Cache Bash: A family guide to geocaching
West bend is filled with treasure and explorers are heading that way to find it.
It's all part of a fun free family activity called Geocache.
\"It gets them out of the house and gets them out in the fresh air. These are the times you make memories,\" said West Bend Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Craig Farrell.
The Maulands know all about making memories.
\"We put down the cell phones and just do some family bonding,\"said Tami Mauland.
They've been geocashing for years. Simply put, geocashing is a treasure hunt. It's all about finding hidden objects using GPS coordinates on your phone through the Geocashing app.
\"Basically you find a container of some size, it can be just about any size. People will hide them in various locations and people will mark down what the coordinates are,\" said Farrell.
Once you find the cache, you sign the log book, check out the surprises inside, and put it back for the next geocacher.
\"There are times when strangers just walk along and they see something, they don't know what it is so they take it. Geocashers call them muggles,\" said Farrell.
Farrell wanted in on the cache.
\"What I saw was an opportunity for West Bend to be a little more unique. West Bend turns out to be a hot spot of geocashing,\" said Farrell.
Adventures seekers venture to what he calls, the geochaching capitol of the Midwest.
\"We've gone from 500 caches, we now have 1,400 caches within a 10 mile radius of West Bend,\" said Farrell.
There's even a free two day event dedicated to treasure hunting. It's called Cache Bash.
\"Every year we will hide 66 new caches somewhere witheein the greater west bend area,\" said Farrell.
This is the 8th annual Cache Bash. It will be held on August 7th and 8th.
\"People have to love the adventure part of it and the outdoors, both of those are parts of geocashing,\" said Farrell.