Geocaching

Amidst various chores and errands today, we took some time to try something new: geocaching. We had actually set out to attempt this last weekend, but were thwarted by the realization that our GPS was only suitable for driving navigation - it would provide directions to a street address or intersection, but not a set of mapping coordinates. Today, with a loaner GPS from my Dad's extensive gadget collection, we were set to try again! We chose a cache from www.geocaching.com based on its rating (easy) and location (only ~1 mile from home), and were on our way. The GPS took us to the right spot immediately, and then we relied on the site's clues to find the treasure box. It took quite awhile, looking high and low, because we really didn't know what we were looking for or how much faith to put in the GPS. We began our search in the parking lot of a local church, and ventured into a small forested area that bordered the lot. In this photo, A is reassuring me that she knows how to identify the "leaves of three" on poison ivy and won't touch any if she sees it! She's clutching the GPS in her other hand. In the end, our forest venture was for naught - we found the cache in the parking lot, well-hidden. The tiny green-lidded box contained a ceramic puppy (claimed by A), a smooth piece of green-and-clear-swirl glass (claimed by E), and a pack of water-logged Smarties candy (deemed unsuitable for anyone to eat, by me). We replaced the contents with some treasures for the next cachers to find, and went about the remainder of our Saturday. All in all, a very fun treasure hunt!