Our story begins on a nice day in here, near the Sign that reads "Wonderland" where we met a young girl who was milling about and introduced herself as Alyce. Alyce was waiting here for someone to go on an adventure with, searching for a treasure that she had heard about. She asked if we wanted to come along to help her look for it, as she seemed to have lost her way and wasn't sure what to do next. We spotted a nice red brick road, and decided to use our noodle to figure the direction of travel.
After a few moments we found a nice bench to rest at, and we sat down, facing east, alongside a Dormouse named Mallymkun, who spoke to us very hurriedly.
"Maybe you should walk about 80 paces to the right, from this spot" said the mouse. "It may do you some good to go that way and that distance. I've seen others on this journey and they reported back through word of mouth that this was a good way to go."
We thanked Mallymkun and he took off, so we then continued on our Journey.
Once we arrived at the spot that Mallymkun had directed us to, we met the Queen of Hearts, Iracebeth of Crims. Her outfit was Red as red could be, and she seemed aggrivated with almost everything. This was evidenced by how she screamed at us "What do you want? I have no time for games with your group as the others before you!"
We answered her that we were on an adventure and looking for something. She said quite gruffly "Hummmpf! Well, i know of no adventure here, and i know most of what happens in my land. However, if you look around facing South, you may be able to spot where my husband the King is. I left him over where the Big Red Balls are, and the wall with a Circle in it. These are near the glass doors that he cleans now and again, and he may be able to help you out. Now, begone with you as i am quite busy and have things to attend to!"
We thanked the Queen and continued in the direction she had indicated, which seemed to be a bit farther than what she'd said but it turned out to only be about 225-degrees off True North and a walk of about 640-feet (as the crow flies).
When we got near, we spotted the Hole in the Wall and the King was nearby it. When we were close enough to hear him, he spoke to us in an almost timid voice.
"Can I help you?" he asked. We replied that we were on an adventure and that the Queen of Hearts had sent us this direction.
He said "Yes, of course i can help you....but don't tell the Queen that i actually did so as i have these glass doors to ensure they remain clean and clear", as he turned and wiped another pane. "She may be angry with me that i helped such a nice group find what they're looking for."
We thanked him and he continued "There is a strange sight to the South of us here. I've heard of some things that sound like a train" as he pointed out to the South what appeared to be train crossing gates of red and white stripes.
"You could go that way, but i would not recommend it. I'm not sure if it IS a train or what, but i'm not fond of them as they are large and scary and noisy."
Just then, a winged creature with the head of an Eagle, body of a lion, and other assorted strangeness came by. The King said "Oh Hello, Gryphon. Do you think you could assist these nice folks on their journey? They seem to be looking for something but we're not sure what."
The Gryphon replied, "Yes, of course. Follow me" and the Gryphon began to spread it's wings and fly almost due north. We bid the king "good-bye and thank you" and continued on our way. The Gryphon didn't go very fast, so we were able to keep up with us on the ground, watching where it went and it kept circling back and saying "Follow me, i will take you where you need to go...and who you'll need to talk to next, my friend the Mock Turtle."
We followed the Gryphon for about 580' until we saw a pond, two waterfalls on it - one closer and one farther-away. The closer one didn't have anyone or anything of interest nearby, but the further one is where we could see what appeared to be a strange looking creature with the body of a turtle, but not quite "completely" a creature matching that description. So we weren't entirely sure until the The Gryphon assured us by saying "come on, we are almost there", and so we continued.
We stumbled along and thought to ourselves "how silly" when thinking of what this creature may be, having a good Belly laugh at the thought. Alyce rolled her eyes at the joke (being the young girl that she is) and soon we neared the strange looking (to us) creature who was here. We stopped at the bench and then sat down The creature did indeed look strange (to us) with the body of a turtle, head and feet of a calf, and spoke very eloquently. A quite strange sight indeed, but the Gryphon assured us this was who we were here to see.
The Mock Turtle said "I bet you're here on an adventure, i can probably help you out with that." He continued, "I saw the White Rabbit a few minutes ago saying that some strange people were coming and he wanted to be ready. Something about not being late for a very important date. I believe you'll find him a bit west of here, where he re-syncs his chronometer."
We could see a short distance to the West what was a likely place to do just that, and we continued on our journey. We passed a very interesting place for a chilly Eye Scream, however this wasn't the right story or realm for that sort of thing, so we walked on until we met up with the White Rabbit who was staring about 30' up in the air at a giant timepiece.
To our north, we could hear the sound of the mythical Rock Lobster, and it's nicely timed percussion beats. Just then the Rabbit said, "Oh, you should not be here long. The Rock Lobster is having a party and its favorite meal is strangers. To the Lobster, you may look like just the perfect meal, indeed. We should go quickly in the exact opposite direction from the crustaceon as quick as we can, and maybe we'll all be safe."
We didn’t want to go down, down, down, as crustacean food, so we quickly ran the other way from the sound. The vocal chants of "rock, rock" quickly faded as we traveled, but we were beginning to get thirsty. We kept going almost 650' until we found a strange faucet for water. It appeared to be an urban camping spot and we muttered "How Strange this is to be here, that this faucet is here and yet cannot be used."
It had been a long journey, and we had yet to find anything that resembled treasure, just a few strange folks who apparently belonged in Wonderland, but nowhere else on earth.
The biggest problem with this area was that the concrete was just going to be too hard for us to get proper rest, even though there was a nice spigot to refill our water containers.
The White Rabbit said, "I must be leaving you now, but if you continue on, past the lemon-colored posts that you see, what awaits you may just be that way" as he pointed the same direction we'd been traveling before finding the water spigot.
The Rabbit left, and we decided that was a good plan to keep going, just in case the Rock Lobster had managed to see us and give chase. We had hoped that the journey to find the treasure would soon be over.
To our left we saw what appeared to be a prison with 20’ bars which definitely didn’t look appealing at all, and behind them we could make out what appeared to be three gardeners milling about. We heard them talking amongst themselves: "Two, please take care of this." and "Seven, you'll need to move that". "Yes, Five, we'll do that right away" was what we heard.... so strange it was, and so we kept on our way.
Ahead we saw a pinewood forest, with a couple creatures milling about. A Pigeon, a Caterpillar, and even a Frog-Footman, who were all playing some game. We yelled to them, but we couldn't really hear their responses that well. They kept looking at us and pointing to their right (our left), towards another red & white gate that appeared to be another one like those at a railroad crossing, but there was only one this time and not the same ones we'd seen earlier. We knew there were no tracks for a train as we didn't see any from the distance we were at, but we decided to follow as the trio had pointed towards this new "train gate".
After traveling a little ways, and before we could get to the gates, we found a highly enlightened spire to our right, with the red/white gate a few feet past it. We stopped to rest and it was at this point we decided to think what we should do next before traveling any further. How strange that all this was here, and yet still no train. We did not feel comfortable getting any closer to the gate, let alone going past it. So we sat between the lemon-colored lines right by the enlightened spire debating the next move.
As we sat there, suddenly, a Cheshire Cat appeared, about 80'-90' up the hill to the south of the enlightened spire. He spoke in such a strange tone of voice that we could hear what we thought were words, but his mouth kept the strange toothy smile that was all-too eerie no matter what was said.
The cat didn't look dangerous, just strange. So we went up the hill and closer to the Cat, his words getting clearer as we approached.
This seemed to make Alyce excited and happy, as it had been a long journey, and we quieted ourselves in order to understand what the cat was saying.
"The treasure you seek is really very near.
You'll have to be quiet so that you can hear.
What once may have been lost, is surely to be found.
You really should look by the needle-covered ground."
And with that, he dissolved into thin air, leaving only a smile where he once sat. His words were still audible, even though most of him was nowhere to be seen. With all that remained of the Cat being the silly grin, the words continued:
"What treasure is here, i really do not know.
It maybe something small, it could be tied up in a bow.
The end of your journey which you followed is done,
as always be aware and know what is some,
Be Nimble and quick, and be sure you take care,
What you seek is something nice, and not high in the air.
Be sure to return the treasure to its original place,
as you really do not want to see more than a smile on my face."
Once the last word was spoken.... both the Cat and Alyce disappeared into thin air... and we looked at each other as if it had all been a dream.
We gave a good search here and soon the treasure was found.
At last the adventure was done, and we were still safe and still sound.
Was the girl just a dream....or part of our imagination run wild?
How does anyone really know..... unless we have the wonderment of a child.
What we knew is that we'd have a good story from this day.
Hopefully other folks will too... as we all need to play.
This is a LETTERBOX Hybrid Geocache.
The STAMP and ink-pad inside the container is *not*
a trade-item, but part of the letterbox for you to be
able to stamp in your collection book.
The original Letterbox Container for this cache was one
given to us from our dear friend Brummelbear who was well-
known for his love of Letterboxing and Geocaches.
We hope you had fun on this little Adventure in Wonderland.