Hello one and all!
So, I was so excited about Geocaching that I went out last night after work and bought myself a GPS unit at BestBuy. YES, I could probably have gotten a better price if I bought online, but I really wanted to have something to start with this weekend. And so excited was I that I couldn’t even wait until the weekend, so I went out in search of a cache this morning before work. I had to go to TI this morning to drop some stuff off at the accounting office, so I looked up some coordinates for a cache on the island, and using my GPS, I headed down the road to the spot. The GPS literally put me exactly at the cache’s location – I am very happy with my purchase.
Before I get into the cache details, let me tell you a little bit about my device. It is a very entry level GPS device made by Magellan. It is called the eXplorist 200 and I actually got a pretty good deal on it. It was an open box item at BestBuy, so I got almost 33% off the original price. I paid 100.99 + tax, which wasn’t too bad. Amazon.com sells GPS devices that are comparable for under $100, but I wouldn’t have been able to have one of those until sometime next week (unless I paid for overnight shipping, which would have negated the cost savings). The main problem with this device is that it has no way to connect it to a computer, so all of the waypoints and location data have to be entered on the device itself. Considering that it has no keypad, that makes it a little tedious, but for $100, what could I expect? It maps where I want to go, so it’s worth it to me.
Some people ask what makes Geocaching exciting if you are told exactly where the cache is hidden. Well, the fun is not so much in knowing the location as it is in getting there. Today’s was easy to find because I know Treasure Island pretty well, but some of the caches are hidden along hiking trails or, as I said before, underwater or on rocky cliffs. While my GPS will show me on a map where the cache is, it isn’t useful for getting there. This isn’t a step by step navigation GPS like the ones you find in cars – it literally draws a straight line from my current location to the location of the cache. Not very useful if there are things like mountains or lakes or canyons in the way. I am really excited to start looking for some other caches that are harder to get to.
When I found the cache this morning, I was very excited. There is just something about finding a hidden item that is exciting. Think about it – there might be a Geocache within less a mile of your current location and you have no idea. But there may be fifty or more people that have visited that cache. The cache I found this morning was places there just over a year ago (July 8, 2004) and since then, 72 people have logged a visit to the cache, and the closest cache to my house (which I will look for no later than this weekend) has logged 121 visits since April of 2004. Today’s cache was a tupperware container which contained a logbook, some toy cars, a domino, a magnet, and various other knick knacks. Some people get really into their Geocaching and they have made personalized stickers or objects to include in the caches they find. Some people even carry with them things they call a “cache pack” which might include plastic bags or supplies to repair damages caches they find. I just love the idea that things like this exist. I think I’ve found a great new pastime.
Here is a picture of me near the site of the cache this morning. I took it myself with my cell phone, so it’s not great, but it gets the job done. I really wanted to document my first find in some way.
