Geocaching is a new word for my kiddos and today ‘s the day we introduce them to how much fun that word can be!
We work hard all week and want to play on the weekends. Finding something we all enjoy can be tough as everyone has different hobbies and interests. My brother-in-law lives in California and a few years back started sharing his family’s passion for Geocaching. My husband thought it might be cool, but our youngest were too young to gallop through the desert and mountains. They’re older now, and geocaching has evolved.
Li’l Man was the most excited when we told him we were going to be hunting for treasure. His eyes lit up, and he had big dreams and some great ideas on where we could start; after all, Grandpa has filled his head with all sorts of legends about gold in the salt flats, not far from our home!
Geomate Jr. is a GPS unit designed for geocaching, and it’s the perfect size for children like Li’l Man.
The GeoMate Jr.
Think of Geocaching as an outdoor scavenger hunt. The object is to try to locate hidden containers using a GPS device. The treasure can be hidden anywhere, inside poles, under a bench, hanging from a tree. They are never buried and can be as small as a thumbnail or larger.
With this information, Li’l Man suited up for the January cold, and with GeoMate Jr. in hand, we determined to go that instant!
Li’l Man and GeoMate Jr.
The actual device comes pre-loaded with over 250,000 geocache locations all over the country and once you set “home” it will direct you to the nearest geocache having you following the arrows and seeing the distance meters. It allows you to see the difficulty of the find and the size of the treasure.
We set our GeoMate Jr. to “home,” and it displayed a geocache was within 1,217 feet of our home. The excitement turned to a frenzy as Li’l Man and sisters headed down the road.
1,217 feet to the geocache!
We tried to find the Booze, Bowling and BBQ cache, however, it was a lesson learned in that sometimes Geocaches are not replaced or discovered by someone they shouldn’t have been. We continue to check the location.
While the kiddos were disappointed. Dad and I told them that Suburban Geocaching might be more of a challenge, so we planned an adventure in the West Desert. We searched the house for something our family could leave, should we discover a geocache. The kiddos decided on a Garnet and several Topaz crystals they found at Topaz Mountain. We put them in a container and included a note.
Out in the West Desert, we followed the GeoMate Jr., and in a geocache named, “Numero Uno,” we scored our first find! The kiddos were over the top in excitement!
Our first geocache find
The kiddos had a blast reading the log and leaving our own family’s signature!
geocaching log
The kiddos suddenly had a geocaching fever. We kept our search and found another geocache named “The Willows.” It was trickier because the first was a small magnet and this one was in a much larger area. They followed the clues and on the second walk around spotted this:
A hidden geocache
This one was tons of fun. Inside there were all kinds of calling cards, tokens, trinkets, and fun! We took our time and selected an item, and left our topaz and garnet.
My husband loved the fun as much as the kiddos. And trust me; sometimes he’s the most difficult to please!
We found the geocache motherload!
Geocaching has since been our weekend outing several times. The kiddos are even practicing hiding geocaches in our backyard and attempting to find them using coordinates! It’s great exercise and can be enjoyed by everyone!
The GeoMate Jr. retails for $69.99. Pick up yours today from major outdoor retailers like REI, and Gander Mountain, as well as Target, Amazon.com, and Geocaching.com.
You can learn more about geocaching and other search sites by zipcode at www.geocaching.com
For more information about the Geomate.Jr, including demo videos, please visit www.mygeomate.com. Follow on Twitter and Facebook.
Enjoy family time!
*I received a GeoMate Jr. to facilitate an honest review. The opinions, where expressed, are my own and were in no way influenced by the sponsor. Others experiences may vary.