Lookout Lisa

Opps -got an error and then a double post.

Really good ideas Poppa J!! Now you have me thinking really hard... Keep the suggestions coming -we do definitely want this to be a CM to remember (with fondness!)

OK, silly question... I am actually interested in attending a session (Wed eve workshop) -any chance I might be able to have the workshop fee waived for volunteering at the geocaching booth for 4+ hours? I am grant funded with my work and extra expenses are challenging to justify sometimes... just thought I'd ask Thanks.

Oh OK, that makes sense on the price then -thanks! Looks like most folks only would stay two nights -Fri & Sat, and then work their way home Sunday so that they can be back to work Monday. Any way we can have folks just make their own reservations (like a block reservation under our name -that way they'll get the special rate?), and then they can include Sunday night individually if they want? Or does that mess with the free banquet room for Friday night? We should still do the bonus Sunday route... but quite honestly one day is probably plenty for me too

There have been pre-event dinners at several other CMs (e.g., Longview), and that's a great suggestion. But the Saturday night dinner has never kept any of us from night caches - we usually go afterward as "dessert." The main dinner will be Saturday night, I believe, at a restaurant (plans still in the making!). Folks always trickle in over a few hours so that'd be the way to go, and it has worked well in the past. The dinner the day of the big event is just as much fun as the entire cache machine in my mind! Then as Hydnsek points out, night caching after dinner is the perfect dessert. The pre-event dinner is just for those that get here in time and a good chance to go over any details and/or updates. I do like the idea of a post event brunch too...

Wow, that seems like a lot. They quoted me $70/night for a 2 bed room earlier today... Did you talk to the manager, and set up a discount block of rooms? Maybe we can get a better deal for out-of-towners -or is that the rate we need to pay to get that room? The 28th it is then!

Is that good news or bad news? How are you feeling now that it's been a few days?

I like the 28th too -gives us more time to prepare, and should be warmer and lighter by then There was a really kewl night cache after the cache machine in Wenatchee -that was a great way to wrap up the day, and introduce a bunch of folks to night caching. We have one out south of town at the Salvin conservation... but maybe we could get one going closer in by then that isn't so long. If memory serves, the Super 8 out near Argon and I90 is cacher friendly -I think Rosco had a travel bug hotel there for some time too... that might make a good place to try for a discount block of rooms and a good starting point. There might even be a good place nearby for the pre-event dinner... I'm just not really familiar with what's right there. CITO on the 14th is just the 'Official' CITO day -Spokane's hasn't been published yet and could be another day -we had it a week later than the official one last year as there was one just south of us already scheduled and I didn't want to compete for volunteers! OK, just a bit o' brain dump for a Monday morning! Lisa

Spring Break here for most kids (Dist 81) is April 2-6, and Easter is April 8th. Official CITO is April 14... How about either April 21st or 28th? Any major events happening that we should avoid?

I'm in too. Will work on actually attending part of the conference for work... and then could volunteer some time around that

Oh good catch -we'll have to look into the spring break schedules here... and Easter weekend wouldn't be the best, eh?

Glad no one was seriously hurt -yikes! My car was totaled in the Tri Cities Cache Machine... that was not fun. And yes, it was a 76 year old man passing me illegally on the left while I was turning left -with my turn signal on! It was still early in the day, and we were near the lead of the pack -so about 50 geocachers showed up at the accident scene in the first hour! Thanks to everyone there, we were able to keep on caching with the help of some re-arranging of people and gear... which was just the ticket to cheer me up after that nasty event. 2 1/2 years later, I still get a sore neck/back now and again, but basically back to good health.

I think the Machine should be only one 'event' on gc. But, I like the idea of perhaps doing it in two days -one route for Spokane, and another for Post Falls/CDA perhaps?? Also, for the morning of, folks are really excited to hit the road and route right away. I'd suggest that we just meet in a large parking lot, do some quick updates, announcements, and then let loose the (cache) hounds! The Pre-event dinner would be a great time to sit down with folks for more in depth discussion of changes, local flavor, yada yada... I'm really looking forward to doing this!

Yes, we were talking about doing a Spokane Cache Machine next year, but probably April/May time. January time here in the Inland Empire is only for skiing, sleeping, and trying to find a way to get south! We are still in the wee early planning stages (more like, can we really pull this off?), so absolutely no details or promises yet ...stay tuned!

Here's one for y'all: I had my VERY recently paid off Subaru totalled during the Tri Cities Cache Machine September 2004! This was cache number 14 I think for my team, and as we were just starting to turn left across oncoming traffic, the 'old man muggle' behind me decided that even though I had my left turn signal on, he would attempt to pass me on the left. Ouch!! I just (August 2005) got my deductable back from his insurance.... We were car #3 I think in the lead of the Cache Machine pack, so shortly after the accident (9:30 am on a Saturday) about 20+ cars showed up all knowing me. The poor muggle must've thought that he hit royalty! The good news is that no one was 'seriously' hurt, everyone was very helpful at the scene and we were able to cache on as passengers in another vehicle and still complete over 60 caches that weekend

Thanks Moun10Bike! With Jeremy's help the Bigfoot Magee cache is now open for business. Hope to see you up that way at the Cache Bash August 14th.

I would like to adopt the Bigfoot Magee Cache (WP GC98FE). I've contacted the owner, NNWest and they are delighted to have me take it on and re-activate it. I visited the actual cache about a week ago and it's in perfect condition. Thanks!

I'm going to Kauai and the Big Island the third week of February and would love to help any TBs along if they are headed that way. Oh, I'm in Spokane. Aloha! lisa4pride

I'm planning a trip to visit my folks in Kauai for 7 days and then 2 extra days on the Big Island to see the volcano. I'd love some advice for caching (and logistics -especially for the short time that I'll be on the Big Island -I'm staying in Hilo). Also, I would be very willing to bring any travel bugs back to Washington State with me... Aloha! lisa4pride

quote:Originally posted by putt:We are planning to be in Lihue, Kauai in February. Any cache hints for this local? I'll be in Kauai in February also! I just booked my flight this evening and now I'm trying to figure out the best caches to get in while there (2/21 to 2/28 and then 2 days on the Big Island). I'd love to hear any advice you may have... lisa4pride

quote:Originally posted by The Leprechauns:I also received an error message when attempting to load the Hawaii state map directly. It said that the shapefile for HI couldn't be loaded. What worked instead was starting with the "World" map, and zooming in on Hawaii (the big blob of cache dots in the middle of the Pacific). After five or six zooms, you have a useable map. Good luck on your trip. Need a cache monkey to tag along? Yep, same error. Starting with the 'world' map also worked, but it's a very poor map and half of the caches appear in the ocean! But it isn't too hard to extrapolate from there since I'm a little familiar with the geography. Thanks!

quote:Originally posted by welch:If the log-out-and-look trick doesn't work you might try using http://brillig.com/geocaching/hawaii.shtml map. You can also zoom in another frame if you need a closer view. Good Luck on your trip http://brillig.com/geocaching/http://img.Groundspeak.com/user/22008_1700.gif http://www.gpgeocaching.com/ Thanks -the log-out-log-in didn't work for me, but that map is pretty helpfull. It's not totally up to date, but it's a good start!

I'm planning a trip to Hawaii (Kauai and the Big Island) and I'm hoping to get in 30+ caches while there... so I tried to look at my plans graphically with the state map but have been getting errors for 2 days... Any ideas or advice?? Thanks- Lisa4pride

quote:Originally posted by trailkat:I am not sure about EasyGPS (or ExpertGPS, which I own and am trying to figure out), but you can save your GPS info as text files through the GPS TrackMaker program. I know little (nothing) about Access, but was told that Access can use text separated by commas. (FYI - I have a Venture and I think it is a really cool little thingy!) ... Hey thanks Trailkat for the info -I'll look into it! lisa4pride

quote:Originally posted by trailkat:I am not sure about EasyGPS (or ExpertGPS, which I own and am trying to figure out), but you can save your GPS info as text files through the GPS TrackMaker program. I know little (nothing) about Access, but was told that Access can use text separated by commas. (FYI - I have a Venture and I think it is a really cool little thingy!) ... Hey thanks Trailkat for the info -I'll look into it! lisa4pride