Travelbug+Taylor

Trial Run for Travelbug Taylor =Successful Saturday. It had such a good ring to it. Little did I know that my first attempt at geocaching would force me to rename this day in history to Sub-par Saturday. The sun beat down on a mild October afternoon as I set out to search for my first cache. With the confidence of Ponce de Leon, I embarked on my journey to the Ole Gilliam Mill Park, just a mile from my house in Sanford, North Carolina. The coordinates entered into the GPS in my phone took the steering wheel of my 1996 Honda Accord and parked the car outside of the now, privately owned and closed park. As I exited the car and proceeded according to the directions laid out by the GPS, I encountered a gorgeous and well preserved mill. After crossing a couple of bridges that stood thirty feet above a creek, I made my way throughout the site and found myself tasting spiderwebs and walking in zigzags.=

= = = = =What was registered on the site as an easy "grab" had become infinitely more difficult as my GPS continued to act up and send me 35 feet in one direction, only to send me 80 feet in another once I reached the location. After a solid half hour of frustrating searching, I learned that a man is only as talented an explorer as his GPS allows him to be. My pride was hurt and I left the site in search of another cache.=



=With high hopes of starting fresh and finding my first ever cache, I plugged in the coordinates for a new location titled "Lake James Trolls Live Here." I was a mile and a half down the road and I found myself parked at the entrance of a new housing development. I left my car running expecting this to be an easy find, as I assumed that the described "camouflage" bottle would be easily visible under the bridge that my GPS led me to. As I began to crawl under this awkwardly placed bridge, I found myself once more empty handed. Although my GPS said I was literally on top of the cache, after twenty minutes of retracing my steps I once again was let down and retreating to my car. Before I set off for my next endeavor, I checked the location once more through the Geocaching app on my phone and found that visitors to that site had struggled to find the cache as well. This left me to believe the cache had been lost or removed.=

= An almost certain day for success had quickly become a deflating one at that. An hour into my geocaching excursion and I was already down for the count. However, persistence won and I piled back into the driver's seat of Lashonda Honda and was headed another mile in the opposite direction to try my hand once more. As I approached the GPS location, my phone vibrated and alerted me that I needed to park and move on foot as I was in close proximity to the cache. I maneuvered into the woods and found two abandoned tobacco barns that were falling apart, however my GPS pointed me in the direction of the road. As I approached the location of the cache, I found myself examining a lift station for the county. After five minutes of another frustrating search, something led me to look at the back of a sign at the life station. =

= Having never geocached before, I did not know what to expect and in turn, nearly mistook the water bottle zip-tied to the back of the sign as a piece of trash. Thankfully, I decided to give it a look and was shocked to have found my first ever geocache! Water had gotten inside of the bottle and damaged the signature log that others before me had left their mark on. After adding my makeshift initial signature on the paper, I carefully placed the materials back in the bottle and left a wrist band for the next explorer to find. Although I was pretty exhausted after my third location and first find, my new found success provided refreshment and a hunger to find one more cache before calling it a day. = = = = Following suit, I once again chose the next cache location based on proximity to the location I was currently at. The GPS led me down the road six tenths of a mile and left me in an empty field adjacent to a creek bed that was tucked between woods and an intimidating brier patch. Had I not found the previous cache, I would have not even attempted to clear most of the terrain in order to search for this final cache. The new ambition I had acquired was enough to push me beyond my own physical comfort in order to make it back to break-even in my quest of finding caches. As my GPS informed me that I was fifteen feet away from the beloved cache, I soon realized that I must find my way through the brier patch and rugged underbrush in order to find the final cache. My bare legs were no match for the briers and my basketball shorts were soon filled with thorns and pricks from the brush, but I was too far to turn back. =

= As I stepped through the final bush, I saw an opening in the woods and another black water bottle zip-tied to a tree. I quickly unscrewed the container and found the respective signature log and tracking chip, as well as an army figurine. After adding my initials to the list, I decided against removing the soldier from the cache and instead, I added another of my wristbands for the next person to find and enjoy. =

= Finally, my pride and my success rate had found their way back to a mediocre state and I drove back to my house. Although I was physically empty handed from not taking any of the "spoils" from the caches I found, I was not arriving at home without having gained something valuable. After cleaning up and settling down for the rest of the afternoon and night, I realized that I was bored with sitting inside and I found myself craving to geocache even more. While I was finished for the day, this adventure had given me a refreshing picture of my community and the small things in life. I once more had the contagious passion for the outdoors breathed into me. = 3rd Grade Geocaching Lesson Plan: