Caching at night in Dallas for Christmas

We started this habit of going geocaching at night on Christmas. This has resulted in some very interesting times (like these when I swear that last night cache was going to make one of us pee our pants).

This year, Fred requested a night cache, so I searched for one that I hadn't found and came across White Rock Night Cache, which I have to admit was a huge let down. It was short and easy and just...a let down.

So, we decided to try for a nearby cache and see what else we could do. This one has a fun name (Ice, Ice Baby) and it was a little harder to find once at the spot, but it was really a PNG in disguise.

So, we called this a night and played Rockband instead.

Caching with new friends in Grand Cayman

Lesley and I went on a cruise without the boys (we have more vacation time), and since all we wanted to do in Grand Cayman was walk around and shop, geocaching fit in here quite nicely. We made a couple of new friends on the ship who joined us, and really made it a lot of fun for us. I quite enjoyed all of these caches, for quite different reasons, but in the end they gave a great first time geocaching.

• By George, it's Fort George! - great intro cache, even with the puzzle tied to it to open the cache. What a tiny little fort.
• How Bazaar - the GPS was very inaccurate here, but we were able to spot the loot without notice. Neat little place to shop for crafts here.
• Spirit of Recovery 1 - this cache was so easy, I missed it. Simple, funny hide.

Night caching in San Antonio

After some introductory geocaching, Rachel and Nese got interested in the idea of going geocaching at night. So I looked up some night caches in the area and was sad that San Antonio doesn't seem to have as many of these as Dallas. I did find two fairly close together about a 15 minute drive away, so we headed out for those. Jason's sister and boyfriend joined us as well (for their first caches). So, we were a happy group of seven going to find these.



The first cache was a little longer of a walk and once we got going, everyone took turns taking the lead. We only had five flashlights, so this was careful going. However, it was well maintained and full of lots of goodies at the end. Starry Night ~ Night Cache.

The second cache was fun as well, although we had a hard time with the trail. On the way back, after finally backtracking and finding the right way, we found a missing marker on the ground, which probably explains the difficulties. Glow Worm Night Cache.

Introducing Jared and Gabby to Geocaching

If you know us, you know that we love sharing the things we love with our friends and family. So, when Jared expressed interest in geocaching, we were all about showing him. And it was a fun afternoon where we of course lost track of time and got plenty of sun and the dog got plenty of a walk in.

We met at my house and headed to a nearby park that I've found a lot of caches in before, but headed in a different direction for some new finds. The very first was a 5/5, and nice to have others in the group who didn't mind being a tree monkey. We actually found it quite quickly, so that was a relief: NYEDWINT: Tribute to... BEVIKING (Bonus Cache)

We found another easy cache (once we got in from the right side...) and then kept on walking. We got to one I thought would be easy, but it looked like someone had thrown a party there recently and messed things up. But, we found a ducky eraser on the ground, so knew we couldn't be too far off. With some persistance, we found the cache: First Contact

So, a co-worker was looking for a hobby in Waco

Today, I went to a lunch with a couple of co-workers since once of those co-workers will start working remotely in Waco next week and we won't see him so much. We were talking about things to do in Waco, and hubby and I thought this would be a good time to introduce him to geocaching. I opened the app on my phone, and sure enough, there is a cache less than 300 feet away, so we decide to walk there after we finish eating. What a pleasant surprise, and now I think he may be hooked. We'll see the next time I go to Waco.

More after work caching

Second time out with co-workers, and this time started out fairly similarly, even though the group was slightly different. This time around, it was Dhawal's second trip with me. Vincent and his dog Blanche joined us for their first time out. Hubby Evan still has the boot on his foot, so he opted to not join us.

The first part again was to go under the highway, then we made through the nearby park to head to the first cache. After walking through tall grass, we eventually found an old dirt path that went right by the first cache. I've been to this spot before, and I'm fairly certain this is the first geocache I ever found. I still love how the dog was buried with the family and has its own headstone. Grabbed a bat for a friend and leave some art pieces a different friend made.



On the way to the next cache, we crossed a creek on foot and made pretty good time along a narrow path. I ended up eating a bug when we arrived - there were bugs all around. Thankfully, even though there were vines everywhere, no PI yet.

Headed out and continued along the dirt path until we reached the concrete trail. Followed this to the last cache of the day, which was a breeze compared to the first two.

Back to the office, but this was a very successful trip out.

Jacob Routh's Other Haunt
Tree of Gondor

Birthday caching

Some coworkers and I set off after work for some geocaching on my birthday. In our group of four, there were two new cachers, Dhawal and Jad. So, in addition to making the hike over to the caches, we showed them how to use the navigation unit and talked about other tips of the trade.

We perhaps took the most unfortunate route to the first cache, heading under the highway from the office we work at and through the thorns and like. Once we got there, Evan and Jad stood behind (Evan was wearing shorts and the thorns were not inviting). Dhawal found the cache quickly and Jad hopped over to take a look. Dhawal and I signed and then found our way over to a narrow, long, and high crossing across a nearby creek to get to the walking path across the way. Evan could not make the crossing (he made it a few feet and then went back), so Jad (who had had to crossed already) went back while Dhawal and I waited for them to do some walking through the trees, vines, and thorns to meet up with us again.

From there, we risked the traffic on local streets and made it to the next cache location. I had a gut feeling right away on where the cache was hidden, but since we had two new folks along who had never seen this type before, I kept my mouth shut for a good 15 minutes. There was a lot of climbing things (on their part) before one of them became wise to where I was standing and finally got curious enough to locate the cache. It was the first lamppost cache for both.

Next, we walked a ways to an interesting haunt. By this time, it was quite dark, so when we stepped of the main walkway into the trees, it was fortunate that we had some bright flashlights with us. Dhawal, Jad, and I hunted around for some time before we found a rather large homemade container handing at eye level. Signed and put it back, and moved on to the next cache.

For the last cache, we walked some ways to very close to where we started out. This cache was the second lamppost of the night, and it was found much more quickly than the first. After finding it, we saw that there was no way to get back to the work office without walking into traffic, so we made a rather long hike of it back to the office.

The (interesting) caches on this trip:
Tightrope
Hanging Out Beyond The Grave With Msdar