rjbloom & co

Anyone notice their images on their cache pages getting messed up recently? Like the rules changed for their default size or something. I did a quick look on the main forums and couldn't find any discussion of it. Anyone have any info?

There was an article about geocaching in the California State Parks email today, with a link to this nice article: http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=26331

Well, as for the urban caches, you'll have to try some, and then after you decide what you like, you'll probably end up picking and choosing and only doing the ones that you think you'll like. There are so many urban caches you just can't do them all. Not far from you is Mission Trails and that place is littered with great hikes and caches. I'd recommend that.

There's also one in Oceanside along a river bike trail. And one along the 56 in San Diego, if you wanted to travel further.

I head up that road once or twice a year and try to grab some caches each time. I definitely enjoyed the ones at Manzanar. But I also recommend the caches at Fossil Falls, with its very cool landscape. Fun to explore! http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC3E6 Stop in Randsburg for some icecream and a cache: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC1B42 I love this beautiful little spot across a creek (at least when I was there) in Independence: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCHBRA The river here by Mammoth is pretty, and its warm from the hot springs: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GCGYM7 Have fun! -Ron

My rule on bushwhacking is Don't Bushwhack! There's always an easier way. Except for certain Polar Bear caches. Of course, sometimes I forget my own rule and am tempted to just follow the arrow.

An expensive solution is to buy a better GPS unit. Some GPS units are more accurate than others, I'm not sure about your model. Otherwise, averaging coordinates is certainly the way to go, if you are patient enough to wait a while, or come back another day. In any event, it is hard to get a good reading in canyons or by a lot of buildings. I haven't picked up any of yours yet, but a canyon like the one Ulric goes down is going to make it harder to get a good fix. But if you get enough logs telling you better coords, you can just do a log of type "update coords" to fix them.

I agree with a lot of what the other people said in responding to the rant, particularly that you can pick the caches you choose to do. And that he needs to learn to spell "cache". But I do think he has a point about hard caches. I like hard caches when it is hard because it takes a long hike to get there, or because it is up in the tree. I don't like hard caches when it is nano or small micro in a bush or public place. He's right--people often tear up a place looking for it or draw negative attention to themselves. I don't see the fun in those kind of caches and I don't think many others do, either. Maybe his rant will make someone think twice before placing one. Probably not, though!

Mebbe LPCs should be against the law?? Who wants t' go pick 'em all up? Who wants to go give some lessons on how to be stealth when needed? I mean, seriously ... when you're out in the middle of nowhere and come upon a large shrub, there isn't much need to be stealth. However, when in a busy parking lot chances are there might be people watching. I think someone broke the stealth law, don't you? After a while I just get in the mood where I think "OK, I drove here, it appears to be in a strip mall, but I might as well stop" and then "I finally found a parking place in this godforsaken strip mall, I might as well grab the cache" and then "there's a lot of people around, I've come all this way, I might as well grab the cache even if people might be looking". I mean, I'll try to be stealthy if the cache is somewhat discretely placed, but if a cache owner puts it in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant, I'm either going to put it on my ignore list or just grab it without trying to be particularly stealthy. I think people should quit putting them in public places like busy malls and in front of restaurants, and in suspicious places like utility boxes, gas lines, fire hydrants and stuff like that. Like that's going to happen.

Today by the Ace of Hearts in San Elijo Hills, I saw this fabulous Red Diamondback snake It was so menancing, I thought I heard scary music playing in the background: I hardly ever see snakes when I cache, this might be only the fourth or fifth, and the first Red Diamondback. It was large!

Central Arizona is not alone with this problem. Since the change in cache saturation guidelines last year, power trails like this are rapidly appearing all over. What change in cache saturation guidelines?

Way to go Ladies 7,000 WoooooHoooooooooo!!!! 7000!!!! Awesome!!!! Ya'll Rock! Congrats to the Fat Cats for 7000 finds! Amazing! Way to go, Sue!

Doesn't sound that fun to me. After about 50 or 100 it seems like it would get pretty boring. Am I the only one who doesn't find this appealing? I'm surprised at the quantity, too--I thought there were limits on power trails these days, anyway.

Thanks, Paul!! I was a little worried!! Glad all is well, and hope to join up for a hike or Jeep run!! I'm sorry to see you archiving your excellent puzzles! Some are really excellent and although they may not get visited often, I'm sure they could provide puzzling fun for future puzzlers... There are a half-dozen I haven't finished, maybe I'd better get them before it is too late!

WoooooHoooooooooo!!! Well said, LLOT!! And good form, Toby, for making the event your milestone!!! Welcome to the Kilo Club!!! 1000 caches found--very cool. Big numbers are easy in southern California. Continuing to find caches and enjoy geocaching over the period of years that you have is even more of an achievement. But grabbing the 1000th while you were here was a nice touch.

You have the greatest stories!

Should I ask Santa to bring me a Garmin Oregon this year for Christmas to replace my trusty 60csx? I'm already paperless with my Palm, but like the idea of being able to load 5000 waypoints in the Oregon. Does the Oregon, with its firmware updates, now have all the features of the 60csx?

What, no lawn darts?!?!? Looking forward to the challenge!! Sounds like a great holiday diversion!! Might be a while for me, though, with the campout this weekend and work starting to heat up a bit... What!? You have a job!? Let's see...I have a job now. And because of it, I have no time to work on these puzzles. Or, I could neglect my job to work on the puzzles. And then I won't have a job any more. And then, I'll have more time to work on these puzzles... Hmmm...I'm beginning to see a logical solution to this conundrum... These puzzles look so interesting that I think I'm going to quit my job and work on them. The only puzzle that I think I can solve is the Scrabble one but nothing else. I'm messing with the Backgammon one, mainly because I've always enjoyed Backgammon... The series final was found by Stookeybaker followed shortly by LLOT. Congrats!

What, no lawn darts?!?!? Looking forward to the challenge!! Sounds like a great holiday diversion!! Might be a while for me, though, with the campout this weekend and work starting to heat up a bit... What!? You have a job!?

Do you like games? Announcing the Games People Play puzzle series. Have fun! http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...fc-92a4ff22d15b

I'm not getting logs for my caches or notifications.

Welcome to geocaching! Here's a bookmark list of San Diego's favorites! SD Favorites Bookmark Lists This is a good time to chime in and add that if anyone knows of a cache that is on 3 or more cacher's favorites or must-do lists, please let me know and I'll be happy to add it to the SD Favorites List! This is a good time to encourage more people to create favorite lists! It isn't that much work, and people appreciate it when you list their cache. And the lists can be useful.

Congrats, Randy, on the big 5000 before the big surgery!

I appreciate the work you put into this. It is neat to know I'm still in the top 40, but I'm sure I'll be pushed off before too long!

I just noticed that the Google Earth KML had returned, too! Thanks! It updates very quickly, I'm very happy for that.