Not bad. Not bad at all. This is definitely a triumph of the WPA. I found my self feeling quite fond of it. It’s suitably majestic, and the impressive thing (I think) is that it seems a serious and important building in a city that will be dominated by…
…the state capitol. As statehouses go, it’s OK, but it’s not as cool as Austin’s. Heck, it’s not even as cool as Baton Rouge’s or Little Rock’s. It definitely outclasses Santa Fe, though. As I pulled up to this, I realized that I was about to complete a local (for me) challenge that I had never gotten. A local cacher, known for his impossible puzzles and many of the geoarts around Williamson County, placed a challenge many years ago to find a cache in the same county as five different state capitals. I never bothered to get it, even though it’s relatively close to me, because I never thought I would ever complete it. Apparently, I was wrong. It this point, I would tell anyone to grab any challenge you run across, even though it seems incredibly unlikely you’ll ever complete it. If you keep going long enough, you’ll be surprised at the milestones you end up passing. I never imagined completing this many counties, mush less going to as many states as I have. I’m not grabbing any challenges involving benchmarks, though. Not even remotely my bag, folks.
As a complete and total side note, the state capital challenge is a grandfathered type now. You can no longer make challenges based on names, whether they’re cache names, cacher names, or (and this is the bit that kills me) county names. I was totally ready to place a Double alphabetical county challenge once I hit Quay and Quitman, but no joy. I also had one I was planning one called Diacritically Yours, involving finding caches on the only two counties in the United States with diacritics in their names, Doña Ana and Coös Counties. I wonder who at Groundspeak I could talk to about that? While I get not being able to use caches or cachers because those can change, I doubt county names will be subject to change so I bet those can be pretty reliable. But that’s for another day. Right now, I need a cache. It’s why I’m here, right?
The cache was another magnetic keybox in sight of the capitol. The name of the cache is supposed to be some kind of clever allegory that I have yet to figure out. Some time with the intertubes may have to explain it to me, but I haven’t done yet so I guess it’s not all that important. And, while I was here, I got one of those ancient virtuals I’ve been complaining about missing!
I started heading to a hotel so I could bed down for the night. I cannot possibly overstate the irony that I was slowed down by traffic on IH35! I drive hundreds of miles from home and it still vexes me! But a room I did eventually get and, after some dinner and check-ins with friends that I wasn’t lying in a ditch somewhere in Oklahoma, I went to bed and slept the sleep of the just. I ended up sleeping in a little more than I intended so the sun was rising as I was leaving, but I picked my hotel because it was quite close to my first stop of the day, the nearby town of…
Geocaching While Black 
The county name thing isn’t an absolute restriction — there was a challenge published in my area post-moratorium that involves finding caches in counties named “Hamilton”: https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC8W86W_the-elves-hamilton-challenge
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My reviewer said different, but I don’t feel like appealing it. I realized that a Double or even Triple Alphabetical County Challenge would be almost unfairly weighted toward people living in Texas. There are only three Z counties and two of them are here. Once I get too Coös County, though, I might reconsider appealing…
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There is an active State Capitol Quest in California https://coord.info/GCV7NG! I did the cache at the gluten free bakery in Little Rock many years ago! So make sure you get photo’s at state capitals while you are there.. and a cache! Take care. Anne (cacher scarhill)
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