This will be a fun discussion, I can tell already!

We now have our own little geocaching business cards. So we’re ready for the right people with those. If we think we will worry the person, we start taking pictures with the GPSr (but generally not of the person we ran into). The biggest “unknown” to me, is what to do when I run into another cacher when I’m checking on my OWN cache … if this happens, I don’t want them to know it’s me, the owner, or they may stray from their normal “hunt mode” and I’d hate to do that. We’ve come up with the secondary cache name of “Elephant Man”, in the event that happens. So if you ever run into “Elephant Man”, it’s me checking on my cache.

We ran into some cachers this past weekend on the trail. When I reached to put my hand on his shoulder, he decked me! He didn’t know the official dance!

OK — maybe that didn’t REALLY happen.

But we did run into some other cachers this weekend. We had just found Qwerty’s Reunion and I was sitting on a log signing the log book when Mrs. OuttaHand says “there’s some people coming”. What am I to do? I’m sitting on a log about 5′ off the trail with a rubbermaid container, papers, and baggies everywhere! So I continue signing while coming up with a big fat lie.
Then Mrs. OuttaHand says “I think they’re doing this too! They’ve stopped on the trail and they’re talking to each other.”
A minute later they approached and said “I think we’re doing the same thing.” We agreed and started to chat. They got a free and easy find out of the deal since I was sitting there with it. So I told them exactly where it had been hidden and how; and we took off.

Oh — the reason they didn’t know about the dance is because they’re from Tucson, AZ!
And I’d be able to tell you their names if we’d both had the business cards mentioned above. I think that’s a pretty neat idea, too.

Actually, we did have a couple fun encounters with the public … on July 14th we were shadowing ChillsX3 and Huggger on their first geocaching experiences (Ecorangers claim I’m a geo-grandfather now) … a re-cap of a couple log entries that were fun, both at 53074:

PETERS PARADISE – Huggger’s log entry:
Tons of people saw us, tried to cover by ‘pretending’ to have a funeral for a pet ….baaad cover, but people didn’t stop to stare either!!

MATTIE’S CORNER CACHE – My shadow log entry:
This was different for us … people coming and going all around us … so we took the box to a picnic table and made believe we were eating, we feel bad for the young couple that walked waaaay over here then turned around when they saw us sit at the table, to eat out of our ammo box.

We ran into our first ever cachers in Lakewood WI a few weeks ago. Here we are living in the Big City and it takes a trip up there to spot fellow geocachers!
The best part of the story though is that, here we are in the middle of NOWHERE out to find a cache placed at an old homestead. We spotted where it must be and sent out Tom and Cait for the find while I stayed with our sleeper. While they were looking I notice a couple walking on the road with their dog. I thought they must be locals because not one car had passed on the road and there was just farm land…then they headed to the ol’ homestead…I did NOT think that they were cachers because why wouldn’t they park by the cache? (Country folk) I got scared, were we supposed to be there?? All of the sudden I see my husband and the others dancing…..wait, no that’s not how it goes…anyway we find that they ARE geocachers, they took the wrong DIRT road and ended up driving their car into a ditch and couldn’t get it out. They decided to STILL LOOK FOR THE CACHE!!! (Hey, they were only .34 from it) On the way, the batteries DIED on their GPSr!! They STILL WENT FOR THE CACHE! They had no cell phone service as this is the middle of nowhere. Did I mention … THEY STILL WENT FOR THE CACHE! Anyway, when they saw us they thought they were closer to a main road than they were. In fact, they were all spun around and had no idea where they were on the map we produced. (I always print a mapquest map if I am caching in unknown parts with the mublettes). Well, our Testosterone Pumped Captain says “I Can Pull You Out Your DOdge Ram with MY Eddie Bauer Edition Ford Explorer” – Didn’t happen. We don’t know WHY they chose this road…it isn’t even a road its barely a path. We say, we’ll drive you home, but they know someone close by..the Lakewood Fire Inspector…who can pull them out (I bet he has a HEMI) …He’s not home and the womanfolk gotta pee, the womanfolk are from the city and don’t like to squat (especially the 6 year old womanfolk) but what’s this? His wife is home and lets said womanfolk use the potty and takes them home from there. Our quick 5 minute geocache was one of our greatest adventures yet!!
Thanks for letting me share, Trish
The Cache is “Relics – A Gem in a Sea of Green Forest” by The Lil Otter and the team was beavers2 – newbies and so daring!!

I met my 1st non event cacher on the trail today after 360 caches without! It was a 1st day cache and it happened to be the day after talking to him on the phone about caching together next Monday. It was Marc_54140 and his niece.

I had every thing laid out looking at the contents for the heck of it and heard voices from above. I stuffed the container back where I had found it and hastily covered it back up as well as I found it and managed to get 25 feet away from it before encountering them on the way down. Marc asked…did you find it? And I mumbled no…before fessing up that I did indeed find it.

Cool how these things happen. I did the other new cache in the area with them and shared a first find in the process.

[This message has been edited by Miata (edited 08-25-2004).]