This One's For Thor Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(large)
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In memory of our family dog Thor who sadly passed on in March, the Zulu family decided to plant a cache in his honor.
Way back in 2001, when I was a bachelor Zulu, I decided to get a dog. I looked through the papers, found a local breeder, drove over 'just to look', and found myself driving home with a 6 week old cocker spaniel puppy. He was brilliantly tan, almost white, with spots on his muzzle, and he was so small he fit in the palm of my hand. His nordic coloring and tendency to steamroll over anything in his path all contributed to his name: Thor.
Thor loved everything and everyone. Not a mean bone in his body. As a puppy, I used to take him to my neighbourhood park in Phoenix every day after work and he learned his social skills from all the other great dogs there. It was fantastic - I'd take turns with the other owners every Friday bringing a few beers, and we'd relax in the shade while all the dogs played. As the puppy of the group he ran the others ragged, but they never fought.
After a few years I moved to San Diego. A short spell in an apartment was rough, but then I moved outside the city to the little town of Alpine. Here Thor had a massive spread on a hillside overlooking the city. There were no fences, but he never ran off. The neighbours also adopted him and would ask when I would make my next work trip so they could take care of him. When I met the future Mrs. Zulu, she was adopted into the fold without question.
A few years later and we all moved to Colorado Springs. Zulu Jr arrived shortly thereafter and though Thor had competition for affection, he never acted jealous or did anything aggressive. As a middle-aged dog he seemed to enjoy shepherding my young son around the house.
For two years I took my family overseas for work. Thor was getting on in years and we decided, with my parents consent, not to bring him. He lived with them in New Mexico, on a small spread loaded with pecan trees and two other dogs to run around with. Not having Thor with us was a big factor in my wife and I deciding to return to the USA. Oh, and while we were gone, my mom got him a yellow mohawk.
When we did return, one of the big joys was having Thor back. A senior dog at this point, he was now the stodgy one being harassed by my son and, now, daughter. Still he never acted aggressive, and he was never anything but the best companion. I'd taken up geocaching by this time, and I'd head out often with him and my son, although we'd have to find a trail easy enough for Thor and his aging legs.
In March of 2012, at the age of 11, Thor began getting ill. Sadly he passed on 10 March, and our house has not been the same since.
To pay tribute to Thor and all he meant to the Zulu family, we decided to place a cache in his honor. You'll find this cache at the top of a hill about a tenth of a mile off the road near the top of Phantom Canyon. It's a steep climb, but if you park at the suggested coordinates and go up the right side it should be doable for children 5+. You'll find a large ammo can loaded with toys, and the logbook with several pictures of Thor over the years. Take a few minutes to enjoy the view. We hope you enjoy this cache as much we did creating it.
Initial inventory: a bunch of toys, two active trackables, and an unactivated travel bug as FTF prize.
Congrats to Hartsdale for FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gube unq n zbunjx sbe zbfg bs uvf yvsr (bayl eneryl pbyberq gubhtu). Sbe gur pnpur, vg'f arkg gb fbzr nfcraf arne n cvyr bs ynetr ebpxf hc gbc, naq vf pbirerq va fznyyre ebpxf naq oenapurf.