371. Goodland, Sherman County (KS010)

This is a very stately courthouse, punctuated by a little bit of color. I like it. It seems like something you might find at a university, but with just a little bit of something to tell you that this is not just your boring old building.

I feel there’s a certain irony to the fact that the bell here has a sign telling you all about its history but the sign is completely faded and barely readable. If that’s some kind of metaphor, it is what it is. As for the cache itself…

…once again we thank the Atlas Obscura. At this rate, it seems to be replacing Quanah Parker for the coveted position of “Homeboy.” This is the largest easel on Earth. And if you’re into Van Gogh, bonus. I, myself, am more of a neo-classical guy (Poussin, Ingres, David) who thinks impressionists are lazy (full disclosure: I do have a soft spot for Romantics like Turner and Delacroix and Baroques like Caravaggio and Gentileschi [Artemisia and also, to a lesser extent, Orazio]). But this was alright, I guess. I actually spent quite a while trying to find where this one could possibly be. Everything was pointing me toward a lot of nearby electrical boxes and big iron, but there was nothing to be found. The packs of muggles who would stop and look at the thing made for a bit of difficulty, but provided an opportune moment to look at the logs. Turns out that to CO decided some time before to eschew a regular hide and and make the visitor’s log the cache. I thought about it a little. It is a log for signature inside a container. The fact that everyone, cacher or muggle alike can sign it doesn’t really have any bearing on it, yes? Technically, I’m a little worried that it runs afoul of some guideline and that might get the cache in trouble, but I’m counting on the fact that Groundspeak and/or the reviewer have a good sense of humor. But it is a heck of a location to find one in the middle of Kansas. Once I signed the log, I got some food (despite the lady in front of me negotiating the Magna Carta with the drive through cashier) and continued on to…