505. Hoxie, Sheridan County (KS027)

This is a perfectly cromulent courthouse and all, but my problem here is a locational one… Why is it that some courthouses just can’t be found in “GPS”/mapping programs? Every time I tried to route to it, I kept getting directed to Wyoming! The county courthouse, with few arguable exceptions, is the most important building in any given county so why wouldn’t it be a location just as prominent as a gas station or fast food joint? For quite a while, it was safe to just route to the county and it would take you to the courthouse by default. I got disabused of that notion fairly quickly, though. Many times when you ask for the courthouse, it won’t even take you there, preferring to take you to an annex or other civic building. Eventually it occurred to me that in less populated county seats, the Sheriff’s Office is usually within a block (if not right next door) to the courthouse. That put me right where I needed to be! Success!

I grabbed the cache on the way to the courthouse, doing something I don’t usually do the the road: I grabbed one in a private yard. As I’ve mentioned before, going near private residences is not the safest option because I never know when someone might decide I’m a thief and call the cops or, worse, decide to defend property, usually not their own, from me. But the description said that it was in a back alley, making it less obvious to others, and that the neighbors knew, so it was safe(r). So I gave it a shot. I don’t know if any of the neighbors saw me, but I could tell nobody was home. I slipped into their back yard and was rewarded with an ammo can and a giant display of geocoins! They were well sealed and locked in their case to prevent theft and all available for logging! The CO was even kind enough to place a list in the cache for easy acquisition! I was rained on as I cracked the can open and signed the log, photographing the list for later trackable logging. My job done here, I took a few minutes to handle some administrative tasks and return a call to friend who needed a favor (the real world does not slow or stop on my account, unfortunately) and then finished with courthouse complaints before setting off to…