(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Geocaching Edition

I've been yelled at by a friend because it's been awhile since my last post.  Life has been so busy.  But I did get a chance to sneak away last Saturday to Belle Isle, a jewel located on the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor.  It was the Belle Isle Geo-event 2012.

Ok, what's geocaching?  I talk about it all the time.  It's a high-tech treasure hunt.  The joke is we use multi-hundred dollar GPS units connected to billion-dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods…  Or, in my picture above taken on Belle Isle Saturday.... coffee cans.

A Geocacher will hide a container called a geocache (pronounced geo-cash) anywhere (the woods, downtown, scenic overlooks, South Pole, etc).  They will include a visitors log to sign as well as some goodies to exchange (called swag).  They will then upload the coordinates to Geocaching.com and normally include a description to entice other cachers to explore the area.  At that point, other cachers will download the coordinates and go looking for this treasure.  There are over 1.7M geocaches hidden an all the continents of the world and over 5M geocachers looking for them.  Don't worry - we leave the planet in better shape (we practice CITO - Cache In Trash Out).

There's much more to this, but you get the idea.

Why do I cache?  Because it gets me outdoor soaking in the Vitamin D and burning off calories.  I spend quality time with all members of my family (our caching team "Free Range Lobsters' range from 3 years to 74 years).  I've explored areas I've never seen before (Michigan has some stunning metroparks).  It's social.  It's spiritual. It stimulates the brain.  It gives your brain a rest from reality.

Ok, up to date?  So, Saturday was the annual Belle Isle event.  The Belle Isle cachers introduce 45 new caches to the Isle and, for one day only, leave last year's out too.  Hundreds of cachers from all over show up, load up our GPS's, load up our bellies (did I mention it was a potluck?) and off we go.  Here are some of my favorite pictures:

For years I've wanted to photograph this bridge and Saturday was my chance!

My sister took this one - there are weeping willows all over the island!

We made tehse amazing Pinwheels and they were gobbled up quickly!

Members of the Free Range Lobsters:
Scrapcat, Hockeyman40, WikidKriket and 3inaTree

Need fuel to burn more calories!

In order of appearance:
Windsor (left) - Ambassador Bridge - Detroit (right)



Little Tree and Hockeyman40 leading the way



Scott Fountain

The "3" as in "3inaTree".... but they weren't in a tree

Don't mess with Auntie!
Wikid Kriket teaching Lil Tree a lesson
You can't tell but Lil Tree was having a blast!

Thank you for following along on our journey!

Happy caching!
Elisa