JoeyBob

I went back and reread your post- doh! I goofed- you would need a card to upload detail maps, but you could enter your waypoints without one. The street detail is much better with the Mapsend. In a semi-related post, I saw the Mapsend Topo and an SD card bundle at WalMart for $99 today. I have the 32 meg card, and have Most of NC, part of SC, and Southeastern PA on the card, with a little room left over. Be warned, it takes a LONG time to create your maps and download them. I used the SD card reader on a usb connection, and it was still slow. I can't imagine how long it would take with the serial connection. Good luck, and good hunting! JoeyBob

If you are only going to do couple per weekend, there is really no need to buy a card. If you are traveling, it is nice to have all the local roads in the GPS just in case. Mapsend Topo has pretty good street maps, along with the topo stuff. I was pleasantly surprised. You do have to consider the extra expense of a card reader, though. JoeyBob

Just came from a cache, stopped by Walmart to see what's new. They had the Magellan Meridian fro $219(green), and Mapsend Topo bundled with a Magellan branded 16 Mb SD card for $99 and some change. I thought $89 was a good deal for Topo from TheGPSstore.com! Oh well, already have the software and a 32 Mb card...... JoeyBob

Just came from a cache, stopped by Walmart to see what's new. They had the Magellan Meridian fro $219(green), and Mapsend Topo bundled with a Magellan branded 16 Mb SD card for $99 and some change. I thought $89 was a good deal for Topo from TheGPSstore.com! Oh well, already have the software and a 32 Mb card...... JoeyBob

Don't know what happened, will post when JeffersonStone or myself find out when the article is published. JoeyBob

My boys are 4 and 5 years old. The 4 year old really could care less, unless he wants to be competive with his big brother. The 5 year old wants to go on ALL my trips. I draw the line at difficulty 3 on terrain- but he says "Daddy, I promise I can keep up, really!!" JoeyBob

Car Cache, and Chamber of Secrets are close to each other, and kid friendly. I enjoyed the Office_Trek cache, nice walk in a park-like area. JoeyBob

If you have the time and determination, Beaver's Playground is quite fun. If you have kids with you, go to Good Googalooga, and Dubble Bubble Cache. Good parks at both locations, especially the Dubble Bubble cache. Eastgate isn't bad for kids, my 5 year old found it by himself. Let me think a little, and will try to post more. Chapel Hill has been booming with caches lately, JeffersonStone and I have been meaning to head that way. Hope this helps a bit. JoeyBob

If you have the time and determination, Beaver's Playground is quite fun. If you have kids with you, go to Good Googalooga, and Dubble Bubble Cache. Good parks at both locations, especially the Dubble Bubble cache. Eastgate isn't bad for kids, my 5 year old found it by himself. Let me think a little, and will try to post more. Chapel Hill has been booming with caches lately, JeffersonStone and I have been meaning to head that way. Hope this helps a bit. JoeyBob

I have an original Photon (yellow) that has survived 2 small boys. It rides my keychain, and is on the original 3 year old battery. The Photon II (white) led light is 2 1/2 years old, still on the original battery. I haven't noticed the light dimming very much on the II, and I use it almost daily. The I is starting to get pretty dim, but my kids play with it all the time. I keep the II attached to a Leatherman Micra, which always comes in handy. One of my coworkers has the C. Crane led light- big one- and it will blind you across the room. I might buy his, as he has 2 more, just need to justify this to my wife. JoeyBob

I have an original Photon (yellow) that has survived 2 small boys. It rides my keychain, and is on the original 3 year old battery. The Photon II (white) led light is 2 1/2 years old, still on the original battery. I haven't noticed the light dimming very much on the II, and I use it almost daily. The I is starting to get pretty dim, but my kids play with it all the time. I keep the II attached to a Leatherman Micra, which always comes in handy. One of my coworkers has the C. Crane led light- big one- and it will blind you across the room. I might buy his, as he has 2 more, just need to justify this to my wife. JoeyBob

I also am fond of the Mags. I remember somewhere seeing about led replacement bulbs, darn if I can remember where. Anybody got a suggestion? I use a Photon Micro light II for work- it has an incredible amount of light, and the battery lasts forever. JoeyBob

Price, perhaps? I also wonder how much this little gem will be. Think the Magellan dealers will take trade-ins?

Price, perhaps? I also wonder how much this little gem will be. Think the Magellan dealers will take trade-ins?

One of my coworkers got her husband an eTrex Legend for Christmas, and I asked her if he Geocached. No, he is a surveyor, but he might be interested.... In his first month, he found 32 caches.... He's hooked! We did an interview with the local paper this weekend, and took the outdoor writer caching on a fairly difficult hunt, and the response was very positive. Maybe we will have more local interest after the article is in the Friday edition. JoeyBob

I went geocaching today with JeffersonStone, and the Take It Outside writer Joe Miller, and a photographer whose name I cannot recall for the life of me(Sorry). They are writing an article on Geocaching for next Friday's Life section. We went to Worth the Trip in Wake Forest, NC, which is a very challenging cache. I definitely recommend going after this one! JeffersonStone and I really enjoyed meeting these gentlemen, and we all had a pleasant afternoon caching. Looking forward to the article, will let you know more if we find out anything. JoeyBob

I also am fond of ammo cans. A few local cachers have been creative in decorating them with paint, felt linings, copper Geocache decorations, etc. One of the more creative containers that I have run into so far is Octopus's Garden reincarnation by The_Mariner, in the Charlotte, NC area. Not to give anything away, but you have to really be on your toes if you are used to a certain style of hide in an area (under a fallen tree). I hid a gladware container this year, mostly because another nearby cache had gone missing several times, and the site is prone to high traffic, and someone spotting you while finding the cache. If it holds up, I will be upgrading the container this spring. JoeyBob

I also am fond of ammo cans. A few local cachers have been creative in decorating them with paint, felt linings, copper Geocache decorations, etc. One of the more creative containers that I have run into so far is Octopus's Garden reincarnation by The_Mariner, in the Charlotte, NC area. Not to give anything away, but you have to really be on your toes if you are used to a certain style of hide in an area (under a fallen tree). I hid a gladware container this year, mostly because another nearby cache had gone missing several times, and the site is prone to high traffic, and someone spotting you while finding the cache. If it holds up, I will be upgrading the container this spring. JoeyBob

I have a yellow eTrex, and a Merigold. I like them both for different features- I use the etrex more often, but the Merigold is far superior at holding lock on sattelites in the woods. The basemap saved me from being totally lost in the middle of the night recently when I struck out after a cache at 9:30 at night in an unfamiliar area. I carry the little yellow one if briarbusting is anticipated. I don't take both at once anymore- that was totally confusing ! JoeyBob

I have a yellow eTrex, and a Merigold. I like them both for different features- I use the etrex more often, but the Merigold is far superior at holding lock on sattelites in the woods. The basemap saved me from being totally lost in the middle of the night recently when I struck out after a cache at 9:30 at night in an unfamiliar area. I carry the little yellow one if briarbusting is anticipated. I don't take both at once anymore- that was totally confusing ! JoeyBob

I didn't take anything from my first cache, it was pretty empty, so I left goodies. The second cache I took a GeoBall- a paper mache globe hand made by a local geocacher(Buddavista). It occupies a place of honor in my office above the computer. My son found another in his first cache, and it rides around in the minivan to remind him of how much fun we have geocaching. JoeyBob