Now this blog is supposed to be deep thoughts and introspection from me to you…….  but it is just so much easier to talk about my exciting life.  Did I mention that I managed to complete 15 knee braces on the model this afternoon?

But actually this was an exciting day (Sunday).

I have signed up to join a Geocaching contest next Wednesday.  I am part of a team of 4.  Today we went on a practice geocaching hike in Seal Bay to work on our roles in the team.   If you have never been Geocaching it is like an easter egg hunt only for adults and in the forest.  You are using the satellites that the US and Russia have launched to make their missiles find targets but we use them to find caches at specific latitude and longitude locations.   People hide an object in hidden areas and post the location on a geocaching site and you go look for them with a GPS unit.  I know it sounds weird, but fun.

I have been selected (as a Techy Guy) to operate the GPS unit for our team.  Not only watching the screen to make sure the team follows the directions but the responsibility of downloading all the caches from the internet on the night before the contest.   Alex will be in charge of recording all the clues as we go on because part of the contest is determining the secret puzzle.  Jill, the wife of the team leader, has the responsibility for timing the searches (you cannot spend more than 10 minutes per search) and declaring if we do not find it to move on.  Fairly easy role but she is a blonde and kind of pretty so I can see why Tim would assign her for this. (I assume Jill does not follow my blog).

And then there is the leader Tim (a great friend).  Now he is responsible for organizing our team and assigning roles and making sure that we follow them (typical leader) but I have to give him credit.  He will take a picture of every cache we find, he will have the overall map of the area, he will drive us to the contest, and he purchased the expensive Garmin that I will be using (plus as a great leader he has offered to buy the first round at the party after).  A noble leader.  Another leadership thing Tim did was name our team Karma.

The organizer of this contest is a mountain goat guy named Earl.  He is a trail blazer and a leader in geocaching on Vancouver Island.  You may remember the TV program a few years ago called “My Name is Earl”  on the program Earl was always following his Karma, so Tim hopes that that if Earl connects with this we might earn special points.

If you do not know Geocaching when the GPS beeps as you come near a goal you have to search in a 10 meter circle in dense forest to find a cache that might be nothing more than a thimble.  A big skill will be those that are prepared to reach into a hole in a rotten log hoping to find the cache and not a squirrel or spider.  (I will wear a glove).

So as I said, today we did a practice search in Seal Bay Park.  10 caches and we found them all.  Granted this is a well visited geocaching route that often all you needed was to see the trail on the ground left by others to the stump or tree.  But we did very well regardless and are confident.

Wednesday will be a different matter.  35 caches in rough forest along trails not much more than animal tracks in an area we do not yet know.  Most of the caches are near-virgin (not been found yet) spread over a route of 17 km.  Estimate is that it will take a minimum of 7 hours.  Our team is optimistic but as I expect the prize for the winning team is only a Tee Shirt, mostly we hope to complete without injury.

Pat is going to join us at the Pub in Royston for the wrap up party and prizes then take me home to give me a much needed massage.    I will let you know how we do.