"Well sure, What’s Geocaching”?

I soon find out that Ed and Suzanne have discovered a website called Geocaching.com.

Geocaching is a game where folks hide a small container with some "treasure" in it and record the latitude and longitude by using a hand held GPS unit. When they get back home they post the coordinates on the Geocaching.com website.

Other players log on to the Geocaching webpage, type in their ZIP code, hit the search button and find out if there are any cache sites hidden in their area.

Ed checked and discovered that there were about eight cache sites right around our local coastal area! He picked a couple that were close to Fort Bragg, printed out their “details” page, and we loaded up in the van to go search for them.

The first one we decided to look for is named “Pudding Creek”. We already knew that there is a small, ocean side, park north of Fort Bragg named Pudding Creek. Away we go!

We arrive, park in the parking lot, and hop out. Ed sets off with his GPS unit in his hand. Suzanne and I follow along like ducks in a row.

The details page lists the coordinates of where the Pudding Creek cache has been hidden. We walk along and watch the GPS as the latitude and longitude start to match up. We soon realize that it is near the southern end of an old trestle bridge.

Hand held GPS units can give an accuracy down to about 30 feet or even less if you have good satellite coverage. So, basically, the GPS got us into the ballpark. Now to do some sleuthing and searching. The detail page "hint" mentioned Trolls!

The word Trolls sparked an idea in Suzanne mind and, son of a gun, Suzanne found it! The cache turns out to be a small Tupperware container with a log book, pencil and pencil sharpener in it plus:

1. One happy face air freshener
2. One happy face pencil sharpener
3. One happy face clicker
4. One Garfield War game
5. One Ivy Cleanse packet
6. One car
7. One small bubbles
8. One rose
9. Play money

Cool!

Since then we have found numerous cache and placed our own cache up and down the Mendocino coast. Ed has even placed cache as far east as Sacramento! This Spring Break we will be placing cache in our favorite location between the Pacific Ocean and Death Valley!! ( To read about that Spring Break, click here.)

For being a group of aging Grandparents… we sure have become a bunch of kids again and are having a ball!

Geocachers usually have nicknames and so Ed and Suzanne are Team Sagefox.  Individually they are Ricky Rosco and Spark.  I, of course, am Roadcow.   Lolli has no comment!!

Be seeing you on the Geocaching trail.