GeoCaching

We had previously heard about Geocaching but had never really gotten into it. We had wanted a small hand held GPS that would be good for hiking boating and kayaking but the hand held ones we found were not user friendly. We happened to see a great deal at Walmart on a Magellan 1500 GPS. It was supposedly a $439 unit on sale for $199. Al and I never could pass up a good bargain, and knowing we could return it if it didn't work right, we decided to buy it. I found a website for Geocaching and learned that there are hidden cache treasure sites all over the country. The website gives you general locations then you use a GPS to find the "treasure." There were even several here in the small town of Cairo, Georgia. A group of people hide a small "treasure chest" and list on the website the GPS coordinates and some hints on where to find it. Some of the containers are fairly large (gallon sized) and others are very small. You can take an item from the cache but you are then obligated to leave something. We actually found our first cache in Azalea Park in Cairo. Al found it actually, I was headed in the wrong direction. I had to retrieve it though as Al finds Poison Ivy where ever he looks! We signed our name to the log book but didn't take or leave anything. We discovered the Magellan GPS was not what we wanted. The screen wasn't very bright, it was difficult to use and you couldn't download sites directly from the website to the unit. We decided to return it and wait and get a better unit at a later date. We probably will get a Garmin. We have a cheap model Garmin E-trex but it is aggravating to use. Not user friendly! We're looking for a good all around hand held unit and will try this sport again. I think it would be a lot of fun while camping in a state park.

Suwannee River State Park, Live Oak, Florida

We decided to make a stop at Suwannee River State Park while going home from a trip to Tampa. We had been there before but needed to refresh our memory. It is a nice park with a lot of good hiking trails. It is 93 miles from our house in Cairo and according to the GPS about 1hr 45 minute drive. We don't like to go much further than that. It was early February so the trees are pretty bare and brown. It will look much prettier when things green up. The campground is small but pretty nice. There are only 30 campsites and 5 cabins. Our favorite site was #20 followed by 10 and 9. Other sites we liked are: 15, 21, 22, 23, 24. Some other good sites are: 2 (no view), 4, 7, 14, 25. We have some in a pinch sites which are: 18, 19, & 28. The campsites are $16.35 per night with tax and are all FULL HOOK UP. Yes, that means they have sewer! It is the only Florida State park I know of with sewer hook-ups. There 5 cabins which rent for $98.10 a night with tax. They sleep 6 people. Reservations can be made at Reserve America or calling 1-800-326-3521. The campground is not on the river, so there are no waterfront views. Their is a boat/kayak launch in the park. The river has high banks with lots of sandy beach areas so that you can get out and stretch your legs while kayaking. We hate those gator infested rivers where there is no safe place to get out and stretch. It is a nice campground and park. We will definitely make a trip there soon.