One of the things I did on Saturday was place a new cache. This one is a night-time only cache that uses reflectors to lead you to the final cache. I have been wanting to place a night cache for quite some time now. The problem was finding the reflectors. I looked at Wal-Mart and similar places but finally had to send e-mails to the people who had used these small reflectors before. They answered “Academy” and then that same night, Bobby, Ian and I ended up going night-caching and found one that contained as a prize a pack of 50 of these trail reflectors! Yay!
Exhonerated!
In all this geocaching stuff, there is a cache about .3 miles from my house. The geocaching.com website lists the closest ones to your house, and puts a nice, big red check mark next to the ones you have found. Well, #2 on my list has not been checked, because I haven’t been able to find it. It wasn’t for a lack of looking. I’ve been by three times and searched and searched but couldn’t find it. The same guy who owns it has many in the area, and I’m learning his style. And, I’ve found several that have a difficulty rating higher than the one I can’t find.
It really drives me crazy because I drive past the spot where it is supposed to be EVERY day.
Geocaching Alternatives
Found two things following geocaching links.
“Letterboxing” has evidently been around for a long time, but is nowhere near as prevelant as geocaching. You can do it without a GPS, but it is essentially the same thing. Check out www.atlasquest.com
“Where’s George?” is a website that tracks US currency. It’s kind of neat, although I was a bit disappointed that none of the 4 bills I entered have been logged previously. I will receive an e-mail if someone logs one of them again. One of my friends has e-mailed or blogged about this site before – so credit where credit is due but I don’t recall who mentioned it, perhaps Jeff.
Munchkin-caching or GeoMunch? You Decide
It’s a pretty day out (albeit a bit chilly) and I needed to get out of the office for a few minutes at lunchtime. Brian’s GPS is still in the car, so I went to geocaching.com, punched in my office zip code and found there is a cache that’s nearby. There’s a tiny park tucked between Addison Rd and the Tollway (who knew?) So I ran out and found it – this is my first cache find that isn’t near the house.
Each cache has a name and this one’s is “Sword of Sacklunch”. If you have ever played the game Munchkin (much discussed in James’ and Ian’s blogs recently) you are familiar with that game’s mocking of Dungeons & Dragons and the like. It features horrible monsters and fantastic weapons with silly names, so I thought that a great low-level weapon might be called a Sword of Sacklunch – as in you throw your brown bag special at the evil demon in the hopes he might run away.
Is it Spring Already?
What a gorgeous day! And what better to do on a beautiful day than to enjoy my new hobby of geocaching. Ian had decided he wanted to try this. Last night while at their house, Ian, Brian M and I tried one close to their house, but it was way off in the mud and we eventually got to a creek and had to turn back. So today I found several easier ones nearby and Ian and I tackled them. We found six in total, including my first multi-cache. It was SO much fun! Just before the final one, Ian and I treated ourselves to some hard earned Margaritas at Gloria’s! A couple of these were really thrilling when we discovered them – it was very dramatic on the last one when I flipped over this big log with my foot and there was the cache underneath.
Geocaching
Does this count as blogging? I’m not sure.
I just discovered the world of geocaching. Check out www.geocaching.com for more info, but basically it is scavenger hunting with a GPS unit. You are given coordinates and clues, you go the location and look around for the “cache.” There is generally a log book you sign and may be goodies inside – if you take something you leave something. I’ve found 5 so far and I think I’m addicted.