Need Help With My Garmin 60CSx for Geocaching

When I met Mondou2 on the geocaching trail the other day, he suggested we go to some Geocaching Events for help in learning how to download geocaches and find them with the GPS on the trail. I work every weekend as a nurse 14-hour shifts, so that's not going to happen anytime soon, although I can't wait for the opportunity to meet some of our favorite geocachers!

So, I thought about asking for some help here on my blog.

I've figured out how to download geocaches from geocaching.com to the GPS, but can't figure out the specific buttons to push on the Garmin in order to bring them up and follow each one on the trail. 

We have a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx.  (Thank-you, oldest son!) There's not much in the instruction book on Geocaching. There are some YouTube videos, but it hasn't been quite exact enough for me to understand although I'm usually very computer literate and a fast learner!

After I download geocaches, how do I find them on the GPS to 'name' them so I know which are which.  IE: Page Key > Mark Key>Menu, ect...

Then, when we're on the road, how do I find them again on the GPS. What buttons do I press to get there.

Pretend you are at home downloading caches for an outing.
Show me the steps for downloading and naming them. (Or, however you do it.) (I think I know this.)
Then, on the road, please pretend you're finding the caches you want and what it will look like on my Garmin.  I need to know the keys to push in what order.

You can comment here at the word comment at the end of this posting, or send me an email from YOUR email at geocaching55@yahoo.com

If you are a geocaching member, you can find me on geocaching.com as starcatcher55 and send me an email from there.

I would be forever grateful.

Your Geocaching friend,
~Linda ... Starcatcher55

geocaching55@yahoo.com

Legends Tree and The Woodpecker

Bet you can't see the geocache.

Don't forget. This is a spoiler blog, so there are no secrets. We're assuming either you don't do geocaching in our neck of the woods, or you've already seen them and want 'the rest of the story'.

Legends Tree (GC35NMK) came out (was published) as I was leaving for a 12-hour day of nursing. It wasn't very far from our home, and I really would like to have been First to Find (FTF), but the geocachers who got there first are some very favorite geo-friends, so I felt better when they posted as FTF, and what fun they had with their friends and grandchildren tagging along.

I drove over the next day while waiting for some meds to be refilled.  At first, I couldn't find it. Either my GPs was off, or I was worried about the mailman who was eyeing me suspiciously as he delivered mail to an apartment complex close by.

There was a cold wind blowing, and I'd forgotten to bring a sweater so I got in the car and vowed not to leave until I found this one.

Suddenly, a lightbulb idea!  Hubby has been talking about being able to turn on the GPS when we're close to a geocache and then follow the coordinates listed on the iPhone. (How complicated is that?)  In desperation, I tried it.  WORKED LIKE A CHARM!

Bet you see it now!  How cool is that?
Legends tree by Granpa Tuggalong (GC35NMK)

I asked Geo 'Granpa Tuggalong' how he did that and he replied by email this:

As I thought of placing a cache in a tree, I thought, "Woodpecker". He makes his holes at such an angle that the acorn will never fall out. Instead of damaging the bark and nutritional source for the tree, I found a rotten knot just the right size. The rest is history. Glad you enjoyed it.

Now that is what I call a perfect Geocaching day...

Many great geocaches to you!
Your geocaching friend,
~Linda ... Starcatcher55

Fun at Crags View

      I'm getting my BSN in nursing online through Chamberlain College. Woo Hoo! So many years this has been my dream... I'm loving it!   But, I'm between classes this week, so geo-hubby and I headed for the 'hills' - Estes Park, CO.

It's about an hour's drive if we go the quick route, but today we took the long way and got there in about three hours.  The high mountains had their first snow, and the elk at Estes Park are in the bugling season.  Our mission today was to find the last of the shimmering fall Aspens in the Rocky Mountains!

We found the Aspens!



Oh, another goal was to find geocaches with the combined iPhone app when we had service, and our sweet little  Garmin 60CSx that we haven't quite figured out how to use yet when we don't have phone service!

We found the geocaches...

Watch 4 Wildlife by Bug Ranger (GC2AEHJ)

Almost a nano, but not quite... Too bad I walked up the hill instead of looking at the sign.

Nice shoe! The geocache is not what you see.

Crags View by Jenmjess (GC314AM)

I had hoped to get a little video of the bugling elk at Estes Park, but the busy herd was too far away today.  I found a video you can watch if you want to hear one. He gave a bugle like I've heard before at Estes Park. HERE

But, this blog is about geocaches, isn't it?

We have more fun today finding two geocaches!  Crags View had more than we expected! Leaving the car door open, and ignoring the obvious shoe-toten geocache, we met up with Princess, Your Highness and Ebony!




Princess, Your Highness, and Ebony greet us at Crags View Geocache!



I saw the visitors FIRST! I get first dibs on the apple!



See, the best grass is just out of reach.



I am Princess, and I'd like an apple, please.



I'm Ebony, and I'd like to be first, please.

Oh, thank-you, thank-you. I've been trying to reach that grass all summer!

Crags View Geocache...We added lots of swag and made it a Favorite!

Happy Trails!
Take Care on the Journey,
Starcatcher ... Linda



Email: geocaching55@yahoo.com

Marys Lake 2 at Estes Park, CO

We've never regretted for a moment our decision to pull up stakes in Columbus, OH and cross the Mississippi to another time and place. (We often miss those we left behind, though!)

Here in Denver, we're only minutes away from high mountains and always unknown sights and forces of nature. And most excitedly for me, thousands of geocaches!!!

Last week, we took an afternoon and drove up to Estes Park, CO to see what was happening with the little beggar Chipmunks at the highway entrance to Estes Park. We wondered where the elk might be grazing or just hanging out in town. Or, if the roadway through the Rocky Mountain Forest might be open. It's often closed to traffic due to high winds or a snow storm!




This elk was grazing all alone beside the highway at Estes Park.
He took a moment from his busy schedule to pose for a photo.

 I always have my iPhone app open to unexpected geocaches we might get close to, and today was no different.

After feeding the chipmunks some really special peanuts from Five Guys, and making a sweep of the town for the elusive elk, we stopped to hunt for a couple geocaches on the radar!

Marys Lake 2 was worth the climb and few minute search as we kept walking past it. 

We sat on the boulders and enjoyed the view after finding the cache.

OK. This is a spoiler blog...Here's the Marys Lake 2 cache!
Very nice one indeed. Lots of swag inside, and we left some of our favorite swag!

In case you're asking...You're right. I didn't think to get a photo of Marys Lake!  But if you're a geocacher, there are over 200 photos on the cache site GC1HN6E  Marys Lake 2.

Take Care on the Journey,
Starcacher55 & Catseye55
...Linda & James

BoyScoutTroop548-AdamsEagleProject and A Perfect Day

After an exhausting, 15-hour days, weekend of nursing, I was ready for a 'sleep late' morning today, but my Little Paws cat woke me up at 4:30 a.m. with his ritual of purring and kneeting (a cat word) my face.

"Good morning, mommy. Wake up and play with me."

Today he got his toenails clipped!

This afternoon it was such beautiful, mild, mind-clearing, Colorado Spirit, day that hubby and I took a drive to Longmont where he said they had a Five Guys Hamburger restaurant. Inwardly I grumbled slightly because (he knows) I don't like hamburgers, no matter how well they are cooked.  But, he is such a sweet, loving, do-anything-to-please-me, hubby, that I let this one slip by.

I found my sunglasses broken on the front seat where some mysterious bandit had sat on them during the night. That produced a few grumbles, but hubby quickly found another pair under the seat. :))

It doesn't take much driving for me to get very bored. I want to eat, text on my phone, read a book, listen to the radio, and clean up the bits of trash on the floor as I drive. (I said 'want".)

Mostly, I sneak a peak at my GPS for Geocaches we are missing as we keep on driving.  Today, as I wasn't looking at the GPS while driving, I discovered we were passing by Doughery Museum Geocache AND a  sign that said, "Doughery Museum", so I screeched on the brakes there on Highway 287 and swung into the little drive for Doughery Museum.

The geo-website indicated that someone found this geocache just yesterday, and it was an easy find next to a telephone pole (probably NOT a telephone pole anymore), but there was a long wiggly worm under the rock, AND the film-canister geocache was totally crushed. The log was soaking wet and dripping with water. I DOUBT that whoever found that geocache 'yesterday' even turned over the rock.   I looked again at my GPS to make sure it wasn't a dated year ago on September 19.  Oh well, to each his own. We indicated that this goecache needs maintenance and moved on toward Longmont.

Wow! Did we enjoy the delicious, mouthwatering, Five Guys meal. I got what I term a "messy vege" that was good to the last crumb!  We picked up a few peanuts for our friendly backyard squirrel, ignoring the sign at the door that said, "Do not take peanuts out this door". (Or something like that.)  Cinnamon the squirrel will never tell.

In the parking lot of Five Guys, I searched for Geocaches that were not micros. We prefer finding the containers where we can exchange from our special geo container the nice swag I've ordered online such as Oakcoins, our personalized wooden Buffalo coins, and other Geocaching treasures.

We located one of the most convenient caches ever!! It's in a parking lot of a car body shop repair place, and it's called A PERFECT LOCATION (GC196QY) in Longmont. I suspect the owner placed it there because he walked by while I was trying to look inconspicuous. He had a "I know what you guys are doing" smile on his face.

Pictured below:

A Perfect Location (GC196QY)



Perfect for us!!! (I didn't take any rocks for my rock polishing project.)




After signing the log book, I left a trackable here.
It's half a heart. The other half was left in my geocache called, "The Road Less Traveled" in Denver.
We'll see if these two sweethearts ever meet up!




We left several 'goodies' in this one including the golden Oakcoin and our wooden Buffalo coins!
The trackable is called Friendship Tag 2 of 2.

While I didn't take photos of the BoyScoutTroop548-AdamsEagleProject, (GC2DZ8Q) we drove to a church where this cache was placed right out front. Our geocaching sense provided enough clues that geo-hubby jumped out of the car and found it right away.

The description goes like this: "This cache was placed to mark a Boy Scout Eagle project from Troop 548's 20th Eagle Scout.  Please sign the log and help transfer its contents to the far reaches of the globe!. The initial contents consisted of 10 trackable bug tags, placed by a different Boy Scout, marked with one of the Scout Law topics. Each bug has since begun its worldwide journey. The boys and parents look forward to seeing if you leave anything in their place. Thanks for playing."

We hope other loyal geocachers  will help this Boy Scout Troop be successful!!! 

Lastly, on the way home, I asked hubby if he would go with me to a geocache I'd been eyeing for months near our local Wal Mart. It's called Mondo's Tunnel Vision (GC21MP9). It looked big, dark, wet, and dangerous. Funny, it was anything but that!!!  We named it our secret homeless shelter because there was a grocery cart full of stuff way back in there. If we're ever homeless, we're going to board up both ends of the tunnel and live off the items in that grocery cart.  (Don't tell anyone our secret!)

Sorry, I didn't think to get a photo but it's our secret anyway...

And, a day without a Mondou geocache, is not a complete geocaching day.

Take Care on the Journey,

Your Geocaching friend in life,

~Linda

email: bestnurse@usa.com

Mary Jane

Such a cute mini lunch box!
It was hidden under ONE rock.

I went geocaching twice today! Once with hubby (CatsEye55) after we took mail to, Linda, the lady who used to own our house. (We still get her mail.)  And, then back again after lunch while hubby read his Wall Street Journal.  He doesn't enjoy the micros very much, so I go after those on my own.

After taking Linda her mail, we found Mary Jane after almost giving up. It is a "rock pile" cache. The instructions said to only move one rock...but that is for when you FIND the cache.  Before that, the entire parking lot of rocks is game for a turn over!  We had given up and gotten back into the air conditioned car because the hot sun in 93 degrees was getting to us. Then, I said, "It has to be here somewhere!"

I followed my GPS and walked straight to it.  The cache was so cute, I decided to make it a favorite even though I do not usually like rock caches. We were able to add some favorite SWAG of ours including our personalized Buffalo Dollar wooden coins.



Isn't this cute?  I ordered 150 of them, so the local
Geocachers should start picking them up soon.
I also sent some to my sister, Sandy,
(Zeestarcaching) in Tampa, Fl.

I found some others including some new caches by Fork L. Man whom I hope to meet someday.

Take Care on the Geocaching Trail,
~Linda (Starcatcher55)

email: bestnurse@usa.com

Remembering Buster - A new Geocache by Starcatcher55

Buster

Since my sister's beautiful Siamese cat, Buster, passed away last month, I've been promising to place a Geocache here in Colorado in his honor.  It took me longer than I thought.

First, there are SO MANY Geocaches around here that it's difficult to find one within the guidelines of not being closer than .2 miles from another Geocache. And, I had some guidelines of my own to follow on this one.

Buster did not like the dark. So, I figured his cache must be in a well lit area.  And, in addition, I hoped to find a place out in the open where his spirit could feel free.  I also ordered a special geocoin for the cache and other swag to make it really special for the First to Find (FTF) and others.

A couple weeks ago, as I was driving in wider and wider circles when gas cost $3.49 a gallon, I did find a place that seemed to please Geocaching rules and myself.  You will see in the photos how we did it.

Tonight, hubby and I drove to the spot to get coordinates and see if our cache container would fit. Then I worked a couple hours getting everything ready for the dropoff!

I was so tickled when it was "published' only about an hour later.

Here's honoring Buster.  You are not forgotten.

The cache and the swag



The bottom cover of a street light...A perfect spot!




And of course, A Lighthouse!




Another memorial close by...



...and bright clouds in the sky.

Love, Aunt Linda & Uncle Jim
Starcatcher55 & CatsEye55