Three Cachers, One Muggle

So, a while back, my caching daughter got a friend of hers to go find a couple of caches with her. The friend liked it. She started her own account and logged one of the caches they found together, though not the other, because it turned out to be Premium. I have always maintained that finding a single cache makes you a cacher. She had a single cache logged, so she’s one of us. She also happens to be a sci-fi fan, especially regarding a certain franchise, which aligned with a particular mission of mine. I had recently learned about a special cache a short (for Texas standards) drive from Longview. I told my daughter about it, and she told her friend, and her friend was interested in coming along to get it. Schedules were tweaked and adjusted until we could find the right time, and this past weekend was it. When I went to pick up all three girls (cacher, muggle, and guest), I provided appropriate information for our guest’s parents so that they would know who I was, what I was driving, and roughly where we were going for all our protection (I didn’t want to run the risk of being accused of a federal crime). And then we set off for Webster Parish. We turned off the interstate onto a state road, then a county road, then a back road, and finally came to a private residence. As we all know, I’m not a fan of front-yard caches, but I made an exception for this one.

There’s little I like more than a TARDIS cache. Before you even ask—yes, it prima facie earned one of my stingily hoarded favorite points. It was the last thing I would have expected to find in nowhere Louisiana, so imagine my surprise to learn of it in the first place. It was primarily devoted to the Tenth Doctor, but I knew from photos that the costume bits contained therein also had some Eleventh and Fourth Doctor bits. I also suspected that their primary Fourth Doctor bit would be lacking, but I know a guy …

Selfies and jokes flew along with the costuming (I must say my muggle daughter cut a dashing figure) and a little talk about various Doctors (for the record, the Third is the best, and if you disagree, fight me!). Once the logbook was signed and the cache logged, two cachers had their first finds in another state. I was content with my second TARDIS, my first being back in British Columbia. When we were done and had locked everything back up, we went down the road a little for a quick Multi.

Placed by the same CO as the TARDIS, it involved opening a puzzle birdhouse and completing a simple jigsaw to find the redirector. I accidentally saved us the assembly step because my finely honed and experienced geosenses immediately found the redirector. A short walk later, we had triumphed! Our next move was returning to Shreveport for more caches and some lunch.

We stopped off at a Virtual at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, a gorgeous piece of Art Deco (I also was astounded that I immediately knew it was Art Deco; all this courthouse architecture stuff may be rubbing off on me). Once we found the Elvis statue and cornerstone, we gleaned the appropriate information and then got food. I would have dragged everyone to the Virtual at the Caddo Parish Courthouse and a nearby EarthCache, but they were both Premium, which would be no bueno for our guest. My objections have already been noted. After a little while, we got back on the road, pointing generally at the holy borders of Texas. After a quick stop to visit Mr. Ledbetter (and pick up another Virtual for the girls), we detoured to do a little work on the Texas County Challenge and Two Step with a stop in Jefferson.

When I was last there, it was a quiet hour of the morning, and the courthouse was under repair. But this time, the streets were bustling with Christmas festival traffic, and the courthouse was in full bloom. But those were secondary at the moment. We drove to the other side of town to pick up a Traditional at an old but preserved Texaco station. Then we parked “downtown” and took a short walk to the Virtual I had gotten so many years before at the Atalanta, Jay Gould‘s personal train car. I noticed four Adventure Lab series around the area, one of them completely housed downtown. Since our guest didn’t know about Labs, we introduced her by walking around the Christmas market; acquiring coffee, tea, and smoothie drinks; and answering questions about town locations (completing one of the Series in the process).

But all good things must end. We eventually had to head back to Gregg County. The ladies picked up about a dozen caches and added another state to their souvenirs. My caching daughter also trampled another county beneath her sandaled (though actually sneakered) feet. We even managed to acquire a copy of the Jimplecute. Victory!