Geo-caching and Adventure!

While I've been down in the dumps due to the fault of my wonky emotional conscious brain, I've been doing my best to live life and enjoy the adventure of everyday. I'm noticing that writing really helps and taking photographs also helps me to appreciate the now more and more. Looking back through Blondie's (my iPhone) camera roll, I saw that I have yet to share one of the most magical, air-purifying adventures that I've ever been on-- one of the best dates I've ever been on. For Valentine's Day Alex took me to Alafia River State Park, only about a forty-minute drive from our apartment. He was surprised that I was surprised because he had thought I already knew we were going hiking. I had told him I wanted to do something out-doorsy but I didn't have a clue that we were actually going on an adventure!
Once we arrived, we were greeted at the gate by a very happy and informative park-gate lady. We purchased a cool patch for Alex's collection and learned that they just created a new geo-cache. Now I've never been geo-caching before but let me tell you now that it's like a treasure hunt where the treasure is actually finding the box (sometimes what's inside the box can be rewarding too but, trust me, the reward for finding the more difficult ones really was just finding them). The first geo-cache we did was supposed to be the most difficult and boy did we have fun. Smart phones may have GPS and compasses on them but when you're out in nature there's only so much that a satellite can do for you. I mean, I can't expect Blondie to see me through a canopy of trees or the interference of nature's essence. So for this first geo-cache really was the most difficult because we were gaining our bearings and figuring out whether our phones were actually pointing us in the correct direction or if this box was somewhere up in the tree above us. When we finally got our phones to find us, and we had circled and paced back and forth between brush and those short-palm-tree-like-trees-that-alex-would-know-their-name, we found this cute, only slightly hidden box.

What we found inside was fairly random: a baseball card, random cards, a log book, and Mcdonald's toys (I wonder how interesting it would be to find that toy many years from now and not know what it is?) What I thought to be of most value was the log book. Writing down our names made me feel like I'm a part of something. And it's wonderful to think that it connects us to others who are on the same adventure, finding different things and leaving behind others. None of the other boxes were actually boxes but they were still all very fun to search for.

The last one we were looking for took the most time to find and we nearly left without finding it. We searched high and low but couldn't get closer than a big hill because our phones would absolutely lose us underneath the tree canopy. In the end Alex did find it though. We must have stepped over it numerous times and passed by it a dozen. It was a camouflage contain and boy does that stuff work! For sure we left a silly note inside the log about what fun we had finding it.

Prior to the geo-caching we enjoyed a nice hike around the main hiking trail, saw beautiful ferns, and (of course!) a couple turtles. We also encountered a father with two boys whom we admired and hoped to be similar to when we became parents. Those boys were so excited to be outdoors and they were just happy to be with their dad. Showing your kids a good time doesn't have to cost a butt load of money, it just costs time and love-- love for the world around you. 

While I had the most amazing time hunting for hidden boxes and breathing in the fresh air, I know that my biggest adventure continues on and happens every day. My life with Alex will always be my favorite adventure.