Caching the Corridor, NC - SC - GA

We came back to the US almost one year ago. As missionaries we were blessed to be loaned a Chrysler Town and Country Mini-van to get around in for the last year. It has been my geocache-mobil for these months... and a good one at that. It went camping in the Uwharrie Forest and carried me up the Blue Ridge Parkway several times. The loan was for one year so just two days ago I had to return the van. Along with my son-in-law, I traveled southwest down the I-85 corridor from High Point, NC to Atlanta, GA and then a little south to Jonesboro, GA. We left early in the Welcome to South Carolina - The Palmetto State (GC3CVJH), as described on the cache page, was right out in the open. It sat in front of a window where the administration can look on. We were there before the office opened so other than the occasional traveler, we were not too obvious. After finding the cache, signing the log and heading for the car, I remembered that I needed to drop a travel bug. I returned and when I finished placing it one of the maintenance workers called out and sort of congratulated me on my find. I can't say her words as they would be a clue.

My son-in-law with the Paint the Town Red Cache

morning dark but made it to the SC Welcome Center by daybreak. There we found the first simple PnG cache.

We continued on down the road kind of racing the clock as we needed to get to the First Baptist Church of Jonesboro, GA by noon. They host one of the chapters of Macedonian Call Foundation, the group that so kindly loans missionaries vehicles for their time stateside. We were in and out with the vehicle turn-in. It literally took five minutes. It was incredibly easy. I wish all things in life were that easy. A big thanks to MCF for their assistance!!! As we climbed into my car to leave, my son-in-law and I realized that the next cache was .1 miles away. We just left the car in its parking place and headed out following the needle. It led us up to Main Street to an Art Gallery. We found CC Series 2: Paint the Town Red (GC385R7) just where it was said to be. We sat down to fill out the log sheet and to take in the view across the railroad tracks of what looked like the municipal building.

We headed back to the car and hit the road for NC. We stopped several times along the way, either for gas, geocaches, lunch or to stretch our legs. Just outside of town we picked up Lisa's Cache (GC27CT4). It was a small that gave me a chance to drop another TB. This was a shopping center

Jonesboro, GA from the Paint the Town Red cache

but off to one side where we were not too obvious.

Further up the road but still in Georgia we stopped for The Buford T.B. Hotel (GC45QRG). Most TB Hotels are closer to the road. This one ranks high on my "secure from muggles" rating because it was a good walk from the car, far out of sight of any muggles. We parked on an unused road near an upscale shopping complex. Some concrete partitions blocked me from driving further. As we crossed the barrier we found a makeshift dog house and a bowl full of water. We didn't see any animal but signs that at some time in the recent past someone was trying to feed an animal there. We tracked up an old asphalt road and into a field. We turned 90 degrees to the left and tracked down through tall grass until suddenly our feet started to get wet. We were sinking into standing water. We back tracked and found a way through the woods to the GZ. There it was! This was a nice cache! We signed the log and took a few pictures.

Wet feet got us there!

Our last cache was X-Tie Dump (GC23V40). It was along the corridor in South Carolina. This one was a quick PnG. We signed the log and hit the road. There were three hours left to get home. Other than the typical traffic jam along I-85 near Charlotte, NC, our trip went well.

My new job has kept me busy. These were the first caches I've found in about six weeks. There are lots of geocaches along the corridor. True, most of them are somewhat lame, a number being LPCs (Lamp Post Caches). Most of the ones we found were worth the stop. I sure hope I can carve out some more time in my schedule to cache!