The Rest of Our Summer

A few things I thought I should mention!

Many days of August (and the last of our summer) was spent exploring the local area looking for geo-caches.  If you have never enjoyed this hobby, I would just like to say that it is a lot of fun!  It can also be very addictive!  Imagine driving up to a spot to go grocery shopping or go to a doctor's appointment...and the first thing you do is check to see if there are any hidden boxes in the vicinity!  Well, that is what I find myself doing!

Geocaching is an inexpensive way to spend your extra time.   All that is needed is a GPS unit (we use our smart phone) and a little time.  We have an app on our phone that shows us where a cache is located within a mile of our current location.  If you go to the website, you can see the MANY caches that are hidden around the world!

The caches can be as large as a gallon tub (or possibly larger) and as small as a pencil eraser!  The only requirement in a cache is to have a way to log the find; however, most caches of any size have other surprises.

The best part of the caching is going to places that we might not know about otherwise.  We also learn the history of the locations as the caching community are big about history, nature, and having fun....just like us!  They even have special CITO (Cache IN Trash OUT) events to help pick up litter.  They also leave messages in caches to leave no trace, which is a message we share often.  We need to leave things like we find them as much as possible to protect the environment!

The month of August we were given a special challenge.  It was a way to show the variety of caches that can be hidden and found.  We found puzzler caches that have riddles to help discover the cache.  We found earth caches that relate facts about the geological features of an area. These caches usually have a question to answer about the area to "earn" the find.  Then we found a multi-cache that has 3 or more locations to discover before the final cache is recorded.  The best cache was the social cache that took us to a pizzeria to meet other cachers!

We even took the time to hide our own multi-cache!  It was so much time researching the area and placing the caches in just the right place so the mugglers (Those who do not cache.) will not find the caches.  We also had to determine the GPS coordinates for the locations.  It was a great way to learn about coordinates.

We have also attended to caching events that were fun for the family.  We went to a local state park for an intro class in caching.  Then we went to a caching event that had a Pippi Longstocking theme...we became "Thing Finders!"

So...it keeps us busy...and there are enough caches to keep us that way for many years to come.  I am so glad we were able to do this.  And maybe by writing this blog post, I will add others to our addictive hobby!  If you want to follow our adventure, check out our Facebook page!