FIRST GEOCACHE OF 2025

 

It was Monday afternoon, January 6.

“I’m bored,” said Mike. “I want to go geocaching this afternoon. Do you want to go with me?”

I wasn’t bored, but I said I would go – that is, until I stepped outside. It was “41 feels like 36” with a stiff breeze and no sun. “Are you sure you want to go today?” I asked.

“Maybe not,” Mike agreed.

So the next day, the sun was out (sort of) and it wasn’t quite so cold, and we agreed it would be good to get out. We parked the car off Hwy 12 / 95 directly across the Clearwater River from the mill and walked west to one cache which was simply the coords for the next cache in the series. It was faded to the extent that we couldn’t read it. On the way back to the car, we stopped at another elaborately planned cache where we were supposed to pour water into a tube so that the log book would float to the top. Mike tried valiantly, but the desired item was stuck in gunk at the bottom of the tube and wouldn’t float.

“These caches feel ‘déjà vu,’” I commented, and Mike laughingly agreed. We tried these caches unsuccessfully last year. We couldn’t read the first one, and we didn’t have the necessary water for the second.

So, we drove on west for a couple of miles to the “Goose Pasture” where we walked along a trail to access three recently-placed caches. Mike found each of these rather quickly, but they were elaborate, and putting them back to the original condition was time-consuming. Bess had such a good time running around, but in the end, even she complained about staying in one place.

As we arrived back at the car, the Ada County prosecuting attorney called to give us an update on the pending case against the inmate who murdered our son Milo, so we sat and listened for ten minutes or so. Progress has been made, but the current status is not yet final, so announcements won't be made for several weeks. And on the way home, Mike and I reviewed again the "what ifs." KW