Merry Christmas!!!

When I first started writing this post, I was sitting in my living room, early on a Sunday morning, as the wind blew and the snow fell. It turned out to be a snow day and there was no church in the morning. I struggled to wrestle my thoughts away from the horrible and senseless tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, CT just over a week ago. So many random thoughts were racing about my mind. I wondered how these families would cope with such a profound loss and prayed that they would find the strength to get through this ordeal. I wondered if any of those families were geocaching families and if they would ever geocache again. Like I said, a bunch of random thoughts. Well, suffice to say, the hustle and bustle of the season got a grip on me and I never got back to writing the post. A week has past and I still sit and wonder what Christmas will be like for them this year and in the years to come. I also think of Christmas and my own family, who are safe and sound with me, and I get a small reprieve from the heartache and a smile appears on my face.

As Christmas Day approaches and season pushes on, please know that all my geocaching family (any cacher that I have ever met) will be in my thoughts and prayers. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Ramadan, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or are one that simply celebrates a happy holiday, my thoughts and prayers will be with you all. I pray that you will have a very safe and enjoyable holiday season. But mostly, I pray that you will get to celebrate the season in the way that it was meant to be celebrated – with FAMILY! And as you celebrate the season, take time to remember those who are struggling this holiday season. If you know of anyone who could use some help or a visit, take the time to lend a hand or a smile. As Kevin said in that holiday classic, Home Alone, “nobody should be alone on Christmas.”

Caching Heaven wishes to thank all of you for taking the time to read our blog. We look forward to a new year of writing and caching. Merry Christmas, everyone!!! Happy Holidays!

Frank (Jewel)

Geocaching: Less Of A Challenge?

Like many things in life, certain concepts and ideas don’t last. Some are, perhaps, before their time and needed to come out at a later time when everyone was ready for it. Take Tablet PCs, for example. They came out years ago, long before Apple made them a cultural icon. They didn’t sell, however, and quickly faded into oblivion. Now, tablets are popular. Even Tablet PCs are becoming popular under the new name of Touch Notebooks. The same might now be said for Geocaching.com’s new idea of Geocache Challenges.

Great idea but didn’t catch on! Perhaps ahead of its time. (click to enlarge)

According to the Geocaching.com website, challenges require you to "Go somewhere, do something. You might be challenged to hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, sing a song in the middle of Times Square, or take a picture of yourself walking through the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin." Challenges came out over a year ago and were pretty exciting when they first came out. It was something new and, most times, the challenge could be completed while on your way to retrieve a cache. The possibilities were endless into how zany one could make their challenge.

Well, challenges are no more! Geocaching.com issued an email to all users which stated:

"Occasionally, during this process, we are faced with the reality that certain ideas don’t catch on as we had hoped…Sometimes as a result, cool features must become casualties. In this spirit, we have decided to retire Geocaching Challenges."

And it is just as well. Challenges were a great idea but, like the early tablet PCs, failed to catch on and not many geocachers actually used them. We managed to find four challenges in the beginning but our interest in them quickly faded away. We even created two of our own challenges. The first, called Cruisin’, required you to get your picture taken in front of a cruiseship. Our second, called Monumental Statue, required you to get your picture taken in front of as many monuments and statues as possible. I must say that, in the beginning, I enjoyed looking at all of the pictures that were sent in. It was great! But, again, our interest quickly faded as our insatiable appetite for the cache hunt reasserted itself. While some of you might be disappointed that challenges are gone, don’t get too sad. Maybe they are like those early Tablet PCs, simply ahead of their time. Time will tell if, in the future, they might return.

How about you? What are your thoughts on the demise of challenges? Please let us know in the comment section below. Also, please take a moment to complete our poll.

Until next time, Happy Caching!!!

Frank (Jewel)