MisterMoon

My kids, 6 and 4, love going "treasure hunting". Usually, I had the GPS to the oldest and let her follow the arrow. She's also getting reasonably adept at using a compass. I always carry multiple trade goods for each, but the often surprise me by saying they don't want to trade. The 6 year old really likes signing the log, in fact I think it's the most important thing for her. Another thing the kids think is cool is placing caches. They enjoyed helping to fill them with the starter swag and they like hearing about other people finding them. See my profile for logs and caches with kids. Oh, BTW, Mom very strongly approves of the activity. It's a great way to get some "Daddy Time", a precious commodity for guys like me who travel.

...But I take my kids anyway. Out there in the woods we've come into conact with dangerous plants (poison ivy, thorns), dangerous animals (yellow jackets, skeeters), dangerous situations (back roads, cold weather boating), and well, you get the picture. The kids love it. My wife even enjoys it, too. Caching gives us a reason to go somewhere, it makes the trip interesting all the while teaching the kids (and the wife) about navigation, planning, the outdoors, and ethics (e.g. trade-up!), and safety. Because we try to be good parents we keep it safe as possible by carrying first aid kits in our packs, first aid training in our heads, wear our seatbelts, our PFDs, identify and avoid dangerous plants and animals, and generally being watchful for dangerous situations. I can't think of a better way for you to spend an afternoon with your kids. My wife won't *let* me go caching *without* my kids in tow. She recognizes how good it is for them and me.

Link to Amazon page where you can buy one. But, it's going to be cheaper and better if you keep the functions separate.

...from Wal-Mart works pretty well too. I just put out a couple of caches that are pretty much out in the open but difficult for a casual viewer to see because they are completely covered with camouflage duct tape. It's cheap and easy!

Darbow Island Cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=43208 Blackbeard Island Flamingo Ridge Cache - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=45850 and the one we just placed They Spied an Island Rise Out of the Sea - http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=47806

The last time was a couple of weeks ago on a flight from MSP-ATL, sitting in the first class cabin, the flight attendent spent half the flight talking to me about it. She told me she sees them all the time. She was buying one for her boyfriend for Christmas. I gave her a card with "www.geocaching.com" written on the back for her to stick in her BF's present. While I think it's kind of cool to know that you're going 580 mph over Bugtussle, TN, I find that watching the moving map display just makes the trip seem longer. When you're on 80-100 flights a year (as I often am) you want to got where you're going as quick as possible. Where I use it is when flying cross country on days when there is cloud cover and therefore no visual cues as to how close we are to home, I'll turn it on for a quick check of miles to go. Otherwise, it's off and I'm either reading or sleeping.

quote:My sisters lives in Kennassaw, GA, and her son was on his way to school one morning when... WHAM! A dear came across the street, he hit it, and the dear ran into the bushes just off the side of the road. Here is were the problem begins... A local police officer shows up, a school bus (loaded with kids 7-12 years old), and my sister with her two other small children. Without warning the officer pulled out his pistol, and shot the dear with at least 30 children watching! (UNREAL!) The class-action lawsuit settled out of court within 2 weeks, and each child (37 kids) that was involved, or at the scene was award $7500.00 each, and counciling if needed. WEIRD story, so I had to share that with you! And I've never heard this story. Been here since 1978... I once hit a deer coming down Monteagle on I-24 in Tennessee. Messed the deer up pretty good, but barely scratched my old beater Toyota. What really scares me is driving around at night in some of the places I routinely travle to, places like northern Minnesota, western Ontario, New Brunswick, all places with moose running about. Another bad place is the Mogollon Rime area in AZ, when the elk are running around.

The best adhesive I know of is a polyurethane sealer-adhesive used in marine applications: 3M 5200. That stuff will stick to seaweed! It is tough, flexible, and tenacious. Look for it where boating supplies are sold. Be warned, it does take several days to fully cure.

quote:Originally posted by mrplug:There are several "bug hotels" that I've found around the world. I even started one near the Atlanta Airport: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=25861 The biggest problem I've had is cachers taking a bug without leaving one. If this keeps up, the cache will be empty before long. I frequently travel far and wide out of ATL, and was hoping to use the depot to helps some bugs along. If I can conceivably help a bug along it's mission, it seems wrong not to do so whether or not I have a bug to leave. And if I do have a bug in my possession and my travels are going to help it along too, leaving in exchange also seems the wrong thing to do. I've got a European trip coming soon that could be very good for some bug. Would bringing a bug back on the return be acceptable?