Bad Tour Guide

I wrote back awhile ago that I wanted to play tour guide to some travel bugs. I wanted to do something special with the travelbugs with photos. I figured that would give the owner a bit of a thrill. But I guess I'm a bad tour guide.

I got an email last week from a travel bug owner asking me to move him along. He said the TB is only 2 months old and I was only the second person to enjoy it. Sure enough, I had the bug for 5 weeks. Man I suck. I felt really bad about it. I was going to move it along to LA, but my caching adventures didn't pan out. I told him that I'd move it along this last weekend and I did. I found a Travel Bug Hotel at the Chamber of Commerce. I dropped it off in hopes that it will move from this city to another. I also told him that I'd post a picture of my dog, as that was the goal of this TB. I couldn't get a nice pose of my dog and the TB, so I'll just have to dig into my photos to find a good pic of my dog.

The second one was this ginormous stuffed heart. This is the one I mentioned in a previous blog entry. I was hoping I'd be able to move him along. But because of his size, it was hard to find a cache that would hold him. It turned out I had him for 2 months! I didn't realize I had him for so long. I was able to get the picture of him on my Birthday Caching Adventure and Photoshop'd him the following week. I made him look like he was about to destroy Billings. I also stuffed him into the TB Hotel. He took up a good bulk of the space. I hope nobody gets mad at me for such a huge TB.

I guess next time I pick up a TB, I'll make sure I can move him in a timely manner. If not, he's staying behind.

Missed Log

Today I went out to the local park near the Yellowstone River. Its a great wildlife refuge with nice hiking trails. I knew there were a couple of caches that I have yet to hit in this area, so I thought I'd grab it.

The first was a quick park 'n grab. It took a bit of time to track it down, but when I found it, I felt a little stupid. It was a film canister and it was full of water. The log was soaked. But on the plus side, the log had a lovely blue tie-dyed look! Anyway, I spread the log out on my car. Since it was in the upper 80's, I figured I could probably dry it out while I searched for another cache.

I found one in the GPS and it looked familiar. But why would GSAK list it as unfound if I didn't find it? So I stared to go after it. I took the hard route and bushwhacked to the cache, only to find out that I have already discovered it awhile back. My name was in the log book. Well, I thought it was a GSAK bug. But when I got to work to double check if I logged it, I realized I didn't. Lucky for me, I had this blog to back me up. I looked for my log entry in the blog so now I know the date I discovered the cache. Log one more for my numbers. It only took me two trips to log it!

When I got back to the car, the log from the park 'n grab was dry. I signed the log and put it back where I found it. I guess that's my good deed for the day!

Chores vs. Playing

Now that I'm back, I had a ton of chores to catch up on. Today, I was going to be responsible and get some parts for a broken toilet during my lunch hour. But at the last minute, I decided I'd rather get a couple caches instead. I had to unload my POI's and Caches on my GPSr and my Palm before heading out. I was able to do that pretty quick and I grabbed a couple. They were pretty easy finds. The first one was in a park. The second was near my home that I've been meaning to grab. But its near a baseball field and usually full of muggles. But today it was quiet. It was a really cool container. It was a nano container with a built in magnet on the bottom and a screw top lid. It was about the size of two Cheerios stacked. The log was horizontal, which is a really great way for this kind of cache. Pretty cool.

I attempted two other caches. One I just drove by so I'd know the location. I'll go back for that one later. The other one was near my work. My lunch hour was winding down, so I didn't have much time to look. But I gave it about 5-10 minutes, but with no luck. Perhaps tomorrow, I'll take a nice long walk on my lunch hour and track that one down.

Scheduled Caching

Well, we got back from our little vacation yesterday. I racked up 3000 miles on the car. As I stated before, it was a family trip and geocaching would be limited. I ended putting 2708 caches into the GPSr and my Palm. I was hoping that if I was in an area, I'd be able to see if there was a cache nearby. So you'd think with that much info at my fingertips, I'd find a lot, right? Nope. I found only 2.

I was expecting to find most of my caches at rest stops. I was a little surprised that the majority of the rest stops didn't have any caches! I thought those would be prime cache locations. I guess not.

Instead, I ended up getting a couple of LPC's in LA area. One was in a grocery store parking lot, and another was in a mall parking lot. Say what you like about LPC's, but when you are in a pinch, hurting for numbers, or just need a quick fix, LPC's are where they're at. If it wasn't for LPC's, I would have found nothing on this trip.

So my vacation was lacking in the geocaching department. I'm a little disappointed despite the fact we had a great time on the trip. I just wish I could have gone out and grabbed a few more. I guess next time, I'll have to schedule some caching time for myself. Otherwise I won't get any done. Oh well. Lesson learned.

How to Hold More Than 500 Caches in your GPS

My Garmin Venture Cx will only hold 500 waypoints. But this trip I'm taking, I had 2700 waypoints to load! What to do! Well, Garmin has a program called POI Loader. Basically it makes custom waypoints. These custom waypoints are saved on the MicroSD card, so you can have as many as the card will hold. It took a little looking, but I figured out how to do it. Here's what I found:


In GSAK

1. Go to View - Add/Delete Columns
2. Uncheck everything except Longitude and Latitude.
3. Select TWO other data columns that you would like included on the GPS (I chose Waypoint Name and Container)
   
4. Click OK
5. Make sure "LOCK FIRST COLUMN" is unchecked (upper right above the first column)
6. Rearrange the columns in the following order; LONGITUDE, LATTITUDE, Data 1 (I chose Waypoint Name), Data 2 (I chose Container).
7. Save the View by going to View - Save Current View and choose a name
8. Go to File - Export - CSV or Text
9. For filename, browse to a place on your C: drive that you'd like to save your file to. When you name your file, be sure to add the extension (.csv)
10. Make sure that USE DEFAULTS is checked.
11. Click Generate

In POI Loader

1. Make sure your GPS is on and hooked up to the computer.
2. Launch POI Loader
   
3. Scroll through the Find Device
4. On the next screen, you can Load New POIs on your Device or Remove Previous POIs. Delete any custom POI's if needed.
5. Choose Load New POIs and click Next
6. Browse to the directory GSAK created your .csv file to.
7. Make sure Express Mode is selected.
8. Click Next and your Custom POI's will be loaded!

That's It! One more mystery solved!

Ready for a Road Trip

It's been a busy last few weeks. We are preparing to go on vacation to CA. So we've been getting all of our ducks in a row, including getting our garden and yard in shape before taking off for 2 weeks. What does that mean for me? Yup....no geocaching! :(

Well, we're taking off tomorrow for our long road trip. Last week, I got our itinerary and started mapping our our route in Google Earth. I want to do a pocket query along a route. It looks as if the pocket query can only do 500 caches, but I wanted more. I wanted as many as I can have in my GPS so that if we stop somewhere along the way, I can look to see if they're any caches nearby. So I ended up breaking my trip from Billings, MT to LA, CA into 8 segments to look for caches .5 miles along my route. I ended up with 2400 caches! Hopefully I'll find a few in the reststops along the way. I also did some pocke queries on the locations I'll be staying. So perhaps I can grab a few on an evening stroll.

I'm looking forward to it. This isn't a caching trip. It's a family vacation with our schedule jammed packed. So all my caching will be done if I happen to be at the right time at the right place. Hopefully I'll bag a few. Wish me luck!

Birthday Caching

Yesterday was my birthday! So, naturally that means I get to take the day off work and do some geocaching! I went out at 9am and cached for about 3 hours. There was a travel bug that I wanted to get my hands on located on the Rims. Plus there are a bunch of caches up there too. So I thought that would be a great place to target. What a great area. I haven't been up here in 7-8 years. They have really nice paved paths. I think I'm going to bring my family up here in the near future.

Anyway, the first 25 minutes were a bust. The first few caches were beyond the Rims and in the valley. Since I have no interest in plummeting to the bottom, I had to write those off. But it wasn't long until I found the caches I could get to. I think I ended up logging 6 new caches. I probably attempted 10 or so. There were some that were in a dangerous area, a puzzle cache, or I had no interest in getting to (micro in the woods don't appeal to me).

I had a really great time. It was only 3 hours. But for a lunch time cacher, that is a very successful day. I brought my camera with me and took some pictures of some wildflowers.

Since the Rims are all sandstone, the trees sometimes have a tough time finding their rooting. I saw this crazy tree practically growing sideways.

I was also able to get a couple of pictures to use for my ginormous travel bug I'm playing host to. I'm going to doctor the pix up a bit in photoshop to make it a bit more fun before moving on.

What It's All About

Today was pretty overcast with nasty looking clouds. It has been raining off and on today. But I haven't been caching in like 10 days, so I thought I might as well get out and try one. I was going to do a quick Park 'n Grab, but there were too many muggles around. But there was a cache not far from here along this trail.

What a neat area. I never knew this spot was here. It looks like a nature preserve much like Riverfront Park. It has some nice maintained trails that snake around this island in the middle of the Yellowstone river. Such a cool spot. I think I'm going to have to come back and hike around a bit more. I'll bring my wife and son so we can enjoy this area a bit more.

I would hear interviews of cachers and they say they enjoy geocaching because it shows them places they never knew was there. This is one of those moments. Did I find the cache? Yup. It was a nice cache. An ammo can with lots of goodies. It was definitely a fun find. But the real treat was discovering this area. A place I would have never known was here, and I found it through geocaching. I guess that's what it's really about. I hope I find more like this.

Big Plans

Last week, I've been covering for a guy I work with. So that means that I had to work through lunch each day, which means no geocaching :( I was hoping this weekend I might pick up one or two that popped up near my house. But our chores got in the way of that. So again, no geocaching.

This week, I should have some time to go out during my lunch time. So that will be cool. Perhaps get a few under my belt. I'd also like to get the travel bug picture taken this week so I can drop him off and pick up a new one.

On the plus side, next week is my birthday! It falls on a Tuesday this year. I'm going to take the day off of work and go geocaching. I'm going to the Rims to get a few up there and maybe into the Heights where they are a little out of my reach on my lunch hour caching. I'm hoping to get a travel bug that I have my eye on that's located up there as well. Then I'm going to go home, smoke a cigar, drink a beer and BBQ. I'm really looking forward to it. Birthdays rock.

Godzilla's Heart

Last Thursday, I decided I'd drop off my GeoCoin I've had for the last couple of weeks. There was a travelbug hotel near by, so I thought I'd exchange this coin for one of those so I could play with it a bit. The hotel was off the road near a bridge. I parked in a city park near by and decided to walk to it from there. It was a nice walk. I discovered a really nice path that I didn't know was there along the Yellowstone River. I think I'm going to take my wife and son there next weekend for a picnic and hike.

At any rate, the ammo can was pretty easy to find. I was expecting a bunch of bugs in there, but only really saw 2. There was a laminated photo of a bridge. It was kinda a lame travelbug. The goal sounded cool as it would like to visit and get pictures of other bridges. But a laminated picture? I bet there's a better bug that could have been used other than a picture. It almost looked like it was cut out of a magazine. Needless to say, it didn't strike my fancy and decided to leave that one behind.

The other travel bug was this giant stuffed cartoon heart. The thing is massive. Probably the size of a small cantaloupe. It was the only interesting travelbug in there, so I grabbed it in exchange for the coin. In hindsight, I shoulda left it behind. Something that big would be a bugger to find a cache to place it in. But since I have it, I'll play with it a bit.

I'm trying to think of a good place to take a picture that represents Billings. Problem with Billings is that it doesn't have any real landmark of note. The pictograph caves is just a hole in the cliff. Little Bighorn Battlefield is just prairie. Plus they're really not apart of Billings. I think because this travelbug is so big, perhaps I'll do some photoshop work and make it look like it's huge like Godzilla destroying Billings! That would be fun, I think. I guess we'll see.

On my way back, there was another cache near where I parked my car. I only had 10 minutes to find it. I decided I'd go after it. It was pretty easy too. This one was a Tupperware container that had a few items in it. The container had a hole in it. It cracked or broke somehow. The contents were completely dry. I guess that's the drawback to some cheap Tupperware containers. It's easy to break. But then again, it's easy to replace. The container had a few items in it. Mostly junk. I took a signature card and I decided I'd throw a few toys in there. A few bouncy balls and a few key clips. Just to boost up the swag a little for the next finder. I'm going to have to find some better swag myself. I'm going to try to avoid the cheap garbage and use something I'd enjoy finding. Probably geared more toward kids. Perhaps I'll put in a toy and a signature item. That way the adults would be interested in signature items, kids would be interested in the toys.

It was a fun lunch hour cache.

Permission or Not...

This last weekend, my wife and son and I went to Bozeman to visit some friends that were in town. So I brought the geocoin that wants to visit universities with me. My intention was to take a picture of the coin with the University sign before dropping the coin off in a local cache. Well, I was able to get the picture just fine, but I wasn't able to drop off the coin. My son was very cranky. I tried to find a quick one, but he didn't cooperate. I had to get on the road. That sux. I really wanted to move this coin along. But at least I got 3 pictures to upload to the coin log. One for MSU-Bozeman, one for MSU-Billings, and one for Rocky Mountain College. I think I'll drop off the coin at a travelbug hotel that's nearby. I'm hoping that it will move along. If not, I'm heading to California this summer. Maybe I'll pick it up if he's stuck in B-town.

I came across a muggled cache last week. I emailed the owner stating that film can was thrown to the side, but no log in sight. I took the film can with me, as I didn't know where it was originally hidden and there was no log. He got back to me on Saturday and asked that I put the can back and he'll put in a new log. Unfortunately, I didn't see where he was referring to. I gave him the info where I found it. So hopefully that cache will be active soon.

Since I was out and about, I decided I'd go after a cache. This one was near an entrance of a business. So there's all kinds of muggles. I spot checked around, trying to act casual, but with no luck. If I stuck around too much longer, I'm sure somebody would get suspicious. I don't think I'm going to go back for this one. I guess this is why many people don't like urban caches. I don't like the ones on business property...permission or not. I like the ones in parks or any other area that's easy to get to without dodging the muggle-gaze.

Oh well. I think I need to find a few caches to log. I haven't been doing so hot lately. Uggg.

Fort DFN!

I decided to go after a multi-stage cache in Riverfront Park. A little ambitious for a lunch hour cache, but I figured if I couldn't complete it in one day, that would be OK. The first coordinates took me to a really cool place. It was like a fort made of fallen trees and branches. It reminds me of a crude sweat lodge or something. If I found this as a kid, man, I'd always hang out there. There was a bit of trash there. Empty juice bottles and cigarette pack. I'll have to go back with a trash bag and see if I can't clean a bit of that up. At any rate, did I find the first coordinates? Nope. I looked all over that thing for at least 30 minutes. It is suppose to be a match container. Uggg. Now I know why people hate micros in the woods. My GPS was bouncing all over the place. The section it told me it was couldn't be the coordinates as there is nothing there. I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fort. I tried pretty hard to find it. But I had to give up, or I'd be late for work.

On the way back to the office, I decided I'd log a DNF and ask for a hint. But after reading the logs, everybody seemed to find it except for 2. They said it was a tough hide. Well, I didn't feel quite right about swallowing my pride so early. I think I'll give it another go before asking for a hint.

Campus Tours

Today, I decided I'd get those pix for the GeoCoin I have. The coin wants to visit a bunch of Universities. So I thought I'd take a picture of the coin next to university signs. I went to Rocky Mountain College first. Not technically an university, but it does a regular 4 year degree programs. While there, they had this really great tree. It must have been there for a 100+ years. Huge trunk and really great looking branches. There are a couple of places on that tree that has a hole where a branch use to be. I might look into putting a cache in there. I love cool old trees like that. I should have taken a picture. I had my camera, after all. Oh well. Maybe next time.

Then I went to Montana State University - Billings. The only sign I saw was kinda lame. It was in front of a parking lot. I wanted something with a bit more flair. I'll have to go by and see if I can find any other signs with a decent backdrop. I want to show off the beauty of Montana. Can't do that with a parking lot! Oh well. "At least there is a cache near by," I said to myself. So I pull into the visitor parking, pay my 50 cents for parking and went to track it down. First of all, I must say they have done some BEAUTIFUL landscaping since I attended the University. What a great area. If it wasn't a campus, I'd go there for a picnic and a bottle of wine and while away the hours looking at the sky. The area I was looking for the cache was in a water fall area. They had a really nice creek with waterfall. So cool. But there was maintenance guys hanging around. Fiddling with wires and valves and whatnot. So I couldn't go hunting for the cache. I guess I'll have to go back one evening to see if I can't track it down.

Man's Best Friend

I have this new interest in travel bugs. There's a travel bug that I want to recover, but I specifically have to block out some time to get there. Not that it's hard to get to. It actually looks pretty easy. But I can't casually get to it if I 'happen to be in the neighborhood.' At any rate. It's purpose is to get pictures of your K-9 friends. My dog is really getting old and probably won't last much longer. So I think I'm going to get the travel bug and have my picture taken with my dog and the travel bug. I also bought a travel bug tag. I'm going to look for a toy dog that looks like her. When she passes, I'm going to launch the travel bug in her remembrance. I'm not sure what her goal will be. But I thought it would be a good sentiment.

Stroll in the Park

I wanted to go out and take some pictures for the GeoCoin that I retrieved last week. But I decided against it due to the fact it would take my entire lunch hour. I wanted to find a cache, instead. So I think I'll take these pix some other day.

There was a new cache at a ball park. So I decided I'd go after this one and try to pick up a puzzle cache that has been eluding me for awhile now. The first one was pretty easy. This one really made me laugh. It was this rubber dragon with a bison tube attached to it. It really blended in well with it's surroundings. I liked it so much I had to take a picture of it. What a fun cache.

The next one was the puzzle cache that has me stumped. It points to pole and I looked everywhere. I can't find where it would be hidden. The problem with puzzle caches is that you can't depend on your coordinates because you could be wrong in solving the puzzle. I don't know. This is the second time I went to look. I think I'll give it another go before asking for hints.

Since I couldn't find this one, I decided to go after a Cache n' Dash. It was a pretty easy one. Tally one more for the list. Perhaps this will balance my DNF.

Moving Right Along

I decided to go after a cache from my favorite park. It's a clever idea. The idea was to put a quarter in the cache. If the cache already has 5 quarters in it, you take 4 of the quarters and the process starts all over again. It was pretty easy to find, but I really enjoyed finding it. I like these interactive caches. Something that asks you to do something in order to log it. Any of the caches that I plan on placing will have something unique to make it special. I have a few in mind, and they'll be interactive. I just want to log a few more finds before attempting a hide.

I also decided I'd go after this cache because it had a geocoin in it. I recently got a lot of interest in geocoins and would like to start collecting. This one is a Geocaching-U geocoin and already registered. It has a goal of visiting different Universities. I think I'm going to grab my camera and take some pictures of the coin with the local Universities. Namely, MSU-Billings, MSU College of Technology, and Rocky Mountain College. Then I'll move it along to another cache. I'm going to Bozeman, and I thought I'd get a picture of MSU-Bozeman as well, before dropping it off in a Bozeman cache for the next cacher to move along. I think I'm going to keep an eye on it for awhile. I'd like to see what happens with it. Besides, it's my first geocoin I'm moving along!

Since I was in the park, there is a multi-cache there as well. I got the first leg done, but it lead me near a place where young children were playing. I decided I'd come back when it was a bit more quiet. A grown man hanging out near playground equipment is not a good idea. Perhaps I'll bring my wife and kid along for the next leg.

Even though I only found 1 cache. It was still a good geocaching day!

Will Design For Coins!

I've been fascinated by geocoins and most recently, pathtags. I've been lurking in the forums, trying to find out how to get into the collecting aspect of this hobby. I thought it would be really cool to have some geocoins minted up. But that can cost anywhere from $500 to $1200 for a a bunch of coins! Wow! When people mint these coins, they more often than not, sell the coins for $7-9 each. Mostly to defray the cost of minting these coins. So starting out collecting, let alone minting, is quite an expensive endeavor.

I was reading that some designers offer their services in exchange for coins! I'm pretty good at photoshop and design. I thought this would be a great way to build up my collection. If I got a handful of coins, I'd have some for my collection, and some extra for trading with others. Very cool! I just posted on the forums asking about how many coins would be reasonable as payment for design services. I'm hoping to hear back. I've got plenty of time (usually) during my work day to do some design work. I hope someone will take me up on this offer. I'd like to start collecting. I think it would be great fun to design these coins. Plus, I'd have the designs finished in front of me.

New Format For This Blog

One of the problems with this blog is the fact there could be spoilers or I discuss a cache that I didn't like or agree with. I use this blog like an additional journal of my geocaching adventures. Talking about stuff I wouldn't put on my caching logs because it could offend, or spoil the fun for others.

Well, I was torn on how I should handle these issues on this blog. I asked around on the Groundspeak forums and people thought I handle it pretty well. The way I had it organized, each entry, I had a section where I list the caches I go after and then a small entry describing my adventure on that particular cache. I would be vague as possible as to not spoil the fun for others. When I do have 'too much information,' I would write a spoiler warning in bold red.

I decided, after reading a few other blogs, not to do this anymore. I'm no longer going to be putting the cache name and reference at the beginning of my blog. This way, I can be as descriptive as I want to be, without giving anything away because people don't know which cache I'm talking about. Besides, the cache reference is listed on my Groundspeak profile, and putting it here too is just redundant. I suppose if people really wanted to know which cache I'm referring to, they can cross reference this blog to my Groundspeak logs.

I'd like to point out, however, that I may still refer to a specific cache. I'll try my best to warn you of any spoilers, but there are no guarantees. Read at your own risk. ;)

And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Got An Ammo Can!

Today was suppose to storm all day. But it turned out pretty nice, despite the mean looking clouds overhead. So I thought I'd go geocaching! I haven't been out for the last 2 days because of my hectic work schedule. But today, I decided at the last minute to head on out.

Well, I still want to find an ammo can! There is another cache in Riverfront park that uses an ammo can and I decided I'd go after that one! The clouds were overhead, nice cool breeze. It was perfect. I followed my GPS. The cache description said it's not far from the path. Unfortunately, there's a ton of paths in the park. A few official paths that are pathed, and a few trails that venture off. Not knowing which path, nor familiar with the paths available, I jumped off the main trail relatively quick. Not a whole lot of bushwhacking, but some. I got a little bit of a startle from 2 deer trying to escape my notice. That was pretty neat. 2 whitetail does, I think. I also saw this tree that was missing the bottom half! Man, I wish I had my camera. It looks as if a huge branch might have broken off and got caught up in the branches and hung there. So it gave the illusion that it was floating. Probably dangerous at some point. But it looked cool. At any rate, it wasn't long before I found my convented ammo can!

I must say, I was surprised on the size. For some reason, I imagined something a bit bigger. Perhaps they come in different sizes. But it was still a lot of fun to find. There was really no camouflage on the container. Just a green box tucked next to a tree with some sticks and leaves on it.

I cracked her open and saw the swag. Most of it was pretty cheap junk, but it was still neat. Someone put in some Magic The Gathering cards The land type (mountains, plains, swamp, etc) They had a sticker on it stating which number this cache they found was and in which state. Cool idea. I also saw a nice key chain, some tops, a few plastic bugs and whatnot. I took a Deep Woods Off towelette. I thought that was a good idea. I might have to pick up a few for swag too. I left a key clip and a personalized button/pin with my name and logo on it. I guess you'd call it a signature item. I should keep some more toys with me. I think this would be something kids would enjoy. Maybe I'll go back and add some toys if I'm in that area again.

I signed the log and left my deer story behind. I had a few minutes to find my next cache before I had to head back to work. This one was a micro. I think it's silly to have a micro in a wilderness area like this, but this was a lot of fun. It was a really easy find. I moved a stick that obviously didn't belong there. Attached to the underside was a rubber spider on a string. So when you lift the stick, this giant spider "scurries" along, giving you a higher pulse rate. On the underside of the spider was a small container. I think I'd call it a nano because the container was very small. Not much space to sign my name as the log has been mostly filled. I really enjoyed this cache. Very creative hide. Probably one of my favorites.

I'm NOT Stupid!

Well, it looks like I'm not as stupid as I thought. The ammo can that has been giving me trouble has been muggled! I looked up the cache info page and sure enough, it has been listed as unavailable. I'm pretty new at this and being that I have never found an ammo can, I just assumed it was me being inept. I feel a bit better, now. I was debating if I should log a DNF on this cache or not. In the end, I chose not to thinking that it was just me. I suppose I should have. Perhaps it would bring this problem to light a few days earlier. Oh well. Get a few more finds under my belt, and I think I'd be comfortable logging DNF. One thing that sucks it that it had a travel bug in it. I feel bad for the little guy. Never gunna see his goal. Maybe the muggle will be kind enough to contact the owner. I guess we can hope.

On the plus side, it looks as if the cacher who placed the cache will move it to a more suitable area. I hope it's an ammo can again. I'd like to give it another go.

Rain Rain, Go Away

Robins Roost
GCV0P8
Quick Find

ditchtunnell cache - www.bgcg.info
GCJMD3
Found

It's been pouring down rain today. But there was a little break in the weather. Just in time for lunch, too! I wanted to go back to Riverfront Park and look for those ammo cans again, but I could just imagine the mess there is now. Being knee deep in mud isn't my idea of a good time! So I decided I'd do a couple Cache 'n Grabs.

Spoiler Warnings!
The first one I found without any trouble at all. In fact, it really could be only one place. The container was spray painted brown, but no other camouflage. It was fairly large container for a micro too, which was surprising. I figured since it was a muggle heavy place, either a smaller container or better camouflage would be appropriate. But what do I know. I guess we'll have to see how long it takes to be muggled.

The second was next to a walking/bike path. Literally next to the path! Not hidden. Just a container by the path. I thought this one was silly. Anybody would probably mistake it for trash. Previous logs had noted that it was in plain sight and they buried it under some leaves which is where I found it. At least they tried to make it a little better. Several others noted how poorly it was hidden. From what I could gather, the original coordinates lead you somewhere else. Perhaps it was a better hiding spot. But for some reason, they had to move it. Anyway, I signed the soggy log. The last few logs stated the log was wet and has been since February! I guess the hider doesn't care. Oh well. Tally one more for my stats.

Looking for the Ammo Can!

Blue Lagoon Cache
GCY7PY
DNF

It's been raining for the last few days, so no geocaching for me. Today was the first day the rain let up and I thought I'd get out and try to find a cache. As I kinda planned my attack, I looked at several geocaches. All of them were micros. I'm kinda tired of micros. I want to see a traditional cache. I jumped on GSAK and searched for regular sized caches and found a bunch at Riverfront park. One of those caches had a travel bug in it too. So I thought I'd go after that one. Plus its a traditional ammo can! This is perfect. I've never seen a travel bug, so that will be cool. I've only found 1 traditional cache, but never a ammo can! I couldn't wait.

I took off on my lunch hour and tried to hunt it down. I'd have to make it pretty quick, since I only have an hour for lunch. It took me about 15 minutes to drive there. I parked and hit the trail at a pretty decent clip. I found the area that I think it should be in. I started looking around. Nothing. I ended up looking for about 30 minutes with no luck. I didn't think an ammo can would be this hard. I looked at the clue and I'm pretty sure I'm in the right area. Again, no luck. I took a stick and poked around in various areas thinking it might be hidden under sticks or leaves. Again, no luck. Are ammo cans really this hard to find? I guess I expected the ammo can to be next to a tree for the opening. But I suppose since this is a fairly popular park, it couldn't be that easy.

I had to give up in the end. This sux because it's been at least a week since I cached last. A little disappointing to come up with a DNF. Now that I look at the cache page, it says to hide it well for the next geocacher. So I guess I'll really have to prod a bit more. I guess I was expecting something a little more straight forward. But this is my first attempt at this kind of cache. I was trying to decide whether to log a DNF on the cache. But I think I'll hold off. I'm such a noob and it's probably much easier than I'm making it out to be. Uggg. I'll try it again. There's several more ammo cans nearby. I'll try those, then come back to this one. Perhaps a little more wise, this time.

Bug Hunting

Double Header
GCYJT1
Saw my first GeoCoin!

The EYES have it???
GCR0BE
Found it at the last minute.

I decided I wanted to try to find a travelbug or geocoin today. I jumped on GSAK and found one pretty close. There was was a nice cluster of caches nearby too, so I thought I'd go for this one.

The first one was called Double Header. It took me to a ballpark complex that had several baseball fields. It was a really neat place that I never knew existed. I think I'll come back this summer to catch a baseball game or two. Anyway, I finally tracked down the cache. Very clever hide. This is the cache that had a mini geocoin (TBYTWM) from Texas. It was so cool. This is the first one I've ever seen and I now know why people collect them. It was beautifully minted. I'm heading to California this summer. If the geocoin is still around, I'll move it along. If not, some other travel bug will hit the road with me! Very cool. I signed the log and left a little bouncy ball that looks like baseball which seemed appropriate. The cache didn't have any swag for kids, so I thought I'd leave one behind.

I also went after a micro that was near by. I got scratched up pretty good traipsing around in the brush. I almost gave up, but I thought I'd give it one last try. And sure enough, I found it. I signed the log, and headed back to my car as fast as I could. I was running late for work. I hope nobody noticed. ;)

One Puzzle Down!

NBA Legends
GCVY0M
Found it after a bit of searching!

NFL Legends
GC107EW
Bailed on this one due to construction!

MLB Legends
GCXQ4Y
Gotta check my coordinates a 3rd Time!

Went back for a second try! I redone the Legends series puzzles and ALL of my numbers were off. When I first solved them, I tried to do it all in my PDA. This time around, I printed the puzzle and hand wrote everything. That seemed to work a lot better. At least for the NBA Legends.

The NBA Legends lead me to another spot. This one made much more sense than the front yard of the neighbor I found yesterday. It took a fair amount of looking before I found it. It was kinda fun. I signed the log and took off for NFL Legends that was only a couple miles away. But that came to a halt because construction was blocking some roads. I didn't want to hassle with finding a detour. My limited lunch break doesn't allow me for such luxuries. So I put that on the back burner.

The MLB Legends puzzle, I'm not too sure of. I got some more coordinates and I looked around for a bit, but I found nothing. I was running short on time and there were players practicing, so I didn't look super hard. I guess I'll have to check those numbers for a third time. Hopefully the numbers are OK and I'm just not seeing the cache. I'll give it another go tomorrow.

Raining on my Parade

MLB Legends
GCXQ4Y
Double check my puzzle coordinates. Be Back Later

NBA Legends
GCVY0M
I gotta redo these coordinates. Will return.

"I C U"
GC112JR
Cache needs maintenance.

Wow, what a lousy outing. Today I decided I'd try a few caches on my lunch hour. It was nice, but overcast with rain here and there. I decided I'd push on.

First, I went to MLB Legends. I solved the puzzle and had the coordinates that lead me to the area I think it should be. I looked all around the area, but with no luck. I couldn't spend too much time there as there was some City Park workers around and I felt I looked too suspicious. So I think I'm going to double check the puzzle and make sure my coordinates are good. Then I'll come back again when it is a little less busy with city employees.

I then took off to find NBA legends. This was also a puzzle cache. Well, the coordinates I came up with lead me into the lawn of a homeowner. I can't imagine this is correct. So I'll have to double check my puzzle coordinates again.

2 Puzzle caches attempted...2 Puzzle Caches Failed! Well, I didn't have much time left on my lunch hour. But there was one on the way back to work. Hopefully I can find it pretty quick. This one was called ICU. It was very near a ditch over a bank. It was a neat area. A place I would probably hide out at as a kid. I found the cache after a couple minutes looking. But unfortunately, the cache was waterlogged. It was nothing more than a baggie in a plastic cup with no lid. So the rain/snow just went into the cup and seeped into the baggie. I drained out the water, but I didn't have a replacement log. Perhaps I'll start carrying a few. It also needed a new container. This container was obviously not working. I emailed the cache owner to give them a heads up. So hopefully they'll fix it so I can go back and log it.

So there you have it. 3 caches. 3 busts. Hopefully I'll have a better day tomorrow.

My First Dime!

Sacajawea Cache
GCTEFA
Found! Creative Container!

Berg In The Morning
GCVJAE
Being Hunted By Another Cacher. I'll Be Back!

Grand Daddy Green Leaf
GCVJAE
Found!

One of my other hobbies is playing board games. Within that community, people tend to own quite a few games. I personally own about 130 games. So when people have a large collection, they like to keep track of how often a game gets played every year. They will put out a "Five and Dime" list at the year's end. Basically meaning which games they have played 5 times that year and which games they played 10 times that year. If a game makes it to the "Five and Dime" list, they're pretty much a favored game. Call it a yearly milestone for that game.

Well, in this game of GeoCaching, I'm pretty new. So my milestone is my 10th find. Yup. This afternoon I hit 10 finds.

First I went to find the Sacajawea Cache. I kinda knew where this one was, because I tracked down the general area a few days before. But unfortunately, a muggle planted his carcase under the spot I needed to look. But since today was cold, there was nobody to bother me!

This was a really cool container. I spotted it pretty quickly, but it is very well disguised and a lot of work obviously went into it. That was really fun to see. This was the first creative container I've seen. Well done digger&friends.

So now it's off to my 10th find! Woo Hoo! I decided to go to Berg In The Morning. I found this one a couple weeks back with my wife, but I didn't have a pen to sign the log. So I decided I'd go back for it today. Well, the car in front of me was going to the same place. The EXACT same place. In fact, they got out of their car with a GPS! This is the first time I saw a geocacher in the wild! I debated whether I'd stop by and chat with them a bit. I'm not really that good at meeting new people and decided against it. Perhaps next time. But I'll put a watch on this cache and see who logs it next. It'll probably be the people I saw. I noticed they had Washington license plates.

Spoiler Warning:
Well, so much for that one. On the way back to work, I decided I'd try to find Grand Daddy Green Leaf. I wasn't real confident I'd find it as I only had a short time to look. But surprisingly enough, I found it with relative ease. This one was in a really crazy looking tree. I always love interesting trees. This one was no exception. The cache was tucked inside a hole in the tree. A wire connected the cache, so you can fish it out. It was pretty neat. But It got me wondering if this hole will be used for nesting birds. It was pretty deep and it looked like grass is inside it. Looking at past logs, it looks as if kids knew where the cache was and messed with it quite a bit. Perhaps they stuffed grass in the hole because that's what kids do. And since kids probably play on the gnarled old tree, birds might not nest there anyway. But I think we all should keep in mind the natural habitat of animals near our caches. Make sure you're not going too disturb their homes or potential homes. Holes in trees are places where birds often nest. So, please keep that in mind when placing your caches.

Gone Paperless

The weather has been most disappointing this last week. On Friday, we got 9 inches of snow! But the next day, it was 60 degrees and it all melted. Everything was muddy and certainly isn't good for any Geocaching. Its going to rain and snow all week, so I pretty much write off Geocaching this week, too. But I'm hopefull there will be a break in the weather soI can jump in and get a couple of caches under my belt.

But the lousy weather didn't stop my from adding to the hobby. I was tired of going out caching only to find a cache nearby, but no info. I have been printing out pages before going out, but this certainly wasn't working for me as I would need a huge binder to keep organized. So I jumped on eBay and bought myself a Palm IIIxe. It ended up costing me about $29 for the Palm, Software, Cradle and Priority Mail Shipping. I got the Palm on Saturday and I quickly installed CacheMate onto the palm. It took me a little figuring out, but I finally got it and I think I'll really like how it'll work with my GeoCaching.

I use GSAK to organize the caches and load the waypoints to my GPS. GSAK also will shoot the information directly to CacheMate on my Palm. Now I have the waypoints on the GPS and all of the information for each waypoint on my Palm Pilot. I also like the fact I can write notes on each find so I can enter them later onto Geocaching.com. Pretty slick way of doing things, in my opinion. For under $40 ($30 for the Palm, $8 for CacheMate), paperless caching is certainly the way to go. I feel much better equipped and I'm not wandering aimlessly, hoping to stumble across a GeoCache.

Park Hoppin'

Rosebud Revenge
GCW5Y7
Challenging find, but I got it!

Sacajawea Cache
GCTEFA
I'll come back when no one is napping under the cache.

Went out this afternoon to find a few micros in the parks. The first one really took me quite a bit of time to find. Man, I looked everywhere. Luckily, it was pretty deserted, so I could search without feeling self conscious. I finally found it though, after about 30 minutes of searching. It was a fun hide and a nice park that I didn't know was there. I might have to take my lunch hour there sometime. Perhaps stop by Subway and pick up a sandwich, and relax under a tree.

I had 3 other caches lined up, but the previous cache took up a good chunk of my lunch hour. So I went to the next park that was close by. 'Course today was absolutely beautiful and everybody wanted to enjoy the park too. Well, as discreetly as possible, I located the general area where the cache is located. Unfortunately, someone was picnicking in the exact area I want to search. Well, so much for that. I guess I'll try again tomorrow. Pick up the other two as well.

As an aside; I was just thinking that caching with somebody probably works better. Not only because you have 2 looking, but because you look less suspicious when there is two of you. You just look like you're being social. But when you are alone, people eyeball you a little closer trying to figure out what you are up to. Crawling around or lurking, people think that you are up to no-good. Or at least that's my perception.

My wife has shown casual interest in Geocaching. Meaning that she'll go out with me on occasion. Just tagging along because there's nothing better to do. But, she certainly wouldn't suggest the idea. But that's OK with me. I like doing something on my own. Besides, I usually only geocache during my lunch hour anyway.

Stupid Construciton Workers!

Elephant Nuts!!
GCRF9B
Easy Find

The last action Hero
GCM3Q4
I'll Come Back Later

Home Away from Home
GCQ6DH
Found On Sunday

I had 2 caches that I went out for today at lunch. The first one I found pretty easy. It was a lot of fun. This was a traditional cache with some trinkets in it. This was the first one of this kind that I have found. The previous ones were either micros or small containers that didn't have room for much more than a button or two. At any rate, it was a lot of fun to find the 'treasure.' I signed the log and looked through the swag. Not much worth taking, but I wanted to leave something behind. So I took some hand sanitizer and left a metal puzzle/brain teaser.

The next one I think I know where it is. But again, there's construction going on in that area. Too many construction workers giving you the eye. So I guess I'll have to do this one on the weekend when no one's around.

Yesterday, I got the elusive Home Away From Home cache too. This one was also near a construction site and couldn't search discreetly. But on Sunday, while at the hardware store, I slipped down and found the cache pretty easy! This was a micro as well. I thought it was hidden in a different area and felt pretty stupid when it was right in front of me the entire time. I tend to make things much more difficult than I should. But as I gain more experience, I'm sure I'll find them quicker.

At Least It's A Find.

Mall Madness (GCKM2D)
Found!

I had to get some new tires for my car. While there, I knew there was a cache close by. After getting my car taken care of, I went looking for the cache. It was pretty easy. Yup, a LPC. I grabbed it and signed the log. Unfortunately, a muggle was approaching. He was there to get something out of his car that happens to be right next to the cache location. So I couldn't discretely put it back. So I went into a local store and looked around for about 10 minutes with the cache in hand. When I came out, the muggle was gone and I put it back.

My very first cache that I found was a LPC. It was very exciting to find something that was under every one's nose. Now that I've found a few other caches (5 at the time of this writing), I find the LPC a little unsatisfying. But, at least it's a find. Tally one more for my record. Other than that?... eh. Do I hate the LPC yet? Yet is the key word here. I have a feeling it won't be long before I do. But right now, I don't hate them. I just find them a bit boring. That doesn't mean that I won't log it though! ;)

The Importance of Research

On my lunch hour, I decided I'd find a cluster of caches. This way I could park, and walk to 3 or 4 nearby caches. Unfortunately, I just found a cluster and my GPS and went with it. This cluster said it was about 7 miles away. Kinda far, but I could do it on my lunch hour. I followed my GPS compass and parked near an area that looked like a trail head. I thought, "OK, this must be the trail head I must follow." The trail looked pretty steep, but since my pocket query was set at 3/3 and below, I knew it should be relatively easy for a person to get. I started hoofing it up the trail. The stupid trail was between 20 and 30 degree incline! I walked a bit, breathing harder than I have in a long time. I'm in no shape for this! Geocaching shouldn't cause your lungs to bleed! I stopped and looked around. A little deductive reasoning between gasps of air, I decided it was probably on TOP of the Rimrocks instead of below. And I'd bet money you could just park on top and a easy walk later, you'd be there. So the moral of the story? Do your research BEFORE you decide to go caching. Look at maps and areal photos. I bet there's a great place to park. I bet it's easy to get to.

So no luck on my caching today. Tomorrow, I'm gunna do some research. Stupid trail.

Lunch Hour Caching

Who's Got The Button? GCKDD9
Found

Meadowlark Millace GCMMP6
Found

Home Away from Home GCQ6DH
Be back another day.

OK. Now my GPS has a bunch of caches loaded now. It took me awhile to figure out how to get the coordinates to my GPS from GSAK, but I got it. I went off on my lunch hour and parked my car next to a park that had my first cache I wanted to visit. My GPS lead me right to the cache and found it pretty quickly. It was a micro, but after looking at pictures of caches on geocaching.com, I spotted it pretty quick. I grabbed the Micro and sat myself under a tree. Man, what a beautiful day. The park was empty and I had half a mind to stay there and relax under this tree for awhile. But no. There was one more cache I wanted to visit before heading back to work. So I signed the log, rolled it up, and put it back. Off to the next cache.

This one was another easy cache-n-dash, but I decided to walk it since it wasn't too far from this one. Besides, a day like this needs to be enjoyed. This one was in a shopping complex. The area was pretty descrete and really didn't see anybody around. This too was pretty easy to find. It was a small Altoids can. Had a few small trinkets which was fun. I thought the theme of the cache was rather clever. I didn't take anything or left anything but my signature on the log. I put it back and I decided I'd try to find one more cache before heading back to the grindstone.

This one I've seen on Google Earth and Google Maps. I thought I knew where it was, but the maps showed it was in a different landmark than I origionally thought. My GPS pointed to the correct area. Unfortunately, there is a lot of construction nearby and the workers were eyeballing me. Since this was a micro, it would need a lot of careful searching. So I left. I'll come back after hours.

More Memory!

I went out on my lunch hour to find a cache that was close to my work. I figured it would be a great walk. And since it's close to an office supply store, I thought I'd pick up a MicroSD card for my GPS. I'm tired of punching in the numbers by hand. So I stopped by the store and got a 1 gig for about $35 (plus a $15 rebate...so only $20!). After picking up the MicroSD card, I went to find the cache. Guess what! It wasn't loaded into my GPS yet! Man, I thought I had it loaded. Disappointed, I went back to work and proceeded to load 200 of the easier caches (3/3 difficulty or lower) into my GPS. Now I won't get stuck without having a cache close by.

I guess I'll try it again tomorrow.

My First Caching Adventure!

Cinco de Mayo (GCVRTK)
Difficulty: 1.5/1
DNF

Wag The Dog (GCTMV0)
Difficulty: 1.5/1
DNF

Thanks! BGCG (GCQ6HW)
Difficulty: 1/1
Found

Well, I got my GPS yesterday! I spent all evening reading through the manual and checking out the cool features. It was very exciting to see all the stuff it can do. I think I'll have to get some of the maps to put on. It'll be great for traveling!

Anyway, when I got to work this morning, I organized the caches I want to visit. I spent a good part of the morning flagging the ones I wanted to transfer to my GPS. When I hooked it up, however, the coordinates wouldn't transfer. I think its due to the fact that I don't have a microSD card installed. So instead, I entered about 17 caches into my GPS by hand and printed out the info pages. What a pain! I guess I'll have to get one tomorrow!

The GPS seems to work great. I get a strong signal and lead me right to the cache! No hassle at all.

So how did my first afternoon caching go? Well, I went caching on my lunch break. So after I ate, I only had about 30 minutes. I attempted 3. I tried to find Cinco de Mayo first. It lead me to the right area, but I felt self conscious hunting around. I just paced back and forth a bit, hoping I would see something that would catch my eye. I think it's probably under a bush or something, but like I said, I felt self conscious about really looking. I felt I looked suspicious.

I gave up and went to Wag The Dog. Well, the description says its on private property. I didn't feel right poking around a business during these times. I think I'll try that one when it's after hours or on the weekend. So I kinda know where it is, but didn't really hunt for it.

The last one was Thanks! BGCG. I only had 15 minutes left on my lunch hour. But I thought I'd give this one a go, anyway. I knew where it was. It was in a remote area, so I shouldn't feel self conscious about trying to find it. Before, I was using Google Earth to find the general area. I attempted to find this cache numerous times, but with no luck. Well, my GPS lead me to the exact spot I thought it would be. So I gave it another look and found it right away! I felt so stupid because it was right in front of me the entire time. It was a micro in a clever container. Well, I thought it was clever, but I only have one other cache to compare it to. So what do I know. I signed the log and put it back, and logged it on GeoCaching.com. At least I found one cache before I called it good for the day!

Figured Out My Problem

After tweeking the Pocket Query several times and comparing it to caches that did not show up, I finally figured it out. It was in the date section I was screwing up. I said to get the caches that were placed within the last year. I just assumed that most caches that are still active are at most a year old. Little did I know, there are a lot of caches that are several years old! I find that rather interesting. At any rate, I made the query look for any cache within 60 miles that were placed after March 2000. That did the trick. Now I can tweek it to get exactly what I want. See? I told you that it was easier than I was making it out to be!

Ordered My GPS!

I ordered my Venture Cx this morning from Amazon. Hopefully I'll be able to get it by midweek next week. I'm anxious to try it out. Until then, I'm trying to play around with the Pocket Queries from www.Geocaching.com.

I'm having a tough time getting it to work properly. Whenever I type in my zip code or coordinates, it will pull up 300+ caches near me. But when I put together a pocket query, I only get back about 100. I see a few that I wish I got in my pocket query, but didn't show up in my results. I thought I had it set to grab everything within a 60 mile radius. I've probably done 7 pocket queries over the last two days in hopes to get the info I want. But no luck. I'll still mess around with it. I'm sure it's more simple than I'm making it out to be. Until then, I'm just going to hand select the Caches I want to visit and put it into the GSAK.

I Got A Premium Account

Well, all of the eBay stuff is done and taken care of. I mailed everything out, processed payments, and transferred the money to my checking account. It should be available by Friday. That's when I'll be buying my GPS (Venture Cx). I can't wait! I'm really chomping on the bit.

I did get a premium account with www.geocaching.com. I'm not sure what to think about the premium account yet. I'm still trying to figure out the pocket query option. I know there's 300 plus caches in my zip code. But my query is only bringing back 100 caches. I guess it'll take a little playing with before I get it totally figured out. It's all a learning experience for me. Although I've only had a premium account for only a few hours, it seems as if $30/year is a little steep for what you get. But then again, maybe it's worth it. I guess time will tell.

So Close!

Well, my eBay auctions are going well. I've already received enough to buy my GPS and I still have 2 days on the auction! I can't wait. As soon as the money comes in, I'm jumping on Amazon and getting myself a GPS. I decided to go for the eTrex Venture Cx. I think it looks like the most versatile and can expand as I need it.

I tried to find the eTrex Venture Cx locally, but with no luck. I hit every sports store, electronics store, Walmarts and Targets! No luck at all. So I'll be going with Amazon. They have the best price and I suppose I can wait for a week for it to arrive....I think. ;)

Until then, I've been playing with GSAK (Geocaching Swiss Army Knife). Pretty sweet application, I must say. A lot of options and configurations. I don't have a premium account with www.geocaching.com, yet. So I can't take full advantage of the program. But after this weekend, I'll have one.

Clean out the Closet!

I started to get interested in geocaching again. I've been lurking in the forums and listening to podcasts. The winter is waning and the thought of getting into this sport is exciting. The problem is finding the money to buy a GPS. What to do? I try not to burden my family with my own interests and pursuits. So I've got to come up with some money on my own. Where do I turn? eBay springs to mind. Time to clear out the ol' closet of junk I don't want anymore. I have some old recording equipment I don't use anymore. Especially since I have easy access to a recording studio if I need one. So I'm thinking I might sell some of that stuff.

I have an Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro audio mixer, two Matchbox II IHF-Pro Interface amps, and a Shure Beta 87 microphone. I think I should be able to fetch about 400-500 for these items. That should be enough money to buy a good GPS with a little extra to put toward some woodworking tools or some boardgames (my other two hobbies).

I'm thinking of getting the eTrex Venture Cx from Garmin. Either that or the eTrex Legend also from Garmin. I've heard good things about both of them, and a few bad things too. But I think all in all, either will be a good starter GPS unit.