You are welcome to seek this cache alone, but I truly hope you take someone along with you and find it Together.
There's a rock in front of my house with the word "McFate's" carved in it. My wife constantly teases me that it must be 'my' rock, and not the family's, because it's written apostrophe-s, not s-apostrophe. OK, so it's my rock.
The object you seek WAS hidden near a different rock, in an entirely different location, AT THE POSTED COORDINATES. In 2022 the ACOE and City of Tama told me the rock and bench had to be moved because they were too close to the levy. There had been no problems, and no complaints, for almost 10 years, but I guess that's the rule nonetheless.
This rock, which also carries the name "McFate", SAT at the west end of Cherry Lake, south of downtown Tama. The cache container and log you seek are not there, but they are not far away. You can find them at the coordinates listed inside the container hidden on the underside of the bench. Since Or, if the container beneath the bench is missing, you'll find the cache almost due west of the bench on a man-made object about 30' away.
Please note that this final location is NOT the same as the original, nor the second placement. The cache was moved in September 2013 to avoid potential flooding, and again in 2020 to avoid poison ivy! Be careful, there is PI all around Cherry Lake. Do not stray into the weeds...you should not have too!
♥ ♥ ♥
The rock (and bench) you will won't find is a memorial dedicated to three people whom I love dearly...
My mother, Edna McFate, was born a few miles west of this spot in the little town of Potter on June 15, 1921. Mom passed away on November 13, 1999, shortly after I'd moved from Overland Park, KS, back home to Iowa. I wish I had come home much, much earlier so that we would have had more time together.
My mother never got to enjoy geocaching, but I will always remember the stories she told about me searching frantically for candy and colored eggs on Easter morning. I think she enjoyed hiding them, and watching, as much as I enjoyed hunting for them...over and over again.
My father, Delmar McFate, was born on a farmstead along Hwy 63 near the Tama/Poweshiek county line on April 25, 1920. Dad passed away four days short of his 90th birthday, on April 21, 2010. I was lucky to have lived for more than 10 years 'just up the street' from Dad. It was great to have him around and I fondly remember all the stories he shared about growing up in Tama as we journeyed around Cherry Lake together.
My Dad helped me to find, and later to hide my first geocache, "Three ??? Bridges Cache". Dad was 80 years old when he climbed the bluff with me to hide that first cache. I know he enjoyed it as much as I did.
My son, Ian McFate, was born in Overland Park, Kansas, on May 6, 1999. Ian died on October 2, 2012, after being hit by a car while running cross country practice after school on Monday, October 1st. If you sit on the nearby bench and look north across the fields you may see a green sign marking the trail that Ian was running on. That sign is probably the last thing Ian read as he ran north toward home. The accident that took his life occurred a few feet from that sign.
Ian was my geocaching partner on so many occasions, for as long as I can remember. I miss him terribly. Truth be told, he was much faster and bolder than I so he did most of the finding when we were caching together.
I take comfort believing that Ian and his grandpa now have a chance to share our geocaching stories (and so much more) with Mom. I honestly look forward to a day when someone might place "my" rock on the trail and hide a cache beneath it. On that day Mom, Dad, Ian and I will be watching, together.