Treasure Hunters

We found it!. Last week I wrote about geocaching. Read that post to know what I'm gunna tell you about our quest.

We finally made it out of the house by 10:15am. So much for an early start. Give us a break, we have two little kids.

We parked where suggested and got set up: Lukas on me, and Mackenzie running away from Angela. Normally, geocaching is done with a GPS unit but we don't have one. What I did was type the co-ordinates into Google Earth and found enough detail in the image to try to find the treasure. We hit the trail and headed straight up the hill. Mackenzie wasn't too co-operative, but when Angela gave him the little car we were going to trade, he was willing to trudge up the hill.

I found the trees that I figured the treasure was hidden and looked around - nothing. I spread out my search. By this time, Angela and Mackenzie caught up and helped in the search. Nothing. The search got wider. Nothing. I came back to the original bunch of trees that I thought it should be - nothing. Over to some other trees that I had already checked - nothing. Take a break to look at the view. A bit smokey in the valley but still a nice day. Take some pictures. Back to the original bunch of trees - wait, what's this? It looks like loose pine needles and twigs. No way! Underneath was a little red Rubbermaid container. Let the fun begin.

We explored the treasure - little cars & trucks, lottery tickets, pens and pencils. I filled out the log book. We traded our little black Jeep Grand Cherokee for an orange Land Rover. Definitely an upgrade in vehicle but really the same value as a toy. Mackenzie wanted to bring the whole box home, but he still has to learn the technical aspects of Geocaching.

We had a nice hike down. We took a few pictures. We drank some water. And then we went to DeDutch to reward ourselves with some pannekoek with three berry sauce and whip cream.

So yeah, we had great fun! Angela and I both admit that we were expecting to see a box at a foot of a tree. It never occurred to us that it may actually be buried. We'll get the hang of it. We'll definitely do it again. A GPS would have helped find it quicker though. I had no idea how accurate Google Earth would be. It was pretty darn close. But if we go anywhere near Summerland, or where Google Earth has little or no detail, we won't have a chance. We won't buy one soon but I have chosen the unit I would like: the Garmin Vista. It's about $290. It would be great for geocaching, traveling, and for paragliding, which I hope to start next summer.

Check out the photos by clicking on the picture above, or click "geocache1" in our photo section.

It's your turn. Go find some treasure!