Cache+Queens

Our Royal Geocaching Adventure! Kathryn Trumble & Emily Rosage

 The day was October 6th, 2014, and we, the Cache Queens, were assigned a duty named, “Our Great Geocaching Adventure”. We first were dumbfounded by the title, asking each other questions such as, “What is geocaching?” or “What makes it ‘great’?” Maybe there is cash involved, since you know; queens will never deny a challenge with prize money! We soon learned that geocaching was more of a scavenger hunt, involving random items that people leave for us to find. This sounds even more exciting, since the prize is unknown! We decided to start on our quest the very next day, with our GPS in hand. We were in store for an adventure, because day one panned out to be a more strenuous than we thought!  Day one of our adventure has arrived, and we decided to click on the geocache named “Bell Tower”. We said to each other, “This one should be easy, we know where that is!”. Not even five minutes into our journey, we were tripping over obstacles in the parking lot. Whew! The adventure was already starting out to be a rocky one! On top of the stumbles we had, the eighty-five degree weather was smoldering, with the sun beating on the back of our necks. We persevered, because that’s a queen’s duty!

Finally, the tower was in sight! We were overjoyed to search for our prize, with the GPS reading that we were only a few feet away.

We entered the gates behind the bell tower, making sure that we were in the right location. We had made it! The cache queens have successfully completed their first journey, but the excitement stopped, as we could not find the cache!

We searched in bushes such as these to the left, and there was nothing to be found!The heat was causing us to become thirsty and impatient after searching high and low for the cache. Not even five minutes after endless searching, three people came into the area we were searching. They were carrying a plastic box with the geocaching label. We were both saying, “Is that the geocache that belongs here?”. But they wouldn’t say anything! We started to believe that it was the cache, and decided to choose another to search for.

We trekked about 444 feet to our next location, named “Kivett”. Since the first location was named “Bell Tower”, we started towards the building named Kivett. The GPS was taking us more towards the academic circle, so we followed the directions, until it said zero feet. It led us under a tree. Now, everything is in open view! “How in the world is a box hidden here”, we thought. We searched high and low, and in the crevices of the tree, with the thought in the back of our mind that it may not be there, just like the last one.  While peeping into a small hole, we spotted a small canister with a grey top. One of those tiny film containers was tucked away in the tree! Horray!! We, the Cache Queens, have finally found o ur buried treasure! A small piece of paper inside a plastic bag, contained the names of past geocachers. It was exciting to add our name to the list!

The excitement of finding our first cache caused our curiosity to soar, so we quickly chose a location named “The Fighting Camels”. The GPS was bringing us towards the convocation center, so we embarked on the next path. By this time, we were outside for more than an hour, with the sun causing our thirst to worsen. We really should have brought a water bottle; this geocaching is a workout in itself! We arrived to our location, and we could not find any box in sight. So we decided to check the hint, which said the box is connected to something magnetic, but not the camel. Oh geeze! All of these magnetic signs and flagpoles are everywhere!

The excitement of finding our first cache caused our curiosity to soar, so we quickly chose a location named “The Fighting <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Camels”. The GPS was bringing us towards the convocation center, so we embarked on the next path. By this time, we were outside for more than an hour, with the sun causing our thirst to worsen. We really should have brought a water bottle; this geocaching is a workout in itself! We arrived to our location, and we could not find any box in sight. So we decided to check the hint, which said the box is connected to something magnetic, but not the camel. Oh geeze! All of these magnetic signs and flagpoles are everywhere!

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">We searched each magnetic item we could find, but no clue to where the geocache was secretly hidden. Splitting up, we checked all of the road signs, benches, poles, and everything in between. At this point in our adventure we have searched for three geocaches, and have only found one. But, we are the geocaching queens, and we will not give up until two have been found in day one!!



<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our concentration was strained after our third attempt to find a cache, so we took a quick detour to the pharmacy building, for a long sip at the water fountain. The hydration was the perfect remedy to motivate us to continue our adventure. We choose our next location, which was named “Well”. Once again, we knew where this was! The GPS was taking us on the path we were familiar with, with only 0.2 miles standing in our way.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">The excitement of possibly finding our second geocache was coming close as we approached the potential area. From our first geocache finding, we learned that the containers can be in all shapes and sizes, so we were on the look out for anything. The cool shade was relaxing, as the suspense built.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">We spotted it! Hidden in the bushes on the side of the gazebo, was a small plastic container tucked away in the brush. Yay!! When our eyes locked on the prize, we were overjoyed, because <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">our adventure was starting to pan out successfully. We reached into the bushes to pull out the <span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;"> have embarked on the same adventure was we did. container, which contained laminated papers, and a pad to record our name. Our classmates had been to the same location only hours before us! It was neat to see how many others on the same adventure was we did.



<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">With our second geocache found, we excitedly recorded our name, and placed the container back in the bushes.

<span style="font-family: Cambria,serif; font-size: 14pt;">We, the Cache Queens, attempted to find four caches on our first day of geocaching. Although only two caches were found so far, day one turned out to be more of an adventure we thought it would be! Next will be day two, which will probably as crazy of an adventure as day one!

The day was October 16, 2014, and we, the Cache Queens, were at it again! It was a beautiful day; not too hot, not too chilly, and we felt determined to find our last two caches. In fact, we felt so determined that we decided to give a second go at hunting for the cache at the “Bell Tower.”

Heading to the Bell Tower straight after class, trudging along with our heavy backpacks weighing us down, we followed our GPS extra careful this time. Our GPS led us to zero feet as we approached the curb of the parking lot behind the Bell Tower.

We searched in every bush and around every tree. Remembering that the GPS gave one hint per location, we clicked on the button and read the following hint: “This cache is hidden in a GRATE place!”

We immediately recognized the play on words and hurried over to the water grate in the middle of the grass. Searching all around the area, we were discouraged to find nothing. However, in the distance, we spotted another grate located along the curb.

We scurried over to the grate and squinted down through the slots into the dark abyss. Plastic wrappers, crumpled leaves and twigs lined the bottom of the grate, but no cache was to be found.



Suddenly, the sun caught a small white container located in a hole lining the back wall of the grate. We squealed with joy and kneeled down to get a closer look at the cache.

Queen Kathryn carefully reached her hand through the slot and gently pulled at the cache to wiggle it out of the hole. She pulled and pulled but the cache would not budge.



Breathing out a sigh of frustration, Queen Kathryn gently tugged at the cache once more, when, all of a sudden, it popped out of the hole and fell down to the bottom of the grate. We looked at each other in horror and slowly looked down at the cache now at the bottom of the dark grate, covered in leaves and dirt.



Happy that we had found the cache, but disappointed that we could not open the cache and record our names on it, we sunk down onto the curb. We were completely shocked that the cache had fallen down the grate, and felt so bad.

Deciding that the next explorers should know what had happened, we wrote a message on the Geocaching site under “Camel Cache: Bell Tower,” stating that the cache had fallen down the grate. We felt so guilty for ruining the cache, but decided to brush it off and go hunt for the fourth and last cache.



Looking at the Geocaching site, we realized that we only had one more cache left to find on campus at Campbell University. Clicking on “Camel Cache: Saylor Park,” we began our journey in the gorgeous October weather.

As we arrived at Saylor Park, we could not help but admire the beautiful day we were blessed with to go geocaching! With the warm sun shining, the sky a deep blue sprinkled with fluffy clouds, the tall trees shading them, we happily searched for our final cache.

We followed the GPS, which led us to the side of the road of the park. Confused, we looked everywhere but found no sign of a cache. We searched all around the stop signs, in every hole, and under each tree and began to get rather frustrated.

After finding no sign of the cache, we decided to see what hint was provided for the cache. The hint read: “EGGE 412.” “This is the most ridiculous, random clue ever,” Queen Emily remarked, beginning to feel extremely frustrated.

“I thought this was supposed to be the easiest cache to find,” stated Queen Emily. Queen Kathryn agreed in confusion and decided to walk back to the trees to stand under the shade they provided to stop and take a moment to think.

Just then, two friends arrived! We ran up to them and told our friends that this cache was a tricky one. The friends agreed, and, together, we all decided to hunt for the cache.

Each GPS led us straight back to the electricity tower at the side of the road. We laughed in disbelief, but figured we would give the search another try.

Together, the four of us looked all around the tower until, finally, an electricity box jumped out at us. it was labeled, “EGGE 412.”

“Our hint!” we exclaimed, feeling so silly for thinking that the hint was just a random typo.

Carefully, one of our friends lifted the lid of the electricity box, and inside was what looked like a small, white medicine bottle propped up.

We were so ecstatic! We had found all four of the caches! Unscrewing the lid of the bottle, we were shocked to see not one but four sheets of paper rolled up inside, each lined with the names of others who had found the cache.

We scribbled our names below the others and placed the cache back inside the box, feeling so happy! We, the Cache Queens, were so proud to have found all four caches and we realized that geocaching was much more fun than we thought it would be! Our Lesson Plan <span style="display: block; font-family: HelloPippi; font-size: 26pt; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; text-align: center;">