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The San Diego Thread


Night Hunter

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Sumrall,

 

Hang in there with the bee stings. The antidote drugs do work well, I know from my oldest daughter Laurie. You'll have to carry a kit with you when out and about from now on.

 

We raised bees until Laurie developed her allergy.

 

I feel your pain, well sort of, what with my ankle cast. Let me see now, there's TT, Harmon, and Sumrall. Anyone else want to play?

536ac3f9-2c1f-45fe-b87d-37b48d48e733.jpg

 

Here, I made it all better.

Edited by SD Rowdies
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Hey Guys:

Jeff just told me that we will LOVE this Motel, especially those of us who like trains....It sits right along the tracks.

Maybe ear plugs are called for.

Ok, that helps me make my decision. It looks like I will definetly be bringing Rum instead of Beer!

Funny! I was thinking the same thing but only with Scotch instead of beer! :D

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Well Sumrall (Tigger's Mango) felt left out....so she went out caching (on Sunday)and got stung by a bee  and the bee died  She was ok and we kept on caching...(she was bit on her first cache of the day and got 10 more before calling it quits (including "fear factor"))!

 

Sorry to hear about Tigger's Mango injury. I guess she is now officially a member of the "Injured While Caching" group (a few of us even have waypoints named after us). We hope that she recovers quickly! Bee stings can be a nasty thing, something myself and myMarie always worry about when out and about. A first aid kit with appropriate paraphanalia is high on our list now days.

 

It seems the list grows: TT, Harmon, Parsa, Samiam (Todd), and now Sumrall. Anyone else?

 

Get well soon!

 

Todd and Marie

Edited by samiaminca
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Well Sumrall (Tigger's Mango) felt left out....so she went out caching (on Sunday)and got stung by a bee  and the bee died  She was ok and we kept on caching...(she was bit on her first cache of the day and got 10 more before calling it quits (including "fear factor"))!

 

Sorry to hear about Tigger's Mango injury. I guess she is now officially a member of the "Injured While Caching" group (a few of us even have waypoints named after us). We hope that she recovers quickly! Bee stings can be a nasty thing, something myself and myMarie always worry about when out and about. A first aid kit with appropriate paraphanalia is high on our list now days.

 

It seems the list grows: TT, Harmon, Parsa, Samiam (Todd), and now Sumrall. Anyone else?

 

Get well soon!

 

Todd and Marie

Thanks everyone for the kind words! I keep looking at the pic Harmon sent and hoping that someday I won't look like I've got one of those big "football fingers" (of course, if it lasts much longer, I could go home for some Sooner football next season :D) Anyhoo, I'm hoping to see you all in Palm Springs...as soon as GoBolt gets back from finishing his 100th cache I'm going to see if I can sweet talk him into taking me :lol:

Take care and happy trails!

 

tigger's mango

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Tigger's Mango,

 

Go for it girl. Getting out with the crowd will do you ever-so much good. Besides, you'll get a lot of attention that way. With any luck at all they will wait on you hand and foot; well, maybe just foot.

 

Here's a tip, $kimmer and Splashette are huggers so if y' need a hug just see them at any time of day and as many times as you need to. Tell 'em I said to hug you but don't let Mr. The Vulture hug you 'cause he'll crush you like a tater chip.

 

I'll just bet that you will be all better before me. Just returned from Kaiser. Recast and x-rays with the verdict of five more weeks in the cast. Made me say an ol' Texas phrase "Aw she-ut."

 

Don't worry about winding up with a huge finger, just go rent the movie "Why Cowgirls Get Blue." That nutty flick will make your finger look real tiny.

 

Glad you enjoyed the photo. By th' way the word is "Fanger."

 

Harmon

Edited by SD Rowdies
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87fhandioff1.jpg

 

You've tried sanding them off. You've tried slamming them off. And mitts only hide the problem. There's no way around it - you've got extra fingers. It's time for Handi-Off. Only Handi-Off contains Leprosin. That tingle will tell you it's working. In just three days, unsightly fingers disappear - for good!

 

:huh:

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Soooo I know this is the SD Cachers forum and not the Old Diesel Volkswagen Pick-up forum…however comma I feel like we are one big dysfunctional family…soooo does any one know a good VW diesel mechanic.

Thanks, Dave

PS Thanks for healing Sumrall…I am not going to complain about the extra digit…it has been a great help with her piano playing and wow her massages feel even better. <_<

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Tigger's Mango,

 

We feel your pain darlin', five more weeks in a cast and I'll have an ankle again and not sure when ol' TT will be set free with his puzzle-piece elbow.

 

Say, I think you've found your niche. What would you take to be there when my cast comes off? That banana-bunch of fangers you have should be able t' take care of th' scratchin' and massagin' I expect I'll want.

 

Yeah, I know, yuck. Just kidding of course, sorta.

 

Harmon

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Oh PLEEEEAAASE!  One of the Electronic Wizards is needing help from those who still cache via LOTS of printed cache sheets?

You guys must be on the VIP list at HP for using all that ink! :blink:

Trust me electronic is soooo much easier! By a Palm for <$50 and then buy Cachemate for $8. You can download a free program called Cmconvert from the Cachemate website that converts the gpx file from the Pocket Query into a pdb file. Once you do that then all you do is hit the little synchronize button on your Palm and butta-bing-butta-bang you have 500 new caches ready to find AND log! When you come home from caching you sychronize your Palm with all your finds and then log them using the Express Logger to really speed things up!

Thanks to Trailgators for making sound so easy to go paperless.

 

I bought the PDA and cachemate and actually got it all together.

 

I did have a slight problem until I realized I needed to UNZIP those dang files (you think I'd know by now that's how you get to the good stuff :mad: ).

 

The following guides were real helpful to someone whose as clueless as me about all this new tech stuff:

 

Paperless Caching

 

Going Paperless on Your Palm

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Thanks to Trailgators for making sound so easy to go paperless. 

 

I bought the PDA and cachemate and actually got it all together.

That's great! You won't regret doing it one bit! I did forgot to tell ya about those zip files! :mad: Anyhow, we are heading up to Palm Springs today. I can't even imagine printing out 100+ caches pages for this trip. :blink:

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Thanks to Trailgators for making sound so easy to go paperless. 

 

I bought the PDA and cachemate and actually got it all together.

That's great! You won't regret doing it one bit! I did forgot to tell ya about those zip files! :mad: Anyhow, we are heading up to Palm Springs today. I can't even imagine printing out 100+ caches pages for this trip. :blink:

OK, now we need a tutorial for Express Logger. There's no directions, and I'm not sure how to get the information from cachemate to the boxes. What file are you supposed to upload, and why is there a box for waypoints? Do you have to enter them all manually?

 

Parsa

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Trust me electronic is soooo much easier! By a Palm for <$50 and then buy Cachemate for $8. You can download a free program called Cmconvert from the Cachemate website that converts the gpx file from the Pocket Query into a pdb file. Once you do that then all you do is hit the little synchronize button on your Palm and butta-bing-butta-bang you have 500 new caches ready to find AND log! When you come home from caching you sychronize your Palm with all your finds and then log them using the Express Logger to really speed things up!

B.R.A is looking to go low tech...(paperless) Where can you find a PDA for <$50? Any suggestions on what and where?

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I was doing a search for someone in one of the other Forums, and the Palm M500, which is the one I have had for a couple of years now, is selling on eBay for around $50.00. It has a built-in rechargeable battery and can accept additional cards.

 

I've had good luck getting things on eBay . . . in fact, that is where I got my Vista. If it wasn't for eBay, I wouldn't be a Geocachaholic now. I didn't know one could get hooked so quickly. ;)

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No one ever came to grief, except honourable grief, by riding horses;

no moment of life is lost that is spent in the saddle. | Winston Churchill

 

Maybe that's what Harmon should do - stay in the saddle. :D

 

I have some questions about Palms, being one that hasn't played with one.

 

How do you keep track of the stuff? I sometimes lose stuff on the computer. I don't need another machine to do that!

I have all of my papers sorted by area so when we/I go to an area, I can grab just those papers & know we have the info for all the caches we plan on doing there. Also, maps, and we can plan our attack. Sometimes you don't want to go to the nearest one but rather go in a circular path. Paper maps can show you that. How do you do maps on the Palm?

 

Being able to download the data into a machine in minutes for a hundred caches does sound mighty nice, instead of printing all of them out.

 

But then, like I said, how do you keep track of them? :D

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How do you keep track of the stuff? I sometimes lose stuff on the computer. I don't need another machine to do that!

 

I have all of my papers sorted by area so when we/I go to an area, I can grab just those papers & know we have the info for all the caches we plan on doing there. . . .

 

Being able to download the data into a machine in minutes for a hundred caches does sound mighty nice, instead of printing all of them out.

 

But then, like I said, how do you keep track of them? :D

 

When you download them into Cachemate, the caches go into "Unfiled." Then you can create new folders and change the designated folder for the individual cache.

 

I have folders for Jamacha/Spring Valley, East County, MTRP, Jamul, etc.

 

It is so easy. I still have a whole pile of pages out in my car. I printed them out before I learned about going "paperless." When I found out the trial of Cachemate only allowed you to download a limited number of caches, I sent them my money . . . immediately. :D

 

I've had this little Palm M500 for more than two years and never really used it before. It is nice to know it is now worth the money I spent back then. :D

 

Also, maps, and we can plan our attack. Sometimes you don't want to go to the nearest one but rather go in a circular path. Paper maps can show you that. How do you do maps on the Palm?

:D Maps . . . maps . . . oh, you use maps . . . I knew there was something I hadn't figured out about this sport/hobby/activity yet. :D

Edited by idiosyncratic
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I was doing a search for someone in one of the other Forums, and the Palm M500, which is the one I have had for a couple of years now, is selling on eBay for around $50.00. It has a built-in rechargeable battery and can accept additional cards.

 

I've had good luck getting things on eBay . . . in fact, that is where I got my Vista. If it wasn't for eBay, I wouldn't be a Geocachaholic now. I didn't know one could get hooked so quickly.  :D

Thanks for the info...I'm going to check out the E-Bay stuff. Might be as challenging as a TT cache but we'll give it a shot. And maps?? Who needs a map?? :D

Edited by blonds run amuck
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"No one ever came to grief, except honourable grief, by riding horses;

no moment of life is lost that is spent in the saddle." - Winston Churchill

 

Maybe that's what Harmon should do - stay in the saddle. :D HelBob Duo

 

b2a97c17-9c7c-4879-bdc2-95a16945fe99.jpg

 

Ol' Churchill got it right about time spent in th' saddle. Sure beats time spent after fallin' off of a dad-burned ladder.

 

Once us Sandy Creek Cowboys went ridin' south on the PCT t' score a cache on the south side of Hauser Creek Canyon. Well ol' Happy got t' dopin' off tryin' t' grab a mouthfull o' wild oats and let her hind hooves slide off th' steep side o' th' trail.

 

Hot dang, I thought ol' Happy and I were goners. Happy was barely hangin' on by her horse-shoes and quiverin' all over and so was I. I scrambled down t' help pull Happy back up onto th' trail and we made it. She-ut, it was too close t' call.

 

'Course an ol' cowboy sees a thang like that as just another small story f'r th' campfire. Would've been a better yarn if we'd tumbled all th' way down t' Hauser Creek y' see.

 

Believe you me, Geocaching in th' saddle is extra-good as you can see from th' picture.

 

Life is good,

Harmon

Edited by SD Rowdies
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How do you keep track of the stuff? I sometimes lose stuff on the computer. I don't need another machine to do that!

I have all of my papers sorted by area so when we/I go to an area, I can grab just those papers & know we have the info for all the caches we plan on doing there. Also, maps, and we can plan our attack. Sometimes you don't want to go to the nearest one but rather go in a circular path. Paper maps can show you that. How do you do maps on the Palm?

As a member, I get regular pocket queries in my email.

Right now, I have three:

100 nearest unfound caches to home,

A certain radius around central San Diego,

MTRP.

 

I get these each week, so any changes are in there automatically. The last five logs are included. The pocket query files show up as numbers when downloaded, but the name I gave each is on the email. I always change the number to the name as soon as I download them since I can never keep the numbers straight.

I use MacCMConverter to convert the GPX file into a Palm file. I have folders already set up for Local, San Diego, and a few other areas where I sometimes get one-time-only pocket queries.

I download the files into the Palm (it's a Handspring Visor actually... great machine). It only takes a minute. I open up Cachemate, and it asks where I want each file placed. I put the local file into the Local folder under Not Found. I put the san diego and MTRP queries into the San Diego folder, also under Not Found.

As soon as I find the cache, I change the status for that cache to Found.

 

In regards to maps. I have two ways of doing it. My old fashioned way was to buy cheap Rand McNally maps of an area, and plot each cache by looking at the online maps. That was good when I went to Riverside, Long Beach, and Orange County. I could see a logical path to take in order to swing by the most caches. I even highlighted the route. I think this method is till good if you have the time to do it.

 

The high tech lazy way is what I use for finding multiple caches now. I upload the pocket queries with all the caches to my Garmin using GPSBabel (actually MacGPSBabel). I also use GPSBabel to convert the files to National Geographic Topo files. I merge these into NG Topo and every single cache shows up on the topo map on my laptop. It takes minutes. Topo maps are kind of out of date but it works for me. If I have the paper street map also, I can figure out where the cache is in newer areas. This sure saves hours of time plotting dozens of caches on a paper map. I hook up my laptop in the car to the GPSr, and can see all the caches displayed as I drive. I could plot a route out in Topo if I wanted to. If I don't want to take the laptop for tracking my position, I can just print the maps.

 

This brings up another use for the digital map method. The geocaching maps are becoming useless for me in San Diego County. All the caches I have found plot on the maps, and I can't see the new ones for all the found caches. I wish there was a way to turn them completely off. At least now you can identify the caches, and ask it to leave off the ones you've found from the list. Instead of using the geocaching maps, I can use NG Topo. If I periodically "erase" my NG Topo maps, I can plot only caches I have not found, and that lets me see areas with clusters of caches.

 

Parsa

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Just got back from the Greater Palm Springs Geocache Event. What a blast! San Diego was well represented, with Proud Mom and Lucky Kid getting recognized for their clever cache placements to contribute to the 140 new caches placed just for the event, and your truly, Rocket Man and TrailGators won prizes for the most cache finds (100). We set out to do 100 caches in one day and we ended up with 101, including a micro at the event we logged after winning the prize. Kawikaturn helped log a bunch of our finds before he had to tend to the family. We were also joined by San Diego cachers Splashman and Splashette, $kimmer & Vulture, and RUSCAL and Eagle Eye Rye.

 

Daryl and Jamie are absolute superstars of caching. They rallied the whole desert caching community to not only place 140 new caches, but to contribute boat loads of swag for prizes, etc. Every person who attended won some prize. They certainly set the bar high for geocaching events. Thanks to them, and all the rest of the desert cachers, for an absolutely awesome event! :D:D:D:D :D

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Once us Sandy Creek Cowboys went ridin' south on the PCT t' score a cache on the south side of Hauser Creek Canyon. Well ol' Happy got t' dopin' off tryin' t' grab a mouthfull o' wild oats and let her hind hooves slide off th' steep side o' th' trail.

 

Hot dang, I thought ol' Happy and I were goners. Happy was barely hangin' on by her horse-shoes and quiverin' all over and so was I. I scrambled down t' help pull Happy back up onto th' trail and we made it. She-ut, it was too close t' call.

Reminds me of a day I was ponying one of my horses while riding my blue-eyed buckskin Paso Fino, Azul. Julio pulled back a bit as Azul stepped over a little erosion gully and we got off balance a bit. One hind hoof hit the edge of the little embankment, causing it to collapse. In slow motion, in time for me to get off, Azul fell backwards and ended up saddle-side-down, hooves up, trapped in the narrow gully.

 

It was unbelievable. Poor Azul, head and neck facing down the slope in a little gully just exactly as wide as his small 14-hand body.

 

I uncinched the saddle first, then set about kicking and digging at that narrow gully to make it wide enough so Azul could lay sideways a bit and finally struggle to his feet.

 

By the time he did, he was drenched with sweat. Good thing I had the other horse with me so I could ride him out and pony poor, exhausted Azul back to the trailer.

 

 

Oh . . . those were the days . . .

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Just got back from the Greater Palm Springs Geocache Event. What a blast! San Diego was well represented, with Proud Mom and Lucky Kid getting recognized for their clever cache placements to contribute to the 140 new caches placed just for the event, and your truly, Rocket Man and TrailGators won prizes for the most cache finds (100). We set out to do 100 caches in one day and we ended up with 101, including a micro at the event we logged after winning the prize. Kawikaturn helped log a bunch of our finds before he had to tend to the family. We were also joined by San Diego cachers Splashman and Splashette, $kimmer & Vulture, and RUSCAL and Eagle Eye Rye.

 

Daryl and Jamie are absolute superstars of caching. They rallied the whole desert caching community to not only place 140 new caches, but to contribute boat loads of swag for prizes, etc. Every person who attended won some prize. They certainly set the bar high for geocaching events. Thanks to them, and all the rest of the desert cachers, for an absolutely awesome event! :D:D:D:D :D

Rats! Tom beat me to it, wanted to be the first to congratulate the mighty threesome on Flagman, Rocketman, and Trailgators for setting the standard of 100 finds at a single day caching event! Great job guys!

We all had a blast at the big event in Palm Springs. You wouldn't believe how many caches are out there! Every corner holds a prize, and most of them are very clever to boot! If you are in the area, a must do is Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, along with Pam's parents, Stoneyagers, very original and FUN series, starting with the Ladybug Cache.

It was great fun getting together with cachers from all over the West; Nevada and Arizona were represented, along with all of California. Who knew Dr. Webe was a woman? Huh!

San Diego was well represented by Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, the might threesome, aforementioned, Ruscal & Eagle Eye Rye, the Splashes, and even The Vulture had a blast.

The Palm Springs cachers sure know how to throw a party!

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Once us Sandy Creek Cowboys went ridin' south on the PCT t' score a cache on the south side of Hauser Creek Canyon. Well ol' Happy got t' dopin' off tryin' t' grab a mouthfull o' wild oats and let her hind hooves slide off th' steep side o' th' trail.

 

Hot dang, I thought ol' Happy and I were goners. Happy was barely hangin' on by her horse-shoes and quiverin' all over and so was I. I scrambled down t' help pull Happy back up onto th' trail and we made it. She-ut, it was too close t' call.

Reminds me of a day I was ponying one of my horses while riding my blue-eyed buckskin Paso Fino, Azul. Julio pulled back a bit as Azul stepped over a little erosion gully and we got off balance a bit. One hind hoof hit the edge of the little embankment, causing it to collapse. In slow motion, in time for me to get off, Azul fell backwards and ended up saddle-side-down, hooves up, trapped in the narrow gully.

 

It was unbelievable. Poor Azul, head and neck facing down the slope in a little gully just exactly as wide as his small 14-hand body.

 

I uncinched the saddle first, then set about kicking and digging at that narrow gully to make it wide enough so Azul could lay sideways a bit and finally struggle to his feet.

 

By the time he did, he was drenched with sweat. Good thing I had the other horse with me so I could ride him out and pony poor, exhausted Azul back to the trailer.

 

 

Oh . . . those were the days . . .

Holy croak, an upside down and back'ards horse.

 

That tops my Happy tale f'r shore. Should've added some gory details t' my story I suppose but didn't 'spect another cowboy t' pop up on th' Forum.

 

Times like that it ain't so bad t' be alone 'cause, as luck would have it, a pardner would most-likely have a camera and a loud mouth.

 

Anybody else out there got a wilder horse-back tale? With a tad o' stretchin' we've got th' makin's f'r a cowboy liars convention.

 

Yeehaw!

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I had decided to switch my plans to attend the big Tierra Del Sol Jeep rally and attend the Greater Palm Springs Geo Event since it had been too long since we have seen our cacher friends from up north and the desert. Birdlegs was looking forward to the fun as well. Then about mid last week Birdlegs got a hitch in her back and was hobbling around in pain, abruptly ending her trip plans. I asked my son "Eagle Eye Rye" if he wanted to go, and he gladly accepted, which surprised me! So the trip was on again. We drove down Friday afternoon taking the high route through Anza and down the serpentine cache studded road to the desert. We found ten or so caches before a lightning storm ended the fun. After checking into our hotel we headed for La Quinta to grab some dinner. I gave Daryl of team Nohoch a call and told him where we were eating. Coincidentally he and Jamey were just leaving the house to meet Dana Dakiba and one of his friends at the restaurant where we were! This worked out well, since we all got a chance to visit before the event kicked off the next morning. Daryl and Jamey still had a lot to do before retiring for the night, but we kept them up way too late anyway. I’ll bet they didn’t get much sleep! They really put a lot of time, effort, and creativity into making a fun event for everybody. Several Greater Palm Springs cachers volunteered their services to man all the necessary event tasks to insure we would all have a great time. They also hid a large number of new caches timed to go active at the event. Ryan and I sure did appreciate all their effort! Saturday morning we hooked up with Splashman, Vulture and The Geobabes for some fun urban caching. Then early afternoon we went with the Geobabes for some light canyon hiking caches. Late afternoon Ryan and I started The 20 Cache Rally, and found all the caches, finishing just after dark. Some of the coordinates had problems making the search a little more fun and challenging!

Then we all met for dinner and awards completely taking over the pizza house. You had to walk sideways to walk through the place! San Diegans made a great showing in the awards, with Team Rocketman, Flagman, and Trailgators taking the” most caches that day award” with 101 finds! This was impressive, as there were some heavy hitters from up north in the crowd. The next morning we met The Splashes, Vulture, Skimmer, Rocketman, Flagman, and Trailgators at IHOP for breakfast before heading out for more caching. Ryan and I hooked up with Rocketman, Flagman and Trailgators for the day’s adventure plucking caches out of bushes and from under rocks all over the place.

I give many thanks to The Greater Palm Springs Cachers, and especially Daryl and Jamey for applying the glue to hold it all together.

I’ll tell Birdlegs it weren’t no fun at all… she didn’t miss a thing…nosiree….

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Just got back from the Greater Palm Springs Geocache Event.  What a blast!  San Diego was well represented, with Proud Mom and Lucky Kid getting recognized for their clever cache placements to contribute to the 140 new caches placed just for the event, and your truly, Rocket Man and TrailGators won prizes for the most cache finds (100).  We set out to do 100 caches in one day and we ended up with 101, including a micro at the event we logged after winning the prize.  Kawikaturn helped log a bunch of our finds before he had to tend to the family.  We were also joined by San Diego cachers Splashman and Splashette, $kimmer & Vulture, and RUSCAL and Eagle Eye Rye. 

 

Daryl and Jamey are absolute superstars of caching.  They rallied the whole desert caching community to not only place 140 new caches, but to contribute boat loads of swag for prizes, etc.  Every person who attended won some prize.  They certainly set the bar high for geocaching events.  Thanks to them, and all the rest of the desert cachers, for an absolutely awesome event!  :D  :ninja:  :ph34r:  :P:D

Thanks to Daryl and Jamie! I agree with Flagman that they are "absolute superstars of caching!" Flagman summed it up well, all I can add is what an awesome trip it was!! Now I just have to start logging! I tried logging last night but the website is slower than dirt on Sunday nights. What's up with that?

 

OK Parsa. to answer your Express Logger question above:

1) When you get back from caching with your Palm, sync your Palm with your PC. It will update the pdb file that you uploaded to your Palm with all the finds in that pdb file. The easiest way to locate the file is to do a search on your PC (hit F3) for "*cMat.pdb". For example, my file for the Palm Springs trip was called "DesertItems-cMat"

2) Go to the Express Logger website

3) Where it says "Log file:" click on "Browse" and find your pdb file and hit "Start Logging".

4) Wait for it to load all the caches on the left side of the screen. It will take a few minutes.

5) Click on the little wedge icon next to the happy face icon above the cache you want to log and it will open the logging page for that cache in a new window.

6) Log the cache like normal and close the window and move on to the

next one in the list on the left.

Edited by TrailGators
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OK Parsa. to answer your Express Logger question above:

1) When you get back from caching with your Palm, sync your Palm with your PC. It will update the pdb file that you uploaded to your Palm with all the finds in that pdb file. The easiest way to locate the file is to do a search on your PC (hit F3) for "*cMat.pdb". For example, my file for the Palm Springs trip was called "DesertItems-cMat"

2) Go to the Express Logger website

3) Where it says "Log file:" click on "Browse" and find your pdb file and hit "Start Logging".

4) Wait for it to load all the caches on the left side of the screen. It will take a few minutes.

5) Click on the little wedge icon next to the happy face icon above the cache you want to log and it will open the logging page for that cache in a new window.

6) Log the cache like normal and close the window and move on to the

next one in the list on the left.

Re: point 1: if you're on a Mac on OSX, the backups folder will be in

macintosh HD/Users/username/Documents/Palm/palmusername/Backups/

(where the username parts are what you have on your machine/palm)

 

Re: point 5: I think it's a pencil!

 

My paperless setup involves one more program: GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). There's an unrestricted demo you can download, and basically it's an infinitely configurable database to keep track of all your cache information. It is brilliant, and I've since paid the $20 to register it (gets rid of timed nag screens etc).

 

So I get regular PQs of a few local areas, plus one for puzzles, one for archived/disabled, one for my owned caches, and one for my found caches. I could probably amalgamate them all into a couple of big PQs, but it keeps the files a bit smaller. Here's my routine for paperless stuff:

 

1) I download the PQ .gpx files into GSAK, and it adds/updates the information already in the database.

2) When I'm ready to go caching, I wipe the waypoints from the GPSr (this avoids keeping disabled/archived caches in there). Then in GSAK I used my saved searches to output cache waypoints into the GPSr. GSAK can change the codes so that you know what the waypoints are; I drop the first 2 digits of the gc.com code and replace it with the cache type (T=traditional, M=multi, etc) and the cache size (R=regular, M=micro, etc). The remaining 4 digits stay the same so you can reference to the cache page correctly.

3) From GSAK I output CacheMate .pdb files, based on the saved searches. In my main CM database I have it split into a few categories (traditional, multi, mystery etc), so each of the saved searches gets put into these categories once I start up Cachemate on the palm (I don't have to individually assign each cache to a category).

4) Hotsync the Palm, to load all the new CacheMate files onto it

5) Open CacheMate, file the recently uploaded caches into the relevant categories

6) Go caching!

 

If I haven't really planned where I'm going to go, I just look at the GPSr, and from a quick glance at the codes on screen I can tell what kind of cache it is. Then I check the details of the caches on the Palm - if I'm in a hurry, I'll ignore caches which have had a few recent DNFs, or multis, or which say in the description that there's a long walk.

 

Once you find a cache, you log it in the Palm cachemate page. There's space for notes, trades and whatever else you need to remember. I quite often take a pic or two with my Palm too (it has a built in camera). When you click the "Found" box on the cache page, it gets filed into the Found category. When I've finished caching and am home ready to log them, I go to the Found category, and Move Records into another database in CacheMate, which I called "Found, unlogged". Then I hotsync the palm, and on the PC I go to the Express Logger page. I browse for the .cmat file of the "Found, unlogged" database, and that puts all the caches I found on the Express logger page, with the notes I took ready to be copied/pasted into the gc.com log page, if necessary.

 

Sounds a lot more complicated than it is, I assure you! Best $28 I've spent on caching since becoming a Groundspeak member and getting pocket queries.

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Edit: So obviously the Express Logger now can handle the custom names from GSAK! A few months ago it couldn't. So I will have to check that out!

I'm not sure that it can, but I haven't tried lately. I keep the waypoint names as %code when exporting CacheMate files, but change them (%ter1 %con1 %drop2) for the GPSr. After all, the rest of the info is on the CM files anyway, and you can still match it to the GPSr code by the last 4 digits.

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Edit: So obviously the Express Logger now can handle the custom names from GSAK! A few months ago it couldn't. So I will have to check that out!

I'm not sure that it can, but I haven't tried lately. I keep the waypoint names as %code when exporting CacheMate files, but change them (%ter1 %con1 %drop2) for the GPSr. After all, the rest of the info is on the CM files anyway, and you can still match it to the GPSr code by the last 4 digits.

Thanks. It would be nice if it could but it isn't hard to convert the gpx file to a pdb and dump it into Cachemate!

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Just got back from the Greater Palm Springs Geocache Event.  What a blast!  San Diego was well represented, with Proud Mom and Lucky Kid getting recognized for their clever cache placements to contribute to the 140 new caches placed just for the event, and your truly, Rocket Man and TrailGators won prizes for the most cache finds (100).  We set out to do 100 caches in one day and we ended up with 101, including a micro at the event we logged after winning the prize.  Kawikaturn helped log a bunch of our finds before he had to tend to the family.  We were also joined by San Diego cachers Splashman and Splashette, $kimmer & Vulture, and RUSCAL and Eagle Eye Rye. 

 

Daryl and Jamie are absolute superstars of caching.  They rallied the whole desert caching community to not only place 140 new caches, but to contribute boat loads of swag for prizes, etc.  Every person who attended won some prize.  They certainly set the bar high for geocaching events.  Thanks to them, and all the rest of the desert cachers, for an absolutely awesome event!  :(  B)  :rolleyes:  :lol::D

Rats! Tom beat me to it, wanted to be the first to congratulate the mighty threesome on Flagman, Rocketman, and Trailgators for setting the standard of 100 finds at a single day caching event! Great job guys!

We all had a blast at the big event in Palm Springs. You wouldn't believe how many caches are out there! Every corner holds a prize, and most of them are very clever to boot! If you are in the area, a must do is Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, along with Pam's parents, Stoneyagers, very original and FUN series, starting with the Ladybug Cache.

It was great fun getting together with cachers from all over the West; Nevada and Arizona were represented, along with all of California. Who knew Dr. Webe was a woman? Huh!

San Diego was well represented by Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, the might threesome, aforementioned, Ruscal & Eagle Eye Rye, the Splashes, and even The Vulture had a blast.

The Palm Springs cachers sure know how to throw a party!

Thanks! It was a really fun weekend and I really enjoyed seeing all you guys up there! By the way, on the way back we took 74 most of the way back so we could hit some other caches. We went by Lake Hemet and then by Hurkey Creek Park. That is a REALLY beautiful area!! :lol:

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Just got back from the Greater Palm Springs Geocache Event.  What a blast!  San Diego was well represented, with Proud Mom and Lucky Kid getting recognized for their clever cache placements to contribute to the 140 new caches placed just for the event, and your truly, Rocket Man and TrailGators won prizes for the most cache finds (100).  We set out to do 100 caches in one day and we ended up with 101, including a micro at the event we logged after winning the prize.  Kawikaturn helped log a bunch of our finds before he had to tend to the family.  We were also joined by San Diego cachers Splashman and Splashette, $kimmer & Vulture, and RUSCAL and Eagle Eye Rye. 

 

Daryl and Jamie are absolute superstars of caching.  They rallied the whole desert caching community to not only place 140 new caches, but to contribute boat loads of swag for prizes, etc.  Every person who attended won some prize.  They certainly set the bar high for geocaching events.  Thanks to them, and all the rest of the desert cachers, for an absolutely awesome event!  :(  B)  :rolleyes:  :lol::D

Rats! Tom beat me to it, wanted to be the first to congratulate the mighty threesome on Flagman, Rocketman, and Trailgators for setting the standard of 100 finds at a single day caching event! Great job guys!

We all had a blast at the big event in Palm Springs. You wouldn't believe how many caches are out there! Every corner holds a prize, and most of them are very clever to boot! If you are in the area, a must do is Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, along with Pam's parents, Stoneyagers, very original and FUN series, starting with the Ladybug Cache.

It was great fun getting together with cachers from all over the West; Nevada and Arizona were represented, along with all of California. Who knew Dr. Webe was a woman? Huh!

San Diego was well represented by Lucky Kid and Proud Parents, the might threesome, aforementioned, Ruscal & Eagle Eye Rye, the Splashes, and even The Vulture had a blast.

The Palm Springs cachers sure know how to throw a party!

Thanks! It was a really fun weekend and I really enjoyed seeing all you guys up there! By the way, on the way back we took 74 most of the way back so we could hit some other caches. We went by Lake Hemet and then by Hurkey Creek Park. That is a REALLY beautiful area!! :lol:

I also had a great time this weekend. It was all good, and I had fun hanging out with the other San Diego cachers. Daryl and Jamey and all the other Palm Springs area cachers sure know how to hold an event.

 

In case anyone is interested, Trailgators and I did some calculations of our distances and timing during our 100 cache day. We did 2/3rds of the caches on hiking trails and 1/3 from the car. We hiked 8.6 miles on the two main cache trails that we hiked (We hiked over 10 miles if you count the hiking from the cars to the caches). On the Boo Hoff "SUV" trail, we did 17 caches in 1 hour for a rate of one cache every 3.5 minutes. Eight of those were in total darkness and the rest were at dusk.

 

RM

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I've come into possession of Yrium's Breeder cache. It was of course the mama of my Viridian Queen cache. It used to be up in the Clevenger Canyon area off the 78. I think one breeder cache is all I can handle. It would be great if someone would adopt it and place it in a new area, perhaps somewhere with a bit more traffic. It's pretty big. A 50 caliber ammo box I think. I'd prefer if it was someone who remembers Yrium, and who will be willing to devote time to fetching the cache larva and replacing it in the cache. As you might recall, the Breeder cache didn't have the same scheme as the Viridian cache. It had only one larva, and you could place the larva anywhere as long as Yrium could reach it.

 

Parsa

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