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WCNut & Tater By: JBlane Despite a threatening weather forecast,
I recently met with two prominent geocachers over dinner at Buckheads in
Jeffersonville, Indiana. WCNUT and
TATER live in nearby Clarksville, Indiana with their daughter, Kit-Kat.
WCNUT is a maintenance man and self-proclaimed ice cream taster at
family-owned Zesto’s. He’s also
employed in a similar capacity (hold the ice cream) for another family business,
JT&D Car Wash. WCNUT was born
and raised in New Albany, Indiana (pronounced N’Albany).
On the contrary, TATER hails from Kentucky, Indiana, Florida, Colorado,
and Texas. She currently works as
an assembly tech at Beach Mold & Tool. This caching couple met on
October 18, 2003 and was married just four weeks later.
WCNUT
and TATER first heard of geocaching from a relative, “Jeff,” of CAMPING
HOOSIERS. Other early mentors include DEERMARK and DAGGY, quoting, “they
keep things ethical and honest.” Likewise, JPLUS14’s name came up. They claimed him as a geo-buddy in 1993, saying, “He’s a
great guy and a persistent cacher… an asset to the sport.”
When asked if they could recall their first DNF, "Exit Stage Left (GC9FBD),
" by Team Dragon Along (Deermark & Daggy)admitted that it took three visits.
Another tough one recalled was the now defunct, Jawana Cache? 2 (GC22D8)
by Jay & Wanda. WCNNUT confessed that a find here required
three visits as well, not to mention personal injury.
In fact, when asked about the most difficult element to being a geocacher,
“staying upright” came through loud and clear. As
our meal progressed, I probed further asking if they preferred “hiding” to
“finding,” or vice versa. Unresolved to a preference, they responded very
diplomatically with “we like hiding because it keeps the sport alive, while
finding is what the fun’s all about.” TATER
added that she particularly likes finding event caches because “There’s
always someone there to guide me to the food… I mean fun.”
All in all, WCNUT and TATER agreed that geocaching has given them a great
way to “exercise, make long-lasting friendships, and offers something to BS
about.” Recently, WCNUT and TATER traveled with a dozen other INKY
members to North Carolina. “The views were amazing, the stories are
memorable, the lies will live on, and our love—not just for each other, but
everyone else grew stronger.” WCNUT and TATER can be found on the trail with their Garmin Extrex Legend GPS device, cell phone, Band-aids, battery- powered light source, and laptop when caching out of town. And most importantly, friends. |
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