Millenium Mom

Millenium Mom

Interviewed April 2008

Our Featured Geocacher this month is Jamie Gardiner a.k.a. Millennium Mom from Dover, Delaware.

She is a full time school nurse and the author of a cookbook. Last year, she remodeled her kitchen using the Millennium Mom theme and colors from the book.

She is also the mother of four awesome children. None of the children have gotten the caching bug yet, but Mom has still managed to rack up over 1000 cache finds despite her busy schedule.

Another activity that kept her quite busy was with last year's Cache Around The Colonial Hundreds Event. Millimmium Mom was one of the Delaware Geocachers who placed and then maintained on of the 24 caches during the months this event was in progress.

She spends most of her free time with mate and fellow cacher Joe Wessels. We're happy that she took the time from her busy schedule to answer our questions so that you can get to know her better.

How did you become involved with geocaching - and how long have you been doing it?
April 2008 is my three year anniversary of geocaching. I was introduced to caching by Joe Wessels who stumbled upon the geocaching website while researching a GPS device he was using for ultralight flying. We started out with a DNF at “Play Ball??” (GCN7BN) in Dover and did not know what to think about that. A few days later Joe went out and found the cache for “Walk in the Park.” (GCJ9E1). He took me back to the cache site to show me what he had found. The next day we went out and found a few

How did you get your geocaching name?
I wrote a cookbook as part of my thesis/completion project for my Masters Degree titled “Millennium Moms Cooking on the RUN.” It is a planning guide for getting a family dinner on the table despite busy schedules with work, school and other family activities. The book was initially self-published and then later published through an electronic book publishing company. In 2004, I won a national award for the best non-fiction self-help novel from the Electronic Published Internet Connection. I am now often referred to as “Millennium Mom.” Did you know that ebooks can be downloaded and stored on your palm pilot? ?

How many caches have you found so far?
I recently passed my 1000th cache find (I still need to log about 50+ of my most recent cache finds because I am still…“on the run!”). I have cached in 9 states. I started out caching very slowly, but the 2006 Delaware C.A.C.H.E challenge got me moving quickly and also got me involved with some “cache-a-thon-o-maniacs” who I enjoyed running around with on some great caching adventures!! I believe my top caching day was 87 finds in one day--qualifying me as one of the “cache-a-thon-o maniacs.”

Which type of cache do you prefer seeking - traditional, multi, puzzle or virtual?
I like the variety of all caches, but I prefer traditional caches for the immediate gratification of seek and find! I appreciate the time and effort that cachers put into hiding puzzle, multi and virtuals but as a weekend hobby for enjoyment, I do not like having to do a lot of research or homework before caching!

Which find was the most challenging?
Hardware Hanger (GCZ9JE) took me two or three trips and I got in mud up to my knees while my GPS bounced me from side to side along that muck! Port Mahon (GCW6QY) also took a couple of trips for that well camouflaged cache. There have been many caching challenges, but once you find it, it seems so obvious!

Which was the easiest?
The light pole and pay phone micros have been the easiest. Sometimes it is fun just to see how close you can park to a cache site—I believe my closest has been about 7 feet away!

Do you have a favorite cache among the caches you have found?
No specific favorites because they are all fun in their own way. I like going to new places and having a purpose for getting outside. The Tidbury Park caches were a surprise to me because even after living in Dover for about 15 years, I did not know that park existed until I started goecaching.

Have you had any memorable experiences while seeking a cache?
I’ve had lots of memorable caching experiences and have enjoyed caching with a lot of different people over the years. Event caches have been enjoyable in putting names to faces with people you read about via their log entries and profiles. My daughter interestingly pointed out that at events geocachers spend more time comparing notes by talking about our DNF’s and yet the hobby is supposed to be about the FINDS!

What advice would you give to a beginning geocacher?
Start with a few easy caches to get an idea of what you are looking for. The first time you encounter an artificial rock cache, nano container, or bison tube etc. it will be difficult, but after that you will find yourself not just concentrate of finding Tupperware and ammo boxes.

How many caches have you placed?
I have placed four traditional caches and hosted my first event cache in March 2008. Two of my four caches are now gone. The tree where I hid one cache (Message in a Bottle, GC108N7) was cut down and another cache was hidden under some scraps of wood by a road sign. The area was cleaned up and the cache must have been tossed in the process. I think I need to select my sites a little more carefully.

Have any of the cache hides been more popular than expected?
Most popular... either "Mixed Up Multi at Da Pond" or Estrella's SBUX REDUX". But I think it has to be Estrella's. Its in plain sight yet its not obvious. Many folks have been to it two, three..... five times before they SEE. I love reading the logs and would like to know each and every one of them.

Have any of them proven to be more difficult to find than you expected?
More difficult.... see above answer. Though I am proud that CCCooperAency had to return to the "Mixed Up Multi" more than once, that puts a big grin on my face.

Have any of them been muggled?
Not exactly muggled, but they were destroyed as I explained above. One was archived and the other one is currently disabled, but will most likely be archived. I was waiting to see if I could find a reasonable replacement in the vicinity.

What advice would you give to someone designing a cache placement?
I think cachers need a fair amount of experience before they start hiding caches-perhaps 50 finds or something like that. The most important thing they need to know is how to get decent coordinates.

What is your best caching story-the one you tell others about to let them know of the fun and adventure one can have while geocaching?
One of my most memorable experiences was looking for a cache in the Ted Harvey Wildlife area. We had a basic garmin handheld with no maps-just a compass arrow. The arrow pointed left and there was a dirt path so we took the left and drove as far as possible down the dirt path. We were still almost a mile from the cache site but we could not drive any further, so we started walking from there. Over the river the through the woods…literally. We even ended up on some private farm property for a brief time. After we found the cache, and started to walk out, we found a beautiful dirt/gravel road access leading right to the cache site. If we had not taken the “first” left turn, we could have taken the next left and literally driven right to the cache site!

Beside geocaching, what other things do you like to do?
I like outdoor activities like walking/jogging and I like the beach. I recently went skiing for the first time in many years. And I like holiday events with family and friends. That includes geocaching family and friend events also!

Which Delaware cache site would you'd like to see featured on the web page and why? Which cache site would you like to see reviewed on the Delaware Geocachers site and why? I thought the Sushi cache was really cute with it’s proximity to Delaware’s first earth cache that would be a good one to highlight. I also like the Tomorrow’s House from Yesteryear-2 cache site as an unusual cache!

Do you have any future caching goals?
I would like to get all of the caches hidden in Delaware. I would also like to get some caches out of the country on a future vacation destination (location to be determined)!

Thanks Millenimum for supplying all these answers to help us to get to know you better.