The Boy Scores an FTF!

I got an E-mail notification of a newly placed geocache only 4.5 miles from home. I wasn't able to go after it right away so The Boy and I headed out about two hours later. It was in a sports park and there were surprisingly few people near ground zero.

I didn't take the camera this time because I wanted to try videotaping our geocaching adventure and posting it here on the website. I was considering this to be an opportunity to practice video posting before the upcoming flash mob event.

The Boy made the find easily enough and we were pleasantly surprised to find what Webfoot would call a "Virgin Log." I got pretty good footage of the find and of The Boy opening the log and releasing "that smell"

I was all fired up about the idea of creating video geocaching posts. I even made another video. It is a "How to make a geocache" type video and was prepared to post that one as well.

I felt like a real Speilberg. Now time for some editing. This is where the trouble started. My Sony Digital camcorder does not have USB, it uses I Link. My computer doesn't have I'Link. They don't make adapters between the two because USB and firewire are two different technologies and are not compatible. (VHS vs. Beta maybe?)

Well, I'm smarter than silly electronic gadgets. I found an A/V out to RCA cable and plugged the camcorder in my recordable DVD player. I copied the movie clip onto a DVD-R as I laughed and pointed at the Sony. So, the genius pops the newly created DVD-R into my DVD drive in the computer and the computer says, "OK, genius, what do you want me to do with this blank DVD-R?"

It turns out I'm no genius.(big surprise!) The computer doesn't recognize the format the DVD player records in or something. I guess I need to find an A/V out to USB adapter????. If there are any techie readers out there, please offer up some suggestions. I don't want to buy a firewire hub for the computer because I no longer have money.

The Boy and I picked up a few more caches after the FTF. We got seven that day. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to help tell my story and to entertain those that don't actually read all of this. I have some great video of the whole thing though. As soon as I can claim victory over the Sony, I'll be able to share it. I really need to get it straightened out before the event in May. I would love to be able to share our fun with all of you.

I will tell the story of one of our other finds. We went after another cache in this very large sports park. I remembered a couple stories from the last event about this cache and the fact that it was up high. We approached a large solid metal gate that guarded some very important dumpsters. I figured it must be under the cap at the top of the fence post. They must have made this gate high so that people couldn't launch unauthorized trash over it. The post I was looking at was probably 12 feet off the ground.

I lifted The Boy over my head so he could search for it. It was difficult to maneuver him and he quickly said, "OK, let me down." I said, "You didn't even look for it." He opened his hand to reveal the cache. It was one of those nano caches that is about the size of a pencil eraser with a magnet in it. Good job, The Boy. I signed the log and it was time to replace the miniature treasure. This time up, The Boy decide to become very ticklish and did a lot of squirming and laughing. He finally stuck the thing back in it's hidey hole and we laughed our way back to the car.

That's what's great about geocaching with The Boy. He turns a nano in the park into a memorable experience.