Geocaching

My last free full day in Texas, and the 100°+ heat wave persists. I need a high note on which to exit.

Tim told me last weekend about geocaching (GPS-based combination of hide-and-seek and treasure hunt – see http://geoching.com for more). It’s been around for quite a few years, but it’s the first I’d heard of it. During the week I tried a couple of local caches, and decided this weekend to try for 4 caches – one in each of 4 states – in one day. That was today.

Oklahoma

It took me 12 hours, but was well worth it – I like to drive, especially in the States, and more especially in the South. My first stop was Durant, Oklahoma (N 33° 59.936 W 096° 22.190). North on 75, past one of many Choctaw Resorts. An aside: early in US history, the native Indian people were herded into “reservations” in typical colonial fashion. In these typically god-forsaken areas, they languished for many years, beset by the usual problems associated with unemployment, poverty, drugs and alcohol. That is, until a landmark Supreme Court case where it was ruled that the government had no jurisdiction over taxation of Indians living on the reservations, and more importantly, no authority to regulate Indian activities. It wasn’t long before casinos sprang up on many reservations, despite state laws banning it. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the politicians realized this incredible loophole, which they are now powerless to revoke.

Bokchito

Durant was an easy cache at the back of an old cemetery – it was quiet and peaceful. I took a small plastic doll from the cache and replaced it with a (plastic) gold medal. My next stop was Arkansas (N 34° 02.763 W 094° 21.414). I paused on the way at a gas station in Bokchito, to buy a cherry coke. Two rednecks lolled on chairs outside the door – they greeted me pleasantly, but I doubt they had a full set of teeth between them. Moving on, I just had to stop to take a picture of a garage where the owner had obviously had problems with non-paying customers. He said people often stopped to take photographs, but declined being in the picture. Apparently the sign had been up for 15 years.

I couldn’t help noticing, as I drove through the morning, that the church parking lots along the way (and there were many) were all full – folk in these rural areas are mostly “washed in the blood”. So very different from England, where there is an increasing population of those who claim no religious affiliation.

I slowed down through each town, looking for an old-fashioned burger joint for lunch, but they are few and far between these days. I had to settle for a Sonic in Broken Bow – a burger and an “Ocean Water” – Seven-Up flavoured with blue coconut.

The cache in Arkansas was on commercial premises – thankfully deserted on a Sunday. I left the doll from the last cache, and took a small plastic ring. The clue for the cache was “Matthew 7:24” (I told you they were serious round here) – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock”. As you can see, quite a good clue. It’s fairly common practice to hide something ugly (in this case, plumbing) under a fake rock.

Arkansas

Arkansas uncovered

On the way from Arkansas to the next cache in Louisiana (N 32° 53.624 W 093° 48.042), on Rte 1 near Rodessa, I passed a seemingly endless freight train being hauled by a Kansas City Southern engine, sounding its distinctive plaintive whistle at every junction. That always gets me.

It’s strange how the bayou landscape of Louisiana is almost immediately evident as soon as you cross the state line. On the country roads, the state line is hardly noticeable – just a “Welcome to Louisiana” sign. On the highways, there is almost always a visitor centre full of maps, leaflets, helpful staff, and the inevitable gift shop.

This cache was really in the middle of nowhere – several miles down a dirt track through luxurious woodland. Fortunately, GPS coordinates are pretty accurate, and enabled me to find the tree in which it was cleverly hidden. There was only enough space in the pill bottle for a small log book, so I signed it, and hung onto the ring for the next cache.

Louisiana from afar ...

... and close up

The last leg was back to Texas, to a cache near my hotel (N 32° 49.779 W 097° 03.431), where I left the ring, and picked up a plastic lego-type figure. This lucky chap will be going to a cache in England!

This area is becoming increasingly built up, which makes the sighting of a coyote crossing the road so unusual. I suspect he’s been around since before the construction started, and is now having to adapt, like the rest of us, to the changes that we euphemistically call “progress”.

Coyote