[Geocaching] With My Son

Ever heard of Geocaching?

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Don't worry, me neither. My wife, however, has been well aware of this for YEARS and kept it a secret for the first 6 months of our relationship. Either that or I began courting her at the end of fall and it just never came up until spring was upon us. Depends on whose side you're on.

Geocaching is a fantastic idea if you have a family and want to spend a day outdoors, if you're an adventurer itching to explore places you've never been to or even by yourself or with a friend looking to explore the crevices of places you're already familiar with. Geocaches are hiding everywhere -- I guarantee that if you visit the above website and search for caches near your area there's at least one hidden in a place you know about. It could be a place you have spent so many summer days hanging out with your friends, never the wiser that tucked neatly behind the bushes in the corner of the park is a treasure that a whole community of people have shared. Maybe it's a playground or wooded area that you have driven past a thousand times but never really noticed.

That was certainly the case for me. My wife and son are not as familiar as I am with the area we live in; I've been here for 20 of my 25 years and they moved in a little over two years ago. The first few caches we ventured out to find were new and exciting locations for them. I recognized the sites immediately and was amazed that for all these years there was an incredibly cool society of people sharing a secret right under my nose that I had now become a part of.

Deacon, much like any kid, is a big fan of "prizes". When we told him that we were going to be going on adventures (another kid favourite) to look for secret (another!) hidden prizes, he was beyond excited. The first cache we sought out was in a residential area off to the side of a road that we had driven past hundreds of times. There was a beautiful wooden bridge over a stream that leads to the reservoir. Geese and ducks were all around. In fact, a small flock of geese flew so low they almost knocked Deke's hat off! But where was the hidden prize? Like the video says, our GPS led us to the area and now it was our turn to make the Marsico Family's first discovery. It wasn't in clear view, but the clue gave my wife and I immediate confirmation of where we should look. We couldn't find it, though, and my son suggested "how about Daddy goes under the bridge?"

I guess the clue (an overplayed, underrated Red Hot Chili Peppers song) was more literal than expected, so I hopped over the side of the bridge, rather gracefully*, and found myself face-to-face with our first ever successful geocache! Deacon was elated and would not let go of the little stuffed American Flag star that we found, carrying it with him for the rest of our caching day (we found nothing else, sadly).

Since that day we have gone on many more geocaching journeys, some fruitful, some not, but always educational and fun. Deacon has been able to study leaves and other plants in different forests that our GPS has led us to and he's learning how to read a compass. Much like many of the activities and games we partake in, he is gaining knowledge through fun and interactive experiences that he gets to share with his family. This is one of the core factors of a successful homeschooling program, but we'll get deeper into that later.

Most importantly, he, my wife and myself are spending quality time together out in the fresh air as a family building memories that will last with us forever, whether we have the tokens to remind us or not.


- Nicholas A. Marsico

* Classic!

Other sources:
Getting Started With Geocaching
Geocaching: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article