Sperling - The 3 Ss

31/03/2012 By Kabutroid
Well, I can honestly say that this is the very first time I, and safe to say my wife, have ever been in Sperling, despite having driven by it at least eleven billion times ToungeOut . Living in Winnipeg, while my sister and her family live in Carman have made for many a trip out there, and with my mom now staying in Carman as well... it makes for a lot of trips down the #3 highway. But as with virtually all small towns in the country, unless you have a specific reason to stop there, odds are one isn’t going to stop there. Sperling is no exception.

And what better reason can there be to stop in a small town than a geocache? Thus being the exact purpose I decided to take a bit of a detour on the way home from Carman, and snag me a cache or two while there was still light. First up... this town. Of course, the second I turn onto the street leading towards town, some truck... probably the only one for several hours to come... takes this opportunity to ALSO want to drive into Sperling, thus being right on my bumper, allowing me exactly zero seconds to be able to go slower and think about where I need to turn. Isn’t it always like that... the absolute second you need a moment to slow down and think, there will be someone who pulls RIGHT up behind you, dangerously driving 3 inches from your bumper, forcing you to push every iota of your concentration on trying to avoid being rear-ended instead of trying to figure out where the hell you’re going.

Thankfully, this did not last long. After turning in towards town and then right again towards the castle-looking building, said truck went straight instead and thankfully allowed us to make sure we were going the right way. Speaking of that castle-looking building, several people sitting on the steps were giving us a good, hard look as we drove past.

Growing up in a small town, and for many a summer visiting my grandma’s place in a town with a population countable on two hands, I’m pretty sure I knew exactly what they were thinking, and was amused with the thought.

“Ooohh, I’ve never seen THAT car before.”
“I wonder who they’re here to visit.”
“*insert name* lives that way, I wonder if they’re going there.”
“Yeah, they’re probably going to see ol’ insert name. I wonder what the occasion is.”

It might not be quite that... hillbillyish since Sperling is right off the main highway, but that’s pretty much exactly how it is waaaay out in the country close to nothing, anyway.

But... having passed the castle-dwellers, we continued onwards until we came to a very thankfully empty park/field. Had a sporting event or something been taking place here, I’m pretty sure my introvertedness and wish to have the cache remain hidden would have had me just turn around and head out. But thankfully, it was entirely empty, and I was able to park and hoof it across the field. Eventually reaching the far other side, I soon zeroed in on the coordinates, and within seconds of walking up had a hunch as to where the cache would be hidden. No sooner thought than done, the cache was in hand and I was signing the logbook BigSmile . Mission accomplished! My first visit to Sperling combined with my first cache in Sperling (of which there is no surprise that this is the only cache in Sperling ToungeOut ). So with the logbook signed, I dropped in a chainmail ball and replaced the cache as found. Really nice hiding spot actually. It stays entirely hidden, looks surprisingly natural to the average bystander, yet had just the right type of ‘look’ that a geocacher should have very few problems in locating it. All in all, a fun cache to go after, to break up the monotony of the hour and a half-ish drive from Carman back to the apartment Smile .

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry and chainmail ball