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Geocaching on the Abe Lincoln Parkway, Kentucky

To us, the best part of any road trip is getting off the main path and driving the scenic back roads to get to the destination. So when Liz and I decided to go on a road trip to Indiana for a geocaching event, we jumped at the opportunity to drive some of Kentucky’s scenic country roads; winding around rolling hills covered with greenery, and dotted with old barns.

As Liz and I have gotten more interested in Geocaching around the world, we figured we should get to the heart of Geocaching and get to know other people who enjoy it too.  So the reason we were heading out on this road trip was to attend the GeoWoodstock X event in Sellersburg, IN just north of Louisville, KY.  GeoWoodstock is an annual event, held in a different location each year, where geocachers get together for a festival to celebrate their shared passion.

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Driving through the Hoosier National Forest

Geocaching Abe Lincoln Parkway

At some point during our Kentucky drive, we noticed that the country highway we found ourselves on was known as the Abe Lincoln Parkway.  Neither of us knew what that meant, so as usual, we pulled out our iPhones and started searching online to learn more.  We discovered that there were several National Parks in the area, dedicated to Abraham Lincoln from his childhood up through adolescence.

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Hodgenville, KY Birthplace of the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln

Further intrigued, I pulled up the route on our geocaching app on the iPhone and noticed there were several Virtual Caches* at these National Parks along the route.  We decided this would be the perfect opportunity to collect some stamps in our National Parks Passport Book (another road trip hobby) as well as grabbing a couple of cool memorable caches along the way.

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Virtual Geocaches

One of the great aspects of finding a Virtual Cache is that they can provide you with a deeper look into the history of the cache location, and it can provide a more interactive experience.   For example, some Virtual Caches require you to answer a couple quick questions about the location back to the owner to get credit for the find.  For others, a picture will do as well.  This not only makes Virtual Caches quite interesting, but it also makes them great for families and kids so that they can learn along the way.

Virtual Caches are now grandfathered caches because you can’t place any new ones. You will find these in locations that you can not physically place a cache.  Playing within the Geocaching rules, you can not place geocaches in National Parks, amusement parks, and other places the cache could be confused with something dangerous.  Be smart when placing caches!

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Liz in front of the Lincoln Memorial Building, the birthplace of Abe Lincoln Hodgenville, KY

It was one of those perfect road trip days.  The sun was shining brightly on this summer day, and the scenic grassy hills of Kentucky were alive with a gentle breeze.  Liz and I love exploring history and our country’s national monuments because we feel it’s important to know where you come from before you can truly appreciate going other places and experiencing different cultures.  So this road trip was perfect and hitting all of our adventure buttons.

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Taking a peek at the natural underground spring at the Abe Lincoln family home

It was a fun filled weekend in the Midwest, and Geocaching added to this adventure by giving us a little history to go along with our road trip.  And it also gave us a reason to take some time to get off the beaten path and explore the countryside; which was so much more interesting than just taking the interstate the whole way.  So next time you are out on the open road and getting a little bored just staring at the boring road, pull off the highway, take out your smartphone (which most of you have) and look up an interesting alternate route.  Even better, download the FREE Geocache apps and have yourself a little adventure!

 

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