Lindy’s Blog

Taking a walk around Lake Valentine at Bethel Univerity during our engagement photos.

 

A running joke amongst my married friends had been regarding how difficult it is to get your sweetie to take a walk with you after you say I do.  We all agree that walking appeared to be an important part of getting to know each other and spending time together during the dating years.  In fact, Jonathan proposed to me on one of our walks.  Fast forward a few years and I think I can count on my hand the amount of walks we have gone on since getting married.  That is until recent days.  We have begun geocaching.  If you haven’t heard of geocaching, it a sport centered around use of handheld GPS navigation devices.  It is like a treasure hunt, and we are hooked.  I have never seen my husband so thrilled to get outdoors to take hikes, walks, and bike rides.  I asked him why all the sudden the change of heart and he responded by saying, “Well,  now I have a purpose for walking.”

To begin geocaching, we just used the maps feature on our iPhones.  You can enter the coordinates of a cache after you have a username on geocaching.com after searching the area you want to go.  The thing I have been amazed at is the number of areas so close by.  We have found the maps feature is only so accurate and gives you a larger area to search.  We now have a handheld GPS with a built in compass that is far more accurate and brings you to about a 10 meter range of the cache.

An example of a geocoin. The goal of this coin is to get as close to the World Trade Center site as possible.

So you may be wondering, what is in a cache and what does it look like.  Sometimes you find a small jar, or a toolbox or another container.  The cache is usually camouflaged with paint and hidden in a tree or something similar.  There are clues for many of the caches that can help you with where to look.  In the container is usually a small notebook to mark your name and date you found it, as well as several other items you can take.  It is common practice to bring something small to drop off and take something small from the container.  Many people make their own “coins” or buy special geocoins that have a special destination.  You can go on the geocaching website and enter the code on the geocoin to find out the desired destination of that coin.

Well, here you have it.  A purpose for walking.  If you are one of the many women with difficulty to get your husband to take a walk with you, I invite you to try this!

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