Geocaching Geofun!

Until last week, I had never heard of the extraordinary phenomenon called Geocaching. Fortunately for me, Rich and our good friend Pat went to a training on it and immediately introduced me (and Amanda and Ella) to it. The salutation went something like this, "Ginger, this is Geocaching. Geocaching, Ginger." (Wow, the Safety Dance murders brain cells... someone should tell the government...Oh wait. They created the Safety Dance! Soilent Green is people!!!)
For those who are unaware, geocaching (pronounced "geo-cashing"), is like a massive global scavenger hunt. The participant uses civilian GPS units to find all sorts of pre-placed, hidden treasures in all sorts of places (parks, buildings, on the sides of cliffs (for those who like to repel), and even underwater (for the scuba-ing types). When one finds a cache, he might get to take a treasure (if one is available), leave one from his treasure trove, and then sign the log book, indicating that "______ was here." After a silent (so as not to alert any other cachers to the placement of the cache), "I found it!" celebration dance (or in our case the gentle signal whistle and tap of the rhythmic woodpecker), it is mandatory to return the cache container, be it a film canister or a Star Wars lunchbox, to its original hiding place, so as to prevent the next cacher from leaving the search distraught over not having found that cache. Sometimes there are clues as to the size of the cache (the tiny ones are the hardest to find). Sometimes there are hints as to where the cache might be hidden. Sometimes one is left to find the cache without any guidance at all.

There is a secret lingo involved with geocaching. Those who steal caches or who give away any information about a cache are called spoilers. Occasionally, the spoilers are Muggles (sadly, stolen from Harry Potter) who don't realize that they've spoiled something. Mostly, Muggles are confused as to why the cachers (mere people in their eyes) are walking in the same circles over and over again, searching as if they've lost something irreplaceable. Also, there is a strict code. One must respect the environment, one may not trade items that are harmful, one must not endanger themselves or others, one must observe all the laws and rules of the area, etc.

All you have to do to participate (assuming you have access to a GPS unit) is go to geocaching.com and enter your zip code. You'll find a geocache sheet that tells you latitudes and longitudes, and you're off! There are caches all over the planet, even in the most remote places, so no need to worry about geowithdrawal, especially when visiting in-laws in places like Amarillo, Floydada, or (god forbid) Hobbs! So, go! Enjoy! My only caution to you is beware of the frisbee golfers (who yell "head's up" and then nail you in the face with a pig), the poison ivy lurking in the undergrowth (poor Rich!) and the nickel sized mosquitoes (west nile!)!