We began our Geocaching journey 5 years ago on June 22, 2003. In late 2002 I remember seeing a show on the Travel Channel "Top 10 Lost Treasures" and #7 on the list was Geocaching (couldn't find a link). Using a handheld GPS to go "treasure hunting" was very appealing. It wasn't until the following summer when I was looking for something that the entire family could do and would also get us outside.
Being the geek that I am I immediatly started Googling and trying to remember that show or what the sport was called because I could remember the show in my head but I couldn't remember the name. I guess it didn't take long and the next thing you know I had created us an account on Geocaching.com. After just a few minutes I was amazed at all of the caches that were around our house. The next step in the process was to buy a GPS. I found a Magellan Meridian GPS on sale at Fry's and the Wife Acceptance Factor was high since Geocaching was going to be a family sport. We bought the GPS and headed out the following weekend. We didn't take the camera with us on our maiden voyage but we did on our second outing and here is one of those photos.
Fast forward 5 years and here is photo from two weeks ago when were geocaching here in Colorado. Everyone has grown up and we have added another kid to the team...not to mention I look a bit older too.
In the last five years Geocaching has really become common place with outdoor sports and there is software and tools all over the place to help out. My two favorite pieces of software are CacheStats (written in .NET) and Geocaching Swiss Army Knife (GSAK). When we started out we were all about the numbers...trying to find as many as we could and as fast as we could. After the second year we really slowed down and tried to enjoy the whole caching experience. Somewhere along the way we decided to start tracking which states we had cached in. Here is the most current map of the states that we've physically found a cache in (35 + Washington DC).
Well, enough memories for now. Since moving to Colorado we have really picked up the caching bug again and are excited about caches out in the mountains that require hiking, etc. and that has increased our enjoyment yet again. God is good!
Giddy Up!
