The Go Day press release from 2009 stated that today’s kids are more likely to live shorter lives due to their parents inactive indoor lifestyles and evidenced by the obesity epidemic in children we are seeing grow with each passing year. A disturbing thought to say the least. In an effort to combat this problem GO Day events “will offer a mix of information centers and “active fun” areas – places where guests, and especially kids, can use a fishing pole, go geocaching, help pitch a tent and more. The sites will provide photo opportunities with characters like Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl and other interesting creatures. Many sites also feature areas that focus on other aspects of healthy living, including sustainability and good nutrition. In addition to the GO Day events, participants will be invited to nearby follow-up activities called EchO events occurring throughout the summer, which include introductions to mountain biking and fly-fishing, hikes with rangers to see wildlife, kayaking and rafting and much more.” according to the National Get Outdoors website. Each partner in this effort deserves a massive round of thanks for attempting to combat the current epidemic of obesity in this country.

David Sikes of Texas in his recent article on caller.com entitled Key to happy, healthy child might be in the woods, references a book by Richard Louv, The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. Sikes states, “Louv suggests that children with a more intimate relationship with nature are less likely to suffer from obesity, attention disorders and depression. I further contend that hunting, fishing, paddling, camping and other wilderness activities provide children with a lasting perspective on life that cannot be found on a television or computer screen.” I have to agree with him on this, but not just for children.

Whatever our age, an active lifestyle has massive benefits including reduced stress, improved sleep, better muscle tone, improved posture which helps ease back pain and healthier immune systems. Additional benefits are seemingly side effects, but are actually just as important as the physical benefits already mentioned. By being outdoors and interacting with nature, seeing wildlife in it’s own habitat as opposed to a zoo or computer screen, cements within us a bond to the land and it’s creatures that is lasting. We come to realize that we are not just observers of an eco-system; we are a participants of “the eco-system”. What we do matters. I can’t think of a better way to actually feel the truth of this, than by being outside in a space that is bigger than us. A space that is still mostly wild. A place where we as humans are not the main focus of the spaces existence. So this Saturday, June 12, 2010, drag yourself away from the screens in your life and got to a local GO Day event or visit a State or National Park with your kids. You won’t regret a minute of it.

Happy Caching!

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Will it be Moun10Bike? He’s arguably the creator of TravelBugs and Geocoins and therefore a Geocaching God in my book. And have you been to his website? Switchbacks.com is a must visit for anyone hiking or geocaching in the Greater Pacific North West.

How about Alamogul who has the most finds according to CacherStats.com. Now, he IS a dedicated cacher! Maybe a few of the “Old School” cachers like my personal favorites Webfoot from Southern California (very close to my home town actually…) who writes a great geocaching blog. Or, CCCooperAgency from Pennsylvania and mondou2 from Colorado all of whom have been cachng since 2001.

A must have for my deck of favorites would be the two puzzle cache creators that got me hooked on puzzles with their hides: j_czerwin and clrl. If you live in or plan to visit Southern California you should definitely check these two out. Or what about ePeterso2 of Florida. He is “The Puzzle Cache Master”.

What about all of those crazy Numbers Runners? You know, those cachers that are racking up 500+ finds in a 24 hour period. The current Unofficial record holders are Team Geo-Rangers and Peasinapod with 626 finds in 24 hours! This record was previously held by Ventura_Kids, Fotomom, and Cachepal at 566 caches in 24 hrs. Both of these runs were on the “Trail of the Gods” between Baker, CA and Primm, NV. It’s a series of caches put out by the NGA which is the Nevada Geocaching Association. Maybe the NGA should get together and bid on a card and put the “Trail of the Gods” on it!

And now there is a Space Cacher. Yep he makes my deck top ten. Richard Garriott ‘aka’ LordBritish has a cache on the International Space Station – GC1BE91. I have an email alert that tells me when the Space Station is going to be overhead. I often go outside and just watch it float by, knowing that is as close as I am ever going to get to that cache.

Then there are all those cachers that I admire out there whose logs, blogs and tweets I’ve read and someday hope to meet. People like: EMC of Northridge, MissAmerica1, NevadaWolf, GeoCraig, XpunkX, TheBadCop, Lookout Lisa, Mister B, HeadHardHat, Sonny and Sandy Podcacher, DarrylW4, Firefly03, Snuva, Annie & PB, TripCyclone, JMCz, FluteFace, Shaggy, Scooby & Velma, Pengana, FrodoB…. You see what I mean?!? The list goes on forever.

But when I really think about it… There are only two cards that I would really like to see. I think the two Jokers should be bid on by Groundspeak. I’d love to see my absolute favorite all time cacher in the world, Signal the Frog, on one and my favorite all time geocaching team, The Groundspeak Lackey’s on the other!

So who would make your Deck? And here is the real question: Are they bidding?!?

Update: The Whibbit early Alpha release is offline while the Groundspeak Lackeys go over the preliminary data and do a bit of tweaking. The next release will likely be by invite only, but we will keep an eye on the site for the latest information. You never know, it may be back up this week… Lackeys can work pretty quickly with all the space they have over at the new LillyPad!