712. Marysville, Marshall County (KS090)

Oh, God, why?  Why would you do this?  What could possibly be so wrong with the old building that you would choose this to replace …

… this?  It couldn’t have been that bad because the old building is still in use as a museum.  I would understand if it was bad enough that they needed to commit buildingcide.  But it’s obviously still adequate, so again I ask: Why?!?

As a vaguely interesting sidenote, Marysville used to be a station for the Pony Express.  Vaguely interesting, but not the big thing around here.  As I pulled into town, I caught a sight that made my eyebrows rise.  Some towns have pigs, some towns have boots, and some towns have Scotties.  This town has black squirrels. 

In fact, the town’s welcome sign even names Marysville “Black Squirrel City.”  I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere, but I didn’t feel like making one at the time.  I also didn’t feel like stopping for all the squirrels I saw, though I regret not capturing the one in golfing attire at the country club.  Considering the town’s affinity for squirrels, I decided it was only fitting to grab a cache called “Squirrel!” 

When I got to ground zero, I didn’t see anything that looked like a squirrel, so I went ahead and actually read the cache description.  It said that you had to be brave enough to knock on the door and ask for it.  I’ve never been accused of being a coward, so even though human contact is usually something to be assiduously avoided on the road, I parked and got out of the car.  I was a bit worried because someone was backing a trailer into the driveway.  Maybe it was the occupants, or maybe it wasn’t.  Whichever they were, a young girl around ten or so saw me deliberating and asked me, “Are you looking for the geocache?”  With my affirmative reply, she pointed toward the corner of the house and said, “It’s over there.” 

In the direction she pointed, at a corner was an ammo can.  I can totally see why, especially for the last few years, it may not have been a good idea for random strangers to come up to one’s door, so I assume that’s why it is now outside.  It was done with a signature and a couple of dropped trackables, and I was on my way again, this time to…