700 Geocaches in 7 Years!!

Christy & I learned about Geocaching from Daren Lindley, who is a traveling minister that was speaking at our church. This was June 25th, 2005; seven years ago today. It was shortly after Google Maps introduced their satellite view. Daren was going to be speaking at a Saturday night service and beforehand a bunch of us were hanging out and checking out the satellite views of different places. Darren joined in and was looking up various places in his hometown in Oregon. He then had us go to Geocaching.com and was telling us a little bit about geocaching. We looked and saw that there was several caches in the area and Daren mentioned that he'd love to find one after the service. Service didn't get done until late and I figured he'd forget all about it. But Daren is a super enthusiastic, energetic guy and he was ready to go. So Christy, myself, Scott and Daren headed to the Crevasse Moraine trail system about 10 miles away. After a short walk, surrounded by clouds of veracious mosquitoes we reached ground zero and made the find.

The next day, after speaking in our Sunday morning service, Daren was itchin' to find some more caches. Christy and I had enjoyed ourselves the night before and so we headed out again, finding 3 more caches. The follow Wednesday Christy & I bought our own GPS and became regular geocachers. Since June 25, 2005 we have 700 geocaches. We've cached in 12 states and two countries. We've cached in hip deep snow and through swamps. We've cached in -40 degree weather along the banks of the Chena River and in 100 degree heat in Dallas. We've cache in hurricane force winds and in a torrential thunderstorm along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. We driven & hiked miles in search of caches, chewed on by mosquitoes,  encountering moose & bears.

Some of our best times together have been while caching. And, some of our worse fights have been while caching. We've seen some incredible sights and explored places we would've never been to otherwise. It's been a great form of exercise and gotten us up off the couch. For Christy, geocaching is the only time she can disconnect from the stress of her job.

Geocaching was born May 2nd, 2000 when the US government switched off Selective Availability, meaning GPS signals could be received by civilian owned handheld models with much greater accuracy. A man named Dave Ulmer hid a five gallon bucket near Beavercreek, Oregon and posted the coordinates on a Usernet group, challenging others to find what he had hidden and sign the log book within.

Others began to do the same and soon Jeremy Irish created a website where these "stashes" could be listed for others to find. To avoid any negative connotations that might come with the word "stash" it was agreed to call the hidden objects "caches".

Since then 1.5 million caches have been place in over 200 countries. Almost 5 million people enjoy geocaching, making 4 million finds last month. A geocache could be as small as a chapstick container or as large as a suitcase. Ammo cans make a good hiding container and would be considered a "regular" size container. Smaller caches simply contain a log book or sheet to be signed. Larger caches might contain "swag" to be traded. Swag can be almost anything not dangerous or illegal. A deck of cards, local souvenirs, small toys and fishing lures all make for good swag.

To participate in geocaching all you need is a handheld GPS, a free registration at www.GeoCaching.com and access to the internet. You can search for caches in your area, plug the coordinates in your GPS and you are good to go. Your GPS will get you within 10 feet or so of the hide and then its up to you find the cache. Some caches are large & obvious. Some very carefully hidden & camouflaged and can be hard to find.

You can read a little more about geocaching at it's Wikipedia entry or by watching the video below. And if you'd like to get started geoaching yourself, visit www.Geocaching.com and sign up for your free basic membership. You can also read more about geocaching here in the Mat-Su Valley by checking out the article I wrote for the MatSu Visitor's & Convention Bureau.

Seasons....

It's a beautiful day here in South Central Alaska... The sun is shining, it's warm and everything is green and lovely. We have almost 24 hours of sunlight to illuminate our gardening, fishing, and playing. These are the type of days when they take the pictures for the brochures and websites promoting Alaska travel.

But... the other day was the Summer Solstice. Which means we are now losing  a little bit of daylight each. Technically we are sliding towards winter. I took this picture this morning in our yard... Well, in the dirt patch I call our yard. It's fireweed. Those little flowers you see mark the countdown to the end of summer. They will soon start to bloom from the top to the bottom and then release their pollen, which looks like snow. It's usually within a few weeks to a month of that, we get the real thing.

The moral of the story: life is full of change. The bad news is that if you are in a great season of your life, it can change. The bad news is that if you are in a bad season of your life, it can change. In the seasons of good, enjoy it to it's fullest. In the seasons of bad, just hang on. You'll get through it. There's better days ahead.

And the lessons you learn in the rough times can't be learned any other way... So it's worth it. And it makes the good times that much sweeter.

“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
    wisdom and power are his. 

 He changes times and seasons;
    he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to the discerning.  He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what lies in darkness,
    and light dwells with him."

~Daniel 2:20-22

The Charlie Brown Song

Here's another one from the Piano Guys... The song is fun, but what is really neat is seeing the people's reaction.

And to quote one of the best movies of all time: "Hey, I guess they're right. Senior citizens, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose. I'll be right back. Don't you go dying on me!" Bonus points for those who know what movie that's from...

Pachelbel Meets U2

There's no video with this one, but it's too great of a song to not include here...

This music is by Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. You can visit their website here... 

Another Great Song

Yet another great song from the Piano Guys. You can check out their stuff at www.ThePianoGuys.com.

Finally... A Christmas song I don't hate.

Normally I'm not a fan of Christmas music, but this one I love!

This music is by Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. You can visit their website here... 

Presented without comment....

Cello Wars (A Star Wars Parody)

As a Star Wars fan, I love this one.

This music is by Jon Schmidt and Steven Sharp Nelson. You can visit their website here...

Rockelbel's Canon

I forgot how I first heard of Jon Schmidt, but I've loved his music. While in Oregon last week I was telling my cousin David about him and when I got home I looked him up on YouTube to send some links.
I spent a little time listening to more of his stuff on YouTube and found some stuff I really like. This video is from Steven Sharp Nelson. 
For reference, their website is here...