I passed a couple of old friends on the way up here, through a number of towns I’ve already visited. This was destined to be an interesting trip like none other I had done before, but probably not for the reasons you might be thinking. To explain why, I’ll have to tell you something about me that some might consider to be too much information, but it was already is having an effect.
You see, most of my life I’ve been lucky enough to be in very good health. Many of my closest friends have had more serious health issues, but, aside from the occasional strained muscle or that time a couple of years ago when I had tendonitis for a few months (doing counties for the TCC was a pain in the a…nkle during that time), I’ve been in pretty good shape. About a month ago, though, I had a physical and the doctor decided that my blood sugar was a little too high and put me on a medication for it. My eating habits have changed and gotten a little better since, but everything else in my life has been mostly the same with one exception: I no longer experience tiredness in the same way as I did before. Instead of getting steadily more lethargic and groggy, I am now epically more alert, even when noticeably tired. This being my first road trip since starting the medication, I didn’t know for sure how it would affect my travels, especially late at night. One has to live and learn, though. So, as always, I hurled myself into the night and, after a couple of stops for virtuals and bodily functions, I eventually heard those beautiful words “Welcome to Colorado.”
The courthouse was nice, as were the war memorials. The stainless steel one there made a point of noting both the men and women who have served from this county. That was forward thinking of them (though it was from the 90’s so maybe not that impressive in that regard), and definitely something I have rarely seen out on the road. But soon enough I had a different problem…
Baca County is pretty cache poor and a lot of them are in cemeteries. As we all know, I don’t go in a cemetery at night, not just because it’s a little disrespectful, but also because I’m a little bit superstitious. Don’t get me wrong: I’ll talk with or punch a ghost depending on where the day takes me (or night in this particular case), but I wouldn’t want to fight a ghost in a cemetery for the same reason I wouldn’t go to some random neighborhood watering hole and deck one of the regulars in front of their friends who will no doubt proceed to jump me in their friend’s defense. My point here (and I do have one) is that I was left with the question of whether to try to go out of my way and try to find something or nap until sunrise. After more than 10 hours of driving to get here, I might be forgiven if I chose to nap for a bit. But we all know that’s not how I roll. Of course I decided to go for a cache! The cache was well outside of town, dedicated to an old, long gone settlement. I didn’t think there would have been much to see during the day, much less at night when my vision was bounded by the brilliance of my maglight. But it was easy enough to find, the only plastic piping along this fence line. I forgot to bring tweezers with me so I had to trudge back to the car to get them, but otherwise it was signed and returned in short order. My work here done, the cool dark wrapping about me, untold (though soon to be told) vistas stretching before me, I got back in the car and made a U-turn, pointing myself towards…
Geocaching While Black 