Found My First Cache!

Well, I used the Google Earth to track down my first cache! (NERD!) It was in the parking lot of Costco hidden under a base cover of a lamp post. There was a small plastic container with a folded piece of paper and a pencil. I counted about 28 names on the log. I added my username (rayzir) from www.geocaching.com and date with military time. It was kinda fun. Knowing there are hidden stashes placed around the city. Unfortunately, I need a GPS to find most of them. This one was easy with the Ariel photographs provided by Google Earth.

A lot of these stashes take you on little hikes around town and in parks with really cool sites or views. I think it would be a great way to get out and get a bit of exercise. It looks like a lot of families do this for that very reason. Kids really enjoy it as most of the caches contain little toys.

I think both Ian and Mark would really like it. Especially Mark. It would be a great way to find cool places for your portraits. Plus I think it would offer a lot of photo ops.

Anyway, since blogs are free and you can have them for most anything, I naturally created a blog for my geocaching. I have one for everything else, so why not? I created it mostly to log my finds and hides. You can see it at rayzircache.blogspot.com

Games Nerds Play

I was poking around one of my geeky websites (www.boardgamegeek.com) and came across someone who had the hobby of Geocaching. I looked it up and basically it's a high-tech treasure hunt. People who have GPS units will hide a treasure (cache) and log the coodinates of that treasure using their GPS unit. Then they'll post the coordinates on a website and others will try to find that treasure using their GPS unit.

It actually sounds like fun! Each cache will have a log book where you log the date when you found the cache. So over time, you'll have a bunch of people who have logged in. I guess people from all over the world log the find in the enclosed log. Often it will have little trinkets. You are expected to take a trinket and replace it with something that is equal or greater value. A small trophy, I guess. They say it's a cool way to get out and see areas where you wouldn't normally see. Often these are great views or outdoorsy type of places that you would have normally missed.

The biggest site is www.geocaching.com. Give it a try and type in your zip code. You'll be amazed how many caches are within walking distance of your house. Even Billings has a bunch of caches.

I've used Google Earth to look up the coordinates, but I haven't gone out yet. But I just might this evening. It looks like there's one in the Costco parking lot. Just to give it a whirl.