What to do on the cold rainy day!

 

It's raining, its pouring, I can't go geocaching and it's boring!

I remember the first time that it stormed really bad when I wanted to go geocaching.  I was not so happy on that day.  I had to build a back up plan for those horrid days.  I sat around the house, while my wife was at work, the kids were all vegged out on the couch. 

Watching TV wasn't really high on my to do list, so I thought about what I could do.  It hit me!  I was going to do some serious homework.  I went on the Geocaching.com web site and put in all the zip codes that were in our tri state area.  I found a bunch of interesting cache listed.  I studied them and made a nice little plan list.  I went over it and looked for all of the shopping centers that I could drop my wife off at when she didn't feel like going.  I mad a nice little travel itinerary based on proximity to her shopping.

I kind of go through that faster than planned, so my next plan was to sit and think about all of the places in my area that had meaning to me.  I began to build my hide wish list.  I looked over the Missouri Department of Conservation rules and regulations for my hides, and began the process to obtain proper permits and permission.

I used some of the time to make my photo album of geocaching fun!  This turned out to be enlightening as well.  i was surprised on how well some of the pictures turned out.  Not just the pictures of the finds, but the others I took as well.  I made some choices on that cold rainy day to do plans for hunts on better days, create the ultimate hides in my new work shop (Get ready for some tough ones!) and my photo passion as well. 

I have plans to make another geocaching magazine.  I would love some input on what you think about that idea.  Somehow, someway I pray that GOD allows me to find a way to work from home and or travel.

 

In the fun of the sport, true beauty is found, even if accidentally.

The back road to the beautiful places, a gift from the Geocache

                                              

                               

The sound of the car had grown near hypnotic by now, and I could no longer make out the center line of the interstate.  My mind was foggy and uncertain as I looked around to determine where I was at.  "My God!" I exclaimed.  With little memory of how I got to this point, I looked back at my little passengers tucked away in the back, sleeping in the booster seats.  The tinge of fright pained through me like a small shock all over my body. 

I knew it was time to get out of the car and to stretch my legs.  My poor girls had to be stiff with pain by now, after all the booster seats were not made by the Serta mattress company.  I pulled off the highway and checked my trust IPhone for any geocahe in the area, and just my luck, there it was.  It was a commuter park and go located just off of Interstate 55 at the Ste. Genevieve MO exit. 

I turned the app on, and pulled in the parking lot.  I quietly got out of the car and followed the compass.  As I got close the familiar song jingles to let me know that I was with in 150 feet!  Something about that jingle must have been programmed in my daughter Randi's mind.  Before I knew it I hear her say "where is it daddy?"  I replied "I am not sure, but we are close now!"  She said " what's the hint?"  "There aren't any sweet-heart" I said. 

She and I followed the arrow, until we came with-in 5 feet.  I looked over everything, or so I thought.  Randi (my daughter) said "Daddy, I think I found it!"  "WHERE?"  I excitedly yelled.  She said  "Here" pointing at a sign.  I raced to it to look.  I searched high and low, but I did not see anything.  She said "No silly, look in the middle of the signs, like a bologna sandwich." 

I looked in between two signs and sure enough the it was!  A match container dangling from a fishing line.  She and I turned back to the car to get my pen which I had left behind.  My wife Stephanie and other daughters Beth and Lyndsey were awake and watching. 

"Daddy how come you didn't wake us up?" asked Beth.  I said "you guys were sleeping well and I just needed to stretch my legs a bit."  "Well we might have wanted to look with you" said Lyndsey.  Steph said, "are there any more that are close by?"  I looked down, and saw that there were several.  "Yes there are quite a few" I said.  "I guess it would be a good idea to go look around and find a few, so that we don't get too stiff from the ride"  my lovely wife said.

You know to a geocacher, we don't need very much of an excuse to go prowling around in new territory to make find!  We drove on into Ste. Genevieve and looked for a couple cache around the area, then we came across "Jacques house Geocache GC2C99P".  WOW! That is all I can say about that!

After this find, all we could do is walk around in awe at the beauty and simplicity of this magnificent town. My wife and I returned to Ste. Genevieve and stayed on a mom and dad only retreat.  We chose to stay at the beautiful "Main Street Inn" bed and breakfast.  What a beautiful place right down in the middle of the oldest settled town in the state of Missouri.  We walked to every shop and Historic site that we could find.  We chose to eat at a little restaurant by the name of "Sirros"!  I also can say that all of the place in the historic downtown area are fabulous!  We saw a pair of 17th century converted lamps that I fell in love with! 

The Interstate is a wonderful way to travel if you are in a hurry, but I recommend that you find some geocache along the way, and don't be in such a hurry.  If I had been in a hurry, well Ste. Genevieve Missouri may have been missed for it's true beauty!  If you have not been there before...well take a day and see it.  It is not very far from Cape Girardeau or St. Louis  Missouri. 

A Historic stop just off of the main highway, worth every second you are there.  If you go into any shops down town, tell them a DARE officer from Pemiscot County sent you.

Is there a Doctor in the house?

I am one of those people that have to be armed with a destination when I travel.  I am NOT a really good sight seer.  If I know that I am going to see specific things, I have comfort, but if I do not know...well that is another story.   My wife says that I get to anxious for her, so she plans the itinerary for all our outings.

We went to another town to look around at things, and I began to get a little cautious feeling.  My wife tells me, "Hey Tony, are there any Geocache in the area?"  That is all the information I needed, I pulled out the phone and looked and SURE ENOUGH!!  I found several!!  I was like a kid in a candy store!  I dashed around town following the Geocache trails, until my wife had achieved HER goal.  I didn't have a care in the world.  

Finding all the cache in the area was so exciting to me, and my wife actally got into it as well.  I love to hunt, but most of all I love the places that this sport has taken me to.  Secretly I love the fact that it has taken away the anxiety I once had! 

To us the Geocachers we kind of know the exciting comfort that this sport brings to us.  I can not ever express the joy, and awe that I have experienced while playing.  For me the sight seeing part of any trip was almost painful.  Thanks to you my fellow Geocahers I get to see the most magnificent sights, and most beautiful things, without any discomfort. 

Maybe with this joyful sport I discovered, I can take my family to see the world!  Thanks to my fellow Geocahers that hide the cache.  I can see the world because of you.

Think Pink when caching!

As we all know this is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and it is almost gone!  I wished I could have started sooner on the idea, but it did not work out that way.  However even though October is dedicated as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, who says we only have to dedicate a month?

When you are out caching, remember to THINK PINK!  Try to leave something pink in any cache that you find!  Lets make this interesting, I challenge you to do it.  Lets make as many Cache's that we find get a little pink.

A few facts that I have found while trying to "THINK PINK!"
         

About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.

In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 57,650 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.

About 2,140 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in men in 2011. A man’s lifetime risk of breast cancer is about 1 in 1,000.

From 1999 to 2005, breast cancer incidence rates in the U.S. decreased by about 2% per year. The decrease was seen only in women aged 50 and older. One theory is that this decrease was partially due to the reduced use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) by women after the results of a large study called the Women’s Health Initiative were published in 2002. These results suggested a connection between HRT and increased breast cancer risk.

About 39,520 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2011 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990 — especially in women under 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness.

For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.

These are just a few facts, feel free to check the facts for yourself!  So with all the facts, I want all my fellow cachers to start to THIN PINK!  Leave something pink in EVERY cache that you find, weather it be a pink signature, ribbon or collectibles!  Lets show what we are made of, and why we care.

How did I start Geocaching?

What I have found out about Geocachers is simple.  They are not fond of the "Muggle"!  In the truest form a geocacher will share their love of the sport with anyone that is willing to listen to the tales of the hunt.  However they tend to be reluctant to make themselves know outside of the geocaching loop. 

I remember when I first got introduced to the name Geocaching.  I was riding back from East St. Louis Illinois with a co-worker and in casual conversation he mentioned that he and his wife took these "side trips" to find the hidden treasures in geocaching.

I can remember thinking that he was NUTS!  I just listened, but when I got home I googled it, and was surprised to see what popped up.  I next went to Youtube and types in Geocaching, and totally in awe of the videos that I saw.  I remember one of the first ones was of a guy standing at a phone booth.  When the guy put the code in and the bottom dropped out....Hook, line and sinker!  I had to know more.  I sat through video after video and dang I had found something that looked really cool! 

I had to at least try it.  I looked up apps for the IPhone and found one called Geocaching Intro....it was FREE!!  I loaded it up and looked up cache for the first time.  DANG IT MAN!  I had three less than a half mile from my house.  I figured what the heck, I went out.  The first one I looked for but found nothing, so I moved on to the next.  It is on a walking trail near my house, I walked up the levee and looked and then back down.  I did not see anything, and was beginning to feel like it was a waste of time, then I spotted it!  Right in plain view hidden in the to of a sign post!  I had walked by this a million times and never had a clue.

I took the pill bottle out and found the log, and was even more surprised to see how long this thing had been here!  There was no turning back now I was done.  I looked every time that I had a chance!  I just kept finding them, and was so surprised at some of the placed that I had never gave even a second thought to.  The beautiful things that I had for granted, or truthfully never even noticed.

I remember finding the Geocaching.com web site for the first time, I was in heaven!  I built a free account and have never looked back.  I ended up buying the app for my IPhone and now am hooked.  I try to introduce new people as often as I can.  I have even kicked around the idea of making a geocaching club in our area. 

If you want to start, go to YouTube.com and look up Geocaching, watch and learn!  Then go to geocaching.com and start your free account to see if you are going to like it, buy a premium one if you LOVE IT!  Find your GPS devise and start hunting, weather it is your car GPS, a hand held or your smart phone.  For heavens sakes take lots of pictures, and send them to me so I can share them for you!  Send them to dare377@yahoo.com, I love to share geocaching and pictures.

From the find to the smile

I had a small group of 4 kids, my little sister Nita and I all packed into my car out searching for treasures untold!  The day was nice and cool, the breeze blew gently across our faces.  As we got closer and closer to the spot that my GPS indicated was the spot were the treasure was hidden.  We all anticipated the find, our adrenalin was peaked! 
We all looked up and down the spot, sifting through the grass near the ball park fence. 

"I know this is the spot, we should be right on top of it!" I said.  "Did you check the recent logs before we stopped?"  Asked my sister Nita.  It hit me like a load of bricks, I forgot to check it out!  "Dang it!  I forgot to look!  Give me a second whine I check over the last 10 logs."  I said.

All movement stopped, no-one spoke.  I could feel the eyes of 5 people silently waiting to see what news I could offer of the hunt.  My IPhone was slow to load my information from my Geocaching.com app.  "Well the last 2 logs say that it has been muggled!"  I said hesitantly.  I hear the groans and sighs of all, as I broke the news.

The walk back to the car seemed to take forever, our energy spent on the hunt only to be let down by the muggle!  I told Nita "isn't it funny how quickly we got here and how excited we were before we knew it was gone?"  Nita only being introduced on this day said "yes, that is very odd.  You know I really don't like it when the cache is gone!" she proclaimed.  I could only laugh at the truth.

As we loaded the car it had became very evident that she was telling the truth.  I may be getting older, but the kids were all silent and very obviously disappointed.  We drove away in total silence, even the radio could not apologize with music for our let down.

I looked over my phone and found that we had another geocache about a half mile away.  I did not tell anyone where were were going, but I drove on to the next location and pulled over.  "What are we doing?" asked the kids.  "Well I found another one, do you all feel like looking?"  The doors flew open and out ran all of the kids, and Nita.  I walked along the fence looking diligently for the cache, but to no advail....then it happened.   Nita fished the cache out of a pipe and she smiled.  THE RUSH WAS BACK!!

We signed the log and Randi my 5 year old said something that I will remember well for a long time "Daddy I am not a good finder.  I don't get to find any."  Nita and I both moaned with the heart felt Ooooh!  What she said was the absolute truth!  We had found them all and kind of left her out.  Luckily there was another cache located about a quarter mile away on the old air base.

We loaded up and went to "Cold War Relic...The monument.  Our eyes trained on the model of the B-52 Bomber and we all looked it over except Randi.  We saw that she had gotten on her hands and knees and was looking under the bench.  The we hear the undeniable excitement of Randi  "DANG IT!!  I FOUND IT!! " She sat down on the bench and took the cover off of the cache looking for the log so she could sign it!  I snapped her picture above just as she took the cover off of the cache.

What we saw was the let down from the failed hunt to the smile that etches itself to our brain forever more.  Geocaching is an interesting hobby that makes memories and makes wonderful smiles.  Try introducing yourself and someone you know to geocaching.....the reward is priceless

Geocaching, the unexpected lifestyle

One of the most unique things I have encountered on this adventure called geocaching isn't just a great cache, as much as it has been the places I have been taken to. If you take the time to look where you are, what you find is a piece of another person's world.

When I first started hunting, I found places that I never knew existed, even close to home. The shortfall is that I haven't found a way to make a living doing it....yet!

Geocaching, the travel continues!

It was a slightly overcast day, not much unlike some of the dreary lazy days of fall from my past. I looked out the window towards the sky and gave a sigh, as I anticipated rain. I fumbled around the house trying to find something to do. My remote control needed batteries after flipping through the guide so many times.

I tossed the idea out to the kids, "hey girls, we don't have anything to do, and there is nothing on tv....so is there anything you want to do special?" I asked. " Daddy can we go geocaching today?" asked Randi my 5 year old. Of course being the geocaching addict that I am, I get instantly excited! "SURE WE CAN!" I excitedly proclaim.

I always try to introduce other people to the sport. It is one of those thing that you love so much, that you just want the world to enjoy with you. I thought it over, and decided to give my little sister Nita a call and invite her and my nephew Kyle.

I had previously introduced my nephew to the art of geocaching, so he was hooked. Nita is a good mommy, and loves her time with Kyle. She was a pretty easy sale to the trip. I load my car with my geocaching bag full of trades, logs, and new containers. I get my girls Bethanie age 10, Lyndsey age 7 and Randi my 5 year old loaded in the car, and off we go to get Nita and Kyle.

Nita having never experiencing the hunt was shocked when we made our first stop, as I gathered my iPhone, and GPS for the job. I get all ready to go look, but before I can get started good, I hear my nephew yell "I found it!!!!". The look on Nita's face was awesome! Wished I could have known that Kyle the geo hunter could have found it so fast, my camera would have been trained on her face.

The day progressed with several good finds, and a bond that was formed between, brother and sister, mother, son and a person and the art of the cache! In my world my family exists as an essential and very important part of my happiness! Geocaching is an enhancement that makes all of our hearts smile!!!

Remember to take a kid geocaching, it promotes wellness and activity!,