About 580,130 more people.

What does Bell Buckle have that Washington D.C. doesn't?

Just the coolest scavenger hunt in the world.

Rodney Simmons announced to Bell Buckle Board of Mayor and Aldermen Tuesday night that the town has been chosen to host GeoWoodstock VII, a rally of GPS-using treasure hunters, mystery lovers and -- yes -- the occasional VW microbus driver from 35 countries around the world. The event is scheduled for May 2009.

"There will be anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 people," he said. "All the bed & breakfasts in Bell Buckle are full, and I think Shelbyville is starting to get reservations now."

GeoWoodstock is a gathering of those who enjoy a growing, world-wide activity called "geocaching."

"Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices," states the brochure on the geocaching.com web site. "The basic idea is to hide containers (caches) and post the locations on the Internet. Anyone with a GPS receiver can enter the locations' coordinates to find the caches and then log the caches at www.geocaching.com to show they found them."

GeoWoodstock events are like giant conventions for the hobbyists. Last year's was in Sacramento, Calif., and Bell Buckle found itself in contention with D.C, as well as Pittsburgh, for the 2009 gathering. Simmons isn't sure why Bell Buckle got the nod, but he's not complaining.

"I think it's kind of neat to beat out the big cities," he said. "We're getting a lot of play on the Internet right now."

Of course, Bell Buckle had an in with the group -- Simmons' son, Brad, has been a geocacher for years and has a high ranking in the sport.

"Brad got this for us," said Simmons.

While Bell Buckle will host some of the main events, the geocachers will be traveling all over Middle Tennessee.

"I know they've got an event up on the hill at Jack Daniel's, and they've got one planned in Murfreesboro," he said.

"And I heard they actually spend money," said Alderman Jenny Hunt, laughing.

One of the events in Bell Buckle will be a seminar teaching others how to enjoy their sport. Another event is a car show. With a name like GeoWoodstock, it won't surprise many to see VW microbuses parked in the main lot on the square with flowers and peace signs painted on them, Simmons said.

He said he wasn't sure if there would be vendors, but thought there probably would be.

Geocaching began in 2000, when a switch controlling 24 satellites was pressed. What that did was remove "selective availability," opening up access to GPS owners everywhere and making the GPS system more accurate. With all this new and better technology at hand, the next step, naturally, was to find a fun way to use it.

Dave Ulmer, a computer consultant, wanted to test the system's accuracy. He hid a navigational target in the woods and posted its coordinates in a GPS user's room on the Internet and called it the "Great American Stash Hunt."

The rules back then were simple: "Take some stuff, leave some stuff." When you found the cache, you could take what was in it, but you have to leave something else for the next searcher to find.

In eight years, geocaching has grown from less than 50 groups in the United States to hundreds, if not thousands, around the world. There are several different kinds of caches the hunters can look for, and several different circumstances. An event cache is one where it is coordinated to have everyone going to the sites at set times. GeoWoodstock is called a mega-event, an annual gathering that has at least 500 people attending.

An EarthCache is one that promotes geological education. A webcam cache is based on the idea that you get to a specific place, then have someone photograph or video you in that spot. You would then post it on the web site.

A traditional cache hearkens back to the early days, and usually only contains a logbook and a container. When the container is found, the person notes it in the logbook, then leaves it for the next searcher. If there is a trinket or souvenir in the container, the searcher can replace it with an item of his own, or simply note TNLN (took nothing, left nothing) in the log book.

As with any sport or hobby, the geocaching community has come up with its own terminology, but they don't mind borrowing from other sources. For instance, a Muggle in Harry Potter's world is a person who can't do magic. A Muggle in the geocachers' world is, naturally, a person who doesn't geocache.

The geocachers also have a certain code they operate by. They don't like spoilers, those who will post too much information and thus give the location away too easily. And they believe in cleaning as they go. In the events called "Cache In, Trash Out," the cachers pick up litter as they search.

ON THE WEB

For more about geocaching, visit www.geocaching.com, www.waymarking.com, or www.earthcache.org.