Camping Cache: Rusk

 

Found:

PCS #86 - Cedar Hill

Steps to the Past

Perkins Place

Believe It or Not!

Camping Cache: Brazos Bend State Park

Found:

A Great Day Outdoors #3

A Great Day Outdoors #2

It's not that we DNF, it's that there was no Great Day Outdoors #1 ... :-(

Camping Cache: Abilene State Park and Buffalo Gap

 

Found:

Can you See me Now?

Nite Time on Elm Creek Trail

TGT: Buffalo Gap

This trip included our first night cache - and it was really neat!  Nite Time on Elm Creek Trail starts at the the parking lot of the Elm Creek Trail in Abilene State Park. From there, wait for nightfall and grab your flashlights.  As you start down the trail, you're watching for small round white reflective dots - that during the day, you likely wouldn't even notice!

So, with our favorite flashlights in hand, we took off for an owl prowl with a prize at the end!

We did meet a furry friend along the way.... I think he was "deer in the headlights" frozen mid-bite!

We continued on, looking for the small white reflective dots, on limbs, on guardrails, tree trunks, and wooden steps...

Until we finally came along to an orange reflector (signifying not to continue further down the trail, and several white reflectors all on one tree.

And there it was! (Have I mentioned, I love ammo can sized caches?! Sooo much easier to find, especially at night!). 

And I'll be the first to admit, I was pretty excited to bring home a token of our first night cache - THOR! Seeing that we began to feel the drops of rain from the thunderstorm in the distance with its lightening strikes, it was only appropriate that he come home with us!

We'll definitely keep our eyes open on future trips for other nite caches - the added element of the reflectors and mystery of wondering what creatures you might meet along the way were an added part of enjoying this sport!

Camping Cache: Dreher Lake State Park, Prosperity, SC

Found:

Stuck in Between the Rocks

Cabin Fever

Burn Baby Burn

DNF: 

Acrophobia

We did a bit of "clean up" in a few of these caches - someone had left matches (yikes!) and random paper trash in one of them. I always try and make it a point to leave something of higher value, even if we don't take anything with us; though lately, I've enjoyed finding stickers in these treasure chests.  

Since it was our first hike/geocache of the year, I wanted to drop off a FTF treasure for the next geocacher to find, so we dropped a collectible coin trackable and keychain.  We'll see how long it lasts out in the wild and how far the keychain  goes this year!

One cache had a kids board book, and it was too cute to leave behind - I figured I'd hang on to it in the camper and drop it off at the next Little Free Library I came across.  Well, it didn't stay with us long - there was a LFL in this park, so it got re-homed right there!

I think he's enjoying his new home with a view much better!

Camping Cache: Pittsboro, NC

Found:

Stow-away

Hwy 64 Pit Stop

Stop & Grab - Sugar Lake

Did Not Find:

Columbidae

Balboa

RDB and I had a great time introducing JN and the kids to Geocaching while we were in town.  I'll say this - they were all great sports, as the first two we tried to find, thinking it would be an easy set along the riverbank, well, they weren't easy at. all.  The trail had washed out right beside the parking lot (that should have been our first clue) and with the fallen leaves, obvious water line from recent rains, and the GPS having issues since we were down in a ravine, well, those were definite DNFs. I was super proud of Sis though, for forging thru and taking those leaps of faith from rock to rock over the waters!

We quickly switched gears and found a few quick park and grabs to show the kids what it really felt like to find a cache.  Needless to say, I think they're hooked now!

We also released two trackables into the wide - one for T and one for C - to commemorate their first finds!

C's Trackable

T's Trackable

Camping Cache: Mother Neff State Park

 Found:

CCC Company 817 Flag Pole Site

Bubba's Bird Blind

Neff-R-T-T

TXGCC13 Mother Neff I

This trip included our 50th find! So I wanted to commemorate it with a few items.  First, a Milestone set - one with a trackable keychain that we released into the cache and a beautiful matching coin that I've hung on the wall of the camper:

We also sent off a Signal the Frog holiday post card coin and a holly berry key chain - both trackables.  Though sometimes we don't take anything, it's always fun to trade for items in the caches and we enjoy leaving high-value things like the coins and trackables.  It funny though, what things you'd consider high value - one of the last caches we found had a young kids drawing:

And, I was super excited to trade off the post card coin for a Smokey the Bear sticker! (I guess I'm a bit of a kid at heart!)

Camping Cache: Groesbeck, TX

 

Found:
The Verdict is In!
That's what I USED to like about Texas

Camping Cache - Cooper Lake State Park

Found:

Bird's Eye View

Keep on the Sunny Side

Cooper Kids Can Cache

Hunting for "Bison"

DNF:

The Heart of Paris

Sweet Spot

(We're really loving the ammo can caches in this park!)

Camping Cache - Martin Creek State Park

 

Found:
Island Walkabout
Evil Tree
Henderson-Sherevport

It was great to get to introduce Sis & TJ to the fun of geocaching on our first camping trip together out in East Texas.  I don't think any of us expected to walk 5 miles trying to get just these three, but it was an adventure and fun!

Camping Cache - Wills Point, TX

 

Found:

LTSP - Arachnophobia

LTSP - Not 'nother Sunday Picnic

Did Not Find:

Stained Glass Windows

Camping Cache - Woodville, TX

 

Found:

Histree

Wally's home Woodville 

 

Camping Cache - Huntsville State Park

Found:

Tribute to Courage

28th Anniversary

TxGCC13 Huntsville I

Y-Wolverines

But this guy found the TxGCC13 Huntsville  

one first, so needless to say, we left it alone!  

Camping Cache - Fairfield Lake State Park

Found:

Cooks on the Ferry

Dropped off a trackable Smokey the Bear - the park is under burn ban, and several others (Bastrop, Buescher) are currently closed due to this year's forest fires.  Here's to hoping this traveling Smokey can help spread the message: only YOU can prevent forest fires!

Camping Cache - Steven F Austin State Park

Found:

Beagle Scout Troop 89

Amp it Up

Dropped off our new blog pencils.  

Picked up several tiny ticks.  NOT a fair trade!!

Camping Cache - Lockhart, TX

Found:

Lockhart Loot

TxGCC Lockhart

Old Windmill View

Camping Cache - Blanco, TX

In honor of R(m)B's first cache, we dropped off a trackable!

RDB and I have really enjoyed out Caching adventures, and had the chance to introduce R(m)B to the sport during our trip to Blanco State Park.  There are a number of them, all within walking distance, inside the park - and it was a blast to get to find them this time with friends!

 Found:

TxGCC13 Blanco

Spring Break 14

Birds & Bath

Cool Cache Ever!! "Birds & Bath" It was a log in a log behind a log!

Camping Cache - Rusk, TX

Probably my favorite photo ever - thanks, RDB! Butler Park Geocache

PCS #105

Geocaching out in Rusk, TX this past weekend, we were introduced to the tiniest container ever.  It was magnetic, so it was hidden exceptionally well (we had to look at the hint to find it). Just for reference, that's a standard size ball point pen in the picture.  I mean, we're talking tiny.

Found:

Slow Children Series #4

PCS #63

PCS #105

Butler Park

Trackable: ThinkPink!

Camping Cache - Bastrop, TX

Bastrop State Park Geocache

Found:

TxGCC13 Bastrop

The Cedar at Mayfest

Tribute #2 Cache: American Legion

Tribute #3 Cache: The Tea Series

Transplants

DNF:

Tribute #1 Cache: Caja Roja

A Treasure in the Pines

Modern Day Treasure Hunting

RDB and I started a new adventure this past weekend at Goliad State Park: Geocaching.

It's a modern day treasure hunt - using GPS technology we can find little treasure boxes that other geocachers have left behind.  There are more than 2.5 million caches worldwide (we were happy with the 7 we found this weekend). Check out the official Geocaching website for more details - and to start playing!

TPWD sponsors Geocaching in the State Parks, where they have hidden ammo boxes in 90 of our State Parks, and I knew that Goliad was a participating park.  So, after downloading the Geocaching.com's app to RDB's phone Sunday morning, we went off on our first geo-caching adventure!

***SPOILER ALERT: If you're a geocacher and don't want the surprise of these finds to be spoiled, stop reading now! I'm posting details and photos of our finds!***

The Geo-caching App is really stellar and super easy to use - simply hit the "Find Caches Near Me" button and it will load 20 of the nearest caches to your location.  Read the description in the cache, determine what size it is (they go from ammo box large to key chain small).  The TPWD caches are all in ammo boxes - which helps us newbies to the sport.

The compass in the App will show you if you're walking in the right direction, and will also tell you how many miles/feet you have left to get to your cache.  Once you're within about 16ft (that's the accuracy of the iPhone) you have to start using your treasure hunting skills. I'll be honest - RDB is *much* better at this than me! 

Even though RDB tends to find them before I do, I still get pretty excited! There's a  sense of accomplishment when you realize you've found it.  The TPWD ammo box was hidden under a number of sticks - I had walked past it about 4 times as I tried to search out in the undergrowth for the cache.  

After this first one (which we walked to while breakfast was cooking - love my rice cooker!) we were hooked!  Goliad SP's check out isn't until 2pm, so we knew we had a bit more time than usual to play around Sunday morning.  A quick check of the Geocaching App showed several more caches in a very near radius.  We jumped in the truck and took off.

The first few were in a series that took us back near Fort Defiance and the outlying cemeteries.  It was amazing to see tombstones as old as 1916!  Discovering the nearby surroundings is one of the main attractions for Geocachers - you can have someone you've never met introduce you to some pretty cool stuff by hiding a cache where they want  you to go.

We were able to get 6 while camping this weekend.  The last one of the day was a bit tricky (Once again it was in a cemetery.  And once again, it was RDB who found it!)  Some of the caches - like the TPWD one - have loot, or swag, inside that you can trade for.  Fun stuff like collectors cards and bracelets, coins and stickers.  We left our blog card in that one.  Other caches are so small they only contain the log paper to sign to show that you've found it (the App also lets you log online that you've found the cache).  The last cache of the day was about the width of a soda bottle cap and about 6 inches long.  It had one of the neatest swag items I think we'll ever see...

"You've found Jack Squat.  Nothing Nada Nil Zip Zero Zilch."  Now that's my kinda humor! ;-)

RDB and I are both very excited about this new aspect to our camping trips - we love the thought of having destinations to explore around the camp grounds we stay at - as well as another reason to get out and walk around when the weather is beautiful (which it certainly was this weekend).

So, if you see a couple crazy people walking around a cemetery or the woods, looking like they're lost with a phone in their hands - know that they're not lost: they're just playing a hi-tech game of hide-and-seek.