Anyone going Geocaching this weekend? **NEW CACHERS...POP IN!**

[Pin Wizard]

This is hilarious! I love reading things like this. I'm always glad to learn that I'm not the only one that goes in circles, ends up on a different highway wondering how I got there, etc. LOL! And if there's a puzzle in all this, I'm missing it!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=99df2a3b-9572-40c6-921b-a3fd8a227192


Happy caching!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Tomorrow is Friday! Yea!!! I'm on vacation next week! I'm trying to figure out where to go caching. Maybe hit the Richmond area one day, around here and Williamsburg another, VB, Norfolk, Chesapeake another. Maybe hook up with others to go. Can't wait!!

Lilallybean...Did you get all your caches out yet? Cachers finding them ok?

Mike...Hope all is well!! Taking Erin out caching yet?

 

[MiJo]

Hi Sandy,
I guess I have a lot of catching up to do again!
I was not familiar with the Military Geocaching site. Thanks!
Sorry to hear about your glasses. Did you ever hook-up with that "newbie" family? Newbies! They already have more finds than us and we've been at it 3 1/2 years!
We did manage to find 1 cache last weekend (the only one we looked for). We had plans to do a few more but the rains came and wiped out that idea. Unfortunately, we had to do some cache maintenance. One of our containers was cracked and had to be replaced. And, our apple disappeared again. I think that's the third one. We have another and I'll try to place it today but in a slightly different spot and I will hang it more securely, just in case it's a squirrel taking them and not a person. This one is a green apple instead of a red one.
David is doing fine and he will be coming home for Christmas for 11 days. We can't wait to see him and to hear his stories!
I hope you have a fun and safe vacation week!
Take care and good caching!

 

[lilallybean]

We must all be really busy right now. Sounds like none of us are having much time to play. I have not placed all the caches here in town that I want to. I just have not been home much. Spending lots of time helping my lil sister get ready for the triplets...I can't believe they will be here in just about a month!!! DD and I are going to head down to where my Dad lives. It is about an hour drive from us, it is where he grew up and my Grandma lived there until her death about 5 years ago. So there are lots of memories in the area. We are going to place four caches there. I know that there are NO caches for miles around there. It is a very out of the way area, but will try to make it worth the drive.

I checked out that military cache site too...that was really neat. Glad you posted it.

Hope you all can get back to playing soon. It just seems that sometimes we get so busy. I think it is funny that when I was in school I made sure I stepped away from the books to play.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Yes! I hooked up with the newbies last weekend and again yesterday. Good thing! Yesterday we went out in the STICKS!!! I never would have gone there being just me and DS. Came across a puppy in a park. He was too adorable! No collar, little ribs showing. The people I was with thought he was a stray. I would have taken him home with me if I could have another pet here! I'm ready to start putting dog food in my caching stuff! Poor thing. He was playful, adorable, and lovable. Had kisses and a wagging tail for everyone. Thought the back half of his body was going to wiggle off! He was tan and had the most gorgeous light blue eyes. Can't imagine someone was horrible enough to drop him off somewhere. I wonder if he got out of someone's home. I don't know what breed he was. Dang the community rules!!

This family has well over 300 finds now. One of their friends is a young, single military guy. He's been traveling all over the place picking up caches. And he was the first person to complete the Delorme Challenge here! Woooo hoooooo!! He did run into trouble in one location. While he was out caching, his car was vandalized. Took everything he had with him but his cell phone and his laptop...he had those with him luckily. Apparently, he's put in for a transfer. And he's planning to cache all along the way. LOL! They said he wants to hit the northern part of his route on the way, then the southern end on a return trip. He has some high number of finds for the amount of time he's been doing this. He's set goals for himself. And one of them is to hit 1,000 finds by the time he's in this 7 months I think they said. Sounds like he's 2000Mountaineer the second. LOL! Mountaineer will soon have the highest number of caches in this area. He's only beat out by a guy who is actually in NC, not in VA. He'll pass him up! And to think that 2000Mountaineer started caching AFTER I did! He has over 3,000 finds. This guy travels! LOL! I have no clue how someone finds 30 caches in a day, but he does. I'd be happy if I could hit 20. LOL!

I can just imagine a confused squirrel if he's taking the apple! Glad you got one find in. Last weekend we had beautiful weather on Saturday, then cold and rain on Sunday. I'm hoping this week is a lot better. Glad to hear of David's definite plans to be home! Those are days you will treasure!

lilallybean...Wow! I'm sure you're VERY busy with the triplets soon making their appearance! Good luck with all the preparations! And your caches you plan to place should make it worth the trip for people. I know I went to an area a few weeks back because one person had placed 4 or 5 caches there. I never would have gone otherwise. Actually, there is another cache not far from there which was the one and only in the area for a long time. I read in the logs of people having trouble, so I skipped it. Have to hate those micros in the woods. LOL! Especially when people are having trouble with it!

Time to run. Looks like another gorgeous day out there, so I better find some route to take.

Happy caching!

 

[Pin Wizard]

We did a Tinkerbell cache!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=c004e494-501b-435c-ba48-305dc4841830

It was too cute. The girl had decorated the inside of an ammo can with pixie dust and pink feathery trim. Too cute! And girly! LOL! She did a great job on it.

Where to this weekend? I'm hoping to hit part of the Richmond area again. It was great being on vacation last week and hitting a lot of caches. Now I'm coming up to 800 if the weather cooperates. Anyone else? Or are you busy with the holidays approaching?

Happy caching!

 

[MiJo]

Hi Sandy!
I have a little time before getting ready for church so I thought I'd check out the thread to see what's new.
The Tinkerbelle Cache sounds neat! I took a day off of work a year or so ago to try for an FTF at a Disney themed cache near Quakertown, PA. We got it so it was worth the trip! That was a great way to get your son's photo: his shadow.
The cold weather is setting in here now but I'm hoping to get out a little this afternoon. We haven't been leaving our ill dog for more than a couple hours at a time so we can make sure she gets out to relieve herself on a regular basis. She's in great spirits and we're still hopeful she might pull through with the meds she's on. Anyway, I did manage to find a couple micros last weekend. One was a fake acorn hanging in an oak tree and the other was the smallest cache we've found to date. It was a tiny magnetic container placed in the corner of a chainlink fence on a post. It's a good thing I got down to 1 foot with my GPSr! It couldn't have been more than 1/4 or 3/8" in diameter and only slightly longer!
I hope your vacation week was a good one. That's too bad about the puppy. Hopefully, someone took it home.
Our sailor son will be home in 18 days and we're really looking forward to seeing him again. Maybe we can get him out caching one day!

lilallybean: Congrats on the numerous hides! We'd like to get another one out if we can find a place to put one. I'm thinking about one along a new section of a bike trail nearby.

I guess that's it. Have a good day and good caching!
Mike

 

[Pin Wizard]

I guess it's about 2 weeks until your son is home, Mike! Wooo hoooooooo!!! Congrats on finding the acorn. Wow! We had an acorn cache around here in the summer. I couldn't find the thing. LOL! And a few people said the coordinates aren't near the cache. Ugh. Gave up on that one. Eventually it was missing and archived.

What's up with your pup? Poor thing. I hope it's feeling much better!!

Congrats on finding the recent caches! Too tiny! I'm sure I would have missed it. We were at one a couple months ago where ivy was all over a cememt wall at a park. The person camo'd the matchstick container with artificial ivy! Then tucked it underneath the real ivy with velcro on the wall. Sheesh! LOL! No, I didn't find it...darling son did!

I had a great week on vacation even though we were home. And I'm off from work tomorrow! I somewhat was planning to go looking for two Earthcaches that were placed this week. They are on the Eastern Shore. That means driving down to Norfolk/VB and hopping onto the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Ugh. LOL! This afternoon a coworker said it's supposed to be getting a lot colder overnight with a high of abour 42 degrees tomorrow. Brrrrrrrrrrr. Do i want to be driving that route on a day like that? Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! Maybe we'll just do the ones here and there in VB. Rats! I want to get those two Earthcaches though. One is a crater in the Chesapeake Bay. The other is an island that keeps shifting due to the ocean currents. Interesting stuff!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f2f83665-71f2-4bdc-acdc-421fe1784518

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=fcad3b5c-ab4b-4ee9-a592-4a28dc3047a0

lilallybean...anything new?

 

[MiJo]

Hi Sandy!
Our son will be home one week from today so we are getting excited! It's only been a couple months since we've seen him but it'll still be good to spend some time with him. He will be home for around 10 days.
The acorn cache we found wasn't a real acorn. It was a little bigger, about the size of a walnut, but it did have an acorn cap and it was hanging in an oak tree. Pretty neat.
Our ill dog is still holding her own. Her legs are swollen and she retains fluids but she still has a great appetite. She doesn't do a lot of walking, just enough to come out to the kitchen or to walk around the yard a little. If we can get the swelling in her legs down she should be able to get around better. We keep working on it. It's sad to see a one time Search and Rescue dog like this but we knew it would happen eventually.
Glad to hear you had a good vacation! I'm off beginning next Thursday until after the New Year. Hopefully, we'll get some caching in, especially since our son will be here to keep an eye on Koati, our sick dog. I'm looking forward to the time off from work.
Well, I have to get ready for work. Have a great weekend and good caching!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Just days until your son is home, Mike! Are you crossing the days off the calendar?

It's tough seeing pets age just as it is people. I hope your pup is feeling as good as possible.

The acorn cache sounds fun! Clever people out there.

Enjoy your time off from work! I wish I had that schedule coming up! But I am taking off this coming Friday, and our department is closed Monday and Tuesday. I'll be glad to get 5 days off from work but only have to take 3 vacation days. Better start looking for caches now for that break!

Today we had our first trip to the Eastern Shore! WOW!! Is it BEAUTIFUL there! I have no clue what these people do for work though. Not much is there from what we saw today. Just tell me I can retire, and my bags are packed!!!! And the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is a LOT shorter at this age than it was when I was 9 or 10. LOL! I STILL say...Bay my foot! That is the ocean! LOL! Headed out with a list of 12 caches today and got them all. Ten of them were on the ES. Two in Virginia Beach on the way. And the ONE that got this started is a cool Earthcache!

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=f2f83665-71f2-4bdc-acdc-421fe1784518

There's another one up towards Maryland that we'll do another time. NEAT!! Had a great time today! I wouldn't mind living there. Did I mention that in some other way, shape or form already? LOL! Oh! The one thing I don't like is that you can't logs TBs into Earthcaches! Bummer! That would be the coolest type to log them in. I have my traveling coin that tracks my stops and mileage. I have the mileage from the other caches today, but it doesn't show the stop.

Hope everyone here is doing well! Happy caching!

 

[SplshMtn99]

I thought of this thread recently...but dang, if I can't remember why now. Was there something I wanted to share?

 

[Pin Wizard]

Sounds good, Splsh! Please do! Been to any good caches lately?

 

[lilallybean]

Wow, it has been a while since I was here! Sounds like you have all been busy! Mike, I am so happy for you that you will soon get to see your son! I bet he is eager to be home too.
Those caches sound great! We have yet to run across an acorn one, I can only imagine how hard it would be.
I sure hope that your dog is doing better. With the work that you did with him it has to seem that he really is family. Is your son close to the dog also? Maybe with him home it will boost both of their spirits.
I also hope that you have a great time on your vacation!

Sandy, I bet finding those caches near the coast were lots of fun! Were they right near the ocean? I know what you mean about wanting to retire to an area. I would love to retire in an area in Panama becase of the beauty...but I am not sure what folks do there.

I just got back froma week in Texas. Just my Mother in law and I went. We spent the time visiting my SIL and her family. The day after we got there my MIL got sick so we didn't get to do much. I did take my nephew and his 5 year old son out for some caching. They both had a great time. I found my first members only cache so that was a highlight. I did think it was funny that in Texas where everything is supposed to be so BIG.... there were mostly micros!

I am really busy right now helping my little sister get ready for the triplets! they could be here any time now! She is stillhome and doing great! I even took her shopping this weekend. Usually way before now moms 2 be of triplets are in the hospital. The average delivery of triplets is at 32 weeks and she will be there on Tuesday!

My last lil news...I am very excited about finding my first jeep TB! I ordered some new TBs for Christmas and hope to start a hotel as soon as they get here!

Merry Christmas all and happy hunting!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Have fun getting ready for the triplets, lilallybean! That's exciting! You ALL will be sooooooooo busy once they arrive. Start them young on caching...take them out in the stroller!

I hope your MIL is feeling much better soon! Not fun when you're on a trip and get sick. Hope she's feeling a bit better already.

Congrats on finding the Jeep! I have a couple, one white and one yellow, that I need to move along. Around here people don't part with them until they find another. It's not too often I come across one. Hope one appears soon!

Well, I didn't think it wsa possible, but we managed to have the fun of the Earthcache increase even more! Here it was out a week or two without anyone finding it. We were there on Saturday, and so was someone from Richmond! LOL! We had already posted FTF before realizing someone else was there. Well, I got tired of it eating away at me and e-mailed her. I asked her if she wouldn't mind e-mailing the approximate time she was there to the cache owner. She said she would do that and was sure she was there around 1. LOL! I thought we were there around 1 or 1:30, but we didn't run into each other at all. So the people I was with and the owner of the cache luckily both had the phone call that our group made in their cell phones. LOLOL! The person in our group who called checked and said the call was made at 1:30. We had called AFTER we found it and had all the required photos and information. It wasn't a minute later when the owner e-mailed me and said the call came in to his phone at 1:33. LOLOLOL!! How close can we get to being there at the same time? The owner said its too close to call, so we all decided we all get the FTF. LOL! This is definitely one for the memory books!

This coming weekend? I'm hoping to get to Maryland!!

Happy caching!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Time for the Cachers' Christmas poem again!

Twas the month before Christmas and all through the park, not a
cacher was stirring, because it was too dark.
The caches were hid in the logs and the trees, in hopes of a First to
Find before it got down to zero degrees.
The cachers were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of
First to Finds danced in their heads.
Mama in her kerchief and I in my cap, had just put away the GPS
for our evening nap.
When on the computer there arose some new chatter, I sprang from the
bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the keyboard I flew like a flash, refreshed my unfound page
to find a new cache.
Away I went, now walking in fresh fallen snow, no footprints to
follow, making it harder, you know.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a tree decked out
in ornaments and holiday cheer!
The cache...how it shined! The ornaments...how merry! I hung a White Jeep
TB on the tree that I just happened to carry!
Standing back, I admired the tree with a bow, and the body of the
Jeep was as white as the snow.
I spoke not a word, but went straight to my work, signed the logbook,
hung an ornament, then turned with a smirk.
Had a nice walk back on this beautiful day, back to work I had to go,
I'm sorry to say.
Thanks for the find! I said with a whistle, 'Cause it was a Tazwalker
cache with not a thorn or a thistle.
And then I exclaimed as I drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"


Happy Holidays!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Merry Christmas, Cachers! Hope it's been a GREAT day for everyone. And Mike, I hope you're having a FANTASTIC time with your son!

 

[MiJo]

Hi Everyone!
I have a lot of catching up to do.....again! We have had a great time with our son. Unfortunately, we take him to the airport in a couple hours for his return trip to Pensacola. He is supposed to begin his official "A" School training on 1/8 and he is looking forward to that. He has net a nice young lady on base and he is also looking forward to seeing her again.
Our border collie, Koati, is still with us but she is struggling a little more. She can't handle steps very well so we carry her up and down the steps of our deck. She is still eating pretty well and drinking and she can still walk around the yard a little but we believe she is nearing the end. David did get to see her, though.
Our Christmas was wonderful as we had all of of children and their spouses here plus our DGD, Erin!
We got out for one cache and, for some reason, the coords were reading 6000 miles away! I entered this one differently than usual. The coords looked correct but the GPS was really giving a strange reading. I don't know why. That is now corrected but we haven't been able to get out again. We have a United for Diabetes TB which we need to place so we might get out tomorrow, my last day off before returning to work.
Well, I have to get ready for church so Good Caching and Happy New Year!

 

[lilallybean]

Wow, it sure has been slow on this thread. I have been with my sister for most of the past 3 weeks. When I am not with her I am at work. She had the babies on the 2nd and all are doing well! We hope to have them headed home soon. I can't wait to hold them more!
Mike, I have one of the diabetes TBs too. I was so excited about getting it. Pretty cool! I hope to go out this weekend, but it is supposed to be really cold and chance of snow. I can't risk getting sick right now and being away from the babies.
I have so much house work to catch up on tomorrow. It seems like I have not been at home for anything other than to sleep.
I hope everybody had a great time at Christmas and that this new year will bring you each much joy!

 

[MiJo]

Hi Everyone!
This thread has been quiet! Sandy, where are you? I hope everything's OK!
Our Diabetes TB is still here, waiting to be released. I'm debating whether to put it in a cache we find or just put it in one of ours. We were hoping to put it in a new cache we were hoping to place in one of our local State Parks but that didn't work out. In order to do that, we have to archive the cache we already have there in order to place a new one and we're not sure we want to do that. The new cache would be in memory of our border collie, Koati, who lost her battle to cancer on the 2nd. She put up a terrific battle and left us peacefully here at home. She was a wonderful family member and friend for nearly 12 years and she spent more than 8 of her years as a very dedicated Search and Rescue K-9 volunteer. She is sorely missed. She loved to go geocaching and was great at locating caches, so we really want to place a cache for her at some point. Now, we will be going with our male BC, Casey, and our son's Rat Terrier, Tucker. We got out with them last weekend and made 1 find and got credit for one that was muggled. This weekend, my DW has a stomach bug and it's raining so we're not planning any caching.
Our son, David, was home for Christmas from the Navy for 11 days. He returned on New Year's Eve to Pensacola for his "A" School training. He just finished up Week 1 and did very well. We're hoping to see him the weekend of February 3 and 4 as part of our vacation trip to Florida! We plan to spend a weekend with him, spend 2 nights at WDW and then spend a couple more nights with relatives in Cape Canaveral. We're looking forward to it. We are hoping to grab a cache in AL and possibly GA so we can claim those states.
Glad to hear the babies, and your sister, are fine! We really enjoy our DGD, Erin! Her 1st birthday is coming up in about 5 weeks, which is really hard to believe! Our first Christmas with her was great!
I guess that's it. Take care and have a great 2007!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Hi, everyone! Still kicking.

So glad you enjoyed your time with your son, Mike! I'm sure it must have flown by. And I'm sorry to hear about Koati. It's very difficult when we lose a beloved pet. They are such loyal family members! I'm sure you'll miss her very much. That is something that she could find caches! Actually, a friend's CO is trying to train his dog to do the same. I'm not sure how it's going since he recently moved from here to Colorado. Hoping to read something in his logs.

Sorry to hear that your wife was sick recently. I hope she's feeling better! And I'm sure Casey and Tucker will love caching with you. Yesterday before we left the house, I took Max out for a walk. When we got back, we passed by the car in the parking lot. He sat down right by the back door. LOL! I guess he wanted to go with us! One of these trips, we'll have to take him.

Glad to hear that David did well on the first part of his training. Woooo hoooo!! Glad to hear that he's excited about it, too. That will be neat for you to visit him when you're on vacation in FL! I'm sure you'll all have a fantastic time. And Erin's coming up on a birthday soon! Holy cow! That's the fastest year yet!!!!!

lilallybean...I'm sure you're thrilled with those babies! I know they're growing like weeds already. And I'm sure your sister appreciates all your help!! You're a fantastic Aunt! Being busy with the babies and work, make sure you squeeze in some time for yourself. I know it's difficult, but you need that.

This past weekend we were out in the Richmond area again caching. Had a great day with a lot of park and grabs, and also visited a few caches in a couple parks. Needed the walks after all that driving! Hoping to get back out there this weekend if the weather holds up okay. Otherwise we may have our first non-caching weekend. It seems I'm down to my DNFs and the caches I refuse to go after for one reason or another in our area. Ugh. Some have "Private Parking" signs, no trespassing. Hmmmmmmmmm. Some open at certain hours and not others. Ran into a sports complex that's NOT open on weekends...unless a game is scheduled. Have been there three times to find the gates locked with a "City Property/No Trespassing" sign. Of course some cachers are walking the trail in. But to me the sign pertains to cars and pedestrians! Sheesh. LOL!

That's it for now. Everyone have a great week! Happy caching!