knowingly post a cache on airport property, although it's possible for something to slip through. You should let geocaching.com know (contact@Groundspeak.com) if you believe a cache location may cause alarm or if it is likely to cause undue suspicion. *+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_ honeychile_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'` (geocaching.com forum moderator) email: honeychile@geocachingadmin.com

Nappy's right. The number on the tag is the bug's identifier for its travels and for posting on the website.

Yeah. What RK said. And as an owner, be sure to keep up with the copy tags and/or the "secret" numbers so that you'll be able to respond in a case like this.

Write to contact@Groundspeak.com and they'll help you out.

I hunt caches, not TBs. TBs are always a surprise and a pleasant bonus for me. I hardly ever even look to see if there are supposed to be any there because it's so likely that someone else beat me to it/them and hasn't yet logged their finds or because so often bugs go missing. My attitude is always, "Wow, it's really here" instead of "where the heck is it?" But another way to get in on the TB fun is to put some out yourself. Because they're likely to go AWOL or get stalled for a while, I have a lot out. Some of them are always moving and it's interesting to see where they go. I especially like the photos folks post. If your budget won't permit lots of bugs, it's also fun to watch others -- maybe ones you've already found. BTW, that's the cutest photo on your profile page -- I assume that's your son? Who could resist taking that enthusiastic kid geocaching!

I had a major computer issue earlier this week and am just now back online. Other reviewers pitched in to help out, but I'm sorry your cache was overlooked. I'll take a gander now. Please forgive me for the delay. Feel free to write me directly for issues with caches in NC, SC, and VA.

Your friend will need to "grab" the bug by going to its cache page and entering the "secret" number on the travel bug tag. Then it will show up in his inventory and he can drop it off into a cache.

I don't know the answer to your question and I'm not an attorney. There's some very interesting information here regarding online promotions. I notice that wherever there's an "except for" noted, Florida is usually listed. Maybe Groundspeak staff have the answer and will weigh in here when they have opportunity.

They're still there. When you're looking at the map you don't like, note that at the top there's a spot to click for "old map" - that will give you the tracklog you're looking for. BTW, we should have a contest for which bug's tracklog shows the most of the world. I think I have a contender in Miss Muffet. *+.,_,.+*'`'*+.,_ honeychile_,.+*'`'*+.,_,.+*'` (geocaching.com forum moderator) email: honeychile@geocachingadmin.com

Alcohol itself isn't permitted in caches, but I don't see a problem with what you're planning.

Renegade and I must've been typing at the same time. I believe Jeremy is open to other ideas, judging from his posts over the past couple of years. He's discussed the possibility of less expensive plastic tags and other trackable stuff (like collector's cards). Perhaps he'll weigh in here when he catches up with things.

You are free to make your own bugs and tags, but the only bugs that are trackable on the geocaching.com website are bugs with official tags purchased from geocaching.com (with a few exceptions like geocoins). The cost of the tags is what helps to pay for not only the tag itself, but also the costs of maintaining the web pages. Personally, I think it's a bargain.