Alright, I admit it. I thought it sounded a bit geeky. I was skeptical. I can admit that now because I've actually taken part in it - and I was wrong.
Geocaching is COOL.
Yesterday Dave and I met up with Charlie and Dina to do some geocaching. Charlie and I became acquainted via this blog (and his blog), and Dina was a friend of a friend who was meeting Charlie for the first time yesterday, too.
We met at a coffee shop on Brady Street at noon. Introductions were made and then we were off. I had borrowed a GPS from a guy at work but I didn't use it much because Charlie had already programmed all the caches into his system and we didn't need two of them leading the way. He had printed out the coordinates and clues for five caches in the area. (In order to find caches, you just need to go to the official geocaching website and type in your zip code.) He'd actually only been geocaching once before, but since he was the most experienced one in the group, he led the way.
The day was hot and sticky and we were all pretty sweaty from the get-go. I had worn sandals because I didn't think we'd be covering too much rough terrain - and we didn't - but we did cover more than six miles and I should have worn tennis shoes. But oh well.
I don't want to give away specific locations to any would-be local geocachers, so I won't say exactly where we went, but in the two and a half hours we spent, we found three actual caches and one virtual one, or "ghost" cache.
The first was down by the Milwaukee River. The GPS guided us to the general area and then the four of us spread out and searched. Dave finally found it after a good ten or fifteen minutes. It was a coffee can buried beneath some brush and we were all excited since it was the first one. We all signed our names in the logbook, and then I left a trinket for the next person - a starfish. Plus a Play in the City business card with the date written on the back. I equated that to attaching my name and address to a balloon and letting it go (which I did a few times when I was younger) - maybe someone will find the cache, take my card, and visit this site and read about the day I was there. (hello if that person is YOU!)
Anyway... the second cache was at a park in the middle of the city. It was tiny and hidden ... well, I can't tell you exactly where since I'm posting pictures of it. We all dug around and Dave finally located it. We signed our names and Charlie left his Brewers ticket stub from the night before since that's all that would fit.
The last actual cache we found was a two-parter: first, we went to a local school that had a big mural painted on it. We had to count the number of children in order to figure out the coordinates of the next location. We were led to a local church and had to roam around the courtyard for a good while. We all got a bit wet as we repeatedly dodged a sprinkler watering the grass, and I was ready to give up when, once again, Dave found it, hanging in a tree. We had all been searching with our eyes to the ground - it goes to show you have to think outside the box sometimes!
I added some matches from a restaurant in Chicago and, of course, we signed our names. It was always fun to see who had been there before us, and when. Some people had been there last week, some had been there a year ago or more. But there were always plenty of names, meaning that lots of people are geocaching!
As we wandered the streets of Milwaukee, I thought about how to most people, we just looked like four friends taking an afternoon stroll. But really, we were on the prowl. Charlie said that if we were really geeky, we'd have names for the people we encounter who AREN'T geocachers (oh, yes, there are names for those people.) They're called "muggles." (I think this comes from Harry Potter ... ? Though I'm not sure since I've never read the books - but Charlie made some Harry Potter reference.)
Well, I found this just hilarious, so for the rest of our journey, I referred to passersby as "muggles" every chance I got.
The fourth cache was a virtual one, and it was simply a really great view of the lake and the city. There was a kite festival going on down below so we got a cool view of that.
The final cache was a two-parter that we didn't have time to complete. The first part was at a watertower, which we made it to, but the second half was almost another mile away and I had to get back in order to get ready for work. So all in all, we found four locations and it was a really good time.
We made our way back to Brady Street and by then had traveled more than six miles. We were tired! And I had to work the rest of the night, which I really wasn't looking forward to. We bid farewell to Charlie and Dina and said we should do it again sometime! Honestly, with a lot of the things I try, I want to do them again but don't really know if I'll get to, but geocaching is something I'd really try again. I went to places in my city yesterday that I never would have gone otherwise!
I thought it was really neat that if I had never known about geocaching, all those hidden things would still be there. Anywhere I go in the city, there might be a cache hidden right under my nose that I don't know about. Geocaching is kind of like a big "secret society."
I had also never used a GPS before. Man, are those things awesome! With every set of coordinates we punched in, the system pointed us in exactly the right direction, and it also told us how fast we were walking, how long it'd take us to get to the location going at the pace we were going, and how far away we were from the destination. I think I want one.
Yesterday was really fun. I guess if geocaching is geeky, then I'm a big old geek. And I'm definitely ok with that.
Thanks for joining us Erin! We would never have found anything without Dave there. ha ha
Welcome to geek-dom. There's always room for one more. :) It was a pleasure meeting you, Dave and Dina and I hope we get a chance to geocache again sometime.
Take care!
Posted by: Charlie | September 11, 2005 at 09:05 PM
That sounds like SUCH fun! I would love to try some geocaching in these parts...and just might. Sure, it's geeky. But geekiness is good. It beats the alternatives - and it's indicative of really smart, focused people.
I'm cruising by from Michele's tonight.
Posted by: Carmi | September 11, 2005 at 09:59 PM
Here from Michele's.
I don't geocache, but it sounds like a blast. If that makes me a Muggle, so be it. It's just as well, since I can't do magic, either.
Posted by: Kevin | September 11, 2005 at 10:03 PM
Sounds very cool! If I can get my hands on a GPS, I'll definitely give it a try!
Posted by: Derek | September 12, 2005 at 01:51 PM
Can you do this whenever or do you have to sign up to make sure there are caches out there to actually find? You think this would be good for a family or more of an adult thing? It sounds like something my kids would love!
Posted by: Kathy | September 12, 2005 at 02:38 PM
Hey Kathy,
I think this would be a great activity for kids. There's no signing up involved. When you go the geocaching website and type in your zip code, it will tell you all the locations of caches in the area, so you can simply write down or print out a few that sound interesting and then go searching!
The only thing you need to geocache is a GPS. They start at around $100. Lots of people own them so perhaps you could ask around and borrow one for the day.
But I definitely recommend it. It'd be a really fun family activity. Make sure to come back and tell me about it if you ever decide to go!
Posted by: Erin | September 12, 2005 at 04:58 PM
Thanks Erin! The more I read about this the more fun it sounds. Thanks for opening my eyes to something new!
Posted by: Kathy | September 13, 2005 at 10:12 AM
It would be a fun thing to do with a girl, seeing new parts of the city and all, but I don't think most girls want to do dorky stuff on dates...
"Hey, nice to meet you. Would you like to go geocaching with me?"
"What's that."
"We can go out and find treasures hidden in the city using my GPS."
I've forfeited some cool points just by considering this.
Posted by: Andre | September 14, 2005 at 10:31 AM
You crack me up!
No, it probably wouldn't go off well for a first date, but maybe once you have been out a few times and you determine if she is into that kind of thing. I know I wouldn't mind going with my boyfriend sometime, if we could find a GPS.
Of Erin's posts, I still think Sailing would be the most ideal date (romantic side). Personally I would love to go on a date where we went kayaking because I love the outdoors. That is a great weekend day date. Sky diving ... not a date.
Posted by: Nicole | September 14, 2005 at 04:54 PM
Erin - we just found the cache in Caesar's park yesterday. It looks you were the last group to find it before we did. I saw your business card but I left it because I was already familiar with your blog. I left your corny starfish too! :)
Posted by: oz | September 19, 2005 at 11:20 AM
LOL!!!!
Did you have fun geocaching, Oz? Corny starfish? Hey, man, some little kid might really like it! =)
Posted by: Erin | September 19, 2005 at 12:14 PM
Yes, geocaching is fun. I was surprised to see how many caches are around the East Side.
Posted by: oz | September 20, 2005 at 12:41 PM
Do you know who Caesar's Park was named after? I'm looking into my geneology.
Thanks
Posted by: M Douglas | March 14, 2008 at 08:04 PM