Different Micro

We've seen plastic versions of this made from soda bottle preforms.  This is the first time we have seen a brass garden hose union used with two rubber hose caps.

The container has held up well for nearly five years.  The original log was dry and in great condition.

PetSTEP

One thing was very clear over the holidays.  If Geodog Phineas were able to recover from his injury, his days of jumping in and out of the GeoUte were over.  We also knew that one of us trying to hold him in the rear seat wasn't a safe idea either.

The hardest thing about finding a dog ramp is finding one that works.  The reviews are filled of failings where the ramps sag, wobble, or break.  If not under-designed, many fail from slippery surfaces or surfaces that fail quickly under wear from the dog's claws.

We spent a long time looking and reading reviews before we decided to give a try with PetSTEP.

Once it arrived, it seemed really sturdy.  We had it in the house for a couple weeks training the dogs to use the ramp on the bed.  Our first trial was a success.  With more use Phineas and Lizzie are getting much better at using the ramp to enter and exit the GeoUte.  It is great to reduce one more risk for Phineas while also making trips safer for Lizzie.

Phin makes a great model.

It is great to have Phineas still able to join us for great places like a geocaching hike near Wildcat Run by Chapman State Park.

A Tip for Cachly

Maybe everyone knows this tip, but it is new for me.  I use Cachly sparingly on the iPhone, but when your gps gets dropped and damaged in Fakahatchee Swamp there aren't many choices.

If you drop your gps here, bad things will happen.

I was left to finish the week's caching with the iPhone and Cachly.  One thing that is great about a gps is the ability to mark a cache as found so it disappears from view.  I rarely log as I cache and many places we cache don't have signal to live log anyway.  On Saturday we were visiting Picayune Strand to search for a series of caches on a hike.  After asking Ali a few times which cache was next, I played with Cachly while we were on the trail.  I noticed a feature for highlighting a cache.

It changed the cache page from this...

To this...

It may not really matter on the cache page, but then I returned to the map...

Suddenly I could see the found caches!  I was happy.  Maybe everyone knows this trick already.  If not, I hope it helps your caching adventures.

And if you are in SW Florida, you may want to stop and visit Picayune Strand.  There are caches everywhere and fun trails to enjoy.

A Good Idea For Logs

Everyone who caches has found a container with a small opening and a huge log inside which doesn't want to come out of the container. A cacher owner in SW Ohio has found a solution to retrieving the log without making a mess.

The cache owner takes a section of a wide drinking straw like the ones provided for frozen sodas. The cache hider cut a section as long as the width of the log roll and sliced the straw along the length.

The log is the inserted into the opened straw section.

Presto, the wrapped log now passes in and out of the container with no damage to the log.