My earlier finds, and learning how to be a Geocacher...

Your number of finds isn't about some random number goal, but the experiences getting there.

As I write this, I currently sit at 95 finds. I should (can easily) have 100 by today's end, maybe tomorrow, I'm not sure yet. But its been an interesting journey.

I found #1 two days after my 33rd birthday and signing on for this adventure. I had to do a little research, and figure out just what it was I would be looking for. After searching the tube for awhile, I had seen everything from trail etiquette, beginner advice, a bunch of random idiots showing off for the camera, Jeeps driving through snow, people diving in lakes, and climbing mountains. I honestly don't think I had any better idea what I was really getting myself into.

Turns out, the first one was easy. Well, I say that now, but at the time, it seemed impossible to find. Of course, when you've never seen an example of a cache, you end up looking for awhile for something, anything, that seems out of place. Which reminds me, I still need to take a picture by that bridge.

At nearly 100 finds, I've come across so many things, and ideas, hiding places, and containers, that you realize that there is no such thing as a "typical" cache. (Sans the magnetic key holder hides, I suppose. But even they can be placed in ways never intended.)

I got frustrated early on. Its not easy taking on a whole new hobby without a guide, or a mentor, or someone to follow. You end up figuring thing out, but taking the tough, long road to get there. But, thinking back now, I may be better off for it. Sure it took me longer to find some than people would imagine. But its like learning to fix a car without the manual, but learning what everything does, how it works, why things work, and how to take it apart and put it back together, without someone showing you how. Just telling people to do something doesn't always help. Sometimes, they have to learn it all from scratch to make that connection in their brain from point A to B.

There were times I would come home, completely frustrated. Why couldn't I find it? What was I doing wrong? I had to learn by trial and error. And, a lot of error. But if you make mistakes, and learn from them, very often, that process leads to better results down the road, than if you find yourself on the easy path all the time. Someday, it wont be so easy.