Treasure Hunting

Many of you must have enjoyed treasure hunting as kids. I remember those parties where you had to find numerous listed objects usually pieces of useless junk. How could a list of stuff like paper clips, rocks, and red beans ever incite treasure hunting fever? I enjoyed a few weekends designing my own treasure hunts for kids in recent years. School teachers could sure use the treasure map idea to make interesting lesson plans for their students. In our modern world of computers there is no end to the creative plans available.

We even had a metal detector which my dad bought when we were in our youth. Over the years we ventured out to parks and experimented with the adjustments on that tool without much luck. I remember walking beaches and public parks looking for that lost item. Finding lost gold or diamond ring would be great. Even finding an earring could be fun. We only found odd things like nails and left over construction metal. Occasionally we would find a nickel or penny. Part of that endeavor meant digging. I wasn't much help when it came to digging after my first few attempts.

It never really interested me much until I saw an ad in an Oregon newspaper about a treasure hunt. If you live in the Portland area and buy a newspaper during Rose Festival time you will see clues to their treasure hunt printed usually on the front page. One year as a young adult I was particularly interested in participating. I recognized some of the locations by the clues and began to follow the trail intense on being the first one to find the Medallion.

That is when the fever hit me, the treasure hunting fever. We searched parks and public places which fit into the category of the clues which were presented. Towards the final days of the hunt I recognized a particular small park location outside of the city limits of Portland which fit all of the clues. When I arrived there were several small groups of people looking through the wooded area. At this point I was convinced the Medallion was hanging in a tree branch somewhere. It is very difficult to find such a small item.

I wasn't the winner of the contest but later that evening I watched the news. I heard about the location of the treasure "find" being right there where I had been searching. Yes, it was exciting to be so close to the final winning location. If you ever have a chance and some time be sure to participate in hunting for treasure. It is energizing to be able to figure out and add up clues which may lead you to something much bigger than my experience.

If you are interested in hunting for treasure and learning the insider secrets join a club. There are treasure hunting clubs which meet once a month. You can hear some wonderful stories and join a like minded group of people for shared events and outings. I know of one such group in Oxnard, California. Look them up if you are living in the area.

I also suggest you watch some great movies about treasure hunting just to catch some of that fever which pushes you forward into the exploration and search action mode. Prepare to get a little dusty and dirty because most of the treasure is in lost caves or buried on islands or lost at sea.

If you have found a treasure please leave a comment below and tell us about it. I would love to hear some real stories from all of you!

When we are kids we often learn to enjoy the fun of a competitive treasure hunt. It is also fun for us adults to relive some of that childhood adventure and learn new things about our history. I suggest that grandparents may want to take their adult kids and even grandchildren who are old enough to enjoy a local museum or even a gem and mineral show. Gem and mineral shows give many opportunities to see fossils, new kinds of rocks which may be unfamiliar to your kids and offer ideas for use of these raw materials. It may seem odd to go to a show like this instead of a new museum but you often are able to obtain a hands on approach and enjoy enlightening conversations with prospectors and collectors.