This Month:

• GeoDining: Where to Eat When You Can't Get to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe By Tee King aka Pyewacket
• Caching the Platte River Crane Migration Bonus Spectacle for Nebraska Cachers By Carleen Pruess

"The small hole in the wall restaurants are always more exciting (than McDonald's or Burger King). Eating somewhere new should be part of the adventure..."Where do you eat when you're caching in a new area, and suddenly realize you're hungry? Do you settle for the mundane "McBurger and Fries", or do you look for a unique dining experience that will not only give you sustenance, but also provide you with a pleasant meal that enhances your day of geocaching?

Mike Tilley is the webmaster of GeoDining.com, a web page that lists alternative choices to the typical fast food establishments found in many locales. "The small hole in the wall restaurants are always more exciting [than McDonald's or Burger King]. Eating somewhere new should be part of the adventure," Tilley claims. The idea for his web site came about shortly after the implementation of the locationless cache. He explained, "A restaurant locationless was too commercial, so I decided on making my own website for it." Originally planning on calling his site "GeoEating", he discovered that a "domain squatter" had already registered the name. "I think GeoDining has a better ring to it, anyways", he continued.

To date, 23 restaurants in 11 states have been submitted to GeoDining.com. Each state's listing features ratings for price range and level of service, a brief description, and its GPS coordinates. "The restaurant does not have to be a place suitable to eat at while geocaching, but is preferred," Tilley says. He asks that large chain restaurants, such as Chili's and McDonald's not be submitted, because "most people can find these on their own and can eat at those places anytime." When asked which features he looks for in an appropriate "Geodiner", he replied, "I like cheap and fast places for lunch so I can get right back to caching. After the day of caching is done with, I like a casual place where I can sit down and have a nice meal...I like the small 'Mom and Pop' type restaurants; usually Poboy sandwich shops, diners or greasy spoons."

When asked about the possibility of opening a GeoDiner of his own, Tilley replied, "Never in a million years. I work in a restaurant right now, and hate it. Also, it would take far too much of my time and I would have no time left for caching." He claims that he, personally, would try to visit the locations that have been submitted if he was in the vicinity, but "all the restaurants in my area have been submitted by myself."

A list of submitted restaurants in .gpx format is available for downloading from the GeoDining web site. Links to nearby caches are also included. If you would like to submit a favorite GeoDining establishment, please use this link, or visit Tilley's web site.

Tilley first read about geocaching in a local newspaper article more than two years ago and bought a GPSr the next day. "I found my first two caches the following Saturday and hid my first cache the day after that," he said. Since that time, he's cached in ten states, and has logged 173 finds.