This week we’re talking about Geocaching, a fun outdoor game that uses GPS coordinates (and a little problem-solving) to search for hidden treasure all over the world — even in your own community. My husband, Mark, and I started geocaching in the early 2000s and it was a favorite pastime we enjoyed with our family and our BoyScout troop for many years. Sadly, our lives got busier and the kids moved away leaving us with little time or incentive to continue. We stopped our little hunting treks, but we often talked about how much fun we had, and we always promised we’d get out there and do it again “someday.”
Since Mark’s passing last January, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the things we enjoyed doing together, and one of those things was geocaching. I kind of miss it, and I thought it might be a good way to get me out of the house to enjoy some exercise and honor his commitment to better health and enjoyment of the outdoors. So, when we recorded the podcast for this week, I noticed there were several “caches” (pronounced ca-shez) just a short walk from my house. What better place to start?
My dog Sophie loves walks in the park, but she doesn’t get them very often these days since Mark was the one who always walked her. A quick geocache would be a great opportunity to knock out two birds with one stone — Sophie and I get our exercise, and I get a more recent story to tell for the podcast. To say I was a little underprepared would be an understatement.
I waited until late in the day so it wouldn’t be too hot and then I headed out the door with nothing but the dog, a bottle of water, and my phone, but before we had gone two blocks I realized that I didn’t have any doggie poo bags because they were on the other leash. Poor Sophie could not understand why I was dragging her back to the house, and by the time we got to the driveway, I was practically dragging her. Then we set off again in search of that nearby cache.
Backtracking took up just enough of our time that dusk had fallen, and by the time we got to the cache location indicated by the coordinates, it was already dark. The only flashlight I had was on my cell phone, which wasn’t very good or precise. I also wasn’t very confident in the precision of the GPS on my phone, since it took several seconds to update every time I moved. Needless to say, I could not find the cache, even though it was supposed to be relatively large (an ammo box). It was either too well-disguised and hidden to find it in the dark, or it wasn’t there anymore. After several minutes of searching, Sophie and I gave up and headed for home.
Determined not to fail at my first cache in a very long time, I decided to give it another try two days later. This time, I was better prepared and we still had plenty of daylight to see by. Sophie and I made it back to the cache rather quickly, but once again we spent several minutes searching for the ammo box, never finding it. But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. There was another cache in the same area of the park, just a few hundred feet away, so Sophie and I set out in search of that one instead.
By the time we got to the second cache location, it was starting to get dark, but the adjacent tennis courts provided ample light on the tree where the clues indicated the cache should be. The problem? I think the cache might have been up in the tree where I could neither see nor reach it without climbing. As an almost 60-year-old grandma, I can tell you there is no way that is going to happen! So I had to give up on that cache as well. I decided I needed to locate more caches in the easy category. Maybe I’m just not as good at it as I used to be and I need to start simpler to get into the practice again.
I will say that these two caching experiences weren't as fun as they might’ve been in the company of others. The social aspect of geocaching has always been one of my favorite parts. Cooperative puzzle solving is a great team-building exercise, and I have found that multiple perspectives and life experiences aid in solving the clues and spotting the cache. I’ve tried to get other people to go with me, but no one ever seems to want to or they simply don’t have time.
Another issue is that even things I enjoyed immensely are just not the same without my husband. I’m not sure whether it’s better to keep trying to find the balance of doing them without him or to just give up doing them altogether. Even my dog enjoyed our walks less. I’m sure it is because Mark was always the one who walked her, and he gave her free run of the leash to go where she wanted to go, whereas I had a specific destination in mind, and because of her size, I command her to walk in heel position without pulling on the leash. She wasn’t too happy about that, but she got used to it just as I supposed I will get used to doing things by myself, too.
I haven’t given up on Geocaching. I look forward to trying it another day, in the daylight with better preparation. It’ll be good for both me and the dog.
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