Geocaching in Quincy

The kids and I just got back about 45 minutes ago from geocaching. We had a blast! If you don't know what geocaching is then let me explain. You get your GPS and punch in the longitude and latitude and you're off! That is basically all there is to it. You are trying to find a geocache that has been hidden in a certain area by another GPS enthusiast. You get the coordinates off the web from the geocaching site. The "treasure" can be in about anything that is weather proof. Sometimes there are trinkets in the container, sometimes you just sign a log that other geocachers have signed. Today we found one in a fairly small container that looked much like it's surroundings and the other lead us to a gravestone (2 actually) in a cemetery. The last one included a short history lesson. We did both of the geocaches in about an hour. I would highly recommend this as a family activity! We hope to make our own geocache this summer!

St. Louis Trip

I just got back from my trip to St. Louis. I have to say that whoever invented the GPS better not live too close to me or they are going to get a big fat hug! It is one of those devices that makes you wonder how you got along without it. We started out by going to World Market. I love that place. If you haven't been, they have all kinds of food from around the world and many different types of decor items. It was time for lunch then so we went and ate a Joe's Crabshack...wonderful! After filling up on seafood we decided to hit the Chesterfield Mall. We spent a few hours there browsing and getting a couple of items for the kids. I think the walking really wiped out my little one. She was complaining about her legs being tired. I think our favorite place in the mall was the Lindt Chocolate store. It was amazing. After the mall we trekked it over to a Toys R Us and let the kids do some "Christmas Scouting". They, of course, loved it. Again, we were hungry so we found a Chevy's (Tex-Mex) and went an ate supper. I think my son could have eaten 5 tacos! He was starving. The only bad part of the trip was my kids "working out their differences" in the back of the van. My kids are not mild, quiet children and sometimes can act like caged animals if they are not entertained. Overall, I would give the day an 8 out of 10. Pretty good!

St. Louis and a GPS

I am going to St. Louis tomorrow. I am going to test out my new Garmin Nuvi 200 GPS. So far I have just used it around Quincy. GPS units are amazing! This particular unit has many easy to use features. If you have the means I would highly recommend purchasing one especially if you travel a lot. The only complaint that I have about this unit, and it is a small one, is that it takes it a while to sync into the satellites when you first turn it on. Other than that it is easy to use and easy to read. My kids think it is amazing (along with all the adults I have shown it to!). You can use it in the car, on a bike, or even when you are walking somewhere. I will give you an update on how it works in a city atmosphere.

GPS Opportunities

My high school class and I just got done marking the trees and fire hydrants that are located on the school property. I think the kids were kind of surprised on how easy GPS (Global Positioning System) units are to use. It took us roughly six days to mark around 100 trees and five fire hydrants. We are hoping the the school district can use this information to see where more trees may be planted and where current trees exist. To answer the question that everyone is asking, yes they could just walk around the school's property and see, but I think seeing this information on a map makes it much easier to see as a whole. The fire hydrants, I think, are very important as far as location, especially with the new addition at the grade school. We only marked the ones on the school property (5) but there were some that were directly across the street from the school's property (4-5). We now have the school's property boundaries, the exterior of the buildings, trees, and fire hydrants all marked. The property and exterior of the buildings was done in 2006 by my class that included freshman through seniors. We already have the boundaries and the exterior of the buildings mapped, using GIS (Geographical Informational Systems-Arcview in this case). We will be adding the trees and fire hydrants to the map soon. The kids this year (9th grade) enjoyed this project. They learned something, got some exercise, inhaled some fresh air, and hopefully, benefited the school district.

We, the technology coordinator and myself, hope to get some monies through grant opportunities to purchase more GPS units so that larger classes can benefit from this wonderful learning experience! I think we are ready to step it up a notch and venture out into the community.