Geocaching

A couple of weeks ago, I went geocaching. My brother-in-law decided to try it and his family and my family (along with Joi's Dad) went with us. We walked to a nearby park where there were several geocaches. We found the three we set out to find and it was a lot of fun. For those of you unfamiliar with geocaching, I'll explain a little first. According to the official geocaching website (www.geocaching.com) "Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. Geocaching is enjoyed by people from all age groups, with a strong sense of community and support for the environment." You'll need a GPS. A car GPS works fine, but you won't be working with an address. You'll be using GPS coordinates. So, make sure you're GPS has pedestrian capabilities and takes coordinates.You look online on www.geocaching.com and find some caches near where you are or where you want to go, write down the coordinates and find any hints or clues that might help you and then you're off. Some geocaches are simply tiny containers with a log to sign indicating that you found it. Others are larger containers and have treasures in them that you can take (as long as you replace it with something similar or better). I had so much fun on my first outing, I decided to join the site (with a free basic account) and find some nearby my house. I found that there are 20 geocaches just across the street from my home in the Bear Creek Green Belt. So, my boys and I set out to find a couple of them on Saturday. We wrote down the coordinates and the hints and sallied forth. One geocache called "Stumped" really did stump us. We couldn't find it. But, another cache called "President Roosevelt" was much easier to find. We took a couple of the treasures and replaced them with some treasures my boys found at home. And, of course, we signed the log. Also, while searching for the cache, we found a large male owl perching in a tree, which was pretty cool. Apparently, he and his mate had babies recently and they make their home in a tree in the green belt. So, we have owls nearby. If you have never been geocaching, I highly recommend it. My boys always used to ask me if we could go looking for buried treasure. Now we can...and we'll actually find it. Good, outdoor fun!