Farewell to Byron Traditional Geocache
Boris and Natasha: The geocaching model has changed to one of numbers and competition versus outdoor discovery and fun. Too many people are "finding" caches and "discovering" trackables without visiting a cache. I no longer wish to contribute to a "sport" that people are now doing at home on their computers rather than out in nature. I will not give them one more opportunity to add a notch to their competitive belt.
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This cache is just off the Byron exit of I-15. The cache container is a green ammo can. It contains the usual swag. Apparently there is a fence up, but the cache is on public land.
I can never pass this exit without thinking of my good friend Byron Thorton. He died a couple of years ago at the age of 96. He was an old sheep herder from Parowon, Utah. From age 11 years old he spent the summers alone herding sheep in the mountains above Parowon. He used to tell me stories of watching the 4th of July fireworks from the tops of the mountains and longing to be home. He moved to Las Vegas in the 1930's and lived in a tent with his new bride. He eventually built a successful propane gas business and hauled propane from California to Las Vegas in a rickety tanker truck. Sometime in the 1950's the propane tanks at his company exploded, killing his business partner, who was a relative, and his partner's wife and five children. They lived on the property of the propane company.
Byron retired in 1953, the year I (Boris) was born. He lived in retirement for almost 50 years. Byron was as sharp as a tack until the day he died. He loved talking about the adventures of his life. And he loved singing his favorite song, the state song of Nevada, Home Means Nevada. I can still hear my good friend Byron singing these words:
Way out in the land of the setting sun,
Where the wind blows wild and free,
There's a lovely spot, just the only one
That means home sweet home to me.
If you follow the old Kit Carson trail,
Until desert meets the hills,
Oh you certainly will agree with me,
It's the place of a thousand thrills.
Home means Nevada
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pine.
Out by the Truckee, silvery rills,
Out where the sun always shines,
Here is the land which I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Deep in the heart of the golden west
Home means Nevada to me.
Whenever the sun at the close of day,
Colors all the western sky,
Oh my heart returns to the desert grey
And the mountains tow'ring high.
Where the moon beams play in shadowed glen,
With the spotted fawn and doe,
All the live long night until morning light,
Is the loveliest place I know.
Home means Nevada
Home means the hills,
Home means the sage and the pines.
Out by the Truckee's silvery rills,
Out where the sun always shines,
There is the land that I love the best,
Fairer than all I can see.
Right in the heart of the golden west
Home means Nevada to me.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Cvyr bs ebpxf