techno-geek shuffle

Itching to use my new GPS unit to start Geocaching, late last night I figured out how to download cache coordinates from the website into the unit and I readied a few local (within walking distance) finds.  It was a sunny but chilly day in northern Ohio... the kind of day you'll gladly welcome in mid-February in this region.  I got home from work about 4:30 and that left about 90 minutes of daylight.  Jen was in need of a Benny break, so I asked him if he wanted to go outside (he loves outside), and he grabbed my leg and pointed at the door... I'll take that as a "yes".  I asked Dylan and Zachary if they wanted to walk to the waterfall (the location of our nearest geocache) and they agreed, knowing I wanted to find that cache. 

I grabbed the camera (not knowing the batteries were dead), the GPS, and the four of us walked to the small park near the waterfall, where we had to kill a few minutes for some "muggles" to disperse.  Once the muggles left, I used the compass and distance gauge to get as close to the cache as possible (typically within about 20 feet).  Holding tightly to Benny with one hand (so he didn't go swimming in the river) and holding the GPS in the other, new-to-geocaching-techno-geek-dad was shuffling around the park, head-down, eyes on the gadget... searching for the virtual "X" marking the spot whar thar be treasure.  The idea is that the device gets you close, then you search out the cache with the eyeballs.  I guess I was focusing too much on the device, because while Benny and I were still doing the techno-geek shuffle, Dylan and Zachary found the cache at the same time.  Still head-down, eyes on the device, I heard Zachary say, "you can put that thing away, Dad, it's right there."  Behind a small ___, under the edge of a large ____ (don't want to be a "spoiler"), was our first official "find".  The cache contained a little "swag"... but in our haste, the boys had brought nothing to trade.  It also contained a log book... but in our haste, we forgot a pen to sign the log.  We tried to photograph the momentous first official cache... but in our haste, we forgot to change the camera batteries.  So, we carefully replaced the cache and came home to log our find on the geocaching website... a little anti-climatic for the first find.  But... thar be more treasure ta find!