Finding Tupperware in the woods….

… that’s what my younger daughter and I did tonight for our daddy-daughter activity. It’s actually called geocaching, and it can best be described as ‘high-tech hide and seek.’

Throughout the country, and actually throughout the world, geocaching enthusiasts have taken containers filled with trinkets and hidden them in parks, forest preserves, highway rest stops, and even in such unlikely places as heavily-travelled urban areas, or on the tops of mountains. Once someone has hidden a container, they use a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) receiver to note the exact latitude and longitude of the hidden item. They then log on to www.geocaching.com, and create a new record for their hidden treasure.

Once that’s done, other geocachers will check the database for geocaches in their area. Once they choose one, they’ll enter the coordinates of that ‘cache in their GPS, and then go out and find it. In most cases, the hider will include some type of clue to help narrow down the search. For instance, the record of the cache that we found this evening indicated that it was along the edge of a neighborhood park. We had to tromp through a bit of wooded area, and after search around the base of some trees, we found it, hidden under a (manmade) pile of sticks. Inside was a log book to record our find, and several little toys - nothing of any value, but still fun to find nonetheless. If you take something from the cache, you’re supposed to leave something for the next person, so we took a small stuffed animal and left a magnet with a picture of a bee on it.

I’ve been doing this for about 3 years now, and have a great time doing it. So far, our family has found 264 caches in 18 states. We enjoy this activity as a family because it’s always outdoors (your GPS won’t get a signal inside), it usually involves exercise, or some sleuthing, or both, and it’s taken us to places we would have never seen otherwise.

I’m thinking about hosting some ‘Intro to Geocaching’ outings this fall. This would be a great activity to promote some father-child bonding time, so if you’re interested and in the western suburbs of Chicago, let me know.