Destruction of a Landmark ... and a Geocache

[OldRiverRunner]

Many of you have probably found the Golfnutz Travel Bug Motel (GCVF83) hidden at the Best Western in Clarksville. It is an old one, placed in April 2006 by one of the early pioneers of Arkansas geocaching, Golfnutz. I adopted the cache in late 2014. It is in the Top 5 of Arkansas caches with the most Favorite Points.

Sadly, the Best Western motel was destroyed by a fire yesterday. And, of course, the geocache and its contents were also destroyed. At that time, there were 13 trackables listed in the inventory on the cache page. I have marked all of the trackables as missing and sent messages to the owners or posted notes on the trackable page to make them aware of their loss.

At this time, I don't know if I will try to restore the cache in a spot nearby or just archive it. I hate to see it go, since it was popular and an "oldie".

For your information, here is a [LINK] to a TV news item about the fire. Also, here are a couple of pictures of the motel taken today.

BW After the Fire 1.jpg

The cache was located inside and to the left of the door the arrow is pointing to.

BW After the Fire 2.jpg

View of the lobby area. The cache was at the back of the lobby from this view.

[JAM6100]

Oh no, I am so sorry. We always stopped by to visit it when in the area, to drop and/or retrieve TB's.
Hopefully you will find a new home, it's sad to see the oldies go.

[Reese486]

Very sad news. We always enjoyed visiting when in the area. Thankfully no injuries were reported.

[OldRiverRunner]

Update:

Last week, I received an email from one of the property owners for the motel. See the attached photo of the cache. It is actually in much better shape than I expected. But I wonder what the contents look like after being exposed to all that heat? Regardless, I may never find out. The property owner told me that the building is very unstable in this area. I asked him about maybe retrieving it when they tear down the walls and start removing the debris, before it is carried away in a dump truck. But he has not responded and I suspect I will not be allowed to get it. I drove by the site a few days ago and it is all fenced off with No Trespassing signs posted, and no indication of any work being done beyond that.

IMG_1593.jpg

[JAM6100]

Awe, so sad to see. We really enjoyed stopping by each time we were in the area.

[OldRiverRunner]

Update: Mike Johnson (aka Golfnutz), one of the owners of the Best Western, recovered my geocache from the ruins and returned it to me last week. Believe or not, I was able to recover 9 travel bugs from the cache! Surprisingly, most were in good shape. See the attached photos. I have contacted the owners and will be returning all to circulation again.

The Recovered Cache Before Being Opened

Geocache Removed.jpg

The Inside of the Opened Cache

Cache Contents.png

The Plastic Box Holding the Travel Bugs

Box Containing TBs.png

The Nine Recovered Travel Bugs

Collection of Surviving TBs 2.jpeg

[Nukeworker]

That is awesome news. Thanks to Golfnutz and you for saving these TB's. What a story they will have to share....