Posted on 06/19/2016 7:52:22 AM PDT by CaptainPhilFan
Hi FRiends. I started Geocaching this week; downloaded the app and bought a 3 month membership.
Looked for 6 hides in the last few days and DNF any but I'm rather hooked! LOL.
Anybody else got the bug? I thought this might be fun to do with grandbabies but ohmylanta! are the ones around here tricky!
In Roanoke VA for another few weeks visiting, then back up to Yankee country.
So looking forward to finding something and hoping I don't screw up the hide! :)
I'd really like to hear any other experiences anyone has had. I don't know anyone else who has done this.
Happy Fathers Day, too!
My wife is traveling back from TN with a friend who is into geo-caching. They teamed up yesterday to find one in Paducah KY and my wife was the one to actually spot the hide. She called me to tell me about it and sounded really excited about it. I think there’s about to be a new chapter in my life.
I got into geocaching several years ago and am still doing it. I mainly use my smart phone but have a Garmin for the tough ones. I like it because it takes me to interesting and beautiful places, gets me outdoors and feeds my collector tendencies without accumulating junk. Yesterday I toured the Battle of Bennington, Vermont as a geocache. It was cool.
I recommend it.
I think it’s great that you’ve done this as a team. The app is so easy to use and let’s you know when you’re close, and there are SOOOOOOOOO many hides all over the place, it might make it too easy now :)
Wow, I admire you guys very much for being a team. I’m going to try a Travel Bug and a TB Hotel this week, but I don’t think I’ll attempt to move them, because if I even find them I’m not convinced I’d ever find another! I do not want to screw up anything!
We have found some really great places because we hunted geocaches while vacationing and learned some interesting history from the caches.
You have an EXCELLENT point! I will start work on that today. Thanks!
I hope you enjoy the new chapter! It seems like there is a lot more to enjoy in this hobby than just finding Tupperware :)
Thanks for the info. My home base is not far from Bennington. I’ll put it on my list for our next leaf peeping trip. But I sure hope my geosense improves. I REALLY stink at this so far!
PS ... Interesting info about the Garmin. It really helps more? Maybe I should make a list of geotools :)
The kids used to have t-shirts with that on them.
Awesome! Sounds like you are living my expectations for this new hobby. I guess not finding the caches hurts less if you discover something else along the way.
LOL!!! That’s great.
My other favorites to do is caches in places that are heavy tourist areas or high foot traffic areas. Because not only do you need to hunt for the cache BUT you also must do so while trying to not attract attention so the muggles won't be alerted.
Its like being a secret agent. You need to learn all the moves like the "shoe tie" move for low caches and the "stretch" for high caches and the "misdirection" when neither of those work. (usually requires at least one partner even better with two)
Used to do it all the time but physically can’t these days. Find count was up in the thousands and was ranked 100 something in the state. Our first find was before we had a GPS, it was that easy. Was able to find 99% of all that were still in place. Some can be real bugger boos.
Since you’re new at it, the best advice is to never take anything at face value when it comes to camouflaging containers. A nut and a bolt are never just a nut and a bolt. A metal sign is never just a metal sign. A stick is never just a stick. A buoy in the water is never just a buoy in the water. A wasp nest is never just a wa... ok, sometimes it is but sometimes it isn’t.
We had our middle school nephews one summer and spent 2 days getting together caches for them. They were too afraid of weeds to get outside even in a mowed area to do any caching. Whaaa, archery is outside! RC cars on the driveway are outside! Hiking and biking and swimming and fishing and boating and playing catch and roasting marshmallows and feeding the deer and playing with the new kittens in the garage, etc. is in the big terrible outside!!!! They spent their time with their noses in their cell phones. After 3 days of not wanting to come out of their room or huddling in the corner of the couch texting, we packed them off to their aunt’s. Told their dad a couple days ago to get them into summer camp but he can’t be bothered so they’re vegging inside all summer because mama is too afraid to let them venture into their own yard without her being there. Good grief, one is in HS now. But they’re still happy with their noses in their phones. Anyone who can get kids out of the house and into nature... well, bowing down to them.
I had the bug, my son-in-law was really into it, but his untimely death kinda spoiled it for us. Have to admit though, it was fun finding the the cache. I even created a cache out of an old ammo can, but it was stolen, which soured me completely.
The Bennington cache was a Whereigo. I googled it to learn how to do it. It took me on a tour that included Robert Frost’s grave, the site of the Catamount tavern and the monument to get numbers to find the final cache.
I have not figured out how to enter coordinates in my phone so I carry a Garmin for this. I find lots of caches without the Garmin so it is not needed unless geocaching becomes a hobby.
Geosense improves over time. I still get stumped on occasion.
I have enjoyed this for some time.
I got the app C:geo for android phone. The app will sign in to your geocache account. The app will display nearby caches. I have found the gps on the phone to be better than my old hand held which has WAAS.
We have been on hikes or walks and used the app to see if there were caches nearby. Have been to a number of interesting places that I would not have known about otherwise.
Looking forward to doing this with granddaughter in about a year.
We have done Letterboxing which is the same only without GPS, just clues. Fun even for very little kids. We love it.
My Wife is into it big time. I sometimes tag along and sometimes help with creating the more challenging caches. As others have noted, geocaching is free unless you want some extras. The premium isn’t necessary and you can research your area for caches to find that are kid friendly. The wife likes to take the grand kids to find those and she takes along little toys to use to replace the toys that the grand kids “find”. She has also placed track-ables in some geocaches that have traveled around the world.
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