Our First Time Caching as a Family

Last night I got online and plotted out some Geocaches along S.R. 13 which is right by our house. I picked 10 caches along the route which took us about 8 miles down S.R. 13 and back. This was Tim's first time out and with gas prices what they are, we wanted to stick close to home.

We ended up finding 8 of the 10 we looked for. The ones marked in red are the ones that eluded us.

• Is that fish I smell?
  This was Tim's first. He and JT went looking and it was obvious he was embarrassed that someone might see him so he wasn't looking too hard. After a few minutes, I got out of the truck, walked to where they were and found it right away. It was a magnetic key holder cleverly placed. Log only.
  
  After enjoying lunch at Mandarin Ale House, we returned to this shopping center to go to the Word to Light Christian Store that is run by Jim, a motorcycle riding buddy of Tim's. We picked up a few buttons, guitar picks, little cards and other witness items to leave in caches we find. If you're in the area, stop by and visit the store, it's really nice.
  
  
• The Tree
  This was a pretty easy find near The Tree Steak House. Tim found this one. Log only.
  
  
• Pushing Tin
  This was behind a shopping center and all trashy. We looked and looked but never found it. Maybe another time.
  
  
• Mount St. Helens, Not.
  This was another fairly easy find for me. But as soon as I uncovered it hundreds of HUGE red ants came crawling out. Another Log only.
  
  
• Between a Clown and a King
  We knew this was up a little high and it was raining pretty hard, so Tim went out of the truck solo on this one. It didn't take too long to find once he looked in the right place. Log only but we left one of the witness pins we just bought.
  
  
• Hail to the Chief - 3
  JT found this one hidden in an area of trees/bushes that he fit in better than us. I was surprised it was hidden so well given the bright color of the plastic box. There was quite a bit of stuff in this one. JT ended up taking a $2 Canadian coin and we left a McToy and another pin.
  
  
• Cold Kangaroo
  This was at the end of our trail before heading back and working the other side of the street. It was a nano and we never found it. There was some new wood fencing and we wonder if it was recently replaced and the cache gone.
  
  
• Fun in the Sun
  This was our best find of the day and the furthest we had to trek away from the truck. It was near Mills field and we had to hike around a little lake to the woods. After searching for about 10 minutes and getting bitten by a few mosquitos, Tim finally found it. It was an Ammo can full of all kinds of stuff. The instructions were to leave something sports related, so we left a Football card, McToy and some other stuff that people might could use at a ball park. We took a rain poncho, a light up ball and a USA Gold Madhatter Trackable GeoCoin.
  
  
• Ace in the Hole
  This was a pretty easy one. Tim and I found it at the same time, he was tugging on one end and I was tugging on the other. Log only but we left a pin in it.
  
  
• Slow Down What's so Urgent
  This one took us a little longer to find than it should have. Tim looked right at the spot and so did JT and they both missed it at first. Tim finally went back and found it. Had I paid attention to the title, we would have found it easier. Log only but we left a mood ring.
  

So, after 3 hours, which included lunch, that concluded our day of caching. JT was disappointed we didn't have more to go find. I was ready to be done for the day. It was a nice day of family fun without spending a bunch of money or sitting at home doing nothing.

So, I score that as a winner of a day! See all photos here.