Not much to report this week other than our second geocaching trip took place. We did some in our local area just to pass some time the other afternoon. The first one we went to was in a graveyard and as we pulled into the parking lot we saw the groundsman mowing the lawn so we decided not to do this one. We will have to do this another time. The second was also in a graveyard but was quite hard to find. We also go plagued by bugs as it was surrounded by trees. The third was – guess where – a graveyard. This one was too easy and we spotted it almost before we got out the car which was a little disappointing. The fourth and final was in a – yes, you get the theme of the day – a graveyard. This was a little harder to find as it was low to the ground and required foraging in leaves etc. I was worried about spiders etc jumping out at me!
On our first trip I managed to find all of the caches, but this time hubby got two of the three. I only got the third because I was the one “allocated” to go into the wooded area to find it and tackle the bugs.
So now we have found six caches and are learning to use the equipment better. I am also reading up on all the bits we need to know to get the most out of the activity. Why is it men can never read the instructions? I think once we get the hang of it properly it will be a really enjoyable hobby.
The wildlife is flourishing and yesterday I managed to get a few pics of the female towhee. She is much duller and browner than the male. He seems to prefer foraging in the front of the house whereas she likes the back.
On Sunday we decided to go out on our first geocaching trip. As we had never done this before we chose some local caches and downloaded them to our GPS, printed off the details and off we went. We chose four caches in the County (Prince Edward County) and basically followed the GPS.
The first cache was along a country road running along side the lake which meant we had great views as we travelled. It got very exciting as we neared the spot and then pulled over to the side of the road to investigate. Because of geocaching etiquette I can not give anything away which would disclose the position of the cache. The only thing I will say is the exact co-ordinates were slightly off and hubby went off to the left to get closer to the coordinates and whilst he did I found it pretty much where we had parked. Very easy. Here is a close up pic of me with the cache. I have cropped it a lot in order to avoid giving away the position.
This is therefore our first ever geocache find.
Next we followed our way to another cache which was in a graveyard. Clues led us to a certain spot then we had to find the cache. Once again I was the one to spot it – again I cannot reveal where – I like all this cloak and dagger stuff! Two caches down.
Next we went to another graveyard for the third cache of the day. This one however was not so easy. We had to find a certain point in the graveyard from which to find the cache. We could not find the actual point and when we used the exact coordinates given it led us outside into the road. We assumed that whoever set the coordinates did so from their car outside and not from the actual cache point. After a long time searching we gave up and put it down to our inexperience – we can try it again another time.
Next we went off to our fourth geocache of the day – another graveyard. This took a bit of searching but once we realized where it would be I found it quite easily – yes me again. OH always says that I am not very observant and could pass him in the street and not notice. This is probably true, however I do seem to have a knack of finding small camouflaged 35mm film canisters hidden in strange places!
After all this treasure hunting we went to Montanas for dinner and then home. Hubby registered our finds on the geocaching website once home.
I definitely now have the geocaching bug and immediately went to the website to download even more caches – trouble is it has rained pretty much constantly since our first trip, so we are having to wait for the next one.
