Geocaching is keeping me sane these days. It is a sense of adventure, and accomplishment. The job hunt is frustrating. I had a contact at one school and the interview went really well, but they chose another candidate. I went on another interview Monday. I wouldn’t mind the school, but it is a middle school and I would rather be in high school. Wednesday I dropped my resume and managed to obtain another interview for next week. Still no offers of a contract. Geocaching, I can experience success and get out to do something. It is good for me. I’m also learning about the area we live in. After two years of being here, it’s time.

There may be new developments on the job front this week. Hoping. The positions I applied for last week closed today, so interviews should begins soon. I have my <3 set on one school, even though I think another would be better for me. I’m not that picky though, I just need a j-o-b!

Driving to the park Lil Bit navigates. We find the appropriate parking area and hike north to the wide trail like the cache hint said. After taking the wide trail for a short distance we see the small bunny trail that we were supposed to take. After taking the bunny trail and then leaving the trail we ventured through overgrown terrain and followed the GPS…unsuccessfully. Too reach the cache it was going to be necessary to fight SERIOUS overgrowth. Not willing.

Off to the next…

You never know where a cache hunt will take you. When Lil Bit said turn right I was a little surprised to find ourselves in a cemetery. It was a quick find, and Lil Bit was thrilled to be the one to guide us to the cache. The next find was just down the road in an area that has yet to be developed. Another quick find, and minimal overgrowth to maneuver. Nothing major in the way of swag, but we achieved the satisfaction of the find.

Our first find was a quick hunt in town center. The trick is to make the find without drawing attention to the hunt. One of the first questions people ask is what do you find in a cache. Most of the time, not much. There is a log and a few small items,- coins, toys, etc…usually. The game isn’t about what you find, it is about the challenge and I have really enjoyed learning.

After another two attempts we called it an afternoon and came home. We were rather close to our second find, but I did not want to subject my nine year old to poison ivy so we gave up and decided to try again later. I think we were off in our coordinates. After bringing her home I looked at a few maps, re-read and wrote down the clues, then went back out with a determination to find a few more.

Success was mine!

Find number two was not terribly difficult, but it was a little trick. It was a smaller cache, and hanging. Not easy to spot. Not much would fit in the cache and I decided to TNLN (take nothing, leave nothing).

After looking around the area, I discovered it was necessary to CITO- cash in/trash out. This can go along with the blog green initiative. It isn’t something I have blogged about much, but we make a point to pick up trash when we are at the park. If you aren’t careful, this can consume an afternoon.

The most difficult part of the third find was sitting inconspicuously at the cache site completing the log while nature lovers walked the trails nearby, then replacing the cache and not getting seen.

The last find of the day was a PNG (park-n-go). I expected to see a small park or somewhere appropriate to park while you searched for the cache. When the hider called it a PNG he meant it. You literally had to pull over on the shoulder, put your hazards on, and look in the nearby bushes. The micro-cache hides are difficult for me to see, but after almost giving up I found this one and went on my way.

I have learned that you cannot rely solely on your GPS. Once you get to a certain point you have to try and think like the cache hider. By investigating your surroundings, you can see great places to hide a small/medium/large container and recognize evidence of previous hunters. Evidence of previous cache seekers is most helpful. It is usually subtle…grass laying at an odd angle or something similar. I have also learned that searching for the cache keeps you moving and not paying attention to the heat and energy you are exerting…great exercise! Bug spray, hat, and water- absolute must! Each cache seek is a new adventure and I have discovered a hobby that makes me smile.

I logged on the the gc site and found two cache sites in a nearby park. They were considered easy hits, so I thought we could handle it with just the GPS and a compass. You know why geocaching is supposed to be fun? It’s because it is a challenge.

We drove to the park and found a space near the tennis courts where the first cache was hinted to be. Walking toward the tennis courts, the coordinates were not matching up. We then decided to do this the right way and use the compass and watch the coordinates. After getting off the beaten path and finding ourselves on abandoned rail tracks we decided to give up and pursue the other cache. The other cache had a hint so I thought it would be easier to find. (You know where this is going, don’t you?) We made it to the rock mentioned in the hint. We faced the RR tracks, turned right, took 21 steps, and it was clear we were not in the right place. I squished my way out of the muck and decided they had to mean a different rock and tree…yeah, that one wasn’t it either. Wait…is this even the right coordinates? No. If you haven’t figured it out yet, the coordinates are key to success. We were not successful today.

After well over an hour of searching we realized why there are so many applications available for GPS units and phones that are used for geocaching. I have since installed one of the applications and will use it next time. This time all we did was sweat and roam…but I did get a few cute pics:

The girls were collaborating

This was the point that the girls decided to take a more active role in the search.

Hmmm...I so don't want to walk through that.

…and the point we realized it was going to be a little more difficult than we thought.

Squirrel!

He was too cute to pass up. It isn’t a great shot, but holding my camera steady while zooming is a trick.

off the beaten path

This is one of the areas where we got off the main path in hopes of reaching our destination.

Another foot path diversion that only turned up a cute bunny pic:

Lil Bunny Foo-foo

It looks like two furry critters were our only finds for the day.