We built Ben's first snowman last weekend, when we still had snow, now it's in the 40's and raining...blecccch...
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Ben's First Snowman!!!
We built Ben's first snowman last weekend, when we still had snow, now it's in the 40's and raining...blecccch...
Geocaching with La La
We went to Maine for a couple of days after Christmas, and one day went geocaching with La La. It's amazing how many fun geocaches there are out there...we found one less than 2 miles from La La and Steve's house...during the course of the day we found 4 geocaches (3 physical containers and 1 virtual geocache...explained at the bottom of this post)...
We used my new GPS and the little one that Ben likes to find out way from the parking spot into the woods, and found a gorgeous spot that we never would have visited without geocaching to help us get out of the house...
Beautiful rockfaces and a deep channel of water make this spot a must-visit when we come back in the warm months of the year (picnic and swimming...maybe even cliff-jumping)...
La La and Ben had to confer once we got within the GPS error circle, and had to use our collective geo-sense to find the container...we did, of course...
This is the view from right next to the hiding spot of the geocache, I almost took an inadvertent swin when the needles slid away towards the cliff...
Our next 2 geocaches were on Bradbury Mountain, a short but steep climb with a disproportionately nice view ( for the effort needed to reach the top, you get an amazing view)...nonetheless, we were all impressed with our ability to summit Bradbury Mountain, given the over-feasting we had all engaged in in the last few days...
La La and Ben pose for the victory-shot atop the mountain after having found the geocache near the top...
Ben and I getting a shot with the USGS summit-marker, "benchmarking" is an offshoot activity associated with geocaching in which you find and report on the condition of these markers...I know...I know...
Here you can see Ben posing with a trade-item from the 3rd geocache of the day and his favored GPS unit, the Garmin Foretrex, it's hands-free (read also drop-free)...
Farmers built cattle corrals out of these huge stones all over this part of Maine a long time ago...long enough ago for this lichen to have grown to ridiculous proportions...
Here the entire geocaching team can be seen posing for the "money-shot"...scenic old corral in the background, smiles all around, retro-fitted ammo-can in hand...
Our next, and final, geocache of the day was a virtual...meaning that there is no container...to get "credit" for this type of geocache, you need to email the geocache owner the answer to some questions about the location...in this case the worldwide headquarters of DeLorme, a map and navigation company...and also home to the largest globe in the known universe...it's a geocacher's Graceland...
La La and Ben and I can here be seen assuming the traditional "inside DeLorme...looking at the really big globe" look...it's really...really...really...big...it's tilted like the Earth, and rotates like the Earth, and has mountains and trenches, and WOW, is the Pacific Ocean a long way across...
(NERD NOTE: the Earth rotates around it's axis, and revolves around the Sun...the difference is apparently important)
Ben loved running around, looking at the different parts of the planet and asking us what "THAT!" was...he stopped for a picture as the Galapagos Islands slowly moved past him (you can see them about 2 feet above his right shoulder)...DeLorme was a blast, and a great way to end a fun day of geocaching (which may be a tautology)...Thanks La La!
We used my new GPS and the little one that Ben likes to find out way from the parking spot into the woods, and found a gorgeous spot that we never would have visited without geocaching to help us get out of the house...
Beautiful rockfaces and a deep channel of water make this spot a must-visit when we come back in the warm months of the year (picnic and swimming...maybe even cliff-jumping)...
La La and Ben had to confer once we got within the GPS error circle, and had to use our collective geo-sense to find the container...we did, of course...
This is the view from right next to the hiding spot of the geocache, I almost took an inadvertent swin when the needles slid away towards the cliff...
Our next 2 geocaches were on Bradbury Mountain, a short but steep climb with a disproportionately nice view ( for the effort needed to reach the top, you get an amazing view)...nonetheless, we were all impressed with our ability to summit Bradbury Mountain, given the over-feasting we had all engaged in in the last few days...
La La and Ben pose for the victory-shot atop the mountain after having found the geocache near the top...
Ben and I getting a shot with the USGS summit-marker, "benchmarking" is an offshoot activity associated with geocaching in which you find and report on the condition of these markers...I know...I know...
Here you can see Ben posing with a trade-item from the 3rd geocache of the day and his favored GPS unit, the Garmin Foretrex, it's hands-free (read also drop-free)...
Farmers built cattle corrals out of these huge stones all over this part of Maine a long time ago...long enough ago for this lichen to have grown to ridiculous proportions...
Here the entire geocaching team can be seen posing for the "money-shot"...scenic old corral in the background, smiles all around, retro-fitted ammo-can in hand...
Our next, and final, geocache of the day was a virtual...meaning that there is no container...to get "credit" for this type of geocache, you need to email the geocache owner the answer to some questions about the location...in this case the worldwide headquarters of DeLorme, a map and navigation company...and also home to the largest globe in the known universe...it's a geocacher's Graceland...
La La and Ben and I can here be seen assuming the traditional "inside DeLorme...looking at the really big globe" look...it's really...really...really...big...it's tilted like the Earth, and rotates like the Earth, and has mountains and trenches, and WOW, is the Pacific Ocean a long way across...
(NERD NOTE: the Earth rotates around it's axis, and revolves around the Sun...the difference is apparently important)
Ben loved running around, looking at the different parts of the planet and asking us what "THAT!" was...he stopped for a picture as the Galapagos Islands slowly moved past him (you can see them about 2 feet above his right shoulder)...DeLorme was a blast, and a great way to end a fun day of geocaching (which may be a tautology)...Thanks La La!
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