~ What is geocaching? ~

What is geocaching you ask?!?! I personally like to call it a worldwide hide and seek!  All you need is GPS (not the handheld, I hate those, unless you are on a hiking path which you will need a handheld), a pen, and be wanting to have an adventure.  Of course you need a car too.. but most people have those.

There are literally TONS out there!  This is great for kids too because sometimes there are "trackables" in the containers in which you can replace in another cache. And sometimes they containers are big enough where people leave items (GI Joe's, Matchbox Cars, toys, etc).

So, create a log in.
Highlight play, then hide and seek a cache.
From there you can search by address, zip code, coordinates, cache code, etc.  I like to search by address, then change the filter to 20 miles. Then your results come up on a listing.  I like to view them on a map so I can see what routes they are on.  I then look at the last time they were found, just so I'm not wasting my time, then I print the cache.  I usually don't print any of the logs because there is an app you can get for your phone that you can pull up and look at them if needed, which you sometimes will have to do.

I did a few the other day with a couple that got me into caching, like 5 years ago!  The 1st one of the day was Pooparazzi!  Below you will see a run down of what the website will look like.  When you log the cache, you will be using that cache code to search for it.
 

We plugged in the coordinates (I find the Garmin easy to use). And we are on our way.

Once you "arrive at your destination" you will look over the description before you set out to look for it.  Make sure you pay attention if it's magnetic... because that kinda helps what you look for.

This one was pretty simple to find.  We were asked to take a picture with the prop, which was poop. Get it.. Pooparazzi? The so called poop was a little run down, it needed to actually be replaced.  When you find the cache there will be something that you will sign and date.

The cache was under this "poop" which was actually like styrofoam.

Here is my pic I was told to take, although I did not upload it to my log. :)

Some are easy.
Some are a quick grab.
Some you have to be very stealth because people get curious and go look at the cache after you and some are rude and take it.
Some you will meet other geocachers.
Some will bring you to places you didn't know exist.  For instance these....

I personally don't log when I don't find a cache, because I hope to go back out and look for it again.  If it needs maintenance, I will log that. After we find the cache, I write found on my paper then go onto the next cache.  When I return home, I then log all my caches and if one was pretty interesting, I write about it on the log.  Other than that, it's a simple TFTC (Thanks for the cache).

Once you get the hang of it... hide some of your own!  I currently have 3 out there!