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Our latest geocaching adventure first led us around the corner to this tomb, the final resting place for Louis Wolf, a prominent figure in Temecula's history (follow this link and scroll down to 1857 to learn more about him). Grace made her very first unassisted find, a cleverly hidden magnetic mini-micro- alas it wasn't the "treasure kind" (which I knew, shh! she never wants to go on the log only type hunts- she's all about the swag!) but this time her joy was soley in the sense of accomplishment she had for being the first to find.

The next one led us down a dry creek, where we found gold dust, a new hiking stick and a yellow happy face ball. This was my second favorite geocaching adventure yet... read about my first favorite here...

Goodbye Smoochy!

This past weekend on our way back from my darling neice's 2nd birthday bash- we made a few grabs in our old stomping grounds- the always safe, well manicured lanes of Irvine, CA! Learningbarefoot logged our 8th, 9th and 10th find and I've come to realize I'll not be able to blog about each although they are all so vivid and memorable, such wonderful adventures.

On our 10th find we said goodbye to our new friend Smoochy, our first Travel Bug.

See Photoshow.

Treasure!

Our fourth (and my favorite yet) geocaching grab led us on a nice brisk hike in the hills that we see every day- Happy Hill Love was the backdrop as we braved the chill in the wind (and my paranoia); grasping the GPS, we trotted back and forth on the dirt roads of Temecula's lovely landscape.

The cache was quickly found and we retrieved our target- Smoochy, his Travel Bug firmly intact. Grace was thrilled to welcome him into our home and introduce him to all the other snuggle bugs around our happy home.

My Flickr photo Set has more captions, with local history and other items of interest.

Or watch the photoshow highlights by clicking here. (http://www.photoshow.net/watch/ef6QX6nc )

Completed the third!

A very quick find, and clever hide- Vanishing Breed was the name of this Geocache hunt that led us to Superman's dressing room, back in the day. We had started out on Sunday planning to walk to this one which looked to be out behind our house. Photos here!

A valuable geocaching lesson was learned about bearing and overview maps! We had to turn around as our walk led us in a big circle out to the front of our neighborhood. We took Ford who was unleashed and he couldn't cross the very busy street.

So today after hunting again unsuccessfully for the final on the Independence Day Multi- our second geocaching adventure, we took Chicken to gymnastics and grabbed this one on the way home.

Second Attempt on our Second Cache Hunt

Are we lost?
Originally uploaded by barefootin.

We went back yesterday to try and find that treasure that now includes a much coveted Travel Bug! We searched high and low (and gathered a whole grocery bag full of trash- cache in, trash out!) and still couldn't find it!

After a short playtime in the sand we went home to see if Shawn was done working so he could help us- no luck! We are going to try and walk over today again- this one is supposed to be easy! The faded second waypoint may be the problem. I went ahead and looked at the logs of past cachers and with a new clue we may be in luck!

Our first "multi"

Grace and I set off alone in search of a cache in a familiar place- our beloved Pala Community Park. This waypoint was the springboard for a 3 part hunt. We found the spot quickly and rooted around, hoping we weren't bothering the nearby tennis players. Having observed the warning about thorns, I was convinced it would be in the underbrush.

It was a thrilling surprise to notice the reflective numbers on the side of the strangely humming green box, and suddenly remember the title- Independence Day- brilliant! After getting the #s jotted down from the reverse of the cleverly dogeared magnetic find. She played on the swings while I "deciphered" the coordinates.



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We went back after lunch with Shawn, and he was quick to notice the next clever clue, once we ran across the open grass to the second waypoint. I wasn't convinced it was what we were looking for- so I hung back while Grace and Shawn went traipsing through the undergrowth. It was faded, so a little hard to read and I examined it closer and checked the other pole- noticing there was no writing on the sticker there, so I figured he was right and we all attempted to guess at the final, which we did not find... yet! We'll go back again. This is such fun stuff!

Geocaching!

Our first geocaching adventure!

Today we set out with the (much less intimidating- thanks to downloading and reading the manual!) GPS unit. We set our "waypoint" for a local, small cache, GCWA56.

After a delicious and fortifying "lunch" -okay it was after 4:00- our meal times are unconvential, too- where we took our bearings and plotted our course, we headed out. We encountered a dead end at Butterfield Park and had to backtrack. Grace was the navigator...

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We turned the wrong way when bactracking, but the genius of GPS got us there anyway- over a dirt road, past horse filled ranches and bare vined vineyards. I should have taken more shots along the way...

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But eventually we arrived...

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And we searched for the cache...

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We found some delightful "treasures" (Grace chose a small rubber flippy thingy toy, and I picked a Jr Tribal Ranger sticker) and left our own (a "ruby" ring from Grace and 2 wetnaps from me.) We signed the log, and continued on our merry way...

See all the photos...

Geocaching

Lately we have (finally) been regularly using the large easement behind the house which leads to the golf course and a dry creek bed. We have been trying at least once a day to walk down to the end of the houses at least. But a couple times this week, we have gone down into the creekbed to gather firewood, and hop across the rocks. Grace has gathered some terrific sticks, acorns and rocks, which she has (naturally) played with more than all the toys she got for Christmas and her birthday!

Our love of being out doors, combined with a sense of mystery and adventure in my heart, (along with the generosity of my benefactors who lent me the GPS unit- thanks, mom!) and researching other recent interests has led me to the new sport of Geocaching. After I read up a little more tonight (and figure out more specifically how to use this nifty little gadget) we are off on our first hunt tomorrow!