Foreign Visitors

[Masquerade]

Hi, I'm traveling to Washington in September and will be staying at Tyson's Corner. Do you guys have any advice for a visitor from the UK (England) who doesn't want to get a - stopped by the Police for "suspicious" behaviour or b - shot by a landowner for trespassing on his property?!!

[+Jerseytrex]

Caches are not supposed to be hidden on private property so that shouldnt be an issue. If you feel you have to cross private land then there is probably an easier/better way to the cache you have to find.

 

PS- If it says Office of Homeland Security (AKA Big Brother) Stay Away!

Otherwise it should all be fun n games!

Enjoy or country!

Jerseytrex

Edited July 18, 2005 by Jerseytrex

[mortonfox]

If you get stopped by the police, simply explain what you're doing. I've done that a few times.

 

Of course, if you're especially worried, avoid caches near power lines, power plants, bridges, military bases, and satellite dish farms. And make sure the car you're using wasn't previously registered to criminal mastermind Oscar Riviera.

[+tls11823]

Tyson's Corner is fairly removed from the City of Washington, and therefore most of the government buildings and structures. If you venture into DC, you may need to be extra careful. But, unless you prefer urban caches, I suggest you head West, away from the cities. There's a lot of beautiful land in the western part of Virginia.

[+The BeeGees]

Carry a copy of the cache page. It's makes it easier to explain geocaching when you have it with you. I know from experience.

 

I would also consult with Avroair. He's our resident tranplanted Brit who has had run ins with the local PD's and bomb squad.

[+briansnat]

I live in NJ, but I'm working in Tysons Corner right now and possibly through Sept. It is away from Washington - maybe 20 minutes without traffic.

 

My advice is - don't even think of trying to drive anywhere betwen 5:00 p.m.and 7:00 p.m.

 

I wouldn't worry about trespassing. Caches generally won't be on private property. If you are hunting caches at night though, it is possible you might draw the attention of the police.

 

If I'm still here in Sept, maybe we can hook up.

[+Team Red Oak]

I live in Maryland only about an hour or so away from Tyson's corner. If you want we can hook up and cache together, I haven't found any caches in VA yet. If you want to visit DC, I've seen some physical caches in out of the way parks I wouldn't mind doing. Most of the caches in DC that take you to landmarks are virtual caches and there seems to be nice ones out there with great views of monuments. Some of them I've been to BGC (before geocaching), but I never get tired of seeing them.

I'd prefer to make the trip on a weekend, but if you're not going to be here over a weekend, I actually work near DC and can join you after work one day, or I could possibly become ill one day and not be able to make it in to work, or have to leave early (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

[magellan315]

You might want to carry a copy of the Geocaching brochure. You'll be fine, the only chance you might get questioned is if you do some of the virtuals in Washington DC.

[+Baxter-MD]

I live and cache in the DC area and have never had a problem caching, but I have heard stories of people being stopped who are using GSP devices in downtown DC. It is pretty hard to walk around downtown DC and the National Mall area without being near a federal building, museum or something else that is now guarded or patrolled.

 

Most of the park land in DC is the property of the National Park Service, which does not allow caches. As a result, most of the caches in downtown DC are virtual caches.

 

There are, however, numerous caches in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs.

If you have a car, and if you are staying in Tyson's Corner I am betting you will, there are some good caches within a short drive.

 

The caches in the Arlington Potomac Overlook park -- e.g. ARL01 Potomac Overlook (GCHT52) - - are fun and a nice hike in the woods.

 

I also enjoyed the Scotts Run Park caches - - e.g Scotts Run Revised (GC2D5) - - as two of the caches bring you to nice views of the Potomac and you get a easy hike in the woods.

 

But if you have the time, you should consider visiting Needwood Park in Maryland - - about 20 minutes or so north of DC and 40 minutes or so from Tyson’s Corner - - which has one of the few remaining Project A.P.E caches, Mission 7: Crab Creek (GCEF7), finding this one gets you an A.P.E. icon, and two other fun caches CAM 2005 - Needwood (GCN61D) and Geodesy 101: Godzilla's Lunchbox (GCM966) (look for my log on this one).

[avroair]

Stay in Europe. It is nicer over there!

 

Anyways, there are a number of virtuals with historical markers etc. In the DC area.

[Masquerade]

Thanks for all of the advice guys. I'll be staying in one of the Hotels at Tyson's for week long meeting. Good news is that i'm flying out on Saturday, so i'll have Sunday free. Unfortunately I won't have a car(!!) I do however have a couple of freinds out there who work at the Embassy, so hopefully I might persuade one of them to take me out. Alternatively we might end up in the bar for happy hour which i'm told runs fron 530 to 800 - decisions, decisions!!

[+tls11823]

Ah, the Embassy Suites happy hour! Free booze - how much happier can you get? The problem is that you fill up on chips, pretzels, and popcorn, so you aren't hungry for dinner for hours. Of course, that's just as well because you're too drunk to drive anywhere because of all the free drinks.

 

On the other side of the day, you've got their free breakfast. Truly great made-to-order omelettes and pretty much anything else you can imagine.

 

Too bad they're not on my company's "approved" list for most cities...

[+vulture19]

If you don't mind virtuals, there are quite a few that you can do on the mall that are in fact quite informative. I did about 10 in 3 hours last summer, and a good deal of them got me into places that tend to be overlooked. If you are worried about the appearance of a GPS, you can print out the virtual cache page, map it, then probably be able to get it without resorting to using the GPS too much.