Museum Geocaching

IGO NEWSLETTER 2008

ISSUE #04

In This Issue...

People are passing milestones at an amazing rate, now that the weather is a little more cooperative. :) We only had a handful of cachers send in something about MOGA 2008, so we'd like to extend the invitation a little longer in hopes IGO members who attended MOGA will submit a story and/or photo. Their is an event occurring on May 17 at the University of Northern Iowa hosted by UNIBear and Stridget, with the Iowa Geocachers Organization as one of its sponsors, but you won't see the event listed on geocaching.com, so mark it on your calenders. We would also really like to receive your geocaching photos, so if you take your cameras out caching with you please send pictures to photos@iowageocachers.org. We also have a pretty neat 'video of the month' that was shot back in the year 2000.

Upcoming Events

Second Annual Tipton Invitational	05/10/2008	Tipton City Park Pavilion
WWFM III On the Siouxland Riverfront	05/10/2008	Chris Larsen Park
Siouxland Meet 'N Greet	05/10/2008	Pizza Ranch
WWFM III Cedar County	05/10/2008	Walley Wingert park just east of Tipton, Iowa
BLOODLUST'S WWFM THR3E IN THE 515	05/10/2008
Des Moines Geo lunch	05/17/2008	Mickeys Irish Pub in Waukee
Waterlogged at Okoboji	05/24/2008	Check the coordinates and the maps

Upcoming Mega-Events Near Iowa

Midwest GeoBash 2008

08/07/2008 - 08/10/2008

Kendallville, Indiana

Cacher Milestones

boasark - 1700 on Apr 18, 2008
Temacon - 400 on Apr 18, 2008
TAEholden - 100 on Apr 18, 2008
kclone - 50 on Apr 19, 2008
dazedandconfused - 1000 on Apr 19, 2008.
The Finch Farmers - 100 on Apr 19, 2008.
c_dog - p2600 on Apr 19, 2008
only_me - 50 on Apr 19, 2008
phiscocks - 200 on Apr 20, 2008
Wonder Boy - 1100 on Apr 20, 2008
prospector3 - 50 on Apr 20, 2008
Shadow Cachers - 22700 on Apr 20, 2008.
yy4me - 200 on Apr 20, 2008
cachengr - p100 on Apr 20, 2008
BlueMoonBerta - 100 on Apr 21, 2008.
WindChill - 700 on Apr 21, 2008
BLOODLUST - 700 on Apr 21, 2008.
Kirk F - 100 on Apr 21, 2008
RedheadBasset - 1400 on Apr 21, 2008.
Hill Folk - 500 on Apr 21, 2008
3amt - 1300 on Apr 22, 2008
Sir Cache Alot - 1000 on Apr 24, 2008.
jake_e_cro - 600 on Apr 24, 2008.
nancylmo - 100 on Apr 25, 2008
oldfatguy - 200 on Apr 25, 2008
Lego Guy - 800 on Apr 27, 2008
c_dog - 2700 on Apr 27, 2008
Blue Grass Tom - 2400 on Apr 27, 2008.
IowaBeaver - 2400 on Apr 27, 2008
lagrac - 2500 on Apr 28, 2008
cachengr - 200 on Apr 28, 2008
The NVG - 2000 on Apr 29, 2008
JeePSer - 800 on Apr 29, 2008
digger9 - 900 on Apr 30, 2008
Welch - 800 on May 1, 2008
mustangcats - 100 on May 3, 2008
lkentn - 300 on May 4, 2008
wildernessmama - 1200 on May 4, 2008
Saidcache - 500 on May 5, 2008
scottk - 200 on May 6, 2008

IGO Board of Directors Nominations

Nominations to fill 5 seats on the IGO BOD will open on May 12th and end May 26th.

Iowa Geocachers Organization - ByLaws.
Section 5, Election Calendar
Board elections occur during the month of June each year.

Nominations run for two weeks, opening at midnight on May 12th and closing at midnight on May 26th.
Per Section 3, nominations close two weeks prior to the election.
Voting lasts for two weeks, with polls opening at midnight on June 9th and closing at midnight on June 23rd.
Allowing one week to tally and verify the votes, new board members take office on July 1st.

To nominate someone please go here. (Between May 12 - May 26)

UNI Museum Geocaching Day

Museum Geocaching UNI Museum Geocaching Day

Saturday May 17, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at the University Museum on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls

N 42° 30.475 W 092° 27.965

Let the UNI Museums, along with CrawDaddy Outdoors, Hartman Reserve and the Iowa Geocachers Organization show you the wonders of Geocaching! Learn about this fast-growing hobby and use GPS technology to hunt for a cache. This high-tech adventure is outdoor fun for the whole family.

The cost is $7 per person or $20 per group of 4.

Geocachers associated with Iowa Geocachers Organization will place a number of both temporary and permanent caches placed for this event. There will also be one permanent cache available to log the temporary caches should you desire to do this.

Schedule

9:30-10:15 Instruction on how to Geocache by Crawdaddy Outdoors & Hartman Reserve

10:15-10:30 Experienced Cachers tell their stories - (Stridget & UNIBear)

10:30-12 p.m. Geocaching – experienced geocachers will be on hand to help newbies

12 p.m.-12:30 All Cachers back to the museum for a Prize Drawing and Wrap-up

12:30 to??? – Geocaching on your own

Cacher Profile

What is your Geocaching name?
LyleVB

How did you get your geocaching name? It's my first name and last name initials. I wanted something short that I could remember. It also makes it easier to sign the logs with a short name

How long have you been geocaching? Just over 5 years. My first find was in January of 2003.

How did you first learn about geocaching and why have you continued to geocache? I saw an article in USA Today several years ago and it sounded intersting. I mentioned to my wife that I was thinking about getting a GPSr and she bought me one for Christmas in 2002. I continue to geocache because I like to visit out of the way areas that I wouldn't of visited or known about if not for geocaching. This is true both at home and when I travel.

What is (are) your favorite geocache(s)? I have a fond place in my heart for Crow Creek Hide and Seek (GCEC00). This was a tough multi that I managed to get a FTF after several trips to Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf. I also had to figure out a mistake in the coordinates for the final. Another special one was Tour of Stone Mountain (GC1E) in Georgia. It took me around to some of the less visied parts of Stone Mountain and had some real challenging hides in it.

What are your favorite types of geocaches? Something that brings me someplace special. A good hike is nice. A mental challenge.

What is your least favorite geocache? There are many, but one I have picked as an example is Middle of Nowhere 2 (GC16JPN). A country road, a lone power pole by a corn field and a small pill bottle sitting next to it. No offense to the hider.

What is your least favorite type of geocache? Urban micros. If it says high muggle area, why do I want to look there? They are usually counter to what I like, that is someplace special. A parking lot, a guard rail, a bridge on a busy road just aren't that interesting. And in my opinion, many are on private property.

Why do you like or dislike geocoins and how many do you have in your personal collection? I like finding and moving geocoins, but I don't own any. One of the pluses of this pasttime to me is the relative low cost. Coins are expensive. Plus I've done the collecting thing before (stamps, coins, comics). I don't want to go there again, at least right now.

Which do you prefer more: finding geocaches or hiding geocaches? WHY? Finding, much more. It's a lot of work to properly hide and maintain a good cache. Until a year or so ago, I didn't have much time to cache, so I prefered to spend the time I did have looking.

If money and time were no object, what & where are the cache(s) you would love to find? I think it would me neat to hike the American Discovery Trail from coast to coast and find caches along the way. Getting a find in every country would be a lot of fun, too.

How do you prepare for a full day of geocaching? Pack a light lunch and some water and plan on about twice as many cahces as I realistically would have time to find. Spare batteries, too

What is the furthest distance you've traveled for a specific single geocache? (maybe for FTF, maybe for the oldest active cache in Iowa, maybe for the Iowa DeLorme Challenge, etc) Tour of Stone Mountain at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. I was going to Atlanta for business and I had a Geocaching U. geocoin that I wanted to leave there. Also it's the second oldest geocache in Georgia. Well worth the trip and the hunt.

Where & how far away is the farthest geocache you've ever found from your home coordinates? Happy Sunny Valley (GCN9T9) which is 3893.6 miles away. I have around five finds in England. My wife and I were there two years ago. Unfortunatle, I smashed the screen on my GPSr on the third day of our trip. It was very sad.

Video of the Month

Here is video footage from the year 2000 of the very first geocache being hidden by Dave Ulmer.

Mini-podcast

Unfortunately no one submitted an audio file for the mini-podcast this newsletter, but we would like keep it published so everyone knows it's still available and can submit a short podcast (0:10 - 2:00) to newsletter@iowageocachers.org and can talk about pretty much anything. This portion is totally reliant on reader submissions so please feel free to record yourselves talking and send it to us! :)

Geocaching in the News

An article about EarthCaches at Effigy Mounds National Monument and Pikes Peak State Park.

Bluff Country Newspaper
Geological discoveries, great views come from river blufftops

by Lisa Brainard

IGO Member Submitted Photos

Here are a few pictures from the 2nd Annual Cedar Rapids CITO Extravaganza!
Group Photo

Truckload of trash coming in...

The Garbage Pile (over 70 bags of trash and many bulky items)

Please share your photos and email them to photos@iowageocachers.org.

IGO "Extra Effort" Geocoin (TBP98Z)

Their is still time to nominate someone who you feel has put forth "extra effort" for the good of the Iowa Geocachers Organization and/or geocaching in Iowa. Here are some guidelines taken directly form the geocoin webpage used to help determine which nominee will be invited to log the coin.

People who participate in an IGO sponsored CITO event.

The person or people who lead the planning efforts for one of IGOs large annual events. At present, these are Hike N Seek and Cache Bash.

People who are very active in organizing, running and improving the IGO. This could include past and present board members and people who donate significant time or resources to the group.

People who put in extra effort to get geocaching accepted in a previously off-limits area. This could include folks who give presentations to town councils or park directors.

People who actively promote geocaching/IGO by talking to the media, teaching classes and otherwise exposing non-cachers.

People who keep geocaching alive and well by placing a higher-than-average number of high-quality caches.

In short, we are looking for people who take the lead in improving geocaching, the image of geocaching, or the relationships geocachers have with others.

This special coin is awarded no more than four times per year and each awarded nominee is invited to log the coin. Please send nominations to geocoin@iowageocachers.org with a few words about what the nominee has done to earn the coin. Please refer to the IGO "Extra Effort" Geocoin page for more details (TBP98Z).

MOGA 2008

Last chance to submit stories, photos, and anything else related about MOGA to the IGO Newsletter. Please send to newsletter@iowageocachers.org.

Please submit your stories, ideas, photos, and more!

We would love to receive any personal caching stories you would like to share. If you hid or found a geocache that you would like to highlight, please share your experience. If anybody would like to submit an article(s) for the IGO Newsletter please feel free! The next time you go on a trip, vacation, event, etc keep a journal or take notes and then feel free to send your geocaching experience to the IGO Newsletter to share with others.

If you have a great idea you'd like to see added to the IGO Newsletter please do not hesitate to contact us at newsletter@iowageocachers.org or through our profile on geocaching.com. If you have something "off the wall" that you're unsure if it may or may not be suitable for the IGO Newsletter please feel free to contact us and we'll be happy to discuss.

If you have photos to share with IGO members please send them to photos@iowageocachers.org.

All user/member submissions will be subject to approval before being published in the IGO Newsletter.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to the next IGO Newsletter!