The aftermath & the wallet

Thursday morning arrived and I knew the 14 mile walk was not an option. So as a slight compromise I went and spent some money!

I dearly love my first GPS; a Garmin eTrex Vista HCx which I've had since I started Geocaching in May. It's rugged, it's scratched, it's reliable, it's dirty, it's waterproof and above all it's my first! It's been regularly updated with the free online maps (via talkytoaster) and it's genuinely been worth it's small weight in gold but as I've progressed in caching I've come to need more; when I've been out solo it's been a logistical nightmare carrying maps I've printed out especially for the day, any additonal route notes or puzzles and even lists of the caches I'm doing so I can take notes to remind me of each cache to aid me in doing my online logs.

I've been looking, on and off, for a few months now but last Sunday (the paperwork!) and a nicely timed Christmas bonus made me look again. Patrick has a Garmin Oregon 450 and this was the exact model I'd been looking at for a while. Questions and answers went back and forth about likes/dislikes, value for money and the professional maps vs the free maps. In the end I decided to double-treat myself and got one with the entire GB Ordnance Survey loaded, which practically doubles the cost.

I justified this to myself by thinking of my adventure doing the Yorkshire Dales Way. I won't need to carry ~£60 worth of non-waterproof folded maps saving weight and hassle.

Well that's my excuse anyway.

Home, a quick unbox and play, and then out for a small walk to stretch my legs (seizing up from the day before) and also to test my new GPS.

I did a quick two miles and 'discovered' Hannah's nearby series. I'd helped her place all these a couple of months ago (see blog) but it seemed reasonable now to re-do the walk, check they were all OK, sign them and then log them as finds.

The new GPS is really good; the compass and speed of updates is much better than the old one, but there are a few features I miss. They're there, but hidden away, so I suppose it's just a case of getting used to the new one. However the biggest bonus is the paperless caching - you can type notes in it as you wander, you can view the webpages, logs and hints on-the-go and all without needing a phone signal. My iPhone can stay tucked in my safe and dry pocket instead of being dragged out everytime I get really really stuck on a cache and need to consult the hint or old logs for clues.

But I do still love my old one and feel sorry for it. I have tech-sentimentality.

Not enough time...

We had already planned to pop down to 'Go Outdoors' last night to pick up a ticket for the new Geocaching competition and to also genuinely look at a new GPSr device. I'm toying with the idea of upgrading to an Oregon 450 for the paperless caching features.

As we'd be in that area we had also planned a quick 6 caches at Meersbrook Park but just as we were leaving work an email notification of a new cache came through and coincidentally it was only a couple of miles from where we were headed.

We went home, got changed and set off for the new cache. By the time we arrived, blindly following the GPS in road mode in an area I'd never been, it was raining steadily but after a short walk we successfully got another First-To-Find (FTF) only about 70 minutes after it was published.

We signed the log, turned around and then we saw a gentleman and two children approaching, all looking just as suspicious as we did. A quick chat and it turned out they were just a couple of minutes late for what would have been their very first FTF. For some reason I do love my FTFs but I felt bad that the kids hadn't got one. I'm really sorry. Good luck next time!

We went to 'Go Outdoors' as planned and spent some money on a decent backpack that's bigger, lighter, more ventilated and generally better on my back. I also got some more walking trousers and a water bag.

Yet more money - who would think walking would be so expensive!!

Going back to the title of today's blog, time... with other events coming up, and the nights drawing in, it really looks like the caching is going to take a hit and I'm not happy about it. It also looks like I'm going to have to bribe the kids again so I can do longer walks at the weekends...