Googling My Way Through Life - The Secret (Treasure Hunt)

I am 90% sure most of my googling happens during television watching.  I am a big fan of the treasure shows Curse of Oak Island, Civil War Gold and Expedition Unknown.  Josh Gates of Expedition Unknown recently had show on the book, "The Secret". It was actually their 2nd time exploring the treasure hunt.

The book contains 12 puzzles that lead to 12 cities where a vase (casque) is buried in a Plexiglas box containing a key/ The key can be redeemed for a jewel. Only 2 of the 12 casques have been found and Bryon Preiss, publisher and keeper of the locations,  has since passed away but the keys still can be redeemed for jewels.

Well all of this led to a lot of googling. Josh Gates and Expedition Unknown went to Charleston and San Francisco

The Secret Wiki

For less intense adventures but treasure none the less try Geocaching or Letterboxing.  Those are the kind of adventures I like. I think I will stick to those. I love to hear about the hunt.

Check out the rest of my "Googling My Way Through Life " series here

31 Days of Adventure - Modern Day Treasure Hunting.

I am joining the Nester's 31 Days of Writing.  Check out my entire series - "31 Days of Adventure."

One of my favorite parts of any adventure is the chance to do treasure hunting. My current favorite of course is geocaching. But I think there are several categories of modern day treasure hunting.

Geocaching - Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container} hidden at that location. All the details and much more can be found at Geocaching.com. Check out my series post Finding Tupperware with Million Dollar Satellites.

Finding a geocache
Kevin and Charlie

Letterboxing - Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining navigational skills and rubber stamp artistry in a charming "treasure hunt" style outdoor quest. A wide variety of adventures can be found to suit all ages and experience levels. Many people start letterboxing and then move on to Geocaching. Letterboxing compared to geocaching is very low tech. There are 2 different websites to access Letterboxing - Atlas Quest  and Letterboxing North America

Beaver Stamp found in Squire Lake Letterbox
near Bellingham WA

Munzee - Munzee is the next generation in global scavenger hunt games. Simply download the free app, scan the munzees you find, and score points. Munzees are basically QR codes that you scan. These seem to be found in more urban areas.


Thrifting/Yard Sales - Many people are avid treasure hunters at local garage sales and thrift store. I once found a pie bird at Salvation Army Thrift Store for a great bargain. It was marked 99 cents but discounted to 49 cents. These usually go for 20 to 30 dollars. I love the thrill of the search.

Where else can you find a Jumbo Leotard?

Hunting for Sea Glass- For most of my adult life, I have lived near the ocean. I enjoy looking for sea glass.  I have a small collection. Here is a post about one of our adventures hunting for sea glass

Are you a modern day treasure hunter too?

Pomona Grange Park

We were doing some geocaching last weekend, surprise!  We visited this park just over the county line.  There were some amazing nurse trees here.  The cache we were seeking was actually called XXL Nurses. The nurse tree below looks like it has a face. 

It was logged as the slots are where the loggers put planks to saw the tree down.  The park had a nice nature path.  It is definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.  It is also right next to a fishery. We also stumbled across a letterbox here as well.

Chuckles and #1 Son

Whatcom Reads 2012

Ever year the Whatcom County Library System picks a Washington Author's Book to read as a whole county- Whatcom Reads. Along with the book picked there are all kinds of activities as well.  I have yet to make it to an actual author talk but maybe this is the year.

This year's pick is Elizabeth George's In the Presence of the Enemy.

Hailed as the "king of sleaze," tabloid editor Dennis Luxford is used to ferreting out the sins and scandals of people in exposed positions. But when he opens an innocuous-looking letter addressed to him at The Source, he discovers that someone else excels at ferreting out secrets as well.
Ten-year-old Charlotte Bowen has been abducted, and if Luxford does not admit publicly to having fathered her, she will die. But Charlotte's existence is Luxford's most fiercely guarded secret, and acknowledging her as his child will throw more than one life and career into chaos. Luxford knows that the story of Charlotte's paternity could make him a laughingstock and reveal to his beautiful wife and son the lie he's lived for a decade. Yet it's not only Luxford's reputation that's on the line: it's also the reputation—and career—of Charlotte Bowen's mother. For she is Undersecretary of State for the Home Office, one of the most high-profile Junior Ministers and quite possibly the next Margaret Thatcher.   (Amazon)

I read this on my Kindle. I really enjoyed this mystery.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy a good who done it. This one kept me guessing to the very end. I am looking forward to reading more Elizabeth George.

One activity  I plan to do is the letterboxing activity similar to geocaching.  They will be releasing clues to letterboxes located  in the library.  The letterboxes have image stickers you collect to form a rebus (a visual puzzle). So far, 2 clues have been released.  There are 5 clues total. Once you collect all the stickers and solve the rebus.  You can enter the drawing for Elizabeth George's next book Believing the Lie. So if you are local, give this a go.

I have read previous Whatcom Reads selections but so far this is my favorite.  Previous Selections have included The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian, Border Songs and Old School.

Sunday at the Beach

#1 Son on the Rocks

When the going gets tough, the tough head to the beach. It cleared enough yesterday afternoon to head to the beach. Our favorite beach is Semiahmoo beach. We did some beach combing. Ms Smarty pants found a starfish.

We ate a sub sandwich. We managed to find a geocache and a letterbox. All in all not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon

GeoCaching

On my Birthday in November, I asked for a kids GPS to do geocaching. My GPS is a geomate jr. Geocaching is basically a high tech treasure hunt with a handheld GPS. As someone put it, geocaching is using million dollar satellites to find a Tupperware box. I have been a long time fan of Letterboxing but there are lots more geocahces than Letterboxes in the area I live. Through letterboxing I have discovered some really neat out of way places. I thought geocaching would be a fun activity to do as a family. Thursday when we went to the Pacific Science Center we also found 1 geocache. Here is a picture near where we found the cache. It was by a huge rock tucked in by the Pacific Science Center. I had never noticed it before. We also met another lovely family doing the same thing. I love having the conversation, "Are you doing the same thing, we are doing?"

Summer Plans

School is winding down. School gets out on June 15th here. That is early for us. We had zero snow days this year.Summer planning has been on going here for a while. We are planning a big trip to celebrate Pappy's 90th Birthday. More details about that are on their way. I am home with my kids all summer long other than our big trip. Some things we plan on doing

*the beach

*Adventure Van trips with Mrs Epi and family. Some are adventures are found here and here

* Hiking- both Chuckles and Bones have specifically asked to hike to Squires Lake, again

* Letterboxing - Here is one of our local letterbox adventures

*Summer Reading Program through our local library. Chuckles is also going to be doing Book Adventures

*Get Movin- this year the program is run through the Whatcom County YMCA and offers free programs - In the past, the program offered free passes to the local aquatic center, YMCA, along with other events. Details on page 19 of their summer program brochure.

*#1 Son is doing a computer course through the local community college

Colorado Letterboxes

We found 4 letterboxes in Colorado. The first one we found was in Big Thompson Canyon. The second one we found was in Rocky National Park. I was so glad that we had #1 son with us because I am 100% sure that the Giant Man Child and myself couldn't have reached this.
Yes, it is in a giant split rock. My child is wedged in there. The next one was in the Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland, Colorado. We didn't follow the clues exactly. We had to locate 2 Charlie's. We entered from the wrong end so we never found Big Charlie but we did find Charlie. I love giraffes so I loved this clue.

Lastly we found one in the park across from the sculpture park near the little train. Unfortunately, the train didn't operate on that day of the week. Chuckles was bummed. Only the Giant Man Child and I were interested in finding that one. The clue involved a lot of counting.

Squires Lake

The adventure van was on the move yesterday. We went to Squires Lake. It was quite the hike. The notes I found on the Internet said the first 1/4 mile was steep and man, it was. I think the word strenuous applies here. I huff and puffed the way up the side of the mountain. There was no way I was going to be shown up by the 4 year old Princess. The whole gang did great on the hike even the littlest one hung in there. I am really proud of them. We felt like billy goats but it was worth it! We won't speak of me sliding on my rear on the way back.

We also found a letterbox there too. Mrs Smarty pants saw a snake. The lake is really beautiful with lily pads and an abandoned beaver dam. Maybe next time we will make it up to the beaver pond.

I had camera problems and only managed to get a picture of some scat that we (Mrs Epi) thinks might be bear or cougar. I think there is a certain irony here. The pictures for this post will follow in a later post. I don't know what the tech is going to say when he finds the only picture on my camera is of poop. Lucky that I had my phone with that takes pictures. Mrs Smarty Pants if you are reading this I have no idea how to get these off of my phone - Help! I am a lot electronically challenge. Maybe it was a good idea that my hubby got the extended warranty on my camera. I wonder if I have insurance on my phone.

The most precious part (emphasis on PRECIOUS)of the trip was on the way back home. Mrs Epi was telling her son, Bones, that he couldn't play Star Wars in the van and she didn't want to hear anymore Star Wars talk. Without missing a beat, Chuckles, said, " THIS VAN SUCKS." Mrs Epi and I about passed out with laughter. I don't like the word "sucks" and I did tell him that wasn't polite. His timing however was perfect.

Fairhaven Park to Marine Park

Yesterday, the kids rode their bikes on the interurban trail from Fairhaven to Marine Park. At the beginning of our bike ride, we stopped and found a letterbox. A letterbox is a box you find through using clues and the actual box contains a log book and a stamp. It is similar to geo caching but without the GPS. Bellingham is crisscrossed with a lot of trails. Mrs Epi and I walked(trailed) behind the bikes. Sometimes it was more like a jog. Hey, they were on bikes. We played for a few minutes on the beach.

There definitely was a lot of boy energy. These guys are either Larry, Curly, and Moe or the 3 Musketeers. I'm not sure which.

The View of the Bay

We had never done the bike ride thing together. I think the kids had a good time. On the way back, we made a pit stop for some ice cream.