One of the hobbies we took up while we were in Phoenix was Geocaching.  For those who are unfamiliar with Geocaching, it is a game.  A treasure hunt of sorts.  The gist of it, is that people hide caches in public places, and then post the coordinates of the cache at the Geocaching website.  Others who wish to find the cache track down the location with a handheld GPS unit, and then the fun begins.  The GPS will only get you within several yards of the treasure.  So once you are there, you have to search for the cache. 

Caches come in all shapes and sizes.  We’ve found micro-caches, made from Altoids tins, stuck in place with a magnet, caches in Ammo boxes, Rubbermaid leftovers containers, Pringles cans and coffee cans.  There are virtual caches in some places, but we’ve never searched for any virtual caches yet.  Our children are young enough that that much of the appeal is in the treasure itself, not just in the hunt. 

The cache is typically filled with treasure.  The treasures are small, often something the size of a child’s meal prize.  Some are more valuable than others.  The idea is that you carry treasures with you, and when you find the cache, you swap out a treasure.  You take something and leave something, so that the next person who finds the cache has a treasure too!  (For safety, we always carry two way radios when we go geocaching, as well as a first aid kit.)

My oldest son has started a keychain collection, and to date has about 20 keychains in his collection, most of which he has found in geocaches. 

The caches are rated by the person who places them, as far as difficulty in getting to the cache, and difficulty in finding it, once you’ve arrived in the area.  Most of the caches we’ve found so far have been fairly medium in difficulty, though we’ve had more than one that we made more difficult in terrain, by not finding the easiest way to arrive at the cache!

This particular cache found myself and the three older children clambering up the rocky face of a mountain.  When we reached the top, and found the cache, we also found a trail, which led to a nearby park.  It would have been a much easier hike in, from the trail!  We walked back out the trail, and had my husband (who stayed in the car with the baby) meet us at the park entrance.  Our Geocaching adventures are documented at www.geocaching.com as the CedarCreek Gang.