2015 was a very good year!

Well I haven't blogged for awhile and decided that it was time to get back into it with a little rehash of my geocaching year...

2015 started out fairly quietly but we had made plans.  First out of the gate was a Caribbean Cruise at the end of February.  Not wanting to go all that way and back Paul and I extended our holiday to include a layover in Dallas for 4 days. We visited The Grassy Knoll in Dallas as well as the oldest in Texas..Tombstone  We rented a car and managed a 4 states in one day,  geocaching through Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana..From Dallas we flew to Puerto Rico and spent a fun filled 2 ½ days exploring old San Juan and the forts and a day in the rain forest. All this while managing a few geocaches here and there of course. Then onto the Experience of the Seas with 48 like minded individuals.  We spent a fair amount of time off on our own and managed to take in and enjoy lots of island life.  A cache or two on each island rounded us out quite well.

In July we flew to Winnipeg (my first time that far east). Rented a car and explored the Lake of The Woods in Ontario before heading back through Minnesota into Manitoba.  Managed to grab the oldest cache in Manitoba for my 10,000 find! C1BUA - cache 1n a builtup area  

Headed north to Dauphin for some fun time at Country Legends Manitoba 2015 (WestCan5) with friends. 

September saw us hit the road again.  This time we took a couple of caching friends with us and went to Long Beach Washington for a week long road trip.  And I actually drove on the beach.. Just a little bit.  We had a lot of fun at Cache Dash Splash

Moving on

The very first BCGA AGM I went to was in Nanaimo. At that time the vote was taken on the floor after nominations had been presented. I was asked to say a few words and I stated that environmental issues and how geocaching affects them were important to me. I then left the room and came back as an elected director at large.

Things have since moved on and I am currently the sitting secretary. I still believe strongly in how geocaching affects the environment and will continue to do so.
I have been proud to be on the BCGA executive over the past few years. The experience has enriched me and I will leave with new friends and like minded people. But, it is time for new blood. One can only contribute so much before moving on and giving someone else a chance. 

I want to wish and encourage any future executive member to reach out with both hands and grasp the experience of having some input into the geocaching future of the Province of British Columbia. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in and don’t be afraid to compromise. We are a very diverse group from all over the province with our own ideas. Let’s all work together and build a sustainable future for all geocachers.

To those that have nothing better to do than complain and belittle, remember that the executive are volunteers sometimes with no knowledge or practical experience with the job they are taking on.  Everything is a learning curve.  and, not only for the executive but for the members.  When talking, emailing, commenting, etc. please remember how you would like to be spoken to.  We all read the written word differently and we all interpret things differently.  Laying blame or constant criticism is demeaning and IMO a bullying tactic.  So always think before you speak or write and think about how you want to be perceived....

On July 11, 2015 a new executive will be elected. Please give them all the positive support you can especially through transition.  If you must criticize please remember it could be you.

To Premium or not!!

When I first started geocaching I used an older Magellan that I had to manually enter every set of coordinates.  Then I graduated to a Magellan Explorist and I discovered the ability to send directly to my GPSr.
And then GSAK happened..the ability to send pocket queries to my GPSr ...Ah wait I can only get pocket queries if  I am a Premium Member?  Well I am hooked and no matter where I am I look for caches and plan outings and holidays around caching so Premium I  became.  I love being a premium member for what it offers

Geocaching.com offers a pay user system that has benefits: Pocket Queries,     Premium Geocaches, Bookmark lists, Trip Planning, Instant Notifications, Favorites, Select of your Map Provider, Filter geocaches, Statistics, Paperless geocaching, Access to the Geocaching Live API, Access to all Groundspeak websites, & Audit Logs

There are some that think the instant notifications are cheating at getting the FTF's..Well I used to get FTF's long before I became premium.. if I happened to be online when it was published.  Of course there were not as many cachers or caches then.

The paperless geocaching nowadays is a must for me.  I remember all the paper I wasted printing and carrying around.  I still do that when I am traveling but I only print virtuals and earthcaches for the notes and answers etc..

Bookmark lists are awesome for challenge caches, favorites, must dos, etc..

The ability to flip back and forth between map types can be very handy when you are looking for an access road, logging road, or trail.

I absolutely love the ability to trip plan. I always check out my route/road(s) first and then plan my queries for caching along routes.  That and the ability to filter makes my caching trip more versatile.  I can choose the type, size, etc that I want to find along the way.

Now the one thing about premium membership that I rarely use is PREMIUM CACHES and AUDIT LOGS.   At this time I have absolutely NO Premium caches hid and therefore the Audit Log is useless as they go hand in hand.. I have no cache that is really worth making Premium as I want EVERYONE to find my caches not just premium members.  There is a lot of talk that Premium caches are safer.. I say balderdash...The majority of premium caches I find are are usually just micros in the woods...and some of them so hard to find even an experienced cacher has difficulties.. the chance of them being found by a non cacher is slim to none...In my opinion the only reason they are premium caches are to be able to audit their logs.. Premium cache owners can see who, when, and how many times a cacher opened their cache page.  What is that for? 

My area has a profusion of premium caches.  I feel so sorry for a new cacher that does not have premium..  One, he is unable to see or find those caches, and, two, how the hell is he supposed to hide any?  In my opinion it is a pretty good way to discourage a newbie as every time he goes to hide a cache he can't because there is a hidden premium cache there..Good way to discourage a large amount of finds on your cache as well if only say 50% of cachers even know it's there...

Caribbean Bound -St Croix US Virgin Islands - 11

Saturday morning we arrived at the port of Frederiksted.  At every port we have been in so far the dock was not as long as this one and we always disembarked from the bow.  This dock was much longer and our ship chose to dock at the very end and we disembarked from the stern.  Made for a good walk just to get ashore..

The morning for us consisted of just relaxing.  I took a walk around the port and the market for a couple of hours.




 There was a nice seawalk that we made use of before turning into the town and the market

Interesting Police Vehicles

 I have managed to resist most of the wares at the ports.  It is tempting....

 Just before noon a group of us gathered for an excursion across St. Croix to Christiansted.  Cars drive on the left hand side of the road, but nearly all the automobiles on the island have left side steering columns.  For me who was just getting used to being on the wrong side of the road this was another anomaly that I found distracting.

 We were soon headed out to the attraction for the day.  Word was Buck Island Reef National Monument was some of the best snorkeling.. Not having much experience with snorkeling in the Caribbean we must agree.  The trip out took approximately an hour there and an hour back with about an hour at the reef. 

 There are buoys for the snorkel tours to tie up to  After a brief set of instructions the first group was into the water.

 I cannot describe the feeling when I first looked down.  Everything I  had ever seen on TV and was nothing like actually being there.  The colors, the diversity, etc.  I just wanted to reach out and touch all the fish but they wouldn't hold still.  Paul had his GO-Pro so was taking advantage of the grotto and getting some good underwater footage.  

 All to soon it was time to head back.. By the time we got back to Fredrickstad the tour operators were hustling.  We arrived back at the ship after all the ramps but one had been put away.  Today we held up the ship and our cruise mates jeered us on.  We are now headed back to San Juan and home...

We will be back.......

Caribbean Bound - St Maarten-St Martin - 10

Once again we wake up to a beautiful morning as we approach St. Martin/St. Maarten.  We have gotten used to the turbulent seas and rainy nights because we know the days are warm and sunny.

 

 St. Martin/St. Maarten is shared by France and the Netherlands.  the port of call is on the Dutch side and the streets are a mecca of shops.

Today we ventured out with most of the geocaching group in two buses to cross over and get a tour as well as geocaches in both countries.  Landscape was common to the caribbean and our tour/bus driver was entertaining.

The smallest bridge border crossing...lol

hurricane shelter

He made mention of how we could tell we were in France because the roads were better.

Because we were in a smaller bus than the rest of the group our driver took us to a lookout as well as meandering into some side streets before arriving in Marigot to join the rest of the group.  We got our picture taken at  It's About Time! before heading up the hill with a small group of cachers to find Fort St. Louis Cache. 

Only a few of us made the trek up the hill and on the way down we got caught in a torrential downpour.  We tried to get down before it started but were forced to take shelter under a tree.  The road was quite slippery on the way back with water and loose gravel and of course I just had to take out another knee in a pair of pants but saving the camera was my first thought. 

Prooperty anyone?

We got back to Philipsburg were we had the driver drop us off.  Cachiing, meeting other cachers, having some laughs, lunch. Free beer to come into a shop just to look?
And yes some shopping.  All of this before walking back to the ship and then hanging over the railing at 5 to watch the stragglers running to get aboard.  Becoming a daily show!

Caribbean Bound - Antigua - 9

By far one of my favorite stops.  We departed from the ship as soon as we could and managed to work our way through the hoards of taxi drivers and guides.  Very organized here as elsewhere.  They have a central person that coordinates.  However we were after the nearby earthcache Pile-Rates of the Caribbean before anything else.

 We found it fairly quickly and headed back to the dock. 

 We had in mind a beach to the north but we were approached by a driver that needed two more people to fill his van.  No one leaves unless they are full.  We told him where we wanted to go and he replied that he had a much better spot.  We decided to go with the flow and we were soon on our way to Ffryes Beach. 

Here there was a bar/restaurant, hut/chair/umbrella rentals, wifi, and he was coming back to get us later. Pretty sure he got a kickback for bringing people.
A bit of a quieter/local spot and a perfect place to relax for a few hours. 

 

The day ends much to quickly but we did get a chance to swim and snorkel a bit. 

We also got to experience a rain squall. and discovered you can see them coming for miles.  This one stirred up the wind a bit and turned umbrellas inside out but we were under a grass hut so stayed dry.  All in all it only lasted about 10 minutes before moving on and it was so warm it didn't matter

Once back at the ship we took time to wash away the salt and then headed back ashore for some more free wifi and the cheap beer. 

 One of the other cruisers was getting her hair cornrowed so I negotiated and paid up.  Everyone got to give me a bad time and take candid photos as well as replacing  my refreshments. 

 A final event and a dash for the ship and were were once again on our way in the nick of time

Caribbean Bound - St Lucia - 8

A new day and a new destination.  I and a few others have started getting up early and having coffee while we approach our port of call each day.  A chance to chat and view our destination.  St Lucia is basically mountainous.

The Pitons

Airport at the harbour

Today while some of the group are off to climb mountains, bathe in mud, and scuba dive, we are embarking on a pirate ship adventure.

The cruise took us down the coast towards the Pitons, we swam off the ship, saw flying fish(only a couple), walked the plank, fired the cannons at lookie-loos from other boats...what fun.  All this while the crew entertained us, kept our glasses filled with rum punch, and listened to island music.  Very infectious for me although most of the tourists just sat there...

We returned to port where we relaxed for a couple of hours before heading back ashore to pick up a geocache and attend an event.  We got to meet a couple from another cruise ship and exchanged pathtags as well as a young fellow and his family from the Netherlands who were staying on the island. 

Soon we set sail for another night at sea and the adventures on board continue....

Caribbean Bound - Barbados - 7

 I have never been to the Caribbean before and never this far south.  Wow.  We couldn't wait to get off the ship and explore and enjoy the beautiful weather that we woke up to.

Most of the group were going on an excursion but we decided that we wanted to just fulfill our cache requirement for the day and the relax and enjoy the beach and ocean.

 We quickly caught on to the cab services and for a one-way fee got dropped off at the Barbados Museum.  Along the way the driver kept up a running commentary of the attractions, Barbados in general, and how to get back to the ship.

The Barbados Museum was our go to cache of the day to add Barbados to our country list.  Very interesting site and we had a reason to go inside and converse with the reception ladies.  Very helpful and friendly. 

 

As we headed towards the beach we stopped for one traditional which gave us a bit of trouble before we came up with what proved to be quite simple 

The Main Guard 

We were starting to get a little warm so we now headed for the beach.  Once there we didnt waste any time for a temperature test which lived up to our expectations

we could see our cruise ship 3 miles down the beach.  We could also see in the distance where our driver had said was a good watering hole.  For $15 each we got a drink, loungers, umbrella, and a ride back to the ship.  A nice way to spend the afternoon just relaxing.

 

Caribbean Bound - Cruising - 6

The day has arrived.  Once again we are up early...Who can sleep when there is so much to see?  However today we must vacate our villa so we pack everything up and head out to grab the last couple of caches in the area as well as breakfast.  Once that is done we pick our luggage up and head for lunch before grabbing a cab to the cruise terminal.   We are early and two of us can board at 130 and one at about 230 but luck was with us so they let us board right away. 

We came prepared so once the luggage was dropped off (we wouldn't see it again til after 3 pm), we headed for the pool for some Captain Specials, a swim in the salt water pool(neat idea), and watching everyone else board.

Although we spent 7 days and nights on this ship we never had a chance to see or do everything....
We had opted for Open Dining so were not part of the large group of geocachers every night.  We did however get to see them during breakfast and during caching and all the events that were in almost every port we stopped.  Our dining staff was perfect and so was the food...Would recommend RC anytime...
A bit of a chuckle as I had to go retrieve one piece of my luggage from storage.  Everything coming on board gets x-rayed so I  knew they were questioning the two bottles in  my luggage.  Once they were assured it was my allowed wine and not the hard stuff all was ok... I was more worried that they had broken a bottle...ugh

The next day (Monday) was our "at sea" day.  We had already met everyone at a meet n greet and group photo so the next was a round of mini golf.  Amazing what you can do onboard....

The night life never seems to stop on board.  We took part in live theater, ice shows, etc.  as well as lots of good company and laughs..