Tag Archives: geocaching

Yesterday, we ended our geocaching streak, at least one find during each of the thousand and one consecutive days. It began on September 22, 2007 and ended on June 18, 2010. During that time, the streak has imposed a regiment of routine while taking us on adventures near, far and wide. We have visited Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, California, Wisconsin, Texas, Arkanasas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho and Hawaii, finding 1,156 geocaches.

Each day of the streak was captured with a photo or two, documenting our finds and in return our lives, especially the growth and development of our daughter McKenzie during the ages of two through four. Some of those photos have been posted on Flickr in a geocaching streak set. It is amazing to look back upon these photos, recapturing the sense of place.

When we drive around, we always seem to put the places we pass by or visit in the context of geocaching. “We found a geocache there,” I will point out to Jill, and Jill will ask me, “Didn’t we find a geocache here?” For McKenzie, she always puts in the request, “Can we find a cache in a park?” Yes, the streak has left us with a strong sense of place, a connection to that which we would have normally passed by without a second thought.

Then there was yesterday, and it was hard. In the back of my mind were doubts. Do I want to end it? Is 1,001 days enough? The minutes seemed to linger heavy with those doubts. Even at 10:50 PM that night, as I fixed myself something to eat, I called out to my wife, watching TV on the couch, “We still have a hour and 10 minutes to keep it going. I could run out real quick.” I was half joking, and, more revealing, half serious.

However, midnight came and went, and the streak is over. Thanks for the lessons in dedication and persistence.

See all the stats of our streak at here.