Merry Cachemas to Me

I had one of those geocaching moments yesterday that made me feel like I might actually be a real geocacher, after something like nine years hunting containers of all shapes and sizes with my trusty old Garmin GPS. Last week, a new cache ("Merry Cachemas in the Park," GC7F841) in Fieldale, VA, was published on geocaching.com, supposedly in a small park near the Fieldale Smith River Trail, where I have hiked and geocached many times over the years. The map, however, showed the hide nowhere near the park, nor even near the trail. Based on the detailed description, I suspected the cache owner had entered the wrong coordinates for the listing. I wrote to alert him of my concerns, and he confirmed they were in error, resulting in the cache appearing on the map about a mile away from where it was actually located. The error was doubly confirmed when another cacher, friend Tom (Skyhawk63), logged that he had visited the location, and that there was no way the cache could be where the published coordinates indicated (which turned out to be behind barbed wire and "No Trespassing" signs).

I had thought the CO might have corrected the coordinates by this past weekend, mais alas no. Now, I know that area of Fieldale quite well, and by studying the map and cache description, I believed I could narrow down a search area at the park to less than a hundred feet. On Saturday morning, since I was in Martinsville for my regular Mom maintenance visit, I decided I would head to the park and allow myself one hour to see if I could turn up the hide without the benefit of coordinates.

I arrived at the park at 9:04 AM. At 9:08 AM, I was signing the first-to-find spot on the logsheet. The container, happily enough, was hiding in the very first place I checked. So much for my hour allotment. Some cachers boast of doing the "FTF Dance" when they score a first-to-find, and this was one of those exceedingly rare cases when I was actually tempted to perform one. (I did not.)

So that find made my morning—the whole day, really. While I was at Mom's, I also set about solving the puzzles for a few new mystery caches in Siler City, which I found today with Bridget (Suntigres) and Gerry (BigG7777). As a bonus, Gerry and I got to venture into the deep, dark underground to find "Uncle Hargis's Potato Patch" (GC38ZXD), which Bridget had already found. Enjoyed that one mightily, particularly since I didn't die down there. We also spent some time going after a few Munzees, which I am almost inclined to disavow on principle, except that I have enjoyed going after a bunch here and there. Who'd have thunk it?

On a whole 'nuther random note, last night I dreamed I was watching a televangelist named Jesus Osmond, who was preaching the fire and brimstone while wearing pink bunny ears. I don't remember much more about it, but I think that may be enough.