This is from a couple of weeks ago. I’m cleaning out the video camera today…

Just a quick post, written from the keyboard of the iPhone. Nice app, but kinda limited. Best used with straight text, since there’s no copy/paste function.

There’s an article up today on TUAW about using the new iPhone 3G for geocaching. It’s a decent read, but following the process they’ve outlined is pretty painful. After using the iPhone to hunt down a few caches myself, here are some tweaks that I’d recommend:

1. At the very least, as you go into each cache page on the geocaching.com Web site, just click the link on the left sidebar for Google Maps. It’ll transport you into the iPhone’s native map application and drop a red pin where the cache is. At this point, you can either proceed to the cache, or save the red pin as a bookmark for easy retrieval later.
2. As the TUAW article points out, you can use the standard geocaching.com search tools to find caches near you. As some commenters noted, you can make liberal use of the Bookmarks feature to keep lists of caches you want to find in a particular area. Just visit that bookmark’s page to avoid all the searching. Also you can make nice collections of caches by using the “pocket queries” function (premium members only, I think).

Personally, I’ve had good success using all three options. I create a pocket query for the area and type of cache I’m interested in seeking. Then I bookmark the ones I’m going for. Then I visit the bookmark with the iPhone while in the field. Using the “Google Maps” link on each cache page, I’m able to easily correlate my current position against that of the cache.

Even so, all of this is kind of a hassle. I’m eagerly anticipating some geocaching applications to show up in the app store. I am personally acquainted with one developer who has made a very nice little app, and just received notification that he’s been approved to add apps to the store. And after reading that TUAW post, it looks like there are at least two other developers also racing to get a geocaching app to the store. Can’t wait!

One final note: before using the iPhone 3G to locate geocaches, I was using a Garmin 60CSx. That $400 GPS is an excellent unit. Unfortunately, I left mine on the top of my car and drove away, never to see the unit again. But having used both the 60CSx and the iPhone 3G to find caches in exurban/suburban environments, I haven’t experienced any notable difference in their accuracy. The dedicated Garmin unit has the advantage of being able to store maps and be used outside of cell/wifi range (the iPhone depends on a data connection to deliver Google Maps to the device).

Combine the use of pocket query results with the bookmarks function and the Google

As a short appetizer, I offer:

And for your main course:

We went to Tucker Park campground, just outside of Hood River, on Saturday. Had dinner in town and slept at the park. Spent the next morning bumping around Hood River. Very nice Father’s Day…thanks, family!

We’ve got this old running joke that Amy is “not a wilderness girl.” (You can ask her about the genesis of the phrase) It’s not as true as it used to be, but it’s still funny. Especially at times like this little clip.

Google maps are such a boon. And their ‘street view’ feature has helped me out on more occasions that I have fingers to count. Portland was one of the first cities to benefit from the feature, but I figured smaller towns would be waiting a few years. However, the other day I noticed that much of Newberg has been photographed and mapped.

I looked around a few familiar places and found a fun little treat outside Grammy and Pappy’s house. Apparently, when the Google photography van was driving by last fall, our family was walking over to Grammy and Pappy’s. The ‘street view’ show Truman on his bike, just going up the walkway to their house. Amy and Asher and I are just down the street. Pretty fun!

Click the image above to be taken to the relevant portion of Google Maps. Once there, you’ll see a popup-style box overlaid against the map. The top right corner of the popup box says, “Full-Screen”. Just click that and use your arrow keys to move the point of view around.

Wow. Caminito del Ray looks like fun. If you’re crazy.