3 more geocaches found bringing my total to 155 (with spoilers)

I had been to the Walmart in Vestal NY quite a few times looking of a geocache called Always #55 Vestal. Finally on 10-7-16 I found it!

I looked at this a bunch of times and tried to pull the panel off but the screws made it seem like it was bolted in. The magnets on the back were very strong so it was hard to pull off. I tried harder this time and it fell off. 

I had a dentist appointment on October 12, 2016. When I was done I got some groceries and headed to find a geocache called Rockwell - The Dumps that I had tried to find a year ago. I had the same issue as before that the gps brought me to a place where a local bridge was out. It would not route me around so I parked in a big abandoned parking lot and walked .48 of a mile to the geocache. It was a beautiful day for a walk. 

I got near GZ and saw a water drainage pipe. In the description of this cache it said something about "Tunnel through" so I took it literally and crawled through the tunnel thinking the cache must be hidden somewhere in it. I was wrong it was hidden NEAR the tunnel NOT in it. 

I dropped off a gorgeous geocoin (Fortune Favors the Bold Geocoin) that I had picked up at another cache the previous week.

I put everything away and went to check out the abandoned area nearby. 

I had met a fellow geocacher about a month before who told me of a geocache that he created. He told me how hard it is and gave me a hint. Since he had come to town recently to find some of mine I wanted to stop and try to find this one of his. It was called Coal Miner's Memorial.

When I arrived at GZ I saw I had no cell service and had forgot to set my handheld gps to the coordinates. I looked around and suddenly realized I had locked my keys in my van. I went into the post office to ask if they could look up the number for roadside assistance for me. I went to the local gas station and used their phone to call my sister and tell her that I would be late getting home to get my kids off the bus. 

I waited around for an hour for the tow truck to arrive to unlock my van for me. While I waited I looked in every possible place I could think of for this geocache. I could not find it. Just as the tow truck arrived the owner saw me and stopped to talk. He had to show me where the geocache was. I never would have found it as it was hidden so well. It was a little tube stuck in the ground behind the memorial. 

What a day ha ha. 

I created 2 geocaches and found 1 (with spoilers)

October 4, 2016 I planted two geocaches and submitted them.

Melrose Falls is a small medicine bottle with two magnets glued to it and wrapped in decorative duck tape. I wanted to place it directly in view of the falls but that would be over water so I had to place it on the opposite guardrail away from any water or private property. I set the hint as "This life'guard' does not watch over the falls." 

Slippery Rock is at a tiny little swimming hole. During summer months local kids dig it out to make it deeper. When I photographed this the morning I planted the cache you could see how shallow it is. It is a very beautiful spot that is even more beautiful in the winter. I placed a log in a tiny container that I covered in black tape. A bunch of trees are being cut down in that area so it was hard to find a spot to hide this. 

There was a new geocache planted a few miles away called Fresh Hotel. The coordinates showed me this was about 200 feet up in the woods. I was very nervous about walking where the cache was supposed to be due to all the private property signs. I just hoped the hole time that the owner of the geocache had permission to post the cache there. 

I got to see some beautiful things which made my morning wonderful. I saw a red-bellied woodpecker, a orange salamander, some cool looking mushrooms. 

 After about an hour of searching I got tired and texted the owner asking for another hint as "pine" could be many many trees. She said it was hidden right behind the water bucket where locals go to get water. I headed back down the hill and found it hidden under a tree without having to step on the private property at all. 

I sat down on the little step next to the spring to rest and sign the log. Its neat being the FTF as I get to see what everything looks like in the cache brand new. I found a really neat Geogoin. It was the first one I've ever found. It was called Fortune Favors the Bold Geocoin.

10 more geocaches found making my total 151

October 3, 2016 I went out for another full day of geocaching. 

My first stop was a new geocache called Road Trip. I parked down the street at a nature preserve assuming that was there this was hidden. I was wrong and had to walk down the street where I found the geocache hidden in a guardrail. I was the third one to find this.

The next one Rest Easy was another new one by the same owner. This was hidden in an old stone wall in cemetery. I was the fourth one to find it.

I opened the app to see what geocaches were nearby and saw that there was one right down the driveway and across the road. Down the driveway on the side was a stone wall and what I assume may be a waypoint or benchmark.

This geocache was called Old Colonial Mausoleum. It was a magnetic key holder hidden inside a guardrail between a small cemetery and the Mausoleum. This place seemed kind of creepy to me.

The next geocache was called Stillwater bedlands. It took me so long to find as my gps just kept bouncing me around and the grass and thorns were so high. I should have waited until after winter comes and goes to find this but once I got started I was determined to find it before I left. After along time of searching I finally found it hanging in a tree.

The contents were buttons and were really neat so I was a bit bummed they were all water logged and rusty. It was still nice to see them though and worth finding.

The next cache was called Stillwater Dam Overlook.  I could have walked down the trail to find the next geocache called but it said that the bridge was out so I decided to drive down to the parking lot to find this. I had to crawl under a very low hanging tree limb and found the cache lying on the ground. I signed the log and put it back not sure if that was really where it was supposed to go for sure or not.

Stillwater's Other Side was hidden in a guardrail in front of the rail trail. Things were to heavy with tall grass to see any view of the Stillwater Dam.

Payne in the Side was another guardrail hide. It took me down a nice quite country road to view a tiny creek. Nothing very special but it did give me another smiley.

I assumed the next geocache Elkview would be at the local ski resort but when I arrived at the coordinates I realized it was in the game lands. I don't like doing game lands very often as I am nervous of wild animals. This was mowed pretty well to GZ to that made things a lot easier and it wasn't a very difficult hike. I was happy that this was NOT a stone wall hide but was instead hidden inside a rotted tree that looked like it had been hit with lighting.

Once I got back to my vehicle I checked where the next nearby geocache was and found that if I had not turned back after finding the previous geocache I could have walked to this one fairly close by. It was called LL Rd G Lands 236. I drove down the road and parked in a different spot and hiked in another way to the game lands. I saw such so many beautiful things along the way. A huge wasp nest, a butterfly and some really interesting fungus growing on a tree. I looked it up and found this is called Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the Woods). 

This was mowed most of the way to GZ as well but finding the way in the last 50 feet was harder and harder yet figuring out where the geocache was hidden. I finally spotted the ammo container hidden in a fallen tree. I dropped off a trackable called Cachekinz - Ocean Series.

When I reached home I saw a message on facebook from the owner of a new geocache called Leave it to Beaver. She showed me that another geocacher told me the go ahead and get the FTF on this one. I really did not feel like heading back out as I was exhausted from the game lands but when I saw he had written that I had to go find it. My son went with me and we found the geocache hidden in a guardrail showing us a view of a local Beaver Dam. I've driven by it a hundred times and never really paid it much attention until now.

So I rounded out the day with finding 10 geocaches and bringing my total to 151.

My first month on Reviewer Group

I found out about another cool site that lets us test out products for free in exchange for a review on Amazon (this was before an update to Amazon's policies). I am new to the site so I did not get many items to review but that is expected.

The first item I was approved to test out and review was PZOZ Phone ring. I was so excited to try this but then when it came I really did not care for how it worked so I ripped it off my phone and threw it away. It was so stuck on (which is good to know it would not easily fall off) that it pulled the paint off my cell phone case.

The only other two products were  :

MD.X. iPhone 6s Plus cell phone arm band

and 

Exshow Long Arm Car Mount cell phone holder 

Hopefully this month I am approved for more products. Since Amazon is not allowing sellers to require reviews anymore I think there will be a lot less sellers using these groups. So far I have only been approved for one item and that was before the policy change. 

I found 12 geocaches on 9-28-16 (spoilers)

I think this is the most geocaches I have ever found in one day. I was shocked and very happy with how many I was able to find in the hours while my children were at school.

I started with a brand new geocache called Bear Crossing. It was a medicine bottle hidden in a guardrail. Usually this is a terribly busy road but there was construction being done just down the road so it was quiet while I was there and I had no run ins with mama bear whom this cache was named for. I was the third person to find this one.

The second geocache I went to find was at Bucks Falls. I had looked for this cache called Butts Hotel @ Bucks before but was in a hurry and had to head for home and mark it as a DNF :( There was a FTF that logged this so I knew the coordinates were correct but my gps just was bouncing all over. I was determined not to leave until I found this. It took me about an hour and a lot of nervousness due to my fear of heights but I finally found it. It was hidden very well. It was a beautiful spot to view the falls and was tucked between the rocks and a really neat tree root. I picked up a trackable called Cachekinz - Ocean Series and dropped off one I had called Geocache Trails.

The third geocache was Sweethearts Tree Cache. It was a tiny little film container hidden behind a rock at the base of an amazing tree. There were so many names carved into this tree over the years as it grew. I was so in awe looking at this. It really is something you have to see in person to appreciate as photos but do not do it justice.

The fourth geocache was All Gave Some, Some Gave all #47 Wrighter Lake Rd. It was hidden in a stone wall in very beautiful little old cemetery.  I hate when people hide things in old stone walls as they get ruined by careless people looking for the caches. Thankfully this was easily spotted and so there was no need to move things around to look for it.

The fifth geocache was Orson Cemetery Cache. This was another old stone wall hide that was easy to spot so I did not have to remove any stones.

When I had driven to the Orson Cemetery I noticed a memorial at the end of the road. When I did a search at the cemetery to see where some nearby geocaches were I saw this one listed and knew right where it was. It was called The Hine Memorial. I was surprised to find it stuck under a large stone on the memorial. I thought it would be on the road side or somewhere else. It was just a log hidden in an old rusty Altoids container but it did the job!

The seventh geocache was A Lonely Place. When I arrived at the coordinates I can see how it got its name. It is probably the smallest cemetery I have ever seen. The cache was two tiny bison tubes on keychains attached to the tree. It had a ziplock bag around it to try to keep the water out. One tube was an old moldy log and the other tube held a newer one was the one that I signed.

The eighth geocache was Spruce Lake Cache. When I got to GZ I saw this was laying on the ground. I turned it over and saw that it had a reflector on it. What a great disguise when hidden in the tree. I could not get it to fit back in the tree so I laid it facing the correct way in front of it.

The ninth geocache was Tamarack Swamp. This was a little container covered in duck tape and magnetic. It gave me a good idea for making my own geocache container like this. This was hidden on a guardrail and was easy to spot. The swamp was actually very pretty and I was happy not to have to go down through any swampy area to find a cache. Across the street was a really old camper that I went and checked out. I think I might have liked investigating that as much as looking at the swamp.

The tenth geocache was a new one called Gone but not Forgotten at an old cemetery. It took me awhile to spot this but eventually found it hidden in a stone wall. I was the second one to find this.

The eleventh geocache was A Cache at Belmont Lake. This was probably my favorite cache of the day because of the size of the container. It was an ammo can. It was well out of the way of muggles. I picked up a travel bug here called Travel Bug Origins. After I was finished I took a way down to look at the lake and was very glad to have come here to see this. It was a chilly day threatening to storm but people were still out fishing on boats making the best of the day.

The final geocache of the day was called Miller Pond. I parked at the Reservoir not realizing how far away the cache was. I took a bunch of photos of the Reservoir and walked down the street and the dirt road to the boat launch area. I was shocked so see how little water there was. I had never been here before but the photos on the geocaching site showed a few years ago how stunning this place was. I found the cache hidden in a tree.

After a long but excellent day I headed home. This brought my geocaching total finds to 141.

September on AMZreviewtrader

On September 1st I signed up for a year membership to Amazon Prime and started doing reviews again on AMZreviewtrader. I noticed during this month there were a lot less sellers offering items for review. Due to recent changes on Amazons policies I think there will be even less in October.

The things I received were:

1 - Wotnick Stick on notes
2 - ipod Touch 5th/6th generation wallet case
3 - Stalion Mobile Mate stand

4 - Grandpa Gus's Live Critter Catcher

5 - Valosun Cranberry Extract supplement with D-Mannose plus enzymes

6 - HQDmall Clear corner guards

7 - Kaptron Universal bicycle phone holder

8 - Veneev Car sun shade 3 pack

9 - Shackle iPhone 6s car charger

10 - ezbrew Refillable Keurig Coffee Filter Cups

11 - Balios Umbrella

12 - Gama Matcha green tea powder

13 - PHL Naturals Hyraluronic Acid Serum

14 - baebody Eye Gel

15 - My Cozy Home furniture super grip felt pads

16 - Plant Guru raw african black soap

17 - Chefaith Apple Slicer + orange peelers

18 - Aviano Botanicals  hair skin & nails multivitamin

19 - Brooklyn Botany lavender essential oil

20 - Safebao bicycle pouch cell phone holder

21 - IVVO 10 ft lightning cable 2 pk for iphone 6s

22 - Starwood Sports microfiber travel towel

23 - bio Life odorless garlic

24 - iXCC Universal waterproof case

25 -aquazone swimming goggles

I have to finish writing reviews for the last three items I received but all the others I tested out and completed. Lots of nice free goodies this month. The only one I paid money for was the Cranberry pills and that was 94 cents. 

Geocaching and Letterboxing in New Milford PA (with spoilers)

A friend on facebook was interested in seeing what geocaching was all about so I offered to take her with me. She took me up on that and on the morning of September 27 we headed to our first stop at the New Milford Cemetery. 

The geocache was called "New Milford Cemetery". It was hidden in an old stone wall. I really don't like old stone wall hides as people will ruin them to get to a cache but this one was easily able to be spotted without any trouble. 

In the same cemetery a letterbox was hidden. It was called "See Ya Later!!" We had to reach in the dirt between a small set of steps to find the little letterbox container. This carving was a treasure chest or suitcase (?) but I'm not sure how it fits in with the theme. 

The second geocache we went to find was Highland Falls Cache. We had to park along the side of the road as there really was no pull off. Then we had to descent over the guardrails to the waterfall. 

This took us a really long time to find but finally while climbing a really steep cliff I found it stuck in hollow of a tree. 

I picked up a trackable here called Geocache Trails. 

The third geocache we went to find was Don't Fall. This was hidden in the base of a tree by a creek. I think more exciting then finding the cache was the view underneath the concrete bridge next to it and the pretty ivy growing all over nearby. I am tempted to go back and dig some up to bring home to grow inside.

The last geocache we went to find was called View of the Creek. We looked around for along time and we could not find it. My gps had me going all over the place. I had to go home to get my children off the bus from school so I will have to try finding it again another time.

I created 2 geocaches & found 2 more (with spoilers)

I had been wanting to make my own geocaches since I got started geocaching about a year and a half ago. I made one but wanted to wait until I got a handheld gps so I could get more accurate coordinates. I finally got one and set out to place two geocaches on September 22.

Down the road is a tiny little old Jail. The road is called Jail Hill and some locals never realized what the building is or how the road got its name. The building is leaning quite badly and I think in a few years it will collapse. I've thought over the years how neat it would have been if someone had moved it and restored it to create a little town historical society. I wanted to bring people here to see it and learn a little about the areas history by placing a geocache there named Jail Hill.  It is on a very sharp corner and has a terrible bees nest on the front of it so I placed it down the street in site of the jail. It is hidden in a guard rail.

My husband died on March 22, 2011 and although he hated the outdoors and likely never would have gone geocaching if I was interested in it before he died I still wanted to create a geocache for him. After a lot of running back and forth to the Lakeview cemetery and my house I finally got it all in place. Behind his grave he is directly between two trees. I put a hook in the tree and hung a bottle from it that I had added a key ring to and covered with camo tape.  I would have loved to make it a theme of things my husband liked but I would have needed a larger container and there is very few places I could put a cache near his grave. I named this Remembering Jim.

When I can't find a geocache I add it to my watch list. When someone finds it sometimes I get a good hint that sends me back looking for it. This is the case with Billy Greenwood. Someone posted that they returned to look again and saw that a new bridge had been made. Last time I looked for this I couldn't figure out where to cross the water and realized their must have been a bridge that got washed out in one of the floods. I went back and finally found this cache (a medicine bottle) hidden in a tree. GZ was in awful shape. There was broken tvs and other garbage all over.

I happened to check the app and see if there were any new ones nearby and I saw one was placed at the Reddon's Sports Complex. I stopped and grabbed the FTF at this cache called Play Ball!!. I have gotten 3 FTFs now! It was a magnetic key holder stuck to the underside of a drinking fountain.

This brought my geocache total finds up to 126.

Geocaching adventures 9-21-16 (with spoilers)

There were a few new geocaches placed locally so I decided to get them as well as taking the remainder of the day to find some other older geocaches.

The first cache was called Forever Asleep. It was located in North Jackson Cemetery. I was the third person to find this. It was hidden in a very old stone wall. There was a nice bench you could sit on in front of the cache. There was a cute little ice cream eraser in the cache. My son eats chocolate ice cream every night for a bed time snack so I took this home for him and left something in its place.

The second geocache was called Take Comfort. I was the second one to find this geocache. It was located in a guardrail near Comforts Pond. I had never been there before but knew that people go fishing so I wanted to walk the trails to check things. As I headed down the main trail to the water I just about smack ran into a guy pooping. Long story short he was traveling across country on his bike. He had camped there for the night and making his way from New York to California.

The third geocache was called The Button Bottle. I expected this to be a lot harder then it was. I read the hint before I left which was "Stuck between a rock and an IDLE place". When I arrived at the coordinates I knew exactly where it was located. The hint was perfect. I didn't have many interesting buttons at home to trade but I took a seashell that someone left in there and dropped in a few buttons.

The next one was a bit further then I expected but it promised a nice view. It was called Ararat Cemetery. This was a larger container then the cemetery I had been to earlier but was also hidden in an old stone wall. The view was nice but was blocked by tall trees in the distance so I couldn't get a very good picture. However as I was walking I noticed this beautiful gravestone. You can tell how much this boy is loved by those he left behind.

A friend of mine had told me that a geocache had been placed at her farm. It is a wedding venue and bed and breakfast. The cache is called Fiddle Lake Farm. A bride and groom placed this cache on an old piece of farming equipment on the property. It was such a neat little hide. This was a lot neater hide then a guard rail cache and dash!

By this point I was terribly in need of a bathroom so I headed to a near by gas station called Arlo's. I did a search and found that there was geocache hidden there called ACS Micro. The gps had me going all over the place. I wandered through the woods on the opposite side of the road and everything. It was pretty embarrassing. The hint was terrible it said "Yes it is there!" That could be anywhere! I finally found it hidden under an old broken guardrail post that was laying almost flat on the ground.

Down the road a little ways was a geocache called Heading to the Lake. I had heard of Belmont Lake but had never been there until looking for this cache. It literally was along the road to the lake. It was a little bottle covered in camo tape hidden at the base of a speed limit sign.

I decided to head for home. I guess I wasn't really thinking very clearly and paying enough attention as I got pulled over by the police for speeding. I never speed so when I got pulled over I wasn't even sure why I was being pulled over. I was thankfully given a warning but I was pretty shaken up. I wanted to end my day on a better note so instead of heading home I headed to find another geocache before my kids got home from school.

 I went back to McKune Cemetery to look for a tiny geocache I couldn't seem to find a few days before. It was called Life's Harmony. The coordinates led me to a fenced in gravestone area. The hint was "Not on a hill" The last name on the gravestones were Cahill so I knew I was at the right spot. Today I found it quite easily. It felt wonderful to find this! I was the 5th one to find this geocache and I ended my day finding 8 geocaches!