You all are lucky you even got an entry from me today. I almost forgot to write one! While that is very unlike me, it’s for a good reason. I’ve been up to my elbows in caching for the last few days! So much so that when I was done, I set it aside to rest without writing about it!
Since my caching daughter has decided to do the Texas County Challenge and the not-yet-published Texas Two Step, we’ve been taking little minitrips out and about while the girls are visiting Austin. On Saturday, we were in Buffalo, Texas, so we grabbed her a Traditional and a Non-Traditional while we were in Leon County. We then took a slow route home so we could hit several more counties on the way back. We passed through Franklin, and one of the Robertson County caches turned out to be excellent, earning one of my stingily hoarded favorite points. Its only flaw was the remoteness of its location.
We swung through Bryan/College Station for lunch. The Traditional there was mundane enough, but the Non-Traditional was a Virtual on the campus of Texas A&M. Having gone to UT Austin, I already felt like a pilgrim in an unholy land, but posing for a photo in the shadow of Kyle Field? Of course, my little girl’s cache was more than worth the shivers that ran down my spine. From there, we passed through Burleson County. All we needed was a Non-Traditional, but we failed at our mission. The one we had chosen involved a hike that we didn’t want to make on such a hot day, and there were few other convenient options for a Non-Traditional in the county. No big deal. We’d be back through there again. We could have gone to Lee County, but there was flagging enthusiasm. They just wanted to get back, so we returned to Austin. It made me think that her endurance may be a concern in the future, but then again, this isn’t for me. While I am making suggestions and offering notes for consideration, it’s mostly her show. Sure, I’m piggybacking on it to work on I’ve Been Everywhere and the Texas Two Step myself, but I’ve done my Great Project. This is her Great Project. She sets the pace. At the same time, I don’t want to have to make half a dozen trips to the Panhandle if I can avoid it, either.
Sunday, we took a leisurely drive down to Lockhart for a Traditional and then continued to Luling to the brand-new largest convenience store in the world, the new Buc-ee’s. When I first went there, it was a tiny version, the size of a normal gas station. They have since expanded it and then expanded it again! Since it’s also in Caldwell County, we did the Adventure Labs that seem ever present at every Buc-ee’s and then got the Bonus cache for it as our Non-Traditional. She decided we should continue to neighboring Seguin, as had been offhandedly mentioned earlier in the day. I had no problems with that, so we jumped on I-10 and headed there. A quick Virtual and a cute little Traditional covered our caches for the county before we headed home.
We got her five new counties over the weekend. It’s definitely a start. It felt a little different without the burden of going to each county courthouse, but it was complicated by the requirement of two caches in each county. I also began to realize how inconvenient Non-Traditional caches can be when there are only a few in a county that are incredibly out of the way in the wrong parts of the county. And several counties in the state have only one available. But I’ve begun again in earnest. It’ll be slow, but it looks like I’ve started road-tripping around Texas again.
Geocaching While Black 