I bought a GPS today.

While it will certainly be useful to me, seeing as I have a natural talent for getting lost, I got it mainly for its hobbyist uses.

Geocaching is a game where someone hides a box, then posts its coordinates online, where others can hunt for it. The box will typically contain a logbook and pen for finders to sign. It might also contain various low-value items that might be exchanged for similar-valued items by finders.

Today I found my first geocache.

It was an ammo box, hidden in a little itty bitty park near downtown Martinez. It was semi-embedded in the dirt behind a tree, partially covered with dead leaves. Inside was the ubiquitous logbook and pen (which I signed), along with other little bits and piece of stuff, including things like a slinky, a rubber bouncy ball, a plastic fly, stickers, some business cards for a club of some sort, and similar effects. I didn’t take or leave anything; the main purpose of the exercise was just to find the box.

The logbook must have had a good hundred or so messages left by finder, so it’s been discovered pretty frequently in the (according to its entry on the web) 6 years since it was placed.

I’m considering going to the post office and buying a cheap book of stamps with a $20 bill, just to get some dollar coins from the machines, hopefully getting some presidential dollar coins back to use for exchanging.