My daughters were slated to come to Austin for spring break. Normally, their mother brings them down, but because of real-world complications, she couldn’t bring them until later in the week. I was able to rectify that. I drove up to Longview to take them on a driveabout as I have on several other occasions, but instead of taking them to their home, I brought them back with me. We had counties to take care of for my older daughter’s project anyway, so why not? We started in Athens with a Mystery cache at the public library. Library caches are fun, and this one was no exception. We also picked up a Traditional in the most unlikely place: a cemetery! There were a lot more people there than we expected: a few older couples visiting graves and an extended family of at least eight with multiple children running about. At first, we were wary of being spotted, but with so many people around, we aroused no suspicion. We went on and did our business, finding a container in the hollow of a tree. Invenimus, inscripsimus, reposuimus, but I didn’t log it. I instead began compiling a list. Since I’m preserving my find count until I hit ten thousand, I have started saving caches I’ve found that I don’t immediately need. Once I hit the big 10K, I’ll just bulk-log the rest. It may mess up a few of my more obscure stats like distance cached or something like that, but if I can’t even name the stat, who cares!
From there, we proceeded to Corsicana. For the sake of cache economy (and because it was lunchtime), we grabbed lunch at the Collin Street Bakery, and my caching daughter claimed the Mystery there as we ate. For a Traditional, we grabbed a nano in town at a pocket park. It was in a location not suited for the altitudinally challenged, but my young and spry children took care of it easily enough.
From there, we deviated from our traditional path to Austin, turning north toward Ellis County. Usually, any two caches would do, but in this case, I had needs. I’ve been working on a challenge to find caches in or near ninety-one towns and cities in Texas. Two of them were in Ellis County, so I picked caches that would meet my daughter’s needs (a Traditional and a Non-Traditional) and my needs (finds within certain radii of two specific towns).
Our Traditional was a bison in a tree. The title of it made no sense when I thought about it, but the second I spoke it aloud, I knew exactly what it meant. All that really mattered, though, was that it was within three miles of Red Oak. The second cache was a Virtual within eight miles of Maypearl. We rode through winding back roads to get to a remote church known for being a filming location for the movie Places in the Heart. After getting answers from the historical markers at the church and the cemetery across the street, we submitted our logs, and all our needs were fulfilled.
The final stop of the day was in Waco. My daughter had already found a Traditional there and only needed a Non-Traditional. This time, cache economy was the secondary reason for my choice. I took the girls to a Mystery in a cemetery that I had found the first time I cached in Waco all those years ago. It’s also the same cemetery where all my great- (their great-great-) grandparents from one side of my family are buried. I had brought them here when they were younger, but they had no memory of it. We found the cache in the trunk of a tree and then drove around to a couple of areas to see the resting places of my grandmother’s father, who died young in a coal explosion in Wichita Falls, and my grandfather’s parents, buried alongside a couple of my great-aunts. My other great-grandmother is there as well, but I haven’t found her stone yet among so many. The girls may have been as interested in what they were seeing as I may have been at their age, but I took time to point out landmarks and tell them things because, one day, they may be as interested as I am now. They may not care, but at least now they know they have a history that’s there for them if they do.
From there, we continued to Austin. We’re spending a few days here before heading south to Floresville. The Mega looms, folks!
Geocaching While Black 