Florafloraflora

I originally heard about this on WheresGeorge.com. I'd seen a couple of references to something called geo-caching (this was before they separated the geocached bills). Knowing what a map freak I am, I thought it sounded like way too much of a potential addiction so I resisted looking it up. Finally I did and... sure enough, my Georging hobby has mostly gone by the wayside in favor of a much healthier one. quote:Originally posted by blu-eyes:A while back I had told my sister I wanted a GPS, and a few weeks later she sent me an article from the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper (July, 2001) about GeoCaching. I told my husband, and he gave me a GPS for our anniversary. He's not so interested in Geocaching, but doesn't mind me running all over. Are there many Women who do this with out the spouse/boyfriend? -blu-eyes- blu-eyes [] Yeah, actually I go on most cache hunts alone, with coworkers or, recently, with my kid brother. My husband likes the hike to the cache but he hates hates hates looking around once we get to the spot, and he even gets cranky about time spent looking through the cache, trading and signing the log. Mostly he tolerates caching as an excuse to take photos - which is why I'm going to try to interest him in the photo contest if it ends up happening.

I thought that removing a tick with tweezers would cause it to leave its mouthparts in you, which somehow increases the risk of Lyme infection. I had heard that the right method is to smother the tick with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball. Does anyone know any more about this?

quote:Originally posted by Woodsters Outdoors:Doesn't have to be on the Geocaching.com website, they could easily post it on their website or on a flyer in store. Great idea - that would be the perfect place for a promotional cache. It could also be a limited time only cache to eliminate the problem of having to keep restocking it. Personally I love the fact that GC.com is noncommercial and I really want it to stay that way. But nothing says that businesses, charities, political candidates etc. can't sponsor their own caches.

Gift certificates are great. I've got no problem with them. Unless maybe it's a free night of lodging in a timeshare complex or something But free meal coupons, movie passes, etc. (something that's entirely free, no purchase required) are in a whole different category than trade show swag.

I just found this topic. I'm not fond of trade show items. If it's something cool or useful, fine, but the squeezy toys are marginal. Your Boeing plane sounds cool, but I've seen things like apples, globes and lightbulbs with some generic firm name like "ITsolutions.com" on them that are pretty garbagey in my opinion because they don't really serve any purpose other than advertising. Squeezy toys from trade shows, strangely, are usually too stiff to squeeze. Other people might like that stuff, though - just the same way that some people like McToys and little plastic soldiers. I like finding tissues and handi-wipes, other people consider them junk. Bottom line: I wouldn't rule out leaving trade show swag in a cache, but I would never trade for it either.

I picked up Lyme Disease at a 4th of July barbecue in the Oregon Ridge area of northern Baltimore County, Maryland. They say that is one of the areas of the state with the worst Lyme problems, maybe because of people living in heavily wooded areas also frequented by lots of hikers, in proximity to deer. My hosts at the barbecue also picked up Lyme Disease that day. My case of Lyme was apparently so nasty that my doctor took pictures of me for her medical students So I share your fear of ticks. I admit that I don't always tuck my shirts and pants in, though. I do wear bug repellent though - some stuff called Cactus Juice that also works as sunscreen (in fact it is sold as sunscreen) and doesn't smell nasty. I also shower and check carefully for ticks, including my scalp, as soon as I get home. I'm happy to say (knock on wood) that I haven't had a tick since then. So, basically, it can be done - you just have to take extra precautions.

Just tallied them up - not bad for fewer than 50 finds: Maryland DC Virginia Pennsylvania Kentucky Indiana Missouri Texas South Carolina I'm hoping to do some international caches before the end of the year.

I'm not likely to make a destination of a 1/1 cache. Usually I like more challenging terrain, although the easier it is to find the cache once I get there, the better - I have no patience for puzzles, decryption, or camo. But if a 1/1 happens to be nearby or if it holds an interesting travel bug I will make a point of grabbing it. My philosophy is, it takes all kinds. The 1/1s were a godsend to me when I started caching, and I imagine they are popular with families. If you enjoy 1/1s, more power to you.

I work in Geographic Information Systems for a large local government. The people are great and the work is varied enough to stay interesting. I'm working on getting my coworkers to join me in my caching addiction. So far I've recruited one person who has joined GC.com - my boss, evilwoman - and others who go along on cache hunt but aren't joiners, not yet anyway.

Another idea, and one I've been wishing for, is the ability to find caches within a distance of a given interstate, federal, or state road. I would love to be able to do this for road trips. I wonder how hard this would be to implement. I work with GIS and I know we can create buffers on either side of a road (or of any line) but I'm not sure how feasible that would be to serve up to everyone.

OK, got it. I deleted my cookies and then restarted the browser. When I went to GC.com again I was able to log in and log my caches.

I'm having a similar login problem. I'm trying to log two caches I found and at the top of the page I see "login to log this cache". Above that it says "You are not logged in. [click here to] log in". When I hit that, I go to the "My Cache Page", where it says "you are logged in. [click here to] log out". I've tried clicking the log out page several times, but I can't. I tried closing my browser and restarting, and I tried holding down the shift key while refreshing, but neither of those worked. Please help! I'm so psyched to log my caches.

I rely pretty heavily on hints, since I like the walk to the cache a lot better than the hunting process. I have no interest in poking around for 1/2 an hour under every log, looking for burlap covered with vines. Darkness, a tight schedule, too many bugs, and poison ivy all add to my impatience. Plus I often cache with Mr. Kane and other people who relish the hunting process even less than I do. Mr. Kane gets cranky after about 10-15 minutes. So I'm not ashamed to decrypt the hint after poking around casually for a few minutes. And yes, vague or clever meaningless hints really annoy me.

I know it's not an "extreme" cache, but since the topic seems to have migrated to inaccurate ratings I thought I'd put my two cents in. I wouldn't say 150-200 feet in tall grass and poison ivy is "just off the trail". And... stinging nettles??! Long pants would help to some extent, but you'd still have to reach in and get your hands stung to explore the log and uncover the cache. My complaint stands. I would recommend a terrain rating of at least two (the stipulation of "some overgrowth" doesn't kick in until three according to the chart above, but that seems too high), or at least a warning in the cache description that the terrain is tougher in summer due to plant life. Please note that I don't mind tough terrain (although I don't know why you would hide a cache in a patch of stinging nettles). I just want to be warned so I don't bring along inexperienced cachers and small children to a cache that's too hard. [This message was edited by Sugar Kane on June 13, 2003 at 05:49 AM.]

Maybe it's just me, but... where's the violin shape? I don't see it.

How does plant life add to terrain ratings? I recently had an annoying experience with this cache rated 1/1. [spoiler ALERT] I wore capris and flip-flops and brought my sister-in-law along with her 18-month-old son and their dog, but had to leave them behind when I found that the cache required a fair bit of off-trail walking in tall grass and poison ivy, and then this: the log where it was hidden (the only logical place, unless the coordinates were seriously off) was covered with stinging nettles . I hunted around as best I could for 15-20 minutes, getting my feet, ankles and hands stung, before I gave up. I made a note of my experience as politely as I could, but the cache owner's only response was to confirm that the cache was still there. I almost think it was somebody's idea of a joke, but I've decided to chalk it up to inexperience instead. In my opinion nasty plants should bump up the terrain rating by at least half a point. Poison ivy is a fact of life, I know, but I also think it should be factored in. Wearing long pants is not something I always do when hiking in summer, so I like to be prepared.

quote:Originally posted by BrianSnat: One way to avoid this is to have most area cache waypoints already downloaded to your GPS. You won't have the cache page, or hints, but you have the waypoint. I find close to half my caches this way, without the printout. BrianSnat (do you have a nickname? BS somehow doesn't seem right) of course you are right, I should have done my homework in advance. Next time I'll have everything loaded and printed ahead of time.

Nice work on the newbies (with bonus points for CITO). I personally am working on some people from my office - we have hit three caches so far at lunchtime, and I think they're starting to get hooked

How about this for a peeve: when it pours rain all Saturday and then on Sunday when it finally clears up you're all excited to print out some cache sheets and the server goes down I know Jeremy et al. were doing their best, but it was &%$# frustrating sitting there, hitting reload every half hour with no luck. I was going to take my little brother caching. I'm telling you, I almost cried.

This would require a car in DC, but I really enjoyed Flowerman's More Stones Telling Tales multicache. It gives you a tour of interesting local history, with a satisfyingly large container at the end. Also, terrain on the last part is a little tougher due to recent events. The companion cache, Stones Tell the Tale, also looks interesting although I haven't done it. The physical cache at the end is smaller though and the area is not as tourist-friendly.

Good idea. For extra credit, you could mess up your hair and clothes and mutter under your breath. This could work with all kinds of books - a volume of the Warren Commission Report comes to mind. Or, even better, carry your GPS in a wadded up clear plastic bag, and talk to it loudly. People are guaranteed to steer clear I'm just goofing. It really is a good idea.

I wouldn't say "never" (there might be a good travel bug in that cache! ), but I wouldn't rush out and buy a blacklight just for one or two caches. I live in an apartment and storage is a major headache. Anything that I buy has to be used more than once to make it worth the space. I'm just not a gadget person. It sounds like a cool idea though.

Criminal has a good point: when we send out a TB with a narrowly-defined goal, we are relying on the kindness of strangers. Some strangers don't feel like going the extra mile, but that doesn't make them bad people. I am guilty of the opposite offense: I grab travel bugs, then I hold on to them too long because I feel guilty that my original plan to help them along didn't work, and I keep hoping for another shot. I've learned that it's better to set the travel bug back a little and get it moving again.

[realized my story was not really relevant] [This message was edited by Sugar Kane on June 02, 2003 at 07:48 PM.]

The easiest way is to use pocket queries, but those are only available to members. Here's what you can do: Click on the gray "Hide and Seek a Cache" tab at the upper left. Go to the drop box with state names, pick your state and press Enter. Once the state page comes up, look for the link near the top that says "View cache map of [state]". Once on the map you can zoom in to the appropriate highways and identify the caches you see that are very close to the road. Having said that, you may be disappointed in the rest-stop caching experience. I just did a few on a road trip, and it was harder than I thought. Given the illicit activities that often go on at rest stops, you may find that your pursuits draw some unwelcome attention and make it hard for you to find the cache or keep it secret. But one rest stop cache I found was really nice. Good luck!