At the weekend I had a long awaited trip away with friends. 

This Mum was busting out with some time off for good behaviour.

Woo and indeed hoo! 😃

Mr muddy being the good sport he is sent me on my way with his blessing, a peck on the cheek and some money for an ice cream. 

Despite it being his birthday.

I really am a crap wife.

But at least I’m a fun one! 😉

The problem I faced was that I’m a secret Geocacher. 

A few friends know, some have witnessed me in Geocaching action as I’ve suddenly jumped into a tree or disappeared down a seedy a little alley, emerging with a film pot held aloft in triumph! A couple have been vaguely  interested but generally the look of shock is enough to make sure I never mention it again.

Luckily one of the friends I was away with, my walking buddy knows all about what I get up to, in fact is a recent convert. The rest oblivious. Completely unaware that I spend my spare time hunting for Geocaches, and then further more when I should be working – writing daft stories about it! 

The trouble being I’m currently on a streak. 

A filling my calendar streak, not a sadistic number chasing exercise. It’s hard going, but then challenges are. 

Keen to keep the streak going I knew I would have to come out in all my geeky glory. 

I tackled the first friend before we left; 

‘Umm…there is something I should tell you. Geocaching. Heard of it? Oh good, well I do it. A lot. Oh, and I blog too. Oh and I have a trackable sheep as well. Bye!’

Not weird at all is it?!

Leaving her to digest this overnight she was keen to tag along sometime to see what the fuss is all about. Result!

The next friend, not quite such an easy nut to crack. This time walking friend took the reins. 

She explained what geocaching was. Let’s face it however you explain it, it does sound a little odd. 

You do what?! 😳

I whipped out my phone and showed her this example;

  
Her disbelief was quite frankly hilarious and we were starting to lose the plot.

Her dubious response was; ‘OK?! And then what do you do?’

‘Erm you sign the piece of paper….’ 

Fully aware of how odd this sounds we were struggling to keep it together.

Her face a picture of sheer horror and utter disbelief. I was quick enough to snap a photo of her. 

If I was crap friend I’d share it.  Although I am a little bit tempted.

We manage to regain a little composure.

‘Do you get any money?’ She asks

Composure. Plot. All gone. 

I can’t resist. 

I whip out Meryl. ‘Look!  I even have a trackable sheep!’ 😁

Oh my! We are just too hilarious!

Having weirded her out sufficiently it’s time to get back to normality. Maybe we can forget that conversation ever happened.

Things return to return to normal and no more is mentioned until later that evening.

Coincidentally *ahem* just as I’m knocking back my first vodka or two I’m asked about where I blog.

Oh God! 

Hmm, umm, yeah, WordPress. 

I figured it was time however to stop being such a wuss about it (bloody vodka) and so mumbled my domain.

Ha ha. Turns out They knew it, without knowing it! 

The clues have been there on Instagram and Pinterest all along. 

Out comes a phone. 

Down goes more Vodka.

My friends had the pleasure of 4G, whilst I was left without a whiff of signal. 

I could only look on as they perused my little corner of the web. *cringe*

On Saturday I needed to find a cache and so at lunchtime we set off for a walk. Strangely enough one of the group didn’t want to come! 

I fired up the geocaching app. 

Nothing bloody happened. Seriously?!

Turn off. Turn on again. Nothing.

Close app down and repeat. Nothing.

Soft reset. Nothing.

Swear repeatedly. Still bloody nothing.

Luckily my newly converted friend was striding ahead with the geocaching intro app. 

I have never not navigated. I asked a lot of irritating questions. Argh!

The caches hidden in some bizarre, back street locations. Easy enough to locate but not really inspiring caches to introduce one of our muggle friends.

Forget stealth and discretion, at GZ I snapped a selfie to mark the moment. 

It was a corker! 

Three women rooting about behind a street sign in a rather dodgy side street, snapping selfies and then crying with laughter at the result. 

Nothing odd about that. 

Oh no, we drew no attention to ourselves at all! Oops

  
 

 

I still can’t look at this photo without losing the plot all over again. Sorry girls 😘

With the caching nailed and I suspect another new convert 😉 it was back to the shenanigans of the weekend. 

What happens on tour, stays on tour right? 

On Sunday it was time to skulk back home. We decided to grab one more cache before we left. 

Another residential street grab. *rolls eyes*

As we arrived at GZ a helpful neighbour, in her thick Norfolk Accent called out:

‘You ‘ere for the Geocache?’ 

Clearly that wasn’t a stealthy arrival.

‘It’s stuck to the lamppost. On the bottom.’

Err thanks. 

With an audience and the effects of the weekend taking their toll, we waged a pathetic battle against a post in the hedge.

Our heckler keeping a helpful, running commentry on proceedings. 😉

Thankfully muggle friend saved the day and emerged from the bush, cache in hand. A quick sign and we were out of there. 

A fantastic weekend away, I think I might need another to recover.

Caching trip girls? 😉