Gunny's Cache

News from Japan

2011-03-18T17:57:00.001+09:00

To the very few folks that stop by this blog, I just wanted to say thank you, and we're fine. In light of the terrible disaster that has taken place on the main island of Japan, I don't think a lighthearted post would be in order.

We're doing well here in Okinawa, and we're hoping that things improve quickly for those up North.

Trip to Zanpa and a New Geocoin

2010-11-20T19:04:00.000+09:00

We loaded up the car this morning and took a trip to the Awase area, where I found four caches, including a previous DNF (Did Not Find). We then trekked over to Chatan to grab some curry from CoCo Ichibanya. Yum.

Next, it was north to Zanpa Point. I walked all over that park trying to find the letterbox hybrid cache there, but no luck. There was a great view from the point, so it was certainly worth the trip.

I also am the proud new owner of a couple of new geocoins. These are unactivated, trackable, commemorative coins that were minted in celebration of Okinawa having 500 active geocaches. I got two each in gold, silver, and antique nickel.

The family and I had a nice Saturday out and about.

Spoiled Geocachers and Regional Quality

2010-11-06T15:43:00.000+09:00

What is the geocaching environment like where you live? A ton of micros? An endless supply of rural ammo cans? I've said a few times that I believe I'm spoiled here on Okinawa. I've cached a couple of times in Southern California and was disappointed both times. Is there such a thing as regional quality when it comes to geocaching? I believe so.

Here in the tropical paradise of Okinawa, the majority of the caches are placed at various points of interest. In addition, most of the caches have trackables in them (geocoins and travel bugs). The folks over here are very generous with their coins, and we have pretty good luck with them staying in circulation. There are a couple of suspect geocachers over here, and most of us know who they are, but the rest seem very reliable about logging and moving trackables.

Stateside caches that I've found have not had any trackables in them. When I did a couple of pocket queries (downloading of geocache listings for a particular area), I was amazed at the lack of geocoins that are out there. Many folks that leave here talk about how most geocoins get stolen in America, so most cachers don't put them out, or only place them in caches with very high difficulty ratings. I have a couple of coins that have made their way to The States and (searching for some wood to knock on...) those coins have done pretty well so far. Are they the exception to the rule?

In addition to the lack of trackables to enjoy, stateside caches seem to be placed in some of the most mundane locations. I like finding hidden caches, but shopping center parking lots? Are you serious with that? Urban micros have their uses, and it's neat to be able to go grab a quick geocache if you're short on time, but some of those lamp post skirt hides are just plain silly. I must admit though, lamp post hides in hotel parking lots are cool because you can check into your room, and grab a cache two minutes later!

Those of you that have cached extensively in The States may have seen enough areas to weigh in on this; are there regions that are more "lame" than others when it comes to the quality of the geocaches? What's it like in your neck of the woods?

Herein lies one of the coolest features of this hobby: I don't have to go search for those geocaches that I don't like! If a cacher wants to hide a leaky film canister under a lamp post in a supermarket parking lot, they are free to do so and somebody, somewhere, will get some enjoyment from that. I would never point at a geocacher and say they are somehow inferior because I don't like their particular style of geocache. Personal taste is exactly that, but have any of you noticed trends in particular areas?

What say you?

Geocache Maintenance

2010-08-28T11:48:00.000+09:00

I recently accompanied a buddy of mine while he found some of his first geocaches. One of our stops was at the Agena Castle ruins in Uruma. I have previously found this cache, so I figured it would be easy to steer my buddy in the right direction. We found the cache quickly enough, but we also discovered that the lid was cracked and the cache was full of water. The contents were soaked, and the logbook was well on its way to an oatmeal-like consistency.

I stopped by this cache this morning and replaced it with a new container and logbook. I even threw in some swag items. The cache owner is no longer here on Okianwa, but the cache has not been adopted by anyone. This is too good of a spot to let the cache get archived, so I decided to lend a quick hand. Here's a few pictures:

More Okinawan Stuff

2010-08-20T22:00:00.000+09:00

As my time on the island of Okinawa goes by, I have to force myself to remember that the quirky little things that I see every day are considered oddities by the folks back home. Here's a few items from a trip to "American Village," in the Chatan/Hamby area.

The cars here all seem to have odd names. Even some models that we have in The States have different names here. For example, what we know as a Toyota 4Runner in America is a Hilux Surf over here. What on earth is a Voxy?

Here's part of my dinner from an Okinawan buffet. Have you ever had corn on your pizza? It was good, but it's not like the pizza we grow accustomed to in America. The meat on a stick is called Yakitori. The little dumpling-like thing is called gyoza. The salad dressing was a soy-based affair and it was pretty good.

This is part of American Village. The name is a bit of a misnomer, since there were far more locals in this area than Gaijin. There are a bunch of little shops, restaurants, and the Dragon Palace (games, slot machines, and other entertainment).

Island Hopping Campaign

2010-08-14T18:46:00.000+09:00

I went on a leisurely drive to a couple of the nearby islands today. My wife and kids joined me on an afternoon trip to Henza Island, Hamahiga Island, and Ikei Island (pronounced eee-kay). I was three for five on geocaches today, and that's just fine; I had fun searching. You can click on any of the pictures below for larger versions.

We crossed the bridge to Henza Island, and stopped at a park on the causeway, where I did not find (DNF'd) the cache there. I have been to this geocache three times now, and just can't seem to come up with it. Some caches are easy, and some are not. Next, we continued across the causeway to Henza Island, and made the turnoff toward Hamahiga Island.

There's a memorial on Hamahiga Island to Colonel K.H. Shelly, and I never would have found it without the hobby of Geocaching to guide me there. My daughter and I made the quick find, I picked up a geocoin, and off we went on our tour of these outlying islands.

Next, we crossed back to Henza Island, and stopped at a marina and park there. This was a neat little park, and appeared to be a bit under-used. The cache container was a pelican case, which I think are perfect for this hobby (water-tight year 'round), and it was an easy find. Off to Ikei Island!

We wound our way through the cliffs and ravines of the islands and stopped just after Ikei Beach. We walked a jungle trail to a small, secluded beach that seems to be frequented by mostly locals. I made quick work of the cache there, and then joined my wife and kids for a walk along the beach. We picked up a few shells and "sea glass," and then got back in our van for to head toward an obscure little park.

In the middle of a farmer's field is a little grove that shelters an ancient (300 B.C.) ruin of an Okinawan village. Some of the huts have been renovated, and the site would be overlooked by most Gaijin if it were not for Geocaching. I have been to this site once before, and I had a repeat of that visit today. I enjoyed going to the little park, but I couldn't find the geocache. I think it may have been swiped, since there isn't much at the published coordinates to search through. There's also a string of DNFs before my logged visit. Bummer; this was a great spot for a cache.

Overall, today was a fun day, and I'm glad I got to share it with my family.

Trackable Items Are Not Swag

2010-07-19T18:02:00.000+09:00

I've mentioned before that geocaching in Okinawa seems to have a uniqueness that may cause this hobby to appear dull when Stateside. I consider myself a bit spoiled here; we have trackable items in most of the caches here, the core group of cachers is very friendly, and almost all of the caches here are placed at real points of interest.

One thing that I have noticed when it comes to trackables (geocoins and travel bugs), is that they should not, but sometimes are counted as swag. Let me back the truck up here--Swag is the goodies that people place in a geocache, and the premise is that you should leave something in trade if you take something. For example, if I see a keychain flashlight in a cache, I should leave something equally nifty if I pick it up. Trackable items, however, are NOT swag; the owner of a trackable item wants it to move, almost without exception. Imagine, if you will, a trinket that you can track around the globe, and you find out that it just sits in one spot because nobody feels like they have something of equal "value" to trade for it.

Trackable items do not need to be traded for, but some cache owners think that they do. I've seen some experienced cachers place bulletins on their caches that state something along the lines of, "Don't take the last geocoin out of this cache; remember to trade up or trade even!" If my geocoin were the last/sole trackable item in a cache, I would still want it to get moved; I wouldn't really care if a cacher left something in its place.

I can understand the desire to treat trackable items like swag, since trackables often draw cachers to a geocache, but that should not be a policy, nor the nucleus of geocaching. I suppose that, since we all play this game in our own way, one could simply ignore the desires of a cache owner and grab the last trackable out of a cache, but would that be in keeping with the spirit of the game?

What say you about trackable items? Do you always grab them, or just "discover" them if you don't feel like you can move it quickly? Do you feel like you should leave a trackable if you pick one up?

Okuma, and Points North on Okinawa

2010-07-18T17:27:00.000+09:00

I just spent a week at the Okuma Resort here on Okinawa; what a treat this was! Over the span of seven days, I only found one geocache, and that was just fine. I looked for a couple of others, but they just weren't doing it for me while I was in vacation mode.

Here's a shot of the area near one of the caches that I DNFd; it's an old tunnel entrance that is now used for the long-term storage of Awamori.

Later, we drove to the very northern tip of Okinawa. The view was impressive:

We then headed to the cliffs that can be seen in the background of the above picture:

The view from here was amazing. We could clearly see the tip of the island, where we had just been earlier:

We had a great time, and I spent more time relaxing than anything else; you can't beat that with a stick.

Like a Breath of Fresh Air

2010-07-03T20:27:00.000+09:00

It has been a little while since I've last posted on here; forgive me? I have no excuses to offer. I simply haven't been caching or blogging as much as I'd like to.

I did go geocaching today with a friend of mine, and I was able to accompany him on three of his first four finds! It's always good to introduce someone to the hobby of Geocaching. He's got the bug, and he even ordered a new GPSr on one of those extremely popular shopping websites.

The weather has been a challenge lately; when it's not raining, it's hotter than fevered snot. This makes geocaching in short bursts the idea of the day.

Here's to hoping that you all have a great Independence Day, and that you don't forget what this upcoming holiday is all about.

Cheers.

Joshua Tree National Park

2010-05-06T15:05:00.002+09:00

After my business in California was completed, I was able to spend a few days with family. We took a day to drive through the Joshua Tree National Park, and we had a great time. There were plenty of wildflowers blooming, and some of the cholla cacti were blooming as well.

A couple of days later, I was able to hit a few geocaches in the Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree area; most seemed to be placed simply to place a cache, but one was at the Joshua Tree Inn, which has a bit of interesting history to go with it (click here).

A day before departing to come back to Okinawa, I had the pleasure of accompanying my father on his first geocaching experience. He found his first cache after a brief search, and he's now a genuine geocacher.

Here's a few pictures from the Park:

Ocotillo plant in bloom

Overlooking the cholla cactus garden in JT National Park

Cholla in bloom

Beaver tail cactus in bloom

Ramble On

2010-04-09T16:17:00.003+09:00

My job, by design, keeps me somewhat on the move. My wife and I are pretty skilled at packing up and moving to a new place. I've also had the opportunity to travel on a few short trips in between moves.

I get to head out tomorrow on another such trip, this time to California. Time to do a pocket query, and load the 500 caches that are closest to Camp Pendleton into my GPS.

I love the scenery of the SoCal coast, and I hope to grab some great pictures while I'm there. More importantly, I'll get to see my parents, my sister, and even a friend or two.

Updates to follow...

What Model of GPS Would You Recommend?

2010-03-28T09:46:00.002+09:00

A buddy of mine is looking into getting his wife a GPSr due to her new found interest in geocaching. He asked me for advice on what to buy. I thought I would put the question out there in this venue, since I get zillions of readers every day!

I use a Garmin Colorado 400t. Garmin doesn't make that anymore, but I like its features.

It seems that the Garmin GPSMap 60CSx is the tried and true workhorse, but it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that the Oregon and Dakota have.

I don't know enough about the Delormes to comment on them, but I like the list of features.

What say you all?

Nice Day for a Track Meet

2010-03-27T17:47:00.002+09:00

My son had his weekly track meet today and my wife and I enjoyed a nice day in the Chatan and Awase areas. We spent the morning in Chatan for the track meet, then came home after lunch. We then took our daughter to Comprehensive Park near the Awase area. It was a fun day, and we got some neat pictures.

Amazingly enough, I left the GPS at home. I have already searched for the cache at Comprehensive park, and was discouraged by the amount of refuse near ground zero. I think that one can stay undiscovered for me. That's the cool thing about geocaching; somebody else will probably have a great time finding that one and we all play the game differently.

At the sea wall near Chatan. I love the look of these pilings

Graffiti on the sea wall

Kelp farming near Comprehensive Park

Danger! Cigar-smoking pigs in the area!

200 Finds

2010-03-22T15:18:00.002+09:00

I had to run some errands today, and I was able to squeeze in some geocaching while I was at it. My wife and I stopped in the vicinity of the Tengan River, and made three finds there. Then it was off to a park near a power plant, and then to Nakamura House, which is a well restored house in the Nakagusuku area.

Nakamura House is typical of a 15th century, wealthy farmer's home, albeit a little primitive. This was also the site of my 200th find.

One of the caches near the Tengan River is called, "London Bridge Cache." It's very appropriately named, since the bridge appears to be slowly falling down.

It was a nice day out today, and I was able to go 5 for 6 today. There was a 7th cache that we were going to try for, but it was a playground with moms and kids. Since we didn't have any kids with us today, we would have looked a little suspicious.

Cape Zanpa

2010-03-06T18:25:00.002+09:00

I took the whole family to Cape Zanpa today. My daughter and I found a neat cache at an athletic park in Yomitan. The young baseball players were fascinated with my daughter's red hair...Grrrrr!

I DNF'd a couple of caches, mostly due to muggles. When a stranger is sitting almost on top of where you need to search, it's a bit tough to search for a hidden container.

There was a neat multi at Zanpa beach, and there was a wedding party at GZ! What are the odds? It was still a neat day at the beach.

Okinawa Earthquake

2010-02-27T10:45:00.002+09:00

I hadn't planned on sleeping really late today, but ended up getting out of bed at 5:30 AM anyway...Well, "getting," probably isn't the most descriptive word to use for my exit from this morning's slumber; "shaken," is probably more accurate.

We had a 7.0 magnitude earthquake that was centered about 50 miles from us this morning. No real damage, and everyone is fine. So far, there are no local reports of injuries, and only some broken water pipes nearby.

The quake seemed to last for several seconds, and I recall thinking to myself that it sure was lasting a long time.

Perhaps we were in need of some excitement!

Okinawa Comprehensive Park

2010-02-25T16:02:00.002+09:00

I went with my wife to the Awase Home shopping center (also known as the "OK" and "Gracie" stores). While out and about, we headed over to what many Americans call, "Comprehensive Park." I think it is actually called the Okinawa Athletic Park.

The park is huge! There is a nice 5k running course that is well maintained and even padded. There is a freshwater pond, and the large carp and placos will eat anything you throw at them (watch your fingers!).

I hunted for a geocache there, but the only thing I found at ground zero (GZ) was a bunch of garbage and junk. There were plenty of sharp objects in the brush (glass, an old steak knife, discarded cans, etc), so I didn't really poke around in there very much at all. I questioned the cache placement, since there were plenty of other secluded spots in the very large park. With that one quickly placed on my "no thanks list," we soon departed.

On the way to Kadena Air Force Base after a stop at the park, I saw yet another "engrish" sign. I enjoy these, and think that they give Okinawa plenty of personality.

Nago Central Park

2010-02-15T16:35:00.002+09:00

Today I drove up to the city of Nago with my wife and kids. We were hoping that there would still be a few trees in bloom, but we were too late. We still had a good time.

We started with lunch at CoCo Ichibanya, an icon among Americans here in Okinawa. I had thin sliced pork curry.

Next, it was off to Nago. At the park, there is an impressive foot bridge, plenty of jungle terrain, and countless trails to walk. The hills are steep, the views are stunning, and the bugs don't eat much.

I went three for three on geocaches today, including picking up one that I had previously "DNF'd," or "Did Not Find." All in all, a good day, even if it was a little wet out.

Routine Maintenance

2010-02-15T09:22:00.003+09:00

Another cacher contacted me this past week and informed me that the magnets were coming loose from one of my geocache containers. So, I made a trip to the nearby park where it is hidden, and glued the magnets back in place.

I like this little park. It's a quiet spot in the middle of urban clutter. It's also easy to miss when driving by. The tree above is entirely fake, and I thought it was an interesting item.

This park is located near the following geocache: Shady Character GC1DKJ4 (I think PJ will get a kick out of the hint for that one).
If the weather holds up, I'll be making a trek to the North with my family. We've not been able to go check out all of the cherry blossoms on the upper half of the island, so today might be our best shot.

Cherry Blossoms

2010-01-31T14:30:00.002+09:00

It's that time of year again in Okinawa. Okinawans, and Japanese people take their cherry blossoms very seriously.

I took a couple of quick photos at a nearby park today while searching for a three part multi-cache. I found part one quickly, since I recognized the well camouflaged container from another cache, but got stumped on part two.

Oh well; it was a nice day at the park. Here we are in January, and it was 73 degrees!

Happenings of Life, and Other Mysteries

2010-01-30T15:53:00.004+09:00

I've seen, on several occasions, the phrase, "Life happens," on the Geocaching forums. How appropriate. Life does indeed happen; it gets in the way of what we want, by presenting us with demands for what we need.

I have neglected this blog for almost three months, and have not done any real Geocaching during that time. It's not entirely due to a lack of interest, but more a result of other influences. School has been kicking my butt, and work has been a bear. I would certainly prefer to update this blog more regularly.

On a side note, when do we decide that barbecue is good barbecue? I know; totally unrelated, but the title of the post also includes, "and Other Mysteries." I took my wife to a neat little barbecue place for our anniversary last weekend, and we're going back tonight. I never dreamed that we could feast on such tasty American cuisine here in Okinawa. What a boon! A friend of ours is also celebrating a birthday, so it's a fine occasion to dine out in town.

How have your last few months been?

Okinawa Dining Out

2009-11-22T12:09:00.002+09:00

We went out to dinner last night at our favorite Chinese restaurant. Well, I suppose it's actually a Japanese restaurant (Okinawan to be specific), but they serve their version of Chinese food. The prices are low, the portions are enormous, and the food is quite tasty.

We had to park on the roof of a nearby discount store (parking on the roof is quite popular here; think "up" instead of "out"), and I saw a nifty shirt in there. If you've ever visited Engrish.com, you've probably seen plenty of similar products. I don't know what this shirt is supposed to mean, but somebody, somewhere, thought it was clever!

More vending machines! Some of the drinks look pretty interesting.

Kin Sunrise

2009-11-20T18:45:00.000+09:00

I snapped a picture on the way to work a few weeks ago, and I realized that I really liked it. This is looking ESE at about 5:15 AM. I love that you can just make out the oil pumping derricks at about "7 o'clock" under the sun.

It was interesting to see what my little camera would do while pointed directly into the sun.

Canon Powershot SD780IS Review and Blogger Notes

2009-11-14T13:19:00.004+09:00

It's been several weeks since I got my Canon Powershot SD780IS "Elph." Here's my take on it, and please keep in mind that I am NOT a photographer (that should be obvious when you take a quick look at my previous posts and pictures). Image above was actually swiped from (click here for it) another review.

I went downstairs to dig up the receipt for this little camera, just because I'm trying to figure out how long it has been since I've charged the battery. I charged it immediately after purchasing this little powerhouse (mid September), and it hasn't required a charging since. I've never been a big fan of devices that have a discrete battery, vice those that use common AA or AAA sources, but this one seems to be a winner. It also uses the same battery as a couple of other Canon models, so it should remain easily replaceable if it suffers some type of failure, or develops a memory.

This little point and shoot camera is a direct replacement of a very cheap model that my wife got me a year or so ago. That "El cheapo," as I like to call it, model took a licking, and it finally stopped ticking. Actually, it will still take pictures, but the internal optics failed to hold up to the environment here in Okinawa.

The SD780IS has been very easy to use, fast to power up, focuses well in AF mode, and has intuitive features that even a dummy like me can figure out. The image quality is far superior to that of my previous camera(s), and it even has the capability to take 12.1 MP shots, which can be a boon if I want to enlarge them. When I examine the raw shots on my wife's fancy big monitor, they look great! The camera produces some pretty big files, though, around 3MB per picture at a moderate setting for size and a high setting for quality.

I've been very impressed with this camera's ability to take good macro shots. I'm still experimenting, but there will undoubtedly be more pics of bugs and flowers in my future. A couple of reviews that I read elsewhere mentioned that it has a slightly smaller lens than some previous models (which can affect wide angle and telephoto shots), but this is also one of the smallest cameras that Canon makes. They packed plenty of features into it, though, including the ability to shoot HD video. With some experimentation, I quickly discovered that the audio associated with video is pretty poor (a little tinny, with little or no bass).

It produces very rich colors, even with the "auto" settings enabled, and a little tweaking for sunsets, or portraits helps a lot! I've noticed that it tries really hard to help me out when I leave it in the simple auto mode, but that can only do so much. Facing into the sun has predictable results, but still generates some interesting shots, especially over water. The face recognition feature is neat when dealing with kids! The aperture size and shutter speeds are easy to manipulate in manual mode, if you know what you're doing (I don't), and give you the capability to tailor the shot to the conditions. ISO setting can be quickly accessed as well, as can various "dumbed down" settings that accomplish the same thing (sports setting, etc).

My biggest source of pleasure with this camera is the fact that it is SO easy to keep with me, and employ in time of need. With my current profession, I have a deep appreciation for a quality product that can be put into use quickly, and efficiently. This camera indeed does that, and it does that very well. With almost little thought, I can capture quality images, and rely on this device to do it every time. Isn't that what a point-and-shoot camera should be?

My greatest source of displeasure associated with this camera actually has nothing to do with the camera itself: Blogger. I do not like what Blogger does when I upload an image. The resizing and dramatic reduction in quality are obstacles that I've not yet figured out how to overcome. I've seen numerous Wordpress themed blogs that have much better looking images on them. Mine are nowhere near what their original form looks like (even when clicking to download the larger version).

In a nutshell, I would definitely recommend this camera to someone looking for a quality point-and-shoot model that is easy to use. Fast, dependable (so far), and a producer of good images, this camera is a keeper.

Sugarcane and Habu

2009-11-07T12:53:00.005+09:00

Mmmmmm...Sugarcane!

This is one of the many sugarcane fields here on Okinawa. They are everywhere! You can find small cane fields just about anywhere on the island, from downtown Naha, to the rural northern areas. Anywhere that there's an open spot of dirt, somebody will plant a crop of some kind, and sugarcane is one of the most popular here.

The sugarcane, and other crops, are a bit of a double edged sword: They provide income and food, but they are home to one of the island's more dangerous inhabitants, the habu. Habus are a local species of viper, similar to a rattlesnake, and easily irritated. If they feel threatened, they will bite. The crops draw mice, and the mice attract the habu. Luckily, the habu's venom is only fatal to about 3% of its victims. On the other hand, bites are actually pretty common, at about 1 per 1,000 people (article here). That can make Geocaching pretty interesting.

Here's a picture of a habu:

Harvest Time

2009-11-02T18:18:00.004+09:00

I previously posted (click here) about the local farming of rice. Guess what? Time to reap the harvest!

It's still harvested by hand here, and the farmers hang it up in various locations to dry. In this picture, you can see that it is hung along the highway for a significant distance. Those railings come in handy! As usual, you can click the pic for the full size version.

Banyan Trees

2009-10-30T14:29:00.003+09:00

Banyan trees have a remarkable root system. The above-ground trunks are great hiding spots for geocaches here!

This is a picture of a good example that is right down the road from my house. Click the picture for a full size version, and you can zoom in on the roots/trunks. Can you imagine searching that sucker for a small cache container? Welcome to my world.

Don't get me started on stone walls...

Typhoon Update

2009-10-25T19:01:00.003+09:00

The typhoon that was threatening us is now a tropical storm, but it is quite close, and the weather has been pretty poor.

In the picture above, the island of Okinawa is circled in red. It should be past us, with improved weather, just in time to go back to work tomorrow!

Typhoon!

2009-10-24T09:29:00.003+09:00

Yet another rainy mess here; at least this one will not be hitting us squarely (according to forecasts). This storm has been wobbling around south of us for a few days now, and has nearly gone in circles.

I'll be taking my little hitchhiking travel bug to an event on Halloween, if the weather holds up. More pictures to come!

Everyday Items

2009-10-13T13:25:00.003+09:00

My wife is fond of reminding me that things we see every day here are probably pretty interesting to the folks back home in the good 'ole U.S. of A. As always, you can click the pictures for the full size versions.

Here's a shot of a local mail box, the public variety, outside of a Family Mart, which is a Japanese chain of convenience store. You can even pay many of your bills at a Family Mart!

I also got a picture of the local power plant, and in the foreground, you'll notice one of the staples of Okinawan living: A vending machine. Vending machines are everywhere here. Middle of a farmer's field? Yep. Beaches? Yep. Need to grab a cold coffee, or tea? You won't have to travel very far (this one is viewed from the parking lot of Family Mart, which is open 24 hours).

Love Motel

2009-10-10T19:31:00.003+09:00

This is one of the local "love motels." See the big gorilla on the roof? Kinda silly, right?

These establishments are very popular here in Okinawa, and they work like some of the places in the U.S. that charge by the hour. The premise is based upon something a little different here.

In Okinawa, like much of Japan, you will typically find a few generations, and many members of extended family, under one roof. There really isn't much privacy for a young married couple. This is simply the way things are, and it creates a very lucrative market for "love motels." Most couples need to get away for a couple of hours every once in a while.

This gorilla motel provides a venue for couples, and it seems to be pretty popular. You don't even have to see any people there; you can just feed your card, or Yen, into a machine and get a ticket for a room (so I'm told).

There's a geocache hidden fairly close to here, and there used to be one very close to here. I think it was part of the "Boogie Nights" series...

Forgotten Park

2009-10-09T04:20:00.003+09:00

I stopped at this little park on my way home from work yesterday. The geocache here is listed as a difficulty of four, due to the unique container used in stage one of this multi-cache.

I wasn't able to make the find, but I walked around the park for a while anyway. The view from the top was great.

Click the pictures for the full size versions.

Day Off and Geocaching

2009-10-06T15:10:00.004+09:00

I had a meritorious day off from work today, and my wife and I ventured out to do some Geocaching. We focused mostly on the Katsuren Peninsula, which is where the Katsuren Castle happens to be located. We stopped by there, and the view was a little hazy today.

We also hit a local beach that appears to be very popular with the locals, hence no cache at that location (local was napping almost on top of it!).

It was a nice day out, albeit a little windy, and we stopped at San A for a bit of shopping. I had a bowl of soba for lunch, and then we headed for home. We stopped at a cache that was the first in a series called "Outta Luck." These caches are all hidden at defunct pachinko parlors (casinos). It was a pretty easy find, and it was also my only find of the day. Too many locals at the other stops, and we had to get home before the kids made it back from school.

It was still a fun day, and I was able to snap some pictures for the owners of that little travel bug that I'm toting around. As usual, you can click the pictures for the full size versions.

Monkey in a box!

It's soba!

View of the beach from the road

Katsuren Castle

BC Street and Shurikawa Spring

2009-10-03T17:42:00.003+09:00

I made a stop over at "BC Street" today. BC street is infamous for being a concentrated bar/club/strip joint haven here. That's at night...During the day, there are some neat little shops, a couple of cool restaurants, and the Teruya Music Store (good spot to grab some new strings for my son's guitar).

I needed to make a stop there while my wife did some shopping at Kadena AFB's new BX. Better her than me! I also stopped at a geocache called "Spring Cleaning." It's located near the Shurikawa Spring, and there were just too many locals there today. I saw the cache container, but just couldn't pull it out and mess with it at the time. This one will have to be an early morning, or maybe a night visit.

In other news, I have a little travel bug that came all the way from Arizona. Thanks Erika Jean!

I took a few pictures of the trackable item to share with the owners.

The spring

On BC Street

The Rice Is Growing!

2009-10-01T20:30:00.003+09:00

You can definitely tell from these photos that the rice I mentioned in a previous post is growing like crazy. It won't be long until it's drying along the sides of the roads, hung in bunches on handrails and the like.

Front Door Treasures

2009-09-26T12:34:00.003+09:00

While out on my front porch today, I saw a neat looking moth. My wife HATES moths, but I think they're neat. I marvel at the transformation that they make from the various grubs and such that we grow to hate (ever seen what a tomato worm turns into?).

My wife said that this moth looks like a jet fighter. I had to admit that he/she is very aerodynamic looking.

The other picture is of our Shisa dog. We have two of them in front of our door, as is the custom here in Okinawa. While we might get the occasional gecko in our house, the Shisa keep the evil spirits out!

As always, you can click on the photos for the full size versions. That moth is pretty neat looking up close.

It's not always about the tupperware

2009-08-29T16:42:00.003+09:00

I haven't been doing much geocaching lately. I haven't been doing much besides working, and getting ready for school (my next term starts Monday).

I did, however, stop and look for a cache on my way home from work on Thursday afternoon. I have often eyed the local rice paddies with a detached interest, and have marveled at the rice being dried on the roadside guard rails just like it has been done for many years.

The cache I stopped at was intended to bring the cacher to a local rice paddie so that we can watch rice being grown, and harvested, the way it has always been done. This is probably a unique experience, since nobody in The States is going to see rice being harvested by hand.

A local farmer was working right next to ground zero, so I was unable to search properly for the cache container. I did snap a couple of photos of the rice paddies. From the smell of things, I suspect that the rice has been well fertilized too!

Overall, it was a neat little spot, and I'm glad I stopped there. I'll be back there again to grab the cache, probably on an early morning when Farmer Yoshi is still asleep!

Trip To the Beach

2009-08-04T18:08:00.002+09:00

My mom jokingly asked me what I thought would happen if I planned a family trip to the beach. I responded with, "We'll probably have a typhoon!" Laughing ensued...

Who's laughing now? I'm just that lucky!

Back In The Land of Strangeness

2009-08-04T13:42:00.002+09:00

I went out and grabbed a couple of geocaches with my daughter on Saturday morning, and she demonstrated that she's very good at pointing out things here in Okinawa that are strange, funny, or just a little out of place.

I'm not sure what that depiction of the moon landing is supposed to be doing, but it looks pretty permanent...

Postcrossing

2009-08-03T14:51:00.003+09:00

Thanks Erika!

I was recently introduced to the hobby of postcrossing. It's a neat little website where you can sign up and get interesting postcards from all around the world. Like I need another hobby, right?

Sounds boring? Maybe, but it's neat to get little glimpses of other nations in your mailbox.

Here's a few that I've recieved:

All Good Things Must Come To an End

2009-07-29T07:43:00.003+09:00

I had a wonderful time visiting family in California, and it seemed like it was over in a flash. We were on the go most of the time, and we spent as much time as we could with family. We did take two days on our own to go to Knott's Berry Farm (see my previous post about their crummy hotel by clicking here), but that was about it.

I even got to meet a friend of mine, and his family, for an afternoon of mall shopping and lunch. Gary, and his family, were great, and we had a wonderful time with them.

Alas, I didn't get to do as much geocaching as I would have liked, but there just didn't seem to be enough time. Three weeks doesn't last as long as you might think when you have family that you haven't seen in years (and grandkids that they haven't seen).

I did see a really neat vending machine on the way back to Okinawa; it's full of electronics and video games. Who knew they had vending machines in airports that sell ipods? Are cars next?

Ipod vending machine?

Palm Springs Air Museum

2009-07-22T12:44:00.004+09:00

My trip to California is going well, but it's really flying by (no pun intended). I thought three weeks would be a pretty long visit, but it's not as long of a stay as I thought it would be.

Yesterday, my dad and I went to the Palm Springs Air Museum. They have a very impressive collection of vintage aircraft, most of which are WWII era birds. Almost all of them are in flying condition!

I've always had a fascination with aircraft, particularly the older war planes. I think my favorite plane at the museum was the F-4U Corsair, but it's a tough choice between that, and the P-40 Warhawk that was parked outside.

If you're ever in the Palm Springs area, be sure to stop in at the museum. It's co-located with the airport (for obvious reasons), and easy to get to.

Here's a couple more photos from my visit:

California Caching Part II

2009-07-20T00:05:00.002+09:00

After our family trip to Knott's Berry Farm, we headed toward Mountain Home Village to visit with my Father In Law and his wife. We've had a great time here, as the surroundings are beautiful, and we all get along very well.

He and I spent yesterday afternoon doing some geocaching along Highway 38 near Forest Falls, the route to Angeles Oaks, an old dirt road that leads to 7 Oaks, and back to Mountain Home Village. We found ten caches, one of which had been muggled. The contents of the geocache were scattered about the area. When you find happy meal toys, balloons, and a geocaching signature coin laying on the ground near the cache coordinates, it's a safe bet that it has been muggled.

We had a great time, and the scenery was nice. It was warm yesterday, 101 in Mountain Home Village, but a bit cooler up in 7 Oaks.

Scene of the crime:

Knott's Berry Farm Hotel Is a Ripoff

2009-07-16T09:33:00.003+09:00

Today we drove in to Buena Park to visit Knott's Berry Farm, and we had a room reserved at the hotel of the same name. It's supposed to be their "resort" hotel. It's not much of a resort, and it's a complete ripoff. For the price they charge for the room, I would expect a pretty nice room. The room is kind of shabby. The Best Western we stayed at a few days ago was head and shoulders above this place.

There's not even wireless internet in the room. Well, there is, but you have to pay ten bucks a day to access it. You can even get a little bottle of water for three bucks. Three bucks for water, after paying an outrageous rate for this dumpy little room with peeling wallpaper and stained tile? Ripoff!

Don't ever stay at the Knott's Berry Farm Hotel. I regret the decision to do so, and would never recommend this place to anyone (unless I thoroughly disliked them).

California Caching Part 1

2009-07-12T05:41:00.003+09:00

I've made it safely from Okinawa to California, and have had a couple of days to visit with some family. It was a long few flights, and we're still stuck on Okinawa time.

I made a day trip up to 29 Palms, in order to take care of some business on the Marine Corps base. I made a couple of stops along Highway 62 to grab a couple of geocaches, and then spent a couple of hours in Yucca Valley and 29 Palms.

We had lunch at Santana's, one of our favorite little Mexican fast food places, and then I dropped my wife off at Wally World for a couple of hours. Caching time! I was able to find 16 caches yesterday, all which were in either Yucca Valley, or 29 Palms.

Geocaches sure are easy to find when they're not surrounded by jungle! As an aside, it became abundantly clear how spoiled I am in Okinawa with geocoins and travel bugs. Out of the 16 caches, none of them contained any trackable items. I dropped off a geocoin that I picked up in Japan, and since its goal was to make it back to California, I was able to help it along its way.

It was a fun day of caching, and the dry desert heat was a nice change of pace from the cumbersome humidity of Okinawa. Here's some pictures from the day:

Yucca Valley near the airport

Wife sitting in the air conditioning with Mt San Jacinto in view

One of the many murals in 29 Palms

Fire Causes Geocaching Website Outage

2009-07-04T08:40:00.002+09:00

An early morning fire at Fisher Plaza has caused a longer than anticipated power outage that is keeping the Geocaching website offline.

Jeremy Irish, the co founder of Groundspeak, the company that owns the website, writes about this on his blog (click here).

I hope they get it fixed soon, as many thousands of people rely on the functionality of the website.

Roadside Stops

2009-07-01T16:33:00.003+09:00

I stopped at this little spot on my way home from work today-- No real reason for it, I just wanted to stop and walk around for a few minutes. I quickly found myself wishing I had my swim trunks with me. It was a nice day today, albeit hot and humid. These are the sort of things that I will dearly miss when I leave this island for good.

Tropical Storm

2009-06-21T13:26:00.004+09:00

One of the unique (in comparison to the U.S.) features of Okinawa is the frequency with which we are affected by tropical storms, and even typhoons. For those of you that are not quite sure, typhoons are identical to hurricanes, but are simply referred to as typhoons by virture of where they originate.

We are currently in typhoon "season" here, and our first tropical storm is churning around south of us. In the screen shot, you can see my little island circled in red, with the tropical fun circled in yellow. The storm is forecasted to head NNE to NE over the next few days, so we will get even more rain than we already are, with some increased winds thrown in for fun.

I moved from a 9th floor apartment to my current ground level house about a year or so ago, and we haven't had a really strong typhoon come through since then. The last time we had a real doozy, I had a nice view of the carnage from my 9th floor balcony, and there was no yard for me to clean up. Being at ground level will undoubtedly increase the chances of flooding in our home, since Okinawans LOVE to put as many sliding glass doors in their buildings as they can possibly fit. We enjoy having the light and the view, but it is worrisome with powerful storms on the horizon.

I will also be heading to the continental U.S. on a three week trip in July, so I wonder how our little house will fare while we are away. I'm sure I'll be trying to keep an "eye" on the weather via the internet during our trip, but there won't be much that I can do to clean up any damage or debris after a typhoon. Luckily, we're on good terms with our very nice neighbors, and they have agreed to keep up the yard while we're gone.

Needless to say, extremes in the weather can certainly have an adverse effect on outdoor activities. Today is the nicest day we've had in a couple of weeks, but being Father's Day, I'll probably be spending most of it at home with family.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2009-06-13T07:41:00.002+09:00

It has been raining pretty steadily here for three days now. There's no break forecasted for the immediate future.

This puts a damper on outdoor activities, like Geocaching. Sure; I could still go, and run around getting soaked to the bone. I do enough of that at work, thank you.

Since I've come down with some kind of crud, I think I'll just stay home today and lay around the house.

Garmin Customer Support

2009-06-07T08:32:00.003+09:00

I purchased the Garmin City Navigator NT North America software recently (happy birthday to me!), and was having a bit of trouble installing the "unlock" code that must be retrieved from Garmin's website.

The description on their site didn't seem to match the user interface on the latest version of the software, at first. I tried a couple of different things, but just couldn't seem to get the unlock code to work for me. Buyers are required to retrieve a one-time-use code from Garmin in order to use all of the features of the software (to prevent people from installing the maps on all of their buddies' GPS units).

I contacted Garmin's customer support through their website, and got a very polite, and very helpful response very quickly. Garmin walked me through the process of unlocking the software, and did it without much hooplah. What a refreshing change of pace!

I wish that all customer support venues were as helpful as Garmin's was (hello, Groundspeak?).

Kin and Yaka

2009-06-03T18:13:00.004+09:00

I've found a few Geocaches over the last couple of days, all after work. I've been fortunate enough to get off of work pretty early (about 1:30 PM) for two days in a row. I'm certainly not complaining about that.

Yesterday I stopped at Yaka Beach and did a two part multi-cache. The weather was beautiful--It was sunny with a nice breeze. After that, I hit a neat little spot in Ishikawa, where a neighbor of mine has a Geocache hidden. Since he's currently out of the country, I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on his hidden caches. That means I have to find the rest of them (I've found about half of his caches).

Today I headed North from Camp Hansen, and hit three spots that looked promising. The first one was near the Kin Bridge, and I found the cache easily. It wasn't too far from my own "Old McDonald" caches. Next, it was off to a small shrine a little farther up the road. I couldn't find that one, due to the construction workers that seemed to be on a perpetual break. It was a neat shrine, though. Next, I stopped at a little restaurant that has apartments above it. The cache was well hidden, and the mosquitoes were out in force.

It was a fun way to spend a couple of hours after work, and the scenery was nice.

Anzuya

2009-06-02T06:42:00.003+09:00

We went out to eat at this neat restaurant on Saturday night; it's named Anzuya. My buddy Kraig went with us, and it was sort of a going away meal, since he's leaving Okinawa next weekend.

The food was really good, especially the sashimi. There was quite a variety of dishes, and the atmosphere was nice. Of particular note was the glass floors. The room we were in sits over a pool of water, with fountains and lights in it. It makes for a strange sensation when walking around in there.

We really enjoyed ourselves, and Kraig and I hid a nano cache behind the restaurant after dinner. The first three people that tried to find it logged DNFs (did not find), so I think it is very well hidden. We named the geocache, "Sayonara Kraig."

Good times.

Afternoon at Awase

2009-05-25T14:49:00.003+09:00

After attending a caching event at Comprehensive Park, I headed along the Awase seawall in search of a geocache called, "Sumo Jacks." The seawall is constructed of large concrete pilings that are shaped like giant jacks (as in the game, not the device for lifting cars).

I wasn't able to make the find because there were a couple of locals sitting right on top of it.

I did take a couple of pictures though.

Caching Event

2009-05-25T14:46:00.002+09:00

I had a good time at today's Geocaching event. Thanks to Tim for posting the picture, and thanks to the hosts for putting on the event. It was good to see so many fellow cachers, old and new.

Memorial Day

2009-05-24T15:42:00.002+09:00

I hope that everybody enjoys their long weekend. Have fun at your backyard cookouts, trips to the beach, Geocaching, and time away from work and school.

I also ask that everyone that stumbles across this blog take just a moment of your time to remember why we have this holiday. Please remember those that gave that last full measure so that we can continue to live free.

Who Is That Guy?

2009-04-28T18:24:00.003+09:00

I found a geocache hidden near this statue in a small park in Kin Village (the cache shares the name of this post). The park is just a stone's throw off of route 329, and not far from gate two of Camp Hansen. You can click the picture for the full size version.

Where NOT to Hide a Geocache

2009-04-18T19:20:00.001+09:00

Head Hard Hat tells it like it is.

Swag Giveaway

2009-04-14T16:05:00.002+09:00

Erika Jean is having a giveaway of some goodies. Click here to check it out. She's giving away a bag of trinkets to put in Geocaches. Neat idea!

Indiana Jones Strikes Again

2009-04-13T15:37:00.005+09:00

I took a stab at a new cache today after getting out of work early. It is a mystery/puzzle cache, and I solved the cipher very easily (a simple shift, with the name/clue given in the description). It's named after Indiana Jones, so I just had to give it a shot.

I had a bit of a walk ahead of me to get to ground zero, since the closest road travels through an off limits area. It was a nice walk on the beach, but the secluded spot left me with what looked like a bit of a climb, and I was all alone. I was worried that if I fell, I'd lay there with nobody to find me (and the tide would eventually come in).

Anyway, there were a couple of small caves to explore, and several nooks to search. I looked around for close to an hour, but all I got out of the deal were wet shoes and pants. Well; that's not true. I got to explore a very cool area, and the locals that I saw on the way were very nice (more kelp farmers).

Here's a couple of pictures (click for full size). Those of you familiar with the island may recognize this beach, since it's a little northeast of Kin Blue.

Cabela's Disappoints

2009-04-11T19:27:00.009+09:00

I made an online purchase last month, and I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

My wife told me that I have no room to complain, because I didn't bother to check on Cabela's shipping methods prior to ordering.

I should have checked. It's been over a month, and I still don't have my lensatic compass that I ordered.

I prefer a lensatic compass, because that's what I was trained with (they're very handy). I can't believe that I still don't have it yet; a month is a long time for the USPS to be dallying around with a box that is probably the size of a coffee cup.

It makes me wonder why Cabela's doesn't use Priority Mail? Why would they send stuff to military addresses using a notoriously slow method? Don't they know that many of their military customers are avid outdoor enthusiasts? I guess I'm accustomed to the businesses I've dealt with in the past that DO use Priority Mail as their default shipping method for FPOs.

Cabela's has lost a customer. I'll use other online venues before I ever dream of shopping with Cabela's again. They have officially let me down, and I should have read the shipping description. Sound like a familiar gripe? How ironic, right?

UPDATE #2: I got a nice email from Ken Steffen, a Cabela's Executive Assistant. He stated that they were told by military postal system representatives that the method of shipping makes no difference once a package is in the military system, and that all packages are expedited by the military. He also stated that comments such as mine indicate otherwise (as would anybody with an FPO/APO address). I hope they do begin using Priority Mail in the future; their military customers will have a much better experience. Oh yeah; he said that they are sending me a replacement unit via Priority Mail, and that I don't need to send the first one back. Hard telling which one will get here first at this point, but my money is on Priority Mail. Thanks Ken; your efforts are appreciated.

UPDATE #1: It looks like an employee of Cabela's stopped by my blog to leave a snarky (and misguided) comment. I'm betting it's one of their IT guys that found my link to their site.

Domain Name

masergy.com ^? (Commercial)

IP Address

64.47.54.# (Cabela's)

ISP

Masergy Communications

Location

Continent	:	North America
Country	:	United States (Facts)
State	:	Nebraska
City	:	Sidney
Lat/Long	:	41.148, -103.0633 (Map)

Language

English (U.S.)
en-us

Geocaching Meme

2009-04-08T19:46:00.002+09:00

I got this one from Erika Jean. Sounded like fun, so here goes:

1. What is your name?
John

2. What is your GC name?
golfgunny

3. What kind of GPSr do you use?
Garmin Colorado 400t

4. What is your favorite feature on your GPSr?
Paperless caching, or the ability to view the entire cache page on my GPSr, with the five latest logs.

5. What is your best memory of geocaching?
Finding my first geocache, after three tries.

6. What is the farthest from your house you've ever found a cache?
This island is only 60 miles long, and this is the only place that I've cached. Looks like 31.7 miles is the farthest.

7. What is the hardest cache you ever found?
Sinister Series#1- Ring Thing A difficulty 5 nano hide. Yep; it was a difficult hide for sure.

8. What is the most amount of caches you've completed in one day?
Eight.

9. How did you get started in geocaching?
I read about it in 2002 and then forgot about it. A friend mentioned trying it last summer, and I just decided to "google it," and give it a shot. Before long, I was hooked.

10. What is the silliest mistake you've made while geocaching?
Leaving my bug juice in the car.

11. What memorable animals have you encountered on the trail?
The most memorable is probably a habu; the local species of venomous snake. There have also been plenty of spiders that were big enough to carry me away.

12. What is your favorite earthcache?
Haven't done any yet, and will not be able to until leaving Okinawa.

13. When do you geocache most often? (Season? Time of day?)
Usually weekends in the late morning. I've only been at this for right about a year, but fall and spring are the best here.

14. Who do you usually geocache with?
My kids, mostly, but a friend of mine is a newer cacher too, and we team up on occasion.

15. Have you ever logged a find on one of your own caches? If not, would you?
I never have, since it violates the guidelines (I was present when they were hidden), and it just doesn't seem right.

16. What is the most consecutive days you've gone caching and had a find?
Five days in a row.

17. How do you feel about people who "collect" trackable items?
If it isn't yours, don't keep it; that's still stealing. Collect pictures instead!

18. Is it all about the numbers for you?
No, but I'd certainly love to find more caches, and an upcoming trip to California will be a perfect opportunity to boost the numbers a bit. For me, it's mostly about the neat places I've found, and the hunt.

19. What have you learned since you started geocaching?
The list is long, but mostly that easy caches can be hard to find, and difficult caches sometimes just seem to jump out at you.

20. What is the most interesting travel bug or geocoin you have discovered?
"Cuckoo Cache," a grandfathered traveling geocache. That was neat; a travel bug tag attached to a geocache container.

New Geocaching Guideline Changes

2009-04-05T11:00:00.004+09:00

The fine folks that run the Geocaching website have decided to further restrict the guidelines for hiding a geocache. In the past, a certain category of cache, known as a puzzle or mystery cache, could have what was called "additional logging requirements," or ALR. ALR caches might say something along the lines of, "you must send the cache owner an email with the text of the plaque," or some other additional requirements in order to log a "find."

Groundspeak, the company that runs the website, has decided that many of the ALRs are getting out of hand, and they have completely removed the ALR aspect of the game. All cache hiders must remove any ALRs, but can keep suggested "optional" activities. Since the bulk of the ALRs were in place to either add some fun to the game, or ensure that someone actually found the container in question, this new rule stomps on the fun of many a cache hider.

The Groundspeak forum post on this topic is afire with hot debate over whether or not this is a good move. I think it's nannyish in its design, and it merely restricts the activities of some geocachers, while ensuring that a few others won't have to think for themselves.

Many a cacher was arguing that if they don't bother to read the cache description before trying to find it, they wouldn't be able to log a "find" with an ALR in place. I would ask, why on earth would you not read the description, particularly for a puzzle or mystery cache? That's like going to a Chinese restaurant, and then complaining that you can't order Italian cuisine, because you didn't bother to find out what type of restaurant it was prior to going. YOUR FAULT, NOT THE OWNER'S!

I'm sure that there are some behind the scenes convenience issues for the volunteer reviewers of the geocache listings. They will now have their volunteer hands full of complaints about whether or not a listing is a prohibited ALR cache listing. Good luck with that. The statement that many of the ALR caches were "absurd," is just as absurd. There are plenty of other types of caches that many would claim are absurd (lamp post skirts at a wally world?). These "absurd" caches bring the hider enjoyment too, remember?

I think that Groundspeak does, overall, a great job. This latest hand holding decision is just a bit much to agree with. What happened to the idea of, if you don't want to search for a particular type of geocache, don't search for it?

Your thoughts?

Like an Oasis

2009-04-01T16:15:00.004+09:00

It has been a while since I did any caching. I was finally able to stop on my way home from work on Monday afternoon and find a newly hidden geocache at a beach near Kin. The beach isn't far from where I work, and it was a two part "multi-cache." Part one wasn't very tough to find, but the surrounding materials were sharp, and I left a small blood sample.

Today, I was able to hit a few caches while out with my wife doing some running around in the Awase area. A couple were at some small parks, one was at a Japanese department store and a local was sitting right in front of it, so I couldn't even search for it.

The last one I found was at a large "sports park." There were kelp farmers there, and it was low tide. Apparently, there is a specific type of sea weed here (algae maybe?) that is used to wrap sushi rolls, and another type that is supposed to be very rare. This particular geocache was hidden in the roots of a tree that was covered in thorns. I gave another small blood sample there, and my wife and I were on our way.

It was nice to get out and about again, since the weather has been pretty wet lately. I've also been dealing with a problem with one of my feet. I'll have to hope it gets better soon, since I can't afford to be laid up on one hoof.

Here's some pictures from today (you can click for the full size versions):

It's low tide!

Kelp farming

At the park, but I can't read it

The Kin power plant in the background

Map My Page

2009-03-28T21:23:00.003+09:00

GeoJoe, over at Geocaching Journal has shown me how to incorporate "Map My Page."

With this snippet of javascript, all worldwide locations will now show a little globe next to them, like Riverside, California, and you can click that globe to see the location on google maps.

That could come in handy, but I don't think it works with some of the obscure locations here in Okinawa. Like Ishikawa, Uruma, Kin, Yaka, etc.

Neat feature!

UPDATE: It seems to work with SOME of the locations here in Okinawa, but not all.

More Great Weather

2009-03-28T14:55:00.003+09:00

Looks like the weather is going to clear up...next week while I'm at work.

Break In the Weather and FTF

2009-03-08T13:55:00.003+09:00

The rain relented a bit today, and I headed out with my son to perform some maintenance on one of my geocaches. The original container had magnets glued to the inside of the lid, and they have broken loose. I built a new container, used some high-horsepower glue to attach new magnets to it, and swapped it out with the original container at the cache location.

We then headed out toward White Beach Naval Facility to grab a bite to eat, and we stopped to hunt for a couple of geocaches on the way. Unexpectedly, we were the first to find a tiny little geocache that was hidden on an uninhabited island that I have visited before.

Bananas growing at the cache site

After that stop, we went to a nearby park with a great view of White Beach. With all of the rain we've had, the hillside there was very slippery, and it made me thankful that we didn't go after that 5/5 cache today.
The park near White Beach

View of White Beach

A shrine near White Beach

Next, it was off to lunch, and then home. The weather cooperated for the couple of hours that we were out, but the ground out there is pretty soggy. At least it was nice and cool.

Okinawa Weather Woes

2009-03-07T16:59:00.003+09:00

As you can see from the radar image, we have a little bit of rain falling here. The island of Okinawa can be seen outlined in the center of the image.

It has been raining since yesterday, is forecast to continue raining the rest of today, and keep on raining through at least tomorrow morning.

I had planned on teaming up with two other cachers to tackle that difficulty five geocache tomorrow, but the surrounding area will probably be a complete mess. The terrain there is challenging enough, and the red clay mud is slippery with even a wee bit of rain.

It's not looking good for the home team...

First To Find

2009-03-02T13:29:00.002+09:00

I had some free time today, and decided to revisit a geocache that I couldn't find on my last visit. As it turns out, the previous cache was archived (no longer exists), and an entirely new cache was placed at the location.

I arrived at the small shrine, and began looking in the same spots I looked in before. My GPS kept pointing me toward the same object, but I just couldn't find anything out of place there. I took a minute to think about it, as well as what I had discussed with a fellow cacher, and was able to find the very sneaky hiding spot.

I opened the container and discovered that I was the first to find the cache. This surprised me, since the cache had published the previous day.

I then went on to a hillside cache on my way home. There was a nice view from the location, and it was an easy find. This beats working!

The view

The shrine

A Full Day of Geocaching

2009-03-01T19:00:00.003+09:00

I spent today with a fellow cacher, and we made our attempt at a geocache that has a difficulty and terrain rating of five (out of a possible five). It is a seven part multi-cache, with each leg of the cache providing the coordinates to the next leg. The terrain was intense, but I'm not sure what it's like through the entire seven stages, since we were foiled after only two.

We had dense cloud cover today, and the second stage was near some high-tension power lines. I'm not sure if those two conditions, combined with the dense jungle canopy, led us astray, but we were unable to find the cache. We got a little beat up, and very dirty in the process.

There was a dam in the area, and I took a picture from on top of it. After that, it was off into the jungle.

After failing to find that cache, we hit some others that involved a little bit of a hike. There were some banana trees, with some small bananas growing.

This trail was probably the easiest part of the day.

Okinawa Poker Run Event

2009-02-28T13:37:00.004+09:00

Today was the Poker Run event here in Okinawa. The host and hostess put a lot of work into this event, and I had a great time. I think everyone in attendance had fun.

It was fun to meet new people, and see some familiar faces. The event was held near another Geocache, and the venue accommodated us with no problems.

There were five unpublished caches that I had to find prior to the event. I took a card from each container, and couldn't open the envelopes for the cards until the event. My poker hand ended up being Jacks and Threes, and I came in fourth place. The top three hands got to divvy up the pot of donated geocoins (the ante was an unactivated coin). First place got eight, second got five, and third place got three. Quite a haul!

We all voted on the best camouflaged cache container, and another local cacher that is quickly finding his way onto everyone's "naughty" list won that game easily. Is that carrot evil, or what?

We all voted on the "most intriguing cache listing," and I won with the Space Cache Experiement.

We played geocoin bingo, and I didn't win anything on that game. Pure luck of the draw!

There was a word search game, and I didn't play that one. I let the kids that were in attendance have at it.

There was a pop quiz regarding the names of the five unpublished geocaches, and I won that event with some accurate guesses. Well, I knew the location of the five famous casinos, but the other trivia questions were tough! How much do you know about these casinos: Atlantis, Metropol, Clermont Club, Golden Nugget, Monte Carlo.

Another geocacher has his own custom geocoins, and he was generous enough to give some of them out to those that attended. Pretty neat, huh? Now, if I can figure out what the Japanese characters represent, I'll be doing much better!

I had a great time, and a fellow cacher and I will be teaming up to tackle a 5/5 cache tomorrow morning. It has a difficulty and terrain rating of five out of a possible five. The cache listing suggests bringing rope and a machette. I'll let you know how THAT one goes, if I make it back in one piece! Early reports from those that have found the cache indicate that the trek to this seven part multi-cache is nothing to laugh at. The cache owner is the same gentleman that created that evil carrot! The puzzle that needed to be solved in order to come up with the coordinates required some luck, and some intense google searching. Very creative stuff!

Okinawan Scenery and Geocaching Rules?

2009-02-27T16:25:00.007+09:00

That's a big hermit crab!

I haven't done any Geocaching since last weekend, so I thought I would post a couple of pictures from previous adventures. There's no real rhyme or reason to these pics, just as there's no real rules to Geocaching.

It's a bit funny how this whole thing works. The game, hobby, sport, activity (whatever you choose to call it) of Geocaching has no real rules. There are suggested guidelines that can be found at the Geocaching Website, but they are just that: Guidelines. The website itself has rules and, if they are not followed, a person wishing to hide a geocache will not get their cache listed on the website. The game itself is played in the public venue, under the supervision of one's self, and there are no real guys in striped shirts to officiate. There are volunteer reviewers that publish the geocache listings, and our two reviewers do a great job (from afar).

View of the expressway, from Chibana Castle

In regard to guidelines, many players are fond of saying that everyone plays the game their own way. I couldn't agree more. As soon as I say that, however, there are a few details that cause me to question that decree. Should everyone just trod forth, ignoring all suggestions? We can if we so choose, but should we? There's another nifty website out there that lists the Geocacher's Creed. I think that if everyone at least tried to follow these simple suggestions, there would be fewer problems. These guidelines need to be tempered with common sense, though.

One of the many well worn paths

What of the "unwritten rules?" Should you pull out your cell phone and "phone a friend," "use a lifeline," or simply, "ask for help," when you cannot find a geocache? I say, go right ahead. I would leave it up to the person you call to decide whether or not to reveal any information. Are you infringing on anyone else by asking for help? Only you know if you've made a tough find with no help. Some of those folks that "rate" themselves in the Geocaching world might argue differently, but I don't think they are paid employees of Groundspeak or Garmin. Some of the other unwritten standards are slowly becoming "the way." This might lead to what we commonly refer to as tradition. Good? Bad? Maybe a little of both, at times.

East China Sea, as seen from Camp Kinser

This is all, of course, just opinion. It's subject to change, and it's a work in progress. I think if people allow themselves to get too wrapped up in this game, they will lose sight of how fun it is, and the amazing places it can take them. What are your thoughts on it all?

Search Engine Referrals

2009-02-22T17:30:00.003+09:00

I love Sitemeter. If you look down at the bottom of my sidebar, you'll see a little counter with a link to their site. Gotta be logged in to see my detailed stats :) I enjoy seeing who visited my blog, how long they stayed, and how they got here.

One of the nifty little features of Sitemeter is that it will show me what search words somebody used if they came here via a search engine (Google seems to be the top dog at the moment, but Yahoo is running a close second). Now that search engines crawl and index sites automatically, my humble little blog is actually listed. Here's some of the search terms that folks used to find me:

-"Geocaching lessons"- I'm not sure where you can get actual lessons, but I'll tutor you for a nominal fee! You can also visit Head Hard Hat, and check out some of his videos for more help.

-"Cool cache containers"- I was flattered when I saw that one, but then I realized that it's probably only due to my post that shares the same title. Oh well.

-"Kyan Castle"- Yep; been there. Nice place, and I recommend a visit. Watch out for snakes near the cache though...

-"Kanna Dam"- Yep; been there too. Just a hop, skip, and a jump from where I work. I can even hit that one at lunch!

-"What to hide in a nano cache"- Sorry neighbor; you're not going to have much luck in that regard. Nanos don't contain anything other than a very tiny, rolled up log sheet for you to put your autograph on.

Isn't technology great? I read a few folks' comments on other sites, and some were concerned with privacy. I equate surfing the internet with driving on a highway. While you have some small amount of privacy in the confines of your automobile, it is indeed registered publicly, and you have a license plate on it, right? Well, your computer has an address assigned to it, and it shows up wherever you go (IP address). If you were unaware, you also transmit what version of Java your computer is running, what your screen resolution is, what web browser you're using, and what operating system you're running. Sitemeter even tells me who your internet service provider (ISP) is. Yes! My master plan for world domination is coming along nicely!

Easy Caches?

2009-02-22T12:27:00.003+09:00

It's funny how things change over time. Everything from my childhood seems small now, a lot of my clothing seems to have shrunk (only in the waist), my forehead is getting bigger...You get the idea. It appears that it's the same with Geocaching.

I only started this activity eight months ago, but it has morphed into a full-fledged hobby in record time. It has also changed for me quite a bit. When I began, a hidden container that most considered an "easy find," was very difficult for me. Another, more experienced, geocacher said that it would take time for my "geosenses" to develop. I didn't think I would ever get the knack of spotting hidden containers.

"Easy" geocaches still elude me, while some that others consider very difficult will sometimes just jump out at me. Everybody thinks and solves problems differently, and we each come to conclusions via different routes. Sometimes, we even solve problems differently than the last time we faced such a problem. A few folks call that process "learning." It's an amazing process, and that experienced geocacher really did know what he was talking about. Now, many hiding places just seem to make sense, and the cache containers are pretty easy to locate. That's not always the case, but it's usually the norm now, even after my limited number of finds. Getting to the location where the cache is hidden is an entirely different story...

A fellow geocacher that rotated back to the states told me that the caches there seem to be much easier to find than the caches here. I'm not sure if the lack of jungle terrain makes that so, or if he, like me, is just getting better at it. Maybe his "geosenses" are simply more finely tuned now.

What are your thoughts on it?

Okinawan Geocachers

2009-02-21T21:13:00.020+09:00

Okinawa has some unique geocaches. We have a variety of terrain, and some great points of interest. We also have some of the best geocaching and geocachers in the world. Don't believe it? Here's a few reasons why I believe it:

-Many of our geocachers are not even here. They're in places like Iraq and Afghanistan right now, fighting those that would destroy us. Many of those that are here have already been to those places, and are heading back again.

-We have cachers that think that if you don't need explosives to get to the cache, you're not bushwhacking (and this guy is one of my personal geocaching heroes).

-We have cachers that will look at a "5/5" and say, "Pfft...Night caching anyone?"

-Our entire caching playing field is 60 miles long and five miles wide at its widest point...We have unexploded ordnance everywhere. We're like a can of starting fluid that has been roughly handled and beaten on. From jungle to cane fields, we have some tough stomping grounds.

-I think we have a higher per/cache coin content than anywhere on earth.

-We have Soldiers, Sailers, Airmen and Marines in droves.

-We have Okinawan geocachers.

-People go home from here and tell stories about geocaching in Okinawa.

-We have Cache Oki

-We have lots of castles!

Badass beaches? We got 'em.

We have amazing flora.
And fauna.

We also have a core group of cachers that have an easy association with each other, and it works. I'll miss it when I leave here.

Oba Chan's Freedom Cache

2009-02-21T17:07:00.003+09:00

What a beautiful day it turned out to be here on Okinawa! 70 degrees, sunny, a light breeze, and low humidity (well, low humidity for here). Who could ask for more? (click the pics for full size versions)

Got Wind?

Island trees, swaying in the breeze

After a good lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, my son and I teamed up with a friend of mine to hit a few geocaches in the area. Two of them were new finds for me, and we hit four others that I've found before. I don't mind re-visiting caches, since my friend hasn't found them, and almost every cache here on Okinawa is hidden at a point of significant interest.

We started off by heading to a cache at a local driving school. We quickly made the find, and then headed off to a cache called, "Oba Chan's Freedom Cache." The name is based on the fact that the cache owner calls his wife's grandmother, "Oba Chan." His wife is Okinawan. It's called "Freedom Cache," because it's hidden at a cluster of small caves that were used as hiding places by the locals during World War II. Some of them didn't survive, but those that did only survived because of the shelter provided by these caves. The history behind the location gave this find a much greater significance.

After climbing around the hill where the caves are located, we headed off to a few other local caches, including one hidden at the Agena Castle. There's also a bull ring there, where the locals enjoy watching the bull fights. Don't worry, it's not like the Spanish style of bull fighting. Here on Okinawa, the bulls fight each other, and it's more of a pushing and shoving match than anything. The bulls don't get hurt, and whichever one gets tired first loses.

At Agena Castle

After a full afternoon of caching, my son and I said goodbye to my friend and headed for home. On the way home, we saw a man walking his bull down the road, just like you would walk a dog. I decided that I wanted to get a picture of that, so we turned around, and headed back the way we came. By the time we got back to where the bull was, the man had rounded a bend in the road, and come across yet another man walking a bull. The two bulls decided that they didn't need a bull ring, and they began to fight. They flung their owners around a little bit, but the two men managed to get the bulls pulled apart.

Them's fightin' words!

The bulls will quit when they're good and ready

Stowaway

2009-02-16T20:58:00.003+09:00

This little fellow was clinging to my backpack when I got home today. He's about three quarters of an inch in length. He lives in our bushes now. (click the image for full size)

Poker Run Event Cache

2009-02-16T19:38:00.003+09:00

On the 28th of this month, I'll be attending another caching event here on Okinawa. It's going to be a poker run, and it will be held at a neat place that I wrote about here.

The rules of the poker run are pretty fun in and of themselves. The event host has hidden five geocaches here on the island, and they will remain unpublished until after the event. He and his wife have emailed all of the hopeful participants with the coordinates to those five caches. Each of those caches contains a bag of envelopes with playing cards in them. Collect one envelope from each cache, don't open it until the event, and show up on game day.

We'll open each envelope in sequence, and the person with the highest card for each cache wins the first to find (FTF) for that cache. They also win an unactivated geocoin. After all five FTFs have been awarded, the person with the highest poker hand wins the FTF for the event cache, and whatever other prize the host has on hand (probably more coins).

My daughter and I went out today and found the five caches for the event. It was a cloudy, crummy looking day, but we still had a good time. All five caches were very well hidden, and a couple of them had us both scratching our heads. The containers were not hard to locate, but actually getting to the locations was pretty difficult. The host was sarcastic enough to write that we "shouldn't need to bushwhack" in the email. He lied.

Finding the five caches was a great time, and I'm looking forward to the event. I'll let you know how my hand stacks up. Here's a couple of pictures from today:

At the beach near Torii Station

No bushwhacking required?

Local park near Kadena Marina

Lazy Hazy Day

2009-02-15T16:41:00.004+09:00

It was overcast and hazy today. The weather report said that it was foggy, but I wouldn't quite classify it as fog, just haze. My son and I spent the afternoon touring the Awase area on the eastern shore of the island.

Our first stop was a small park, and the cache was hidden in a fake telephone hookup box. Since I've seen that type of container before, I spotted it as soon as we pulled up. It's almost like seeing an electrical box with absolutely no conduit leading to it...It just looks wrong and out of place. Easy grab, and we were on our way.

Next, we headed to another park, and the cache listing even states that the coordinates are off a little bit. That wasn't a problem, but the horde of young kids playing in the park was a problem. We couldn't really search thoroughly while being watched by the youngsters. We waved off and headed to the next cache.

After a quick find behind the Toys R Us (yep; they have one here), we went inside for lunch. The Okinawan version of Toys R Us has an entire shopping mall inside, with a food court. Don't be confused by the term, "food court." The food isn't what you would find in a mall in the U.S. My son and I each had a nice big bowl of soba, with a big hunk of pork, chopped onions, bamboo shoots, and corn. Good stuff. Who knew that you could go to Toys R Us for lunch?

Our last stop was a multi-cache, or multiple part geocache. I scratched my head for a while, and I think I found part one. The only problem is that I couldn't figure out what to do with part one. It only consisted of four digits, instead of the usual six (both the northing and the easting are usually listed in DDD MM.MMM format, so each leg of a multi usually gives just the last three digits of the minutes, for a total of six digits). I tried substituting the last two digits of the existing coordinates with two each of the found numbers, but that didn't lead me anywhere productive. Oh well; can't win 'em all.

Here's a couple of pictures of the mud flats at low tide (click for full size):

Seeing the Sights

2009-02-14T14:45:00.004+09:00

A couple of weekends ago, while messing around at the haunted hotel (see post below), my friend and I also went to a cache that was hidden near a monument to Commodore Matthew Perry. Apparently, he made a little stop here in Okinawa, and left a lasting impression. There was also a very high-end tomb nearby (Yakuza bigwigs?). Here's a couple of shots:

Tomb with a view

Matt was here

Cherry Blossoms

2009-02-02T18:28:00.003+09:00

The cherry trees are in full bloom here in Okinawa. This is cause for a huge festival and much celebration here. The Okinawans take their cherry blossoms very seriously.

Here's a couple of pictures of some trees that I came across today (click to enlarge):

Haunted Hotel

2009-02-02T18:10:00.003+09:00

I spent today out caching with a friend of mine, and we headed to the "Haunted Hotel." The Royal Hotel was never finished, and it remains an empty shell today. The developer never had any real plans, and the layout of the place reflects that. There are stairwells going nowhere, passages that lead to dead ends, and a general sense of chaos as you wander the halls.

The view from the upper levels is magnificent, and we had a great time exploring. Amazingly enough, there didn't seem to be any ghosts hanging around the place today (maybe they were all watching the Superbowl).

We then headed to the Nakagusuku Castle, and then to a neat little soba shop for lunch. Here's a few shots (click to enlarge):
One of the castle entrances

Cherry blossoms at the castle

The Haunted Hotel

One of the views from the hotel

Useless Hints

2009-01-31T07:31:00.004+09:00

Every Geocache listing has the ability to display a hint. This hint is encrypted, so that the cacher doesn't have their hunt spoiled. You can simply click on the "decrypt" button on the cache page to decrypt it, or use the simple decrypting key:

Decryption Key
A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
(letter above equals below,
and vice versa)

The guidelines for hiding a cache even state (or used to) that you should keep hints short and simple, since many cachers use the key to decrypt them in the field, and they don't want to get bogged down with decrypting a long, verbose hint-- "It's sort of near the long, tall, skinny, thinly barked tree, but closer to the short, squat, leafy bush." A better hint would be, "Between tree and bush."

There has been a trend here in Okinawa lately that involves using utterly useless hints. I can't understand why a cache owner would do this. Some examples of hints that have been used are, "None," "None until FTF," "Too easy," and, my personal favorite, "Keep looking." There's no reason to use the hint field to place that sort of message in the cache listing. Just place it in the description!

One useful feature is that in the encrypted hint, text that is between brackets, "[like this]," is not encrypted. I've seen owners write "too easy" that way. I have no problem with that whatsoever, since it doesn't waste anyone's time. Maybe I'm just being too picky, but giving a hint should be exactly that, a real hint. What do you think?

Housekeeping

2009-01-30T15:27:00.003+09:00

Times they are a changin'. I'm slowly making some changes to my humble little blog as well. I realized that I had plenty of neat photos around, so I grabbed one to use in the header. I also went with a much simpler layout.

I'm hoping that the weather will be mild this weekend, and that my friend and I can hit a few Geocaches on Sunday. I'm off of work on Monday (Sunday stateside) because the commanding general is, apparently, a football fan. I'm not complaining. I may get to do some caching then as well. I've got my fingers crossed.

Onna Point

2009-01-19T17:17:00.003+09:00

Today, I met up with a fellow geocacher, and we headed north to Onna Point. We hit a couple of neat spots there, and enjoyed the warmer weather. It has been cool and wet for a few days, until this weekend. The last couple of days have been really nice.

The terrain at Onna is rocky shoreline, with an abundance of razor sharp plants, and coral outcroppings. It makes for painful cuts and scrapes if you stumble or fall. The views, however, were spectacular in places.

We took the kids with us, and we all had a great time. We stopped at Coco Ichibanya for some curry, and then headed back home. The kids said that Coco should become the official Japanese sponsor of Geocaching.

Here's a couple of pictures from today:

Sunabe Village and Chibana Castle

2009-01-11T16:33:00.003+09:00

I teamed up with a friend of mine to hit a few geocaches today. We started the day by visiting a couple that I have already found. Since he's even newer at this than I am, he was happy to visit any caches that we could.

Our first stop was one of my own caches entitled, "Eat Your Vegetables." It's located at a farmers market, adjacent to a park that is allegedly haunted. My friend found it pretty easily.

We next headed to Chibana Castle. It was much easier to reach the top of the climb today than it was during my previous visit (immediately following a heavy rain).

View from Chibana Castle

After that, we were off to Sunabe Village. We hit a few caches on the beaches, and enjoyed the cooler weather. Thankfully, it was low tide, since one of the caches would have involved a swim during higher tides.

More Local Spots

2009-01-10T09:03:00.002+09:00

Here's a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks. I'm hoping to meet up with a friend of mine later today to do some Geocaching. I've got my fingers crossed. The weather isn't exactly ideal, but I'm water resistant.

Final Day of Vacation

2009-01-04T15:22:00.003+09:00

Today is the last day of vacation for my kids and I. I had a nice, long weekend for the new year holiday, and the kids have been off of school for the last two weeks.

My son and I spent the late morning roaming around the Maeda Point area, and the Ryukyu Mura Park. We had a good time, and the cooler weather was great.

Here's a couple of pictures.

Caching Problems?

2009-01-01T14:45:00.004+09:00

I guess that when it rains, it pours. That's a common saying, but it holds true at inopportune times.

One of my own geocaches was "muggled." I'm a bit annoyed about it, since it was a nice, big, well-stocked ammo can. It was well hidden, and neatly camouflaged. It was also in a really amusing area. I had titled it, "Don't Carp at Me," in an attempt to sound clever. I wanted it to sound like, "don't harp at me," only with carp. Carp was important because the locals typically hang up wind socks that are shaped and painted like carp during a certain annual festival here. One of their favorite places to hang the carp-like decorations is where I hid my cache. Bummer.

I also recieved notice that another of my hides needed to be moved. It's one of my "Old McDonald" caches, neatly concealed in the middle of some Okinawan farmland. The location is really nice, and the atmosphere there is very peaceful and relaxing. Now, it seems, there is a Mistubishi excavator parked atop the original hide location. What are the odds?

Oh; I also got an email telling me that the magnets are beginning to fall off of another of my hides. Super.

When it rains, it pours.

Major Milestone

2008-12-14T07:34:00.003+09:00

Yesterday, I found my 100th Geocache. For those that live in the states, or even in Canada, that may not seem like many at all. Given the size of Okinawa, 100 represents one third of the total available caches on the island. With another two years left on my tour here, I have to pace myself. What would I do if I ran out of caches to look for?

Here's a few pictures from a couple of my stops yesterday (click them for the full size version):

View from a small park north of Kadena

Looking toward the East China Sea from the park

I think the guy that painted this may have been on acid

Another roller slide at a park near Kadena

Geocaching in Okinawa

2008-12-09T18:52:00.003+09:00

Since I've been asked more than a couple of questions about the differences between Geocaching here in Okinawa, and caching in the states, I thought I would cover them all in one post. Well, I'll cover as many as I can think of. The interesting part is that many of these topics of discussion apply to every day life as well.

Navigating to the cache site: Getting to the cache site here is a little different, in that there are no names for the overwhelming majority of the streets and roads. The major highways and roads are numbered, but that does no good once you get off of the main arteries. My GPS will not tell me to turn "left on Main Street," but simply, "left on road." Which road? Giving someone directions to a certain location can be interesting as well. We've learned to use various landmarks as navigational aids. My GPS would make driving much simpler if it would tell me to turn "left at the big cartoon rabbit store."

Local drivers: The common stereotype about Asian drivers is something that I tried to keep an open mind about when I first got here. I've given up on that. What truly amazes me is how much money, time, and effort the Okinawans put into learning how to drive (or trying to). You would think that they'd be really good at it. You would be mistaken. Okinawan drivers represent a real hazard when trying to get to the next cache (or anywhere, for that matter). They seem to be oblivious to other vehicles on the road. They will often stop in the middle of the road to talk on their cell phones, pull out in front of oncoming vehicles, drive down the middle of a two lane road, and drive at about half the posted speed limit. Don't ever try to get anywhere in a hurry here; it's just not going to happen.

Cache containers: Okinawa is a tropical island, and the climate is quite different than most areas within the United States. The extremely high humidity causes metal containers to corrode very quickly here. Geocachers still use ammo cans, but the cans require more than one coat of high quality paint in order to protect them from the elements. Even with meticulous preparation, ammo cans don't last very long here. Rubbermaid and Lock-n-Lock containers seem to be a big hit, since they don't rust.

Muggles: The public here, or muggles, are very polite. The locals will typically do their best to ignore me, all the while taking careful note of my actions. They're only pretending to ignore me. Like most of Japan, Okinawa is a very densely populated space. There are rural areas, but they are not as large as you would find in the states. It would seem that the northern half of the island has more rural areas than the southern half, but that's relative. You don't have to travel very far at all to run across people here, even in the jungle terrain.

Language: Language differences here are, of course, an obstacle. The written language presents an even greater problem. The sheer number of characters that the Japanese use makes it very difficult to learn a useful amount of it. Many adults live their entire lives without learning all of the characters. If I find myself in need of something while out and about, it's very difficult to find it, unless I see a store logo that I happen to recognize. Convenience stores are numerous, but hardware stores and specialty shops are well beyond my ability to recognize (with a few exceptions). Many of the locals speak a little bit of English, but asking for directions is an exercise in frustration. The locals want to be helpful, but they usually lack the ability to do so.

Transfers: With the majority of American personnel here being military, or civilian contractors in support of military operations, there is a high turnover of personnel. The typical Geocacher is only here for three years (or less). This means that many a cache needs to be removed on a regular basis. Moving to a new part of the world and leaving a Geocache behind is about the same as littering. The obvious solution is to have someone else take care of it, or adopt it. This is always an option, but many caches end up being archived, or made inactive when the owner picks it up and takes it with them. Most cachers here on Okinawa are American, and the very few Okinawan cachers don't interact with us very much.

Trackables: In comparison to the states, caches here seem to have far more coins and other trackables in them. Most of the caches here have coins in them. Most of the cachers here have said that coins tend to disappear less here as well. I've done a few searches by zip code for locations in the states, and was surprised at how few the trackables were. It wasn't just the number of micros, or tiny caches, either; there just weren't very many coins or travel bugs out there. That's a bit disappointing. I guess I'm spoiled in that regard. I like to find them, since most of them are real works of art. Perhaps the sheer number of caches in the states will make up for the sparse trackables.

Equipment: Equipment is the same here, since it's all bought in the U.S. anyway. What is different is the maps for GPS receivers. There only seems to be one reliable Japanese map, but it does enable auto-routing (turn by turn navigation). It just gives strange directions, as mentioned above. Many of the nooks and crannies here have critters living in them. Many of those critters bite or poke, and quite a few are venomous. Gloves are a plus. In addition to the critters, most of the rock formations here are actually coral. That stuff is sharp, so climbing it will do a number on your hands if you don't wear gloves.

Well, that's enough for now. I'm sure I'll think of more differences later, but this post is getting pretty long-winded.

New Hides

2008-12-06T19:07:00.003+09:00

I've been a little busy this weekend, but I still managed to find two caches and hide two more of my own.

I already had one hidden that I had named "Old McDonald Had a Cache." It was named for the location...In the middle of several acres of farmland. Well, this weekend, I've hidden Old McDonald #2, and #3. Both are much farther north than my previous hides, but they're very close to the base where I work, so I can go check on them at lunch, or after work.

It's a quiet area, and the scenery is nice.

Cache Event

2008-11-29T21:08:00.003+09:00

Today I was able to attend a caching event here, and it was a good time. There were about thirty people there (not counting little ones), and one gentleman came all the way from Tokyo. Well, he didn't come all this way just to attend our little event, but he made a point to come and meet all of us.

We met at about noon for a meet and greet, and then ate lunch. After that, we had a "caching relay race." That was a pretty neat idea. There were two teams of people. Each team was split up into three relays. The first relay was given a set of coordinates to a cache. They had to find that cache and bring it back to the picnic area. They then handed it off to the second relay, who then opened it up and retrieved the coordinates to the next cache, and so on.

We had a couple of other games and giveaways, and then everyone went their separate ways. It was a nice couple of hours in a very scenic park.

The park is right next to the castle ruin that I was poking around at yesterday. In fact, a few of us walked around with the gentleman from Tokyo as he hunted for that geocache. Here's a few pictures:

More Caching Fun

2008-11-28T17:30:00.004+09:00

Today is what the shoppers call "Black Friday." The day after Thanksgiving day sales are legendary for their large, ferocious crowds. My wife was brave enough to head out with a friend to look at what the base exchange has to offer. Better her than me...

The kids and I headed out in search of Geocaches, naturally. I had six on my list, and we ended up stopping to look for eight. We went eight for eight today, so it was a great day of caching.

Our first stop was at yet another castle ruin. This time it was the Yara Castle ruin, and the surrounding park and stream. What a great location! I really wanted to get this one, since it's a multi-cache (two parts, with the first part containing only the coordinates of the second part), and since it's very near to where a caching event will be held tomorrow. I didn't want to be bumbling around trying to find the place tomorrow, so I thought I'd recon the area today. What better excuse for checking out a 14th century castle?

After that, we headed to an old bridge, and a hiking trail that heads off into the jungle from there. The kids stayed on the trail while I did my best monkey impression while going for the cache. After knocking down the now familiar spider webs, I made my way to the top of a coral outcropping and found the ammo can stashed in the roots of a banyan tree. Piece of cake.

Next we headed to Toguchi beach. This is just south of Torii Station (Army base), and has great views of the East China Sea. There's also some great tide pools where the kids can poke around and play with the wide array of poisonous critters. We found four caches in that area, and then headed to an ostrich farm nearby. I started thinking about hot wings while there, and we went for lunch afterward.

Our last stop was at a small shrine that was just off of highway 58. A quick find, and we headed home. No crowds, no money spent (other than a couple of hotdogs for lunch), and much better scenery than the base exchange.
Here's some pictures (click them for the full size versions):

View at Toguchi Beach

Those are some strange looking ostriches

At the castle

New Cache Container

2008-11-27T10:52:00.003+09:00

I came across a cool new cache container, entirely by accident. The container is called a Rod Guard (that's the actual brand name), and it's a watertight container used for storing welding rods.

You can get a good idea of the size from the picture with my Garmin Colorado there for reference. The cylinder is about 14" long, and about three inches in diameter. There is a nice, thick rubber gasket on the opening, and it's constructed of stiff, durable plastic.

Now I just need to find a suitable spot to hide it...

Another Neat Okinawan Park

2008-11-27T10:47:00.002+09:00

Last Sunday, I attempted to find a two part multi-cache that is titled, "The Mother of All Rollerslides." Rollerslides are very popular here, and I will often see young kids walking down the sidewalks with flattened boxes, and other pieces of similar materials for sliding.

The instructions for this cache told me to head to the listed coordinates, where I would find a tile shaped like a compass. The North arrow would point to a park bench where the final cache is hidden. Well, I found the tile, sighted along the arrow, and spotted an elderly couple sitting on the bench. Great.

I tried to wait them out, but they didn't budge. Once again, I'm not disappointed, because I found another neat spot here on Okinawa that I would not have found otherwise.

Ending the Week

2008-11-22T16:41:00.003+09:00

I was able to escape from work pretty early on Friday, and I hit a couple of spots near Naha. One was an art museum, and a couple of others were at small parks. With the number of people swarming around every place I stopped, I wasn't able to really search for the caches. At least I found some nice places to visit.

Today my son and I headed out to the Awase area. I had to stop at a local optometrist's shop to get my son's glasses adjusted, and order some new sunglasses. Naturally, we stopped at some caches "on the way" back.

Our first stop was at the Awase Meadows Golf Course. There was absolutely no parking to be found, as is usually the case on weekends after about 0900. We did some laps in the parking lot, hoping a spot would open up, and ended up leaving. I can't count that one as not finding the cache, since we didn't even search for it.

The next stop was next to what is allegedly the Yakuza headquarters here in Okinawa. For the uninformed, the Yakuza is the Japanese mafia. I could almost reach the hide without getting out of the car, and we spotted a fellow geocacher leaving the area. Zip, zap, we were done and gone.

Next, we headed to the local zoo, and a small park behind it. Climbing the hill in the park, we came upon a small shrine, and the nearby cache. In the logbook, I noticed the name of the cacher we had spotted at the previous cache. We were hot on his heels!

I called a buddy of mine and asked him if he happened to know how to get ahold of the cacher in question...I could hear him ask the suspect cacher, "Hey; Gunny's on the phone and wants to know how to get ahold of you." Small world. I ended up running into them at our next stop, a small park that was difficult to find.

After a brief search at the park, I made the find, and we headed to yet another castle ruin. This one was at the Goeku Castle ruins, and my son found the first leg of the two part multi. The second part would have been easy too, except for the man sitting about 50 feet away and staring at us. He eventually lost interest, and we were able to retrieve the container. That finished up our day of geocaching, and we headed home.

Here's a couple of pictures (click for full size versions):

View from the castle

At the zoo

A colorful character

At the art museum

More of the museum

More Local Caches

2008-11-14T10:50:00.003+09:00

Here's a couple of pictures from Tuesday and today. I had to take a friend to the airport Tuesday morning, so I hit a couple of urban hides down in Naha on the way home. It was raining all morning, so it was a bit damp out.

Today, I tried to be the first to find one hidden at our favorite curry restaurant, but there was a familiar name in the logbook when I got there at 0630. Granted, that guy could almost throw rocks at it from his house, but I'm off of work today, and he's not. That's the breaks, I guess.

Here's a few shots:

Rainy Day of Caching

2008-11-10T16:34:00.003+09:00

It has rained all day today, but that hasn't stopped my son and me from enjoying a great day of Geocaching.

We headed east toward White Beach, and made our first stop at Katsuren Jo, or Katsuren Castle. This castle was the home of Amawari, a feudal warlord who was one of the last to hold out against the unification of the Ryukyu Kingdom. It's a neat castle, with a great view of Uruma, and the surounding areas. We found the cache in a few minutes, and then went to the top and enjoyed the view.

Next, we headed to what the locals call an "opservatory," or a simple lookout point near a bridge. The bridge leads to an uninhabited island, where we explored the Mujin Tou Cave, and headed out onto a rocky point after hiking through some dense jungle.

When we made it to the cave, there was an old homeless person rolling up his tatami from the night before. He gave us a guided tour of the cave, pointing out the rock formations that resembled various animals. He sort of put a damper on searching for the cache.

After the tour, we headed off into the jungle in search of the "rocky point" cache. For some reason, and I'm not making this up, there were two large chickens leading the way through the jungle. If we stopped, they would stop and wait for us. It was eerie. Once again, I felt like Indiana Jones, dodging large spiders, busting through dense jungle growth, and relying on my trusty sidekick, The Boy. After about 20 minutes, we came out of the jungle and followed a cliffside trail to the point. The Boy messed around and threw rocks over the edge, and I found the ammo can stashed in the sawgrass.

We had a great time, and stopped at the White Beach Naval Facility on the way home to grab a bite to eat.

The Castle

View from the castle

Not-So-Uninhabited Island

Rocky point

Race Update

2008-11-08T16:41:00.003+09:00

Well, today started off good enough, with a trip to Hamby Town to find the "Junk's Trunk, Coin and Bug Terminal." I thought it would be a perfect spot to launch my travel bug, and start its journey in the race that I'm a part of. One problem: I couldn't find the cache.

The cache was a two stage multi, and the first part took less than two minutes. It was a clever hide, but easy enough. The second part was a pain in the butt, and I was unsuccessful. The kids helped look, but it was not to be.

We left there and went to grab the cache up at the building with the airplane on it (there's a previous post down there somewhere about that one). This time, I took a more direct route there, instead of winding through miles of tiny little village streets. Zip, zap, we had the cache within minutes.

Upon returning home, I thought about that first cache a little more and, combined with the name, I think I know right where it's at. Should make for a quick find tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: I went back to the "Travel Bug Terminal," and made the find. It was a very creative hide. I then ran into another problem: This cache that is supposedly designed for travel bugs, won't hold my travel bug. My little item is not very large, maybe a little smaller than a golf ball. You'd think that a cache owner that wants to advertise a spot to release bugs would make the cache a regular sized cache.

So, I altered my plans and placed my racer in one of my own caches, titled, "Old McDonald Had a Cache." Off it goes.

Zakimi Castle and Other Fun Stuff

2008-11-07T14:49:00.005+09:00

Well, the day went well. My daughter and I headed out with four caches in our sights, and we found three of them. The weather did indeed cooperate, and it began raining heavily about 30 minutes after we returned home.

We first headed to the Hija Bridge, which I posted about previously. I couldn't find the cache on my last visit, but we came up with it this time. The surrounding weeds had overgrown the ground-level container so badly that it was easy to miss. It was a very creative container...shocking in its simplicity.

Next, we headed to a local shop that sells nothing but honey. In fact, the sign out front simply says, "Honey Shop." The cache was a magnetic Altoids container on the underside of a vending machine. Pretty easy find, but it was a neat shop to visit.

Our next stop was the Zakimi Castle. Zakimi Castle was built in the early 15th century by Gosamaru, a powerful warlord who played an important role in uniting the Ryukyu Kingdom. I was a bit worried about our ability to find this cache, since the last four visitors had all logged "did not find" on the website. Like them, we found only a great place to visit, and take some pictures. It seems that not only is the cache MIA, but the cache owner has moved back to the states and abandoned the cache as well...Not a good thing.

We moved on to a cache titled, "Big Dog's Boss." The big dogs in question were a couple of shisa dog statues, which are believed to protect against evil spirits. Their "boss" was simply a Boss Coffee vending machine. The cache container, however, was very creative, and I had a heck of a time spotting it. We made the find, and called it a day.

After the last find, we headed to CoCo Ichibanya for a couple of heaping plates of curry and rice.

Here's a few pictures from our day (as usual, you can click on the pictures for the full size versions):

View from atop Zakimi Castle

Inside the castle walls

Outer walls

Picnic in progress

On the way to the first cache