Geocaching.

Brett and I seem to have stumbled upon a new hobby. For a while now we've heard various people talk about "geocaching" and how fun it is, and we finally decided to try it for ourselves.

If you're not familiar with geocaching, here's how it works. People hide "geocaches," which are a sort of modern version of treasure chest. They consist of some kind of container, varying in size from a film canister (or even smaller!) to an ammo box or tupperware container, a logbook, and potentially some sort of prize (often you are required to leave a prize after you chose one to take). The person placing the box records the coordinates via GPS. Those interested in hunting can do a search for geocaches near them via the website or handy iPhone app (highly recommend this one!)

Once you pick which cache you're going to find, you get as close as you are able with the GPS, and then the hunt is on. Geocaches are ranked from 1-5 based on difficulty and the type of terrain they're in. When you finally find the cache, you can log your find- either using a log in the cache or on-line. So far we've found caches in a variety of places, from cemeteries to busy streets.

So that's the gist. There are tons of variations on geocaching, abbreviations you should know to play, and basic rules to follow. To find out more, check out geocaching.com.

This weekend we spent a couple hours hunting, and ended up finding 7 geocaches, all near our home. I think you'll be amazed at how many of these little gems are out there- according to geocaching.com, there are almost a million placed around the world! All in all, geocaching is a great way to spend time with friends and family, enjoy the outdoors, and discover neat places.

Lucy got in on the geocaching fun this weekend!