The Wire

There are so many details and moving bits. We’re at a point where, regardless of what we may or may not have done, something is going to happen and a lot of people are going to be there to see it. It’s getting down to the wire, folks. Here’s hoping that everyone enjoys what we’ve got.

However, not every moment was spent in preparation. The Girls are visiting from Longview on Spring Break. Their break isn’t aligned with Spring Break here in Austin, so they’ve been living it up (in as much as one can “live it up” with me) while the local kids are still hitting the books and riding the buses. Unfortunately, I still have to work, but I’m managing to get time with them to do stuff, including find some caches. Yesterday, we took a trip to Austin‘s own Zilker Park. I had long since gotten most of the caches in the park (there’s still one that’s a little problematic that I’ve never gotten to), but it has recently received some new ones so we went and got one. In this case, it was at the Caretaker’s Cottage, a historical building on the grounds that was, as the name suggests, where the caretaker used to live. I had also given a class on geocaching there about five years ago for the city Parks & Recreation Department. I also couldn’t help but think of all the times I had brought the Girls to the park when they were little and how some features had changed while others stayed eternally the same. We took a break to ride on the the park’s train, the Zilker Eagle, the replacement for our old and beloved Zilker Zephyr. Truth be told, it felt like a bit disappointing: the new train cost much more than it once did (damn inflation and new cost modeling!) for less of a trip (the route was noticeably shorter than it had once been). We still enjoyed it, though. But I digress…

We knew we were looking for something magnetic and took a moment with an iron fence at GZ to no avail. While there were a couple more options, the most likely one was a sign kiosk with iron posts and a metal roof. A quick look spotted a small tube with a magnet on it. My freakishly tall (for a young teenage girl) younger daughter was able to reach up and pull it down. Invenit. By some freaking bit of luck, we all had pens so nobody had to steal mine! Inscripsimus. And then, after almost losing the log, I managed to get it back together and return the cache to its hiding place. Reposui. And with that, our mission was done for the day. Our conversation turned to the fact that Pi Day souvenirs were available over the coming weekend, requiring fourteen Mysteries to get all three levels. Could we find fourteen of the thousands of caches in and around Taylor? If time permits, it is certain. Then again, with all I have to do this weekend, time may not be a kind mistress. Time to see if I’ll miss my first souvenir since I started in the 2018. Full disclosure: I have tons of Challenges to claim if I don’t have time to get out on the road so I’m not worried for myself, but I’ve got “little” cachers to look out for here! I need to hook them up, too!