NOTE: The cache has been moved! The recent rains have caused the grasses and other weeds to grow tremendously, so Jim moved this inside the boundaries of the park mentioned below. The things you need to do to get the final co-ordinates are all the same, except which pieces you use, of course. You will be much more conspicuous when looking, now, so the difficulty is a bit higher. Be sure to replace the cache so that it can't be seen! Thanks [8D]
"Nessun dorma, nessun dorma…” Well, perhaps you won’t lose any sleep over this one, but you’ll have to shift into “high art” mode for a bit to find it. First off, ignore the given co-ordinates; they just tell you which town this cache is in. Camarillo doesn’t have a whole lot of obvious geocache spots, but we’ve been looking around and have found some possibilities; here’s our first effort. Bring a picnic lunch with you; bring the kids, too; there is a nice little playground near the end of the trail. So, saddle up and let’s ride, pardners!
Before you go, though, you’ll need to look up a bit of operatic history. Hey, I’m the opera buff and I had to look this up, so I don’t expect you to have the datum on the tip of your brain. One of the most famous and oft-performed of all grand operas had it’s premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris, France, on March 3rd, 1875. What is the name of this opera? Once you know the answer, you’ll know which street to head for. And even if you make a lucky guess, you might want to double-check yourself, just in case. [;)]
There is exactly one bank (of the Seine? Non, non!) on the street in question. It is on a corner with our mystery street and a cross-street. Across that cross-street is a small park with a monument near the corner. There are several round devices on this monument. Two of them have dates. One of them is in standard notation; replace that date’s digits with the following letters, in order: BOAT. Behind (away from the street corner) of this monument is a smaller pedestal with several plaques. One of these plaques has two years on it. Replace the third digit of the first year with the following letter: F; replace the last digit of the second year with the following letter: D.
Now, hop back in your car, on your bike or whatever legal means of travel you are using, and head south on the street-named-for-an-opera. At the end of this street is a small park with a small jungle gym, a couple of picnic tables, some benches, and a view of the farmland and mountains south and east of town; sometimes you can see the islands. It might help you to know that the name of the street that this park is on is the name of the place where much of the action of the opera takes place; the street goes off to the right at the end of the “opera street”. If you brought a basket with you, sit for a spell. This is a little-used park, so if you have any rugrats along, they’ll probably have the play equipment to themselves.
Along the sidewalk, near the short walkway down to the park, is a concrete water main cover, in the grass. There is a three character ID along one edge of this rectangular cover. The first and last characters are letters: “W” and “B”, respectively; ignore these two letters. Replace the numeral in between these two letters with this letter: E.
You now have all you need to find the cache. The geocache can be found at these co-ordinates:
N 34º 12.FTD
W 119º 03.TAE
You are looking for a small plastic cylinder, about 2½ inches high and 3 inches across. It is clear with a white lid. While this may not be a "true" micro, it isn’t much bigger than one. It has a log, but there is no room for a pen or pencil, so please bring one with you. The cache was full when we placed it, and there isn’t free room in it, so plan your trades accordingly.
Now, where does the “horse” come in, in this “horse opera”? Well, the hint will give you some idea, if obliquely. Originally, the cache was behind one of the things mentioned in the hint, but from the new cache location, you can see lots of them right nearby.
After you log your visit, if you walk to the east along the sidewalk outside the park, you'll find a gate. If the gate is open you can go through, but if it is locked, you can walk around the fence through the opening that is clearly visible a little further east. The area past the gate is where the cache was originally hidden. The local kids use this all the time, and some of them have built a dirt motocross course for their bicycles down there; we saw a couple of them while we were scouting the area. If you take a walk down there, please do not go beyond the line of eucalyptus trees. The farm land below is privately owned, and they don’t take kindly to strangers, especially in strawberry season! They don’t care about folks above the trees, though, and there are several paths that you can walk on should you wish to. Have fun! And bring along a carrot or sugar cube for Trigger, if you see him [:)]