flossmoor: Archiving this cache comes with regret and heavy heart. However, as Wilford Brimley would say, "It's The Right Thing To Do". Mind you, it wouldn't keep me from wanting to retort by flinging a spoonful of scalding hot oatmeal at his walrus mustached head.
This cache falls within my two strikes rule: when the container disappears twice, generally speaking, it's time for it to go. The fact that this was my very first cache deployment makes me hesitate, but only briefly. The placement, at the time, was weak in that it was fairly close to regular foot traffic and that it was quite visible during certain times of the year. For this cache to have survived nearly five years greatly defied the odds.
To replace this cache would require choosing another location. Gone would be the .550/.055 coordinates that made so many people initially question my waypoint averaging skills. Rather than change the coordinates and replace the cache, I would prefer opening the rest stop for something new. After all, the intent of keeping my caches active after I left the area four years ago was to keep them alive until their natural end, not to perpetually resuscitate them and keep them on life support.
Wow: 273 travelbugs passed through this geocache during the course of nearly five years. Incredible! Hopefully this stretch of land will not go uncached for long.
Thank you SO much to those who have maintained this in my absence. I still owe you for time and materials.
Admin: please archive this cache.