SOMETIMES LIFE SEEMS LIKE A TRAIN WRECK

Sometimes, no matter how you try, your life just seems to become a train wreck. No matter how you try, things just seem to turn out wrong and you are helpless to stop it. All you can do is watch, wishing you could cover your eyes and go back to bed. More about that later. First the cache part:

We are back at Lake Stephens #2 Cache. A few weeks ago we searched here in the gathering dark and in the falling rain and snow for a cache that (we later found out) had been muggled--disappeared, stolen. I am a highly goal oriented individual and after having found 14 caches earlier in the day, this last failure left me frustrated, so when the owner sent out a note that he had replaced the cache with a new one we were back to look for it at our first opportunity. BatikFreak10 (sis) and wiscongranny (Joyce) and I are here early on Sunday morning and the weather is cooperating. Spring is on its way.

BF10 models her re-find. She was the actual finder of the hidden box and gets to sign the log first. We were the first finders of the newly replaced cache.

I hope you can see the detail in this photo, click to enlarge if needed. Can you see them? I told you spring is on its way. There are a goodly number of tadpoles in the picture. The little beings are less than a half inch long at this point but will shortly become top notch hoppers and croakers. Frogs and toads are facing an uncertain future. Global warming is taking its toll on the little guys. Will we follow some day in the future?

This has absolutely nothing to do with Geocaching , but how can you pass up the opportunity to photograph the turn off to Hoo-Hoo Hollow--or as is more properly said, Hoo-- Hoo Holler. No, we didn't go.

Now for the high point of the day. We are near Oak Hill WV and behind the WalMart. Can you see the cache? We spent about a half hour looking for the cache here. We crawled around--practically under-- this electrical transformer unit. We touched every joint and seam and tugged at every nut and bolt. Nothing!! We walked away and walked back. We searched and searched. Nothing!! We read and re-read the description and clue and logs. NOTHING!!!! Finally, more in desperation than hope, BatikFreak10 touched the numbers and sesame opened.

What followed was a victory dance and war whoop to equal any seen after the winning touchdown in the worlds greatest Super Bowl game. I think that if BF10 had been just a little younger we would have seen a series of hand stands and jive dancing.

The numbers themselves are the cache!! The hider had used a set of magnetic numbers and letters to place a fictitious serial number on the transformer. The backs of the numbers themselves are the log. How cool is that? And congrats to BF10 for giving us 8 for 8 on the day.

Now for the train wreck part of the day: Sometimes things just don't work out and your day turns out baaaaddd. And that's what happened to the crew of this train. About a week before we returned to Lake Stephens, this wreck had occurred. It's a small wreck as those things go, only a few cars and a few hundred tons of coal. But someones day was sure ruined. I'm sure someone just wanted to cover their eyes and go back to bed rather than face the bosses and an inquiry into why this happened. Someones day was a total, complete and absolute train wreck.

SOMETIMES THE CACHE IS SECONDARY

Sometimes you go geocaching and find something much better, and maybe even important. Follow along.

Yesterday BatikFreak10, wiscongranny, and I went caching. The weather seems to have finally broken winters back. Spring is truly on the way. In case you tuned in late, BF10 is my dear sister and wiscongranny is my good wife Joyce. WG doesn't go caching too often, but even she needed to get out in the warm air and check out the flowers. What we found was even better, and longer lasting.

We had been caching for several hours and had made a few good finds when we targeted a cache near Lewisburg WV. This cache was one in a series using the Greenbrier River as a theme. The caches were hidden in or near a variety of parks, public boat ramps, and near bridges over the Greenbrier. We noted in the description of the cache hide that the boat ramp/public park contained a labyrinth which has the Greenbrier and life along it as its (the labyrinths) theme.

What we found was wonderful, and maybe even good art.

I am standing at the juncture of Spring Creek and the Greenbrier. Spring Creek is about a mile or less from our home. If you look in the near (lower) foreground you can see the carving in the concrete labyrinth illustrating the Greenbrier. Looking towards the far end of the path, just below our truck, the two forks denote the east and west branches of the Greenbrier nearly a hundred miles north of Spring Creek and Renick WV. The flow of the river is towards me.

BatikFreak10 and wiscongranny admire some of the art. The walking surface of the labyrinth was completely covered with art, some serious, some less so, but all about the River, its inhabitants and life along the river. Even the many beer/fishing/more beer parties received notice.

Below are several examples of the art. Wonderful things.

We put aside the geocaching for quite some time. No one was in a hurry and we were all impressed by the art, but I don't think any of us was impressed by the same pieces of art as the other two. Each one of us took away something to remember from the outing on the Greenbrier River Labyrinth.

When we got back to geocaching, BF10 caught my picture at one of the River Trail caches. I'm getting ready to open it and sign the log.

You've read before in this blog about swag--stuff we all get. Here's an example of swag for the uninitiated and unwary. When--if--you desire to take home a priceless example of swag you are supposed to leave something of equal or greater value, that way the cache stays supplied with goodies but the treasures are always new and interesting.

At one of our finds yesterday I was charmed by this "eye ball" and had to add it to my collection. I'm swapping a new shiny car for the priceless (to me) eye ball. I don't collect a lot of swag. I have only 6 or 8 pieces in my collection, but they are interesting and fun to me. I think that probably even the most hard hearted geocacher has some small swag hidden away somewhere where he or she can take it out and fondle when alone at night and no one is looking. Swag, stuff we all get.

An update on the entry below: Just before writing this post, I learned by way of my Geocaching Watchlist that the one cache we were unable to find in the snow and darkening day was truly missing in action and was renewed by the owner earlier today. I feel relieved and absolved of blame or oversight.