Family Geocaching

[+The Cheeseheads]

Geocaching is billed as a "family friendly" sport, but how many of you actually participate with your family?

 

- - - - -

Wisconsin Geocaching Association

[+briansnat]

I do much of my geocaching alone. If my wife is available, we'll hunt together and on rare occassions, our 13 year old daughter will come along. Being a teenager, hanging with the parents isn't cool anymore. But her excuse is an odd one. It's usually "I have too much homework to do".

 

"You can only protect your liberties in this world, by protecting the other man's freedom. "You can only be free if I am" -Clarence Darrow

[Dinoprophet]

I'm primarily a solo cacher; my wife is a geocaching widow. But she does come with me sometimes. Our daughter isn't quite two, so I'm still waiting for her to be able to fully appreciate this. I believe we have 8 finds on our family account.

 

"Winter's just the curtain. Spring will take the bow"

-- Richard Shindell, Spring

[Blackshoe]

I only got into it as something to do with the kids. But I can already tell that when they get bored with it, I'll be a solo cacher.

 

SVT + GPS = fast cache

[+Kouros]

I usually cache with my family if we're all available to go out at the same time. Otherwise I cache alone.

 

My partner often comes with me, and in the past I've been out with my sister and her husband (introduced them to the game), and have been out with the parents once too - though they didn't seem too keen on it.

 

------

An it harm none, do what ye will

[+TEAM 360]

Most of my caching is hardcore, I know anyone that I brought along could not keep up with me, and I would worry too much about them getting hurt. I go alone.

[+Dawgies]

It's a family event for us normally. The ones that are too tough for the little ones we make into scouting events.

 

I tried to cache alone the other night and had a dog sic'd on me! She said, "geo what? Get 'em boy!" I found that if you swing your Garmin V around and around your head with the lanyard it can knock a rather large dog out if you hit it just right.

[+cache chasers]

I try to make it a faimly event but it usually ends up being my two daughters and myself...the better half and my son come along every so often

[+Marky]

Joani and I do most of our geocaching together (about 95%). About %5 of that 95% also includes one or more of my (adult) sons. They think we are kind of wacky. That's okay, most people do.

 

--Marky

"All of us get lost in the darkness, dreamers learn to steer with a backlit GPSr"

[+ZingerHead]

I have choices. I can spend 4 hours hunting a 1/1 with my kids, which usually includes a lot rambling around, laughing, and playing, with some geocaching thrown in for fun. Those are great days, and I don't get enough of them as the kids are too busy or just don't want to go. Or I can drive a couple of hundred miles solo in unfamiliar towns to hunt down a dozen caches as fast as I can in a day, powered only by Dunkin Donuts and Subway. Those days are also fun, and my kids don't have to listen to me swearing about not being able to find the consarned tupperware that is supposed to be right at my feet . But my kids know that when I suggest that we visit a new park that we've never seen before, there's a good chance there's a cache involved.

 

There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary numbers, and those who don't.

[+Wander Lost]

I usually cache with the kids. (6 years & 16 months) My husband gets off work early in the afternoon, now that is it staying light later he'll start hitting a few on his way home.

 

We also introduced my sister & my sister-in-law to the obsession. The each bought their own GPS and cahce with their kids. Their husbands don't get it.

 

We're all here, because we're not 'all there'.

 

[+bartacus]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Cheesehead Dave:

Geocaching is billed as a "family friendly" sport, but how many of you actually participate with your family?

---

 

Although I can't convince my wife to go, my Mother (!!) and Sister are both active cachers.

 

We don't always cache together, but it's always more fun when we do.

 

[+Donnacha]

I usually cache alone, but my girlfriend comes along sometimes.

 

I am not overly concerned

[Captain Crocodile]

All five of us go...However, I can already tell that we will be doing 1/1 until we can find a babysitter! The 4 year old likes it, the 3 year old thinks he's a pirate and the 16 month old loves to kick me while she's in the backpack....

 

"That cursed beast liked the taste of me so well, he's followed me ever since, licking his chops for the rest of me.."

[+Web-ling]

I do more than half by myself, but family members come along quite frequently.

 

I currently have 581 finds.

 

My daughter Miss Pumpkin currently has 211.

 

My son Curly Tiger has 161.

 

My wife Nutri-Mom has 81.

 

All of the finds by other members of the family have been with me along.

 

[+ETDiver]

I cache with the wife and kids 4yrs and 6 mounths when we can .If the the weather permits. I also go with my ,dad ,brother and his wife and some freinds . It seams I have the whole family hooked. althought last summer it was a bit odd pushing a 4 yr old up hills and then pulling a 8 mounth pregnet wife up. But the doc said the walking was good for her . When she got tired she would sit in the car with the air on while I and sometimes the 4yr would go.

[+nctreker]

I generally go alone on diffcult terrain or really time consuming caches. My wife and son really enjoy going on the easier hikes and doing puzzle caches.

[+DustyJacket]

The one choice in the poll says it all for may family:

I usually geocache by myself, although my family will occasionally go if the weather's nice or if the hike isn't too far.

 

(Although I think my daughter is getting more into it. I just ordered a second (cheap) GPS so she or my wife can use their own and run off to find the cache without me.

 

DustyJacket

Not all those that wander are lost. But in my case...

[+Gaddiel]

"Almost" always a family event for us. Rarely, we leave Lil' One (18-month-old) at home for a long hike, but usually, we choose our caches so that we can enjoy them as a family.

[+Team GPSaxophone]

We take the kids (6,4,2) but it limits us to 1 mile round-trip in most cases. We just bought mountain bikes, so we can go further. We still prefer 4x4 caches. The kids love taking the Suburban off-road.

 

[+carleenp]

I often go with my boyfriend and his 12 year old son. I have also gone with my parents who both cache. On a few occasions I have gone by myself. All were enjoyable.

 

[+fisherKings]

Don't know how many have been done with the whole family...a bunch include me and at least one of our two kids (Shark is 5 and Guppy is now 2). We usually try to find a playground near a cache. Wish we had pictures of all the neat ones that we have found since we started caching.

 

When we get within 30ft of the cache we will let our son, Shark, find the cache...with supervision...and our little one will now say "caching..caching..where caching go?" and dig around in the pinestraw. She even recognizes the printout page and asks "where daddy's geocaching go?".

 

What a great way to get out and explore..plus spend all that fun time with the kids outdoors.

 

-Sushi of the fisherKings