Bringing friends into the fold

Yesterday shaped up to be a great little family day.  We took the little adventurer out to use our www.KidsBowlFree.com membership since we all had the day off and since it was already over 90 degrees at 10:00 in the morning.  In the course of our first game, our friend Mike called and he and his son came to join in.  The kids had a great time bowling and during our time there, the subject of geocaching came up.  

They were intrigued.  It just so happened that I had a list in the car of about a half dozen caches in the downtown area that I had already planned on hitting on our way home.  Now we had virgin partners.  Yeah!

This rocked the Casbah!  First, it was a blast introducing geocaching to friends, especially another child.  Second, it was a daily personal best for us, as we hit 5 in one day.  Third, Mike and Duncan both loved it and I think want to continue on with it.  Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to play once they learn about it.  

Mama Plover; see 4 well camo'd eggs beneath her!

So, we introduced them to a cool hide on Washington Street, then on to Tunnelvision, then the Secret Garden, the corner of Assembly and Pendleton and lastly right across from the Thirsty Fellow...then of course it was ridiculously convenient to pop in for a snack and a beer.  The coolest thing was an accidental discovery.  As we crossed a now vacant lot, covered in gravel, we came across a mama bird who was clearly trying to distract us.  Neil identified her as a "plover."  And, as we were instructing the kids to move away because she was trying to protect something, we spotted 4 eggs in a "nest" right there on the ground.  The eggs looked exactly like the stones in this lot.  If the mama hadn't been there, someone would have never noticed them or could have even stepped on them.  She's pretty smart to have laid her eggs in such a well camo'd spot. It was truly fascinating to see.  Of course, we continued on our way, and she settled down and sat back on top of her little nest.  It was a cool moment for all of us.

The Washington Street hide turned out to be (literally) right outside the office of a friend of mine.  This morning I texted her that I was outside. Come outta there...she's been accusing me of being obsessed with geocaching, you see.  So, I showed her how my iPhone app works and she discovered the cache.  I think she was impressed to learn that that little container has been hiding there since 2009, right under her nose!  We may have two more caching buddies (K and daughter A) soon!