caches – GilmourFamily Geocaching Blog

Goodbye 2019 Hello 2020

January 1, 2020Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged 2019, 2020, back in the game, blogging, Cache, caches, caching, East Yorkshire, family, Family day out, Family fun, fun, Geocache, Geocachers, Geocaching, Geocaching HQ, GilmourFamily, Jennifer Gilmour, life, New Year, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Riley, Robyn, sophie, souvenirs, The Gilmours, walk, walking, YorkshireLeave a comment

When we found out there were souvenirs to be claimed on the last day of 2019 and the first day of 2020; we couldn’t avoid the urge.

Souvenirs in the Geocaching world are like digital badges on your profile and throughout your Geocaching adventures, sometimes there will be a challenge set to achieve them and sometimes it will because you found a cache in a different country.

To claim the individual souvenirs we had to find one cache on each day and I am glad to say that we DIT IT! We actually did it in 2018 as well but in 2017 we only managed to claim one as we were away.

New Year’s Eve and we managed to find a Geocache very local to us, we like to keep a few for emergency caching. Thankfully we can find micro’s nice and easy now. Our last cache of 2019 was Priory Road Cache and Dash (GC676GF).

Our caching year totals so far:

2017- 191

2018- 134

2019- 102

Despite the decline in finds we absolutely love Geocaching and 2020 we are going to aim to increase our finds. Things are a little different as we are now a family that works from home full time. We are looking forward to 2020.

2020 arrived and Rob is going to remind us all of this moment, the first find of the new year. A quick magnetic find and not that far from us, we were near Riplingham. 100 yards (GC6RKAD).

We didn’t stop there, we went on to find three more and had a lovely fresh New Years Day walk. We would have done more but it was a bitter cold despite the sun shining bright on us.

You can see they were all excited to be back out caching again but it can get competitive. Your dog will like this one (GC6RK9R).

Two new badges and an exciting caching year ahead planned.

The Gilmours

Geocaching Appreciation Week 2019 – #IHeartGCHQ

January 27, 2019Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Cache, caches, daughter, East Yorkshire, family, family cachers, fun, Geocache, Geocachers, Geocaching, Geocaching Appreciation Week, Geocaching HQ, GilmourFamily, healthy, hobby, Jennifer Gilmour, kids, life, love, Riley, Robyn, sophie, The Gilmours, therapy, trail, travel, walking, weekend, youtube2 Comments

This blog was prompted by The Geocaching Vlogger, his video on declaration of an appreciation week for Geocaching HQ. We wanted to join in somehow and so the least we can do is write a blog post. In fact it’s the first one of 2019, we need to get back in on it. The Gilmour’s have done plenty of New Year Caching after all.

I’m going to try and not be so sentimental but I think it’s unavoidable. Here’s my message to Geocaching HQ…

Thank you doesn’t cut it for us because Geocaching has brought a lot to our lives. We have been caching for almost 2 years, in fact as soon as we discovered it we went out to cache. At first we enjoyed it, we couldn’t believe this was across the world and around us and then after time went by we realised what a difference it’s made to us. The time we went out caching was a way of escaping the reality of our lives at times, a way to get healthy and a way to spent time working as a team in our family unit. I used to laugh at those shirts that said ‘Geocaching is my therapy’ and then I came to realise that we could even relate to this. Escapism from my reality was important and still is at times, still recovering from an abusive relationship from some years ago. I do love nature and used to go walking a lot but it became difficult as it ended up thinking over situations etc all the time. Geocaching gives you a focus. Not many people know about my connection with Geocaching like this, so it’s quite personal. Thank you again HQ.

Our three children growing up with caching, this photo was from a couple of weeks ago.

This was a first family photo on our first Geocaching trail back in 2017.

Find out more about the Geocaching Appreciation week from Joshua himself…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQhzVhEfefg&w=560&h=315]

We have some blog posts ready to share so watch out for those coming out soon. Subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss them.

Jen and the rest of the Gilmour’s

Our new Geocaching tool…

June 30, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Cache, caches, family, fun, Geocaching, GilmourFamily, hubby, life, love, NE Geocaching Supplies, Riley, Robyn, sophie, stamp, tool, trail, walkingLeave a comment

A couple of weekends ago we were super excited to try out our new tool for Geocaching. We had ordered it back in May and it had arrived in all of its glory a week or so ago and we have been itching to give it a go!

Our very own stamp with our Geocaching username in place. It’s actually for a letterbox hybrid Geocache.

Geocaches have different types as follows:

You can find out more about the different types of Geocaches here.

We didn’t go and find a letterbox hybrid this weekend though but that didn’t stop us from using it. We went on a small section of a larger trail and decided to log our finds with it.

This is the loop we did without the multi as it wasn’t part of the trail. Multi’s we have to plan when we have the children especially if there are a lot of stages to go and find clues so we will have to come back for that one.

We had a lovely time and the kids enjoyed it. The stamp came out to play and it is going to be well used in the future. Thank you to NE Geocaching Supplies.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otVUqZfv3-w&w=560&h=315]

The walk we did we had to take it in turns to use the stamp and I think the excitement was over our family name all over it.

One of the Geocaches we found Sophie wanted to be filmed finding and opening it. We couldn’t refuse of course. So here’s the video…

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy35RJCTY6M&w=560&h=315]

Our aluminium coins are always complimented on and we leave our calling card in all Geocaches that they fit into. You can buy them here ETSY.

Right we need to get ready for our next adventure and will update you soon!

From us all

Plan plan and plan…

June 10, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Cache, caches, daughter, family, fun, Geocachers, Geocaching, hubby, life, love, map, organisation, plan, Rigby, Riley, Robyn, sophie, trail, walking, weatherLeave a comment

Sometimes Geocaching comes with planning and funnily enough the planning comes down to me, which I enjoy!

Yesterday we had planned to go on a trail that a fellow Geocacher we had met had created. We’ve been meaning to do it for a while but it was obvious with three children we weren’t going to be able to do it all in one go as the whole trail is around 7.5 miles long. Walking along could take us around 3-4 hours (considering Robyn’s tiny legs at times), if we were caching this could potentially double it.

For this outing I printed out the map so I could decipher what the cacher was explaining on his description at the first GC. If you read the description you can see what I mean.

See the first cache at GC4Z0J0 if you want to check it out.

This time I had informed my mum in law (2000SamJack) of our whereabouts in case for any reason we are in an emergency situation. Sometimes you can be out in the countryside without anyone else to see. I’m sure other walkers do this and so we have now implemented it into our caching days out. We also now have a travel first aid kit in our caching bag.

We decided to do the 3 mile segment as the weather wasn’t sunny and wasn’t raining and we could decide if it was going to rain. We also thought it would be a good amount for the children. We had set out at 10.30am and didn’t get home until 2pm so we did spend a while caching. Some were sneaky, we didn’t find them all- but that’s ok as we will return.

When approaching a cache I always sound out ‘100 meter warning’ so everyone knows we are getting close, followed by the hint for that cache we are approaching. If we can’t find it straight away I will re read the hint and on struggling caches we will go through the activity feed to see if a previous cacher has left another clue. I seem to manage and the rest find although sometimes I like to pretend it’s somewhere else and run to the correct location to be a first to find between us, nothing like a little competition.

We had a lovely walk and bumped into a few other walkers (not cachers) along the way. We often giggle because I’m sure people passing us are surprised we are out for a walk as a modern family and often stop and chat to us.

The kids even wore their Geocaching name badges, I love how they are so into our hobby.

Hope you have had a lovely weekend.

Jennifer

When in London…

May 16, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged alone, Cache, caches, David, Geocaching, Jennifer Gilmour, life, London, meeting, Micheal Angelo, museum, Paddington, public speaking, riddle, statue, Train Station, travel, V&A, virtual, virtual cacheLeave a comment

Hey everyone!

Jennifer here.

When in London… do a smidge if Geocaching!

I was in London for a speaking gig and couldn’t resist a sneaky bit of caching. I didn’t plan it, I just thought to myself if I have some time I will have a look and see what is around.

I had the opportunity to find two virtual caches.

First cache

I happened to have met a fellow writer in South Kensington for a coffee and I had a couple of hours spare and could see the V&A Museum was very close and had a virtual. I must admit I spent over an hour on it as it had a riddle BUT I got there in the end and wasn’t expecting to see this! I was so delighted that Geocaching brought me to visit the statue of David. It was in a side room I would have never had looked out for as it came from a dark corridor.

Once the riddle was solved I still had to find information from the back of the statue on a plaque. Managing to log it in the end and a lovely wonder around I enjoyed some time in the beautiful museum.

Second cache

I made my way to Paddington train station with good time, this is where I was meeting the event organisers for my speaking gig the next day.

I sat and read for a bit and then decided to have a quick look for caches to see if there was a cache in the station. I had already taken a must needed photo in Paddington underground to show the kids…

A quick look on the app and I could see there was a virtual cache nearby. I knew it had to be something to do with Paddington. A short walk a way and I find the statue I needed to. I had to answer the cache request and inform the cache owner of what was written on the suitcase. A nice and easy find with a photo opportunity.

It was nice to enjoy some light Geocaching in London.

Jennifer

Sometimes it doesn’t work out…

May 6, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Brocklesby, Cache, caches, car, daughter, DNF, Easter, egg rolling, family, flute, fun, Geocaching, hubby, life, love, lunch, oops, pied piper, Riley, Robyn, sophie, sun, SWAG, trail, walking, weatherLeave a comment

Yesterday we planned to spend the bank holiday Geocaching (of course)! The sun is out and it’s perfect weather for some caching fun.

However it just didn’t work out for us on the Saturday. We went out to the Brocklesby Estate and planned to get a good amount of caches since we had been there last year and had realised just how big the trail was! In fact you may recognise the name because we came here for the egg rolling event as well. It’s simply beautiful.

You can find number 1 of the trail at GC3KAC7.

We didn’t start at cache 1 but in fact at cache 10, in quick form our caching day looked like this: We found the first one easy, in fact it was Sophie who found it. The second we had no look. The third we bumped into a whole team of cachers who had set out to do the full 56 in one day! They found the cache for us and we signed the log 😉

We then sat and had some lunch as Robyn was a bit grizzly – to be honest she was very tired. The fourth cache we had no luck, it was more the inability to spend time on it with the three kids getting stung by nettles and shouting they had found it when they hadn’t. We just didn’t feel it and had spent a good few hours having a slow paced day.

Don’t get me wrong we had fun and it was the first time we didn’t mind not caching more, no frustration, we simply enjoyed the glorious sun.

And Robyn was way too interested in all of the mole hills, there were hundreds and she insisted in stopping at each one to investigate.

I better share this video of Rob who was trying to be the pied piper on the way back. The flute was some swag from a previous cache we had found.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aypB7kFe-ao&w=560&h=315]

So… if you ever aren’t ‘feeling’ it… it’s ok… embrace it.

Jennifer

Cache and dash

April 29, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Cache, Cache and dash, caches, car, family, Geocaching, hubby, muggled, mugglesLeave a comment

A few weeks ago we decided to set out for the afternoon but Robyn (our youngest at 2) fell asleep as we drove over the Humber Bridge.

Funnily enough we found plenty of caches that were all around 500feet away from each other and a perfect opportunity for cache and dash! Basically meaning you can drive up, park and find the cache quick.

Sophie and I found the first cache nice and fast – perfect for the cache and dash theme.

The second cache we had come to was a bit of a puzzle as Daddy (Rob) and Riley went out to find this tricky cache. To be honest it was because they were looking in the wrong place- sssshhhhh don’t tell them I told you. Found eventually as Mummy directed them (of course). On we went.

We managed to get six before Robyn woke up but she only woke due to the excitement from Sophie and Riley as we found and took in turns to go hunting.

Beautiful views and a lovely mild spring day (at last). It was nice to be able to just have a drive out a break the indoor TV days.

You can see where we started caching at GC58RKE (Fred’s No1 The Start). These are premium but membership is affordable at just £25 a year – another reason we love caching.

Jennifer

SWAG

March 23, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged Aqua beads, caches, coins, daughter, Frozen, Geocaching, Olaf, OuTFox, printing, snowman, sophie, SWAG, token3 Comments

For those of you who don’t know, SWAG is short for Stuff We All Get. In the Geocaching terms it is trinkets you find in caches that can be swapped with your swag.

Things you may find are toys, tokens, trinkets, tools, badges, figures and mini stationary. It gives the children even more excitement when we Geocache and finding child friendly (or bigger caches) makes it important at times.

We carry a lot of SWAG with us just in case we come across a cache with no SWAG 🙁 which is an unhappy sight.

Sophie often makes some SWAG, here’s one of her aqua bead creations that is in our SWAG bag.

If you don’t recognise it, this little snowman is in fact from Frozen as one of Olaf’s miniature friends.

As well as SWAG we also put a token of our own home made family ‘logo’ which is like a token. It’s to be kept in the caches and it acts like a calling card- to say that we were there. In the local area people have started to recognise our ‘logo’ and have seen where we have been.

The tokens/coins are made from aluminium and last 2 years with quality and fading after that. A very good length of time.

Who’s made them? My husband of course! The printing business have benefits and you can buy them.

I hope this has opened your eyes to what SWAG is and helped you prepare as well.

Jennifer

Spring is here and that means…

March 12, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged caches, fun, Geocaching, hubby, Hull, life, love, theatre, Train Station, walkingLeave a comment

That’s right! We are certainly back in the game now.

This weekend was the best weekend we have had in a long time and that’s because we spent three days Geocaching.

On Friday, Rob and I went to do a few caches that were odd ones out on our map. Usually ones we didn’t reach with the kids on a day Geocaching because they are just a little further out. We found 4/5 caches and it was so nice to spend some quality time together doing what we love.

These photos are from one of the caches we found which was just at the side from a busy road in Hull. We have been past it so many times and had never noticed this old train station and it’s platform.

Isn’t it just beautiful?

This is cache- Permanently Sidetracked GC6KZ76

We would have never of seen this if it wasn’t for Geocaching.

I have to admit we had missed this so much. After having my slipped disc it has impacted our family so much. I am still quite in pain with it and on high painkillers but we are doing shorter walks for an hour rather then the all day 8 mile hunt. It has put the gage back up on everyone’s happiness levels, you would be surprised at how much.

We both had a well earned coffee at the end of our caching morning whilst the kids were at school.

Have a great week.

Jennifer

GilmourFamily

Our best handmade cache…

February 4, 2018Posted in Geocaching AdventuresTagged caches, Geocaching, homemade, Maintenance, muggled, muggles, TB, Travel Bug, Travel Bug hotel4 Comments

We can now share this cache with you because it looks like it has been muggled. Muggles are those who don’t Geocache and whilst you are Geocaching you try not to get caught. We are so sad that this one has gone missing because it was one of our favourite makes and everyone was enjoying it, you can see it at GC7FKH4. We plan to replace it with another cache but we may have to alter the location slightly to avoid another muggle invasion.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_2a6kZEroA&w=560&h=315]

What do you think of it?

Rob, Jennifer, Sophie, Riley & Robyn