Our+Adventure

=Geocaching with the Directionally Challenged =

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The world was calling us and we were ready! It was time for the great geocaching adventure! We met at Megan’s house, eager to get started on this long voyage ahead of us. We knew there was going to be hardships and troubles ahead but we had hope that the travels we were going to face would be worth the booty that we were going to collect. We got in Megan’s car, our GPS impatiently waiting for the coordinates to be plugged into its navigation center wanting to work hard at finding us the most magnificent treasures. The first little bump in the road of finding a geocache was the GPS itself. Even though the GPS was ready for the coordinates unfortunately the satellite for the darn thing was not. We did not realize that the GPS needed direct sunlight for it to function properly. We needed to hold it onto the dash board for it to read properly. Can you say whoops! We finally figured out a way for it to sit on the dashboard and get the sunbath that it needed.



We were on our way once again! Funny thing about the GPS is that to use one a person needs to be directionally intelligent and unfortunately we were not. We were so directionally challenged that we drove around the Kohl’s parking lot for about an hour before we got the smart idea to download the geocaching app to help with our low directional skills. We were now on our way to greatness well that is until Megan decided to walk right into a huge web with a gigantic spider in it even though Jennifer told Megan it was there. Let’s just say Megan let out a big EEKK and danced around like a chicken with her head cut off. We got through the whole ordeal with the spider; the shivers up our spines nearly gone, and got a new game plan going. We decided to take a ride over to the next part of the buildings that were marked shopping center even though it was not a shopping center in our eyes. BEHOLD MATEY! We finally found our first geocache of the day! The geocache was easy to find once we got the right direction. The geocache was located behind a tree in part of a forest area in a small plastic box. The smiles were undeniable. We made our first “cache” of the day and we were so excited for what was to come! That was where our luck changed for the worst.

We unfortunately got cocky and thought ourselves worthy of going after a cache that did not have a hint attached. We weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed when it came to this idea. We walked around the place the GPS took us for at least a half hour before we gave up and decided to try our luck with another. Lady luck was not in our corner. We went to several different coordinates (try 4) and couldn’t find a single gosh darn one! Even our favorite one labeled “Chicken, Tacos, and Geocaching” was a bust! We were tired and our butts were numb from all the driving and we were concussed because the “speed humps” were a little taller than Megan thought. Maybe going 55 over the hump wasn’t such a good idea.



It seemed like all hope was lost (dun dun dun!!!) until we decided to try our lack of skills at Bass Lake Park in Holly Springs. JACK POT! A geocachers heaven! We hesitantly plugged in the coordinates for the fifth time that day and begun the long trek down the trail. Luckily for us, the trail wasn’t too steep and the scenery wasn’t too shabby either.

We finally got to our first destination.Our geocache app was ringing, “you’re getting close!”! We hurriedly looked around the area noticing the bench that sat by the trees. We remembered for this geocache was to “enjoy a seat and the view. When you see two poles holding a shelter open the front door.” Megan quickly sat down on the bench and her eyes lit up! **Eureka!** We finally found another one! Like the first one, this one was also in a small plastic container. Our spirits rose when we finally got an object and placed our names in the log book. It sure was a long time coming. With our bruised egos somewhat restored, we were off for our next adventure!

The next geocache we found was really off the beaten path. We found ourselveshaving to climb over nature to get to our prize. There were puddles filled with mud, tree branches and prickers galore but we were on a mission! Even though the cache was way out of the way and dangerous to our health, somehow we made it to the treasure. The cache was hidden pretty well in an old metal army box that blended in really well with the ground. Inside the metal container were pencils and stickers that we delightfully rummaged through and chose one that we particularly liked.

Our spirits were finally restored! We decided to go for gold and find another one! Our GPS busily told us where to go and we followed carefully. Jennifer did almost kill herself (twice) because she was stupid and decided to wear flip flops and found out rather quickly that flip flops and mud do not go together! The clue told us that the cache was going to be between two orange ribbons and amazingly that’s where it was. This one was in an army metal box like the last and also had stickers and pencils inside!

We were very proud of ourselves! We accomplished something that in the beginning we had no hope to accomplish. We started out horrible but we ended strong…or so we thought. We decided that we were done Geocaching for the day because hey we found four of them! We were driving back to Megan’s house when Jennifer decided to see what types of geocaches were in Angier. BIG MISTAKE ON OUR PARTS! We ended up in a field that was in a neighborhood. We searched high and low for the darn thing but could not find it. We realized rather quickly that we bit off more than we could cache when something started to **HURT**! We must have stepped in a field of tiny little pricker things. Those little suckers hurt! Sore, hurt, and bleeding, we decided enough was enough and went on our miserable way back to Megan’s house. THE END!

We learned a lot from this experience about ourselves and about geocaching. We learned that we are the most directionally challenged people on this earth and that’s not a good thing when you are using a GPS. We are not nature people and that nature can hurt you if you are not prepared for it. Mud, spiders, and pricker bushes are not your friend! The most important lesson that we learned is that with a sense of humor( with a lot of laughs), some patience, and a good friend with you on the journey, anything is possible while geocaching!



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