Route 66 Family Fun - Geocaching Route 66

So you've been traveling several hours and the kids are starting to get a little bit irritable. That in turn make your significant other a bit irritable to and now passing the frustration on to you. 

"OK" you say "Time to pull over and get some air". But wait, what are you saying? Your not set up for a picnic, and you can't find a park with a playground, so what do you do? How about Geocaching?

If you don't know what Geocaching is, Geocaching is like a treasure or scavenger hunting using a GPS, or a GPS enabled smartphone like a iPhone or Android to find the treasure called a Geocache. Geocaches are hidden in a number of places, parks, businesses, landmarks, and so on. Basically you can be guided to a Geocache by getting the coordinates online and entering them into a trail GPS, or via a Geocaching app which will provide you with cache info and guidance to the cache. One of the best resources is Geocaching.com  (http://www.geocaching.com/) and its app. 

However, Geocaching.com isn't the only place to get Geocaching info. There are other Geocaching sites out there, but sometimes places like national parks, individual town park districts, and organizations will create and list special Geocaches on their website. They do this to increase visitors and also use the caches and/or their locations to help visitors learn a little more about a particular area. 

One great example presented by the National Park Service along Route 66 is a series of geocaches hidden in Petrified Forrest National Park (http://www.nps.gov/pefo/planyourvisit/geocaching.htm). The park service has the coordinates listed for each Geocache on

the website, as well as listed on Geocaching.com too. 

Here are some other examples:

California 

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=b21ca00f-bc83-48fa-97b4-4b90ae4f5c46

Missouri 

http://www.geocaching.com/bookmarks/view.aspx?guid=c7bdb9a4-1909-4091-8aef-997337733892

Kingman, AZ

http://www.kingmanlions.org/AZ66Geocaching/Route%2066%20Association%20of%20Arizona.htm

Trust me there are caches all along the route including one at the Blue Whale, and near the Cadillac Ranch. Geocaching is a great way of getting everyone out if the car and cooperating on a purposeful adventure, that usually won't take anymore then 15 minutes. Kids love it because its a treasure hunt, and they are always anxious to see what's inside. Adults love it because its requires some imagination, and allows one to stretch after hours in the car, that and it burns off some of the kids excess energy. 

I do need to warn you that not all geocaches are easy to find and/or get too. Geocaching provides a rating system to help you with this, using stats to rate ease of the find and terrain. Traveling with kids it will help to look for caches with one star each in these fields. But keep it in mind higher star caches are sometimes hidden in tough or dangerous terrain. 

Also the there are two rules for Geocaching:

1)Try to find the cache without being seen

2)If you take something from the cache you must leave something.

I would also suggest looking for caches near your home first to give you a good idea how Geocaching works. 

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.

Route 66 Kids Picks - #1 The Blue Whale of Catoosa

A kids opinion - James 10 years old

"I really like the Blue Whale it reminded me of the story of Jonah and the Whale, and getting swallowed up by the whale. I also thought it was really cool that it use to be a waterpark, I wish it still was. I also liked climbing around too, the holes on top are really neat to look out of"

As you can tell my son loves the Blue Whale. It feeds kids imaginations in many different ways, in everything from pretending to be in Jonah and the Whale, to trying to imagine what this place was like as a fully functioning watermark in the 70's and 80's. It's a great break off of 66, and lets everyone take a respite from the travel and have some fun too. By the way there is a geocache here too, if you want to make to most of your stop. 

Follow a later 4 lane section of Route 66 between Claremore, and the urban sprall of Tulsa to an interesting site near the town of Catoosa. Here you will find hidden on a picturesque pond, and behind some trees from 66, the famous (To Route 66 travelers) Blue Whale of Catoosa. 

Unlike a lot of other sites on 66 the Blue Whale is a new comer, built in 1972 after 66's heyday but before its decommissioning. But the Blue Whale is as big a part of Route 66 as the Wigwam Motel, or Gemini Giant. The Blue Whale was built by hand on the property of former owner Hugh Davis, who came upon the idea through divine inspiration, and we glad that happened. 

Eventually the Whale became the center of a small waterpark, and many reminders of it are still there till this day. Although it was primitive by today's wave pool, 200 foot drop water slide comparison, many residents of Catoosa, Tulsa, and other towns nearby remember the fun they use to have there many a summers day. 

Visit this link to Tulsa Channel 9 News to see a story about the Whale in its heyday and its current restoration http://m.news9.com/story.aspx?story=15393789&catId=112032

The site closed in 1988 after the owners health deteriorated. Shortly after the Blue Whale began to fall into disrepair, until 1997 when Catoosa, and Route 66 enthusiasts started a restoration effort that has restored the Blue Whale "Ol' Blue" to is former glory. 

I hope someday that the bring this place back to being a waterpark and/or add even more kid friendly attractions like a playground.