Energy, enthusiasm, intelligence and curiosity. That’s what local Boy Scouts brought to a Kansas City park the past couple weekends, and all I had to supply were some basic Garmin handhelds and a little know-how. OK, my know-how wasn’t even needed, because as soon as these youngsters got their hands on a GPS device, they were off and running. We recently supplied local troops with a few dozen lean and green Geko units – our tiny-yet-tough outdoor handhelds – as the Boy Scouts consider adding Geocaching as a merit category. If the past two weeks are any indication, they’ll be earning their badges in record time. Here are a few pictures taken Sunday, when the local NBC affiliate joined us as the Scouts learned about the Geko, the new touchscreen Dakota and the Oregon 550t with built-in camera – all while discovering limited-edition Garmin geocoins. As I mentioned on the air, I’m all for any activity that gets kids (and adults, for that matter) more engaged with the environment, education, recreation and technology. And the timing was perfect, as it gave me yet another reason to give thanks this holiday season that all of those elements add up to a good day at the office (or the park…).  

There are only four weeks left until Christmas and if you haven’t begun your shopping yet, it’s time to start. Don’t panic. We’re here to help. Every Wednesday between now and December 25, we’ll give you a few ideas for those you love who need a sense of direction — pilots, boaters, runners, cyclists, golfers, hikers, drivers, geocachers, cell phone users, and hunters, just to name a few. This week we’re focusing on those who love to be on the water.

If you’re looking for the ultimate gift to outfit the helm, give the gift of touchscreen and put put a GPSMAP 5215 under the tree. Any boater would love the true “big picture” navigation offered on the huge 15″ screen of this network plotter. This touchscreen MFD is sleek, super-bright and easy to use – the perfect gift for the boater who wants functionality at their fingertips. If space at the helm is an issue, the new GPSMAP 546 is a compact chartplotter, that packs a lot of punch.    

If the boater in your life already has a full electronics suite at the helm, we recommend the GPSMAP 640- a full-featured marine chartplotter and an on-the-road navigator that comes ready to go with preloaded BlueChart g2 data and City Navigator NT road maps for North America. This amphibian navigator is powerful and portable, and with 5.2-inch touchscreen display, your boater will always know the way whether they’re on land or at sea.

If it’s stocking stuffers you’re after, give your boater the gift of planning with our latest marine trip-planning software – HomePort. This PC application lets boaters plan and organize routes from the convenience of their computer and gives them the ability to view map details such as underwater hazards and hidden obstacles – a gift that even the most experienced navigator will appreciate!

For more information about Garmin’s marine product line, check out the Garmin Marine minisite, or you can always visit our Chicago Store, or marine dealer for closer look.

This years’ Thanksgiving feast at Garmin is going to include a few extra items around the dinning room table. My thoughts are wondering as I can smell the Apple pie, Apple cinnamon cake, caramelized fried Apples, Apple bread pudding, and of course hot Apple cider with a cinnamon stirring stick.  The reason for the extra dishes this year is because Garmin invited a special guest that is worth celebrating.  Mac compatibility has come to flyGarmin, Garmin’s aviation website.  This is a homecoming that many people have been asking about and several of Garmin’s current aviation units are on the guest list.  The list is below and only requires the installation of the Mac version of the Communicator Plug-in to work.  This is one Thanksgiving for the photo albums.

This is the current list of products but there will be more to join the party in the months to come:

• G1000
• Perspective by Garmin
• G300
• G3X
• G500
• G600
• G900X
• G950
• GMX 200
• aera 500
• aera 510
• aera 550
• aera 560
• GPSMAP 496

This note landed in our inbox last month. We waited to publish it because we had a good feeling about Gary, who shared the story of his steady improvement and credited his Garmin Forerunner. Here’s his note, with an update at the end.

I just started running in this spring. I ran one marathon in 2007 but did not know what I was doing. My friend suggested that I buy a Garmin Forerunner 205. I got one in April. I tacked on 900 hundred miles on the watch before I started having problems with it. I sent it back to Garmin and they sent me a new one 2 weeks before the Steamtown Marathon. I got the new watch 5 days before Steamtown, it worked awesome. It has worked awesome every since. I ran a 3:32:19 for Steamtown. It was a PR by 57 minutes. Amazing. I missed Boston by 12 minutes but on Sept 13, I qualified for NYC Marathon. I am doing Harrisburg Marathon on November 8th. I am going to see if I can make my goal time and PR again.

I really want to thank Garmin for giving me a new watch. It helped me mentally. I love my watch. It has taken my running to a different level. I was lost without it. I keep a blog of my running at sweat365.com. My name is Brooksrunner. Thanks again, Garmin

UPDATE: We kept an eye out for Gary at the Harrisburg Marathon, and we were thrilled with his results. You can read his in-depth race report, but we’ll spoil the ending by saying that Gary’s training with his Forerunner paid off with a new personal-best of 3:20:29 and a spot in the Boston Marathon. Congratulations, Gary, stop by our booth in April and say Hi!

This note landed in our inbox last month. We waited to publish it because we had a good feeling about Gary, who shared the story of his steady improvement and credited his Garmin Forerunner. Here’s his note, with an update at the end.

I just started running in this spring. I ran one marathon in 2007 but did not know what I was doing. My friend suggested that I buy a Garmin Forerunner 205. I got one in April. I tacked on 900 hundred miles on the watch before I started having problems with it. I sent it back to Garmin and they sent me a new one 2 weeks before the Steamtown Marathon. I got the new watch 5 days before Steamtown, it worked awesome. It has worked awesome every since. I ran a 3:32:19 for Steamtown. It was a PR by 57 minutes. Amazing. I missed Boston by 12 minutes but on Sept 13, I qualified for NYC Marathon. I am doing Harrisburg Marathon on November 8th. I am going to see if I can make my goal time and PR again.

I really want to thank Garmin for giving me a new watch. It helped me mentally. I love my watch. It has taken my running to a different level. I was lost without it. I keep a blog of my running at sweat365.com. My name is Brooksrunner. Thanks again, Garmin

UPDATE: We kept an eye out for Gary at the Harrisburg Marathon, and we were thrilled with his results. You can read his in-depth race report, but we’ll spoil the ending by saying that Gary’s training with his Forerunner paid off with a new personal-best of 3:20:29 and a spot in the Boston Marathon. Congratulations, Gary, stop by our booth in April and say Hi!