So, I’d only planned to do a geocache blog post, but I have bigger news than that. I FINISHED A STORY! I haven’t done that since “Through Ashes Returned”, which garnered me a very nice rejection letter that sent me into a tailspin that’s lasted — oh, dear — about nine months. (Wow, has it really been that long?) I’ve worked on some RPG projects, did NaNoWriMo (and promptly tossed out the 21k words I wrote), even tried revising a few pieces. But actually taking a story all the way to “The End”? Nope. Couldn’t get my internal editor to shut up long enough to get that far. I finally got so frustrated I said screw it. I want to write a ghost story. And I don’t care if anyone likes it, or reads it, or if they get to the end and say they don’t understand what happened or think the POV shift is abrupt. I just want to write a story that I’d like to read, that I’ll enjoy. So I did.
No idea what to call it. Other than done. And I still have to type it in and revise it into something readable. But for now I’m just basking in the relief of having finished. I actually feel like a writer again, and not some hack fraud.
That said, Chad and I did get to do some geocaching between thunderstorms after work yesterday, so how about a bit on that now?
Fair warning for any fellow cachers out there: the pics and write-up might have some spoilers, so don’t peek if you don’t want the hides ruined for you. But if you go to these and can’t find them, feel free to come back for an extra hint.
All three caches we hit were in Kernersville. We started out at Botanical Cache, which was the sneakiest placement I’ve ever seen. I realize that’s not saying much since I’ve only found six geocaches so far, but if Chad hadn’t been there with his eagle eyes, I might have been marking another “did not find” in my cache log. I was scouring the ground, benches, walls, everything when Chad called out, “Found it!”
Did you spot it yet?
Yeah, it's that tiny!
He said he only found it because he had a “one of these things is not like the other” moment. After we signed the log and put the cache back, I was still amazed at how well it blended. If I didn’t know what it was or where it was, I wouldn’t even know it was there.
Next we headed over to K’Ville Wedding Central. Another guy was there, walking around the gazebo and looking up at it carefully. We thought he might be another cacher, but apparently not. He did tell us a little of the history of the park, though, and gave us weird looks when I spotted the cleverly hidden cache and Chad got it down. And then again when Chad put the cache back.
If you look really hard, you'll see a film canister in this picture.
This was the first cache I’ve spotted before Chad, so I was pretty excited. And although it’s really hard to see in that picture, I promise you it’s there.
After signing that log and replacing the cache, we decided to take a shot at To Protect and Serve. Based on the name alone we knew right where to head, although we did have to wander around the building a bit to find where we needed to be. We are still pretty new to Kernersville, and neither of us have had reason to visit this particular municipal building.
As soon as we turned the corner, though, we knew exactly where to head. I was glad that the geocache description said they’d gotten permission to place the cache; I probably would have bailed right then otherwise. Still, I walked around that statue a half dozen times, being stealthy like the geocache description advised, before I finally spotted the cache.
Suddenly the cache's name made sense
Perfect hiding size!
After we signed the log and I slipped the cache back into place, I snapped a few pics on my phone — and as I was doing that a guy walked over to us and said, “What are you doing?” One of the toughest things about geocaching for me is worrying that we’ll inadvertently go somewhere we aren’t supposed to and get in trouble. That’s why I like sticking to caches on public property, or where the cacher who hid it specifically states he got permission from the property owner. So when that guy confronted us, my heart jumped into my throat. I was about to apologize and explain when the guy went on, “Are you geocaching? I’m a cacher, too.”
And I thought we were being so stealthy. 
This was the first time we’ve run into a fellow cacher while we were out, so we hung out for awhile, chatting about some of the caches in the area. He’s been at this a lot longer than Chad and me (we’ve only been doing this a couple of weeks, so he’d pretty much have to), and he recommended some fun ones in the area that he thought we’d like.
But then the rain started up again, and Chad and I had to hotfoot it back to the car. We didn’t get too wet, but apparently it was enough for my immune system, which has been working overtime to keep me from coming down with the cold Chad caught at StellarCon, to throw its arms up in disgust and say, “Fine! You wanna play in the rain? Then screw you. I’m done working my ass off trying to keep you healthy.” Because I started coughing after we got home, and I’ve been getting progressively more miserable all day.
But that’s okay. Because I told my cold, “You know what? Screw you. I’ve got a story to finish.” And I did. 
Oh, and Chad surprised me with these today:
One for me to keep, and one to travel the world.
They’re called Cachekinz trackable tags. I’ll keep one, but the other I’ll place in a cache somewhere so another cacher can find it, log it online using the unique code on the back, then place it in another cache somewhere. I’m looking forward to watching the little guy travel the world.