G is for...Geocaching!

It's been a year this past month that I officially started geocaching.  For those of you not familiar with this popular pastime, it is usually described as a worldwide treasure hunt using GPS technology.  Not sure how I initially became involved with it, but after hearing about a friend of ours who had been "taking walks in the woods" to find "boxes", my curiosity kicked into overdrive.  I read everything I could about it and visited the most widely recognized website for the hobby here. This website is chock-full of information about getting started with geocaching and even has reviews on the best GPS units out there.  I quickly bought a handheld GPS and told my family I'd discovered a way for us to have fun and get exercise in the process, and that it didn't cost anything to participate (after the initial GPS expense).  My oldest was on board from the get-go.  It took a little more coaxing for my youngest daughter, Leena, and Mohammed to give it a shot.  Neither is what you would call "outdoorsy" and Leena has the added issue of hating bugs. This past year, they have both gone along with it, though, and Mohammed has really helped a bunch by carrying Adam in a backpack carrier on our adventures.  I have even told a few buddies about it, and gotten one person in particular to go on weekday adventures with me while the girls are at school and Mohammed is working (you know who you are!). It's really worth checking out if you like to hike.  In fact, you don't even really have to like to hike because many of the hidden caches are in urban areas hidden in plain site.  Caches are rated according to difficulty of the hide, as well as difficulty of the terrain.  Ratings go from 1(wheelchair accessible and easy to find) all the way to 5 (nearly impossible on both fronts).  Our family outings are usually a cache difficulty of 1-3 and a terrain difficulty of no more than 2.  It's a great family/couple/individual activity and you should check it out! Here are some photos from several of our adventures:

Leena's first find all on her own!

 Adam getting a free ride:

 Yasmeen's first find on her own:

 Adam napping in the distance while we made the find:

 They pop up in unexpected places:

 The goods inside:

 One of Mohammed's recent finds--this one was hard!

 An urban cache near home:

 My caching pal, Brenda and I with the neatest cache container yet--a tree branch!

Finding a travelbug-and I don't mean my napping son!

 Well-hidden:

 On our way:

 Caches are EVERYWHERE:

 Sometimes you have to reach up high and savor the sweet taste of success:

Thanks for stopping by...now get out and geocache!!