Policeman Educated

I was at work Saturday night when the 'beep' came in on my iPhone that some new geocaches had been placed near our home. I was itching to get out there and be First to Find (FTF), but it would be a couple hours before I'd be off work. 

Getting off work after 16 hours on the job as a nurse, and expected back on duty in five hours usually means dropping into bed for a two or three  hours and hurrying back for another 16 hours. There's no going off the path to hunt new geocaches, or stopping for anything but that nice, warm, soft, bed!

But this Saturday night seemed different. The Mondo's NAT # 67 was just toooo close to home, and according to the Internet page for that cache, no one had gone out to be FTF.

So, I hurried out into the midnight chill with GPS in hand to find the beguiling, Mondo, cache hidden about five blocks from home at a well-lit intersection.

Giant flashlight in hand, I didn't find it as quickly as I thought I would. Not under the lamp post. Not in the scattered trees along the road way. No rocks to look under. Only some massive Prairie Dog holes that I doubted even the most dedicated Geocacher would venture to hid something.



Here's where I found the nano geocache
(Try holding a flashlight and taking a picture)


Oh dear. A spotlight in my face. Only a cop would do that.

"Can I help you?" a young, male, friendly-like voice asked from the interior of the dimly lit police car.

"I'm Geocaching. Have you heard of it?" I asked with hope in my voice and confidence in my tone.

"No, I haven't. What is that?" came the (dreaded) response.

Shucks! Now I was going to have to stop and make an impassioned plea for compassion and understanding why this woman would be stomping around alone on private property in the middle of the night with a flashlight.

Those who know me, understand that it didn't take long for me to hook another new Geocacher into the game. He wished me well, and said he was going to look it up on the Internet to learn more about it.

Here's what I posted on the Internet link for Mondo's latest cache.

FTF May 1, 2011 at 12:03 a.m. This came through when I was at work tonight (RN in Lakewood), so I was sure someone would beat me to it. When I got off work at 11 p.m. and drove home to (...) and checked, no one had logged in, so I hurried back out and was really glad I had a good flashlight!!! Then, I had to explain to a police officer who stopped to check on me what I was doing out there! I had to show him the actual geocache; show him where I found it, and tell him how to find out all about geocaching on the Internet. He was polite about it and wished me good luck. I feel LUCKY tonight. You will too when you find this one. Thanks Mondo!



The tiny, black, round, nano cache.
It's magnetic. Stuck up under the sign, but I pulled it down to take the picture.
I opened it and actually signed a micro log as FTF.
Starcatcher55


 PS  Yesterday, I got an email for "Mondo" congratulating me on being FTF his cache!

Take Care on the Journey,
Watch your back in the dark!
~Linda