The day of Evacuation

23 June,2012, I had just completed my first ever power trail and wrapped up my day of a personal best of 54 finds with my good friend and chapter VP Erik(OF-Erad). As we got home we noticed a very large plume of smoke billowing up in the hills to our south west. A fire had been started in the Waldo Canyon area and was growing at a very fast rate.

All the news outlets were saying this fire had potential to be a bad one and the evacuation notices began to come in. This fire was moving in multiple directions at varying speeds frustrating not only the fire fighters but all those who lived at the base of our beloved mountains. 

Fast forward now to Tuesday the 26th of June, 2012. The smoke was still billowing as I headed into work that morning but it had become a common sight at this point and I didnt think much of it. They were saying they had it 5% contained and were making progress. As the day progressed the smoke became more and more ominous. The sigle stack had now become a cloud that reached thousands and thousands of feet into the air and consumed the sky. This is not good. Something began to feel off. After wrapping up things at work I began to head home and into this cloud of smoke. Now the radio began to explode. The fire had turned east taken a full on charge towards the city, nearly doubling in size in a matter of hours. The pre evacuation notices now turned into a full on flight for life. The traffic on the freeway had nearly come to a stand still when I received the first of two phone calls. "We are being evacuated hun. Where are you"? My heart dropped a little, I am on my way. I got off the phone as I entered the heart of the smoke cloud. Dark as night, snowing ash, and a heavy scent of smoke surrounded me. I now felt a brief panic. This fire had become something more than a news report, more than something we watched on tv and shook our heads at, it became a threat to my family. After fighting the traffic I was able to get home and now begun the furious packing. We loaded clothes, important papers, and a few comfort items(my geocoins were loaded prior to my will... just saying) but then came the decision of what matters the most? What one thing do you grab as you run out of the door? I grabbed my adventure frog(the mascot of our shenanigans in FL), three books(celebration of discipline, hitchhikes guide, and the hobbit), and my favorite hat(RHB!). Now it was time to go. We rolled out as the fire sat on the hill behind our home, ominous, angry, and unrelenting. A tsunami of flame. 

So why do these event belong in a geocaching blog you ask? Well here is the rest of the story... The second phone call was from my dear friend mentioned before. "I have three beds made and dinner going. When will you get here?" Before I had even thought about where I was going to take my family, my friend, a geocacher, a Dirtbag, had already prepared his own home to receive my family of seven. As we pulled into his driveway Erik and his lovely wife Louisa were standing there with open arms and caught each one of us as we got out of the car. Once we got the kids in and settled Erik and I stood in the driveway decompressing from what was going on around us. It was here my dear friend did the greatest thing he could have at the time. "So you got a cache today yet"? I chuckled as a tear dropped. "No, I got wrapped up with other stuff today". He put his hand on my shoulder and told me to come over here. (The cache) Sure enough there at his home was a cache of his and he handed me the log.  "No matter what happens today or tomorrow, we got you bud". These beautiful people became more than friends this day. They became family. Our dear friends. Our guardian angels. 

A few days later the firefighters gained control of the fire and stopped it less than a mile from our home. But this point is totally irrelevant because no matter the outcome, home or no home, my family was intact and safe because a fellow geocacher saw beyond numbers, caches, methods of game play, and looked into the human side of this silly game. They opened their home, their hearts, and gave my family rest. We will be in debt to them forever for this and I only hope at some point and time I can offer, if even just a slice, what they gave to my family. Thank you guys, we love you both!