Something to do--geocaching

Treasures inside a geocache to trade

We got hooked onto geocaching through a school project.  I needed to learn all the in's and out's in order to teach it to my students.  My in-laws gave me a geoMate and off we went--I thought.

It wasn't as easy as turning on the gadget and going on our happy treasure hunting way.  Our first trip out was a disaster.  We got lots of exercise, but found absolutely nothing.  Well, nothing except construction sites and a dead coyote.  The kids thought that was cool.





After getting home I went into the geocaching website, goecaching.com and did some research.  I found out that if I made an account, I could see the nearby caches and read the log books to see if the caches were still there.  The one we had looked for had been reported gone a year ago.  We found a couple using the geoMate and the website for research before we went.  Nothing spontaneous.

The next big leap in our geocaching expertise came when I upgraded to (as my daughter calls it) a real phone with 4g LTE and droid apps.  And I thought phones were for calling people!  Silly me!

I could now look up a cache on the phone and read the log at the same time-from anywhere!  Our next camping trip was to Lake Texana.  We hit the app button and off we went.  The kids thought it was great because we got to go off of the marked trails to find treasures.  And did we find treasures!  We carried our bag of trade items- McD's toys, pencils, cool erasers, mini puzzle books, etc.  We traded for Hot Wheels cars, a whistle (which I washed thoroughly in hot water), and wooden toys.  The kids were in heaven.  And my hubby and I got to hike and bird watch while they followed the compass directions-quietly too, but I don't know why...


So, My current best tips for geocaching with you kids on a camping trip:
1.  Carry water,snack, small first aid kit,  and bug spray. (duh!)
2.  Carry a waterproof bag with a pen and some small things to trade.  If you are traveling a distance, something about your home area would be a great trade.
3.  Make sure you have a watch.  You will lose track of time.
4.  Battery back up for the geocaching device you are using.  Sometimes the program seems to eat up battery power.


Speaking of that-I just got a solar cell charger for my phone for camping trips.  I'm using it almost all the time now.  Great investment.

About that shower...

Okay-I'll admit it.  I'm a little bit of a neat freak and it does extend to camping.  I keep the tent organized and neat.  I cover the picnic table with a plastic cloth that I can scrub with antibacterial wipes. I take a broom to both sweep the tent and the concrete under the table.  I do not however scrub the showers at the park and at times wonder if anyone does.

One of our first long camping trips that my husband and I went on I was basically using a washcloth and soap and cold water from the spigot by camp to get a layer of sweat, dirt, bug spray, and sunscreen off.  It worked-kinda.  I just couldn't bring myself to use the showers at the park.

Then one night, my husband announced, "Well, I'm tired of smelling like a caveman," and took off for the showers.  I sat in camp imagining the mold and mildew and germs he was encountering.  After about 20 minutes he came back and looked so relaxed and comfortable.  And he smelled good!  He told me it wasn't that bad and that he kept his sandals on the whole time he was in there.  I decided to risk it.  Hot water and clean hair was too much of a temptation.

Typical park restroom-nothing fancy, just what you need

I packed up a bag of soap, shampoo, washcloth, change of clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, towels (one for my body, one for my hair) and my flip flops and headed to the shower.  I threw caution to the wind and stepped into the shower stall.  I tried to ignore anything that looked like it needed scrubbed and pulled closed the curtain.  Once the hot water came on, I didn't even think about the mold or mildew.  I just stood there and enjoyed it.

I got back to camp about 45 minutes later.  Clean and happy and comfortable.  And over my hang-up on what the shower looks like.  Don't get me wrong, I will try to wait until right after I see the cleaning crew leave and will walk out if it is really bad.  But, hot water and clean body is definitely a camp necessity.

I taught my kids that those showers are good.  Rachel actually looks forward to the shower before crawling into her sleeping bag at night.  She has learned the tricks to  using showers in a state park.

1.  Wear flip flops or water proof shoes the whole time.
2.  Carry shower needs (soap, shampoo, towels, deodorant, etc.) in a water proof tote bag. Some showers get really wet,
3.  Take shorts of short pants to change into after the shower.  They are easier to put on without getting them on the floor.
4.  Check out the showers when you get to the camp.  Some don't have curtains up over the changing area.  We pack a couple of the cheap shower liners and duct tape for those emergencies and make our own.

The Inspiration

My son came running back to our campsite from the playground ready for lunch.  I couldn't even see skin; just dirt and mud.  I yelled down, "Wash first-with soap!"

He stopped at the water spigot at the front of our campsite, turned on the water, grabbed the soap, and in seconds was clean enough to eat-from the wrists to the fingers anyway.

Another mom was walking by and stopped to watch.  She asked about my "soap dispenser."  I never even thought of it as clever or unusual-just standard operating procedure.  I drop a bar of soap into an old nylon knee-high or pieces of pantyhose and tie it to the spigot.  It's always there, dries between sue, doesn't fall on the ground, and can't be carried away by animals-or kids.

About 2 hours later, I saw that same mom again.  She had made a trip into a nearby town for some knee highs and soap.  She asked if I had any other secrets to share... 

That made me think, maybe I do have some ideas that can be useful to other campers.

How it came to be

My family camped a lot--family vacations, Girl Scouts, for fun in the backyard.  I loved it.  I always said that Mr. Right had better be able to pitch a tent.  Luckily, he could.  We had many adventures camping in Oklahoma and then we had kids.  Camping got pushed aside with play dates and birthday parties.

When my daughter was 5 and my son was 3, we ventured into the woods again.  We were seriously over prepared--too much food, too much gear, too many clothes.  We watched in fear as my prissy little girl looked at our campsite, wrinkled up her nose and then squealed, "rolly polly heaven!".  She proceeded to collect those little bugs and make houses and mazes for them.  My son eargerly helped his big sister collect twigs, rocks, leaves.  They were happy.  We could relax.  Our kids were campers at heart.  It's in their DNA.

The years have past.  My 5 year old prissy girl is now 12 and a total tomboy in the woods.  My son turns into a wild thing.  Dirt, bug bites and scratches are part of his daily attire.  In 7 years, we have this camping thing down.  We can be ready for a weekend trip in a matter of a couple of hours and a week long trip in a couple of days.  The art of camping and love of spending time in the outdoors with my family drove me to this blog.