The Long Drive

As I said, fast forward a few weeks. Many caches had been found. I went to my first events since the beginning of the time of cholera, Community Celebrations that were all masked, distant, and safe. I saw someone I know add themselves to the Roll of Honor. I picked up some FTFs and a bunch of other caches (yes, my streak continues. When this publishes, I should be at 773 days). On this day, however, I woke up in Corpus Christi.

The previous day I had looked out upon the Gulf of Mexico, but now it was time to head home. Well, sort of. I was beginning a great journey and I had to pass through home for it to truly begin. I set my sights on Austin and started making my way, but not before picking up an FTF, pictured above, a fake coconut with a jar contained. This was my second FTF away from home, my first being in Longview, so I considered it a good, possibly even auspicious, way to start the day. Log signed and returned, my driving began. Two hundred miles were put behind me, arriving home and then leaving again almost as swiftly as I had arrived. Thus began the next leg of my drive to the second cache of my day. To be honest, it’s the place that I consider the ACTUAL beginning of this journey. It is, of course, somewhat ironic that this great undertaking would begin and end in cemeteries.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the grave of Messr. Charles H. Holley, a local of some repute. As fate would have it, there’s a virtual here so I decided to claim it while I was there. I will admit he is part of one of my time travel fantasies. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to hear a conversation on how to navigate the music business between 20 year old Charles, a 21 year old Messer. R.K. Orbison of Vernon, and a 23 year old crooner from Mississippi whose name escapes me right now. This is lower down on the list, though. My real dream is to spend January 16, 1938, in New York City. If you track me down and ask, I’ll happily tell you why. This is all beside the point, though. My point here (and I do have one) is that I was in scenic Lubbock. A cache, a few photographs and a couple of text messages later, I was on the road once again. Another hundred miles went through the rear view mirror before I could stop for the night. I saw the fireworks celebrating the nation’s birthday as I pulled into town and, after some food and a good night’s sleep, I would begin the next day just before sunrise in…