Modern-day treasure hunt
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Michael Owens / News Virginian
Published: September 9, 2007
Few customers of The Chatter Bus caf- in Waynesboro have probably ever noticed it. Though not buried, the treasure - marked "geocache. Do Not Remove" - is hidden out of plain sight. But it's still in an open enough spot for anyone to grab.
To a geocaching hobbyist hunting the grounds with a handheld global positioning system, however, it's as good as gold.
"You'll see a car come up and they'll have these little devices and walk around like space creatures," laughed The Chatter Bus owner Coleen Paixao.
Geocaching is an international high-tech scavenger hunt where players seek caches of trinkets and baubles left by others. All anyone needs to join the hunt are map coordinates of hidden caches, a digital GPS unit, and a crash course in navigation.
A lust for adventure helps, too.
"It is the best family fun," said Keri Jones, a teacher from Bridgewater.
Three-year-old Ethan enjoys romping through the woods, park or any other locale where treasure is hidden.
It's 11-year-old son Dylan who loves to spot the cache after the family has honed in on the GPS coordinates. Coordinates lead hunters to withnin feet of the treasure. Getting there is the easy part. The trick is finding the actual cache.
"We just grab our hiking sticks and go out into the woods," Keri Jones said.
The game is relatively new. In fact, it began seven years ago, just days after the U.S. military cleared up the GPS satellite signals available to civilians.
Until May 2, 2000, only the military could access signals that led to within feet of desired targets. The rest of the world depended on signals that brought them within several yards. The difference was all in the name of national security.
Within days, computer programers., backpackers and boaters schemed elaborate, worldwide scavenger hunts just to see how well the civilian GPS network worked, according to the Complete Idiot's Guide to Geocaching.
It's since blossomed into somewhat of an underground hobby. Some people even plan vacations around the hunt.
Cache locations now are listed at such clearinghouses as http://www.geocaching.com. Location lists are based on zip codes and cities. Map coordinates, and riddles written in code, also clue hunters in to a hidden stash.
Some geocachers even log journal entries about each cache discovered, sometimes even posting a photo of themselves with their finds.
On http://www.geocaching.com, out-of-town treasure hunter "flip/flop girlz," a retired Cincinnati teacher, wrote that she found the cache hidden at The Chatter Bus while taking a break from road trip.
At least one geocacher stops by The Chatter Bus each week, Paixao estimates. She's talked with treasure hunters from Texas, Delaware and Canada since the cache was placed at her business,
Janelle Elliott, of Fishersville, hid that cache, with Paixao's permission, more than a year ago. She has other hidden treasures, too. One can be found only by riding the Staunton trolley and counting the miles traveled.
"The fun is planning a really good cache," Elliott said.
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