Geocaching

For anyone who is looking for the answer to our LivelyRV Mystery Geocoin, you can go to the bottom of this blog for the answer, rather than figuring it out.   All I really wanted was for you to get on our blog.  Also, ONE starts with the word "Geocaching" below this paragraph.

Geocaching

While on our RV adventure, we have decided to also start Geocaching everywhere we visit.  Geocaching is where you look for containers that someone else has hidden. They post the coordinates on the website which you input into a GPS and then look for it.

We actually use an app on our iPhones that shows you all of the  caches in your area, which are more than what you would think.  Below is a screen shot of the caches in the Elkview, WV area which is eighteen.

Geocaches in the Elkview, WV area.

Some Geocaches are pretty easy to find while others make you work for them.  Some individuals will require you to solve a riddle to find the cache while others will hide the cache so well, you may have to look and look to find it.

If you are interested in all of the different types of caches go to http://www.geocaching.com/about/cache_types.aspx to read about them.

So far we have found five caches with one pending in the past two days.  Well two on the 10th of Oct and three today on the 13th.  I was sick on the 11th and 12th in bed, so could not go out yesterday evening.

The five that we had little to no trouble finding are Traditional Caches which had a difficulty level of 2.5 or less out of 5.  The one that is pending is a Mystery or Puzzle Cache which I could not figure out while on-site, which is rated a 3.5 for difficulty.  After coming back to the RV I sat down and I am pretty sure I broke the code, so will try again tomorrow.  It is sometimes hard to concentrate when you have six kids running around in an area where they need to be quite.

Tia, Chloe, Ian, Ethan, and Courtney at our Mystery Cache location.

Of course I'm not going to tell you where the locations are, because that is half the fun, finding them.  You use coordinates you put into a GPS that will take you to the cache's location, but if you use your smart phone, you can pretty much walk right to where the cache is, for Traditional Caches, but Mystery Caches are different and the GPS will only get you in the general area.

Avery at the Mystery Cache location. 

 Looking at the above pictures, you should be able to tell, pretty easily, what type of building we were in. One of the best things about Geocaching is that the caches are usually hidden at locations that would be of interest anyway.  I am finding that every place we went to either had a playground or something of interest that the kids and I both enjoyed.  

Tia, Ian, Chloe, Courtney, Avery, & Ethan posing with the bears.

You have to be very careful when Geocaching so that the Muggles do not see what you are doing though.  What is a Muggle you say?  Well for that you will have to go here and look it up or remember the term from Harry Potter.  They are everywhere and can really mess with a cache since they have not been educated in the rules for Geocaching.

Muggle area.

 Geocaching is definitely going to become another activity on our North American tour since it gives us another reason to explore the local area around us and also because it is fun.  Just in the two days we have done it, we have discovered six new interesting locations all within a ten mile radius.

The last location we went Geocaching in today.  We quit due to rain.

On another note, Misty is sick today with a 24/48 hour bug that she caught from me, who caught it from Tia, who caught it from Avery, who caught it from Chloe, who caught it from Courtney. 

Now the question is, when is Ethan and Ian going to catch it since we seem to be passing it around.  We are pretty sure we know where Courtney caught it, a couple weeks ago, but who knows, it is that time of the year.

Well that is it for now.  God bless and stay safe!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, & Kids.

Bug update............

It is now 1:30 am and Ethan just ran to the bathroom sick, so I guess he has the bug now too.  Seven down, one to go.

Geocoin Riddle Answer:
Geocaching is fun for muggles too.