Treasure Hunt

Have you ever heard of Geocaching? I had NEVER heard of it, but my sister thought it sounded like a fun adventure. Here's what it is... someone (literally any random person) hides a "treasure" (usually a small box with something hidden inside) and then using the coordinates (found on the Geocaching web site) anyone can use their GPS device to find it! Once you find the treasure, you get to keep what's inside... however, you must replace it. So early in the day on New Year's Eve, we got on the Geocache website and found that there were several "Caches" hidden not far from Jess and Math's home! We printed out the coordinates (along with a little encrypted clue to help us find it). Then we ran to the dollar store to pick up some little items that we'd replace the treasure we found with. The kids were SO excited. We followed the GPS directions to a little parking lot, where we got out of our vehicles and started hiking. It was fun looking at the GPS and trying to figure out which direction to walk, and if we needed to go up or down. At one point, the kids stopped to rest in the shade, and Jared headed up a hill to see if he could figure out where it was. He found it, but wanted the kids to find it. We headed up, and after much searching, Eryn finally spotted it. They were SO EXCITED! They had found a buried treasure. It was kind of hidden inside a little pile of rocks. They opened it up, and found some fun little items. There was a My Little Pony, a pocket knife, a bouncy ball, and some other things. We had to sign a log book to say that we found it, then we put the prizes that we bought inside and hid it again so someone else could find it. One rule is that you must be stealth! You can't let people see you finding it, or it may get taken by someone not playing by the rules, and possibly not replaced, which would be a bit disappointing to the next person trying to find it. We told the kids we had to be like spies, and that added even more fun to the hunt. We actually went hunting for another Cache, but it was in a residential area, and in the spirit of being sneaky, we didn't take any pictures of that one - plus the treasure was soaking wet! It was still fun to find it, and if we hadn't been hungry for lunch, we may have searched for more. It was really fun, and our kids want to do it again. Apparently there are caches hidden all over the world. Even near our home! We are going to do it again sometime.