Just Another Caching Story...

We headed up to Jekyll Island this morning for the 'Geocaching for Treasures event'. Got the coords around 11AM, picked one to go to, put the coords in the GPSr and headed out. Looking good so far.

Arrived at the first location and looked around. Hmmmm. Certainly they wouldn't put it out THERE, would they? Well, it MUST be safe if it's for the event. 300 feet out. Hmmmm. Why not. Of course I joked to John as he headed out, "Now don't get out there and get stuck and make me have to call 911."

I stood and watched him. The area was clear and I had a perfect view. I watched him take a step with his right foot, then his left.. uhoh. That's not good. His left leg was in up to his thigh. He looked over his shoulder at me and hollered, "uhoh!" I asked him if he was ok and he said he was fine, said he just needed to get turned around and get out of there. I watched as he just managed to get deeper and deeper in the more he tried to get out. Before he knew it, he was almost chest deep in a sinkhole with the tide coming in. Finally he stopped and looked at me and yelled, "Umm, honey? Help!" At this point, there was nothing left to do but make the call none of us ever want to have to make. 911. Now it took 3 calls to 911 to finally get someone out there, it's a good thing it wasn't an emergency or anything! 3 firetrucks later, John was pulled out and on solid ground once again with wet mud dripping off of him. For those who are wondering how they got him out, they used backboards to walk out to him and then pulled him out. One of the firemen took a wrong step at one point and got one of his feet stuck and had to be pulled out. The firemen did a great job and they were all so wonderful!

Where was the camera, you may ask?? Well, naturally it was in his pocket with him out in the sinkhole. So not only did we not get the prize after all that, but I didn't even get pictures! The only pictures I got were of him standing at the back of the firetruck with the fireman hosing him down.

Thankfully, the GPSr, camera, and cell phone that he had with him were all ok. Also, as luck would have it, there were public restrooms near where we were and there was actually even a shower there. The lady working there was sweet enough to run down the street to a hotel and grab some towels for him. I went into the ladies restroom and washed all the mud off the electronics (and his wallet and money) while he took a shower and washed the mud out of his clothes.

We decided it was probably best if we called it a day, especially since all John was wearing at this point was a soaking wet pair of jeans. So we headed back to Jax. But, the day was not a total and complete flop, we picked up one smiley on the way to the event, we got a smiley for the event itself, and I stepped out and grabbed a lamp post hide for a smiley on the way back.

I think it may be a while before we head up to Jekyll Island again!