Borderless

[owaitress]

This was a seamail I received from my son while he was on the last leg of a 45 day sea term. Their ports included Dublin, Malta and lastly Brest France. His 1st hide included the TB found in France GC2M0WE

Enjoy the read.

 

seawave.net:

 

Hey i actually had a good day in france today.

 

So today I was Rather Upset that I couldn't go to Normandy as the school

wasn't able to get another bus. I was reading the Brittany (region Brest

is in) info paper our librarian wrote and it said an art festival was

going on in Quimper. I mentioned it to my friend Caleb and he said we

should go. As we left I forgot something so I went back to get it but when

I returned he was gone so I was like whatever I'll just do some shopping

in town and Enjoy A Few Drinks, Responsibly. Of course I had forgotten

that it was Sunday, meaning nearly every store was closed. After wandering

around for an hour I saw Caleb walking up a street so I waved him down. I

asked if he'd found the train station yet; he hadn't so we kept walking

and eventually a local was able to point us in the right direction.

 

Inside the station we were in a magazine store; Caleb was looking at a map

of Brittany. Seeing that Quimper was a small landlocked town he was like

no let's not go there we'll get bored with the festival after like 20

minutes then we'll be stuck in some Quaint Yet Boring town. I told him to

pick somewhere else then and he said he wanted to visit the North coast so

we were looking at the nearby towns. We eventually picked some random town

called Morlaix near some river that went out to the sea. After navigating

the unnecessarily complex ticket machines we went to the platform to

board. It cost A Whopping 35 euros for two tickets, and that's with the

student discounts. The train was very nice though, sleek, clean and most

of all quiet at 85 mph.

 

Most of the Brittany countryside we saw was rolling farmlands and trees

with small suburbia communities of similar looking but widely spaced

houses. We arrived at Morlaix after 40 minutes or so and our first

impressions were not great. The place was Very Quiet, but we'd already

paid for our tickets so we just started walking.

 

The road to the town center was a long, winding steep hill. We passed by

countless houses and numerous shops, all closed of course. A ways down I

noticed a side-path; a worn and weathered stone staircase leading down to

some kind of decrepit pond/pool in something like a really tiny and

overgrown park. The pond was rectangular and covered by an open roof -

that is I mean a roof with just the sloping borders, with an open top to

let sunlight in. As I walked down the steps and came around I could see

the water was stagnant, with lots of pond-scum everywhere. In the

surrounding stone walls there was a small alcove filled with water you

could reach into (it had lots of bugs so I didn't dare stick my hands into

the water). What caught my eye however was a standard 8x11 sheet of paper

on the ground. It had been there for some time as it was damp and badly

discolored. As I got closer though I was able to make out the header at

the top of the page...

 

 

Geocaching.com! My brain immediately did a

did-I-just-read-what-I-think-I-read as I snatched up the paper for a

closer look. Sure enough, it was a printout from geocaching.com; it was in

French so I couldn't understand it, but what I could understand were the

coordinates, just beneath the header. I knew it then, fate had given me

these coordinates- I *had* to find this cache.

 

Caleb had no clue what I was all excited about so I gave him a brief

explanation though he didn't really understand. We continued our journey

to the town center, which was situated under a very large stone bridge

that met the beginning of a river. The Geocache coordinates were only

about half a minute of latitude off from our current location. Caleb was

trying to bum a cigarette off the locals but they were having none of

that. He didn't want to bother with the cache, and since we didn't have a

lot of time to get to the coast I considered moving on, but then I

thought: if I came back to the States and told Nelson about this, and

*didn't* find the cache, well, I'd never hear the end of it. I told Caleb

if I did only one thing in this port it was gonna be finding this cache.

 

The GPS led us along the river, though I wasn't sure which side I was

supposed to be on since the gps-compass was being screwy. We crossed over

to the west side and as we followed the GPS we came across a road next to

a stacked-stone wall with numerous holes perfect for hiding caches in. I

searched every one but alas came up with nothing. the GPS said we were

still ~150ft off, but it was pointing to the wall and we were in no mood

for climbing. We followed the road along the river until we came to a side

street where the wall ended. Just around the corner there was a hill

leading up to a trail going into the forest atop the wall we were at

before. The search was on once more.

 

Hiking up the steep trail brought us to a spot overlooking the river and

Morlaix, we searched high and low (well, mostly low) but our attempts

yielded nothing yet. From there the trail descended a ways downhill,

though not far from the overlook there was a side trail that was curiously

fenced-over, we found the explanation on a sign post that read DANGER OF

FALLING. Of course I wasn't going to let a sign or fence stop me (a non

barbed or electric one anyway) so I walked down the trail and started

searching the stone wall supporting the overlook above. Many of the rocks

were loose; I could stick my hand in and pull out lots of smaller ones. I

couldn't help but think these would be perfect spots for caches, and that

it'd Be Very Painful if I pulled the wrong stone and the hole caved in on

my hand, however unlikely that might have been.

 

Unfortunately all I found were rocks as I just mentioned and fine cobwebs..

I decided to get around the fence somehow so I held onto it and swung out

and around over the edge of the trail. The forbidden-trail went a ways

along the wall I was searching; around the bend it ended abruptly in a

sheer drop to certain death on the riverside below so I was extra careful

to not die. Long sentence short I didn't find anything. Well, except for

some false alarms which turned out to be an empty wine bottle and a small

milk carton. Trash people had thrown over the side of the overlook no

doubt. Discouraged I walked back to the other side of the fence where

Caleb was rolling a cigarette.

 

I told him maybe it's somewhere else and started up the trail back to the

overlook when I noticed another loose stone on the wall. Every loose stone

and crevice thus far had been duds so far but I figured it wouldn't hurt

so I gave it a tug. It slid out easily and lo and behold, a small

tupperware container was staring at me through the darkness!

 

I took it and knew immediately I had hit a jackpot: this thing was *full*..

Compared to the stuff we found in NYC caches this one had genuine

treasure. From the vault I took three objects, three times more than what

you're supposed to take- so in accordance I left 3 of my possessions. It

was a hard choice; I hadn't planned on geocaching at all so I didn't bring

anything I intended to give. I searched my bag and after some internal

debate I parted with one of my navigation dividers, one of my old Delta

company pins and a quarter Caleb had in his pocket (which was I might add

minted on my birth year). For the exchange I chose a 5 Franc coin dated

1947, a bracelet like trinket made of rope decoratively

wrapped around a clear marble and finally a special item which

you'll see when I get home, I won't spoil it here. In the logbook I made

sure to sign my name and I wrote a paragraph too about myself and the

circumstances in which I came across the cache.

 

Anyway, that's it for story-mode. That was definitely the best part of my

day but it was only half of it. The latter part involves hitchhiking, a

castle in the sea, bad kayaking, French sailors in distress and cider.

I'll tell you about it when I get home, but for now I'd like to get some

sleep. Peace.

[owaitress]

In case you were wondering what the last item was, it is a TB, Borderless Express.

[+Viajero Perdido]

What a cool story!

 

This would be a great answer to the Why do you geocache? thread.

[+jgc3]

Entertaining story thank you. Will definately put in the geocaching magazine readers section. Appreciate your approval. Please tell you freinds..

 

Regards

James

 

This was a seamail I received from my son while he was on the last leg of a 45 day sea term. Their ports included Dublin, Malta and lastly Brest France. His 1st hide included the TB found in France GC2M0WE

Enjoy the read.

 

seawave.net:

 

Hey i actually had a good day in france today.

 

So today I was Rather Upset that I couldn't go to Normandy as the school

wasn't able to get another bus. I was reading the Brittany (region Brest

is in) info paper our librarian wrote and it said an art festival was

going on in Quimper. I mentioned it to my friend Caleb and he said we

should go. As we left I forgot something so I went back to get it but when

I returned he was gone so I was like whatever I'll just do some shopping

in town and Enjoy A Few Drinks, Responsibly. Of course I had forgotten

that it was Sunday, meaning nearly every store was closed. After wandering

around for an hour I saw Caleb walking up a street so I waved him down. I

asked if he'd found the train station yet; he hadn't so we kept walking

and eventually a local was able to point us in the right direction.

 

Inside the station we were in a magazine store; Caleb was looking at a map

of Brittany. Seeing that Quimper was a small landlocked town he was like

no let's not go there we'll get bored with the festival after like 20

minutes then we'll be stuck in some Quaint Yet Boring town. I told him to

pick somewhere else then and he said he wanted to visit the North coast so

we were looking at the nearby towns. We eventually picked some random town

called Morlaix near some river that went out to the sea. After navigating

the unnecessarily complex ticket machines we went to the platform to

board. It cost A Whopping 35 euros for two tickets, and that's with the

student discounts. The train was very nice though, sleek, clean and most

of all quiet at 85 mph.

 

Most of the Brittany countryside we saw was rolling farmlands and trees

with small suburbia communities of similar looking but widely spaced

houses. We arrived at Morlaix after 40 minutes or so and our first

impressions were not great. The place was Very Quiet, but we'd already

paid for our tickets so we just started walking.

 

The road to the town center was a long, winding steep hill. We passed by

countless houses and numerous shops, all closed of course. A ways down I

noticed a side-path; a worn and weathered stone staircase leading down to

some kind of decrepit pond/pool in something like a really tiny and

overgrown park. The pond was rectangular and covered by an open roof -

that is I mean a roof with just the sloping borders, with an open top to

let sunlight in. As I walked down the steps and came around I could see

the water was stagnant, with lots of pond-scum everywhere. In the

surrounding stone walls there was a small alcove filled with water you

could reach into (it had lots of bugs so I didn't dare stick my hands into

the water). What caught my eye however was a standard 8x11 sheet of paper

on the ground. It had been there for some time as it was damp and badly

discolored. As I got closer though I was able to make out the header at

the top of the page...

 

 

Geocaching.com! My brain immediately did a

did-I-just-read-what-I-think-I-read as I snatched up the paper for a

closer look. Sure enough, it was a printout from geocaching.com; it was in

French so I couldn't understand it, but what I could understand were the

coordinates, just beneath the header. I knew it then, fate had given me

these coordinates- I *had* to find this cache.

 

Caleb had no clue what I was all excited about so I gave him a brief

explanation though he didn't really understand. We continued our journey

to the town center, which was situated under a very large stone bridge

that met the beginning of a river. The Geocache coordinates were only

about half a minute of latitude off from our current location. Caleb was

trying to bum a cigarette off the locals but they were having none of

that. He didn't want to bother with the cache, and since we didn't have a

lot of time to get to the coast I considered moving on, but then I

thought: if I came back to the States and told Nelson about this, and

*didn't* find the cache, well, I'd never hear the end of it. I told Caleb

if I did only one thing in this port it was gonna be finding this cache.

 

The GPS led us along the river, though I wasn't sure which side I was

supposed to be on since the gps-compass was being screwy. We crossed over

to the west side and as we followed the GPS we came across a road next to

a stacked-stone wall with numerous holes perfect for hiding caches in. I

searched every one but alas came up with nothing. the GPS said we were

still ~150ft off, but it was pointing to the wall and we were in no mood

for climbing. We followed the road along the river until we came to a side

street where the wall ended. Just around the corner there was a hill

leading up to a trail going into the forest atop the wall we were at

before. The search was on once more.

 

Hiking up the steep trail brought us to a spot overlooking the river and

Morlaix, we searched high and low (well, mostly low) but our attempts

yielded nothing yet. From there the trail descended a ways downhill,

though not far from the overlook there was a side trail that was curiously

fenced-over, we found the explanation on a sign post that read DANGER OF

FALLING. Of course I wasn't going to let a sign or fence stop me (a non

barbed or electric one anyway) so I walked down the trail and started

searching the stone wall supporting the overlook above. Many of the rocks

were loose; I could stick my hand in and pull out lots of smaller ones. I

couldn't help but think these would be perfect spots for caches, and that

it'd Be Very Painful if I pulled the wrong stone and the hole caved in on

my hand, however unlikely that might have been.

 

Unfortunately all I found were rocks as I just mentioned and fine cobwebs..

I decided to get around the fence somehow so I held onto it and swung out

and around over the edge of the trail. The forbidden-trail went a ways

along the wall I was searching; around the bend it ended abruptly in a

sheer drop to certain death on the riverside below so I was extra careful

to not die. Long sentence short I didn't find anything. Well, except for

some false alarms which turned out to be an empty wine bottle and a small

milk carton. Trash people had thrown over the side of the overlook no

doubt. Discouraged I walked back to the other side of the fence where

Caleb was rolling a cigarette.

 

I told him maybe it's somewhere else and started up the trail back to the

overlook when I noticed another loose stone on the wall. Every loose stone

and crevice thus far had been duds so far but I figured it wouldn't hurt

so I gave it a tug. It slid out easily and lo and behold, a small

tupperware container was staring at me through the darkness!

 

I took it and knew immediately I had hit a jackpot: this thing was *full*..

Compared to the stuff we found in NYC caches this one had genuine

treasure. From the vault I took three objects, three times more than what

you're supposed to take- so in accordance I left 3 of my possessions. It

was a hard choice; I hadn't planned on geocaching at all so I didn't bring

anything I intended to give. I searched my bag and after some internal

debate I parted with one of my navigation dividers, one of my old Delta

company pins and a quarter Caleb had in his pocket (which was I might add

minted on my birth year). For the exchange I chose a 5 Franc coin dated

1947, a bracelet like trinket made of rope decoratively

wrapped around a clear marble and finally a special item which

you'll see when I get home, I won't spoil it here. In the logbook I made

sure to sign my name and I wrote a paragraph too about myself and the

circumstances in which I came across the cache.

 

Anyway, that's it for story-mode. That was definitely the best part of my

day but it was only half of it. The latter part involves hitchhiking, a

castle in the sea, bad kayaking, French sailors in distress and cider.

I'll tell you about it when I get home, but for now I'd like to get some

sleep. Peace.

[+FloridaFour]

Excellent adventure story, well-written!

[+ZSandmann]

That is such an awesome story! I would nominate it for a L&F Log in a heartbeat. Could we get the GC code to this cache? I sure hope that was posted as a Found It

[owaitress]

That is such an awesome story! I would nominate it for a L&F Log in a heartbeat. Could we get the GC code to this cache? I sure hope that was posted as a Found It

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=ed820747-765d-4050-9328-3e848f464a76

 

There was a little story leading up to this incredible extraordinary find. My son and a friend of his had just started Geocaching before my son had to leave on a summer sea term. My son decided to take his gps to help him get around Europe and find his way back to the ship. His friend contacted me on FB and asked if I'd send some Geocache coordinates for Dublin and Malta. Unfortunately for some unknown reason the ship's email system kept failing and or reset losing the coords before my son had a chance to see them. By the time they got to their last port which was Brest France my son had given up and said to forget about sending any Geocache coordinates for Brest since they were only going to be there for 3 days, 2 of which he would be spending in classes, ship work and watch. The story starts on their final day. His emails were few and far between so, when I got this email I was in awe of his great adventure and hung on every word.

[+D0kt0r_D]

That's such a cool story. I wish geocaching was around when I was in the military... imagine all of the cool locations I could have smilies in...

[+Max and 99]

What a feel-good story! Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

[+old_school_65]

That's such a cool story. I wish geocaching was around when I was in the military... imagine all of the cool locations I could have smilies in...

I think the same thing everytime I go geocaching...I was stationed in, Italy, Germany and Korea. I would have loved to have been able to cache in Switzerland ( a spot I visited often on short leaves) But back in the 80's we were still in awe over VCR'S LOL!!!