On 10/10/07, Lisa G. <lisasjunk@buppas.com> wrote:

I just started geocaching last year.  I'm probably not what most would
call a "serious" cacher...I don't go out every day, or week, or
sometimes even month.  I have small children, so it's not always the
easiest thing to just grab and go.  That said, we've had a number of
glorious weekends spent up in the high country.  Sometimes we do an
overnight trip.  More often we'll pack up the car early with a picnic
lunch, get to Payson in time for breakfast, cache to our hearts content,
stop at whatever beautiful place the caches lead us when we're hungry,
cache until the kids can't go anymore (remember, they're little!), stop
for dinner, get the kids in PJs and drive home.  It is the best family
time we ever have, and the kids have gained an appreciation for the
beauty of nature that they would never have gotten otherwise.  Just this
weekend we drove up to Payson and my 5-year-old kept commenting on the
view.  How many little kids care about a view these days?  Caching
taught him that.  Yes, they (and I!) love the thrill of the hunt, and
them moreso the prizes, but the experience together is the real
"treasure", IMO.

I didn't find out about HR until a couple of days before it happened
last year, so I couldn't get it together to go.  I remember thinking how
cool it sounded.  I kept looking for a price on the website, and didn't
find one.  I just couldn't fathom that it was free.  My next thought was
that it must be really lame (although it didn't sound like it).  The
more I heard and read, the more I realized that it was just a really
awesome even put on by people taking caching to the extreme.  And I felt
guilty for not even having a cache yet (still don't, but I'm working on
some ideas).  I told my husband that I wanted to do the event this year.

This year comes around and I see a fee.  And I think, "oh, man, with the
time, effort, and $$$ it must take to put this thing on, I'm not going
to be able to afford it this year".  Times are hard at work; I'm in
danger of losing my job.  Then I see the fee.  If I pre-register, it
will cost me $35 for my family of four.  That's nothing.  I spend that
on one night at a sit-down restaurant.  I spend that on *gas* driving up
to the high country (if I take my truck).  I think the fee is affordable
and reasonable, and regardless of the actual cost involved to put on the
event (and I know there is one), I think it's fair to compensate a
modest amount  for what I know must be a considerable amount of time
involved in setting up the event.  I know how much time it takes me just
to prepare to get a family of four away for an overnight trip; so I know
many more hours than that go onto the people who put on HR.

But, I'm not a serious cacher.  I'm just a mom with a couple of kids who
enjoys the opportunity to get out with her family for an (increasingly
rare) form of non-electronic entertainment.

-Lisa
"PoledraDog"
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