Hide & Seek

Unique Retrieval System

2007-10-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

People really like to hide caches in cemetaries, and this was our second one of the day! This is probably the most unusual cache we've done as far as how we had to retrieve the cache. There was a long pole with a hook on the end of a string and we had to fish for it. I was too short to see what I was doing, but thankfully hubby was able to get it. This was another Premium Member cache, but I was glad my nonPremium family were with me, otherwise I'd still be trying to hook it!

Best View Yet!

2007-10-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

This is another Premium Member cache, and though it was a little bit of a walk, the view was spectacular! We could see all the way to downtown as well as Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and miles and miles of the Columbia River.

New County Park

2007-10-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

There was nothing in this new park but a parking lot, picnic table and, of course, the geocache! It was an easy find, and the camo was cute too. This is a Premium Members cache, but we didn't know it when we were looking for it. Geocaching.com really should put something on the cache page so it's easier to tell!

Found a Letterbox Too

2007-10-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

This was a multi-cache in one of our favorite parks. While we were looking for the cache, we came across a letterbox too. Letterboxing is like geocaching, but without the GPSr. People use clues to find hidden boxes that contain a log and a stamp. Then they stamp the letterbox stamp into their own logbook and stamp their stamp into the letterbox's logbook. We've run across a couple in the past.

We did manage to find the cache we were looking for, and it was filled to the brim with toys for kids, as well as a geocoin and some travel bugs. After doing some leg lifts on the exercise course, we replaced the cache and let the kids play in the park for a while.

Well Camouflaged

2007-10-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

I think we may need to get a new GPSr. Lately it's been taking us several tries to get near the cache, and this was one of those times. Once we were looking in the right area, this one wasn't too hard. It certainly is one of my favorite kinds of camouflage!

Unique Urban Cache

2007-10-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

I figured out where this one was likely to be quite some time ago, but this was the first real opportunity I had to actually find it. I had Ryan with me, and since he was with Daddy when Daddy found this cache, he had a hard time keeping quiet about where this was. This is such a neat idea for a cache, and definitely one of my favorites!

After finding this one, we went and picked up Abby, and the three of us walked around downtown for a while where we saw a couple of statues.

How Did We Miss That?

2007-09-30T12:03:00.000-07:00

We searched for probably 30 minutes for this cache, in the rain! One of the things in the description totally threw us off, but it was right where the GPSr said it was. There was a neat little free museum near this cache, and we took some time to browse through it. Turns out this waterwheel is from a steamboat called the Henderson, and it was beached right along the coast of our little town!

Need Exercise?

2007-09-30T11:41:00.000-07:00

There were a series of these flights,
and they were steep!
Wow, this was quite a workout! It didn't sound like that many stairs from the bottom, but it sure feels like it as you're climbing them. I never would have climbed these stairs if it weren't to find a cache, so I'm so glad there was one here to find! The stairs begin at a pretty waterfall, then take you past a gorgeous garden, and then on up to the top of the town with a fantastic view of the city below!

Cool Park!

2007-09-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

Is this a cool park or what? We will have to bring the kids to this park sometime because they would love it! The cache was hidden nearby very well and very cleverly. It's hard to believe the cache doesn't get accidentally found in its location, but it seems to be doing very well there!

Another Bug Hotel

2007-09-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

I was glad to find a bug hotel so I could drop off some of the travel bugs I brought back with me from California. This was hidden really well, and the history was neat too.

Longer Uphill Climb

2007-09-29T15:09:00.000-07:00

This was the second cache on this trail, but we didn't know it until we were already back down the hill and to the van again! Oh, well the exercise did us good, and it was a pretty decent climb. The cache was easily found, and we enjoyed the walk, the creek, and the time alone together immensely.

Short Uphill Climb

2007-09-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

This kind of trail in the woods is my favorite kind, and there were two caches on this trail. This first one was just a short walk and an easy find.

Have To Bring The Kids

2007-09-29T13:40:00.001-07:00

This was such a neat spot, and we didn't even get to explore it. But that will give us a good reason to bring the kids back here. The find was easy, but the scenery was awesome!

Nice Little Hike

2007-09-29T13:40:00.000-07:00

This trail would easily have been missed by us if it weren't for geocaching. In fact, we drove right by it even when we were looking for it! The actual hide turned out to be really easy, and I was surprised the trail ended up leading us right back near Highway 84.

Huge Tree!

2007-09-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

This cache is right next to The Original Stash, and it was an easy find, though a slippery and potentially muddy trek up and down the hillside. We managed to make it without too much mud, but I was worried I'd end up needing to change my pants before we got back down. I was glad the kiddies weren't with us on this one or we would still be there cleaning my daughter up!

The Original Stash & No. 100!

2007-09-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

Geocaching started back in 2000 when President Clinton declassified the use of GPS technology. Geocaching.com on the page for The Original Stash says,

On May 3, 2000, a five-gallon bucket was placed right at this very spot by Dave Ulmer, containing Delorme Topo USA and 2 CD Roms, a cassette recorder, a "George of the Jungle" VHS tape, a Ross Perot book, 4 $1 bills, a slingshot handle, and a very famous can of beans (now the O.C.B. T.B.!) The coordinates were then listed on the Internet and modern-day Geocaching was born.

We have been wanting to go find this cache ever since, especially since it's right in our backyard, relatively speaking. We decided this would be a great cache to mak our 100th find! It was a bit anticlimactic since it is right next to the road with no hunting involved. There was an ammo can hidden nearby for trading items, but it was gone when we were there. We were bummed to find out they replaced the log and the ammo can the day we were there, so we must have just missed it! Oh well, we will want to take the kids there one day anyway, so I'm sure we'll make our way back over there again. This is definitely one every geocacher should make a point to find!

Bad Coordinates

2007-09-29T08:30:00.000-07:00

The coordinates were way off on this cache, but after the owner listed a hint on the cache page, we were able to find this one. The cache had fallen from its original location and is need of maintenance, but at least we finally found it.

Yet Another Cemetary Cache

2007-09-26T18:35:00.000-07:00

People really like hiding caches in cemetaries, and this was yet another one. It was easy to find too. On our way out we saw the cutest Jeep, which Abigail thought was so cute...and frankly, I did too!

Gorgeous Rest Stop

2007-09-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

This was a gorgeous rest stop. We actually needed to take a break from driving to let one of the little ones use the facilities. As we were washing up, I remembered I had printed out some caches nearby, so I looked and, sure enough, there was one in this very spot! It was a pretty steep downhill slide, so I made the find without the littles, much to their dismay.

Different Cache

2007-09-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

This was the last one we did on this day, and it was different from any cache I've ever done before. You actually have to find the correct establishment and ask for the cache! We met the nice cache owner and traded some goodies. Fun one!

Jumping For It

2007-09-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

I wanted to show my best friend how much fun geocaching can be, but I only managed to make a fool of myself, I think! This cache was out of reach, and so I tried jumping for it but with no success. I only managed to push it around but couldn't actually get my fingers on it enough to grab it. Oh, and the police station across the very busy street wasn't making me feel like continuing to try either!

Trying to Convert a Friend

2007-09-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

I took my best friend out geocaching for the first time today. This one took us much longer to find than it should have. It was right there in the open, and yet we looked for probably 20 minutes!

Desert Micro

2007-09-14T16:55:00.000-07:00

Finding micros in the desert sounds difficult, but dad walked right up to this one as if he'd been geocaching for years, even despite the fact that the description was way off! We started off on the wrong side of the tracks with this one, but once we got straightened out it was still a little bit of a hunt just to find the right path.

Dad's First Cache

2007-09-14T16:13:00.000-07:00

I tried to make geocachers out of my family while we were visiting, and this was the first one dad did with us. It was a very windy day, but it was fun nonetheless. I found it right away, but I gave the GPSr to dad and let him find it on his own. He did pretty well for his first time!

Along the Aquaduct

2007-09-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

This was a neat cache located up a small hill and along the California Aquaduct. It was fairly easy to find, but we enjoyed looking anyway!

Business Cache

2007-09-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

This cache was located at a local business, and though it was fairly easy, it was nicely hidden. There was a friendly kitty there that Abby about mauled to death. We traded travel bugs, and enjoyed finding this one. Unfortunately, right after we found this, someone stole the whole thing! What a shame...there were lots of travel bugs and coins in it.

Not Really Hidden

2007-09-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

This wasn't my favorite cache. Not only were there No Trespassing signs, but the cache wasn't even hidden really. It was in a shiny box with two sticks on top sitting under a bush but in plain sight. Still, mom and Abby had fun finding it.

Taking Mom & Nieces

2007-09-09T12:39:00.000-07:00

We had some time to kill before the next tour of the zoo, so I decided to let mom and my nieces try their hand at geocaching. I pulled up a nearby one on the GPSr, and off we went. We looked for quite some time, and after reading previous logs, I had a good idea where it was. Sure enough, it was right where I thought it would be. Hannah said she wanted to do more! Mom did too...but we needed to get back to the zoo, so it would have to wait for another day.

Bug Hotel

2007-09-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

This was our third of the morning before getting back on the road for Gramie's. I was eager to find this one so I could unload all the travel bugs I had been holding on to that wanted to go to California. I traded four for four! It could have been a messy find if you're not careful!

Really Easy

2007-09-08T08:45:00.000-07:00

Before I even turned off the van, Ryan yelled, "I see it!" He was right. This was one of those uncomfortable ones in someone's yard, but it was easy to spot if you've done more than one or two caches. Didn't get a photo as we were eager to get on to another cache which might be more challenging...and I wanted to get out of their yard.

First California Cache

2007-09-08T08:38:00.000-07:00

This was a neat little park with new things for the kids to play on. We did a few caches before beginning the second leg of our trip to California. We had to outwait a few muggles before making this find, and Ryan found it after I made a suggestion. This is our first California cache!

Another Benchmark

2007-09-08T08:26:00.000-07:00

This benchmark was in the park where we went looking for a geocache. I couldn't find it listed in the database, so I don't know if it's been moved or what the exact story on it is.

On The Border

2007-09-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

I had to stop and get this cache on our way down to visit family and friends in California. The kids got a big kick out of stopping so close to the California border, and Ryan made the find, which is always exciting for him. The wind was blowing hard and sand got all over the inside of the van while we were buckling the kiddies in, but it was well worth the stop!

Steep

2007-09-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

This cache was one of the last in our area that we wanted to find, but for a while it was taken offline. Someone dumped a dead body in the vicinity of where the trail begins for this cache, and there had been lots of activity by police and new crews. So the owner wisely took it down until it was safe to go back there without fear of messing up a crime scene or getting questioned by the police about what you were doing in the area.

Abby wearing the light-up goggles she got out of the cache!
When they opened this back up we finally went to hunt for this cache, I was unprepared for the hike it turned out to be! Wow, it doesn't look like much at the beginning, but once you turn that corner, the hill gets steep in a hurry and we had to take a couple of breathers on the way up! The picture looks like a flat path, but it actually is about a 70-degree angle, STEEP.

Disturbing the Neighbors

2007-09-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes one person's hobby is another person's thorn. We wanted to grab this one last cache before heading home, so we quickly walked where our GPS took us. It was in a green belt behind someone's house. Unfortunately, they don't have a privacy fence, and people poking around behind their house frequently is beginning to get to them. I can't say I blame them. We made the find, and then reported the problem to the cache owner. Hopefully they will move the cache (which is really nicely camouflaged!) to an area where we won't be bothering people!

Never Enough Playtime

2007-09-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

When we are out geocaching, we like to find hides in parks so the kids can play while we hunt or after we make the find. It was getting late when we found this cache, so the kids didn't get to play long enough to suit them. We'll have to come back to this park some time so they can play all they want to.

Cute Idea

2007-09-03T18:00:00.000-07:00

I have heard of these kinds of caches, and when we saw one in the area where we were going to be geocaching, we had to try to find it. The idea is to give everyone a First To Find, only you have to be creative and think of your own first to find acronymn. Mine was FTFWPLGTC or First To Find With Plastic Leaves Glued To Cache! Get the idea?

Cool Stump

2007-09-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know how people run across all the unusual stuff we see when we're caching, but this was a cool stump (which the picture does not do justice to). The tree is actually growing out of an old stump of another tree long since dead and cut down. Interesting. The container was a full-blown ammo can, but sadly, there was nothing in it really. We added a few extra goodies, just for good measure!

Just a Walk in the Weeds

2007-09-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

We saw someone parked at this spot earlier in the day, and now we know they were probably geocaching. This was a quick walk in the weeds with nothing special to find, unfortunately. I fell down on the job of taking pictures again today, though there was nothing noteworthy about this cache to take a picture of anyway.

Quick and Easy

2007-09-03T16:37:00.000-07:00

There was no room to walk on the road where this cache was hidden, so hubby went and made the find and brought the cache back to us waiting in the van. His comment was, "I can see how this will get boring after a while." After you've done a few dozen caches, you start to just know where they are likely to be hidden.

Wow!

2007-09-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

This was the first Premium Members cache that we've attempted to find, and it is a great cache! This was a difficult puzzle to solve, but after that the cache was extraordinarily easy to find...there's no hiding this one!

Inside we found the biggest travel bug I've ever seen, along with some of the coolest loot ever placed in a cache. We knew this was going to be big, so we brought along a large swag item (an obnoxiously noisy front loader) which we traded for a pretty Winnie the Pooh ball.

Number 75

2007-09-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

This was an interesting virtual cache that took you on a tour of things around downtown that you had to look up to see. We had seen them all before, but it was still a fun little cache. Again, no picture, but maybe I'll be able to snap one in the near future of my favorite of the local landmarks...his nose will soon be lit!

Stealth Needed

2007-09-03T11:53:00.000-07:00

I definitely need to go back and get a picture of the piece of art featured in this cache. It happens to be across the street from one of my most favorite book stores! We have found that downtown caching needs to be done with geosenses more than with the GPS. Not only that, but there are so many people around, that making a find stealthily is very difficult. Still hubby made the find and grabbed it without being noticed. Unfortunately, we forgot a writing utensil and had to content ourselves with just signing the computer log.

First Virtual

2007-09-03T11:07:00.000-07:00

There are many different types of caches, and though we usually do the traditional caches where there is a container of some type and an actual log book, we recently did our first virtual cache. On this one you had to follow the coordinates to a park and from there answer some questions to get the coordinates to the actual cache location.

We actually cheated a bit though since we already knew where the cache was located. It's the world's smallest park, and it's smack in the middle of the street that runs along the Willamette River downtown. I've been wanting to see this park for years, and geocaching finally brought me here! We had a travel bug with an Irish theme, so we took it along with us on this hunt.

We didn't want to miss the pleasure of seeing the homeless sleeping in the first park though, so we did visit the first place where the coordinates took us to, even though we didn't need to get the information from there!

Being Watched

2007-09-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Daddy and Ryan did this cache by themselves a couple weeks ago, so now it was my turn to find it. It was unsettling having someone watch me as I looked for the cache, but thankfully Ryan wasn't good about keeping the secret and gave a couple of hints away that helped me find it fairly quickly. The GPS was not helpful at all in this location, but it was a neat hide to find.

Themed Cache

2007-08-31T18:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T16:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T14:52:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-08-31T14:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-24T19:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-23T08:32:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-18T13:19:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-18T12:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-18T10:02:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T17:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-17T15:17:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-08-17T14:48:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-04T22:05:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-08-03T21:50:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:45:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:41:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

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!

Missing

2007-08-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

We searched and searched at this site looking for a so-called easy cache. I was feeling so confident after some a pretty difficult find and then a string of successes. Turns out it's been swiped so we're not quite as inept as we feared. What a beautiful covered bridge, huh?

Cute Cache

2007-08-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

This one took us much longer to find than it should have. This is the second one with this particular disguise that we've seen, but it is still cute the second time around. We had fun exploring the nearby creek as well!

Three-Star Difficulty

2007-08-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

This was the first of several covered bridges we saw today and two had caches hidden in them. However, even with the hint and reading all the logs, this was a difficult one to find. We searched and searched and almost gave up.

Ed took the kids down to the river below and tried to catch the big fish we saw lurking in the shallows. While they were occupied I hunted and hunted, finally rechecking where west is on our GPS. Once I moved to the correct side of the bridge, I found the neat micro fairly quickly. This was my first three-star cache to find, I think.

Abby's First Find On Her Own!

2007-08-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

I had hardly even arrived at the cache area before Abby said, "Here it is!" This was her first find completely on her own, and she was pretty proud of herself. This was the first one of 12 we searched for on this day during our camping trip. Abby is a true adventurer who is always ready to look for another cache!

Last One of the Day

2007-07-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

I love drives in the country, and this last cache of the day took us on a lovely scenic ride. We found the cache with minimal looking, and then headed for home.

Third of the Day

2007-07-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

You know one of the best things about geocaching with the kids is? They will stick their hands into the holes you don't want to! This was a very easy find, and Ryan had fun trying to do a better job of disguising the hide than the previous person did. This was our third successful cache of the day. We got stumped on the first one months ago and tried again today. We came up empty again, and we're ready to ask for some hints!

Another Find on His Own

2007-07-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

We pointed him in the general direction, and he found it on his own. He's getting pretty good at this, and we may have to turn the control of the GPS over to him soon. It is in a neat little park almost completely enclosed in blackberry bushes...yum!

Who Knew?

2007-07-29T20:53:00.000-07:00

This cache ended up being really interesting. It was a fairly easy find (with the hint, that is), but the history was what was the best thing. I guess when they expanded Highway 30, they took it right through a cemetary. They must have had to exume some bodies, I assume, but when they did for some reason they didn't relocate 11 of the graves. They are still on the other side of the highway across from the cemetary.

The ground slopes here, and from the highway you'd never know these people were here. Who knows why they left just the eleven and didn't move them along with the rest, but here they lie almost forgotten. I'm glad I now know they're here, though it's sad that the road just ran right through the cemetary.

No Picture

2007-07-29T15:02:00.000-07:00

We forgot to get a picture on this one, but it wasn't very scenic anyway...Fred Meyer parking lot with fencing and storage containers all around. Hubby found this one easily enough once he breached the fence.

New One Locally

2007-07-14T21:35:00.000-07:00

We're always excited when someone places a new cache right in our local area. One of these days maybe we'll be the first to find, but for now we contented ourselves with the thrill of the hunt. It was a familiar area and an easy find.

We even got to watch a Mama Osprey and her babies. I'm glad we have a decent telephoto lens and that we had the binoculars in the van!

Second Time Around

2007-07-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

View from the cache site overlooking the Cowlitz River and the new bridge.
We searched for this cache a couple months ago, but hubby was the only one to find it. We had to split up because it was quite a walk on a bridge that I didn't feel comfortable bringing the kids on, so when it was my turn I came up empty. Today when we were over in the area, I decided to try again (armed with hints from hubby), and found it easily despite the GPS telling me it was 50 feet over the side of the bridge!

Travel Bug Hotel and Embassy

2007-06-03T21:30:00.000-07:00

This is a really neat idea for a cache, a place for people to drop off travel bugs near the airport so others can easily grab them on their way out of town. We found this easily and were a little disappointed to find almost all the travel bugs cleaned out. We dropped off a couple bugs, used the hotel bathroom, and headed home for the day.

Tuckered out little geocacher.

Number 25...Sort Of!

2007-06-03T21:04:00.000-07:00

We had found the other cache located in this park a little bit earlier. After the kids took a break to play a bit, we went in search of this one. There were LOTS of muggles around, so we played it safe.

I snapped lots of pictures of the roses hoping to cover my sideways glances into the shrubs looking for the cache. As it turns out, somebody else must not have been as careful or perhaps it wasn't hidden well or something, but hubby found the box for the cache laying open on the ground with the info sheet but the rest of the cache was gone.

So this turned out to be a bit of an anticlimactic 25th find, but the scenery was gorgeous!

Hot and Humid

2007-06-03T20:51:00.000-07:00

This is a lovely park with some nice hiking trails and picnic areas and even a couple of playgrounds. The weather was very humid and too hot for our Pacific Northwestern comfort. The GPS was almost of no help, but the hint was a great help. We found the cache and traded some items and then went to play in the park for a while.

No Time To Sign

2007-06-03T20:47:00.000-07:00

It took a little bit of time to find this cache, but not too long. The kids loved playing in the park while we hunted, but just as we found the cache, Ryan decides he needs to go to the bathroom NOW! Also a group of kids came to play basketball, so we hastily put the cache back before we could sign it, snapped a picture which didn't turn out, and left in search of the nearest bathroom.

Misleading Hint

2007-06-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

This was another cache that was hidden in someone's yard, which always make me a little uncomfortable. The clue totally had us hunting in the wrong area, but my geosenses kept coming back to one thing. Lo and behold, it was the cache. I need to trust those senses sooner!

Finally a Free Trip to Costco!

2007-06-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

We attended a church in Vancouver, Washington, this morning, so afterward we had lunch and then did some geocaching in the area. This was a fun and clever hide at the Costco, and it was even easy to get without being seen, which is a feat at any Costco!

Local History

2007-06-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

We decided to make a quick stop on our way home to see if we could cross this cache off of our To Find list. It really took us much longer to find than it should have. The hint through me off a bit, but hubby made the find just as we were about to give up. It was nice to stop and read this sign about the local history that I have been driving by for almost two years.

Climbing Rocks

2007-05-28T21:30:00.000-07:00

Ryan learning to use the GPS.
We stopped here early in the day but decided to come back later since there were some people camping nearby. We started off the search in the wrong area, but after awhile we found the right area and began searching in earnest. It took a little bit of time, but Daddy found it eventually. Ryan and Abby had a great time climbing around and hunting among the rocks and moss and trees.

Off The Main Road

2007-05-28T21:20:00.000-07:00

We had been hunting caches that were pretty close to the main highway, but we decided to turn off and find this one before calling it a day. It was a beautiful drive, and we found the cache easily. In fact, Ryan found his second one of the day without help!