Technically, this is more than #999....or less, depending on how you read this story.
There have been a couple of caches that were submitted, but never published because of issues that were too difficult or time-consuming to resolve. There are some out there that just haven't been submitted yet. And of course, if it weren't for the somewhere between 500 and 600 geocaches that I've adopted from seven different folks (some who have left the hobby due to family, some due to health, and some because they've gone over to "The Dark Side"!), this special milestone would never have been possible. As you might imagine, when I placed my first one ("On Top, Down Under" - still active), I never expected to own more than a couple dozen!!! But then, I never expected to find more than a couple thousand, either!!
So, despite being a "guardrail" hide, I've gone easy on you. No, not THAT easy; it's STILL not a pill bottle in the end of the g'rail!