Kevin's Geocaching Page

The Bulgrien family started out geocaching with a Garmin Nuvi 205W . In many respects, its not the greatest GPS receiver for geocaching but it has capabilities that make it hard to seriously consider another brand or line of GPS. Why? The critical factor is that we use Linux, and none of the GPSr manufacturer's or geocache registries support it. While Garmin does not either (you can't even register your GPS without using Windows), at one time, they published the format of the waypoint files used on the GPS. That makes it possible to create waypoint and point-of-interest files that contain an amazing amount of information about a cache. Without having access to another GPS to be sure the same thing can be done with it, the Garmin keeps its status as the Bulgrien's geocaching tool of choice. To give you an idea of what the Nuvi can do, take a look at this assemblage of screenshots taken right off the unit. Note the cache description, clues, log data, etc. Though all the data is not needed all the time, it sure is nice to have it for the times when a cache is hard to find.

Here are some of the Bulgrien's geocaching landmarks:
Find	Cache	Description
1	Prince Caspian (GC12FPQ)	The first find of all time. The whole family was present.
100	THE GRIZZLY TRAIL #11 (GC18H5P)	The first trail the Bulgrien's followed. Dad pushed ORB in a stroller. KMB and BIB followed in the car.
133	Wooden Cache II (GCVNJ8)	The cache ate our first GPSr. It's still at the bottom of Elder Lake. What happened? ORB was in a backpack, the cache was below foot level, and it was cold. The GPSr went in the most convenient pocket, and slipped out and into the water. It was a very sad day. Other cacher's encouraged us to try to get it out, but even with a 15' net we couldn't reach bottom, and we had to stop geocaching until we felt we could get another GPSr.
200	Once in a Millenium Moon (GC11GBZ)	Dad and Mom found this one on their ninth anniversary.

Geocache Listings
Opencaching.us "... the official United States Opencaching site. This site went live on August 18, 2010. Our goal is to have a database of quality, unique caches that are enjoyed, reviewed and rated by YOU, the geocaching community. Many of our listings are unique to our database and are not found on any other site." While this site has 1 cache in close proximity to the webmaster's home, the next closest caches are over 100 miles away, so the cache density is still quite low for many areas.
Groundspeak Inc. Groundspeak's geocaching.com web site contains many resources that support geocaching as a hobby. Most services require a login to use fully. The login is free, but the site encourages payment of an annual fee to unlock full site functionality. "The Groundspeak Geocaching Logo is a registered trademark of Groundspeak, Inc. Used with permission."
Navicache Team NaviCache lists geocaches but they do not seem to be as ubiquitous as Groundspeak, and the closest cache to where I live is 50 miles away. You need to create a free login account to search for cache information. Get help or share information in the forums.
Opencaching.com This is a geocache registry run by Garmin Ltd., a manufacturer of GPS receivers. As with some other sites, this one is light on sites. The closest cache to the webmaster's home is about 55 miles away.
Geocaching Assocations
Texas Geocaching Association Mission Statement: "The purpose of the Texas Geocaching Association (TXGA) is to promote geocaching in Texas via improved communication and to provide a source of information to the public about our activities and the activity of geocaching." History: " The TXGA was formed in January 2003 by Sam Morrow (UsMorrows), Candy Lind (Moosiegirl), and Will Nienke (9Key). Over the years we have hosted several successful statewide events (the yearly Texas Challenge), GeoWoodstock 4 (the first Mega Event), and have worked to foster the development of geocaching in the Great State of Texas."
Resources
The Ultimate Guide to Geocaching "If you've never been geocaching before, do some research to make sure you follow the proper etiquette and rules of safety. The unofficial regulations of geocaching exist to ensure that everyone has a great time, respects land and property, and stays safe to cache another day. The following sites and pages will explain the practice of geocaching, give you some beginner tips, and provide you with lots of helpful resources just for the newbie cacher."
Tools
iTouchMap.com's Latitude and Longitude of a point To find the latitude and longitude of a particular location on a map, use this site to enter a site address or browse to the point in Google Earth. The latitude and longitude are displayed in a couple different formats.
geo-* : Rick Richardson's Linux tools for geocaching "Here are various tools for geocaching. Some are designed to turn the clicky-clicky-scroll-clicky-clicky messes that are geocaching.com and navicache.com into a set of tools which you can use in a batch or cron mode to establish your normal caching routine, backup your caches and cache logs, etc. Others are used to enter new waypoints, a free geocoder, create custom maps of waypoints, etc." Use the forum for support and development communication regarding the "geo-*" utility suite.