Fastphil

I have some good news to add! I bit the bullet and upgraded to the full app for my iPhone. It is indeed far better than the demo, and when you figure the cost/value ratio for years of potential fun/exercise/adventure/family bonding, it's just about the best bargain ever! I've wasted $10 on far more useless things. My daughters and I went out on our bikes again today, and have found two local small-sized caches. We had a good time. Looking forward to doing more!

Thanks for the input again to all of you! Sounds like the app would be worthwhile for me especially when I'm on the road. I'll do some more research before I spend the money though. I was cruising around the map earlier, checking out locations near the truckstops I stop at most frequently, and it looks promising so far.

Thanks for the replies guys, you've given me a lot to consider. As I've stated, I haven't yet given up hope. I'm a strong believer in giving good feedback, because it's so often lacking in most online communities. I submitted DNF logs for all three caches. One of them was indeed in a parking lot of a new strip mall in a section that's not yet open for business. I hadn't thought of the magnetic possibility, and I've clearly overestimated (or underestimated?) how small the caches could be. The ones in my area that I've seen on the map so far are mostly micro and small sizes. And to specify about the mailbox, it's not a private box on private property. This is a Canada Post box that has multiple doors on it, each of which is for a specific address. Yes, mail delivery is probably one of the many things we pay taxes for, but we still have to walk down the street to get it. Thanks guys, I'll be trying again tomorrow. Both daughters seem to be keen on at least finding something. Phil

Another thing: I have the Geocaching Intro (free) app on my iPhone 5. Is the $9.99 version worthwhile for a casual user?

Hey all, Today I took my family out for a bike ride and along the way we tried to find three local caches. Two were micro, one was small. The four of us scoured the area of all three caches and came up empty-handed. Seeing as we've never done this before, I'm wondering if we're overthinking things? For instance, one of the micros was supposedly near a mail box by the side of the street. We didn't find anything that we imagined could contain a log of any kind. We spotted a few unusual things, but nothing relevant, at least after applying the above logic. I understand that the point is to find something that's well-hidden, but the logs for all three locations show multiple finds both today and yesterday that say they're super easy. What are we missing? We also searched maybe 50-80 feet in every direction around each location. As a side note, my girlfriend now thinks this whole treasure-hunting-with-no-treasure thing is kind of silly. At least our 6-year-old daughter wants to try again. The other seems indifferent. I know I can't expect concrete answers as to what I'm looking for, so I have some questions that might help me better understand: If a cache on a map shows near a street, is it possible that it's actually on the other side of the street? Is it possible that the difficulty ratings and/or description and/or hints are completely off? We haven't given up hope yet. We'll try some more locations in the next couple of days. Also, as a long-haul truck driver, I'm hoping to be able to do this activity as spare time allows while I'm on the road! Thanks, Phil