Flaguette Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) After almost 2 years, last week-end I managed to convince my husband to try geocaching. I succeeded when I managed to show him that just around the corner (we left the car home!), in the park, there were lots of caches! I downloaded the coordinates, printed some info and off we were. We did not find our fist cache... but I must admit we had no clue of what we were looking for... nor of how the etrex was functioning! But we quite easily found the next two caches, of which we were kind of proud. One week later, my husband was eager to go back to find more caches, including the missed one. In about 3 hours, we found all 8 looked for, including the "missed one" from the previous week-end, and the walking distance back and forth from the caches. We even found a "micro" cache which makes us quite proud! We're just eager to go back for new opportunities. When I explained the game to my sister, she tought this looked like fun! I think I'll try to drag her along next time! Geocaching is a good "pretext" to go out for a walk and be active! We've learned a lot in the last two week-ends on what to bring, how it works, and, most importantly, how to operate the etrex! But we had fun... and most importantly, enjoyed two beautiful Spring days! Only one thing we can complain about : DOGS!!! It's springtime, so we really had to be careful on where we were getting our feet as the paths are "mined". Also, at one point, we kind of got scared by a big black dog that had no leash. Even though it was accompagnied by his "mistress", he was quite aggressive (she told us the dog did not like hats and my husband was wearing one), she never attempted anything - exept some "get back here" commands (please note the plural) to retrieve her dog. In the meantime, my husband and I were afraid to make any move... This was in a park where the rules state that dogs must have a leash... Edited March 23, 2009 by Flaguette Quote Link to comment
+Wintonian Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Geocaching is a good "pretext" to go out for a walk and be active! Thats why I started - Oh and there was the it looks fun bit. Quote Link to comment
+SkellyCA Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 (edited) Congratulations and welcome to the obsession! One of the reasons why I started caching was so that I could take my dog on longer hikes and get more excersize, she loves it! LOL I do hate irresponsible dog owners though; they need to pick up after their dogs; I do prefer trails where I can let my dog off leash; she's a black lab, loves running around. Pet owners should be responsible for their dogs, not just make excuses. Edited March 23, 2009 by SkellyCA Quote Link to comment
+TrailGators Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Caching is a great way to get some exercise. My advice with dogs or any animal is not to let them sense that you are afraid. It will just make things worse for you. Quote Link to comment
+TwoSox Trekkers Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm new, too. Started researching in January, really started getting interested in February, and got going for real in March. I have an eTrex Vista HCx and I like it a lot- I also use my iPhone to read the notes, logs, etc and not use paper when I can. This is so addicting. Ridiculously so! My partner is struggling, she hasn't found any caches yet. But I think she over-thinks it. I'm hoping the next one, she finds, to help her confidence. No real problems to speak of, except a few wet caches and I keep forgetting to bring a pen/pencil. I need to get a cache bag I like and stick with it. Quote Link to comment
+crockett3663 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm new, too. Started researching in January, really started getting interested in February, and got going for real in March. I have an eTrex Vista HCx and I like it a lot- I also use my iPhone to read the notes, logs, etc and not use paper when I can. This is so addicting. Ridiculously so! My partner is struggling, she hasn't found any caches yet. But I think she over-thinks it. I'm hoping the next one, she finds, to help her confidence. No real problems to speak of, except a few wet caches and I keep forgetting to bring a pen/pencil. I need to get a cache bag I like and stick with it. Perhaps you can "help" your partner find her first cache. When you locate one, don't claim it right away. Instead, move away from it and very discreetly suggest that she "check out that tree over there", or whatever the case may be. The important thing is to NOT let her see you near the find before you push her in that direction. Let me know if this works. As for your caching bag, check out your local Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul store for gently used book backpacks, the kind that high school and college kids often use. As long as the zippers are in good shape and it has plenty of pockets (and trust me, you'll NEED them) you should be good to go. Welcome to the fray!! Good Luck and Happy Caching!! Quote Link to comment
+TwoSox Trekkers Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 I'm new, too. Started researching in January, really started getting interested in February, and got going for real in March. I have an eTrex Vista HCx and I like it a lot- I also use my iPhone to read the notes, logs, etc and not use paper when I can. This is so addicting. Ridiculously so! My partner is struggling, she hasn't found any caches yet. But I think she over-thinks it. I'm hoping the next one, she finds, to help her confidence. No real problems to speak of, except a few wet caches and I keep forgetting to bring a pen/pencil. I need to get a cache bag I like and stick with it. Perhaps you can "help" your partner find her first cache. When you locate one, don't claim it right away. Instead, move away from it and very discreetly suggest that she "check out that tree over there", or whatever the case may be. The important thing is to NOT let her see you near the find before you push her in that direction. Let me know if this works. As for your caching bag, check out your local Goodwill or St. Vincent de Paul store for gently used book backpacks, the kind that high school and college kids often use. As long as the zippers are in good shape and it has plenty of pockets (and trust me, you'll NEED them) you should be good to go. Welcome to the fray!! Good Luck and Happy Caching!! Good idea, and I had thought of that. But I sure hope I can carry it off- she is very perceptive and will know if I faked it. Still, it's worth a try! I'm thinking I will hit up Goodwill for a bag. I will be doing mostly urban caching to start with, and I have a great distance pack already. Quote Link to comment
jammun Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Geocaching is a good "pretext" to go out for a walk and be active! Thats why I started - Oh and there was the it looks fun bit. I am sure that's why my wife made sure there was an eTrex under the Christmas tree this year! It does make us get out, have a bit of fun, visit some areas in the immediate neighborhood we've not necessarily seen for a few years. We'll start venturing further out once we've logged finds for all the caches nearby. Quote Link to comment
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