Team+BECHIBEE

BAZINGA!

[[file:J.Becherini_SS_Geocache.pdf]]
My mind already buzzing with activity, I chose to venture out in solo fashion. My schedule is busier than a bee’s, so coordinating an adventure with other workers seemed impossible. My fingers danced through my planner, looking for an ever-elusive time gap. A solo bee could locate a cache within minutes, and buzz merrily along.

Drat! The hive picked up the scent of secrecy. They pressed at me from all sides, buzzing for adventure. I could not escape without sidekicks. Little bees from another hive heard the news, and begged to join our quest. So much for a quick, solo job. I flipped through the planner, and found three blessedly empty lines.

Then came the attacks. A little worker came down with hives. My carefully regimented planner shifted ungraciously, as I rushed the sick bee to various doctors. The available time for geocaching shrank to just one hour. One hour to locate a treasure!?! Could we do it? It was bee-coming doubtful.

I found four cache sites that seemed accessible to an out-of-shape queen with several active bees. The promise of riddles and adventure roared past the quiet voice of experience. It screamed sweet nothings in my ear, deafening me to the whispered reminders of my navigational challenges. I headily continued my preparations. Knowing that kid-friendly often contain items for exchange, I packed a bag of knick-knacks.

At the dismissal bell, I grabbed the provisions for the little bees, a printout, and the GPS. My three workers zoomed for the parking lot. Before we even got to the van, it began… “Mrs. B.!” “Yes?”“Hey, can we go check on the geocache my teacher hid in third grade?” “Right now?” “Yes, it will only take a minute!” “Do you remember where it is?” “Of course! I helped hide it, didn’t I?” “All right. If we’re quick, we can still find the other caches.”

Not even bothering to remove his backpack, Red led the charge across the parking lot and into a wooded area near the school. Parents in the long car-rider line tried to stare me down. Why were my kids already out of the building? Didn’t I know the rule about waiting in the proper pick-up line? With an apologetic shrug, I joined the race.  <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson 1: Excitement is not a navigational tool. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Mrs. B.!” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I’m coming.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“It was across this ditch. I think.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Then, let’s go around the ditch.”

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Scrambling through a maze of rocks and ant hills, we skirted the ditch. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> “Mom, check out this ginormous hole in the ground! Do you think hobos live there?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I doubt it.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I think they do! Look at the way the entrance is covered! They’re trying to hide it, I just know it.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Please, don’t go down there. Just keep looking for the cache.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">We continued chasing Red. I am certain that little bees have mouths as fast as their feet.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“This is taking more than a minute.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I think I’m getting red ant bites. I’m going to look like a marshmallow.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Ugh! That spider web touched my face!” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Where is that stupid geocache?" <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I think it’s by a fallen tree.”

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I looked around at multiple downed trees. This was not the adventure I’d planned.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Um, which fallen tree?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Ohh, one of these. Maybe it’s down this slope.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Are you sure you remember?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Oh, hey! Now I remember! It’s over by some bushy trees! Follow me, everyone!” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Whoa! Hold up! Let’s get back on track before our time runs out.”

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson 2: If it’s not one sting, it’s another. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">We flew back to the van, and quickly handed out the nectar. I didn’t want dehydrated bees on this adventure! Pulling out my handy GPS, I pulled up the first location. Then, it dawned on me. It’s one thing to have a location on a handheld GPS when one is already within walking distance of the cache. It’s an entirely different thing to get to the cache when constrained by a need for roads. We drove up and down Ray Road for a bit. The GPS kept pointing this way and that. It didn’t help that Mrs. B. does NOT like to use devices while driving. This meant that the navigation was coming from the perspective of a giddy 10 year old in the back seat. And his twin sister. And Mrs. B.’s even giddier son. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Hey, Mrs. B.?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Yes?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I don’t like this waypoint. I’m changing it to a different one.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Can you wait until I pull over?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“No, because I already changed it. And I think I deleted the old one.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Oh, good. I didn’t like that first cache, anyway.”

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">After pulling into a nearby parking lot, we all put our heads together to buzz about our prospects. Three caches remained. One was 8 miles away. With just 40 minutes left and a fleet of buses swarming out of the schools, we did not dare attempt to traverse such mileage. We were down to two caches, and the arrow was pointing through a fire station and about a mile of residential tangles.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson 3: Boggled <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Between the roads shown on my vehicle’s GPS, and the arrows pointing through undefined territory on the handheld, we managed to get to the third cache site. My navigational skills had not suddenly improved. The clue for this site was the name of a neighborhood, and I knew its general location.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The most recent visit to this site had been logged just 5 days prior. I had every expectation that we would find the cache. “Easy hike” the description promised. Right. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> We tromped through mud. Perhaps splashed is a better term. It was delicious. My bees were invigorated by the crisp air, and we soon reached our promised drainage stack. Only, the drainage stack was right out in the middle of a road. The GPS’ accuracy was not spot on. We scrambled through brambles. We screamed past red ant hills. We whooped our way down a trail, around a bend, over a rise, and back again. If bad guys had thought to hide in this forested area, they surely regretted that decision within moments of our arrival. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">If the broken seat dumped by a stream was our ‘cache’, it wasn’t really the literacy cache I had hoped to find. We found plenty of trash, some rather foul smelling water, a few red ants, and…. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Mrs. B!” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“What, honey?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“My throat is sore.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Do you need some water?”“No, I think I have strep.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Did you feel sick this morning?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“No.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Did your mom give you your Claritin this morning?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“No.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Well, do you have a runny nose?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“No. It’s not runny.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">A long snorrrrk promptly accompanied that statement. The boys fell into peals of laughter, and nearly into the mud. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> “Ewwww! You’re sooo gross! did you know you just swallowed boogers?!” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I did not! You’re the one who eats boogers.”

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">It took a bit of wrangling to get the bees settled into a gentle hum. Fortunately, I had one last cache up my sleeve. At least, that’s what my GPS said.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson 4: Muggles <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">This site promised an easy find. With just 15 minutes remaining, we needed the easy find. However, an easy find means that geocachers aren’t the only ones who get the clue. I pulled off the road, and we poured out of the van. As promised, there was “no doubting where the container might be at.” [sic] There was also no doubt that a few people had enjoyed a few too many on a recent evening. If you hear a bunch of tweens talking about ‘alkerhol’, don’t automatically assume that it has been consumed in front of them. Sometimes, it’s enough just for them to see the evidence that remains after people poison their brains.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Lesson 5: Who says we didn’t find a cache? <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The fun was starting to dissipate. It was time to get these kids home! Cranky silence ruled the back rows. We stopped to pick up another bee from her activity, and the buzzing resumed. Despite our lack of success, excitement resumed as the stories poured forth. The obstacles we had encountered were now touted as proof of our awesomeness at emerging alive. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Mrs. B., can we go again?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Absolutely, sweetie.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"Can we go after dinner?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Not tonight.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"What about if we hide our own, and then spin around a few times, and then go look for it?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“I imagine you could easily forget where you hid your cache.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Can we go again?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Yes.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Can we go tomorrow?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“No, I’m not driving you home tomorrow. I have an appointment.” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Well, how about Saturday?” <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">“Sweetie, I promise, we WILL go again. Just BEE patient!”