Obviously, I Wasn’t In Yuma

Yesterday, I found a cache. Nothing special or extraordinary, just a bison hanging in a sign pole. The only things different about it are that (a) it was hidden by a newer cacher fairly recently, and I missed it when it published, and (b) it’s in a neighborhood that I used to live in and where a friend still lives. I actually have a cache of my own nearby, but that’s completely coincidental.

Saturday, I took a drive down to New Braunfels for a Community Celebration Event that was also doubling as a planning meeting for Texas Challenge. Continuing from last year, the Central and South regions are combining to form a unified team. The other regions have much larger (and, to be honest, younger) teams, so we’re going to do our best once again! Victory or mild annoyance! But I also dropped a big ball. One of my caching friends is terribly, terribly behind on logging caches. She doesn’t have a computer, so she basically logs a bunch a day, but that still has her hundreds of caches behind. “No problem,” I told her a while back. I’d just bring my laptop, fire up GSAK (or Geocaching Swiss Army Knife for those of you not in the know), and we’d bulk-log them. Great idea with only one minor flaw: I walked out of the house without my laptop. It was literally sitting, waiting for me to snag it on the way out of the house. But I had to do an emergency favor for a friend, which altered my timetable and caused me to leave the house without it. I am a big dumb stupidhead.

Friday, I went out and hid a couple of caches. I took the afternoon to scout out a few locations for possible caches and came across the perfect place for a cache I’ve had for a very long time. I noted the location and planned to return when it hit me: I brought it with me in my cache repair kit (which is just a tackle box with a bunch of stuff in it). I got some coordinates, placed the cache in the appropriate place, and submitted it. It published later in the day and was found on Saturday. I also placed a much harder one, a D4, that published on Saturday but hasn’t been found yet. I’m considering upping it to D4.5 (or even D5, but I don’t think it rates that). I’ve got a few other hides I’m thinking about, but two new ones are a good start. And it means I’ve got the Hider souvenir for 2025 now. So there’s that.

Finally, I’m not going to lie; I’m thinking about GeoWoodstock. It’s a Giga now, so there’s a greater impetus to go. I don’t know if I’ll be able to because I’ve got a life and all that stuff, but it’s on my mind. I don’t usually talk about future plans, but I think it’s safe to admit I’m considering it. And if I do go (which is very much an if at this point), I’ll probably grab a few counties in the area, too. And that’s the bigger draw for me.