Operation Osceola

By IceCreamMan (cache page)





This was the first event we ever went to, where we first met all the great cachers in this area, and where we first introduced ourselves as the CacherCrashers. This was right before Tony left for his deployment, so we were lucky that he was still here to be able to go. The only person I had known before this event was Caraloopy because we had gone caching a few times together, besides her, we knew no one. In this event we drove all around Osceola National Forest with everyone, and hiked to caches together. This forest is so beautiful, and it was our first chance to see the natural state of land around here. Tony even had a chance to take our 2WD "four wheeling," and that was fun. All in all it was a great day to spend together for Tony and me before he left.

Sticker Delight in Cacheaway Island

By nolefan1982 (cache page)

We claimed our first MEFF last night!!!!

I'd been watching it since it first got listed, and the first day (Mon) just as I was about to leave (to bravely try to find it on my own), it suddenly began storming... so, that didn't work. Then yesterday, after my husband got home from a 24 hour duty stand, I asked him if he was up to finding just one cache... (I know, I'm so horrible!) Well, he wasn't... too exhausted, which was understandable, (I guess... lol) and so he went to sleep. Well, I woke him after an hour's nap, because the day's rain had really let up, and I REALLY REALLY wanted this cache! I said (as innocently as possible), "hey, if we go get this cache, then we can stop by WalMarts and get that PS2 game you've been wanting..."

Bargaining!!??!! geez! this is getting bad!!!!

Well, he didn't seem to respond, just rolled over... so I gave up for now, and went to cooking dinner. Well, he woke up just in time to eat his food hot, and as soon as he was done, he said, "Ok... lets go get that cache, and then we can go get my game." I paused only for a second, realizing that that there was only thirty minutes of day left, I didn't know if we'd be able to find it before it got dark... and plus, I thought, geez what was I thinking? That is going to be one expensive MEFF!!! But, as always, my caching excitement took over, and I raced to get my backpack and gps...

We drove to the park using one of my hand drawn maps... and almost missed the turn because I only knew the general area... "There it is!" I said, and since he's now used to making last nano-second turns onto streets, we made it... I counted down the remaining feet until cache, 500, 400, 3-- no 250, 200, ok ok ok! STOP! I think it's right over there!!! I said and pointed to the special area... (I don't want to give too much away about the cache, sorry guys!)

Well, due to the heavily clouded sky, our gps was acting up, of course it would on our try at a MEFF... why not? It had us looking all over the place... and I was stuck on about 6 certain places that I knew it just HAD to be... Mr. CC said, "maybe it's over here, bring the flashlight." By this time the sun had just about set, and there was hardly any light... "No, I don't think it would be there, it HAS to be over here..." When will I just learn that for some evil reason , my husband's Geo-sense is a lot more better than mine, even though I love the sport more!!! (It's not fair!!!)

I finally gave up and walked over to where Mr. CC was standing, waiting for me to bring the flashlight... I shone it on the area, and in the first second, I said, " *sigh* You're right..." He said, "I am? are you sure?" "Yes, I can see it already!" I waited so that he could come around and see what I saw... sure enough, it was there and I pulled it out.

At this point I was more nervous than anything... (Why? you ask...) Well, I'll tell you why... See, I did attempt a MEFF on my own before one Sunday morning as I had enough courage to drive the standard over to StressHouse Carinos by Stressmaster... No one had logged it yet and I was so excited about maybe possibly being the first to find (and on my own no less!) When I finally found it (it took a few minutes, lol) I looked at the log excitedly expecting to be the only name, and then suddenly the world closed in on me, and my surroundings turned black... a tiny little name written so neatly in black ink that fit so perfectly into that tiny little rectangle... esco... esco had already claimed FTF.... and just hadn't posted yet.... I placed the cache down as the realization set in, and had to take a few deep breaths... Man! and Caraloopy had told me about certain FTF "enthusiasts" (no offense, hey, I'm the one writing the story about my first one! lol) Well, I ended up having to keep reminding myself that hey, I am a beginner! and a first LASF is still cool too... ok? (yes, I know that is an oxymoron, but I HAD to tell myself something!) I signed the log, and drove home in silence (uhh, yeah, I mean... of course it was silent, I was by myself...)

So that was why I was nervous about opening this cutely decorated StickerDelight... would it indeed be delightful, or another FTF disappointment? (Well, I guess you already know the answer due to my first sentence of this story, but hey, I'm trying to keep it suspenseful!) I slowly opened the film container, and carefully pulled out the piece of paper, unrolled it, closed my eyes, opened them.... and SURE ENOUGH!!! we were FIRST TO FIND!!!! I was jumping up and down like crazy, literally! I was so excited! My husband laughed and ran to go get the camera... (of course he knew about the Carinos story, so he knew how much this meant to me, lol) *Sigh*... so we took a few pics and placed the cache back in its hiding spot, and got back into the car.

Mr. CC said, "Well, why don't we try to get that one at the entrance since we're on our way out?" (StressMaster's I believe) "Ok," I said... but we looked for a while in the dark, and the mosquitoes were driving us crazy... "Come on," I said, "We can come back for the other three hidden here another day, let's go to WalMarts." I was already cache-content from finally being MEFF.

THE END.