I had a great weekend. I was among the first to arrive at the event Friday at the base of the San Rafael Reef, but I sat my chair down around the fire ring and felt right at home talking to Dewayne and Vickie. Many more people started showing up after that and slowly the circle grew larger and larger until there were about 35 people there. It was strange meeting all these people who I felt like I already knew but had never met before in person. I especially enjoyed meeting the DeViDes, Chris of Dorkteam6, the Bassets, the Cach-U-Nuts, BunkerDave, UtahJean, and of course it was good to see Scout Master again (and I’m probably forgetting somebody else).
Most people went to bed a bit early, but I stayed around the campfire talking with BunkerDave and Chris for quite some time before finally retiring sometime after midnight. I slept in the back of the Mazda, which wasn’t very comfortable, plus it was pretty cold. I got my best sleep after the sun rose and it started warming up. I finally got up just after 9:00, ate breakfast, then headed out on a hike. I’d planned on finding all seven caches that were set up for the event, but I only got three of them before I just couldn’t go any more. I’m not sure why, but my body just couldn’t take the heat, even though I’ve been hiking in the same area in hotter weather and didn’t have a problem. I found one more easy cache on my way back to camp, then I crashed in the back of the Mazda for a little rest. Slowly, over the next couple of hours, the slight headache I had turned into The Worst Headache Ever®, and I was starting to feel like I was going to vomit. I didn’t want to leave, but I didn’t want to sit around being sick either, so I threw all my gear into the Mazda and said my goodbyes.
I slept for 10 solid hours last night, and I woke up feeling fine this morning. I have yet to unload all my gear from the car, and I probably won’t as long as it’s wet outside. It might be just as well that I left yesterday, because I’ll bet they didn’t escape this rain either.