In January 2005, a Minnesota Vikings keychain called Red the Viking began an epic journey from Orlando, Fla., to the Metrodome in Minneapolis. On Sunday, the keychain will finally reach its goal. How did a keychain travel from Florida to Minneapolis? The answer is geocaching.

Geocaching is an intricate treasure hunt people participate in using GPSreceivers. It was started May 3, 2000, after the U.S. government removed selective availability from GPS satellites, making all 24 GPS positioning satellites available for public use. Dave Ulmer wanted to test the new accuracy of GPS receivers, so he hid a bucket in the woods near Beaver Creek in Oregon … and geocaching was born.

Today, geocaching is a popular hobby for thousands of people around the world. There are several kinds of caches and "prizes" in each cache. And a few of them contain travel bugs like Red the Viking. A travel bug is something that is started in one geocache with a goal attached to it. When someone finds the TB, they take it to another cache, and so on, moving it closer to its goal.

Red the keychain has traveled all over the country: from Florida to Ohio, Alaska to Pennsylvania, and eventually to Colorado, where it was found by Jim Fisher. Fisher, a Bismarck native who now lives in Colorado, is going to take the keychain to the Metrodome this weekend when he goes to watch the Vikings take on the Oakland Raiders.

"It's really cool that it was found by a Vikings fan," Fisher said. "It's a complete coincidence."

After the game, Fisher is going to send the keychain home. Red's return, however, will take just as long as it took for it to get to Minneapolis in the first place. "I'm just going to put him in another cache so someone can start him on his way back to Florida," Fisher said. "A travel bug's trip isn't finished until it gets back."

To follow Red the Viking's return journey, visit http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tracker=511158. com.

(Scott Larkin is a student at the University of Mary.)