Cachin’ with Bren

Where’s the next geocaching adventure?

Geocaching in Central Park July 17, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — Brenda M. @ 2:01 am

Sometimes when I go to a new area it takes me a bit to get a feel for how cachers in the area hide. So I was a little concerned about going caching in Central Park. I was only going to have one day and basically one set of eyes looking. Usually I cache with my God’s Little Cache or my Mother-in-Law. My husband was going along to Central Park with me but usually the most he’ll do is keep watch while I look. He tolerates my addiction and that’s about it.

First we searched for Snug as a Bug in Central Park.   I saw what I thought was a perfect specimen of a “geo-tree” but couldn’t find anything that looked like a cache. I poked around in a couple of other locations but didn’t have any luck. I started to wonder if maybe I just couldn’t handle “big city caching”.

So to bolster my self-esteem I went for a virtual cache next.  The Castle was exactly what I needed.

Next we wandered off to Riftstone.  As soon as we approached the GZ I thought, “Now this one I can do!”  I found it in short order while my husband kept lookout for suspicious muggles.  Normally I avoid looking too strange by taking the cache container to another area a few feet away and settling down with it on the ground.  As I did this my husband says “muggle” but I figure I’ve got nothing to worry about as I’m not actually near the hiding place.  As this muggle rounds the corner so I can see her, I notice she’s got a GPSr in her hand!  There was no way to get the cache back with out her seeing so I went over and introduced myself with my geo-name and showed her where to put the cache back after she logged it.  We talked for a few moments and I discovered that  she was in NY to celebrate her birthday with her sisiters.  This is only the 2nd time I’ve met another cacher at a cache.  Both times have been lots of fun!

We then took a quick cruise to the turtle pond to look for Lakeview.  Sadly the virtual cache didn’t give us enough geo-sight to spot this one with all the muggles that were hanging around.  But look at this cute little guy that we did find.

We ended our caching excursion with a trip to Down the Rabbit Hole – NYC where we found our cache, a great statue and some kicking jazz musicians!

It was a great morning of caching in Central Park.  We spent the afternoon exploring the art in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the evening taking in a performance of The Lion King!

 

My first long distance caching trip! June 25, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — Brenda M. @ 3:27 am

I have been planning a trip to visit the site of this years MOGA competition for over 3 months now. I even got my best geo-buddy, God’s lil Cache, to join me on my adventure. But wouldn’t you know it, it’s flooding by Hannibal! I will be calling again on Sunday to check on the state of the park and our hotel but it’s not looking good. Bummer. :P

 

Cachin in GA June 25, 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — Brenda M. @ 3:25 am



Cachin in GA

Originally uploaded by bren1273

A great week of casual caching in GA with my niece and my brother. My brother was even nice enough to take me over into South Carolina so I could get another state colored in on my map. He’s the best!

 

Paperless Caching August 9, 2007

Filed under: Uncategorized — Brenda M. @ 3:02 am

One of my newest interests is geocaching.  I started this summer and go whenever I can organize myself to leave the house for a trip.  Currently there aren’t very many caches in my area so a trip usually means going at least 30 miles away.  Before I can leave I need to print out maps and a sheet for each cache I plan on searching for.  I also need to transfer each of the cache waypoints from my computer to my GPS unit.  It’s a feat of great organization, which I’m sure is part of why I like it.  But it’s also time consuming and wastes huge amounts of paper!

So I’ve been doing some research on www.geocaching.com about paperless caching.  Previously I figured I would have to spend $100 or more to get a PDA to make this work.  But yesterday I read that an old Palm IIIc works great for this and they are available on ebay for  under $50.  I will feel a lot more comfortable taking a cheap PDA into the woods with me than I would taking a $300 PDA.  So this sounds like a good option.  I got on ebay last night and after some research I ordered a unit.  While I’m waiting for the unit to arrive in the mail I’m going to keep looking into the steps to get the information from my laptop to the PDA.  I’m so excited about not having to print out all those sheets!