We've Caught the Geocaching Bug

So two years ago for Christmas, Jeff gave me a handy-dandy Magellan Explorist 100 GPS. Great, I thought, what do I do with a GPS? I really don't get lost that often...at least physically. So the GPS sat in a closet for two years. Well, Jeff mentioned something about geocaching two years ago, but I was just too busy with other things. Now that summer has hit and I'm trying to lose a little weight, I was thinking about how I could get more exercise AND spend time with my girls, who are growing up way too quickly. Geocaching came to mind. I did a bit of research and found out that I could go to geocaching.com to become a real geocacher. Wow! On that same site, the most fascinating thing was to look at the Herriman area and see that there were at least 50 caches nearby, some of which I have walked by without knowing it. So for those of you that don't know about geocaching, it is basically like a big treasure hunt, but instead of a map with an X that marks the spot, you look online for the exact coordinates in the world and then you use a GPS to help get you to that spot. I have learned that some caches are close to a road or parking lot, while others are miles away from civilization. I have also learned that some caches are large, containing VCR machines, old tools, etc., while others are so small that it takes a pair of tweezers to extract the log. A log is found at almost all caches, and each person who finds the cache is asked to write their geocache name and sometimes a note of some sort to future geocachers.
The kids love the trading element of geocaching. Most items found in these caches are tradeable. The kids can take an object of their choice if they leave another object. Each time we go geocaching we take along a bag of items to trade...usually inexpensive things like toys, foreign currency, stickers, etc.
We are novices at geocaching, but we have caught the bug. Each evening the girls ask if we can go geocaching, and within two weeks we have gone out several times. I've truely enjoyed being with my girls while geocaching and would recommend this simple hobby to any family out there. Try it...you'll get hooked!