May 8, 2006
Venom on the Move
(or: California is Big)
After a long hiatus in the pocket of a well-meaning but new-to-the-game geocacher, Fashion Victim Venom (travel bug #TBH8M2 ) is finally on the move again!
He’s traveled from Massachusetts to Florida (where he was photographed in an orange grove) then out to Nevada and now he’s in the area of San Francisco! He’s broken the state barrier, but he’s still about 470 miles away from Brian in the San Diego area. Ironically, in Las Vegas, he was only 300 or so miles away, so he’s “in state” but is moving away from BriWei! It’s all good. I expect he will get into the San Diego area soon enough. Brian, you’d better warm up that GPS receiver. It could be a matter of days now. No way to tell.
Part of the problem with Venom is that he’s a medium-to-large travel bug. So he is sometimes difficult to place in a cache. However, most caches I visit have room for a TB of his size, and, in fact, I created Venom from a toy I found in a cache in Dartmouth, MA.
I actually had to contact the fellow who was holding this travel bug and ask him to move it along. He responded to my email inquiries, which was a relief. I have to admit, I, too, have held on to a travel bug for too long. Last year when we experiences some tough professional and personal times, I stopped geocaching and I had collected 3 bugs. It was a couple of months before I got them back on their way.
So, life happens. But always try to tell the TB owners that their TB is OK if you’re holding one for more than a couple of weeks.
Additional details:
- What is a Travel Bug?
- Pirate Stash Venom (my original post announcing Venom to the world)
Sweet! I better start practicing with the darn thing. The two caches I tried to find, I was unsuccessful. And I think that was definitely operator error. :)
Posted by: briwei at May 8, 2006 9:44 AMThat Venom has gotten so far seems a testament to the adage "don't make cute travel bugs." FVV is the exact opposite of cute.
You've seen the pix, but he's even uglier in person.
Posted by: James at May 8, 2006 10:06 AMI am dismayed to read that Brian has experienced trouble with a GPS receiver. If he can't master it, what hope does someone like me have?
Posted by: Patti M. at May 8, 2006 10:29 AMThe first time he went out, he had a misconception about the compass-view of the GPSr.
It's a small misconception, and one that is not uncommon, partly because one of the "interface screens" of the GPSr is misleading to beginners, and to people who are familiar with a compass.
It can send you way off the trail. However, if you get familiar with the GPSr it's a *very easy* misconception to get over.
No reason to be afraid of the GPS! It doesn't hurt to learn a little about orienteering in general. It's all part of the fun of the outdoors. And it's nice to be able to get un-lost if your GPSr fails.
Posted by: James at May 8, 2006 11:32 AMAnd the second time was almost certainly operator error. It can take time to learn to navigate the screens and I think I accidentally moved my waypoint. :)
Posted by: briwei at May 8, 2006 5:58 PM