IAOhana

Just to chime in from a relative newbie. I like having either a hint or at least an idea of what I'm looking for. But I usually try to find the cache without the hint first, but will go to it if I need to.

We had our first FTF last week. It is intoxicating, so much so we dropped everything after an afternoon of caching to head out and attempt another FTF. Alas, we weren't, but it is still fun!

I've also found that battery strength can play a part. We had a miserable day caching when we didn't have strong batteries and tree cover. Now I carry a few spare sets with me and will swap out if the batteries get around 50%.

Fair enough. Although I was pretty confident that grandpa and grandma weren't looking for anything illegal.

Makes my first FTF from this morning seem like child's play!

Mrs. 'Ohana and I are plotting a series of caches that will go along with our other joint love (aside from God): DISNEY! I hadn't thought a lot about FTF prizes for the small caches, but now ... hmmm....

Yep, take care and know others are thinking and praying for you. You'll be caching again before you know it!

Welcome to the boards! I usually will say something, although we've only hit two caches with others around. I met some nice folks in Ames, IA, who greeted me with a "Looks like we're here for the same reason." I kinda liked that.

I recently sold a Handspring and I was able to use the new version of the Palm desktop with it on Vista. Give it a try, certainly can't hurt.

Congrats on the article. I think we get that magazine delivered, I'll have to be on the look out for it!

This is a fascinating topic. We just had our first 'perfect' day (9 searches, 9 finds in about 4 hours) and we were in a zone. Mrs. 'Ohana walked right up to the last one and while I was reading the sign on the stone in the park, she pulled out the cache and said "Tada!"

SOLD! Thanks for looking!

I just dusted off my older visor to use for this and to read my blogs every day while on break at the office. I just upgraded for one that I can use an SD card in and hope to put a few books on as well. Very nice indeed! Paperless caching is so simple to just download a GPX file, toss it on both the GPS and the PDA and you're good to go.

On an impulse, I picked up a newer Palm unit and no longer need the Handspring Visor that I currently have. I have Cachemate installed on it and it's worked great for paperless caching. Highly recommended. I'm asking $20 shipped to any cont. US location (Elsewhere at cost). It's a great deal to get into paperless caching! PM me if interested.

Thanks for the reminder to log ALL attempts. We went 3 for 5 yesterday and I am sure that at least one might have gotten tossed (homecoming week and the park was trashed).

I've only stumbled across another cacher once last fall shortly after getting started in the hobby. They graciously let us finish up and we hid the container again. After coming out of the woods, they chatted with us for a little bit and we wished each other luck. In your case, it sounds like the other player meant no harm. Good to hear that things ended up working out!

Last weekend we were out and the rain had just started and the bugs were extremely nasty. I think I just stopped itching.

We've only revisited one cache, but it was to allow our little guy the chance to find it and do some swapping after a day of micros. As I find more, I would consider visiting some more here and there.

Thanks for all the input. We ended up going with the Venture CX with the rebate from Amazon. After your input, I started debating between this one and the Explorist 400/500. What tipped it for me was the fact the Garmin took regular batteries over the 500. I like being able to grab batteries from any source if something happens while out in the sticks. Thanks again, everyone. Can't wait to find my first cache with it!

I see, so basically projecting is not terribly unlike the old orienteering courses I did when is Scouts (I enjoyed those as well). Yes, slightly different, but still very similar. Thanks for the responses and the information!

Color me ignorant...could you point me to more information on 'projection' and why I might want it? I just haven't heard that term before! Thanks!

Hey all, I'm new to the boards and new to geocaching, but I absolutely love it! I'm looking to purchase my first unit (I borrowed one until I knew I'd like it) and for my budget and features, I'm leaning towards the explorist 210. The nearest model from Garmin is the Vista, but it is a bit more for nothing significant (in my eyes). Is this a good move? My budget is $150 or so, should I consider other units? Thanks!

PM Sent!