Be forewarned that I'm not telling you to shut off your computer right now. At least finish reading this post :)

Over the past few years I have noticed an increase in the number of cellphones and portable computers in the outdoors. I understand we all have to make a living and having a job that allows for you to go outdoors with your work is pretty awesome, but when is it too much? For me it becomes too much when I realize I'm not enjoying the outdoors for what they are, a GETAWAY. The outdoors are supposed to be a getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life.

If you find yourself in the outdoors constantly checking to see if you have a wireless phone signal, sending emails, or reading blogs you may have an Internet addiction. It's a real problem and you need help! The first step is to admit to yourself that you are addicted. What's that? You say you don't have an addiction. Ok, then leave the cellphone home. The world will go on without you. Your clients WILL understand that you need a break. If they don't, find new clients.

Just remember, no one died saying, "I wish I had spent more time at the office." Enjoy that family time and actually make it FAMILY time. Teach your son how to make a fire with flint and steel, not check a cell tower to make sure that email sent to Bill.

We finally have a winner who claimed his prize. The winner of the GPS Unit is the user talsan. He is the one picture above with the LOVELY hat. (You can own your very own SHhhh! hat for $9.99 by joining Backcountry Secrets and logging in.) The winning point submitted was Multnomah Falls in Oregon

Well, the winner is NOT CLAIMING THE PRIZE!!! We had 128 successful submissions/entries in to the GPS drawing. As I went to do the drawing, the first name pulled out of the hat was none other than my own father. Seeing as in the rules I stated that family was not eligible to win, I continued to draw a second name.

The second winner was aadamp from Rigby, Idaho with a total of 7 points submitted during the contest dates. An e-mail was shot off with a reply by date in order to claim the prize. Here we are well past the reply by date with.....no reply.

In the rules it states that I don't have to give the prize away if the winner does not claim it, but that would be lame and unfair to all of you who really tried to win. So I'm doing a third drawing. Hopefully the third time is the charm for this GPS giveaway.

Stay tuned to see if we finally have a winner claim the prize.

There are literally hundreds of things you can do with a GPS unit. In case you really do not know, here are just a few of those things:

1. Get lost and then find yourself.
2. Know when that exit is coming up on the interstate.
3. Track every step of your life.
4. Estimate arrival times.
5. Let the cops know that you REALLY were not speeding and have proof!
6. Find cool stuff on web sites like Backcountry Secrets or Geocaching.
7. Remember where that great fishing hole is.
8. Know when the sun will rise and set.
9. Locate your Grandma's grave site that you only visit once in a blue moon.
10. Strap it to the dog and prove to the neighbors that those really are not your puppies.
11. Go golfing and determine distance to the hole.
12. Determine your speed on the ski hill.
13. And best of all, have fun with your kids!

Now is your chance to gain fame and fortune! Ok, so we really can't promise any fame, but it could save you a few Benjamin's. The rules are pretty simple and basic. Submit a valid point to Backcountry Secrets, have it approved by a member of our staff, earn an entry to our drawing, and start praying your point is selected as the winner.

A few weeks ago I was surfing the web and came across a page with a giant sculpture on it. I thought it would be fun to use Google Earth and see how many giant sculptures I could find. This video is the result of my boredom. Here are the coordinates if you want to examine closer:

Giant Stamp (41.505411573, -81.692457496)

Ketchup Bottle (38.662918939, -89.982383508)

Bow and Arrow (37.791521261, -122.389989817)

Ice Cream Cone (50.936455030, 6.948690859)

Bowling Pins (51.445331000, 5.480611000)

Big Bottle (54.574815724, -1.231978576)

Giant Spider (43.269220376, -2.932930972)

Checker Board (51.913074117, 4.472107467)

Garden Hose (47.999729921, 7.830358741)

Pickaxe (51.310555997, 9.503194892)

Button (39.952229114, -75.193698905)

Noah's Ark (37.783276752, -97.464872569)

Airplane on Road (36.109354066, -115.150417173)

Umbrella (41.587398462, -93.621451805)

Baseball Bat (41.881976590, -87.643125562)

Pool Balls (51.956976100, 7.618386775)

Giant Sundial (33.824449271, -111.921772867)

Statue of Liberty (40.688995748, -74.044564691)

We have had a few requests to make it so our users can see what points were added most recently. So to oblige we are reformatting the home page to include the last 10 points added.

We are also excited to announce the release of our first RSS feed. The RSS feed will contain the last 10 approved points with the following information:

1. Point Name and State/Province the point is located in.
2. The member who submitted the point and the date of submission
3. Directions to the point
4. All of the sport descriptions at the point.

Subscribe to Backcountry Secrets' RSS

I am often asked by new people in town, "Where's a good place to go for outdoor activities." Instead of having to explain to each of them the location of the Civil Defense Caves or where good places to go camping are, I built this web site to allow everyone to share.

Backcountry Secrets allows users to post GPS coordinates of places to participate in outdoor activities. Other users can then search for places by state, city, and within a certain distance from a town. It's a new site and we'll see if it goes anywhere, but I thought it would be fun to try and I learned a lot building the site.

Oh, and it's free to use.