Where I Went (Wrong)

So my buddy gives me a call and asks if I want to go for a 4/4 Whereigo and I say “Sure!” We made arrangements to meet on Sunday and all that good stuff. I’m feeling my oats. I’ve tackled a couple on my own so I’m ready for this.

I was not ready for this.

This thing was the most Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy/Babel Fish thing I’ve ever seen! You get to a location and there are “items”, but if you don’t get them you can’t get past the future locations not because you need the “items”, but because the “items” contain “items” you need that are not entirely intuitive (figured out that we need the dusty hat to wake the unconscious woman, but not because you fill the hat with water and splash her with it. No, you have to take the feather out of the hat and wave it under her nose? You can eat the candy, but if you eat it at a certain location, you remember things/clues?). Oh, and there are actual physical items hidden in certain places, as opposed to in game “items.” Oh, and did I forget to mention that at certain junctures, you have time limits? Yeah… No. Not today. I ended up breaking off while he continued on. He ended up telling me more about it later: bush whacking, a small cliff climb, finding the antidote to the poison in an ammo can, but needing to know which vial it was from previous clues, stuff like that. I think I will return to it at a later time, probably early in the morning when the sun isn’t beating down on me (it was a good high 90’s F that afternoon).

Just as important to the minor frustration was the real reason I ended up falling out of the whereigo. It wasn’t because the puzzles were too difficult. Annoying is something I face on a daily basis. The real reason I fell out is because I felt dehydration setting in. The sun didn’t help things, either. I have not been taking care of myself as I should lately. Part of it is that I’ve been on more of a winter footing and spring around here is often the beginning of summer in these parts (Texas really only has two seasons: summer and not-summer). Part of it is that I haven’t been taking as much care during the time of cholera. Even though I get out a little every day to cache, I haven’t exactly been pushing myself. I’ve been a little more sedate, eating a little worse, just keeping myself entertained and less keeping myself in shape. As a result, I was weak when I really wanted not to be. In the greater scheme of things, there’s nothing wrong with that. Some days we’re just not going to be up to the thing. But it should serve as a reminder that we’ve still got to keep up with ourselves however possible. I’m actively making a point to start hydrating now. Maybe I should start planning things for earlier in the morning when it’s cooler. I should definitely start getting out on the trails and pushing myself a bit harder. If I’m going to justify this as exercise, maybe I should actually use it for some physical upkeep. My point here (and I do have one) is that we all need to take better care of ourselves whenever we can, even and especially in times like these.

Oh, and after I watered myself and sat and rested for long enough, I left and picked up a lonely nearby cache. After just over a year, that little buddy pictured above got a visit from me. Maybe this coming weekend we can try it again. We’ll see…