day 94 - exploring the great outdoors one tupperware at a time

ge·o·cach·er [jee-oh-kash-er]

Noun. A person who uses multi-billion dollar government satellites to find tupperware in the woods.

Day 94Day 94

Today was the first of many new adventures, thanks to a discussion I had with my friend, Gayle. She recently told me about the art of geocaching, which I had never heard of before. Geocaching involves the hiding and seeking of small containers using a Global Positioning System device (or in my case, a smartphone). Using the coordinates listed on geocaching.com, geocachers seek out the containers (or caches). Inside the container there is some form of a visitor log and, in some cases, a collection of trinkets that you can trade for one from your own little stash that you take with you. To put it in simple terms, it's a real-life treasure hunt.

Say no more. I'm in.

My only hesitation was the thought that living in a small town, this is going to put me on the road for the nearest city because surely there won't be anything hidden in this area.

Not the case. It's quite the opposite. They're hidden all over the place and ten to fifteen of them are hidden less than a kilometer from our house.

Shut up.

So the kids, my mom and I headed out on a little expedition. In no time we found our first cache.

Day 94

By the second cache, we had found our first travel bug. A travel bug is a trackable item that travels the world, being moved from place to place and his travels are logged by the people who find him and move him along in his journey. The travel bug we found is tied to a Snoopy doll that started his journey in Costa Rica in 2005 and is en route to his final destination in the Netherlands.

Day 94

Let the record show that the first trinket Owen selected was Jerry beads. Bahahahaha.

It was a lot of fun and so nice to be outside. The boys were happy to find mud puddles along the way and I was happy that they didn't knock each other out with the heavy rocks and branches they were obsessed with throwing along the way.

Day 94
Day 94

I even climbed a tree and didn't break my neck. That impressed the kids since 35 is apparently the new 95:

Owen: I will take care of you Mommy."
Me: Awwww...you will?
Owen: Yes. Because you is old.
(leans close to my face)
I better give you a kiss before you die.
(kisses me on the nose)

Day 94

Thanks, Gayle! It was so much fun and, as you know, it's two weeks later and we have already logged 27 caches. It's become a full blown obsession.

Comments

Altax said…
Cute kids and great pictures!!!

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Anonymous said…
Great post, I have been wanting to geocache for a while, thanks for the prompt to get started. Great photos :-)
Shannon said…
You and the kids should come to Brantford and we could all go geocaching around here. Maybe we could log another 27. LOL
Thanks for the shout-out, Jen! And thanks for joining in the fun - geocaching a blast - especially with kids. If you'd like to see a bit more about my experience geocaching, you can check it out on my blog here:http://sometimeseventful.blogspot.ca/2012/03/treasure-hunts-and-secret-stairways.html
Marla said…
This is seriously totally awesome. I've spent the last hour reserching geocaching. I'm going to start soon!