Introduce Yourself

[shroomAzoom]

New to caching in North Western Ontario? Maybe you're an old timer but haven't been able to make it out to the events to meet others? Maybe you'd just like to tell us a little about yourself? New or old, introduce yourself to us here.

Tell us who you are, how you got into geocaching, what you like best about it and what other hobbies and interests you have.


My name in real life is Darren Foulds and I started geocaching in the fall of 2005. I was teaching myself how to use my father-in-law's GPSr (so I could teach him) and came across the geocaching website. I noticed there were a few caches around Lakehead University (where I work) so I went out at lunch and tried to find them. When I did I was hooked!

I like many things about geocaching. It's a fun outside activity that my wife and I enjoy together. I like discovering all the trails and other neat places that it takes me to that I wouldn't have found out about otherwise. And I like the "treasure hunt" aspect of it.

When I'm not geocaching, I like playing board games (of the "German" variety,) I've got a Wii (not a hardcore gamer, but am really enjoying Mario Kart,) I play a little music (guitar and drums,) like camping, and reading and cooking.

[Get_Off_The_Paved]

     Well for those who I have yet to met, or those with a bad memory  , I would be Jay Willoughby and would be out on the hunt mostly with the wife Amanda, the little one Avery, and the four legs, Hanna and Molly.  I just got started in this about a year ago, when I came across a story about geocaching and decided to check out what it was all about.  Our first find was at Surprise Lake (which did take a while), and then the one at Island Lake on a Saturday afternoon since it was a short drive from our camp.  Since then that was it I was hooked and love to get out to new places as well as those that I have visited many of times before and walked right past a cache and not even know it.... but I do now.
      We spend a lot of time summer and a couple weekends in the winter camping and traveling around the Thunder Bay area so I do enjoy these hides that are backcountry, as well as placing them in the backcountry. 

[hunter-killer]

Darren has asked that I watch my language so I'll try, ( I only curse when looking for his and Jens evil hides) Come to think of it Jim's has the same effect. My name is Tom and I'm a raging Alcoholic. Oh crap, wrong group  ,.... My name is Tom, also known as Hunter and my wife's name is Kathy also known as Killer, and although she is an avid hunter and fisherperson, the name Killer was given to her when we meet in high school  in 1973,because of her maiden name and a wrestler of Polish decent back then. The name stuck. We first started caching after a ham operator friend of ours told us about geo caching. We both had gps units, looked on the site and seen a bunch around our area. We joined at the end of March of this year. The first cache we did was NWOBEARS a song in the air, it blew us away. We walked by that cache numerous times, it was a trail we always walk. That little blue cache set the hook on us, now we can't get enough. Anyway thanks for the invite Darren, we have met a few people on the hunt, and it is a great way to get out and enjoy the outdoors.

[ragbag]

My real name is Bob Grieve. I am a retired school teacher, having taught locally in the Elementary Schools for 32 years, and am presently doing cabinetry out of my garage, which often keeps me off the caching trail  .  I became interested in caching after I joined the Lakehead Search and Rescue Unit and started using the GPS units for search training and on real searches.  I was intrigued by the technology, so I did a little internet snooping about GPS, and discovered the caching website, and was amazed to see that there were 60 caches within 80 km of my house (how times have changed  -  there are now almost 200!).  My first cache was found at the Terry Fox Lookout (now archived), and I was hooked.  I have found caches in the areas where I have travelled, and love to take my grandchildren in Windsor out for a "Treasure Hunt" when I am visiting.  I did some caching last September when I was over in England and Ireland, and was pleased to discover that their caches were pretty similar to ours  -  some more difficult to find than others.
What I really enjoy about caching is that it gets you places that you would otherwise never know about, or visit, and i have seen some really interesting places thanks to caching.

[Mechman]

Hello all....In real life my name is Dave Gallant.  I usually cache with my wife Yvonne (Mechmama).  Once and a while we bring out the kids Mechtoddler and Mechbaby (Hayley and Ben respectively), but that usually makes finding anything quite a bit harder.  I joined geocaching.com well before I even had a GPS or before it became real popular.  I don't remember why I joined, must have one of those cool websites that you come across, join. and forget about...anyway a few years after that I got a GPS, for the specific purpose of geocaching, and it's been go go ever since.

We look at it as a casual hobby, we are not die hards, but enjoy getting out every once and a while.  It's hard with the kids to find time to get out, but we usually go after a couple every month.

When vacationing, we try to always reserve a day for geocaching, no matter where we go.  Did you know that there are caches in Cancun and at the ancient Myan ruins of Chichen Itza and also at Disney World?  Did you know that there is a mini-statue of Liberty in Duluth?  Did you know we have a caboose at the marina.... :-) (Sorry had to add that one - I think a lot of us are familiar with it's underside).

Anyway, we like to get out to places we've never been too - 7/8 of my life in Thunder Bay and I had never been to Cascades before can you believe it?  The Cedar Grove forest that we were led to by mistake in Spring Cache Challange 2008 - no cache, but a very cool looking forest...

Our first caches were in the LU area - I believe the original Fred Penner was the first one we found.

I have a complete set of 2006 Signal Geocoins that I meant to bring to SCC2008 dinner for all to see, but I forgot.  These are our memento for our first year of caching!

Any way--- have fun people...nice to have met some of you.

The Mechs

[ChrisDom]

Hello, I thought I better introduce myself.  My name is Chris Dombroskie.  I cache on my own as ChrisDom and with my family as FamFun.  I have been using GPS for over 10 years and also work with GIS (Arcview, Arcmap, etc.).  I work in forestry management and have been working on the Lakehead Forest for 4 years. 
I love a challenge and the outdoors and that is why I decided to try geocaching.  Missed out on the Spring Challange but I hope to be available for the next event.
Looking forward to meeting you on the hunt.

[NWOBEAR]

Welcome aboard Chris and happy caching

[agimak]

Well imagine this, I did not know this site existed. Hello all my name is Michael O'Connor, also known as Agimak. I live in Ignace and I work as a chip-truck driver for Ricci's Trucking. I work out of Dryden these days and have to live there half of the month and geo-caching has kept myself occupied on  my short change day when the weather is nice. Dryden has an excellent assortment of caches around to keep me busy.
I got into this addiction of geo-caching by accident. My wife bought me a G.P.S for Xmas in 07 which I wanted for my fishing trips and it is an excellent device for that, but I had also heard of geo-caching and a google search later there I was at Geocaching.com. and the rest is history....lol.
I guess I can blame a Mr Ragbag for all of this because when I searched for a cache close to Ignace I was surprised to see there were more than one even...hehe.  So off I went to see if I could find me a cache and the Raleigh Falls cache 20 kms west of Ignace was the first ever one I had found. Thanks Ragbag for that.
I really enjoy this sport, I am hooked for sure. I now have 3 caches of my own now and have a plan for another. I really enjoy going back to the website and reading cachers thoughts on the caches. It is great to see that there is a forum like this to meet people, chat or ask questions. Maybe in my travels ....or yours I might get to meet some of you personally. That would be cool. Anyways...take care I'll check in here again. Michael.

[Q and A]

Hello All!  Q and A, which very well could be for "Questions and Answers", actually consists of Quinn and Andrew and their chauffeurs Mom and Dad (Allison and Marc).  Thanks to a picnic with the MechFamily in May and a little demo to find Nosey, "A" got hooked on this real life treasure hunt game.  Since then, this summer has involved getting a Garmin and touring around the city looking for slightly used peanut butter jars and film canisters from people that still don't use a digital camera.  All this has led to some good family adventures seeing new areas that we have never been to in and around our own city.  It also keeps us fit and gives our oldest something to obsess about.  Although we've only started on this pastime, and usually go to the tamer, kid-friendly areas, we've really enjoyed the creativeness of the caches hidden by our fellow area members.  We look forward to seeing you on the trails, and if not, then at least finding all your caches!!!

[Timbergirl]

Hi all,
just discovered this website today. I'm from sioux Lookout and i've been geocaching since mid 2007. 

[hunter-killer]

Welcome to the site Timbergirl, Also a welcome to Agimak (parents use to have a camp on Agimak on the then named muskeg drive) and Q&A who we have met, this site is getting bigger and better, and we all share the same interest in this fun pastime. Enjoy the site.

Tom & Kathy

[deathsnake]

Incase you haven't dusted off any of those old records or cassettes, were Deathsnake.  The name might sound a little 80's rockbandish and thats the exact look we were going for; but we're anything but.  The average age of deathsnake is only 18.75 so were no 80's rockers.  So heres our story, Making the Band:

The name:
The bass guitarist just got a new Wii with rockband and the other band members came over for "band practice" when we needed a band name.  What better name for an 80's rockband, Deathsnake was born.

The band:
Drummer: Matt Sears (Student - Aviation Flight Management - 2nd year, Con. College)
Bass Guitarist: Doug Carlson (Student - Elec. Engineering - 2nd year, L.U., also works at Wisk Air Helicopters)
Lead Guitarist: Craig Kosonen (Student - Elec. Engineering - 2nd year, L.U., also works at Nucci's)
Vocals: Jeannie Mortensen (Student - Civil Engineering - 2nd year, L.U.

We came about geocaching because we liked the idea of using GPS's to find these mysterious treasures and now were hooked.  We like the idea of caching together, it always makes for good memories and what better way to spend your time.  We are all very outdoorsy people and if were not caching or studying, were flying, hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, skim boarding, playing music, or just having fun.

We're looking forward to meeting everybody one day. TFTC

[Neys Lunch]

Hello all, our names are John and Tammy Gillespie.  We own Neys Lunch and Campground 26 Km west of Marathon.  We first heard of Geocaching at a campground owner conference.  Being the curious type we began investigating the sport.  Turns out our son learned about it all in school.  Wish we did fun things like that back when we were in school     My son took us out to the scenic look out at the little Pic River to show us the ropes.  We were instantly Hooked!!!!

It's not easy making our escape from the store and campground to go geo hunting but we do head out whenever we can manage it.  This summer we are bringing Geocaching to us!!!  Look for the first Neys Geocaching frenzy on the August long Weekend, I look forward to meeting all of you.  what a great way to meet new friends!!!!

[hunter-killer]

A belated welcome to the Deathsnake crew, who provide the fun and often times hilarious posts when they log a find. And also welcome to Neys Lunch who we have met. Enjoy the site.

[Wandering_Man]

Well I guess its about time I introduced myself around here.

My real name is Mark Maranzan, but I've been going by the online persona of Wandering Man for almost 9 years now. I'm originally from Guelph, but have been living in Thunder Bay on and off for the last 9 years, starting with time spent at Lakehead University where I studied Business.

I was first introduced to geocaching many moons ago by my roommate in University, but I really didn't get hook till this past spring. I would personally like to thank Mrs Shroom (aka Jenn) for assisting in this by getting herself all baby'd up, leaving Darren in search of a new caching partner.

Outside of caching I would have to say most of my interests are in the outdoors. I play soccer, mountain bike, fish, hunt, etc... doing most with little to moderate success

Anyway that's the scoop. Hope to see you all around town on the hunt!.