February's Featured Geocacher

Breaking the surface as February's featured geocacher is ButterflyDiver. Both she and her husband (deepdiverdave) have been caught in the undertow of geocaching since June of 2006. There's nothing fishy about this pair though. :-) They are often regulators at events ready with a friendly smile or a helpful bit of advice for other geocachers. So grab you pony bottle and check your gauges because it's time to backroll into this interview.

How did you hear about geocaching and what was your first hunt like?

I had read about geocaching several times & had possibly seen it on TV. Then I saw a yellow E-Trex on sale at Target & decided to spend the $100 to check it out. But, we just let it sit for several months. Finally I just sat down at the computer & read about geocaching & decided to try one of the hides in Maumelle. The first one that we found was Emily’s Hidden Treasure & it was less than a mile from our house. It was the traditional type of cache hidden in the woods, but we did not have a clue about what we were doing. So we stumbled around for a few minutes before we discovered the hide. And, it just seemed that we were hooked by this fun activity.

How did you choose your handle?

When we first started geocaching, we used the name “krycek008.” I had been a big fan of “The X-Files” TV show from its first episode. Alex Krycek was a regular character on the show & the nemesis of Fox Mulder. We used that handle for a bit more than a year & decided to start caching with our own separate names. It was about this time that geocaching.com had loosened up their rules about changing your name. And, I think that deepdiverdave was tired of my writing the logs for both of us. He wanted to write about our caching adventures from his perspective.
We both wanted to have names that related to another one of our favorite activities – scuba diving. Wayne chose deepdiverdave. Even though everyone calls him Wayne, his first name is actually David – named after his grandfather. I made a list of several possible names, but kept coming back to ButterflyDiver. When diving, I do feel as light as a butterfly & it does not take much effort to hover or remain buoyant – sort of like a butterfly when approaching a flower. And I have a butterfly tattoo. I also ran the name change by a few other caches – including the OENavigators team - to see how they liked the new handle. So with their approval, I dived in & made the name change.

After your first find, what about geocaching has kept you interested?

Probably the biggest thing that has kept us interested is the challenge of the hunt. It is just like so many things in life – you are always chasing after something. Whether you are chasing your children or chasing after love or a promotion or an education or the meaning of life, you are always seeking to find something. In the case of geocaching, you are seeking something physical, but you also learn a lot of things about life, people, & yourself.
We have also stayed interested because we are both stubborn. We have trouble giving up the hunt & walking away with a DNF. Geocaching also gets us outdoors & leads us to beautiful places that we would have never seen on our own. Another big reason for continuing to cache is the great people that you meet along the way. We might not have continued our enthusiasm for caching if we had not become friends with some of the caching experts in Arkansas. We learned so much from them & really appreciate all of their help & encouragement.

Of all your hides, which is your favorite and why?

My favorite is the first cache that we placed – Maumelle Travel Bug Hotel. When we started caching, we wanted to place something unique for our first hide. While on a business trip to Wisconsin, deepdiverdave found a few caches in Appleton. One was a unique homemade container that we modeled our first hide after.
A close second behind the TB Hotel is Mardi Gras on the Emerald Trail. We had always wanted to go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans & our first time was the 2006 Mardi Gras after the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. It was 6 months after Katrina & we were totally shocked by the vehicles that were still piled up under the interstate overpasses & the blue tarps that still remained on hundreds of homes. And, we did not even go to the worst-hit areas – we saw this destruction from I-10. So few people attended the parades that we came home with pounds of beads. We were not caching then but when we starting caching we left beads from the parades as trade items.
Deepdiverdave’s favorite hide is his Treat the Animals. This is one of those evil containers that AR-HICK made for the camo contest at an event. We are amazed that this hide is still there in its hiding place after 16 months.

What is your favorite type of cache? (traditional, puzzle, multi, etc..)

We always love to find an ammo can! I guess that we are like caching kids when it comes to ammo cans. When we first started caching, we would always avoid the micros. But as we got more experience & lots of advice from our new geocaching friends, we got brave enough to go after some of them.
I like to solve some of the puzzles, but have come across a few that I don’t even know where to begin. Every puzzle cache that we have found, I had to solve the puzzle. Deepdiverdave will not even attempt them.


What was the most embarrassing thing to happen to you while geocaching?

One of the first embarrassing incidents that we remembered occurred when we were caching in Morrilton after the event in November 2007. There was a cache near I-40 that we were approaching. We could not park on the right side of the road since there was a chain along that section of the access road. But instead of driving by & turning around, deepdiverdave pulled over to the left side of the road with the truck headed in the wrong direction. And just as he did that, a member of the Morrilton Police Department was driving by. He turned around his patrol car around & came over to find out our problem. Fortunately, he was very nice & knew about the event, so he just left us to find the cache.
Another embarrassing thing happened when we were looking for Hick's Evil cache in Morrilton. It was on a Friday afternoon & this was a very busy location on that day. Many muggles were around, but we tried to be casual & not draw any attention. But, I still had the feeling that I was being watched. I finally looked up to see the Morrilton Animal Control Officer staring at us from his truck parked on the corner. He was probably thinking that he should put a leash on us & throw us into the cages in the back of his truck. I could not concentrate on the hide after that, so I slinked back to the truck while deepdiverdave kept looking. We still have not found that one.


What surprising thing have you discovered about yourself through geocaching?

I have found myself in some places & situations that I never would have imagined being in. I have been at the top of cliffs overlooking the swollen & fast-moving Arkansas River in spite of my fear of heights. I enjoy seeing wildlife everywhere that we go caching, even though sometimes I don’t immediately SEE them. I have nearly stepped on a snake several times. Then deepdiverdave yells “Don’t step on that snake?” To which I say “What snake?” And then there have been several caches where you are standing beside a busy road, trying to act like you are supposed to be there, & furiously looking for the cache & thinking that the police will arrive at any second.
So, we have both learned to persevere in attempting to find a well-hidden cache. We try to never give up even when we think that we have looked in every possible hiding spot. And when we finally find a difficult hide, we are grateful to the cacher for challenging us.


Geocaching, is it a game or a sport?

To us it is more of a game, but it can seem like a sport when we have to climb rocks or hike for miles to discover some caches. And we could not be considered athletes since we are middle aged & not in the best physical shape. But we have the drive & a stubborn attitude to keep trying.

What GPS do you use?

When we first started geocaching, we used the $100 Garmin yellow e-trex. We were not sure that we would enjoy caching or would be interested enough to spend much time doing it. But when we got more active & got tired of punching in all of the coordinates by hand, we decided to upgrade. We did research & noticed what models were being used by the expert cachers & the State of Arkansas. Then with a big recommendation from topkitty, we jumped in & bought the Garmin 60CSx. And we have been very happy with it!

Do you have any geocaching goals and if so what are they?

Our immediate goal is to find the rest of the State Park caches. We have now found 46 of them with only 6 more left to find before The Grand Finale. If the weather cooperates & no one else in our family gets sick, we hope to finish the series by the end of February.
Another big goal that we both have is to place many more hides. We have accumulated several cache containers & have recently made contact with several organizations in central Arkansas that are actually wanting geocachers to visit their areas. So we plan to hide many more in the next couple of months.
We also want to spread out into other states to find some caches. Looking at the map on my profile page, we have not found any in Missouri or Louisiana even though we have been very close to their borders while doing the State Parks Challenge.
Our biggest goal in geocaching is to get out there and Have Fun!