In 2004, as Cache Owner candykids left a trail of breadcrumbs, Facebook launched. Now turning 18, FB claims nearly three billion monthly users. With zero marketing, and only fresh air to build followers, our just-turned-18 cache proudly parades 427 visits, signed with pen and paper, leaving keyboard and mouse hopelessly helpless.
We turn northward, as clouds curdle darkly, dripping a day drenched in drizzle.
For several long hours, cloudbursts skirmish with foggy vapor to swallow our trusty Civic. The dashboard battery light flashes like a heart monitor, then steadies and disappears. We follow the smile.
The exit dumps us from a north-dunking deluge to an east-dunking deluge. Rivers have changed from south-flowing to north-flowing. Sky water is on a one-way street, straight down.
Exuberant as Jonah spit out by the big fish, we land in Youngstown, teetering on the northeast edge of the state. Far above is the Youngstown State University sign.
YSU promises ambition, determination, innovation, and a promising future for its 13,000 students. With 45 years of turmoil from the shuttering of iron, steel, and auto plants, the challenge of rebuilding on the shoulders of technology enterprise is real.
Across the way, the old Presbyterian Church is now a Cask House, but the menu is the same – come as you are, and be yourself.
At Ground Zero, a congenial puddle-walker whistles the blues. Cache logs record travelers crisscrossing the country, hopping over from I-80 to play this national sport.
It’s a good day to be in Youngstown.
OH Love Of Geocaching 