Sorry the newsletter is a little late this week. It has been a busy couple weeks for me. But it is now done and posted even if it was a little late.

The Tips and Tricks section is back this week. I have about 3 tips left, so send your tips or tricks to “newsletter at iowageocachers.org”. Tips can be about your GPSr, planning tips, hiding tricks or finding tips. Also, I am out of profiles so I need a few of you cachers out there to send in your profiles. How about those new Board of Directors members? But anyone can send one in just answer the questions in the current profile and send it in. Also, cache highlights….PLEASE!

From dazedandconfused When placing a new cache, get accurate coordinates for the Web posting in one of the following ways:
1. If your GPSr has "averaging" capabilities, let it average a few hundred readings. It doesn't take long.
or
2. Take coordinate readings north, south, east, and west of the cache. Take the four readings at the same distance from the cache, and allow the GPSr to settle for a minute or so during each reading. Mathematically average the north/south readings, and the east/west readings to get accurate coordinates for the Web post.

GC.Com Username: LoBri

Number of Finds/Hides: 655 / 47

Occupation? I work for the Iowa City Police Department as an Emergency Communications Officer and Brian is in sales working for Twinkle Company which manufactures sand and gravel dredges. His job takes him all over the country and Geocaching is a great hobby that he can do while traveling and in between meetings with customers.

How you got your username? "LoBri" is a combination of our names, Lori and Brian.

How long have you been caching and how did you get started? We started Geocaching in March of 2006. Brian had seen articles about it in the past but I pretty much blew him off thinking it sounded like yet another of his crazy ideas. One morning I was at work at the P.D and a couple of the Officers talked about going caching and that it was fun. I mentioned that to Brian and it was all the encouragement he needed. Brian pulled up the website, and realized there was a GeoCache in West Liberty across town from where we live. It is called "East of West Liberty" (GCJ59M) which had been abandoned when the owner moved away and we have since adopted it. Not having a GPSr at the time, didn't stop Brian. He got out his laptop and plugged in the coordinates. Off he went with 2 of our grandkids while I was at work and they found the cache with his laptop and GPS receiver on top of his head. (see the photo gallery for "West Branch Hometown" GC5E71. Our new hobby was born (or should I say at that time a monster was born).

Later that day when I got home from work, Brian and I went caching for the first time. Together we found "Hidden Gem" by tfdchief and we were absoulutely hooked. We found 2 more caches that day and within a week we had our first GPSr, a Garmin GPSmap 60CSx. We now have 2 of them and a palm pilot with cachemate installed. Paperless caching is the best!

Favorite cache/why? Our favorite cache would have to be the Original Stash (GCGVOP) in Oregon for nostalgic reasons. It was truly awesome to be in the place where caching began.

Least Favorite/why? Our least favorite cache changes from time to time, but for sure the most miserable we have ever been while hunting a cache was at Coppack Caper by Merlin (GCJ5NO) We were there in late summer and there was so much itch weed that I was nearly in tears. I still get itchy thinking about it. We felt bad complaining though, because the owner had worked hard at placing a great find and it was really well hidden.

Current caching goals? We spent a good part of the summer finding caches in all of the Counties in Iowa. We are in competition with our daughter's family "RedheadBasset". WE ARE THE UNOFFICIAL WINNERS. We can't call it a done deal though until someone places a cache in Adams and Taylor counties which at this time are the only ones without a cache.

Our goals are to find at least one cache in Ireland this summer and to keep working away at finding a cache in all 50 states. We would also like to keep placing caches that are fun to find and that are well maintained.

The life and times of Geocaching Travelers

Most geocachers have come across a Travel Bug or Geocoin while caching. We pick them up and help them on their way to completing their mission. I thought it would be nice to talk a little about Travel Bugs and Geocoins.

First, what are these travelers that I speak of? A Travel Bug or TB is a dog tag with a serial number on it. The tag is attached to some item and has a mission. An example would be the Happy Travel Bug. It would like to travel from cache to cache, stopping at happy places. The owner wants to see pictures of the item (3 smiley faces) with those it makes happy. A geocoin is basically the same thing, but is a coin. They have missions and want to travel from place to place also. An example of a geocoin would be 3AMT Disney Trip Iowa Geocoin. It is trying to get to a cache in Celebration Florida before a trip to Disney World in March.

So now we know what the travelers are, let’s take a look at some of the etiquette for travelers. First, you are not supposed to keep TBs and geocoins. These are items others have purchased and released with specific missions. They are not yours to keep. Pick it up, take a picture or two, and send it on its way.

Next, TBs and geocoins want to move. The owners like to see them go from cache to cache so if you find one, try to put it in another cache as soon as possible. According to GC.com if you plan to have it more than 2 weeks, you should let the owner know. If you are headed on a trip in a month that will help a TB get to its goal, the owner might just say keep it and take it with you. OR they might say they would prefer you drop it in another cache and let it travel. Then you could grab it a couple days before your trip if it is still close enough. Maybe someone else is headed out of town sooner.

This brings us to the mission of the traveler. Every traveler has a mission. It might be as simple as wanting to go from cache to cache. It might be specific like getting to Celebrate Disney II cache by March 17, 2007. Your responsibility if you pick up that traveler is to help him accomplish his mission. If a TB wants to go east and you are heading west, maybe that is a TB you should just leave in that cache.

Lastly, if you see that an item is not in a cache and no one has logged that they took it, you can either put in your log that it was not there or send the owner a note. Those of us who have lost a TB and/or geocoin really want to know that it is gone. The TB owner can move it to an unknown location if it comes up missing so others don’t make a special trip to a cache just to grab that TB.

So now we know what they are and how to treat them, let’s talk about releasing your own TB. It is really easy to do. You can purchase a TB tag from Groundspeak or many other geocaching equipment stores. Just pick an item to connect the tag to, connect it, activate the tag, give it a mission and set it free.

Here are a couple helpful hints about releasing your TB. When you connect the tag to the item, remember the TB will be moving in a pretty rough crowd. You will want to make sure you have the tag secured. I have found that key rings seem to work a little better than the chains that come with the tags. Also, print an information sheet that can be laminated and attached with the tag. This will give cachers (like me) who just grab a TB when they see on a chance to see if they can help with the mission before moving it on. Don’t expect that the ziplock bag you put the TB in will last very long. If your item is sensitive to the elements, you might want to think about how best to protect it. Finally, give it a fun mission and ask for pictures. Watching the miles add up is fun, but seeing your TB sitting and watching Harry Potter movies or watching a Disney Cruise leave port is so much more fun.

The last thing I will talk about is what happens when your TB gets stuck or lost. It is going to happen. You TB will sit in a cache for a few months or in a cacher’s bag for four months. What can you do? I have found that if I have a TB that has been in a cache for more than a month, if I contact the cache owner they usually are more than happy to help it move. The same is true of cachers holding your item. A lot of times, they have forgotten that they have it or just have not been out to cache since they picked it up. A very polite note asking if they might drop it on their next cache run usually meets with apologies and movement within a couple days. Finally, sometimes a traveler will come up missing. A new cacher will pick it up not knowing it isn’t a normal trade item or the tag will come off and get lost or someone will just take it. It happens so don’t get too upset. Just move the TB to an unknown location and move on. You never know when that person might have a bout of conscience and release your TB. I had a Geocoin go missing for 4 months and finally got released and it is back on its way to Florida.

There are some special travelers out there. Jeeps, Jeeps and more Jeeps. There are Yellow Jeeps, White Jeeps and Green Jeeps that have been released as a part of a contest. The contests are over, but it is still fun to see how many of these jeeps you can move. There is also a bunch of Unite for Diabetes Travel Bugs out there. 20,000 of these were released to raise awareness of a UN resolution on Diabetes. There is a contest with them as well.

So there you have it, Geocaching Travelers in a nutshell. Have fun with them, move them, release one of your own, but be polite and remember to move them quickly.