sunrise searcher

I have an old Visor Deluxe myself -- haven't used it in years, and I have lost the software for it -- I've tried to get the software from Handspring's website, but can't seem to find it -- do you know where I could find it?

Honestly -- one of my favorite caches and a great intro to geocaching! Thanks for the cache! I don't know how to link to the cache, but here is its description, along with my log. GCP9RH The Proposal by Graydon Harn You don’t need a 4x4, but a vehicle with clearance is a good idea on the forest road. Turn off of Highway 14 onto county road 63E (Pingree Park turn off). Turn Right onto Crown Point Road. This will be your first right. Then follow the first Right turn Forest Service Road up a small valley. It’s a beautiful area with lots of roads to explore. A Left had turn is what you’ll need. This cache is an ammo box. It contains Toy jewelry, dinosaurs, puzzles and log book. I used this cache to propose to my girlfriend. A leopard skin box hid the engagement ring. So, please leave the box, but feel free to trade other “jewels” using this box. My log: My first cache and WOW, what a perfect one to start with! It was a beautiful drive in with SPECTACULAR views from the cache. I got some great photos. We saw elk and deer sign everywhere. The cache was well-hidden, but not difficult to find after arriving. The directions given are excellent, btw. My husband, daughter and myself were on a belated 5th anniversary trip (our anniversary was in April). My 3-year-old daughter was VERY excited about the view, about the cache, etc... There was snow on the peaks to the west, snowflakes were falling gently at the cache location, and heavy clouds were rolling in. The sun peeked out for a moment. My hubby and I enjoyed an "anniversary" hug and kiss and I took photos of my daughter with the cache. I am 32 weeks pregnant with our son, so I appreciated the short hike. We had planned to camp near Rand, CO, and liked the view from this cache so much that we ended up camping about 1/8 mile directly below the cache. We loved the area and will be back often. We took a pink ring and the compass for my daughter, and a postcard for me. We left a buffalo nickel and a buffalo quarter (from my daughter) and a bookmark (from me). CITO, TFTC! We are hooked!

I have one cache that seems to be a cop magnet for me. Every time I try to hunt the darn thing, cops show up! The first time, I've got my trusty GPS and I am looking for this micro -- it's a camouflaged film canister in a ditch alongside a busy road in town -- and my GPSr keeps putting me in the weeds. I'm thinking, "for heaven's sake, it isn't just chucked into the weeds, is it?" while I am down on my hands and knees in the grass, looking for the silly thing. I look up, and there is a trooper parked a little ways down the road from where I parked the pickup. He is facing the pickup from the other side of the road, and he is watching me very intently. I decided I wasn't having much luck anyway -- perhaps it would be prudent to return to my truck and vamoose. So, I calmly walk back to my truck, get in, signal properly of course, and pull onto the highway. I keep it at the speed limit and drive past him. As I go by, he pulls out and follows me, of course. He continues to follow me for a while, and I am trying to figure out how to legally shake him, when some jerk (my saviour) runs a stop sign in front of me. I just keep going and the trooper turns to go after the other driver. Whew! Same cache, I pull over, get 20 feet into the ditch, and here comes a cop. The other times I have attempted that cache, I don't even get pulled over before a cop shows up. I may NEVER get that cache!

I hope that doesn't make you a bad Mommy, because then I would have to consider myself a bad Mommy for leaving my daughter at daycare for an extra two hours after I am done working so that I can hunt a few micros (she only likes the "big ones with toys"). Glad to hear your daughter is okay. I have one of those "family" things next month, and believe me, I am going to find some caches around there (I've never cached in Minnesota) to keep myself sane -- I hate crowds and we are going to have 7 adults and six children crammed into a tiny house for three days. Yikes! Even if I end up taking all six kids with me, at least I can get out of the house! That reminds me, I had better start working on my "caches along the route."

I wish I could say I drive a cool SUV, but generally, the kids and I take my 1996 Oldsmobile Aurora. It gets around pretty good, and since I live in a fairly flat rural area, most of the caches are in a nearby city or in areas I can park and walk to. Sometimes I am lucky enough to use my husband's 1994 Ford F350 diesel (kind of nice for the back roads after it rains). We have one set of caches where I had to borrow both the truck AND my husband (so he could navigate the steep, narrow, rutted, muddy road you have to take to the area). They were cool caches though. I'd like to do more caching with my husband, but he just doesn't get into the kind of caching we have here -- now the ones in Colorado and Wyoming, in the mountains, those are our favorite kind!

I log my DNFs. As both a seeker and a hider, I appreciate it when someone logs a DNF on one of my hides -- that way I can tell if it needs maintenance or replacing, or just to be checked on. I also appreciate knowing I am not the only jerk out there that can't find someone else's evil micro! I can always go back and log a find when I finally find it!

I have been geocaching for about 3-1/2 months, and of the 33 caches within 10 miles of my home, 21 are mine. Two belong to my children. There are a few micros, but mostly they are small caches. I have 50 finds, but enjoy hiding as much as I do finding! I believe a few of those remaining 10 caches in the zone are yours, Starbrand. I recently put out a "cache starter" hide full of small cache starters, since my children and I have found all the nearby caches that are not micros. With a newborn and a toddler, we don't go very far afield. I have a few I can look for about 30 miles away, but not while I have to tromp through 1/2 to 2 feet of snow in sub-freezing temperatures with the little ones to get to them. Gee, I wish Spring would get here fast! Congrats on the 100th hide!

I paid to become a premium member so I could do pocket queries and download to my GPS and avoid all the manual entering, but my computer wants to open the queries with Paintshop Pro, which doesn't work. How do I get the computer to open the queries into the freeware I downloaded, so I can put them on my GPS? I am using a Garmin GPSmap76Cx and the freeware I downloaded is EasyGPS. At this point I am unable to even open the PQs, let alone move them to the GPS. HELP! Please!

I say publish it -- I have a 3-year-old daughter and a newborn son. Right now, I cannot get to the caches that require I take my infant son out in the cold winter air. A short, quick cache like this would be wonderful for us -- Wrap the baby up snugly, take the pre-schooler to the cache site, let her find it, make her happy by letting her exchange gifts, back to the house. Happy day! Not all caches have to be tough -- I have caches ranging from 1/1 to solid 4s. I figure there need to be caches for all age ranges, people of all mobility levels, and people with very little time to people with nothing better to do than search for caches all day every day. With small children, obviously, I cannot spend a lot of time on puzzle caches, multi-caches, and micros. The children (and some days, myself as well) do not have that kind of attention span. The easier caches are a great way for us to spend family time together, being outdoors and having fun.

I nominate Heartland Cacher. Our publish time on caches is unbelievably fast -- I log on, post for publishing, empty the dishwasher, check my email and find out my cache has already been published. Once I came back and it had been published and found already -- all I did was eat supper!

I would identify myself at about a 7 right now. I tend to plan geocaching into the day somewhere, every day. On the days I don't, my 3-year-old usually starts begging to go. I have been considering a laptop with wireless internet for several years so I can actually spend time with my family while I do my photo editing. Now that I have started geocaching, I feel this NEED for a laptop, so I can log immediately, look for new caches at any moment, post my hides for publish consideration as soon as I place them, etc... As for hiding caches -- uh, I've got a few out there! Most notably, four I hid two days before going into labor with child number two -- who has been caching with me while in utero for two months. I was dragging child number one along with me through the adult-high weeds at the time. The EMTs would have KILLED me if I had gone into labor out there! Tupperware? My mind is not on Tupperware -- unless I run across some at a garage sale or thrift store (then I buy it ALL). My mind is on all the EVIL caches I am going to design while I am unable to drive or do any hiking for the next six weeks since having my infant son three days ago. Hmmm, perhaps I am a little higher than a 7...

My son, who will have a geocache id soon, has been geocaching in utero for the past two months, and he was born Thursday night just before midnight (making him basically 3 days old) . Tomorrow he will go with me to replace a cache that appears to have turned up MIA. His 3 year-old sister is excited about taking him geocaching with us for real. So, do I log all those finds he tagged along on for him, or does he have to start from scratch?

The listing page shows "small" caches to be able to contain a log book and small tradeables. I would consider most pill bottles to be micros (that is what I plan to list mine as). I guess, since I cache with a youngster -- if it is too small to put a few little bitty swag items in -- it is a micro. But hey, I am NEW to this obsession, don't take my word for it!

My mother-in-law swears by Ivy Block. I swear by hiking boots, long pants and long sleeves. I watch carefully, and if I even THINK I got into poison ivy I shuck the clothes and wash them in hot water with extra soap as soon as I get home. If I get the rash, it ALWAYS gets really bad and I end up on antibiotics and steroids -- yuck! So, I am very careful. Whatever you do, wash the clothes you were wearing ASAP -- the oils stay in the clothes forever otherwise. Wash any skin you think was exposed very thoroughly with a grease-cutting soap (to cut the oil) as soon as you can. Don't rub your eyes, your nose, or any other mucous membrane before washing your hands. Take Benadryl to help control the itching and swelling if you get the rash.

I usually have my camera bag (a camera is great cover when muggles show up), my GPS, my paper version of geocache materials (which I glance at and leave in the car), campers TP, my cell phone (in case of injury or getting lost), a cheap compass in case the one on the GPS quits, swag bag, extra batteries, extra pencils, a pencil sharpener, and baggies. I have a mini-survival kit I carry in my purse, and should carry in the camera bag -- since I usually have the camera bag with me, not the purse. Oh yes, I also usually have my 3-year-old daughter with me too (except when hunting for micros -- she's not much into those). I wear a coat if there is any chance of it getting cold too -- never know when the weather will change while you are out in the woods a ways!

The outdoors, fresh air, getting exercise without even realizing it -- isn't that what life is all about (and geocaching)? I'm not much interested in urban caching -- I much prefer the remote areas with trees, tall grass, singing birds, wildlife of any kind -- soothing, refreshing and great photo ops! My 3-year-old daughter loves it all too -- and we go almost every day -- both of us getting cranky when we can't get out. Friends are people who have like interests and needs -- most fellow geocachers are probably much the same as you.

I feel your pain -- I will be having a baby any day now (c-section scheduled for the 16th) and I know I will not be allowed to drive for at least two weeks and not be allowed any physical activity for about 6 weeks -- not looking forward to being housebound -- especially since my daughter will be wanting to "go bye-bye, Mommy can we go geocaching" every day of that six weeks. Hang in there, and if you need to pain meds tomorrow -- take them! I quit mine too early after the last c-section and ended up right back on them -- no shame in that. Hope you get to feeling better soon -- and no more footballs! You'll be back to geocaching before you know it -- it IS an obsession, ya know.

I was considering doing one in Nebraska myself -- but you are far more experienced -- go for it! Maybe we can get western Nebraska on the map! Nebraska has been up for some time. Feel free to search for it at N 41° 13.336 W 103° 34.515. Cool, this is even WAY west of me! I figured we would end up with this thing in Omaha or Lincoln, like everything else in Nebraska. Nice to bring some people to the western side of the state -- it is so much more scenic, IMHO.

That one is awesome! I have been thinking of doing a memorial to my father, who was a real techno-geek computer repairman who also loved the great outdoors-- and he would have LOVED geocaching! I wish he hand't died so suddenly and we had a chance to geocache together.

For your own sake -- DON"T make a lot of noise -- you want to tick a hunter off -- run off all the wild game. You can buy a very lightweight plastic blaze orange vest (I have left several of these in caches) at Walmart for around $2. I would also recommend a blaze orange hat. Hunters may be there at any time of the day, but wild game moves the most right around sunrise and sunset, so those would be the best times to stay out of hunting areas. Know your areas hunting seasons, and if it is a rifle season, don't hunt that area until it is over, and/or you take careful precautions. As both a hunter AND a geocacher, I can see both sides of the coin here. Personally, I would be very quiet, avoid the high traffic times, and wear the orange.

I often cache with my 3-year-old daughter, so I try to have a little bag of toys she would like to find (even McToys make the little ones happy -- as long as they are clean and in working order). She really likes super bounce balls, bracelets, necklaces (just the cheap stuff), a baggie of little foam stickers, etc... I also don't leave anything I wouldn't want MY kid to have -- dirty toys, broken toys, ANYTHING that makes NOISE! I also have my own baggie of things to leave, that are more for the adults -- campers tp, bug repellant wipes, signature items, special coins, compasses, carabiners, key chains (nice ones, not trash), items that are helpful while outdoors -- gloves, orange vests (for those hunting areas), coozies (for your non-alcoholic beverages, of course ), needle and thread, emergency blankets, collapsible cups, etc... I placed one cache that was themed -- for outdoors items only. Pencils are always good -- adults can sharpen them to place in their own caches, put in others' caches, or most kids like a good pencil too -- I would appreciate finding them already sharpened though. Pencil sharpeners! Kids like 'em, most caches (and cachers) can use them.

I only have one cache, which I "adopted"; don't plan to place any of my own just yet... anyway, the point is that it's hidden in a hollow tree root, and should be tucked back in the hollow with some leaves/sticks for camo. But the last two times I checked on it - both times after it had been recently found - it wasn't even in the hollow, but sitting out in plain sight on the ground in front of it. I just don't get it. Then again, I ALSO don't "get" why people were insisting on leaving items that didn't fit in the container, either.... although that was partially the fault of the orginal hider, who listed the cache as "regular" when it's really more of a "small"; I've amended the listing to "small", and put in the cache description that only small or flat items will fit. We shall see. I have about 11 caches out, and have had people log several times that they found the cache "Out in the open." Most of these logs have also added that the finder "rehid the cache as well as they could." I certainly appreciate that! I do realize that sometimes the wind, or wild animals, or mugglers move caches, but we should all be careful to read the cache description and try to place the cache back the way it sounds like the cache owner originally placed it. This keeps the cache viable and of interest to future cachers.

I was considering doing one in Nebraska myself -- but you are far more experienced -- go for it! Maybe we can get western Nebraska on the map!

I am new enough to geocaching that I would not even know where to look for an "exclusion" like this. Personally, I hate elitism in all forms and will probably filter out ALL caches with these types of exclusions, once I figure out how. Have your fun and games in your small little group -- I'd prefer to geocache with anyone who honestly enjoys geocaching, whether they are "vastly experienced" or not -- as long as I am not dragging a couch potato who knows nothing about the outdoors on a 7-day hunt for a challenging cache deep in the mountain wilderness. Safety DOES come first.

I log my DNFs, for my own personal knowledge -- I like to see where I failed to find, then I go back to check these caches for comments from other people. It is a good way for me to learn which caches I SHOULD have been able to find, and which caches were probably missing, etc... I plan to eventually go back to look again for all DNFs, unless I find out the cache actually IS missing.