Themed Cache

This cache was our last of the day and a fairly easy find. It had the theme of trading pins, but since we didn't have a pin to trade, we just signed the log. Again, in a hurry to get home, I guess, because I forgot to take a picture.

From the Other Side

This was a tricky one, both because the GPSr was bouncing and because of the great camouflage job. Hubby found it fairly quickly though.


It's amazing how this looks like a real town from this side of the river! It's certainly not as impressive from the other side, sad to say.

Pretty Funny

This cache is located at the other end of the same park from the last cache, and it's a beautiful park! We will definitely have to bring the kids back again to play, swim and even fish.


This was supposed to be a puzzle cache, but before I even was completely out of the van, Ryan was holding up the cache with a triumphant, "I found it!" It saved us from having to actually use our brains figuring out a math problem. Way to go, Ryan!

Potential Fishing Spot

We found this cache easily enough, especially with help from a local business person. It wasn't hidden very well, so we tried to hide it better. It will be nice to have a smiley next to this one at last! Forgot the picture yet again.

Just Across the River

After getting a few caches nearby us in Oregon, we drove across the river to Washingto to get a few of those. It's so frustrating to see all those caches across the river that are considered "local," so we thought we'd try to find some of them so we can see all smileys around our local area!


There seems to be quite a few caches located in cemetaries, and this was yet another one, though you didn't actually have to go through the cemetary to get to it. Hubby found it quickly while Abby slept in the van parked right by the cache site.

Peaceful Walk

We have been wanting to do this one for some time, and today was a beautiful day to do it on! What a beautiful walk complete with small waterfalls and gorgeous ferns. It's hard to believe this used to be a highway at one time. The cache was a bit tricky, but we found it relatively quickly.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

We actually tried to find this one when we first started geocaching, but it is near a cemetary and there were some people visiting loved ones, so we decided to leave so as to allow them some peace. We finally made it back, and this was a difficult one to find, though if I hadn't listened to hubby and followed my GPSr and geosenses we may have found it sooner! There was a pretty steep trail to climb and we didn't think the kids could do it, but after it took us so long to find, we let them climb up with us. As you can see from the picture, that didn't work out too well...everyone was a bit grumpy for a second. However, a quick attitude adjustment and all was well again!

Favorite Fishing Spot

This cache is hidden near one of our favorite places to take the kids fishing. We tried to get this cache once before but the skeeters drove us out of the area pretty quickly. Today the bug count was much less (and we were armed with bug spray), so we made the find pretty quickly.


Kids examining their loot!

Someone Beat Us To It

We have been planning on hiding a cache at this local park, but someone beat us to it! So since we couldn't hide one here, we at least were able to be the first to find it (hubby got the FTF). We love this stretch of the Columbia River, and it's always fun to come here. While the kids played on the beach, I did some Cache In Trash Out, picking up after some lazy beer drinkers.

Days and Days

This multi-cache took us days to finish. It has six parts to it, and the third waypoint tripped us for quite a while. Finally on our fourth attempt, we met the owner and he helped us find it...right in the area where we thought it should be but couldn't seem to locate it. Getting the first to find on this one was satisfying considering the difficulty! Abby found the first waypoint all on her own!


On the final waypoint there were two deer in the park when we drove up. We couldn't believe it, but they let us walk up to within 50 feet of them!

Quite a View

Yes, Daddy is up that hill and in those blackberries somewhere!
This cache has been on our list to find for quite some time, and we finally made it out to this area today. It did indeed have a four mountain view, though the trees obscured most of the view. Ryan built a rock fortress while Daddy braved the blackberries and woods to get the cache for us.


On our way back down the mountain we were blessed to watch a doe and her fawn grazing in a meadow!

Permit Required

This cache made me very nervous and had I been alone, I would have skipped it. There were posted signs past the open gate saying No Admittance Without Permit, so I was afraid since we didn't have a permit they wouldn't know we were on the road and then they might lock the gate and we'd be stuck! Hubby had no such qualms and we found the cache and dashed out as fast as we could...didn't take time for a photo either.

Local Park Cache

This one is in a favorite local park we frequent a lot in the summer. Hubby got his first First to Find on this one! I've been forgetting to take pictures lately, but we really did find it...really we did!

First to Find!

This was my very first to find! Hubby gave me a Premium Membership to Geocaching.com for our anniversary, and now I get notified when there's a new cache published in our area. It was pouring rain that morning, so I didn't take time to get a picture, but it was fun being the very first person to find the cache...and on our anniversary too!

You Aren't Kidding!

When they titled this cache Off the Trail, they weren't kidding! Actually, there was a much easier way to get to this cache than the trail we cut. Frankly, I think there are several easier ways to get to this cache, but we took the "scenic" route. The cache itself was barely hidden once you reach the spot, so it could have been a very easy find if you take the right route.

Putting Out Fires

You never know what you're going to find when you set out to find a cache. Today it was a fire someone left smoldering! Granted it was in a fire ring, but even in Oregon, the middle of August is not the time to leave a fire unattended, especially when there was so much dry firewood right next to it.


We spent about 10 minutes pouring water from a nearby creek onto the fire to get it completely out, then we had lunch at one of the picnic tables. After that, Daddy easily found the cache!

Part Two

This may be my all-time favorite cache, though Port of St. Helens is a close contender. I don't know if it was thrill of finding it after looking for so long or the totally cool container the owners went to so much trouble to build, but this is a terrific cache! The bonus was finding our first Jeep travel bug, and a red one to boot.

Part One

Though it isn't listed as a multi-cache, the second cache we wanted to find this morning depended on finding the first one. It was quick a long walk for the kids, about three miles round trip, but it was beautiful! I was glad we had two GPSrs with us today because I kept losing the signal on ours, but our borrowed one held on to it better. This could have been really difficult, but I found it fairly quickly using my geosenses. I love these kind of cleverly hidden caches!

Bouncing GPSrs

This should have been a quick find, but both the GPSrs we were using were bouncing all over the place taking us everywhere except the cache location. Watch out for wasp nests while you're hunting...they were everywhere!

Quick Find

I guess we did too many on this day or they are all starting to run together in my mind, but I can't remember anything about this cache except that there was tall grass and we found it quickly.

Met Another Geocacher

This was the first cache we've done where we actually met another geocacher! He was out showing his nephews the ropes, and it was fun to meet a fellow geocacher.

I have seen the sign that there was a historical marker, but I had never seen exactly where the marker was. Geocaching is great for making you slow down and actually see things in your own backyard!

Walk Around the "Lake"

I had to laugh when I saw the "lake" that we were going to be walking around! This was a fun walk in an area of Sauvie Island we hadn't visited before. Our GPSrs were off a bit, but we found it anyway. We also met a friendly lady and her dog, and the kids had a good time throwing a tennis ball that we found along the trail for the dog to retrieve.


We chatted quite a while with the lady and eventually told her what we were doing. I'm not sure we made geocacher out of her, but she seemed intrigued a bit.

Neat Hiding Place

This was a fun and easy cache full of lots of goodies for the kids. The best part though was the big "cave" the trees made. What a great place for kids to play in!

No Picture

I totally forgot to take a picture after we found this cache, but it is one of my favorites! I may go back and take a picture of the actual cache, just to show some of my muggle friends how cleverly a cache can be hidden if someone takes the time and thought to do it.

Blackberry Walk

I love these kinds of caches where people put some thought into a clever camouflage. Though we found this fairly quickly, it was a great hide that I really enjoyed! The kids really enjoyed munchiing on blackberrries as we walked too!

Finally!

This has been our most difficult cache to find. We hunted on four different occasions and even emailed the owner for some hints. Not long after we got our hints, we noticed that the owner moved the cache, so we went back and looked again. Much to our surprise, Ryan found the cache entirely on his own! We were looking for something else based on the hints we were given, and as it turns out, they no longer applied. He was so proud of himself! He usually complains if we go looking for a micro cache that is just a log-only with nothing to trade, but I think now he "gets" the excitement of the hunt!

Beautiful Trail

We were going to do this cache yesterday along with all the others, but this cache was about a mile walk roundtrip so we waited to do another day. Also, it was placed by the same person who had a skewed sense of terrain difficulty, and we weren't sure what kind of climb we might encounter. I would love to bring our bikes to this trail and ride around the lake sometime. It's a very nice, paved path with beautiful views of the lake. The cache was easy and the terrain much better than the last. We forgot to get a picture at the cache site, so we took one during a break on the way back to the van.

Easter Theme...in August?

Some caches have themes, and this particular one is supposed to have an Easter theme. It's pretty hard to find Easter things in August, so we traded other items, as did most everyone else since there were very few Easter items left in the cache. It was located along a gorgeous trail that winds all the way around Dorena Lake. It was our last cache of the day, and we enjoyed the scenery very much.

Glad We're a Team

Today my geosenses were serving me well, but if I had been alone looking for this one, I don't think I would have found it. I'm glad we search as a family because hubby made this find when I would probably never have. It was another micro, so the kids weren't thrilled, but it was fun for the grown-ups.

Quite a Climb

Sometimes I don't understand how people rate the difficulty of their caches, especially when it comes to the terrian. This was a two-star terrain, but there was a very steep rocky hillside of about 30 feet to climb before you could hunt for the cache...and that was coming up the easy side of the hill! The kids couldn't join us in hunting for this one, so hubby and I took turns looking and finally found the cache. It had some neat goodies in it, and I'm glad we didn't skip it.

Another Cemetary Cache

This is the third cache we've looked for in a cemetary, though we gave up on the first one because we didn't want to disturb the people who had come to visit some graves. Today the cemetary was empty, and we not only found the cache but looked around a bit. It's always intriguing to me to read old tombstones, and there were lots here including a disturbing one encased in plexiglass that had a model of a boat and a person who were all burned up. Wish I knew the story behind that.

Nothing Special

There was nothing special about this cache, but we did find it nonetheless. In fact, we could see the cache as we were driving up to the spot.

Another History Cache

This was the second cache we did in a series based on the Native American history of the area. This tree is called the Wedding Tree, and when they would get married they would split the tree. If it survived, they believed their marriage would survive as well. Clearly it did survive and looks pretty peculiar now.


In addition to the tree, there was an old train bridge we had to cross to get to the cache site, and while crossing the bridge we got a look at yet another covered bridge a little way down the river. As an added bonus we got to play with a teeny little lizard that my hubby caught climbing over the cache site.


The kids get a little impatient with caches where there is only a log and nothing to trade, but even they enjoyed this one with the walk over the train bridge and river and the little lizard.

Neat Native American History Cache

This was the first of two caches we did based on the Native American history of the area. It was interesting to learn how the tribe used this particular spot to resuce their women from another raiding tribe. I love learning history and seeing the neat areas that caching takes us!