Unique Retrieval System

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!

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

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

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

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

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?

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?

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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!