Waypoint: Cache Quest Oregon Read Free

talked.
    “Sorry we couldn’t leave last night.” Ben said. “I had to go to Karate, and guess what? I passed my belt testing so now I’m a red belt!”
    “Wow, that’s great Ben! So, if we encounter anything scary on this trip you can protect us.”
    “I’ll try!” Ben smiled.
    They pulled into the Super Mart parking lot, and walked inside the store. “I think we need to go to sporting goods.” Lacey said.
    As they approached the sporting goods department a teenage boy with a pony tail asked them if they needed any help.
    “We need a good GPS unit, something that’s easy to use.” Lacey told him.
    The boy showed them the display of various units, in all different colors. They looked like walkie-talkies with small screens. “What are you gonna use it for?” The boy asked.
    “We are trying to get to a certain latitude and longitude point on the coast.” Lacey replied.
    “Oh, you guys are geocaching?” He asked.
    “What’s geocaching?” Ben replied back.
    “Oh, it’s this awesome new sport. Someone will take a container of some sort; fill it with cool stuff. The container is weatherproof so it can stay out in the elements without getting damaged. Along with the items there is a log book inside.” He grabbed one of the GPS units from the display. “Then they will document the exact longitude and latitude; they call it a ‘waypoint’, submit the information online at geocaching.com , then wait for people to go to that cache. So you go onto the internet and wham! All these locations come up, they’re marked using longitude and latitude, and sometimes the person who owns the cache will put clues in as well. Then you take your GPS unit and enter the exact waypoint of one of the sites you want to go to, the GPS unit then gives you step by step instructions on how to get to it.” He showed them how to get to the longitude and latitude screen on the GPS unit. “It is really cool, ‘cause when you find the geocache, you sign the log book, you take something out of the container and then you put something of your own in. Then the next person to go to that geocache can take the item you put in. It is like a scavenger hunt, but everywhere.”
    “What do you mean everywhere?” Ben asked.
    “Oh man, geocaches are everywhere, they’re on street signs and park benches, but they can also be at the top of mountains, or on the ocean floor where you would need scuba gear to get to them. It’s so crazy! Not a lot of people know about it, but they will soon.” He put the GPS unit back in the display. “I think the best unit for geocaching is this one, it’s made by Garmin, and is super easy to use.” he pulled a bright yellow unit out of a box. “It has a huge screen, it will tell you step by step instructions, and it will give you elevations. It does a lot more than that, but those are the basics.” He handed it to Ben so he could check it out.
    “That sounds great.” Lacey said
    “Oh and one other thing, this unit has a communication chip in it, you can’t call other people, but if you get into trouble you can call 911. 911 can then track your signal without you even having to talk to them; you just press this emergency button.” He pointed to a red button that had a triangle with an exclamation point in the middle of it.
    “That’s cool.” Ben said as he continued to play with it.
    “Great, we’ll take that one, now does it come with a car charger and stuff?” Lacey asked.
    “Yep, it’s all in there.” The boy said, as he took them over to the register. “Ya know, you better take a map as well, the unit is great, but to get a huge view it is nice to have a paper map.” He grabbed one of the maps off the counter by the register, and then rang them up.
    As soon as they got to the car Ben ripped open the package and took the unit out. “We should enter in the waypoint now,” he said, as he pushed buttons until he got to the proper screen. “Then we can charge it on the way to the