Everyone agrees that exercise is good for you. If you’re overweight, if your blood pressure is creeping up, if you’re at risk for diabetes, exercise will be at the top of your doctor’s “get well” prescription. Exercise is known to help prevent heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Exercise can lower your risk of contracting certain types of cancer. For many, exercise can be as effective as medication in controlling depression and anxiety. If we want to be healthy, doctors say the best thing we can do is exercise briskly for 30 minutes 3 times a week.

So why is something that sounds so easy so hard to do. Well, most people say exercise is boring; but it doesn’t have to be. GPS devices can put the ”fun” back into exercising. Cool GPS sports watches bring a new element of challenge to running, walking or biking. Geocaching using handheld GPS units can turn exercise into an activity the whole family can enjoy. Adding whiz-bang GPS technology to your exercise routine can not only rejuvenate your own interest in exercise, but is a great way to hook the younger, video-game generation on healthy physical activity.

• Geocaching GPS. Geocaching is a modern day version of a treasure hunt. Using a handheld GPS you follow coordinates to a hidden cache which can be anything from a tiny film canister hanging from a tree limb to an old ammo box jammed under a rotting tree limb. “Treasures” range from log books that let you see who else has found the cache to unusual trinkets you can take home. The fun is in the hunt.
• Fitness GPS. A variety of cool cycling and running/walking GPS devices allow you to plot routes, track performance, monitor your heart rate and perform in-depth analysis of your workouts through web-based applications. It’s like having your own personal trainer along for every exercise session. You can chart progress and see improvement with each workout. GPS adds the motivating element of competition to solitary exercise.

Some years ago, on probably the hottest, most sweltering week of the summer, we visited Cumberland Gap National Park. In history class that year  the kids had read about the Cumberland Gap, the first great gateway to the west; and I thought it would be interesting to show them the real deal. Through this dip in the Appalachian Mountains that straddles Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, settlers struggled westward to tame the American wilderness centuries ago.

The guidebook lured us up a steep trail with promises of “magnificent views of three states.” And I’m sure the views would have been magnificent, if anyone had bothered to trim the brush. After a long, hot, sweaty climb we arrived at the end of the trail to a less than spectacular 360-degree view of tangled green brush clogging the space between tall trees. Disappointment doesn’t come close to describing the family mood at that moment.

However, all was not lost. In the clearing at the top of the trail was what looked like a wood gazebo. Walking inside we saw an impressive bronze plaque set into the ground. It was about the size of a manhole cover and was elaborately engraved with the four compass points. What was amazing was that in the middle of the plaque was a square, palm-sized stone. The numbers and letters chiseled into its face had been worn nearly smooth by time, but a sign indicated that it was the original geologic survey marker placed by George Washington!

I don’t know that the kids were all that impressed, but I was. It’s that memory that sparked my interest in benchmark hunting, a specialized type of geocaching. Plugging coordinates found on the National Geodetic Survey website into your handheld GPS unit, you can hunt down and “discover” geologic survey markers. We’ve found markers in front of the courthouse in our town square and on the tops of local hills. They’ve led us to old pioneer roads and river fords, to long abandoned towns and old highways. It’s like discovering little bits of history everywhere we go.

Geocaching.com has an excellent guide to benchmark hunting and provides instructions for finding benchmarks both on geocaching.com and on the National Geodetic Survey site. If you want to get into benchmark hunting, check out the great selection of handheld GPS devices at ActionGPS.

The day is coming when paper maps will be no more than antique shop curiosities. Like cassette tapes, VHS movies and (soon) analog TV, roadmaps and street directories are becoming modern day dinosaurs. Maps have gone digital and GPS devices are now the preferred method of getting from point A to point B. In fact, incoming college freshman, most born in 1990, have never known a world without GPS — or caller ID, Harry Potter, Nintendo Game Boy, karaoke, plastic soda bottles, and late night TV with Leno and Letterman, according to the Beloit College Mindset List, an annually published list of common collegiate references geared to help college professors update their teaching references and make the rest of us feel old.

GPS technology was developed by the military and honed to deadly accuracy during the Gulf War. (They bragged about hitting targets the size of a 50-cent piece.) When they first hit the consumer market, GPS devices were a bit unwieldy and exorbitantly priced, kind of like early mobile phones. But like phones, which have gone from the size of a hefty brick to not much bigger than a credit card, advances in electronic circuitry have trimmed the size and price of GPS units each year. Today, you can buy a GPS unit that fits in your pocket or purse for less than the cost of your monthly cell phone bill, particularly if you live with teenagers.

GPS devices have become so popular that sales topped $4.1 billion last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. In a CEA survey, 18% of online adults already owned a GPS device and 24% wanted one. With online suppliers like ActionGPS offering GPS devices at highly affordable prices, there’s no reason to live with envy. Owning a GPS is within the financial grasp of even the most budget conscious, particularly if you buy one of ActionGPS’ very affordable factory refurbished models. To view our full line of GPS devices, visit the ActionGPS website.

GPS geocaching has added a new dimension to Flat Fred. If you have an elementary school aged child in your house, you’re probably familiar with Flat Fred. Flat Fred is a popular school program where children mail a cardboard person on a journey. Aunt Sue and cousin Sam cart Flat Fred off to the local sights, take a few snapshots and write about his adventures in a logbook, then mail him to another friend or relative. Eventually Flat Fred returns home and the children get to see and read about all the amazing places he has visited on his journeys.

Bellevue High School students have put a modern techno spin on Flat Fred by turning him into a geocache travel bug. Travel bugs are special “dog tags” printed with a unique PIN that is registered on an internet site. Often travel bugs are attached to an object like a small figurine or toy. When a geocacher finds a travel bug, he logs onto the designated website and enters the PIN to access an online log. There he posts the position where he found the bug, adds a comment, and receives instructions on where to take the bug next. Some travel bugs have missions to travel to a specific location. For others, the goal is to see how far and to how many different places the bug can travel. 

“Most travel bugs have a goal, like, ‘I want to get to the Indianapolis Speedway,’ so it will eventually work its way over to Indiana, get its photo taken at the racetrack, and work its way back home,” explained Seth Leary, founder of the Washington State Geocaching Association, who helped guide the Bellevue project. “The process can take something like two years, but if they get back home, the owner can keep it on his desk, knowing all the places it went to.” The fun, said Leary, is in seeing where the bugs end up.

In connection with a community sculpture project, Bellevue High School students created small papier mache sculptures, registered them as travel bugs and sent them on journeys in the nearby Seattle, Washington area. One travel bug directed finders to take it to the Seattle Space Needle. Another, dubbed Larry the Loch Ness Monster, asked finders to photograph it at local lakes. A sealife sculpture was photographed with fish at the Seattle Aquarium before finding its way home.

If you want to start your own travel bug on a trip, you can register your bug on geocaching.com. For a great selection of geocaching GPS devices, visit ActionGPS.

Tech-savvy adventurers around the world are flocking to the sport of geocaching. It’s a sport the whole family can enjoy, and the technology is a snap to learn. (See our Aug. 5 & 7 posts.) Once you’ve mastered the basics though, real enthusiasts want more. When you’re ready to take geocaching to the next level, you’ll want to upgrade your portable handheld GPS unit. Naturally, you’ll still want the solid features found in basic handheld GPS models: lightweight, compact, long battery life, waypoint storage, and screen readability (see our Aug. 5 post for details). But you’ll want to upgrade to a GPS unit that also offers the following advanced features:

• A WAAS-enabled GPS unit provides superior accuracy and can pinpoint waypoints to within 10 feet 95% of the time.
• A built-in compass is particularly convenient in tracking the cache in the final critical 100 feet.
• An altimeter shows you how high up to search for vertically-hidden caches.
• Mapping capabilities give you the big picture and make navigation a snap. They allow you to download maps to your unit that give you a picture of the terrain.
• An external antenna improves signal reception in difficult terrains and under heavy tree cover.

ActionGPS carries superior portable handheld GPS devices for the serious geocacher. The Garmin Colorado 400i handheld outdoor color GPS can track waypoints from the city to deep backcountry trails. WAAS-enabled with a built-in electronic compass, barometric altimeter and mapping capabilities, the Garmin Colorado 400i keeps you on track when you’re searching out even the most difficult geocaches. Visit Action GPS for complete details on the Garmin Colorado and other excellent geocaching GPS devices.

Once you pinpoint the cache location as closely as you can using your geocache GPS (see our Tuesday post), it’s time to start searching. Geocachers are devious thinkers. When you’re hiding a cache, part of the fun is finding a hiding place that’s hard to spot. You want your cache to be found, but you want fellow cachers to work for it. So think sneaky as you start looking.

Cache containers can be any size but are usually smaller than a shoebox. Ammo boxes, plastic containers and tiny film canisters are prized for their waterproof and weather-resistant qualities. Any container that is or can be made weather-proof will work. Some people wrap old pill bottles in layers of plastic tape. Many geocachers cover containers with camouflage tape to make them harder to spot.

Don’t expect finding the cache to be easy. Using your GPS to get to the location is only half the fun. The thrill of the hunt and exhilaration of discovery are what geocachers live for. You’re not going to find the cache sitting out in the open. Look under rocks or logs, inside hollow trees, on the undersides of fences and structures, behind rocks in rock walls and in the crooks of trees. Check tree branches and ledges. We once found a cache hanging inside a hollowed tree. A devious cacher had fashioned a 2-sided hook from a coat hanger. A tiny hook of metal was wedged in the tree bark with the cache hanging from the other hook inside the hollow tree. Ingenious!

Cachers are no less creative in cityscapes. Powerful magnet strips glued to thin metal slide boxes (like Sucrets boxes) can be attached to utility boxes or the undersides of metal guard rails. If your coordinates lead you to a parking lot light pole, carefully pop up the base cover that hides the screws. These covers slide up, making a perfect spot to hide a small cache. We’ve found micro-caches hidden inside the cone-shaped filials on top of metal fence posts. The filials pop off and the cache can either be stuffed into the cap or dangled on a string into the post.

As you’re searching, it’s important to replace items exactly as you find them. Not only do geocachers pride themselves on protecting the environment, but who wants to give away the cache site to the next guy? You worked to find the cache; he should, too. Geocachers live for the thrill of the hunt! ActionGPS has a full line of GPS units perfect for the sport of geocaching. Visit our website today and happy hunting!

If you happened to hear about the existence of Oregon geocoins, this is not urban legend. Oregon geocoins really do exist and they are out there…now it is up to you to find them. The coins are silver and have a blue rim. And that is about all we can tell you. You can’t expect us to do all of the work for you, now do you? Geocaching is about the joy of the hunt, after all.

Intrepid seekers were already finding Oregon geocoins just weeks after the Garmin made announcements about the Oregon, its latest line of GPS devices for geocaching and other outdoor pursuits. The Oregon follows in the footsteps of the Colorado line. All of Garmin’s handheld GPS devices are durable and ready for anything. You can also upload Geocaching.com GPX files for family fun or solo geocaching exploration. Your adventure, your choice.

In fact, the Oregon geocoins were made to celebrate the Oregon line of outdoor GPS navigation devices.  The Oregon is a rugged device that was made with geocaching in mind, as it was crafted to persist despite dust, dirt, wind, humidity and even water.

With the Garmin Oregon, you’ll be certain to find the treasures you seek.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes because with the Oregon you’ll get up to 16 hours of battery life. And in addition to getting bragging rights for the treasures you find, you’ll also get to show pictures since the Oregon comes with a built-in picture viewer.

You can check out the Oregon’s features and pre-order your own Garmin Oregon or choose another Geocaching GPS device at ActionGPS.com.

So close, but yet so far! It’s the geocacher’s common lament. There’s nothing more frustrating than knowing you’re standing right on top of a cache but not being able to find it. Here are a few tips that can help:

• Research the cache location. Log the cache coordinates into your GPS unit. Print out any tips offered on the locator site. (You can choose to read them only if you’re stumped.) Check a map of the area to get the big picture. Some handheld GPS units come loaded with maps and high-end outdoor units even offer topographic maps. You can get a quick area-wide view by scaling out on your automotive GPS or checking www.GoogleMaps or another internet map site. It’s easier to pinpoint the cache location when you have a general idea of where things are in the area.
• Prepare for the trip. Make sure you take plenty of water and don’t forget sunscreen and insect repellent. Wear appropriate clothing for the weather and add a jacket and raincoat in case the weather changes if you are planning to geocache all day. If you’re hiking into the woods or back country to hunt truly remote caches, bring appropriate hiking/climbing gear and always take a friend along for safety. Make sure someone back home knows your plans.
• Get as close to the cache location as you can using your GPS. You shouldn’t have much trouble getting to the general location site. It’s finding the precise coordinates that can be tricky. You may have to walk back and forth a bit. Tree or cloud cover can sometimes interfere with GPS signals, and it may take a little experimentation to hone in on the cache.

On Thursday: Finding the cache!

There’s nothing hard about geocaching, except for sometimes finding that devilishly hidden cache. You go to www.geocaching.com or any of numerous geocaching websites to find cache sites. Download the site coordinates into your portable GPS unit — and the hunt is on!

It doesn’t take much to get started (see our Aug. 5 post), and geocaching is fun for the whole family. The goal is find the cache. You use your GPS to follow the coordinates to the cache site. Using your GPS to pinpoint the site location, you then have to scan the area (think deviously), poking around under stones and inside decayed tree trunks to find the hidden container. (Beginners may want to printout the “tips” provided for many cache sites when they download coordinates.)

The rules are simple:

• Fill out the logbook with your name (or cache name), hometown and home state. Make a comment if there’s room in the logbook. Take a look at the logbook. You may see other cachers who have found the site from across the country and even around the world.
• If the cache has prizes (odd trinkets or message slips), take one.
• Add a prize of your own to the cache.
• Carefully close the container to protect the contents from the weather and return the cache to the exact position in which you found it.
• Respect the environment and other cachers. Geocache responsibly. Obtain permission before caching on private property. (Unless placed by the property owner, nearly all caches are located on public property.)

You’ll meet a lot of friendly people geocaching and discover interesting and unusual sites you didn’t know existed. Visit ActionGPS for great deals on portable, handheld GPS units perfect for geocaching.

Many of our newer readers often ask us to provide them with basic information in helping them choose a GPS unit. We often get questions like how difficult is it to operate a gps unit? Is there a monthly usage fee? Which model is right for me? While this blog has answered all of those questions in some form, we understand that it would be beneficial to our readers to make this information available in an an easily accessible area. Therefore, we are pleased to announce that we will soon be launching ‘The GPS Learning Center’ on ActionGPS.com.

The Learning Center will include some basic information on topics such as gps technology, geocaching, and bluetooth. Additionally, the Learning Center will feature buying guides for the automotive, fitness, marine, and outdoor GPS categories. In the future, we will also be adding gps tips along with best practices to further enhance your GPS experience.

We expect the Learning Center to be live Monday, August 11th. Be sure to check the homepage at actiongps.com then.

- ActionGPS Staff

Geocaching is the hot new sport for anyone with a yen for adventure. An updated version of the old treasure hunt, geocaching replaces yellowed, hand-drawn pirate maps with sleek, portable, handheld GPS devices like the Garmin GPSMAP 60 CS Portable Handheld Outdoor GPS (shown). Instead of hunting for Spanish doubloons on deserted islands, you trek through urban jungles or into the backwoods in search of hidden caches. Geocaching won’t make you rich, but it will enrich your leisure time. It’s a great sport for singles, couples, teens and families and a fun way to get some healthy exercise.  

It’s easy to get started with geocaching. All you need is a portable GPS unit. Look for these features when purchasing a GPS device for geocaching:

• You’ll be carrying the GPS unit while hiking, so look for a model that is lightweight and compact. You want something that is easy to carry in the palm of your hand because you’ll be checking the readout constantly as you hike. Some models come with a wrist strap.
• A unit with a long battery life lets you stay on the hunt longer. You won’t have to worry about loosing juice mid-hunt if you plan a day searching for caches out in the country or want to hop from site to site around town. A long battery life also allows you to track down those special hard-to-find caches hidden deep in remote sites.
• Look for a unit with a high waypoint storage which will allow you to store more cache locations.
• Good screen readability is important. The unit’s screen should be easy to read in bright daylight. A backlit screen for night viewing allows you to keep caching through dusk and into the night.
• Geocaching is an outdoor sport so choosing a waterproof GPS just makes sense. You want your unit to work in all kinds of weather. Some caches may be hidden near or under water (creeks and rivers make great cache sites).

You don’t need anything fancy. ActionGPS has a great selection of good, refurbished handheld GPS units at great prices. (Check out the Garmin Etrex Legend Handheld Outdoor GPS Receiver. Factory refurbished, it’s on clearance for an incredible price of just $84.95. A perfect start-up model.) 

NASA has commissioned a new system that will work similar to a GPS  system for use on the moon. NASA isn’t planning on returning to the moon until 2020. Our space agency has given scientists three years (and over $1 million) to develop a navigation system that space explorers can use to find their way on the moon.

Unlike a GPS system, which relies on the signals from satellites to calculate the location of an object, this system will rely on a different set of sensors. Some of these sensors that will do the same work that satellites do in a GPS system are stereo cameras, lunar beacons, and orbital imaging sensors.

The aim of the new GPS-like system is to help keep astronauts safe and save them the stress and frustration of getting lost. It sounds a lot like what GPS navigation systems do here on Earth. And just think–you don’t even have to wait another three years to get a device that can make your journeys easier. You can get a GPS navigation device today and be on your way. Action GPS has a number of GPS devices that can fit the bill.

You may be really trying to explore and learn about new territory as some astronauts will do or you could just be taking care of routine things before returning to the mothership. Either way, there is a GPS device to help you get the job done.

For the adventurous, explorer types, there are Geocaching, Marine and Recreational GPS systems.
And for those of your who need some navigational help as you run errands and take the occasional trip out of town there are Automotive GPS systems.

The Garmin Oregon 200 Handheld Outdoor Color GPS is expected to be released on August 1, 2008 and you can pre-order yours now!

As we told you, excitement about Garmin’s new Oregon line has been building ever since some retailers let the cat out of the bag sooner than expected.

The Oregon 200 has a 3-inch diagonal, sunlight-readable color touchscreen display. Its easy-to-use interface lets you get the information you need quickly so you can get out an enjoy the great outdoors.

And because Garmin knows how much you like to get out there are really explore, they made sure that the Oregon 200 is rugged and ready. It is slim and lightweight, but it is no cream puff. The Oregon is durable and waterproof and made to face the elements and keep going.

If geocaching is your thing, then look no further than the Oregon 200. It supports Geocaching.com GPX files so that you can download geocaches right to the unit. You can upload the GPX file and hit the trail.

The Oregon 200 comes with a highly sensitive WAAS enabled GPS receiver and HotFix satellite prediciton. It can find out where you are fast and it is accurate, even deep in the forest or way down inside a canyon.

Forget bread crumbs. The Oregon keeps track of where you are and where you’ve been. There is a 10,000 point automatic track log. You can also save 20 tracks (with 500 points each) and retrace your steps in both directions.

Visit Action GPS to learn more about the Oregon 200 and other Garmin products.

Ohio is the latest state to jump on the geocaching band wagon. Capitalizing on the burgeoning interest in GPS geocaching, the Ohio Historical Society has placed hidden caches at 10 state historic sites. States across the country are using GPS geocaching to lure the public to state parks, historic sites and other attractions. A fun way to explore your own backyard, geocaching state sites is becoming increasingly popular. Given skyrocketing fuel prices, many families are taking advantage of the state-sponsored caches to take affordable mini-vacations close to home.

Newly hidden caches in Ohio include:

• Adena Mansion & Gardens in Chillicothe
• Armstrong Air & Space Museum in Wapakoneta
• Cedar Bog near Urbana
• Flint Ridge near Brownsville
• Fort Ancient near Oregonia
• Fort Meigs in Perrysburg
• Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont
• National Road/Zane Grey Museum near Norwich
• Piqua Historical Area in Piqua
• Serpent Mound near Peebles

“Two interests that Ohio Historical Society visitors and geocachers have in common are history and the environment,” said OHS site manager Erin Bartlett who coordinates the new geocaching program. Mixing history and nature, the new cache sites are expected to draw geocaching enthusiasts to explore parts of Ohio they may never have visited. “Introducing people to Ohio history, no matter where they live, is our main goal,” Bartlett said. “We’re thrilled with the response to our historic caches and expect more and more cachers to visit OHS sites in the future, especially now that Ohio travelers want to stay close to home to save on gas.”

Veteran geocacher J. B. Berry told the Chillicothe Gazette his favorite sites so far are the Serpent Mound “Snake in the Grass” cache and the Piqua “Treasure of the Upper Miami” cache. Berry, a biology teacher and environmentalist, has placed his own earthcache on a nature trail at the Serpent Mound site. Cachers are invited to add to the fun by placing their own caches at OHS sites by filling out an online application. For complete information on Ohio Historical Society geocache sites, visit the OHS website.

It’s easy to get starting in geocaching. All you need is a handheld GPS unit from ActionGPS. Geocaching hunt info can be found on many state, state park and state historical websites and on Geocaching.com.

At our family reunion picnic last weekend, my sister put a modern twist on that old camp staple: Find the Dinosaur Egg. If you ever went to summer camp, I’m sure you remember hunting through the woods for the “dinosaur egg,” actually a big, green watermelon. After a hot day of hiking, it made for a refreshing treat and always led to another camp favorite – the long-range seed spitting contest.

To keep our hyper-active slew of small fry busy so the adults could catch up on family news, my sister planned an elaborate dino hunt using her handheld GPS. A series of clues and activities led the kids around the picnic site, over to the playground, around the pond and down a hiking path in search of dinosaur signs. Along the way they had to search out mini-caches, each of which directed them to play a game or engage in an activity before moving on to the next clue.

Using the GPS held the interest of our middle-schoolers who took charge of directing the younger kids. At one stop they engaged in a noisy game of dino hide and seek which quickly degenerated into a game of chase with roaring ”dinosaurs” racing around chasing each other. We hid multiple clues around the playground to give each of the older kids a shot at using the GPS while the small fry played. With frequent references to the GPS, they stalked around the pond and through the woods until they finally spied the “egg.” Upon their triumphant return to the picnic site (all too soon), chin-dripping slices of watermelon were carved. And, yes, a seed spitting contest quickly ensued.

ActionGPS offers a wide range of geocaching GPS devices to suit every user. From Garmin’s dynamic Colorado 300 handheld color GPS with all the bells and whistles to the durable kid-friendly (i.e., indestructible) Garmin Etrex Venture handheld outdoor GPS receiver, ActionGPS offers GPS handhelds in every price range. Click here to check out the complete line of handheld geocaching GPS units at ActionGPS.