Majormd&PUNditOK

Just in case that wasn't tongue-in-cheek, Criminal...Rails to Trails Conservancy Astrojr, this project is just now breaking ground. I think they're looking at a late summer or fall grand opening. Thanks again to all who've commented. - Sue

Great! Thanks for the perspectives! - Sue

Amarillo is breaking ground on a rails to trails project. Unused rails between downtown and our medical complex on the west side of town are being torn up and replaced with grass and a concrete trail with plans for a softer jogging surface to be added later. The distance covered will be about 4 miles. Eventually, extensions will link this stretch to several city parks. I immediately wondered about the potential of this trailway for caching, but then got to thinking that if the cleared area is only so wide, and has a steady stream of bikers, joggers, and strollers on it, it may not be amenable to cache placement. So I thought I'd ask if others have any experience placing a cache on such a trail, and any suggestions for us. - Sue

E-mails alerting local cachers to new caches go out on Thursdays. Assuming good weather**, your cache should be on several folks' lists this weekend. - Sue ** Oh, wait, you're in San Diego. The weather disclaimer is probably unnecessary.

I recently did move a cache. Here in the Panhandle, we have lots of flat, and relativley few trees. I came upon a cache which was sitting next to the only tree trunk within 1/4 mile - we could spot the cache container from 50' away. After much consternation, we moved it 6' away to where there was a depression in the ground and a lot of tumbleweeds on top. However, we also e-mailed the cache owner that we had moved it, and WHY we had moved it, and with a sincere offer to move it back if he wished. We got back a nice appreciative reply. After reading about all the caches which have been plunderd, or worse yet, detonated by bomb squads, I don't think leaving a cache that exposed is a good thing, and relocate a cache like that again. But then, I'd also send an e-mail to the cache owner advising them of what I'd done. - Sue Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

Cool site, RJL - I've posted myself asking for suggestions for great caches along a planned travel route & have seen several others do the same. I've been thinking for some time abot setting up a site for I-40 across the Texas Panhandle. It's be cool if folks in Oklahoma & Arkansas could come up with something for their areas & we'd all link up! - Sue

I'm fairly new to the Amarillo area & know there are several cachers around here, and wanted to see if there would be interest in having an event cache in January. (Specific event, location, and date TBD - suggestions welcome!) I think there's a fair number of us, and it would be fun to get together. If there is already some local caching organization, please pardon my ignorance & let me know about it. - Sue

1980-31 Oct 2003 US Army, most of it as a doc. One all-expense paid adventure with Operation Joint Endeavor (went to Hungary instead of Bosnia, though) One "How long can we make you believe you're 7 days away from flying to Iraq?" mini-adventure last spring. (The answer was 10 weeks) - Sue (aka Majormd, retired)

TexasAir, I know of the cache you describe. I understand why the cache owner placed it there, but stealth at a location in plain view of a dozen houses right across the street is just not feasible. I agree with those who suggest common sense and self-policing for preventing misunderstandings with the local law enforcement community, but there is another important strategy to try to minimize situations where police feel threatened by "suspicious boxes" - work with them; exchange contact information; show them how to look up caches on the website to see if the suspicious box they found has in fact been there for 12 months and safely found by 25 geocachers. I'm hoping to have an event cache to get a caching group started in Amarillo right after the holidays, and one project I hope the group would undertake is education of the law enforcement community.

Hi! I just rescued the Baseball Extravaganza TB from a cache where it had stayed for 7 months, and moved it to a very unusual cache which would make a great detour from I-10. Varsity Level The TB is trying to get from San Diego to various MLB cities which are home to the TB's owner's dream team of All-Stars, so it would need to move east of El Paso. So if anyone is heading east on I-10 & wants a 30-45 minute break, this is a great opportunity to stretch your legs, and see something unusual. - Sue

YAY!!! Mission accomplished. We found the "Remains of the Day" cache Clay Jar suggested, and left the 50 States cache there. Thanks to all who made suggestions and I hope to come back through another time and try some other caches. - Sue & Dale

I'll be driving through this Saturday. Although I enjoy canoeing, I currently live in El Paso, and so have not had much use for a canoe The Rio Grande is actually more like the Rio Pequeño by us... On this trip, my husband & I are driving from East of Houston to Palm Beach in 2 days, and so can't spend a whole lot of time hiding this, but do want to get it on its way since we've had it almost a month. So I think I'll have to pass on the Cane Island cache, but will definitely keep it in mind for a future trip - it sounds like fun. I'll check out all the suggestions posted by Friday night, and then let ya'll know where I've placed it Saturday night, assuming I can get my 'puter & modem to cooperate. Thanks for the great ideas. - Sue

I need suggestions for a cache that that would be moderately challenging, but fairly close to I-10/12 as we drive across Louisiana. (ideally within 10-20 miles of the interstate) A few weeks ago, I picked up a special cache from OK called the 50 states cache. It is supposed to be placed in an existing cache in each state, BUT only once per state. I'd like to place it in Louisiana, since it hasn't been there yet, but I'm not familiar with the area. So, I'd appreciate any suggestions for a good temporary home for it. Ideal features: 1) Close to the interstate - 10-20 miles. Important for us & increases chances for someone travelling to another state to pick it up & bring it there. 2) Moderately challenging - 3/3 or so. 3) Traditional cache - needs to accomodate a 3x3x4 inch "cache", so Altoids tins won't work. Here's the url to the 50 States Cache: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=55408 I'll post here as soon as I've placed it! Thanks for any tips, and I hope someone from here can go claim it! - Sue

My suggestions: 1) Go to the appropriate regional fora and ask for suggestions for caches close to whatever rodas you're planning to take. 2) Go to the geocaching home page. In the upper right corner where you might normally enter your zip code, click on a state you're going through. the first line on the state page is a link to a map with major highways and caches. Click on a cache dot, and you'll be taken to the cache's page. Decide if it's one you want to do or not, and check out another one. - Sue

Well, for the longest time, I just used the coordinates screen, and was happy as long as the numbers were moving in the right direction. Now that I am more familiar with my GPSr (Magellan Map 330) I use the map screen most often. Since most cache sites around El Paso are in the draws in our local mountains, you go up the trail regardless of direction to the actual cache, so GoTo is not useful until you are right up next to the cache. - Sue

All of the above. - Sue

As long as we're discussing OT sites, I'll share this one. It's a little game called Mystery of Time & Space, but a better name would be Black Hole for Time - it's really no mystery where your time goes...

I could swear I've seen something like this in the Sky Mall catalogs you get on airplanes. I can't it online though... - Sue

I enjoy multi-caches, but... I do think a multi-cache should be all on one "one site", meaning that you shouldn't need to get into your car and drive to the other side of the city to finish the hunt. Doesn't mean you can't disperse your caches, just count them as individual ones. Also some idea as to the total time needed to complete the multi-cache should be provided so that people can plan accordingly. There's nothing wrong with multi's that require hunters to walk 10 miles to hit all of the subcaches, but this should be clearly indicated in the description. - Sue

People like increasing their # of finds. Not everyone owns a kayak. IMO, a multi-cache should be at one site (maening that you park once, get out and find the first cache, then walk around to other subcaches.) I would recommend doing individual caches for each site. BUT for those who are able to do all the sites (Have the time, equipment, and interest) you can have clues in each individual cache to one final unlisted (or locationless) cache with extra nice stuff inside for the committed geocachers. Seems like everyone's a winner that way - you'll get more traffic to your caches than an all-or-nothing multi-cache, and there are good challenges for both the casual and committed cachers in the area. - Sue

... at least our GPSr said we crossed a river. We found a cache in Ft. Worth yesterday, Only Rock in the Park along trails lining the Clear Fork of the Trinity River. We understood from the directions that the cache was on the side of the river with the power plant, but our GPSr was showing it on the other side of the river, with the Tarrant County Courthouse & Jail. We followed the directions and went to the power plant side, and sure enough, about 200 yards from the featured rock, the GPSr showed us "crossing" the river. In reality, however, we never crossed from the power plant side, and walked right up to the rock. I'm pretty sure this is a mapping problem, rather than a problem due to the limits of GPS accuracy, because my GPSr showed us & the cache superimposed on each other, about 25 yards on the the other side of the river. I know rivers can change course, but that doesn't make sense when there's a paved trail that is "crossed" by the course of the river as shown. Is this kind of mapping error common? - Sue & Dale

Did the "Only Rock in the Park" cache - it was fun! - Sue & Dale

PUNditOK told me last fall he was interested in a GPS - mostly for street maps. I looked around, but quickly got confused by programs you loaded onto a laptop or palmtop and read from there vs. stand-alone devices dedicated to GPS reception. I post on a general interest message boad at http://fff.fathom.org and inquired of the other posters there what they knew about GPSr's. One of the first responses was from a friend in CA who simply posted - "Best reason for a GPS" with a link to www.geocaching.com I looked there, but at the time, El Paso had only a few caches, and so I shrugged & figured that might be good for a month's entertainment, but then what? This summer, we got a voucher good for a deep discount on a GPSr & so finally took the plunge. I remembered the geocaching site & was astonished by the number of new caches in our area. And now we are hooked. - Sue

Thanks for the suggestions! If you're ever out in the West Texas town of El Paso, let us know! - Sue & Dale

How about a formula to convert differences in Lat/Long to feet or meters or miles? I figure latitude would be pretty constant, but the longitude would vary widely, depending upon your latitude. Anyone know this? - Sue