How did you get into Geocaching?

I thought it would be nice to hear how some of you got into Geocaching. So take a little time and jot down how you came about this fun and exciting game.

Geocaching is a new sport to our family, and it is funny how we got started into it.

My 11 year old son was at the Dalton Park and he came home with a treasure he had found. Of course my wife and I did not think much of it. A few days later I read about Geocaching on the internet. As I explained what the cache (pronounced cash) was to my daughter, she said that it sounded like what her younger brother had found at the park. That was when I realized my son had stumbled upon a Geocache. I called him in and had him get the treasure he had found so we could take it back. I got on the internet, went to Geocaching.com, and downloaded the coordinates for the cache at the park. I used my GPS to find the spot and when I had found it my son told me I was right on. We put it back and then went back home. I then checked for other caches around our zip code and downloaded them into my GPS. We then headed out to see if we could find them. It didn’t take us long to locate a few of the caches that were listed. Once we had found the caches we went back on the internet and logged the finds.

This has become a very addicting sport, and we now go out as often as we can. The registration on Geocaching.com is free, and you don’t have to own a really expensive GPS to make it work. There are many articles to read to help you understand just how to do it and how to log your finds. We have now been able to complete caches in Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Canada. If you want to try a really fun sport, which can be done alone, with a friend, or with your family, then try Geocaching.

The Eagle has landed

A few weeks ago I was taking my daughter to work and then my wife, a friend and I were going to go to the Fiber Festival at the Harford Fair. Just before we got to her job we noticed this Bald Eagle sitting in a field very close to the road. I hit the brakes and told everyone to grab their cameras. We were all scurrying to get them out and he took off. Thankfully I have a good camera with a good zoom. I was able to zoom right in on him and get some really nice pictures.

So he sat there for quite some time just looking around. We weren't sure if he was going to swoop down on something or not.  

 Then he decided to clean his beak off. Maybe he had just finished eating a fish from the nearby stream.

No, there are no little morsels left here on the stick.













Then he just seemed be saying "Take one more look because I'm getting tired of all of these pictures". He let me take enough for now  before he flew off. What a wonderful sight. I just love seeing birds like this.

Later on, after the Fiber Festival and a few Geocaches, we drove down the same stretch of road. We had to stop again, but not because of the Eagle. This time it was another big bird, and he was eating on something. I finally realized that the Eagle may have had a meal there and the other birds came in for it after he flew off.

Recognize this guy? He's the Turkey Vulture. He's looking for a meal.

 He seems to be saying "What are you looking at?"

"Just leave me alone. I'm trying to eat." Well we watched them for a while, there were four of them, and then we had to leave. I was just thankful we were able to see all of the wildlife we saw that day. We could not have asked for a better day. Beautiful weather, nice caches, and some big birds to boot.

Educaching- What is it?

You're probably wondering what Educaching is.  It is both Education and Geocaching mixed into one. Let me say that this is not something I created, but I found it on the internet. It is an actual course of study that you can purchase.  This year I decided to teach it to our Senior High Students who are part of our homeschool group "Harmony Home Educators" (http://www.hhepa.org/).  Once a month our group gets together for an Enrichment Day.  These "E Days", as we call them, are three hours long.  Two of those hours are for class time and the other hour is for a guest speaker.  We have already had our first E Day and it went really well.  The kids really enjoyed it and they learned a lot about GPSrs and what our Educaches will be.  I even let them walk with them and then run with them to see what their average walking rate is as well as their averag running rate.  I also had them compare their averages with each other to see who was the fastest. 

An Educache is a cache I hide ahead of time that they will have to find.  It has something to do with what I want them to study for that day.  Sometimes they might find some SWAG in there that they get to take just for finding it, and sometimes it will be a note stating they have no homework for the next class. Or it could be something they have to research for the next class.  They won't know until they find it.  Also, the Educaches are always picked up after the class.  They are never left as a permenant cache and the kids in the class are the only ones with the cords, which I give them at the beginning of class.

An example of one class would be for the students to find the Educache, which will have different coins in it from different Countries, and they would need to measure each coin and come up with an average size for the coins.  Pretty easy, and sneaky. Those are math skills they are building. Then they will need to research their particular coin and learn a little bit about the country where it is from. Geography lesson coming at you. Then they report back to the class the next time and tell us what they learned. Speech class.  I love this stuff.  By the way, the running above counts as Gym class.  "Kid to Mom: what do you mean I'm learning mom, I'm just having fun with Mr. Alfred using a GPS.  He doesn't even make us use a book or anything".  "MOM: ROFL".

This is what's nice about Homeschooling.  It's always a teaching moment and sometimes they don't even know it.  But you don't have to be a homeschool parent to use Educaching material.  You can use it on your own kids too.  More to come on this subject.

Cache A Day

Do you cache everyday, and if so how many do you try and find? Right now I try and cache on Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes I am able to get out in the evenings and find a few before dark. However many you are able to do just go out and enjoy yourself.

New to Blogs

Well I took the example of a friend and started my own blog. Let me know what you think of it as I will try and work on it when I get a chance. Here we will talk about Geocaching, camping, hunting, family, and who knows what else.