geocaching

Geocaching. It’s our family’s newest obsession, and wow is it fun!  Why have we not tried this before?! And no, I’m not talking about going out and finding imaginary (and rather creepy) little yellow creatures on the neighbor’s front stoop. I’m talking about a scavenger hunt for adventurers of ALL ages! And within Austin, there are over 1,300 fun finds to be had.  

Geocaching is by definition (per the Google machine), ‘The recreational activity of hunting for and finding a hidden object by means of GPS coordinates posted on a website.’  But to this mama, it is so much more.  It’s getting the kiddos off their tushes, out into the fresh (and often oh so hot) air, venturing to places often untouched, and learning about nature and navigation. Some of the ‘caches’ contain just a log book (it is cool to see how far back the log book goes), whereas some contain super cute trinkets for the kiddos to exchange. The rule is: ‘Exchange even or exchange up,’ so please don’t put a dud rock in place of a unique coin purse per se.

How might one go about exploring some geocaching sites?  Well, all you need is to log onto the geocaching website, create a free account (there is an upgrade option that may be worth paying for if you’re going to make this a regular occurrence like we plan to), put in the area in which you’d like to begin your adventures, and then begin treasure trolling.  I recommend carrying not only a GPS device with you at all times, but also a pen (to sign the log books) and a few fun trinkets to leave behind for future finders.  

Loren McEllin
Lo is the Founder + Chief Innovation Officer of Trotting with Tots, a local stroller-toting mama tribe. When not scoping out new trails and neighborhoods to explore with the running group, she spends her time cooking up random vegan concoctions, inflicting pain on friends with her waxing skills, putzing around on her Cricut machine, inventing some new house project for her husband, and/or drinking wine while watching the latest episode of Intervention. Lo is married to her very own Magic Mike, whom she met on an airplane, and is lackey Mom to two munchkins (Gage + Gemma), and an allergy-ridden pup (Killian). She loves the color yellow, the sound of high heels on asphalt and gargantuan wind chimes.

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