[Crockett3663]

I keep my GPS right here next to me at the PC workstation. That way when I get in the mood to lookup more caches, all I have to do is reach over and hook it up to the tower to download caches.

The rest of my stuff is in my caching backpack. I’v got a first aid kit, a couple of multi tools, a swiss army knife, extra pencils and pens, a swag bag, and a few other items as well. The bag sits next to my dresser until I’m ready to hit the trail again.

[Crockett3663]

Being that THB has a 20 find lead on Zuma, I’ve got to give them the edge in reaching 10,000 first. I’ll say they’ll hit the mark on June 21st, to kick off summer in a big way!!

[Crockett3663]

I’ve got some vacation time coming up this summer, so I’m looking at taking my oldest son on a bit of a long weekend road trip and heading to another part of the state. Ideally I’d love to hit the northwest quadrant, but being that we live in the southeast, getting there and back can be an all day drive.

Based on what the responses I’ve read so far, I’m liking the idea of either the northeast or southwest. The northeast quadrant, to the west of the bay would be an area I’d love to hit. Places like Antigo, Eagle River, Three Lakes, etc. would be some areas I’d love to hit.

One more question though, and for anyone who lives up in that area PLEASE be honest and don’t laugh: do I need to worry about bears up in that area? If so, I’m not too crazy about taking my 10 yr old son into the woods if there are bears around.

thanks to everyone for the resposes so far. Keep ’em coming!!

[Crockett3663]

@Team Honeybunnies wrote:

KVR

KVR??? What is it and where is it??

[Crockett3663]

Well…unlike most of you folks, my family and I are still in the “just getting started” stage. To date we’ve logged 23 finds. One goal I want to achieve before the end of 2009 is getting to #100. I/we don’t get to cache as often as many of you do, so when we do get to go, we like to make a day of it. Hopefully we’ll get out a little more often this year and that goal of #100 won’t be too difficult to achieve.

Anyway…getting back to how this has changed me – In the short time I’ve been caching, I’ve come to appreciate my surroundings even moreso than I did before. Just since last summer, I’ve toured so many parks and woods that I always knew were there, but never bothered to explore. I’m quickly developing a deeper appreciation for this wonderful creation that God made called “Earth”, and I’m hoping to pass that appreciation along to both of my kids.

Also, like Handstand, I hope that this is making me a better father. Not that I’ve ever been a “bad dad” by any means. We’re pretty much a “normal” family. Wife and I are married, and we have our own kids, not “hers” and “mine”. We raise our kids together with a pretty equal partnership.

However, I will admit to previously being a little more “hands off”. That is, I never spent a lot of time playing with my kids or doing things with them. My wife always seemed to be the one who ended up doing that stuff, both from the their desire (momma’s boys) as well as mine (just too many other things I’d rather do).

I had been desperately searching for something that my oldest son and I could do together. Knowing that he was at an age (9) where boys love to search for “treasure”, I began reading about geocaching. It was like someone above shook me and said “here’s what you’ve been looking for”. Instantly I knew that regardless of how much it cost to get started, this is what I had to do to get closer to my son.

I bought a Garmin 60Cx from Cabela’s, and loaded up on all sorts of hiking gear. I did all of this without telling him, thinking that even if he showed no interest, it might be something I could do on my own. Imagine the thrilling feeling I had in my heart when I told him about this new hobby I wanted to try, and how I thought he’d enjoy it as well. Well, all he needed to hear was the word “treasure”, and he was hooked!! While this is mainly a hobby that just he and I can enjoy, my wife and our other little son (who’s not yet 5) have tagged along with us on a few occasions. I’m hoping that at the very least I can continue this hobby with him if/when my oldest son’s interest begins to wane or is replaced by cars and girls.

So in the end, like Handstand, I think this hobby has helped me become a better father, and there is no better feeling than that.

[Crockett3663]

Being that this will be only our 2nd year caching, I’m not going to set a lot of lofty goals for myself or our caching family. Right now we’re sitting at 23 finds, and have yet to place our first cache. My son and I are already planning our first cache placement. I’ve been thinking about it for sometime, and scouted out locations back in October. Hopefully we’ll be putting it together and placing it around April 1st.

As for finds, I’d like to get to #100 before the end of the year. I know for some people that seems like a pretty easy mark to hit, but when you understand that I/we don’t get out quite as often as so many of you do, you’ll see why I believe getting to 100 is quite a goal.

One thing I’m excited about is meeting and caching with others out there. I just found out last week that a new family has joined our church, and they are avid cachers. Also, they have a son who’s roughly the same age as my own, so I’m hoping to introduce myself and my son and suggest that we all go out together a few times this summer.

Other than that, just getting out for some excercise and seeing some different areas of the state sounds really appealing to me.

[Crockett3663]

Dear Santa,

I don’t need much for Christmas, either. There are only two things: a want to hit my 100 find milestone by the end of 2009, and PLEASE make one of them the elusive “Creekie Cache” GCQ8ZZ!! Please Santa…it’s the closest one to my house (you know where I live, right? You come down my chimney every year) and I’ve looked for it three times with no luck. I won’t rest until I find it!!

[Crockett3663]

I voted “Yes”. They are a low priority at the moment. We usually go out caching in a pair (my son and I) or as a family (mom and little guy joins us). Caching with kids can become more of an adventure than those without kids might think. You have to keep them interested, take breaks for lunch and snacks, bathroom stops, etc.

I can’t speak for everyone’s kids, but as far as mine are concerned, their patience can wane after only a couple of hours, so I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of a multi only to have the kids peter out and get cranky. Trust me, there’s nothing worse than cranky kids in the middle of the woods on a hike.

Once they’re a bit older, or when the start expressing an interest, we’ll probably tackle a multi or two, but I’m not sure when that’ll be.

[Crockett3663]

I just saw the word “crew” in the title of this thread and it caught my eye, because when our family goes out caching together, we’re known as Crockett’s Caching Crew. That’s how we sign all of the logs we come across.

[Crockett3663]

Holy Cow!!! Talk about not being worth the risk!! I wonder if they have any other caches nearby. My wife and I were just up in that area the first weekend of August for our anniversary weekend…I’m glad we were commited to doing “other things” that weekend and that caching was not on our “to do” list, because I’m sure I would have attempted that one.

Fitting that you should mention cults when the 30th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre is coming up this Tuesday.

[Crockett3663]

Since I work nights and my kids are in school during the day, we really only get to cache on weekends. We’re also the type of people that really only want to be outside when the weather is decent, so I keep an eye on the weather and what our calendar looks like, and if we’ve got a Saturday or Sunday with nothing to do, we like to head out at those times.

I try to plan those weekends at least a few days in advance, and I’ll spend some time during the week downloading and printing cache info for the upcoming weekend. Our only real goal is to try our best to grab each one of the caches that I’ve printed/downloaded. Other than that, as long as we have fun, enjoy the weather, and get to spend quality time together as a family, that’s all that matters.

[Crockett3663]

I was going to say South Dakota as well, but it sounds like you actually are looking to HEAD south, so I’ll suggest the Smoky Mountains. It’s a bit of a drive, but if you’ve got another licensed driver or two besides yourself, you ought to make it in about 10-12 hours if you take turns and drive straight through. Sleep when it’s not your turn to drive and you should be good to go when you get there. The Smokies are one of the most beautiful parts of the entire US if you ask me, and the people down there are SO friendly!!

Where ever you end up, I hope you have a safe trip and score lots of finds!! Be sure to bring lots of stories back with you and post photos in your logs!!

[Crockett3663]

Welcome aboard, atatruck!!! I see you’re from Oregon,WI. Very pretty countryside down there…GREAT for scenic caching!! We’re all a friendly bunch around here, so if you have any questions about caching, ask away!!

[Crockett3663]

Yup…I guess it’s time to put the GPS away for a while and let the hunters do their thing. If you hunt deer this time of year instead of caches, please use extra caution out in the woods!!

[Crockett3663]

I consider my son and I to be “noobs” at this yet (we’ve got 18 finds since April when we started), and due to my self-imposed lack of experience, I’m holding off on creating and placing my first cache, although I’ve already started planning it out.

As of right now, I’m planning on holding off until I hit 50 finds or until sometime next Spring to do it. I figure by then I will have seen enough caches and had enough experience that I think I’l be pretty confident in what I’m doing.

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