Geocachers

I wanna be a pirate.

I want to travel to uncharted seas,  see exotic lands and discover lost treasures.  I want to rock out an eye patch, have a parrot named Pete, and go where the trade winds carry me.  Don't we all?

Much to my dismay, I get terribly sea sick, would shudder at the thought of sharing restroom facilities with a boat full of swarmy-unbathed men, and my coordination is such that if I wore an eye patch, I'd probably trip over something and break my leg...maybe that's why pirates often have peg legs?  Either way, not really my cup of tea.

So I go about satisfying my need for discovery by travelling as often as I can.  Discovering things that so many have discovered before me, but with fresh and awe-filled eyes.  Between my trips, I go about my daily routine.  I work, go to the gym, do laundry, walk the dog.  But always, my inner Pirate lurks, waiting for the next adventure.

This is why I was so intrigued with Roxanne and Dan. I think they're Pirates. 

Let's rewind a bit.  They didn't meet on a sand-bar in the Caribbean.  To the contrary, they met on a field trip to a Twins game in middle school.  They don't sail the high seas, they Kayak, typically on lakes and rivers.  Not an eye patch between the two of them.  But what they do have is a keen sense of adventure and discovery. 

They hike, bike, camp, and most interestingly, they Geocache.  I'd never heard of Geocaching before I met them, so I needed a lesson.  Turns out, there are Pirates all around us!  They bury their treasure in old army ammunition cans, plastic film canisters, even Bison tubes.  Then, they list them on geocaching sites for other Pirates to discover.  Typically, there is a log book or sheet inside the cache to keep track of who has been there, and often there is a little treasure for the taking.  But mostly, there is that incredible rush of discovery!  Where are they?  I wanted to know immediately.  The answer was surprising.  They're everywhere!  Dan told me that there were several located in the very business area surrounding Gateaux Inc.  Some are more rural and difficult to reach, others are urban and hiding in plain site. 

So this begs the question...how does a pirate propose to another pirate?  Of course, with a treasure hunt!  With a trail of rose petals, Dan lead Roxanne to a Museum Adventure Pass (you can check these out at the Public Library for free admission to museums and sites all over the Twin Cities, who knew?  Pirates.) and a note to meet him at the top of the Foshay Tower (one of the locations covered on the pass).  When she got there, her Pirate was waiting with her with the ultimate treasure...and a ring. 

Now onto their cake.  We kicked around the idea of a hiking cake, a biking cake, even a kayaking cake.  Maybe a Twin's theme?  That's how they met, and they're still quite the fans, it's one of their favorite date spots.  But we kept coming back to the geocaching.  Easy, we make the cake look like a hollowed out tree trunk with caches of all sorts hidden around it.  Then, we'd make a cake in the shape of an ammunition can sitting at the base of the trunk.

Now, let's treat this particular cache like one that tells their story.  Imagine you found the ammo can, and unpacked it.  What items would they put in this cache that would represent their adventure together?  That was easy...we'd make frosting Twins tickets from the game that they met at.  Like any smitten Twins fan, Dan could tell me the date, who they played that day and the final score.

They'd have to include some red rose petals and the Museum pass to tell the story of their engagement.

And let's not leave out their biking adventure in the Ragbrai 7 day ride across Iowa.  A frosting route map and edible entrant bracelet would cover that tale.

A couple of ski passes, and a silhouette of them (he in a baseball cap, and she in a veil, of course) kayaking on the top of the cake, and we'd cover all of our bases.

But what does the future hold for our Pirates?  One last addition to the cake would tell their guests that their adventure could continue.  We created a map of their honeymoon geocaching road trip to finish off the tale.

So I learned a couple of things from my Pirate friends.  You don't need to be in a far-off land to soothe your Inner Pirate.  It's all about perspective.  Keep your eyes open and discovery is right around the corner.  And you don't even need to risk Scurvy to get it!

Thanks to Captured Glory photography for sharing some of their fabulous images with us.