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First Timer Trip Report


bigluna

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So, after a couple of months considering taking up this hobby, I finally took the plunge last night and bought a gps and signed up. I've got a seven year old daughter, and I was hoping she would find it fun.

 

We have a few caches near our house, so I thought I'd start with something easy and close by. Our first hunt was at a 1940s baseball field. The gps put us right on the target, and we soon found ourselves just standing there, staring at the sign (that was in the Hint) not really knowing what to look for. After searching, all we found worth mentioning was in the press box, which has apparently recently been home to someone, as they had left their bowel movement there, and a used condom wrapper, along with other trash.

 

We left, and soon found ourselves at a nearby state park, where after walking way too far in some extreme heat (my fault, I could have driven closer), we found ourselves in an RV park, looking completely clueless as people walked by. While my daughter enviously watched other children playing in the water park 50 feet away, I walked around in circles, sweating like crazy and uttering some words that I doubt she's ever heard.

 

We headed home, and I half heartedly told her that we weren't off to a good start, but we'd try again later since I was sure we'd like it.

 

Later in the afternoon, with promises that we'd go swimming in another section of the park, we headed out again. This time, we were close to another cache, so before swimming, I convinced her to hunt again. Thankfully, we were successful, and although it was a small cache without any toys to trade, we both proudly signed the log book.

 

Our swim lasted all of 2 minutes, as a storm was brewing. We hopped in the car and drove a mile to our 4th hunt of the day. Yes, successful again! And toys too!

 

We had two more hunts this evening, one successful, one not. The day ended with my daughter asking when we could go back to the baseball park and search some more, and also with her planning to hide a cache herself.

 

Looks like fun fun times ahead.

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It's good to hear that your day ended positively. My kids range from 5-17 and they've gotten into it - even without the toys.

 

Every time my fiancee has gone with me, however, we've not found the cache and/or have gotten eaten alive by mosquitoes, or some other minor tragedy. I've found about 50 caches over the summer, but the handful of DNF's have always occurred when he's been along. I'm hoping we can have a successful trip out soon and they he'll catch the "bug" as well...although maybe I'll be creating a bigger addict than even I am :blink:

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We have a few caches near our house, so I thought I'd start with something easy and close by. Our first hunt was at a 1940s baseball field. The gps put us right on the target, and we soon found ourselves just standing there, staring at the sign (that was in the Hint) not really knowing what to look for...

 

 

Welcome. I'm glad you had some success in your hunts.

 

That first one you tried, where you mention it took you to a sign... Some caches can be really small and magnetic and look like this:

 

blinky.gif

 

Could it have been something like that? Very often they're stuck onto the back of signs.

 

Good luck with your next attemps.

 

MrsB :)

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Hi, Today was my husband's and my first experience at this new found fun-(both of us senior citizens). My daughter & fiance visited for a wkend visit. On Sat.evening, we were informed that we needed to prepare for a new experience on Sunday (today). They really didn't explain the details but after breakfast, directed us to get into their car and we proceeded down the road, Daughter, with Iphone in hand, directing the adventure. Less than a mile away we stopped, were instructed to exit the vehicle and begin to look for...(?) We were given a description of where to look and basically that we were looking for something. Hmmm... and it was found! This began to seem like fun. We continued on until we had found 4 items, all within a 2 mile radius of our home.

I have a 6 yr old grandson that would love it. He is very adventuresome and quite smart. Are there challenges directed towards children that would be a bit easier? We spent quite a while in a wooded thicket with poison ivy, briars, etc. which I don't think would be good for him but the other 3 areas were just fine. Just curious to know if there were designated children's challenges.

This could possibly turn into a "favorite passtime" for us. Have fun out there, Everyone! Be safe!

Raggedyjan from Georgia

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We have a few caches near our house, so I thought I'd start with something easy and close by. Our first hunt was at a 1940s baseball field. The gps put us right on the target, and we soon found ourselves just standing there, staring at the sign (that was in the Hint) not really knowing what to look for...

 

 

Welcome. I'm glad you had some success in your hunts.

 

That first one you tried, where you mention it took you to a sign... Some caches can be really small and magnetic and look like this:

 

blinky.gif

 

Could it have been something like that? Very often they're stuck onto the back of signs.

 

Good luck with your next attemps.

 

MrsB :)

 

Thanks for the tip! This sign is actually wooden, so probably no magnetism, but I wasn't looking for anything so small. The next morning, my daughter requested to go back to the ballpark to try again. We did and were still unsuccessful but our spirits weren't hurt at all. We'll try again soon.

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My kids really like swapping swag, but alas, so many don't have swag any more, or it is pretty crappy. It is now all about the adventure, getting out doors, seeing things. The thrill of the find. Also, with 9-10 year old daughters, they are absolutely perfect looking somewhere when muggles are about. Nobody questions curious kids climbing over, under or thru things. Two of my best geocaching tools are my daughters!

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Dugmoon, when you find or don't find the caches, tell us about the hunt. Go to the page where you got the local caches listed, right click on each you looked for and open in a new tab (keeps your list open), and enter a log.

 

Logs are simply a story or note of your search experience. You can indicate if you traded anything, moved a traveler (another log needed there), or even leave a note for the cache owner about the condition of the cache (ie: log has about an inch of open space left). Logging the DNF (did not find) alerts the cache owner of potential problems so they can look into it.

Edited by Trucker Lee
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Hi, Dugmoon, welcome to the obsession! A bit of advice often given to newbies is to read the cache descriptions carefully before going out... Caching on the fly can be fun but if you're looking for a particular type of cache you may want to do a little preparation beforehand.

 

Know what size container you are looking for. For example (as you seem to have discovered already), tiny micros can be very frustrating even for experienced cachers. Stick with Small (about quart size) or Regular (about shoe box size) at first. They're easier to find and more likely to contain toys and other trade items that kids like.

 

Also, read the hint if one is provided. Read the recent logs too...sometimes they include little inadvertent clues that can be helpful. Or a string of DNF's may indicate that the cache

has gone missing.

 

I've also started referring to how many Favorite points a cache has received...it's a good indication that a cache is particularly cool or memorable in some way...lately I've been making sure to include a couple of well-Favorited caches when I'm planning an outing.

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I have had simular experiances. On my first cache, it was a DNF, but I didnt get discouraged since I knew I had no idea what I was looking for or doing. Also, I had added a level of difficulty from the start anyway, I stopped on my way home from work at 2300. My first cache and I was looking for it in the dark. On my way to work early afternoon the next day, I decided to stop at the same cache and look again, guess what, I found it and was hooked. My second cache was found at night on my way home again, but that is the only one found at night so far. Night caching for me will still be tried, but at this point I expect little success.

 

The next 4 finds were with my kids and they had a blast. Now when we go out, we look for a couple of them. I know it will take time go develope my geosence and the kids will get theirs sooner, but I am looking forward to many more finds, and the kids dont seem to be discuraged by a DNF.

 

I am glad to have a good wholsome activity to do with the kids that gets us to my favorite place, the outdoors. This is better than the TV and video games and they enjoy finding the cache and seeing whats inside even if its just the log.

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Hi! I am so glad you all are having a good time. It does take awhile to take in all the details of the hobby. I found these photos helpful. But, don't worry...those are very unique cache containers. If you look here you will find the more common types of containers. Once you get used to looking for the usual types of containers it will get a little easier. I do hope to keep hearing about your adventures.

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I did my very first cache find yesterday. Here I was thinking I might find it by just knowing the land shown on a map. No Way, and I almost didn't find it. The gps had me in the spot, and I was stumped by the clue being Peanut on a stick in NH USA. Why I sat down on the ground in a real nice clean woodsie place and hand rolled a smoke (legal kind) and when I it up and I happend to glance up and there it was!

 

I signed the log, took nothing, but didn't offically 'Find' for seeing what happenes when you submit 'Found, and wanting my wife to get a chance to try on her own.

 

I am simply working on getting familiar with my first gps.

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I did my very first cache find yesterday. Here I was thinking I might find it by just knowing the land shown on a map. No Way, and I almost didn't find it. The gps had me in the spot, and I was stumped by the clue being Peanut on a stick in NH USA. Why I sat down on the ground in a real nice clean woodsie place and hand rolled a smoke (legal kind) and when I it up and I happend to glance up and there it was!

 

I signed the log, took nothing, but didn't offically 'Find' for seeing what happenes when you submit 'Found, and wanting my wife to get a chance to try on her own.

 

I am simply working on getting familiar with my first gps.

 

Sounds like you found a unique hide. Welcome!

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I'm a newbie, ventured out for the first time yesterday. This was only 24 hours after first hearing the word 'Geocaching'. I took my 6yr old son and our dog (great cover!!) and we chose 4 nearby caches to look for. They may have been the closest but they were all supposedly quite small caches so probably not the best way to start!!

 

We found 1 out of the 4, it was the 3rd one and it was a really great moment! It was a micro cache that had quite a lot of DNF's in the log so was very proud!! I know where I went wrong on the first 2, so will be going back to those later but I got really stuck on the last one. It was in a relatively small wooded area, and there was a clue to narrow it down, but I couldn't work out the clue. People writing in the log have said they found it easily after working out the clue, so that's obviously what I need to do, but I'm not sure how.

 

I'm just wondering if it's possible to ask those that have already found a cache for extra help? I think with some more experience I will be able to think more laterally and work things out for myself but at the moment it's quite difficult!

 

What's the etiquette for sending a message to someone who has found a cache that you're struggling with? Is it a no-no? I don't want to bug anyone or do something that's not deemed to be the 'done thing'!

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My daughter and I went back out again yesterday, and found 4 caches. Had a great time. The highlights: (1)Standing in the middle of a WaL-Mart parking lot with absolutely nothing within 20 feet except asphalt, with the gps reading zero feet, and both of us breaking down into hysterical laughter and (2)Both of us bending over at the same time to look for a cache and bumping heads, resulting in more hysterical laughter.

 

We decided on the fly to change usernames (she didn't have one yet). Went with "BigMoon" and "LittleMoon" (obvious what our last name is), and signed the logs as such. Oops, that was a mistake as those names are already taken. So now, after getting back to a computer and changing my name and registering her, we will henceforth be "BigLuna" and "LittleLuna".

Edited by dugmoon
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...I'm just wondering if it's possible to ask those that have already found a cache for extra help? I think with some more experience I will be able to think more laterally and work things out for myself but at the moment it's quite difficult!

 

What's the etiquette for sending a message to someone who has found a cache that you're struggling with? Is it a no-no? I don't want to bug anyone or do something that's not deemed to be the 'done thing'!

 

Generally, it's better to ask the cache owner for an extra bit of help - Most will be happy to help out a newbie... unless it's a very new cache, or it's meant to be very difficult. Why not just put a DNF log on that one for now and leave it for a few weeks? As you gain experience you'll probably be able to go back to it then and find it in 5 minutes. ;)

 

 

I (dugmoon) and my daughter went back out again yesterday, and found 4 caches. Had a great time. The highlights: (1)Standing in the middle of a WAL-Mart parking lot with absolutely nothing within 20 feet except asphalt, with the gps reading zero feet, and both of us breaking down into hysterical laughter and (2)Both of us bending over at the same time to look for a cache and bumping heads, resulting in more hysterical laughter.

 

Well done on your score of 4 :)

 

Always remember that your GPS won't necessarily take you to the exact spot, more likely to within 20 - 30ft of the cache although some co-ords will seem more accurate, depending on how well the cache owner took the readings, what instrument was used and other factors.

 

There used to be a cache here in UK rather as you describe... the co-ords took you to the middle of a very boring grassy field. No significant features until the field hedge 30 - 40 yards away. It fooled quite a few cachers... until they later discovered that the cache was located in a disused canal running under the field.

 

MrsB :)

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We did not get off to the greatest start. We chose easy ones, but perhaps some were too small. The kids were not at all happy after spending a half hour roaming around at one site. We finally did find one cache out of the 6 or 7 we visited. Otherwise the kids would have lost all interest. Still, they aren't all that excited about it anymore after a day of mostly frustration. We'll have to try again another weekend.

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Oh, here is another idea for you. We have a trackable that is our daughter's. Every time she is the one finds the cache we log her trackable as visiting the cache. Then, we can look at the map and see all of the places she found the cache. It is pretty fun. You can see her trackable here.

Your young lady has found a lot of caches! I love the name of her Geocoin, and your idea of tracking her finds.

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Oh, here is another idea for you. We have a trackable that is our daughter's. Every time she is the one finds the cache we log her trackable as visiting the cache. Then, we can look at the map and see all of the places she found the cache. It is pretty fun. You can see her trackable here.

Thanks for posting this! I use one of my coins for FTF's so I can keep a record of them. I didn't know that I could track them on the map.

Our first caches were a geocoin challenge and almost all of them were smalls or larger. That made the finds alot easier and got us hooked. The obsession only gets worse from now on. Give in to it!

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We did not get off to the greatest start. We chose easy ones, but perhaps some were too small. The kids were not at all happy after spending a half hour roaming around at one site. We finally did find one cache out of the 6 or 7 we visited. Otherwise the kids would have lost all interest. Still, they aren't all that excited about it anymore after a day of mostly frustration. We'll have to try again another weekend.

You may try researching just a couple of caches this week (bigger ones, not Micros for now). Find one or two that will take you down a trail or a backroad, to an interesting destination, like some park you've never been to. Look for an "adventure", where you might see something new, and have fun even if you don't find a cache.

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