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Geocaching For The Next Generation


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I got this NY Times Article from my Dad today. He occasionally joins me on an early morning hunt when we are together. He was mildly amazed when we found several on our recent trip to Italy, especially the Roman Forum cache. Here is a story of how/why one couple is setting out caches for their grandchildern to find:

 

Grandparents, take note: Alan and Nancy Bixby just raised the bar.

 

The Bixbys, a semiretired couple in Whidbey Island, Wash., have come up with a unique legacy by melding a new fad, geocaching, with an old one, time capsules. Their site, www.timeinacapsule.com, details their efforts to bury 10 time capsules containing memorabilia intended for their grandsons (Jake, 11, and Luke, 3) in remote wilderness areas of the western United States.

 

They imagine that decades from now, their grandchildren will venture forth to find the capsules with the aid of Global Positioning System devices, just as people do in geocaching, a kind of outdoor treasure hunt. To that end, they are preparing "retrieval folders" for each capsule with G.P.S. data, photos of the drop site, topographic maps and other notes.

 

Perhaps more important than the contents of the capsules are the locations. "Our grandsons are growing up in an urban environment, and we want to ensure that at some point in their lives they experience the wilderness," Mr. Bixby said. So far the Bixbys have buried capsules in the Idaho mountains, on a beach in Washington State and near a Montana ghost town.

 

The site provides step-by-step instructions for other grandparents who want to follow their lead. The attention to detail is impressive: for example, copies of the retrieval folders will be left with a "fail-safe" younger relative as well as with the boys' parents.

 

The Bixbys do not seem troubled by the possibility that their grandsons might resist retrieving their far-flung capsules. For one thing, Mr. Bixby explained, some valuables were included in each capsule "just in case the boys are not as excited as we are."

 

cutnpasted with no permission at all :huh:

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Sounds like fun, but if they are not interested, they're just not going to be interested. It costs a bit to travel to all those places :huh:

If my grandparents had left something like this for me, I would go to the ends of the earth to retrieve the contents.

 

El Diablo

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Sounds like fun, but if they are not interested, they're just not going to be interested. It costs a bit to travel to all those places :huh:

If my grandparents had left something like this for me, I would go to the ends of the earth to retrieve the contents.

 

El Diablo

Yeah, me too! I would find that impossible to resist. What a gift to leave.

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How long do the kids have to wait to go looking? YOu said decades but if the kids are 11 then in say 7 years, if it were my son he would plan a vacation around looking for it. Sorry Mom, can't help with the painting this weekend, I have to go to Idaho and look for Grandma's treasure.

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