HJS

Back to the topic of the webcam at the cache. I did a cache in Aug 03 in the Fredericksburg, VA area, where the cache owner was monitoring the cache via web-cam. How do I know? He sent me an e-mail describing my cache hunt. It was obvious he had been watching me. Felt kinda strange in hindsight.

Is there a Travel Bug cache near BWI airport? I'm going to Linthicum next week. I picked up this poor TB that wanted to go from IL to IA to AZ. Instead it went from IL to IN to VA where I picked it up. Figure if I leave him in a TB hotel near BWI he'll at least have a chance to get west from here toward his goal.

Virginia 82 Washington 5 N. Carolina 1 That is Washington State. I don't have any finds in D.C. yet.

I don't think it's SPAM. Geocachers already communicate by e-mail, like verification of a virtual or questions about a cache to the owner. On one of my early caches I had several mishaps on the same cache hunt, so I shared that with the owner by e-mail. If it's geocaching related it's not spam. And feel free to e-mail me about geocaching in the Hampton Roads area anytime.

How do you calibrate your compass after changing batteries?? Since the last time I changed batteries in my e-trex Venture my GoTo page is very inaccurate. I posted a question in the GPS forum and someone with a Legend said to calibrate the compass after changing batteries. My owners manual doesn't say anything about calibrating. What is the procedure??

Well, not quite. But I once logged the wrong cache here at geocaching.com I was on vacation in Tacoma, WA and one of the caches I found was WAPATO. I was in a hurry when I logged the caches and I logged Wapato Creek instead(I think that was the name). The cache I found was a canister from a M258 (?) decon kit and I said in the log that I could have used one of the Decon wipes to clean up after searching. After I figured out what I did I changed it to a note and logged the correct cache.

Sure. Just because someone else found them doesn't mean you can't enjoy hunting for the benchmarks too.

I have an etrex venture. Lately I have had the distance readings be way off in the Go To mode. In almost a year I never had it that bad. I always had problems with the arrow pointing in the current direction, that's why I supplement the GPS with a compass. But I was always able to rely on the distance counter until I got close in. Not any more. Yet when I go to the page that displays the coordinates the accuracy is within 20 some feet. Don't think I'm stupid, but I backtracked the problem. At the 3rd cache of the day I had already started into the woods when I realized the batteries were dying. So I changed batteries ( while the GPS was ON and in the GoTo mode). Since then, on this cache and about 10 more my display of distance to the target has been way off, sometimes up to 100 feet. I can't make sense of it, but it's real. And it has definetely added a degree of difficulty to my geocaching adventures. Any thoughts from the community????

This benchmark is a county marker. See the picture that the finder posted. It is near or at the location for GV5970. But the marking is county of York, not NGS markings. Is this the marker??? It even has the number 061 as indicated in the database. I tried to locate this benchmark last year, but a county survey crew was using it. They had placed a tarp panel over it which stayed several weeks. Later I went to the location, but I only found the disk with the county markings (see picture). Checked it off my list as can't find it. My question to the community is this. Is that the marker in the NGS database and can I log it? Or did the person who logged this as a find make an error by claiming a county survey marker as an NGS benchmark. http://img.Groundspeak.com/benchmark/lg/31783_100.jpg

North Korea

I'm also in Newport News. I missed the CITO event (even tho it was at the site of my cache) because I was out of town, expect a couple of more out of town trips this summer. BUT... a set of coordinates leading to a cooler of beer, or some other kind of get together would certainly intrest me.

There is a guy in Virginia who does not use a GPSr to find caches. I believe he has around 100 finds. His handle is QOC Mike look up his profile. If you are intersted maybe you can pump him for his secret via e-mail

Why don't you post your request in the Northwest forum or the regional forum where you want to send your TB. Those folks know the caches in their area. If there is one that has the theme your looking for, they should be able to give you the lead. Then all you have to do is check the cache page to see whether it meets your criteria. That's what I would do. Good luck. BTW, I just released a TB that is trying to get to a specific cache on the west coast.

Thanks for all the input. Now the bug will not change identity once it reaches its goal. It will get a new goal, like most other bugs.

Question for the more seasoned folks. Here is my idea. I would like to send a TB from the east coast to a cacher on the west coast. Once the Travel bug reaches him (by way of his cache), he keeps the traveller and mails me the tag back. At that point, can I give the bug a new identity, a new goal a new traveller? I appreciate your input as well as your story where you did this, or why you couldn't do this.

Another word of advice along those lines. If you are one of the first finders, take a reading at the cache. I had a couple of finds where the owner e-mailed me to ask for my readings to help verify his coordinates.

Thanks for the responses. Criminal, thats a pretty nice home page you got there. And congrats on retiring from the military, may you have more time to hunt for caches. I look forward to visiting the great Northwest. Not sure how much geo-caching I'll get done; depends on how much time off the wife allows me. I will need to do at least 3 or 4 regular caches in order to drop off the 3 (maybe 4)travel bugs I'm bringing west.

Hey folks, I live in SE Virginia and I am coming to Tacoma for a few days in the near future. I just ran a zip code query (98433) for your area and got 1280 caches within 100 miles. WOW! In the last 10 months I watched my local Zipcode go from the 120's to 170. How do I figure which caches to hunt??? Any suggestions for things to do or NOT to do, caches to hunt and caches to avoid? Your local wisdom is appreciated, I hope to hear from many Tacoma area cachers.

I am getting ready to release a TB. It's goal will be to get home to a cache in Virginia. I will be travelling to Washington state soon and I want the bug to start the trip home from a cache there. I am debating wether to log the bug into and out of my Virginia cache and then take it to Washington state, or wether I should just release it there to make its way home. I would welcome your opinions and what would you do. Thanks

..and please try to get the correct description. I was going for a cache where the owner stated that it was a 30mm ammo can. Those things are huge. Turns out the cache was in a .30 cal ammo can, a more manageable size.

I had an experience in the days before GPS. I was a passenger in a UH-1 Huey flying an unfamiliar route in Germany (back in the '80s). The co-pilot with the map, who was supposed to keep track of our position, got us lost. As the pilots were trying to figure out where we were, we would hover beside the road just a few feet off the ground so they could read the road signs and re-orient themselves. After doing that a few times, they figured out where we needed to go. Navigating a helicopter is a lot diffrent than a full size airplane.

for pointing me in the right direction. I was able to get a profile that way.

Got an e-mail from a geocacher thru geocaching e-mailer. Don't know if it was meant tongue in cheek, an insult or a genuine concern. Before I decide IF and HOW to respond I'd like to check him out by way of his profile. I can't find a log with his name on any local caches. Is there a way to find his profile? I guess my other option would be to ask about him in the regional forum and see if someone knows him.

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza. - Dave Barry" ..beer IS the greatest invention, ever. (as I take a sip of an Anheuser Busch product)