Month April

Some months you really have to put your mind to geocaching. As summer is sneaking up on us we seem to be finding more and more things to keep us busy. April 28 seems as good a day as any to do our monthly geocaching. This time we had the privilege of having Shani's parents along. This was their maiden voyage. We also too Piper along for her maiden voyage. We had a couple swing and a misses but in the end we found our target.

March - You win some, you lose some. And you get muddy.

March + 57F = Geocaching time. So as has been our developing tradition, Shani and I set off to find fame and fortune in the pursuit of geocaching. I downloaded all the geocaches in the county, which I have to admit is a whole lot more that I thought there would be. We have done all the geocaches in town, so we had to get the car out. We haven't driven the car in two weeks. We drove by the gas stations which were advertising their wares at $2.46/gal and laughed because we had a tank full of $2.12 still.

So off to the first cache. The first one took us to a little narrow lane behind someone's house and it lead up to an old cemetery. So down the trail we go until we get to where we should have been right no top of the cache. We searched and searched but never found it. It might have something to do with the 3-4 snow drift that covered the area. We figured it wasn't worth digging for - we can come back. So mark this one down Thelma, our record is now 2 - 1.

As not to be discouraged we drove a bit down the road and found another cache. This time at a closed historic site. It was pretty easy to find. Which is always a plus. Really wet gravel parking lots feel spongy to the feet. Its funny. Thelma, thats a point for the home team please-- 3 - 1. The last person in the log was from July. Im glad we went to see this one, because Im sure it was getting lonely about now.

Finally, because it was such fine day out we decided to go for broke and find another one. Down the road a little further. This time we ended up in Nelson Park which is another County park like Yellowsmoke. We will have to come back to this one when there is less snow and mud. Man, it was muddy out there. If our mothers were still doing our laundry I think we would be in trouble. I was very surprised at how clean we were though at the end of our little adventure. The deer trails were helpful in making our way, but trust me on this one -- deer don't care about GC's. I suppose they care about eating and making baby deer more. Pity. Up and down muddy hills eventually led us to the cache which someone scared up a tree. We of course forgot to bring anything to contribute to the cause, so we just signed the log. There was someone out there in Feb. Glad to see it has been visited. Ummm Thelma, I believe that would bring us to 4-1.

What is Geocaching?

I guess I have sort of made this hobby of ours public - and for good reason. I think Geocaching is a great little sport. Its a fun game that involves electronic gadgets, can be done almost anywhere, gets us outside and walking around and beyond anything else is a nice way to spend an afternoon with my wife. What isn't to like. So those who don't understand why one would like to do this can have their opinion. Meanwhile, we are going to keep looking for little boxes.

Geocaching.com is the authority, IMHO, about the hobby. I will let them maintain the FAQ. Here's my take on the hobby.

Geocaching in simple terms:
Step 1. Get GPS unit
Step 2. Download location of "geocache" and load on GPS
Step 3. Walk around woods, town or elsewhere looking for location of Geocache
Step 4. Find Geocache, Open, Leave name in log - trade little trinket if desired
Step 5. Replace Geocache, go forth a bit more merry.

Now what is a geocache? Its usually a small watertight container that someone hides for others to find.

Why do Shani and I enjoy this? Why not. It's a chance to pay with a toy (GPS) while walking around the woods and enjoying each others company.

Geocache February - Another Find

Today was our monthly GC day. We didn't venture too far from home again, but that's okay. I was excited to go romping around the woods with cameras and GPS in tow. It had been a few weeks since our last cold adventure and today promised to be much warmer. I like warmer. The GC we attempted today was VERY easy to find-- literally taking 5 minutes to find. Three of those minutes were spent bundling up after we got out of the car.

Geocaching.com is a great website with all sorts of GC locations to download. They also give a little information about the GC and even a little hint if you want it. I think it might be wise of us to not look at the hint - as in this case we knew where to look before we even got to the coordinates. All the same we had a good time walking around the park.

Again, I took some images of our day. They can be found here.

Geocache January 2007

Shani and I seem to be filling our lives with more and more structure and this is a good thing. We are finding through the many lifehack websites that making lists, setting goals and generally managing one's time, is time well spent.

So along those lines we have made it a priority to name one weekend a month 'Geocache Weekend." This assures that we will have time to go GC. January's fell on the coldest day EVER! But we are dedicated, and this was our first time out - so we persisted. Walking through snow, battling a biting wind and generally enjoying our cold little selves while in the pursuit of our first find.

I took some pictures. Nothing terribly exciting, but pictures all the same.

The adventure begins

It all began with great little gift, an eXplorist 210 GPS unit. Such potential this little device has-- and such headaches.

My wife and I decided that in an effort to enjoy this little toy and the great outdoors we would dive into the world of Geocaching. Geocaching? What is that you say? It is part technology, part outdoors, but the basic idea is you get a GPS unit and then you go on a treasure hunt. You are looking for little boxes which are the caches. Inside there might be little trinkets, geocache bugs (more later) or just a log for you to record your name and the date. In this blog I shall log my adventures with my handy yellow GPS, my trusty cameras and my adorable wife.