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What got you into Geocaching?


lil'hobo

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I was watching NASA tv and there was a program on geocaching. Looked up the web site. I already had a gps. Checked out my home town aera and noticed there were hundreds around, Found my first on about 1/10 mi from my house and was hooked. ;):P

Edited by mdpenney
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So, how did all of you get get started in caching?

 

I accidentally stumbled upon a cache while hiking with one of kids and was interested in it, but didn't have a GPS. Then a few years later I was a part of technology group and someone showed me how to do it and I was hooked. I borrowed a GPS from a relative and then finally bought one of my own and I've been caching ever since.

 

My kids (and nephews and nieces) enjoy caching with me, so it's a great way to have a family outing.

 

Just this past weekend, I dragged my oldest out 20 degree weather and four inches of snow to plant two new caches.

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I bought a GPSr on eBay for when I go into the woods to make sure I could easily find my way back to my car. About a day after I'd paid for it I went back to the eBay auction page and reread it because I was bored. I noticed the auction mentioned geocaching so I went to Yahoo and did a search on geocaching and ended up at gc.com . I read everything I could on this site for about 4 or 5 days waiting to get my GPSr in the mail. I was completely hooked on geocaching before I even received my GPSr and went out to my first geocache. Within a week of when I started geocaching I took 3 of my nephews with me and they are now hooked too and have their own screen name and GPSr! :D

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In April 2007 I was at dinner with my parents and my dad starts telling a story about some clients from out of state who he was doing business with. It wasn't the point of the story, but my dad mentioned that during a break he and the clients had run across the street so they could get a geocache.

 

I was like "whoa wait a sec......a geo-what?" He and my mom had known about it since 2002 so they explained it to me and my first thought was "hey dad next time I come over to your house can you leave out your GPS? I want to find one." He did and I found 2 and DNF'd an LPC on my 1st day. I loved it and the next day I bought my first GPS. The rest is history.

 

After I got big in to it, my mom insisted that she had told me about it in 2003 and that I didn't look interested in it or give it any thought. I don't remember that, but I believe her and admit that I was probably totally uninterested and didn't give it any thought.

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Over the holidays I had lots of relatives in town and the subject of hobbies came up and I told them about my newest, Geocaching. After explaining what it is (it's interesting how many people never heard of it) they asked how I got into it. Well, I found about it on accident, I was searching for an owners manual for my old Garmin GPS 12 on Garmin's website and I stumbled upon the term geocaching. After some investigation I wound up on Geocaching.com, created an account, found my first cache, and was hooked.

 

So, how did all of you get get started in caching?

My wife got me an Etrex back in 2004 for Christmas and I didn't know what to do with it. While online I stumbled across geocaching.com and we did our first geocache the next day. Been doing it ever since!

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My son and I were in Monterey, visiting a friend. We were walking to the Wharf when suddenly the friend said "wait right here...I'll be back" then took off. He climbed up a wall near a building and rooted around for a bit before coming back with a black plastic container disguised to look like the other doohickies on the side of the building. He explained that it was a geocache and he'd been looking for it. After that, when we'd get together, we'd geocache with him a bit. We were really interested, but never got around to getting our own unit. Around the holidays I received my own GPSr, and we were off!!

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Strangers kept pulling up and getting out of their cars to go over and "admire" a brand new fence I had put up. :D I could never get out of the house quick enough to ask them if they wanted fence built!!!

Few weeks ago a couple pulled up in a big red Dodge... same story... I went out to see what they were doing. Too slow!!! They were getting in their truck. Drove away, and I noticed they had Nebraska tags. (We are in Oklahoma.) Dawned on me they weren't looking at the fence. Few minutes later they came driving up the alley.

I waited for them to get out and a "good" distance from their truck and quickly went and got between them and it!!!!

Wonderful people!!!! Explained what Geocaching was to me , handed me their Garmin with the cache viewing, and said "try it"!!! B)

Found a cache placed by Boy Scouts two years earlier!!!!!! I immediately got online and signed up!!! I already had a Garmin I use for hunting game, and thought "COOL... another open season!!!!"

Now I know why there are always strangers pulling up alongside our property. Turns out the coords were "soft". Had I attempted to find it on my own I think I would have had to DNF!!! Well at least until I went to the cache page and got the hints!!!!

 

AND PEOPLE... THE PAGE SAYS IT IS NOT IN SOMEONES YARD!!!! Pay attention!!!!! :lol::o Still waiting to meet the next person to come find it while I am at home!!!

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I was on facebook not too long ago, when a friend casually mentioned geocaching. When I asked what that was, I was totally ignored. Since I am a self proclaimed gadget geek, I did a google for geocaching and found geocaching.com After some research on the different GPS units, my husband asked me to show him.

We ordered our Dakota 20 the next week after payday. I actually did a couple of caches before it arrived because I knew where to look.

I go out by myself most of the time to search-husband goes when he can manage to get out of bed.(works 2nd shift)

Since I am old fat and out of shape-the exercise is just what I need and tickles my doctor pink.

 

Colleen Mills

digitalgoddess

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I've told this story before. But it's still fun. I was very pregnant (little did I know, just 13 days away from my son's birth) and feeling down and heavy and generally blah. I was looking for things to do with my #1 son after the baby and all. I'd heard about geocaching, but didn't have a GPS or anything. I googled the term and found out there was a cache right across the highway from my apartment. I looked at the map, and walked over. Quick find. I was super-excited and went back home, getting my case ready to present to Husband. I talked him into getting a reciever, and ordered it online. It came on a Saturday, we found some caches on a Sunday and I had a baby on a Monday. I blame his arrival on all the hiking I did while geocaching.

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In Jan '09 I was watching a show on The History Channel, about military gadgets which had crossed over into civillian use. During discussion of GPS and selective availability, they mentioned GCing. Went to the site immediately, signed up, and found out there was approximately 250 caches in my county. Found my first cache just a few days later after scrounging up the cash for a GPSr. It has been a daily habit/compulsion/obsession ever since. I thought my interest in it would eventually wane, but it hasn't yet.

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I was working the weekend shift at work, and the guy that came in to relieve me was limping, and obviously in pain. I asked what happened, and he took off his sock to display a popped blister about 2 inches across on his heel. As he didn't seem too outdoorsy, I asked how in the world that happened. He replied, "I was out geocaching, and wearing boots that weren't broken in properly." Like most here, my response was "Huh?". He said geocaching, told me to look it up and gave me the address to the GC page. After some reading, I thought it'd be a good way to get the family and I out from in front of computers, tv's and other sedate ways to pass time. So, I started reading, and got my GPSr with my next check. We found 6 our first night, and are now completely hooked. (My wife even stayed out until 3 AM caching one night...... :o:lol: ) I even made a point to thank him the other day.

 

Later!

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Heard a story on NPR and was immediately hooked. I just had to start playing this game called geocaching. I told anyone I knew about it and no one else really seemed that interested. How could they not be as excited as I was?!

 

I can't quite remember the circumstances but I started a correspondence with a local caching guy that went by the name of Welch. I pestered him for a bit on how travel bugs worked. :lol:

 

That guy could can find a cache when everyone else had has given up hope.

 

Edit: changed tense

Edited by BlueDeuce
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I do it for the money. :o

Man, I must be doing this wrong! :lol:

 

I got into it because my Windows Mobile phone (HTC Touch (Vouge)) has a GPS. While looking for cool tracking apps to track my skiing and hiking, I kept seeing this geocoaching apps. Turns out I read it wrong, of course it was geocaching. After a while, I looked it up on wikipedia, and the rest is history. Still have never searched for a cache with anything but my phone (and sometimes my bluetooth GPS puck).

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