07 May 2008 ~ 5 Comments

Yet another addiction in my life – Geocaching

Ok, I will admit it, I have an addiction. Last week I bought my first GPS unit and I wanted to play with it. So I had heard people talk about geocaching, but I didn’t really understand what it was. So I visited Geocaching.com and read about the process. I searched and found a couple caches near my house ( a couple really near, but 50 within 5 miles). And I took my wife and my daughter out and went searching. WE HAD SUCH A BLAST! And we found nothing. :) Since that first night I have gone everyday and found at least one cache, although I usually look for a few.

This weekend we took a drive to the coast with Ryan and Ciara to show them around where I grew up. We found one out by the river. After Ryan and Ciara headed back to Seattle I hooked up with my dad and my brother and we went on to find 8 more caches that day! After coming back to portland my daughter and I went for a bike ride and found a couple more.

GeoCaching has been a wonderful combination of technology and nature, and just enough of a reason to get out of the house and go do something. If you have a GPS I really want to you to try geocaching. If you don’t have a gps? Well now you have a reason!

Keep an eye out for GeoLog an AIR application I am writing that uses the GPX files from geocaching.com and the AS3 Map Component from Yahoo to help you manage your geocache collection.

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5 Responses to “Yet another addiction in my life – Geocaching”

  1. Dan Wilson 7 May 2008 at 9:11 am Permalink

    I am 100% with ya Sim… I have been a big fan of geocaching since 2000, when I discovered it referenced in some outdoor magazine.

    Since then, I’ve found caches in Nevada, California and Spain!

    Geocaching is like a hike, with a point. And maybe some treasure at the end. Lots of caches are placed at interesting spots that we might never quite get to on our own.

    I even did a night cache once. It was set up by posting little tiny reflectors on the path and using a flashlight, we navigated to the spot!

    Fun Times.

    DW

  2. Hick@Heart 7 May 2008 at 1:15 pm Permalink

    Me too!

    I’ve been geocaching since December and we are having a blast. There are so many cool places right near home that you never knew existed. I am nearing find # 200 and still going strong. World Wide Flash Mob is this weekend,(An event geocache) there is no doubt an event near you. Do a Google search on it or stop by my site and read about this fun group aspect of geocaching.

    Happy caching!

    Geocaching With Team Hick@Heart

  3. tonka_boy 7 May 2008 at 4:34 pm Permalink

    I’m addicted! I can’t help myself.

  4. Whereisit 9 May 2008 at 11:46 am Permalink

    Welcome Aboard….let us know when you start dreaming about geocaching!!

  5. GeoHunt.ca 10 May 2008 at 11:00 am Permalink

    I’m also geocaching newbie that has just started out. So far I’ve just found one, but I’ve hidden one myself so I feel that I’m fully into the swing of things.

    What kind of GPSr do you have?


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