How many people stop You and ask what Geocaching Is

March 8, 2002

How many of you have had people stop and ask what your reading on the gps and why. Seems more people like the idea and join geocaching.

I'd like to find out what question people actually ask you?

March 8, 2002

I have only been out a couple of weekends so far and and most of these outings were on cold or snowy days. On these occations I didn't run into anyone in the parks. But one day was like a spring day and three people asked about what I was doing just on one cache search. Good weather should be interesting. Maybe I should have some information sheets about geocaching with me?

March 8, 2002

People in general are a little shy about approaching me because of my size, height etc, but when they do, I love to tell them all about it, and even take them with me.

Interestingly, older people are more apt to approach me than younger ones. I get more 50+ people willing to ask me a question than thirtysomethings.

Geo

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http://www.geopolitan.net/geotrex

March 8, 2002

We haven't had anybody ask us, but we do talk to alot of people about geocaching. I bought two ammo cans off ebay ($8.50 for the pair) and found out the seller was only a few miles away.

So when I drove up to pick up the cans, the lady asked what I would use them for. I explained it to her and her response was just like everyone else , "this sounds cool, I need to get into this". I'm sure that once warm weather hits wisconsin we'll have people asking us what we're doing out on the trails. I think I may throw a few info sheets in my daypack.

March 8, 2002

We really haven't had anybody ask us, but we have had a couple of lost GeoCachers try and tell us about it. (that was after my daughter slipped up and said `They look like they are doing a drunken bee dance!` a little too loud.)

March 8, 2002

To date, only one person has asked me what I was doing while geocaching and my response was to lie... but there's a story behind that, read on.

Some time ago my wife and I popped in on a neighbor friend of ours. Her mother told us she wasn't home but was baby-sitting across the street. We went across the street, knocked on the door, and were greeted and invited in by our friend. After sitting down at the kitchen table to visit for awhile, the two young brothers our friend was baby-sitting eyed my wife and I wearily.

"Just what are you doing here?" the older brother inquired of us with a deadpan serious stare. Then, turning to his younger sibling he said with equal seriousness, "I don't know Jimmy, there's strangers in our house, what do you suppose we should do about it?"

The younger Jimmy pondered his brother's question for only a moment and then, in a cadenced monotone voice, while slowly rising from his seat, he said... "I think we should kill them, I'll go get a knife."

Needless to say, my wife and I left immediately and have never returned to that particular residence. It was the creepiest thing I've ever heard a five year old say.

Getting back to your question... not too long after this event, as I sat upon a log perusing the contents of a cache I had just discovered, a mother, father, and son trio passed by on the nearby trail. When, in the same sort of creepy monotone voice, and eyeing me suspisously, the young lad asked... "Just what are you doing over there?", I lied. "Taking pictures" I said, and I held up my camera.

I also had one other rather strange encounter at another cache. This time there was no place to sit and I was standing next to the cache location which was right along side the trail. A woman hiking the trail stopped and engaged me in a conversation. I made no attempt to conceal my actions and just stood there, cache container in hand, and proceded to peruse the cache, make my trade, write in the logbook, close the container back up, etc.... I waited til she was gone to replace the container in it's hiding spot, but not once during the entire time we stood there talking out in the middle of the woods did she ask me what the heck I was doing.

I once met up with a fellow in the woods of a local State park who was lost and trying to locate a group of co-worker's at one of the group picnic shelters which I knew were located at the opposite end of the park. I was geocaching and had parked near the picnic shelters so I pulled out my GPS, did a quick 'go-to' back to where I had parked, consulted my compass, pointed off in the distance and said he needed to go 1.2 miles in THAT direction.

Well, he had one of those woefully inadequate park maps in hand and was convinced he needed to go in the opposite direction, the direction I was headed in. He tagged along with me even though I assured him he was just getting farther and farther away from his intended destination. After a while we came upon an obvious landmark that was identified on his map and he decided that perhaps I really did know where I was going.

Now totaly confused and disoriented, this gentleman asked if I would be kind enough to escort him to the picnic shelters, he even offered to pay me! I told him that I would be happy to guide him to his destination, but that I would not accept payment for it and that first I had to "find something."

So, in the end he got his introduction to geocaching though it was not the result of a single question but rather a series of events that led to the discussion.

Whew! That sure turned out to be a long post.

Regards,

Tedoca

March 8, 2002