One of These is Not Like the Other

We went on a little road trip last week to Missouri. 

Traveling in the middle of our country.

People asked us where we are from, and that story is a bit complicated, (I make it complicated) because we live in Illinois.... but I'm from Wisconsin and Jeff is from Indiana.  I'm not sure anymore what my kids say.  But currently, they are both living and working in Missouri.

For our summer vacation we went to see them and be total tourists.  I like that!

 

One of our first stops for a picnic lunch was in Lincoln, Illinois.  We got off the interstate and wanted to find a park to enjoy a quiet lunch.  This beautiful huge tree was our chaperone. 

 

I'm talking HUGE! 

 

It was well over 100 years old..... after lunch we went Geocaching at a nearby cemetery.  It is awe inspiring to read the gravestones and know that amazing lives ended 106 years ago in that very spot!

 

 

Once you leave the quiet country side and get moving onto your next destination, zooming by masses of engineered steel at 80 miles an hour.  It too is an amazing site to see!  How does one design and engineer a bridge that goes over water, stands up through severe mother nature, yet holds cars and still looks beautiful?

 

And then to end up at the peak of Missouri Wine Country and look out miles and miles and see beautiful blue skies and lush green foliage and a quaint little town. Hard to believe 80 some years ago, everything was topsy turvey with prohibition and this winery became a mushroom farm!

 

Finally, a beautiful HOT morning for a walk on the Katy Trail, just down the road from Maggie's B&B in Hermann, Missouri.  The Katy Trail runs largely along the northern bank of the Missouri River, it is the country's longest Rails-to-Trails trail.

 

Stay tuned to another post about our Road Trip through Missouri.

Cache-ing on the Prairie

I am so happy to post about SPRING!

No more lamenting about our long, and cold, and snowy Illinois winter.

Spring is here and the last few days have been gorgeous!!!!

So, before the bugs come and eat us alive, we got to do some geocaching.

If you are new to my blog, welcome (where have you been?)!!!!  And if you are a friend, you have often read about our adventures in geocaching.

 

A few years ago, before we became empty nesters .... we (my husband Jeff and I) knew that we wanted to find some more things we could do together.  We both like to walk and enjoy the outdoors and we both like a little adventure.  Shortly after our proclamation, we read an article about geocaching and decided we could combine the two activities and there was a name for it!

 

Geocaching: is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.

 

It was a perfect weekend to go for a walk or two.  And we discovered that our very own city is celebrating 100 years.  And with that celebration, a special geocache series was set up around historical sites in our town.  Twelve caches were hidden with a series of clues.  This weekend we discovered 10 of them.  If you find all twelve and submit the answers to the clues and are one of the first 250 participants, you receive a special coin commemorating the anniversary.

 

The coin is not really our goal.... it's the hunt of the find and the 'fun' we have doing this activity together.

 

Can you find the 'cache' in the above tree????  This park is less than 2 miles from our home.  I do have to give Illinois credit.... despite the high taxes (and other issues) they do have some very beautiful and well maintained parks.

 

Here is a closer view. 

 

The very clever person who put this cache and clues together did a great job of camouflage. 

 

From a distance you would have thought that it was part of the tree trunk.  Upon closer inspection you might have thought it was a wasp nest or something similar.  And then when you get even closer, you really see the art of glued pine cones and bark around a tube that is holding a container with SWAG in it and a log book.  We were about the 80th person to sign this particular log book.

 

And then, we moved on to the next set of coordinates and another puzzle to figure out.

 

All in all on Sunday, we found 10 caches around our city.  All were as clever or more than the previous.  It got us out of the house.  We enjoyed some beautiful weather and we had to work as a team figuring out which way was north!!!! 

 

Kudos to our city, turning 100 ... and having some awesome people out there somewhere.... who like to set up some pretty great puzzles!!!!

 

What did you do over the weekend??

Happy Memorial Day

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain

Jeff and I took a picnic lunch and we went for a treasure hunt on a beautiful and gorgeous sunny day.  Our geocache took us to the Union Cemetery here in Crystal Lake. We've been to this local cemetery a few times looking for *'cache'.  Each time I come here I just seem to take it all in and calm my soul for a bit.  There is so much history in our own back yard.  (I mean the town we live in.) 

This cemetery is even more special on a sunny day when the entrance drive is lined with American flags.

 

Thanks to all the men and women who serve(d) in our armed forces. 

 

They truly make this the land of the free and the home of the brave.

 

*geocaching:  is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.

A Walk in the Park

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike." ~ John Muir

From week to week, I never know where my blog will take me.

I have ideas how I want to highlight LIFE'S simple pleasures, but I never really know what I'm going to write about until Monday morning. I thought maybe I was more of a planner, but I think I enjoy 'finding' something that happens to come my way. And then, go from there.

Week #29 LIFE'S simple pleasures - parks

A few years ago when my husband and I realized that our path in LIFE was taking us on a new journey, the dreaded empty nest, we decided that we needed to find more things, not necessarily to fill the emptiness of the loss of day to day hands on parenting, but to search out different ways to discover what our LIFE had to offer us in our next stage.

One thing we thought about was hiking. Easy to do and virtually FREE.

I know I've written about this before (many times in many different forms).  Ironically, shortly after we made our declaration, we saw lots of different articles and stories about hiking in your own neighborhood, hiking in local parks and hiking & geocaching.  We decided that this was a sign that maybe we were on the right path. *wink

Living in the flatlands of Illinois, we knew that we weren't going to be climbing rocky or smokey mountains, we weren't going to be trekking the hot dessert wastelands and we knew unless we went on vacation somewhere out of the state, we wouldn't be hiking fo national treasures in parks.

But we did find out that there are over 25,021 acres of protected preserves in our county alone.  There are over 32 nature parks, with 17 dedicated conservation districts within a half an hour of our home.

And so, we have been visiting local parks and district conservation parks and state nature preserves.  A park is an open space providing recreational use and protection of wild life or natural habitats.

 

Parks have a sentimental value for us.  As long as my husband and I have been together, we have enjoyed going to the park, any park.  And through the years we have established a yearly fall family photo shoot of how we have all grown and changed throughout the year.  Parks have been a great backdrop to record the event.

 

Here is our little family 19 years ago.  Sweet!

 

We forget that life consists of small everyday experiences and it is what the happiness is made of. A walk in the park, a smile of your baby, a beautiful sunrise, unexpected compliment from a stranger...Those are the moments that count most. ~ Sumesh Nair

I Know Where you HIDE your Cache

It's easy once you know where to look!

FOUND IT! 

That tiny phrase is one of sweetness to a geocacher's ears. 

I hope this week I intrigued you a bit about our newest hobby, Geocaching!

 

If you haven't been following along every day this week, just scroll down and see what

Week #18 - LIFE'S simple pleasures - Geocaching is all about.

 

Although we've done it for only a short time, I stumbled upon a forum of Geocaching quotes that all made sense to me. You will find them scattered through this post and italicized.

 

I took the hard way in and the easy way out!

 

This one pictured above with the hubster is a DNF... did not find.  We'll have to go back there and maybe with more knowledge we will find the hidden cache!  Could it be in the drainage culvert, or in a fake rock????

 

If it weren't for Geocaching we would never have found this wonderful place.

Squish, Squish, Squish.... lots of rain days before, made this field on the way to the cache (cash) very messy.  But look at all of the beautiful sunshine!!

 

To hide is the beginning

To find is the result

To seek is the adventure

We plan on doing more Geocaching this year.  And I will certainly take more pictures!!! And log my adventures!   Maybe we will hide our own first cache.  And we will probably continue saying to each other as we walk past the same tree stump for the umpteenth time...

Is it gone or am I terrible at this??

 

It will make our Sunday drives a little better when we can say... We're lost, but we're making good time!

 Source

That can't be it! 

 

And I say, yes it can, (some are) hidden in plain sight. That bolt on the metal fence post(in the above picture) is the actual micro cache. Someone manufactures things like that with screw in capsules and heavy magnets so they can be used specifically for Geocache hides.  Is that crazy or what?  Crazy fun, for sure!!!

 

It surely has made us look at our surroundings a bit differently.  We almost can't drive by a cemetery and say 'Hey, wouldn't that be a perfect spot to hide a cache?'

 

I use multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods.  What's your hobby?

 

Nooks & Grannies

Welcome to another addition of Adventures Hidden in Plain Sight! 

Today I will show you a few places we found some of our 75 CACHES.

Week # 18 - LIFE'S simple pleasures - Geocaching

Geocaching is a real world outdoor treasure hunt.  You start on-line using your computer or App on your smart phone to find out more clues where the cache is hidden.  The Geocaching site gives you all the information you need to start, especially the longitude and latitude and a map of where you need to go.   Using a GPS or Global Positioning System you actually find the location and hunt for the cache.  But sometimes the GPS is off a bit, or the cache has been moved, or it's hidden in plain sight and you can't see it!

For viewing purposes, some of these CACHES have been pulled out from their hiding place so that I could get a good picture.  If you were walking along the trail nearby and didn't know something was hidden under this fallen tree... you wouldn't have known it was there. Another log was covering the open space.

Here is another one hidden in a log. It fits just perfect!

Here is a large metal ammo container.  It was sitting next to a log and twigs and rocks and leaves were covering it. See how it just blends in?  We actually had to climb down a pretty steep incline to get to GZ, but that's part of the fun!

So, are you catching on to what we are searching for when we are in the middle of the woods? See this one in the squirrel hole???

Our GPS will take us close to GZ (Ground Zero), but we still have to do a bit of searching.  And you often need to think like the one who is hiding the cache.  We can get real close to a site and then just start looking for a hole in a tree stump, or a pile of rocks or twigs that look unnaturally stacked, or hooked with a wire hanger off a branch.  No real digging is required.  As I've said before, it is often hidden in plain sight.  These CACHE finds are the ones most commonly hid on trails and walking paths in the woods. 

There are all kinds of other caches hidden inside fake rocks, hidden in a pill case hanging from a tree branch, made to look like a mouse, a pine cone, magnetized to look like a bolt on a fence or sign post.... the hiding CACHERS' imagination is endless!!!!

Here, my mom (Grannie, ha ha) came with us to find this cache nearby her home in Wisconsin.  It shows you the nook we found this one in.  It's the same as the closeup picture above.

 

Are you having fun yet?  We sometimes leave a CACHE site without a FIND.  Other days we are 10 for 10 in the search.  We've discovered CACHING in the early spring and fall is a good time to go... no bugs yet!  But that's a whole 'nother story!

Million Dollar Hobby

I use multi-million dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods. 

What's your hobby?

You don't need a lot of things to go GEOCACHING, real world outdoor treasure hunting, but once you get hooked.... you can't help but obtain tools that make the event even more fun. 

We purchased the Premium Membership and an IPhone application for about $45 dollars.  That breaks down to about 0.12c a day... well, not including gas, then maybe a lunch or two while we're out hiking and then if had to figure in the cost of my IPhone and servicing etc... forget about all of that... any hobby that gets you outdoors and exploring is worth the time and money.

Week #18 LIFE'S simple pleasures - Geocaching

My husband and I started this new Hobby almost two years ago.  We thought that we would take basic walking around our neighborhood with the dogs, to the next level.  We now use satellite technology to direct us to the CACHE (container) at GROUND ZERO (the site that it is hidden).

I wont put out too many spoilers, I don't want to ruin the fun if somehow I've intrigued you to start Geocaching.  But the picture above equals frustration.  That's all I'm saying about that.

A typical P&G PARK and Grab can be easily found near convenient parking.  Thus the name.  You don't have to walk through the woods or along a steep path to find this cache. Some cachers like these type of hides because you can increase your number of FINDS quickly, but I honestly like the walks on park paths into the woods, bushwhacking (cut or push one's way in a specified direction through dense vegetation) along the way.

For us the challenge is to make it to GZ (ground zero) and actually find the container.  For others (especially those who Geocache with small children) if they find a little SWAG at the end, the treasure hunt was worth it!

There are some very clever Geocachers out there.  I couldn't help but take one of these cute guys.  SWAG.... stuff we all get (trade stuff, trinkets or treasures).  He was in an ammo box under a beautiful wooden deck perched out into one of the conservation parks water ways (pretty much like a swamp).  We were encouraged to enjoy the wildlife.  It was a beautiful day!!!

This guy we found in a ziploc bag in the ammo canister in the middle of the woods, in a hole, in a huge tree.  I couldn't resist the cute colors.  (He was pretty stinky though).

Depending on the size of the CACHE container you will find all kinds of things.  Because we are smack dab in the middle of nature they ask you not to leave anything persihable that would attract the varmints.  We have seen things like American Flags, funky pens, magnets, McD happy meal toys... you name it... I'm sure some kid would LOVE to have it.  I'm starting to put together my SWAG stash so I have some goodies to leave behind on some of our next adventures.

This is a TRAVEL BUG, an official GEOCACHING trackable metal dog tag.  There are some codes engraved on the back side.  I'm still pretty new to this type of find.  Not even sure if I should have taken it with me.  But, I'm doing research on this one.  If it's trackable... they want the bug to travel from cache to cache hoping that it will move along to different locations.  Then the owners can see where it's traveled to!  More research on that.... but heck, you can't know everything!

You are never asked to do anything illegal.  You need to keep on the posted trails and not trespass and they kindly ask that if you see trash pick it up and take it out with you. A little critical thinking in decrypting a clue never hurt anyone.  Geocache hiders have distinct personalities, our job is to try and figure out what they may have been thinking when they hid the cache.

Geocaching is an Adventure Hidden in Plain Sight.

No MUGGLERS at GZ

It has it's own language. 

You better BYOP or you wont be able to sign the log sheet.  Once you have the coordinates you should be able to find the cache at GROUND ZERO.    Watch for MUGGLERS, they are often harmless, but they are non-geocachers.  After logging a FOUND I will type in TFTH.  We have a few interesting bits of SWAG that I will show in another post. On a PnG, STEALTH is required if you are in a highly populated area.

Did you catch any of that???

Week # 18 - LIFE'S simple pleasures - Geocaching

 

 

Geocaching certainly has it's history and it's own language.  First of all, one question we get and we've read about... "Can you only do it here in this city?"  It is a WORLD wide game of hiding and seeking treasure.  It's everywhere.... and you just don't know it!!!

 

Please note in the above picture I have BYOP.  Bring your on pen\cil.... once you find a cache it is custom to sign the log sheet included in the container.  Sometime a pen/cil wont fit.

 

The containers are of varying sizes, here are a few that we have found....

This is an ammo box.  Yes that's right!  An actual ammunition metal box that has clips and clasps that seal it shut so that nothing can get in that isn't supposed to.  Often inside of these large caches you will find the 'log' in a plastic bag that keeps the paper moisture free.  In these larger caches too, you will find SWAG, which are toys and trinkets that you can take if you replace it with an equal value item.  A FUN treasure hunt to bring the small kids along to help find!

Other than being an OFFICIAL GEOCACHE green container, I'm not sure if this size cache has a specific name.  But in the description to GZ - ground zero where the cache is SUPPOSED to be hidden, the hider will identify the size you are looking for.  This is considered a small sandwich size plastic Tupperware container.  You can only put tiny SWAG inside like: coins, buttons/pin, badges etc... and room for a LOG IN notebook and pen.  The OFFICIAL GEOCACHE site must sell these.  Often, we have seen a typical plastic container with camouflage tape wrapped around it!

This is a magnetized BISON TUBE...A micro-sized cache container, made of durable metal to hold small objects. Named for the primary manufacturer, Bison Designs. This one was wrapped with a heavy duty magnet and black electricians' tape.  We found it stuck inside the metal cart coral at a grocery store. 

On either side of our find that day were two gentlemen MUGGLERS.... probably waiting for their wives who were shopping.  A MUGGLER is a non-geocacher or according to Harry Potter, a non magical person.  These two men busily  playing on their Iphones briefly looked up to see us searching the shopping cart coral... but went back to their business at hand!

And then there are these great hides!  Canisters similar to the bison tube, it can be a pill bottle or other container that has a screw on cap, that is designed with a hanger.  It is camouflaged or taped up with green duct tape and it dangles on a branch un-seen by the non-geocacher eye!  Well, sometimes by our eyes as well.

 

We have FOUND 75 caches in 3 states so far!  (just to give you an idea, some locally near us, have over 3,000 finds) When I log it in on the computer I will type a comment, but mostly it will be TFTH.... thanks for the hide! You can leave other hints if you want too!  One comment on a FIND... I noted that I was too short to reach the cache!

 

And I must admit, there are about 20 or so that we've attempted to find... and no luck!  We might have to revisit a few spots now that we understand possibly what we are looking for... or what we are directly looking at and not seeing! There are even more containers like: bottle caps, buckets and cans.

 

STEALTH is required at all times.... we want to avoid detection... but we have stumbled upon a few others who are newbies like us... and they are out there having fun looking at their surroundings differently... enjoying the outdoors, using critical thinking and rediscovering the cities they live in... and they always love to chat!

 

Here is an article that I mentioned yesterday....if you want to read more...

http://www.crystallakeparks.org/parks-facilities/Nature-Center/Geocaching.htm

Tomorrow, more about PnG!

Found Any CACHE Lately?

There are some who can give you the exact date when they started. 

I would really have to search my memory banks to be that precise.  It was some time the summer of 2011. The year my first born was getting ready to go to college.  I can, however,  tell you exactly why we started.

In 2013 we will become full blown empty nesters!

Yikes, I forgot that it was a syndrome! 

Since a young adult moving out from his or her parents' house is generally a normal and healthy event, the symptoms of empty nest syndrome often go unrecognized. This can result in depression and a loss of purpose for parents, since the departure of their children from "the nest" leads to adjustments in parents' lives. Empty nest syndrome is especially common in full-time mothers.

Before I get all teary eyed and blubbery, again...I'm really writing about Geocaching.

Week # 18 - LIFE'S simple pleasures - Geocaching

My husband and I decided that since the kids were getting ready to fly the coop, we needed to find more things we could do together, just the two of us.  One thing we talked about was starting to hike.  Having two dogs that need to walk daily, we are used to the thought of walking, but we decided we wanted to make it more interesting while hiking outdoors. 

 

Somehow, somewhere.... we heard about Geocaching and thought it was the perfect activity for us!

Not long after that, our local newspaper had an article about Geocaching across our county through the conservations park district.  Everything seemed to fit!

What is it and why we're hooked.

 

Geocaching is a real world outdoor treasure hunt.  It's what happens when nerds go outdoors.  It is great fun and inexpensive entertainment that gets us outside.  It involves critical thinking and helps us to look at our surrounding differently. Once we got our first 'find'  it became the thrill of the hunt.  We were so amazed how many beautiful parks were in our county.

 

GEO - geography (EARTH)  CACHE (container ) pronounced like cash

Here's the hubster, at first we printed out all the details (coordinates and clues) thus the clipboard.

 

We used our car Garmin GPS (global positioning system) at first.  Then upgraded to an actual hand held GPS (looked like a walkie talkie). And now I have an application on my smart phone.

 

Last week I wrote about all things Earth.  In Week #18 I will continue with that topic, but change it up a bit, put twist on the twist....because there are is so much to write about.  Our EARTH has so much to offer us.

Instead of just taking a walk on this beautiful path before us, my husband and I are getting a chance to explore the next stage in our lives together!  Please join me and see where our adventures take us.

If you're NOT anonymous, please leave a comment.  And stay tuned this week to see what kind of hidden treasures we've discovered Geocaching!