Team_Spirit

I think the whole FTF thing adds a dimension of competitiveness to a game that really isn't a competition. Some folks are into that - regardless of the sport. I suppose it does give one a sense of superiority on some level, and we all need that now and then. We've yet to be FTF on any cache, but have only tried to be twice. The first time was an easy cache nearby. We took our time getting to it, and it turned out we were STF. It was still a "Yay!" moment. The second time I must have been in a mood or something. It was dusk when I logged on here and noticed a new cache about 8 miles away (which is the furthest I've ever driven just to find a cache). It had several interesting GC's in it, and a level 4 terrain. And it was dark out. Ah! A real challenge! This sucker is MINE said that wretched voice in my head. The kids and hubby were in bed so there was nothing to stop me from racing out the door. I arrived about 5 minutes later, and there was no sign of anyone else. Woowoo!! It was about to be MINE. Adrenaline wouldn't let me believe otherwise. Upon arriving at GZ I discovered a ladder. A swinging rope ladder, going way up an old oak tree. So up I went, feeling around in every nook and cranny along the way, until finally my hand touched something un-tree-like. I wrapped myself around a branch to get just the right angle, stretched my arm deep into the crevice, and tugged until it came loose. I swear I almost peed myself at that moment. It really was mine!!! I perched myself precariously on a different limb and carefully opened the container (I was shaking a little, and I would've hated to drop any of it). After taking my sweet time admiring the coins and other contents I went to sign the log. And that's when I discovered I wasn't first. Or second. Or even third. I was the fourth to find. I admit for about a millisecond I wholeheartedly despised those first 3 finders... how dare they beat me to it?? The audacity! And then I looked down, and around, and realized what I'd just accomplished and thought Day-um they're good! I grabbed a coin, SL, replaced it, and climbed back down with a great big grin on my face. This will always be a favorite find of mine. Perhaps because the FTF spirit was in me, perhaps because it was a real challenge, perhaps because I did it by myself in the dark. Probably all of the above. It's really all just a part of the game... and you can't "win" them all. (But I will be FTF some day... soon!! lol!) ~Sheila

Probably yesterday. We were poking around at the top of a steep hill on a disk golf course. A group of 8 players came within 30 feet so I pretended I was taking pictures of flowers. We found the cache (out of their line of sight) and were leaving when I tripped on a branch and ended up sliding halfway down the hill - only stopping when I got to the flat area where the disk pole thingy was. Of course everyone saw me as I landed directly where they were trying to throw. Niiiiice. I apologized for interrupting their game and giggled in that nervous "hey I'm ok and I'm not really the dumb*ss I appear to be" sort of way and quickly started to make my way down the rest of the hill. Unfortunately there was too much momentum. Halfway down my body got ahead of my legs and I went sprawling face-first into the weeds. Two graceless falls in under a minute. Luckily the only thing injured was my pride.

Wow, very cool site! I too am from the Twin Cities area, and the birdseye view is astoundingly clear. Each of the 4 views were taken at different times, all within the last 6-24 months. I'm sitting here stunned at how clearly I can see the areas where I know caches are hidden. This beats Google Earth by a longshot. Thanks for posting it!

Just checking back in since I can't edit my post on page 1. We've been calling Hopkins/Minnetonka home since last fall.

Try making that 8 teenagers on a muddy path, in the dark. Oh yeah. With one flashlight. That would be us last week: The Eyes Have It #2 log I'm not sure which was worse - the girls whining about the mud wrecking their shoes, or the boys whining about how they might accidentally drop their cell phones IN the mud. It's not like they weren't warned. Sheesh.

Our kids (12,9,4) are *totally* hooked. We've been reading/learning about it since December but didn't actually go out hunting til last week. And now they're practically obsessed with it. If we're not actually out caching they are browsing caches online, planning their own future hides, or thinking up ideas for tracking bugs. A couple days ago we decided to go have a picnic at the park, and our 4 year old said "OK but we can only go to a park where there are slides and geocaches." LOL! She never used to be so picky! And our boys are so goofy, everytime we drive somewhere they keep insisting we detour and stop at all kinds of crazy places because they are sure there is a geocache hidden there, and if not, there should be. They've also informed me that when we travel to Grandpa's for Easter dinner on Saturday that we're going geocaching as soon as we're done eating, with or without Grandpa and the rest of the family. Sure...we'll see how that goes. They do like to trade items, but I think for them it's mostly about the hunt. (These are the same kids who will fill and hide little plastic Easter eggs year-round for each other to find.) We also have a 15 year old who says she is interested and wants to go, but everytime we end up going she is busy doing something else....so we'll see how much she likes it once she actually tries it. Sheila

Thanks Erik and Sandy for letting me know. I had done some reading previously so I knew about the equal or better rule, and we certainly did that (would never dream of trading broken McToys - yikes!). I just wasn't sure if there was a limit on how many.

Hi all, I took my youngest 3 kids (12,9,4) out today for our first attempt at geocaching. We found all 3 caches that we went looking for in the same park. I have to say I am soooooo thrilled to have found this sport. I can't remember the last time we had so much fun together (and for free!!). The most shocking thing to me was the fact that we were out for almost 4 hours and the kids didn't fight even once (can't remember when they have *ever* done that!). The exercise and fresh air sure beats watching tv, and the feeling of accomplishment the kids have is priceless. My 12 year old found the second one and he was literally shaking with excitement. Then when my dh got home from work he told him "Dad it was the coolest thing EVER! I felt all warm and fuzzy inside, actually better than that, but I can't describe it!" Right now they're all on the other computer plotting where we should go hunting next. LOL Oh and I also learned a couple things. First - dress for all terrains! I think we ruined a few pair of shoes trekking through swamps - oops! And second - set a waypoint where your vehicle is (duh). The park we were in covered several square miles, and we got a little lost in the woods...eek! But it was fun finding our way back out. Anyway, my question. Is it ok to trade more than 1 item from a single cache? All 3 of the kids wanted to trade something in every cache we found, but I wasn't sure if it was ok, so we took turns and traded 2 things from each cache. I hope I didn't break any rules.....hopefully someone can let me know the protocol regarding this. TIA! Sheila

I've been lurking for 3 main reasons: 1. I'm a newbie and therefore have no credibility (much less anything valuable to contribute). I just got my GPSr and am waiting for the 8 inches of fresh heavy snow we got to melt a little before I go looking. Yeah yeah I'm a wuss LOL. 2. There hasn't really been any reason to post questions because everything I could possibly want to know up to this point seems to have already been covered in one thread or another, so reading is all I need to do. Kudos to the pros who are so helpful here! 3. I'm afraid of posting something that will make me look like an idiot! I actually did start to post a question earlier today but as I was previewing the post I was able to answer it myself (RTFM!). I'm quite active on other hobby forums and am sure I will be here soon too, in the meantime I'm content with my heavy-duty lurker/learner status. Sheila in MN

Brand spankin' new here, from Lakeville.