A few months ago, I did a blog post on my new-found hobby of geocaching. If you aren’t familiar with the activity, please read my previous post or visit the website for basic information on how to get started. Since finding my very first geocache, I’ve placed trackables that have traveled to England, made a goal to get at least one geocache in every state we travel through, and have introduced several family members to my new addiction. The hobby of geocaching has taken me to places I may not have seen otherwise–city parks, memorials, cemeteries, wedding chapels, and even road-side farmer’s markets. It’s become a past time to share with family or explore on my own.
Below, I found my first magnetic key holder cache on Main Street in a small Texas town. Yes, I looked ridiculous trying to be sneaky while looking for it. My booty was down as far as it would go to search behind the stairs, but I didn’t care. In the end, I didn’t even find it. Mike found the elusive treasure.
Mike, my goddaughter, her mom Sherrie, and I found this one outside a caretaker’s shed in the cemetery where we visited the grave of Stevie Ray Vaughan. There was even a ‘virtual’ cache (ones where answers to specific questions about a certain location are e-mailed to the cache owner to get credit for ‘finding’ it) at the Vaughan family’s final resting place.
Here was a simple one that we found well hidden behind a shopping center. My goddaughter’s user name is Littleladybug, so she left her signature lady bug ‘swag.’
This was a little friend of my goddaughter’s who helped find this ammo box at the Irving Texas Historical Society. Behind it was a peaceful serenity garden that I never would have found if it hadn’t been for geocaching in this spot.
We found a tiny microtube on the edge of the Mustangs of Las Colinas sculpture in Irving, Texas.
Geocaching has taken me hiking with dear friends and strengthened relationships with the young ones in my life. After this particular adventure took us on a muddy trail, we had to pry caked mud off our shoes for days.
It has also been a test of my perseverance. I found this after three attempts with four different people. Just before we were about to pull out of this state park, I wanted to take a final look. Voila! Another ‘smiley face’ in my Geocache log.
Sharing this with my daughter was a hilarious experience. We hiked, we gabbed, and we giggled. We traipsed through poison ivy, poked through spiderwebs, and squealed in delight when we found the prize.
Signing the log book and logging it in the Geocaching app is a thrill. We found it! The smiley faces on the map are almost as fun as the smiley faces in person.
Some of the containers are cleverly hidden and even more of a challenge. We poked our fingers in holes in trees, Dani got stung by a scorpion, and we’ve even done a few of the “OMG-get-this-spider-off-of-me dances.” The most memorable time was when Dani pulled a lonestar tick off of her stomach with a Leatherman’s multi tool. We couldn’t get the creepy clingy thing off fast enough.
Geocaching is even for princesses. This was a clever container, too!
There’s a little fruit basket by the base of the sign. There’s a geocache in there. Pretty smart marketing, because we also bought peaches.
Even birdie homes have hidden treasures. This was a first for us. We looked literally everywhere until we finally decided to check out the obvious.
Some finds come with sweet stories. We found this at a wedding chapel overlooking a beautiful view of the Ozarks. A groom placed this cardinal geocache in a bush on the day of his wedding, which happened to be during a snowstorm. It was in honor of a the bride’s mother who had passed away.
The ingenuity of some of the hides are amazing. This one required moving a ‘pin’ (like a grenade) to activate the door of the birdhouse to reveal the geocache treasure. We did it a couple of times, just for fun.
A huge yellow ammo box was hidden in out in the open in front of a senior citizen’s home. The instructions for the cache asked us to turn and wave toward the windows because the residents got a kick out of watching cachers trying to locate the loot.
I found this one with my stepdaughter. We were hot and sweaty in the 100-degree weather and were just about ready to give up when we finally located it. It had interesting items in it, including baby rattles and pacifiers.
This was a lovely park in Alpena, Michigan. I looked and looked and finally found a large Mason jar with the log under the tower. It took a little bit of maneuvering to get it, and my stepmom was the first to retrieve it.
Another virtual cache brought me to the Michigan Fireman’s Memorial. It was an honor to submit the answers with lines from the Fireman’s Prayer and the date the memorial was dedicated to the cache owner.
There was a cache in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in memory of a Bigfoot sighting in 1979. I was locating the hide alone, and I will freely admit to looking over my shoulder for the elusive Sasquatch. I left disappointed he was nowhere to be found, but I did locate a nice treasure in the ammo box in his honor.
The photo below is a cache located with my sister and niece. It was in a cemetery close to my mother’s home at the grave of a young woman who died in a car accident. The cache was placed in memory by her sister and was well cared for and often visited. Since our family had three siblings who passed away suddenly, it was a tribute that touched us all.
Below is cute little gnome trackable that I started circulating out there somewhere–it travels from cache to cache. The goal is for the old couple to make it around the United States before we do. I’m not sure if they’ll make it, but I hope they enjoy the journey along the way.
Finally, here is my stash of goodies found in the geocaches I’ve located. They range from odd to funny to just plain weird, but I love every one of the found items.
It’s a worthwhile hobby for everyone. I wish I’d known about it when my daughter was little. It’s educational, physically active, mentally challenging, and very low cost. Most of all, it’s just a lot of fun and entertainment. There are literally millions of geocaches out there and it’s an entire underground world that is all around us but not everybody sees.
Do you geocache? Do you have questions about geocaching? Please comment below. If you need a ‘friend’ on geocaching.com, hit me up. RandombitsRV. That’s me.
Safe travels and happy hunting.
We don’t have a video on geocaching, but if you’d like to keep up with us on YouTube, the link is RandomBitsRV. Check us out on Instragram, too–RandomBitsRV.
Wow that’s a lot of treasures! What kinds of things do you leave to be found?
I leave decorative buttons I found at Wal-Mart (they have all kinds in the sewing department), little melamine (I think that’s what it is called) trinkets I got from Amazon, small painted rocks, the little fuzzy chicks and bunnies you see at Easter–anything small enough to fit in a film canister or prescription bottle up to something that can fit in an ammo can. Nothing expensive or elaborate, though. I think I’m going to get some of those wooden nickels personalized–they are pretty cool.
I’ve read about this, but I never knew anyone who actually searched for things. What fun! I enjoyed reading of your adventures.
Thank you–that’s a wonderful compliment. 🙂 Geocaching is a fun hobby–I almost got my mom interested in it.
Ok, you’ve convinced me! I’ve been thinking our starting this hobby since I read your last post. No more procrastinating, I’m downloading the app now! I’ll thank you when I find my first one!
That first one is so exciting! Can’t wait to hear how it goes.
Looks like you girls all had a great time! We’ll have to give this a try, not sure where to begin but i’ll bet You Tube could help us out. Thanks for bringing this to our attention
Geocaching.com is a great place to start. YouTube is wonderful for info, too. Or, if we run into each other in Texas, I’ll show ya how it’s done. 🙂
I signed up as you know but never did get to look for any as there were none in our area. Thanks for the reminder, I’ll check the app…
You’ll have to let me know how it goes!
That’s great! My son found one randomly in Piqua, Ohio. We had no clue what it was so I did research and found out all about these little treasures. I’d love to be able to do this. Just gives you a little extra excitement. Glad to see all your journeys.
It does and a lot of it isn’t overly physically challenging (they have ratings so you know beforehand). I love doing it on my good days, which, thankfully have been often lately. Thanks for reading, Barb! Hugs!
I really know nothing about geocaching. But it looks like fun. I love the waving to care center residents request and the smart marketing strategy of the peach vendor.
It’s a fun hobby that takes me on some pretty weird adventures. 🙂
We started geocaching a few years ago and loved it. Until we all found ourselves covered in poison ivy! I do think if I stuck to urban settings I would avoid the poison and love it once again. Your load of treasure is impressive!!!
Yes–the poison ivy! I love the urban ones, also. Sometimes the foliage is way too dense and I don’t even attempt it.
I love that you are smiling in every single photo. 🙂
I need to get my app. updated and start looking again! Either that, or PokeGo…..
I haven’t done PokeGo–I might try that. I think I was smiling so much ’cause I love all the folks in those pictures with me. 🙂
What a great post. I have been geocaching for years and love trying to find a cache in every state that we travel through. I just recently found a cache in Germany, my first overseas cache. Here’s a link to a post I made on Geocaching on my own blog. I’m looking forward to reading about more of your caches (and travels) in the future.
Thanks for stopping by and reading the post. I love geocaching and sharing it with friends and family. Congratulations on Germany! We were just up in Michigan–loved the state and can’t wait to go back!
Oops – here’s the link – https://michigantraveler.org/2016/10/03/what-the-heck-is-geocaching/
This is a great post and makes me want to try it for sure!
It’s so much fun and addicting!
This was always fun. We did it for a short time around 2009 with the kids (9 and 13). Back then we had to buy a handheld GPS, and learn to work it, then go out and have fun, The kids enjoyed it, but sadly things got real hectic with life. The last time we went out, the app was just getting on the phones, and phones already have GPS, so that even easier and more enjoyable.
Happy Hunting