Geocaching

Today we tried something new and different. Geocaching (www.geocaching.com). It was a sport designed to test and practice your navigational skills. In a nutshell, it boils down to people hiding weatherproof containers with goodies inside (their cache). There is usually a logbook and other toys and trinkets. You can take something, if you replace it with another item. The owner of the cache publishes GPS coordinates for the cache at www.geocaching.com.

It is not as easy as it may sound. Punching in GPS coordinates and walking to it. Once you get close, the GPS accuracy can be off by 30 feet or more. That makes locating the actual container more difficult than it seems. We used a combination of the GPS with a compass, and were able to find our first two containers pretty easy.

Of course, we tell Brendan that we are Treasure Hunting. Here we are at our first cache, on a nature trail in Troy.



















Brendan exchanged a matchbox car for a orange-haired mermaid.
























Our second treasure of the day was located in a park in Royal Oak. This one was pretty well hidden between stumps and leaves, but Jen found it.
























Here Brendan exchanged a truck for what we thought was an action figure. Turns out, the action figure was a travel bug. Travel bugs basically have a serial number on a dogtag used for tracking its whereabouts. This one has been from New York to New Mexico. We have to hurry and return it to another cache so it can continue its travels.
























We are considering making up a new cache to place locally next weekend. So, look for more updates on Brendan's treasure hunting.