rnlorna

Last night, I went on my first night cache, (had to be done at night since it was a kind of multi set up with reflectors) and it was sooooo fun! I have cached at night before and it is fun, but those caches could easily have been done during the day too. I tried searching for caches using "night" as the keyword, but got lots of caches in Norway and Australia, some in Alaska, etc. I was wondering if there is a way to search for local caches with a keyword. Or maybe sort the answers according to distance from your home or zip code. I want more night caches!!!!!

I read in the logs about using film canisters for holding CITO bags. What a great idea, to leave one at each cache we visit (except micros, of course). I went to WalMart and Costco and both places said they didn't have any empty canisters. Go Figure. I'll have to keep looking, I guess.

There's a cache hider in our area named Dr. Dastardly who hides caches in unusual things. We found one this weekend in a fake rubber realistic looking hand in an old stump. Good thing we found that one during the day. Also, he hides them in rats, spiders, etc. All of his are called _____phobia. That way if you look up the beginnning of the word you'll know what kind of creature you are looking for. There is one near us named Zemmiphobia. I had no idea it was fear of mole rats. Too bad it got washed away by recent flooding and we didn't get a chance to find it. We always take a stick when looking for his caches, to make sure what's real and what's not. They are clever, and we learn a thing or two as well. Have fun cacheing!

Glad to read this, we had the opposite happen this weekend. I was caching with my family and we happened upon a cache that had a string of DNF's recently, but then a found last week. We thougt it must be a tough hide, so we were game. When we got there, we found a woman standing on the rocks under the bridge right where we wanted to go. Turned out she was a cacher and felt it a challenge to find this, since it had been found recently. She had been there an hour already, so we happily joined her and climbed around on the rocks for another hour, unsuccessfully. Finally we had to give up and call it a day. Then the poster who logged a found, changed it to an Oops, DNF, sorry. SORRY?? Oh well, got some good exercise and met a nice cacher. Pretty funny log too. GCN47J if you are interested. rnlorna

Wow! 5 hours? I sure hope that doesn't happen to our cache. There are a lot of great ideas here. Thanks for passing them on. I meet with the girls again on Tuesday, maybe we'll forge a plan and set aside some Thin Mints! I will go by the Scout Store today and see if there is something cute there for a travel bug. Thanks, rnlorna

Grat ideas! Thanks everyone, I especially like the idea about the coupon for a free box of cookies, since cookie season is upon us (already!). I am getting excited about this, and all the the comments will make it easier on the girls. I plan on being the responisble one, maintaining, etc, with the girls' help. I'm sure they will be thrilled with the logs, and I like the ideas about easy placement and terrain. I do want it to be visited frequently, so we'll keep the good swag up. Thanks so much, rnlorna Also, thanks about the badge ideas. : )

Hi, My daughter's girl scout troop (8 nine year olds) would like to hide a cache and then read the logs at their weekly meeting. Has anyone done a troop hide? I'm sure the girls would love it. I was thinking of something called Girls Rule and all the things inside are girly. Hairbrush, mirror, hair things, etc. Maybe even a Girl Scout Doll travel bug that wants to meet other girl scouts. Does anyone have experiences they would like to share? Thanks, rnlorna

It took about a day for my 9 year old daughter to get hooked. She loves the hunt, the find, and opening the cache to see what's inside. However, she doesn't like earwigs, spiders or smelly dirt on her hands. As the previous poster said, bring snacks. Because the caches usually involve earwigs, spiders and smelly dirt, I bring along a small container of handwipes and we clean up her hands before she has her snacks. Have fun and your little one will be hooked pretty soon too. Oh, and at the beginning, avoid the ones with long hikes in, unless there are several along the way. Sing songs, talk about important things, and let them hold the GPSr (with the cord secured to their zipper pull or jacket somehow). Also, if they get tired, you might be giving a piggyback ride back to the car. You might want to plan one or two outings in a straight line of sorts, and have someone waiting to pick you up on the other side, so you don't have to backtrack. That's a long walk for a tired child. Especially after all the "treats" have been found. One other thing I do when I take my daughter, I make sure the caches we are looking for have been found recently. It is frustrating for children (and adults) to search and search with no luck, then to find that no one else has been able to find it for months. The nice thing is that kids are close to the ground, so they spot things easier, and can crawl under the bushes to retrieve them. If you do see one, resist the urge to yell out, "Here it is! I found it!" even though it is very exciting for you too. Just guide them toward it and let them make the find. Then you'll see real excitement! Have fun and pretty soon, your child will be finding them right off!

Thanks, I like the name too, I was named after my grandmother who is now 93 and doing great, living on her own. I hope I got her genes in addition to her name! I have a 10 yar old second cousin also named Lorna. And I have met a few over the years here and there. I am a pediatric nurse, wouldn't want to do anything else, I love it so much. How old is your daughter?

Thanks, I'll have him read this. I know it's not about the numbers, (but it is for us!) : ) rnlorna

Back door? How would he do it?

I just bought a year of premium membership, and have some questions. My husband has his own handle and his own basic accout, as we sometimes go geocaching separately. (We didn't want to have the same count if we both didn't find all the caches.) Is there a way I can add him to my account (like a Costco card) so he can have benefits too? If we had one account as a family it would work, but since we are doing it separately he can't download to GSAK without going on to my screen. Also, he can't log member's only caches on his, even though he did the finding. Any way to combine husband and wife? Also, while we are on the subject, I have a logging etiquette question. When we geocache together, do we log it as found twice? Or should one of us do it for both and just include the other's name in the post? I see when friends go out, each one logs in, but what about husband and wife? Is it redundant? Thanks, rnlorna

Hi again, Thanks for your help, the cache is Over the Meadow and Thru the Woods, GCHJ5Y. I don't think this one is archived, just unfindable. It was bothering me that I couldn't find it after someone dropped a bug (I think I have also heard it as dipping) so I went back today, hoping that a little more experience under my belt would help. I walked in with intent, carrying a large flashlight as there are some stumps with holes in them around the area. I was sure I would find it. I looked everywhere, one time slipping and falling backside into something that smelled pretty foul. Nothing anywhere, so I went home, took a shower, started laundry and looked again at the log. I saw that someone with over 1200 finds hadn't been able to find it, so I didn't feel too bad. After that, I checked on the owner's profile and noticed that he's not been too active and his caches are mostly archived. I thought it was strange that the person who put the bug drop in, also did a bug drop in the owner's other cache on the same day. (Maybe some he has found in the past.) So, there you go, no luck with that one today, and got smelly to boot! Thanks PS: is it unethical to drop a bug when the cache is missing? Just curious.

Great science fair question. Good luck, I have a third grader also. We have one dog only, no other pets, hope this helps.

Hi everyone, I was wondering what a bug drop is. The is a cache nearest to my house that I have tried to find twice and it hasn't been found in 3 months, despite many people trying to find it. Then I noticed that on December 15, someone put bug drop. I thought it was a travel bug, but it is listed as having no travel bugs in that cache. Then I thought I would email the owner, but upon looking at his stats, it looks like 7 out of his 10 hidden caches are archived. Another cache had bug drop listed on the same date from the same person. That got me thinking that maybe a note was sent to a reviewer to check the cache. The owner's last cache also has lots of sad blue frownies. Any ideas? Thanks

WOW!!! 140 pounds? I am so happy for you. This is one of the great (and there are many) benefits of geocaching, I think. Today we went geocaching around a local lake and logged on the miles, up and down hills, I didn't even realize I was exercising, I was having so much fun!

This was a bumber sticker on my brother's boat, and I have always loved it. The difference between an adventure and an ordeal is your attitude. rnlorna

I'm so glad to hear all of your stories (except the one about the back injury, I hope you are feeling better.) I am finding this is two-fold. I am losing weight because of all the hiking and climbing, but also during the day, when I am not geocaching, I find myself watching portions carefully because I know it will be easier to geocache when I lose weight. And for the poster who said there is a 5 mile hike to a local geocache, I know you will make it this year, good luck! rnlorna

Hi, I am pretty new to geocaching and I love it. I am wondering if anyone has had success with weight loss because of geocaching. I am noticing that I am waling a LOT more, looking for caches and can't wait for a weekend to go out and really cache in rural areas. I have a few pounds to lose, and have been looking for a sport I love and can't wait to do, getting a lot of exercise in the process. (I tried to search this, but the search feature is down.) Thanks! rnlorna

Oh, I see now, Thanks! It works great. rnlorna

Good Morning, I am new to geocaching and I love it already. I signed up for premium membership yesterday and the web site will let me look at members only caches, but when I go the the cache map, it doesn't work as expected. I can pan, zoom, etc, but when I click on a cache location, nothing happens. Is there a list somewhere with numbers attached? Does this feature take a while to kick in? Thanks, I think a working map would be very helpful. rnlorna