Ice Caching....

Not...I'm having withdrawals from not caching for almost a month.Between work and the weather, I haven't been able to get any caching done. We have been in the process of a very slow thaw since the last ice storm. The good news is that it is almost all melted and the ground is beginning to dry out a bit. The bad news is that it is supposed to snow for the next two days. Hmmm...you'd think we were up north! Ah well, it will get better soon enough I suppose.

EDIT: Oh, I forgot. I did renew my Geocaching.com membership the other day. I have another year of pocket querys now! I can't believe I have been a member (paying and non-paying) for going on 7 years now. I never stick with a hobby that long. I have a short attention span when it comes to hobbies, generally.

Lunch Cache

I had to run an errand at lunch today. I had a package that needed to be dropped off at the post office and it seemed to be as good of a time as any. I was a bit dismayed when I pulled into the parking lot as the place was packed. There was not a single parking spot open. I knew that the line would be terrible and I had a finite amount of time to get back to work. In light of that, I just drove on through. As I was preparing to get back on the street, I noticed a geocache on my GPS that was just a couple of blocks away. At least, I would get to have some fun on my lunch hour!! I headed to the cache and found it was located in a park that was completely empty. I parked the car and pulled the cache up on my Blackberry. It was called "Pipe Down". I figured that the name ought to make finding the cache simple. I was right! Of course, the hider, BasicPoke, always has dead-on coordinates and that helps greatly. Unfortunately, this was not a planned outing so I had nothing to trade. Mental note to self: Leave trade items in car. It was a very nice cache that was well done. I signed the log and headed back to work.

I think I need to do more lunch caches. It was a nice break and even though I was out there in the weeds in a suit and tie, it was a lot of fun. I definitely returned to work with a better attitude!

Happy New Year!!

I hope everyone is doing well and ready for the new year. I was hoping to do a bit of caching this weekend but the weather may not cooperate. It is raining cats and dogs right now. It is supposed to clear up tomorrow, though. I have my latest pocket query loaded in GSAK and my waypoints downloaded to my iFinder just in case.

Okay, I couldn't stand it. I was sitting at cache number 99 after yesterday's caching. I just had to get out today and get number 100. It was Lake Front which ironically is only less than a mile from my home. I am not sure why I haven't done this cache so close to my home, but it seems fitting that it turned out to be my 100th cache.

A Caching We Will Go.....

Finally....Team ARC -1 got out and hit some caches. Mike swung by and picked me up and we headed out to pick up a couple of supplies before we started. In the process, we got a call from Mike's brother-in-law and he wanted to go with us. So, we swung back by Mike's house and picked Mark up. Mark is in from Arkansas visiting for the holidays. As we were headed back into Bixby, I saw a cache on my GPS so we headed that way. We got there and started looking around, but didn't see a cache. I pulled up the cache via the WAP website at www.geocaching.com and quickly realized that there was no cache there. It was false coordinates for a puzzle cache.

With that, we jumped back in the car and headed towards Bixby. Our first cache was R U Nuts. We quickly located it and signed the log. Next up was Bixby Cache #6. This was a micro and we quickly located it and signed the log. We then headed to a cache called Golden Arches that had foiled us earlier in the year, but we wanted to try again. This time, we brought along once of those mirrors on a pole that mechanics us. With our handy new tool, we were able to locate this one this time and sign the log. Our last stop was OBI-One. This one was quite a hike in and, of course, we took the hard way in through the brambles. The cache was quickly located and we made our trades. We followed the trail back out and walked to the car.

We were cold and ready for a break at this point, so we headed to Mazzio's and enjoyed a little pizza before wrapping things up. I'm sitting at 99 caches so I feel certain that I will need to get out and grab number 100 before I return to work on Tuesday. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!!

Negligence

Wow...I have really neglected my blog!! I didn't forget, I just haven't had anything to say. To be honest, I have been so tied up with work that I just have not had time to participate in my photography or my geocaching. Actually, I have been taking some photos, but I haven't uploaded anything lately. I will take care of that this weekend.

I have to admit, I did sell my Lowrance H2O GPSr. My intent was to pick up a color unit as soon as it cooled off and I could start caching again. To make a long story short, cash has been short and I never got to where I could pick up my H2OC. However, I did get on eBay this last week and did some hard shopping. I hate to brag, but I ended up getting one hell of a deal. I walked away with an iFinder Pro for only $72. It is like brand new to boot. Additionally, it came with the software, card reader, and a CF card. I'm pretty proud of my purchase. It is not a color unit like I wanted, but I can at least start caching again. Team ARC rides again on Saturday. Look for a narrative.

Wow...

sorry for the lack of post lately!! I haven't had much time to do anything recently including my photography. The good news is that it is cooling of and I plan on getting out and shooting some with the camera. It is also cool enough to do a little geocaching. I am looking to upgrade my GPS. I am seriouly considering getting the H2O Color. I have really enjoyed my H2O but color would be very useful. Since my accessories are Lowrance based, it just makes sense to stick with them for a color GPS.

CasherStash

I came across a really neat store today that sells geocaching related items. If you have a minute, be sure to visit them! The store is called CacherStash. They sell everything from GPS units to ziplock bags. They also sell the always vital caching containers. Best of all, they have great prices!!!

Upgrade!

Okay, I have upgraded to the new beta Blogger. I will be working on moving all my new links over to the new format tonight. I was ready for a new look anyways and this seemed like a good opportunity.

Oh, by the way, I have a new Olympus 35mm Macro lens on the way as I type. Look for new macro photos here in the near future!!

Edit: I reverted back to the old template for my blog. Until they allow raw HTML editing, I will stick with the old set-up. It is was to difficult to go back and add all my links with the new system!

Fourth of July

I just noticed that I haven't posted any photos from the festivities held at my parent house on the fourth. I guess that I wasn't as happy with the shots as I expected, but I still got some nice captures. I expect that next year will result in better photos as I will have more experience with the camera!! If I haven't mentioned it lately, I love my Olympus E-300.






























This was an interesting shot just because of the multiple components. I caught the moon, a star, a car, and the firework. It was one of those that spun upwards and exploded. I wish I would have caught everything in the frame!




















Tags:
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Newish Photos

Thought I would post a few photos today. It has been WAY to hot to cache...at least, for me it has been!

Photography...

I seem to have had good luck with catching cooler weather on the weekends lately. This has resulted in my taking over 1000 photos with my Olympus E-300: mostly at the Tulsa Zoo. I've been pretty impressed with the zoo here. Granted, it is no Dallas Zoo or Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, but it is far better than I would have expect for a city the size of Tulsa. I have especially enjoyed the Wings of Wonder butterfly display. It is so soothing to be in an exhibit with hundreds of butterflies of every color flitting around you. I have capture the best butterfly photos of my amateur career here.



I spent most of last Saturday walking around the Tulsa Zoo taking photos. I have two lenses for my E-300. I have the 14-45mm zoom lens and the 40-150mm zoom lens so I am effectively covered from 14-150mm. With the Olympus 4/3rds digital system, you have a 1.9x factor so the 35mm equivilant is 28mm to 300mm (11x zoom). Needless to say, in a zoo enviroment, my larger zoom lens spends all it's time attached to the camera so that I can get the close-up photos I want. I do not have a macro lens as of yet, but as you can tell in the photo above, the 150mm lens does a pretty good job of getting in nice an close even though I was about 10 foot away from this butterfly.

The lens also lets me get up-close and person with animals. This lends itself to photos that are very personal.



It also allows me to catch so nice action shots.



All in all, I have been very impressed with the Olympus E-300 and the lenses. I've only had the camera about a month and my photos seem to be continually improving as I learn the camera. Oh, if you are ever in the Tulsa area, be sure to drop by and visit our zoo! You will be glad you did.

Okay, I know...

this is a geocaching blog, but you're going to have to put up with it being a photography blog for a little while. Why? Because it is too damn hot to geocache!! No, I'm not a weenie, but I do have Multiple Sclerosis and because of that, I am very heat sensitive. Therefore, in the summer, I can do outside stuff only on particularly cool days or I have to do things in very small segments for very short periods of time.

In light of all of this, you won't see much on geocaching for a while. But, I will keep the site active by sharing my photography! We did have a cooler day this last Saturday and I did get out and visit the zoo so I will share some of the photos I took.

I Must Apologize....

for not posting in a while. Work has been insane and I have had to spend a lot of my weekend time working so I have not got to do any caching in a while. We actually intended to get out this last weekend and had a miscommunication that resulted in our not getting to cache. Hopefully, we can squeeze in some time for caching this upcoming weekend, although, I may end up having to work again.

I Really Intended....

to get out and geocache some this weekend! Unfortunately, it didn't happen. I'm a geocaching loser :) Actually, it was hotter than a...well, we've all heard the naughty comparisons so I will just say it was hot and humid. It is going to be a miserable summer. One of the symptoms of my MS is increased heat sensitivity. When you live in the south, that just sucks. Oh well, I figure I am stuck here for the time being.

Even thought I did not get to geocache today, I did spend a lot of the weekend researching my new camera. Most of everything that I have read about the Olympus E-300 has been very positive. I am really looking forward to receiving the camera! I have been doing the photography thing since I was very young. I got my first SLR camera, a Minolta XG-1, when I was 15. This will be my first DSLR camera. I am getting it only 25 years later. Bummer, I wish I hadn't thought of it that way. I still can't believe that I am 40.

Oh well, I will have a blast with the E-300!

It is a done deal...

Well, first and foremost, let me apologize for the lack of geocaching related post as of late. I have been quite busy lately and just have not had a chance to goecache. Yes, that sucks. I am going to at least try to catch a few caches this weekend, though. I would have liked to get Team ARC together for a good day of caching but real life has interfered with that. Maybe next weekend?

As for this weekend, I will get out and get a couple of caches on my own. Back to the title of this post! After much wheeling and dealing, I have sold a bunch of my stuff that was lying around doing nothing. The end result is that I have ordered my Olympus Evolt E-300. It should be here around the end of next week. I got a great deal and I am very excited about getting my new camera. It include the body and two lenses so it should meet my needs for a long time. I am determined to actually start making some money from my photography now that I have a professional camera. A lot of people who look at my photos at my photography website ask me why I don't sell my images. I guess I have always just did it for fun. That will soon change, though.

Camera Upgrade...

Well, I've finally decided to upgrade my camera. What does that mean? It means that I must sell my old camera, my iPod, and my Palm TX along with the accessories for all of the above. Hopefully, I will end up with enough to purchase an Olympus E-300 DSLR. I am very hesitant to take this step as my Sony DSC-V1 is the best camera that I have ever owned!!

We need rain but.....

I'm ready for a break !!! I was in St. Louis all week on a work related trip. It was a great trip for many reasons. I loved the drive up and back. There was a lot of beautiful scenery. We always have the option of flying on trips of this length but if we are going somewhere I have not been before, I really prefer driving if it is a less than 8 hour drive. St. Louis was only about 6 hours for us. Not only do you get to see new sights, but you have a vehicle for exploring and caching. The bad news is that I was about an hour into the trip when I realized that I had forgot my GPS! Bummer...after all that work getting my caches for St. Louis and the trip there downloaded to my GPS, I left it in my truck.

I still had the hope that I could cache this weekend, but alas, it has rained all weekend. It actually flooded while I was gone. The worst news of all was that a levee broke near the Bass Pro shop and apparently the place sustained some damage. I will have to drop by and place flowers near the building tomorrow. Surely, my fellow hunters, fishermen, and outdoors types have set up a shine of mourning.

Geocaching Withdrawals...

We had a crazy week at work. Our national auditors were in town Monday through Thursday. Overall, the audit went great. We had no system findings and only six observations. I don't think I can recall a time when we have no system findings. The department I manage had no observations and no findings. My group did an excellent job and I was very proud of them. The only bad thing was that the days were long and I had no chance to even think about caching.

No problem, there is always the weekend ! Well, if it were not pouring down rain, that might be the case. I am not going to complain much, though. We have a serious rainfall deficiet right now and we need every drop. I think we have been under red flag warnings and burn bans since the start of the year.

If the forecast holds, I may be able to do some caching tomorrow. It might be a bit muddy since it has been raining since mid-day yesterday. I'll take it though !

Saturday....

Mike and I had to go into work today. We have our national auditors coming in next week and an important computer upgrade this weekend. We worked about 2 hours today and were able to get out and cache for a while.

My intent was to see how my Blackberry worked out in the field compared to my Palm TX. Unfortunately, I think my Palm TX was the clear winner when it comes to caching! Although I felt the Blackberry did okay, the Palm definitely had a leg up because the Palm TX shows pictures and maps where the Blackberry is text only when it comes to caches.

Edit- Sorry about all the typos! Also, I should add that I was on the WAP site for gc.com so pictures will not show up. If I go to the full site with the Blackberry, the photos do show but the pages are hard to navigate. I am still looking at options to make the best of caching on the Blackberry. If I do stick with a Palm, I will probably sell the TX and get an older, lower end Palm. I don't need all the features of the TX just for caching.