Geeky, but not!
Meeple (aka Sparky by word_geek) and I have been geocaching for about a year now. We actually found our first cache February 29, 2004, but we've only been doing it actively for a little less than a year. Geocaching is great. You get to use all these high-tech gadgets (geeky!) but you're outside being active (not geeky!).
To get us there, I have our portable Garmin nuvi for the car. I can download all the caches (waypoints) that we want to visit directly into the nuvi, and then have it figure out a route from one to the next. I also bring along our Palm LifeDrive which has a program to manage all the caches. Meeple reads this as we drive to learn what type of cache it is. Then, once we get to the nearest parking area, we have our GPSr (DeLorme PN-20) to guide us to the cache location. At the location, we can use the Palm to record exactly when we found it, and write any notes about finding it we want. At the end of the day, I can sync the Palm to the computer, use another program to read my notes, update my database with my finds, and then post all my finds to the geocaching website. Definitely geeky!
Through geocaching, we've found numerous community parks and playgrounds that we never knew existed. We've hiked along trails through the woods and seen interesting wildlife (unfortunately, I can't identify birds at all). We found a museum in Delaware. Meeple learned what a phonebooth was for. And, most importantly, it gets us out of the house and we get some exercise. Not geeky!
To get us there, I have our portable Garmin nuvi for the car. I can download all the caches (waypoints) that we want to visit directly into the nuvi, and then have it figure out a route from one to the next. I also bring along our Palm LifeDrive which has a program to manage all the caches. Meeple reads this as we drive to learn what type of cache it is. Then, once we get to the nearest parking area, we have our GPSr (DeLorme PN-20) to guide us to the cache location. At the location, we can use the Palm to record exactly when we found it, and write any notes about finding it we want. At the end of the day, I can sync the Palm to the computer, use another program to read my notes, update my database with my finds, and then post all my finds to the geocaching website. Definitely geeky!
Through geocaching, we've found numerous community parks and playgrounds that we never knew existed. We've hiked along trails through the woods and seen interesting wildlife (unfortunately, I can't identify birds at all). We found a museum in Delaware. Meeple learned what a phonebooth was for. And, most importantly, it gets us out of the house and we get some exercise. Not geeky!