NEW to Geocaching!

WGA Friend Joined: Mar 19, 2011 Posts: 1

Hey everybody! Nikkie here, our family is going to be starting geocaching as soon as the weather is better here in Door County. I have an 8 year old son who is a cub scout and a 2 year old daughter. We will be homeschooling in the fall and will be using this as an "excuse" to get the kids out in nature and study some local history and science! Any advice would be great... we are about as new as they come!!!!

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:30 am

Greetings and welcome! You will find the members around are super helpful and friendly.

My wife is from Door County, graduated from Sturgeon Bay High School class of 97' (i think i got the year right for her....) and her sister in 94', and their whole family is rooted in Sturgeon Bay. The Larsons. She will be happy to see another Door County member out here. I stole her and moved her south though. Smile

but we still go up all the time, we cant wait to tackle the caches up there. We cache with our 2 year old daughter as well. Makes for a challenge at times, but she loves it.

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:47 am

You will find that a lot of caches take you to places that youcan use to teach about local history. Lok for Earth caches to teach about geography. I haven't done any caches in Door County ... yet.

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:11 pm

Greetings from across the Bay Very Happy

If you need any help or have any questions, just give a yell...make it a loud one though...you'll be yelling into the wind Laughing

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:54 pm

Welcome to Door County! I'm a geocacher who resides on Washington Island in D.C. Lots of great caches in the county, many with wonderful views and histories. Send a message if you're ever looking for a "special" cache to search for. I've scored the majority of the D.C. caches and might be able to give you a suggestion.

To Start, one in each category:

Great Earthcache with fun youth links: Dolostone Fossil Formation, GC1YH3Y
Fun Multi with great views: Canal Works, GC1ECXA
Virtrual with good trails: The Ephraim Wetlands Preserve, GC65A8
Kid Friendly Traditional: Mr. Sandman, GC14E7Q
Challenging Puzzle for the adults: The Lost Petroglyph, GC1MB43

There are many others with walks along the bluffs that are wonderful but you need caution with children.

Welcome Again,
Northwoods Tom

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 1:55 pm

Welcome to the WGA! Caching is a great way to get children involved in the outdoors, especially starting young. Keep the caching short at least until they can take longer stretches. Lots of earthcaches and historical ones, and as they get older, many puzzles with great learning content. Also cemetery caches are a nice way to learn about local history and veterans. (Read the cache pages, don't just load the coordinates.) Some scouting groups have done geocaching. There may even be a badge or patch, and some dens/packs may have caches--someone else with the actual facts can comment on that. And have fun!!!

Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 2:49 pm

Hey Nikkie! You guys will have to come visit us in Madison and we'll give you a tour around the area caches. Call it a field trip since I'm home with the boys all day. Very Happy

Everyone here is super friendly and helpful and like I mentioned, check out local events because it will let you get to know cachers in your area.

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 9:02 am

Welcome to grocaching and to the WGA!

Dood county is a great place to cache. I'm a bit biased because my fam is from Sturgeon Bay, but still, the door is my fav area of the state.

My best advice caching with young children, is to keep them interested, by finding caches such as ammo cans. These usually contain items for the kids to trade, and are generally easier finds. Small children may lose interest when seeking micros. But if your children are like my son, they may find those the most interesting.

Have fun with caching!

Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:13 am

Dood County?

Welcome to the game! Feel free to stop in any time to ask questions or just join in a conversation.