If you loved adventure books and spent your days locating "buried treasure" as a child, go grab the keys to your RV. There's a new sport on the horizon for Georgia recreational vehicle enthusiasts called geocaching.
Geocaching is an adventure game that relies on a GPS unit and the Internet to help travellers track down caches (the treasures) that others have set up and shared locations for. There are hundreds of cache sites listed on the Internet right now, and your Georgia RV dealer can probably recommend a website to help you get started.
Setting out well armed with a list of GPS coordinates that you'll visit can be a great way to help pass the time on the road. Kids will be thrilled to track down each cache, and it will certainly help keep them busy until you reach your destination. Some caches are more easily found than others. A scuba enthusiast may have left a cache under water, for example, which would certainly qualify as a very difficult find! You'll find plenty of caches located on hiking trails, in parks and at beaches, in fairly accessible spots. Caches will never be buried, placed in a way that disturbs the environment or located too close to a railroad track or roadway.
Treasure in a Cache:
What might you find in a cache? The sky's the limit! Caches might be as simple as a guest book where you can see the names and hometowns of everyone who visited it before you, or as elaborate as a holiday themed box filled with small toys or ornaments. For example, a 4th of July themed cache might include small flags or red, white and blue tennis balls and frisbees, or a Christmas themed cache might be filled with tree ornaments.
Rules of Geocaching:
One of the few rules of the game is that if you take something, you must leave something in its place, ensuring that the cache is never empty for the next treasure-seeker. This applies even to the simple log book only caches; if you enjoy reading what others have written, be sure to leave a tip of your own! Advice about local attractions and restaurants is always appreciated by fellow geocachers.
Getting Started:
So, what do you need to get started? While RV dealers frequently recommend this game to those frequent travelers who are RV or Georgia travel trailer owners, it can be a fun game for anyone who travels. It is necessary to have a GPS system installed in your vehicle, since that's how you'll locate the coordinates of each cache. The Georgia RV dealer that sold you your RV should be able to help you pick the right GPS system for you. Other than a sense of adventure and some small trinkets to leave at cache sites, you don't need any other equipment.
As you begin searching out caches, you might start to notice some that aren't as typical as a simple "treasure chest." Some Georgia RV dealerships have begun collecting lists of the most exciting caches their customers find. Multi-cache locations actually send you along on a scavenger hunt to find the next clue, which will eventually lead you to the final cache. In some areas, a multi-cache can help give you a tour of unique or interesting features of the location. If you have children, don't be surprised to hear your GA RV dealer recommend you search out Earth-caches. In these, you'll find educational information related to geology or earth sciences. Several other types of caches exist out there- part of the fun is finding a new one on your own!
