We've got a new family hobby its called geocaching. In a nutshell it is (as described by Wikipedia) "an outdoor activity in which the participants use a GPS to hide and seek containers (called "geocaches" or "caches") anywhere in the world. A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook. Larger containers can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little value."
For example today after Nick looked online and found some geocache coordinates and clues we went to a local park and had to find a brick with writing on it. After locating the brick we found the coordinates of the cache by doing some basic math of adding and multiplying using the words and characters on the brick. Nick punched the coordinates into the GPS and handed it to Carson who led the way on a short hike through the woods until we were at the spot of the coordinates. We then searched around the trunks of some big mossy maple trees until we found the cache. We opened it up took a small treasure, left two for the next seekers, signed the log book and hiked back to the park.
Here's the beauty of it all, it's a family activity interesting for all ages, allows us to be outdoors and exercising and costs nothing (once you've made the initial GPS purchase). The best part is the boys LOVE it and are so excited to find the cache. I look forward to many more adventures in geocaching as the boys get older.
In 20 years these two will be the "Amazing Race" dream team
Print | posted on Friday, November 27, 2009 7:52 PM