What have we learned? After 2209 miles of driving, I’m not entirely sure that we learned anything specific from this. Everything went about as well as could be hoped. One thing I think I learned about is quantity vs. endurance. The more counties I try in a day, the harder I have to push myself. But if I push too hard it’s not sustainable in the long run. I could do two days and come back with 30-35 counties (15-17 per day), but if I do a longer trip, I would have to restrict myself to maybe 12-15 per day or I would quickly burn out. If I did a week or more, I might even have to go down to 10 per day to keep going. Of course, having a week long trip seems less than likely at this point so I don’t think that’s going to be an issue.
Secondly, I should probably take notes in each county. I have all these thoughts and impressions when I hit a county that get lost in the ether because I can’t remember them a week to a month later when I actually do the writing about it. That said, there’s something to being succinct and having all these side thoughts and diversions to plow through may or may not be helpful.
Lastly, over-preparedness allows for flexibility and that is king. Calling an audible can save a lot of pain and trouble. I’m pretty sure starting in Lipscomb as I originally intended instead of Childress would have cost me in the long run (though, I probably would have made it to the Cadillac Ranch) because missing that much sleep on the road would have been both difficult and ultimately dangerous.
And, of course, here are some photos.
And, if everything has gone as it should, I should begin a new trip on Monday, beginning in…
Geocaching While Black 