My 200th Geocache!

#200

This cache marks my 200th. I have been caching for nearly 6 years. I hit my 100th cache 3 years ago, so I am averaging about 33 caches a year, a casual cacher by some accounts. However, some people I know of who were going great guns and had over 1,000 caches or more have not cached in awhile. Like many things I think geocaching can become an addiction. Some people “binge” and go crazy ticking of caches, others, such as myself, we plod along, but perhaps we have integrated caching more into a lifestyle and less as a fad; some other hobby we pick up and then move on from, to the next craze.

For some, caching is all about the find: how many caches you have and finding the next one. For others like me, it’s about the journey, the adventure along the way. Sure, I’d like to find more caches and have more adventure, but I also know that life is about a balance. You have to take care of the family, work, educate yourself, rest and have other hobbies too. Life is what happens to you on the way to the cache.

This cache, my 200th, provides a great example. I had been hovering at 199 caches waiting for my friend Rex to get caught up to 249 so that we could hit our respective milestones together in one epic cache. I had identified a couple of caches that would fit the bill, but the timing never worked out. Then my mom got sick and I had to travel to New Hampster. I don’t get to travel much, so this opportunity afforded me the chance to do a number of caches and in places I get to but rarely. Rex was at 248 and had attempted to find #249, but failed to. I was unaware of this when we agreed to find this unassuming cache as I let out for the north. It was not the “epic cache” I had hoped for in a milestone cache, but it would have to do.

It was when we found the cache that I learned that this was not to be Rex’s milestone. I was a little disappointed, but hey, these things are somewhat arbitrary points on our timelines, aren’t they? I posed for a quick pic, but had to run to get some miles behind me. Rex was off to finally grab his 250 and on any other day, we would probably have made a day of caching ( its been awhile for he and I ). He had shared with me where he was going as we departed.

I got a few miles up the road when I thought, what the heck! And I turned down the road I knew that Rex would travel, hoping to catch up with him and share in his milestone as he shared in mine. I waited, but Rex was detained so I left and as I did, I passed him. We spoke on the phone as he parked and then a few minutes later again when he grabbed the cache. So we had to share it in that way.

What caused me to change my mind, was the realization that this “sport” is not about finding the cache, but about the attempt, what you do and see along the way and more importantly, who is with you as you do. Hitting my milestone made me reflect on the times I have spent caching and while I have found 200 caches, I remember best the fun, the good times and the good friends I shared this all with and to quote Robert Frost… that has made all the difference. Here is to # 201! TFTCTNLNSLTTFN. Bonsai!!!