Okay, so I was biking with my friend Chris up to the Chicago Botanic Garden
again this afternoon. And as we were pedaling along, Chris was describing
GeoCaching. I had heard about i many years ago when you needed to purchase
a GPS unit to participate in the scavenger hunt fun. It never crossed my mind
that my iPhone could do it too… you know, there’s an App for that!

Basically, the idea of GeoCaching is that you use the GPS to find small little “treasures”
that people have hidden around the world. You find the coordinates of any “treasure”
located in your vicinity. They give you maps, directions and clues to help you find them.
So of course, we had to give it a try!

So Chris and I were pedaling along and with the GeoCaching App running on Chris’ phone.
We were watching the moving dots, the bleeping on the screen, until we were close to one.
We rode past it. We went back. Until we realized that we had to park our bikes and go for a
short hike – straight into the woods!!! Into the thick of things looking for who knows what?!
The dots overlapped on the GPS so we knew we were close. We started looking everywhere.
For what, we don’t know?! It seemed impossible.

But then I channeled my best Russell Hantz and questioned “What would I do on ‘Survivor’
to find the Hidden Immunity Idol?” So I started to deduce where it could be. It had to be in,
on, or around something. It would never be just sitting there on the ground, right?!
Touching. Reaching. Flipping. Searching… and coming up with nothing.

And then, I saw this odd tree stump just sitting there. And it moved when I kicked it.

So I picked it up and found that there was a hole drilled in the bottom of it.
And stuck into that hole was a small canister. I pulled it out and found a small scroll inside.
Apparently, you’re supposed to sign it, add the date, and put it back into the canister.
Then, you need to replace the canister so that the next person can find it in the same place.
Apparently, some of the “treasures” are things you actually get to keep?! We’ll see…

I must admit it was a lot more exciting than I expected. The pursuit. The adventure.
The thrill of finally finding it. Sadly, we didn’t have a pen with us so we couldn’t sign it?!
We plan to stop by the next time we’re riding up that way… because yes, we’re dorks!

So I’ve now downloaded the App to my iPhone too. And looking froward to getting started
to see where the next “treasure” might be. And of course, I immediately questioned how I
could possibly turn it into a marketing possibility for me?! I could make my own “treasure”
location for others to find… maybe in my studio?… at an art fair?… by the totem pole
in my front yard? Haven’t quite figured that out yet. But I’m still working on it.

Until then… back to be ing a dork and searching for more “treasures”!
For more information, click on GeoCaching.com.