Geoaching ... as we near 600 finds

at some point in August 2010 we are going to log our 600th find … here are 40 things we have learned along the way :)
1. Some cachers go to great effort to maintain quality caches.
2. Some cache owners are amazingly creative.
3. Some caches are abandoned relatively fast.
4. There is ambiguity in the geocaching guidelines…and varying interpretations.
5. I don’t think I want to be a reviewer.
6. There is an art to reading the GPS.
7. The vast majority of cache coordinates are pretty gosh darn accurate.
8. mili- Seconds count when attempting to be the FTF.
9. FTF’s are amazingly snagged before I can get one :)
10. It’s boring to go out caching by yourself
11. A lot of cachers don’t log their DNF’s.
12. lamp post hides quickly bring up the numbers
13. You can help a friend in another state by reading the logs and texting her
14. I understand why people have stamps for their names.
15. There is a special place in heck for people who run their stamps across three or four lines on a small cache log. Yes, you should be ashamed if you do this.
16. A lot of logs are damp, moist, wet, mush.
17. A lot of seemingly waterproof containers…aren’t.
18. I'm short at 5 feet 8 inches … I bought a pair of reachy grabby things
19. There are a lot of parks and green areas I didn’t know about.
20. Just because there are a million great hiding places in the rocks doesn’t mean the cache isn’t really in the bushes.
21. I have learned the names of trees, plants and ivy stuff
22. Its okay to talk shop at events
23. Not all virtual caches are worth the hunt but I sure have seen some great areas
24. Muggles are everywhere.
25. Muggles sneak up on you.
26. Some muggles are oblivious to the world around them.
27. Muggles sometimes find caches…and sign them.
28. I’m surprise that some caches have never been muggled.
29. Some descriptions have nothing to do with the cache.
30. Some hints, really aren’t.
31. While sitting down for dinner the first thing I think about is … is there a cache near by
32. While planning family outings I now consult the geocaching.com site before announcing where we will be going
33. There are some muggles you should just not go caching with…seriously.
34. It’s possible to spot another geocacher from several hundred feet away.
35. Some cache descriptions tell some very poignant stories.
36. There are a lot of spiders and bugs in this world.
37. There are a lot of sharp and pokey things in this world.
38. I need to remember to take my GEO bag with me on each hunt
39. Long sleeve shirt might not be a bad idea either.
40. The best geocaching pen in the world is the Sharpie Fine Point Pen