Spring is in the air!!

Greetings friends. It has been a long time since I have done a blog post. Today was such an awesome first day of Spring, so I thought I would get back into blogging of my geocaching adventures.....

Today's geocaching adventures brought me to two spots. I started my day with a long walk along Neck Rd in Huntersville. While I did not find any of the caches I was searching for (something that occasionally happens to the best of us), it was a very nice and peaceful walk that got me in the mood for stop number two of the day....Latta Plantation.

I have posted about Latta here before. Since my last post, the amount of caches in this one park have gone up significantly. Today my find there was one called "Green Is Clean" (GC3EAPJ). I had gone to search for this one twice before and was defeated both times. This would have been another failure if my friend Rhonda was not able to supply me with some crucial clues via text.

This was a truly evil hide. For those that have not experienced what evil hides are. They are generally a good thing. They are those hides that really put your geocaching skills (as well as our patience and determination) to the test. Even the most experienced geocacher can be humbled by a good evil hide.

Here is a short clip with some examples of evil hides....

I believe this hide was even more tricky than most of these. I refuse to give any information or spoilers because of how clever this one was....

Well Happy Spring to you all. May this season bring you smileys, nice weather, and good health.

What is this Geocaching thing???

Ok. As it is Easter Sunday, I have decided not to bring up geocaching to my wife and son but that we could stay home and do the family thing today. Not that I am complaining as I smell that sweet aroma coming from the kitchen. However, I may be going to a spot to search for a potential hiding spot later today. More on that later....

Instead, I would like to take the time to introduce others to the game/sport/activity/addiction of geocaching. I am often asked about it when I bring the subject up. People always seem so curious, but hesitant when it comes to trying it out for themselves. It seems that people really do not understand how simple it is to get started. After you read this post, I am hoping that you will see how simple it really is to at least be looking up how many caches may be in your neighborhood. You may very well find that you have a cache or two hidden at the park that is right down the street from your house. What a great way to get yourself and the kids outdoors!

I will start by answering some common questions....

Lets start...

Question 1: What is geocaching?

Geocaching is a game played worldwide by people from every walk of life. It is a scavenger hunt where people find things hidden by downloading coordinates off the web to their GPS. Anyone can set up a free account. Anyone can find these. Anyone can hide these. Your involvement in the game is entirely up to you. You can become a hardcore cacher, making your finds every day or you can do it once a month or even less. It is only competitive if you want it to be. One of the great things about geocaching is that there are very few rules and guidelines and it is designed to be played however YOU want to play it.

Question 2: What do we gain from geocaching?

This question is harder to answer because different cachers will give you different answers. Honestly, different people do it for different reasons. I will give you a list of some of the things >I< enjoy about geocaching. This is far from a complete list but just a few reasons why I do it.

1) It is a fun way to combine technology and the outdoors.... Two areas that many times oppose each other are brought together in a way that is family friendly and fun.

2)It is an activity that can be played exactly how you want to play it. Are you up for an easy walk through a park and quick grab? You can do that. Looking to do some extreme climbing? You can choose that as well. You decide.

3)It can be very social. There are actual events where you can go and meet other cachers. Generally speaking, the cachers I have met (regardless of where they are) are some of the nicest people I have ever met.

4)You learn to respect the environment a lot more. As geocachers, we are given the opportunity to show this by attending events called CITOs (Cache In, Trash Out).

5)There are some brilliantly done puzzles. Some caches involve puzzles in order to find the true coordinates. The difficulty of these puzzles ranges from easy math to ones that even experts and geniuses can struggle with.

6)It brings you to some very nice locations. Some could be in your backyard and you never knew they existed.

7)Creativity..... Creativity can be found in geocaching in many ways. From creative puzzles to creative cache containers to creative signature items (items left behind by cachers as a way of marking their visit).

7 reasons why I like caching. There are others but these are the first 7 that come to mind.

Question 3: How do I get started?

So maybe this has peaked your interest a little and you want to try it out....or at least look to see what is in your area. However, you are not sure if it will overwhelm you or not. Fear not! Getting started is easy....and free. If you have access to the internet (and how would you be reading this if you did not?) you could start finding these caches today.

There are many sites devoted to geocaching. However, I am going to focus on one. This is www.geocaching.com.

The reason for this is because this is the most widely used site and will have the most caches available when you search.

Before you actively search for caches, you need an account. It takes minutes to set up and activate your free account. If you choose to be a premium (paying) member, you can upgrade later.....or you can continue using your free account. Click on create a new membership, answer questions/follow instructions and viola! You are now on your way to becoming a geocacher.

Now that you have your free account and it is activated, you can begin your search. Once you get on to the main screen, you should see a link on the left that says hide/seek a geocache. Click on that. The page is now divided with two sections, "Seek A Cache" and "Hide A Cache". For now we will worry about the left hand side (Seek A Cache). At the very top, there is a field for you to enter an address. Go ahead and enter your home address. Do a search within 5 miles. Chances are, you have something that close.

This SHOULD bring you to a list of caches. Let me explain the information you are looking at on this page. The first column is direction and distance from the address that you entered. The second is if a cache has been given any "favorite points" by other cachers (whether or not they are recommended MUST finds). Cache name follows and is a link that you can click on to get to the cache page. It also includes the cache ID number and username of the person who hid it. D/T is difficulty and terrain. These are numbered 1 through 5. 1 is easy. 5 is harder. Right under D/T is cache container size. These are micro, small, regular, and large. The next column is placement date and last is the date that the cache was last found.

Now that you have a general understanding of what everything means, it is time to pick your first cache. Look for a traditional cache (the icon on the cache listing page will just show a picture of a cache container. It will look like a tupperware box.) . Try to find one that is regular size at least (smaller ones can be a little more tricky). Look for the lowest D/T you can find. Click the link to the cache. Read ALL of the info and any logs. If it was found recently, chances are it is still there. Decrypt the hint if you need to or print out the page so you can decrypt it later if you are stumped. Download the coordinates to your GPS or other device. Go find it!

Question 4: I do not have a GPS?!

While I strongly recommend purchasing a GPS if you are going to do a lot of caching, there have been those who have found a cache without one. Here are some tools you can use....

1. Google Earth... Yes people have been able to find caches using some of these mapping sites. Not always easy, but not impossible.

2. Smart Phone.... Most people these days have one. I believe I am among the minority that does not. There are Apps available that people use for geocaching. Sadly, I know nothing about these Apps.

3. Car GPSs.... Yes some people use their car GPS for geocaching. I do not find them as accurate but sometimes I download information onto our Nuvi so I have the cache pages with me while I search.

Question 5: I found it.....now what?

Make sure you sign the log book/sheet indicating that you found it. If there are any goodies in the cache that you like, its yours to take but only if you leave something else "of equal or greater value". You may find things like travel bugs or travelling coins in there. You can take these but only if you have the intention of moving it on within a reasonable period of time. Travelers are yet another part of geocaching that would take up a whole new post to discuss. Maybe we will save that for another time.

Once you get home, log on to the site. Find the cache page and click on the link to log your visit. Congrats, you are now a geocacher. Welcome to your new addiction!

SO that is it at its most basic. Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. Geocaching is one of the best international communities around. And it is one we love to share with others.

Happy caching!!!

Another day of group caching.....

The perfect caching day, Sunday April 17th 2011. We made plans to meet our caching friends at Latta for a picnic lunch and a solid day of caching. It was sunny and close to 80. The kind of day that is perfect to be outside. The group consisted of the three of us, Cole's friend Hannah (who had never been caching before), and our caching friends Little Miss Muffet, Carolina City Girl, and Carolina Cachette. This was the same family we cached with in the last post.

Latta is a great place and anyone visiting the area should look into it. There is a nature center, a raptor center, an equestrian place, and the historical plantation. There are also several different hiking trails of varying difficulty and some fishing spots.

So we decided to go for the hardest cache first. This one was called Hill Trail and was rated 4 for difficulty. We parked at the nature center and took the short hike to the location. We looked for this one for a while. In the middle of our search, some folks on horseback rode past us. After a while of searching we decided to look at the logs to see if we could come up with some possible hints. We found a couple and started conducting our search a little more appropriately. I noticed that the GPS was fluctuating a little so I decided to start searching in another location not too far away. Melissa decided to follow me. Minutes later, she made the find.

After we made the find and signed the log, we decided to have our lunch so we went back to the nature center.

We then drove down the road a little bit to get to the parking that was nearest the next cache, which was called Horse Trailer Lot or something like that. After parking the cars and getting out, we saw that we were only like 100 feet from the cache. We made the quick walk and Melissa found the cache. It was an easy find as it had been misplaced and was laying on the ground. We signed the log and tried to place it where we thought it was probably supposed to be.

We then walked the trails a little and our next attempt was "Catawba Cache". After a little walking, we got to the spot where the GPS indicated it should be. We began our search in one area and we were not having much luck. Again, I decided to move to another likely spot as the GPS was being a little erratic due to tree coverage. As I was walking away, Melissa saw me and shouted "Did you intentionally bring us to the wrong spot so you could sneak off and make the find?" Then she followed me over. Once again she made the find pretty quickly after that. Once it was spotted, one of the young ones almost reached in and grabbed it but we reminded them of the importance of poking around holes and crevices with sticks first to make sure there are no surprise critters in the spot. The cache was safe and we retrieved it, signed the log, and let the kids trade goodies.

Then the hike to the next cache. Most of this last hike was clear walking but there were some spots that were a little more dense. It was not long before we saw the area we needed to be at....on the other side of the water. We followed some more turns and twists around the trail and soon we were at the final spot. Supposedly this final cache of the day was only a difficulty of 1 and a half. As much as we searched, we found nothing. At this time the kids were getting tired so we decided to call it a day.

3 Finds to one DNF is not such a bad day.

Surprisingly, we did not see a lot of animals. We saw a bunch of horses, one lizard (I think it was a skink but it was very fast), one frog and the tail end of a snake which Rhonda (Little Miss Muffet) saw and said looked like a harmless black or brown snake. Copperheads (very venomous as you know) are extremely common in the area and there have been sightings at Latta.

Below are some videos taken from the day. I will post again next week. If we cache at all Easter weekend, I will share some adventures. If not, I was thinking of doing a post on how non-cachers can get started on geocaching.

Happy caching until then!

Too much time has passed....

Please forgive me. I go through phases where I really enjoy writing and then I fall out of the habit. Well....now its time to get back into the habit. We have not been caching as much as I like. However, a couple of weeks ago we did get to go caching with another family. One of my FAVORITE aspects of caching (other than the long walks through woods never knowing what to expect and the sites that it may bring you to...and the long hard puzzles that you spend countless hours at trying to slove) is when I actually get to meet other cachers and cache with them. After church, we went to breakfast at a local restaurant/cafe we have never been to. The breakfast was decent but it was in good company. After that, we took them to find their first nano. Now, as I know some of you are not geocachers, let me explain what a nano is. A nano is a VERY small cache container. Until you find your first nanocache, you may take a while finding it. Even after you have have found them, it can still take a while. Imagine your pinkie nail.... Its probably bigger than some nanos.

So after a while of searching, yours truly made the find. When I held it up to show our friends, they were shocked by how small it was. Honestly, I was shocked that Melissa did not find it before I did. She is usually the eagle eye. At least that is the excuse I use when she complains about my refrigerator blindness.

So after the nano, we decided to try to find a regular sized cache not too far away. We were all thinking of seeing a movie so we did not want to stray far from where we were.

As always, we took the harder way into the woods to find the cache. Dancing our way through thorns, we made our way to the cache site. It did not take long before we heard one of the young voices yell "Found it!". We all went over to log the cache. Credit for this find went to the youngest in the bunch....Carolina City Girl. She was very proud and from what I hear, her enjoyment of geocaching increased quite a bit after that. When leaving the cache we saw a path clear of thorns and obstacles. It took us to the road just a bit down from where we entered.... Go figure!

After that, we all went to see the movie "Hop". This was our last group thing of the day but rest assured, we will be caching with this family again soon. We are already making plans to do a day of caching with a picnic lunch at one of my favorite places, Latta Plantation.

Next day, Monday morning..... I get the familiar e-mail message indicating that a new cache is published. I look to see where it is.... Latta Plantation/Wildlife Center. I read about it. Its a Murder Mystery themed multi cache called "Who, What, Where?". First thing through my head? You know it... FTF (First To Find) for those non-cachers.

I head out to do some quick errands with the mother in law but the whole time I am thinking "This one could be mine!". We get back from our errands and I notice on Facebook that the cache owner had posted a link to the cache page with a lot of responses like "I would be going for this if I was not at work." I see that the cache has yet to be found. I ask the cache owner, Smithy, how long of a search is it? He responds saying that depending on hiking speed, maybe 90 minutes. I sit down and do my math. 2:00....I do not need to pick Cole up until 5.....I have the car and Latta is a 5 minute drive. I quickly download and print anything I need.....beginning coordinates, paper, geocaching pack, GPS.... Do I have pens in my pack? YES! I respond to his post on Facebook.....I am on my way!

I arrive at Latta minutes later and park at the posted parking coordinates. I grab everything I need from the trunk of the car, a couple bottles of water and my hiking/poking stick (down here a poking stick is very handy as you do not want to be reaching in where a not so friendly copperhead maybe). From there I set off to find the first stop on this adventure. Now, as nice as Latta is, it is home to a lot of horse trails. Where there are people riding horses, you have a chance of encountering horsie land mines as big as a splattered watermelon. Dodging these on my walk, I soon make it to the first stop, get the coords to the next location and again I am on my way.

After walking a little over a half mile or so, I come up to the next stage. I complete the instructions for that stage and get the new coords. Off I go.... In the middle of the search for the next stage, my cell phone rings. Responsibly, I answer it. Its my mother in law calling to let me know that work had just called me. Oh no! Do I pretend I never got the call? Using better judgement I call work back keeping my fingers crossed that I do not have to abandon my quest of the elusive FTF. Luckily, I was being called so they could warn me about a big stock shipment coming in and that I would need to work extra the next day. Phew! My quest continues....

After I find the next couple of stages and completing the instructions at each one, I get the coords to the 5th and final stage. Thinking I may be FTF because I did not see anyone else on those trails, I get very excited when I get within 20-30 feet. Then.....the cache. I think I hear a choir of angels singing as I get the cache....open it.....and....find it logged already by one of our local cachers Termite Hunter. Nooooooooo! Come to find out, he probably only beat me by a little bit. Oh well.... Second To Find is not terrible.

After all this, I can tell you that if you have a chance to get this cache, do it. Its fun. Its at a great place with some great trails. Its INTERACTIVE.

I will end this post here but I will post more after we cache with our friends at Latta this weekend. Hopefully with some great pictures.

Middle Of May and already slacking off ;)

And I don't have the excuse of not having anything to write about either.

The month started off with a breakfast at the Golden Corral with fellow geocachers. This event was to celebrate geocaching.com's 10 year anniversary. It was a pretty impressive event with about 70 or so geocachers in attendance. At the event there was food, fellowship, prizes, and a table of trackables (travel bugs and coins) that people wanted to have others discover or move on. It was great meeting people who I had only previously met online in the forums and on Facebook. We hung out with the gang for a couple of hours and then spent a couple of hours at Carowinds, the local amusement park.

Two weeks later, we went to our first Flash Mob event at McDowell Park/Nature Preserve. A Flash Mob is an event that takes place in turbo mode. You find the location, sign the log, hang out for a few minutes, take a group picture, and then disperse as quick as you got there. This event is abbreviated WWFM (World-Wide Flash Mob) and happens every year on the same day in many places all over the world. We grabbed another cache at this park and then headed home.

I also found a very nice spot by Birkdale Village in search of a cache called "Green Troll". This was an amazing and peaceful location about a 5 minute walk from the busy Birkdale Village shopping center. This is one of the things that I find so fun about geocaching. One minute you can be somewhere bustling with activity and minutes later you are on a trail or greenway that seems so untouched.

The local geocaching community GCGC (Greater Charlotte Geocaching Club) has actually participated in the Sponsor A Road/Highway program. We now have two signs by some roadway in Charlotte that we have adopted and agreed to help keep clean. There is a CITO event next month in which the GCGC is planning on doing just that. If I am able to attend I will post the pictures for that when we do so.

Well that is all for now. Enjoy the pictures....

Anniversaries, Milestones, and Firsts... OH MY!

Welcome to the new blog devoted to Team V3 and our caching adventures and any traveling we may do.

Geocaching-wise, April is a big month for us. This April is no exception. First of all, today is the two year anniversary of when we first created our geocaching account. Our first found cache was the Fort Williams Cache in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The cache ID for this one is GC128. This cache was the first cache hidden in the state of Maine and YES it is still there. If you are ever looking to visit Maine, I strongly recommend you check out this amazing and beautiful park. You will NOT be disappointed.

As of Saturday April 17th 2010, we have made our 200 milestone. I try to make it so that we celebrate milestones with something that is easy to remember. Our 200th came in the form of a parade at Rock Hill, South Carolina. It was also our first CITO event AND the first time visiting Rock Hill. The whole day was filled with fun activities, caching and meeting some very nice people. It also included a little friendly competition which came in the form of the Geo-Poker run.

The Geo-Poker run came in the form of 6 caches. 5 of these caches had different colored chips in them. Once you collected as many of these chips as possible, you had to check in at the camp and turn them in for cards. If you had a winning hand, you could leave with prizes. In the 6th cache there was a secret word. If you had the secret word, you were awarded with a very nice YoGO (York County Geocaching Organization) geocoin.

Besides all of the caching events, Rock Hill was bursting with activity as it was in the middle of their very popular Come See Me festival which draws people from all over.

Below I have some pictures from some of our Fort Williams caching in 2008. I will also add pictures from this past weekend as soon as I get them uploaded.

Cole posing with Thing 1 and Thing 2 this year.