Went on my first Geocaching trip last week. Geocaching is a relatively new "game" that involves the use of a GPS to find hidden "treasure". Sometimes it is just a little key magnet that holds a tiny piece of paper where you record your find. Other times, it is a plastic container filled with items left by others. Kim Williams, a travel writer with the Arkansas Department of Tourism is an avid geocacher; in fact, she is responsible for planing most of the caches found along stretches of the Great River Road in Arkansas. She was determined to teach me how to geocache.
We set out to Village Creek State Park located on Crowley's Ridge just outside of Wynne, AR. There isn't much, if any, Internet and phone signal in the park so geocaching was a bit tricky. I found out that you have to download the coordinates (or write them down) for the caches you are planning on finding before you go into an area with no Internet signal. The caches we were in search of had hints which really helped. We entered in the coordinated to the GPS, selected "off-road", and away I went.
The first cache was easy to find and was a level one which means it was handicap accessible. The case on the cache was clamped tight and I wasn't able to write anything on the log. It was OK, though, because I know I found it. The second cache was a little more difficult. There was a lot of tree cover, and, again, not a great signal. I found it, but the GPS kept telling me it was 25 feet away.
If you haven't geocached, you really need to try it. Caches are planted all over the world; however I'd like to invite you to Arkansas. Arkansas has plenty of caches to keep you busy for a long time! I have a lot more to find and I hope to get my kids involved in the hunt. It is a great way to spend time together and introduces you to areas that you might otherwise not visit.
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