September 23, 2007
Cache Run
The kids and I had some "daddy time" this weekend, and we used it to go geocaching, which we haven't done in quite a while. If you're unfamiliar with geocaching, I've covered it on the blog before. We had a great time--Mollie is now old enough that it holds her attention and she can join the hunt.
We found three caches. One was way up at the 4-H center (worked well because Amy was singing at church last night, so we met her afterwards). The other two were closer to home--one on the state hospital grounds and another in the parking lot of Bethel Temple church.
There are lots of reasons to love geocaching:
- Other than the initial (and pretty modest) cost of a GPS receiver, it's virtually free.
- It can be enjoyed by the whole family--the kids sometimes even spot the caches first because of their lower-to-the-ground vantage point.
- You're outside and get exercise without even realizing it.
- It will take you to places you didn't even know existed, and you would have otherwise never visited except for geocaching.
Here's a link to all of my finds.
Posted by jvp at 9:27 PM | Comments (2)
September 7, 2005
"Cache" Me if You Can
This past weekend, we took advantage of the wonderful weather and spent most of the day outside. The humidity was down, and it was warm, but not too hot, outside. We spent the morning and some of the afternoon trying an activity called Geocaching. This is basically a treasure hunt with a GPS receiver. People hide various containers, and post the GPS coordinates and a hint to find them on a website. Then, you enter those coordinates into a GPS receiver, and go off to try and find the cache.
Some are smaller than a 35mm film canister, while others are around the size of a shoebox and are filled with various trinkets to trade. If you take something, you're supposd to also leave something behind. And there's always a log, where you can record your visit, as well as recording it on the geocaching.com website.
This is turning out to be a very fun activity for us to enjoy as a family. There are many benefits. First of all, it's cheap. The only real expense is the cost of a GPS receiver. I've actually been borrowing one from a friend (thanks, Bob), but entry level models can be had for as little as $90. After that, there's not really any expense at all. Another good thing is that It's an outdoor activity, and can even involve exercise, depending on the terrain where the cache is hidden. I did a cache the other day where I had to walk nearly a mile on a trail to get to the cache. Of course, others are more easily accessible. Regardless, you get fresh air and no TV! The kids enjoy the thrill of finding hidden "treasure", and they get to take something home with them.
Anyway, if you like technology or gadgets, and you like the outdoors, geocaching may be right up your alley--check it out!
View the photo album for this entry.
Posted by jvp at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)