Description
This spring one of our cats we had since 1997 fell ill and we needed to make the tough decision. She was a member of our family and has been with our kids since their birth so it was a tough experience for all of us. In memory of her and to give us some closure, we are placing this hide for her.
The cache is a camo taped sandwich sized lok'n'lok. The initial contents is a memory bag that should not be removed (containing pictures of our beloved Ariel, notes from the kids to her and one of her play mice), the log to sign, some tradeables and three travel bugs including a brand new one I'm starting in honor of our cat as well. BYOP and please feel free to look in the memory bag, but do not remove anything from it and be sure to reseal both bags to keep contents safe and dry.
My Original attempt to hide this cache was a little northwest of here and was complete with mice running around in the long grass but was too close to another cache The original published location was picked next to the lawn bowling area that holds a similar appeal and likely also has a population of mice. The GZ will will still be exposed to curious eyes from the lawn bowling area and nearby daycare and to a lesser extent the nearby parking lot for the community center and splash pad, so depending on time of day and year, different levels of stealth will be required. Ariel loved kids so I tried to pick a easy kid accessible spot that still offered some level of muggle protection. The replacement cache is now winter friendly but much smaller as a camo tape covered match container about the size of a film canister.
Because of our cat's love of kids, I am really hoping cachers bring their kids or nieces/nephews etc along with them to find this cache and in this theme... anyone can sign this log, but an optional challenge is to come here with a young cacher and let them make the find (with or with-out your guidance).
The FTF space on the log is reserved for the first cacher to find the cache with a child. However, I will recognize the first to sign the log, first to electronically record the find and FTF (first to sign the log with a child) in this cache description afterwards. No FTF certificate is in the cache but I will attempt to email the first child/adult combo to find the cache a customized FTF certificate with our cats picture on it.
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To preserve the caching experience, please replace the hide as good or better than found but keeping in mind hopefully lots of kids will be searching for this cache. Cordinates are an average of multiple attempts of a GZ where the cache is in the obvious spot. It will not be winter friendly, although I suppose the kids want to dig around, the possible options are limited.
What's with the bracket stuff in the title you may be wondering?
It's simply my personal identifier. The last letter (or sometimes only letter) refers to the hide itself and choices will be:
Traditional style of hide - typically the hide should be a typical container hidden in a "typical" caching way
Kid friendly hide - child reachable, findable and room for tradeables. Aimed at the little cachers.
and Evil style of hide - Something about it that makes me rub my hands together maniacally in anticipation. Perhaps more unique camo, different hiding technique, lots of options at GZ...
If there is two letters together, the first will refer to the style of cache. Puzzle, Multi, Earth, Letterbox etc.
The number after the dash simply is the number of hides in that series for me. Don't expect this number to get too big.
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Congratulations to the following cachers:
FTF (met all requirements): V A
FTS (sign the log): Jean Deniche and rurbonas
FTL (log electronically): Jean Deniche