Friday 31 July 2009

Newbie Geocachers

Looking for something fun to do on a budget this summer? Why not try
geocaching!
This outdoor hobby is becoming quite popular, and with a handy
website database, you can participate all over the world.
As most kids like to go treasure hunting, this makes for a great
family adventure, with fresh air and good exercise to boot.

Some people go out and purchase a GPS device specifically for this
purpose, while others just use their iPhone, Blackberry device, or
the GPS on their portable navigation system like TomTom, or Garmin.
From what I've heard from the people I've bumped into on our
adventures, the Garmin is the way to go. I can't tell you how many
times my TomTom has been off course, even though I had just updated
the coordinates or satellite. Mind you, as far as driving directions
go, my TomTom is awesome! We never get lost! But when you are
trying to find a treasure in the middle of the woods, you don't want
to be off by 40 feet, or it makes it exponentially harder to find.
Some caches (treasure) we managed to find even being off course,
though it took several tries. Other times we were spot on.

The last one we went to, we were so far off that the family who hid
it offered to help us find it. I'm glad they did, it was no where
near where we were looking! We had a good time exploring through the
woods. One thing I like about the Kitchener-Waterloo area where we
have been geocaching, is that the other geocachers are very friendly
and helpful. And each forested area we visit seems to have it's own
character, so it's never like going to the same place twice. If you
are into nature walks, bird watching, or any type of nature study
then geocaching would be a great hobby for you to try out.

My kids like to search for new and interesting bugs while we are out,
and we take photos of them to research when we get home.

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