A cache with my buddy

I was asked today to help a very dear friend of mine move some of his household goods to storage in preparation of his upcoming move. I have known "Los" for almost three years now. Our friendship developed when I was given the glorious chore of being our company's operations sergeant(all possible sarcasm intended). Shortly after that I found out he was a true hockey fan and wings faithful! Instant friendship! We continued to develop a relationship over the years, talking hockey, work, kids, and whatever came about. During a conversation a few weeks ago I found out my good buddy was also known as "locckdown" on my newest hobby Geocaching. As we sat in McDonalds today eating lunch I pulled out my phone and fired up my Geocache Navigator. There it was. 500 feet away. "So Proudly We Wave". I looked at Los and told him we're doing it! Off we went for a brisk walk, got to the GZ with ease and searched for a min before I saw it hanging from a branch. We signed the log, looked over the "treasure", and put it back as we found it. I have no doubt that this may be the only time Los and I get to hunt together. Once again I will have to say good-bye to a dear friend as they move along in this big green machine.  Saying good-bye to those I have grown to love has become one of the few things I can say that I truly hate. But such is life. So when the time comes I will stand and "proudly wave" as my buddy moves along. Take care brother!

Our Adventure Begins

On a sunny warm October day the sport of Geocaching was introduced to me through Blackberry App World of all places. So with a fresh app on my phone, gps in hand, we headed off on a three mile hike to find these "cache" things. Oh the journey it was! Myself and my five children have never been ones to take the path of least resistance. We could have taken the road out and around, adding a mile or so but no, not us. Not me. We hung a left into the North Carolina bush to find ourselves a shortcut. It wasn't until I was neck deep in thistle bush, three out of five children in tears, and my youngest perched on my shoulders that I realized the error in my ways. My sense of adventure, an inherent trait of McGlynn men, had put us in a less than fun situation. I had broken the first rule of geocaching not even an hour into the game. Thankfully for me my kids have short term memories and heal quickly! After we came out of the killer brush we entered into out first GZ(GeoZone- an area where the cache is located). Searching high and low we were successful in finding #1. GC29GT6- Memorial Day Cache. An ammo can packed FULL of goodies for the kids, a sign in log, and other trinkets of wonder. Tears were gone, scratches were fading, I was a hero. It was like a drug almost. I was instantly hooked. My kids.... well 2 out of 5 joined my obsession, the others would come along eventually. So we were victorious, we had found the treasure, now it was time to head home. Really. Three miles back. Sigh. Then from east came the most glorious sight I had ever seen. A flaming red chariot descended on us as if from heaven itself. It pulled up next to us and from inside the vessel an angelic voice spoke almost in a song. "You guys wanna ride home"? My wife, Jill, whom I had spoken to before we left and told her what we were doing and where we were going, was on her way home from work and thought she would swing by to see if we wanted a ride. I kissed her. The kids kissed her. She saved us! The ride home was short and full of stories of our adventure. Jill drove shaking her head thinking me crazy for embarking the way we did. But in the end it was only the beginning. We are now on #145. We have been all over this wonderful "backyard" of ours. We have found old wooden bridges, beautiful little churches, smelly pig farms, and trickling streams. We have crossed massive canyons(ish), found wonderful local food markets, located a VW bug enthusist-NC style, and nearly been arrested(thats a whole other post LOL). Bottom line is we have found a hobby, we have become treasure hunters, modern day pirates, GEOCACHERS!!