Geocaching 'Would you like to go geocaching with me this weekend, Tommy?' asked his father. 'I have found a couple of new ones near the creek that I think would be fun. We could invite your friend Sam to join us.' 'Sure, Dad. I love geocaching,' said Tommy. 'Should we go Saturday?' They agreed that they would leave Saturday morning to find the new geocaches, and Tommy ran to call Sam and invite him. Sam agreed to come with them. Although he wasn't sure what geocaching was, he always had fun with Tommy and his dad. Friday night, Tommy and his dad got their gear ready. Both of... Show more Geocaching 'Would you like to go geocaching with me this weekend, Tommy?' asked his father. 'I have found a couple of new ones near the creek that I think would be fun. We could invite your friend Sam to join us.' 'Sure, Dad. I love geocaching,' said Tommy. 'Should we go Saturday?' They agreed that they would leave Saturday morning to find the new geocaches, and Tommy ran to call Sam and invite him. Sam agreed to come with them. Although he wasn't sure what geocaching was, he always had fun with Tommy and his dad. Friday night, Tommy and his dad got their gear ready. Both of them had handheld GPS units, hiking boots with good wool socks, a backpack to carry first aid gear, water, and swag for the cache such as plastic soldiers, a water pistol, and some playing cards. Tommy's father made sure that they had a compass and a map, bug spray, and hats, and he printed out the coordinates for the geocaches. Tommy had given Sam a list of things to bring with him, as well. Saturday morning, Tommy and Dad picked up Sam at his house and off they went. 'Mr. Jones, could you explain to me what geocaching is?' Sam asked, as they were getting in the car. 'Of course, Sam. Basically, it's like a giant worldwide treasure hunt. People hide geocaches, or containers, then take the coordinates with their GPS and enter the coordinates into a website where people like us can find them. Then other people, like us, go hunting for these containers. Some of them are very tiny, just big enough to have a piece of paper for the date and your name. Some of them are large enough to hold books or toys and a logbook. Sometimes, people even put disposable cameras in them so you can take a picture of yourself at the cache. Sometimes, there are even items in the cache that can be tracked, so you can see how they move around the world.' Tommy's dad could see that Sam was still a little confused, but he knew that the boy would catch on as they got going. Mr. Jones put the coordinates for the first cache into his GPS, and off they went. 'It looks like this first cache is only two miles from here,' he told the boys. The GPS led the trio to a small parking area just inside the local park, where they stopped and got their backpacks on, sprayed themselves with bug spray, and reset the GPS for off-road walking. 'It looks like we have about 400 feet to go just that way,' Mr. Jones said, as they headed away from the car into the woods. When they arrived at the location, Sam looked around. 'I don't see anything,' he complained. Tommy laughed. 'Our GPS is accurate to 15 feet, Sam, which means that the cache container is within 15 feet of Dad right now, but in any direction. The way we do it is Dad stands still, and I walk 15 feet from him. Then we know how far in each direction to look. Why don't I walk 15 feet to his right and you go left? Then we know exactly where to search.' Sam agreed, and the boys quickly marked off their search area. 'The cache is medium sized, Sam, so be looking for something like the plastic boxes your mom puts leftovers in, okay?' Tommy, Sam, and Mr. Jones searched for about 10 minutes. They looked in tree branches, under rocks and leaves, and even inside of a hollow log before Sam yelled, 'I think I found it!' Sure enough, he had found the container under a pile of leaves beside the hollow log. Since this was Sam's first find, Tommy and his dad let Sam open the box and choose an item to trade. Sam chose to take a bouncy rubber ball and leave a water gun. Mr. Jones signed the logbook for all of them, and they hid the cache back where they found it. 'That was so much fun, Tommy! I'm so glad you asked me to come along,' Sam said excitedly. 'Does that mean you boys are ready to find the next one?' Mr. Jones asked. The boys cheered and the three set off for the car." Show less
Geocaching
'Would you like to go geocaching with me this weekend, Tommy?' asked his father. 'I have found a couple of new ones near the creek that I think would be fun. We could invite your friend Sam to join us.' 'Sure, Dad. I love geocaching,' said Tommy. 'Should we go Saturday?' They agreed that they would leave Saturday morning to find the new geocaches, and Tommy ran to call Sam and invite him. Sam agreed to come with them. Although he wasn't sure what geocaching was, he always had fun with Tommy and his dad.
Friday night, Tommy and his dad got their gear ready. Both of them had handheld GPS units, hiking boots with good wool socks, a backpack to carry first aid gear, water, and swag for the cache such as plastic soldiers, a water pistol, and some playing cards. Tommy's father made sure that they had a compass and a map, bug spray, and hats, and he printed out the coordinates for the geocaches. Tommy had given Sam a list of things to bring with him, as well.
Saturday morning, Tommy and Dad picked up Sam at his house and off they went. 'Mr. Jones, could you explain to me what geocaching is?' Sam asked, as they were getting in the car.
'Of course, Sam. Basically, it's like a giant worldwide treasure hunt. People hide geocaches, or containers, then take the coordinates with their GPS and enter the coordinates into a website where people like us can find them. Then other people, like us, go hunting for these containers. Some of them are very tiny, just big enough to have a piece of paper for the date and your name. Some of them are large enough to hold books or toys and a logbook. Sometimes, people even put disposable cameras in them so you can take a picture of yourself at the cache. Sometimes, there are even items in the cache that can be tracked, so you can see how they move around the world.'
Tommy's dad could see that Sam was still a little confused, but he knew that the boy would catch on as they got going. Mr. Jones put the coordinates for the first cache into his GPS, and off they went. 'It looks like this first cache is only two miles from here,' he told the boys.
The GPS led the trio to a small parking area just inside the local park, where they stopped and got their backpacks on, sprayed themselves with bug spray, and reset the GPS for off-road walking. 'It looks like we have about 400 feet to go just that way,' Mr. Jones said, as they headed away from the car into the woods. When they arrived at the location, Sam looked around. 'I don't see anything,' he complained.
Tommy laughed. 'Our GPS is accurate to 15 feet, Sam, which means that the cache container is within 15 feet of Dad right now, but in any direction. The way we do it is Dad stands still, and I walk 15 feet from him. Then we know how far in each direction to look. Why don't I walk 15 feet to his right and you go left? Then we know exactly where to search.' Sam agreed, and the boys quickly marked off their search area. 'The cache is medium sized, Sam, so be looking for something like the plastic boxes your mom puts leftovers in, okay?'
Tommy, Sam, and Mr. Jones searched for about 10 minutes. They looked in tree branches, under rocks and leaves, and even inside of a hollow log before Sam yelled, 'I think I found it!' Sure enough, he had found the container under a pile of leaves beside the hollow log. Since this was Sam's first find, Tommy and his dad let Sam open the box and choose an item to trade. Sam chose to take a bouncy rubber ball and leave a water gun.
Mr. Jones signed the logbook for all of them, and they hid the cache back where they found it.
'That was so much fun, Tommy! I'm so glad you asked me to come along,' Sam said excitedly. 'Does that mean you boys are ready to find the next one?' Mr. Jones asked. The boys cheered and the three set off for the car."
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