Genoacide

Park and grab located a little off I-70.

This cache marks the location of the Wonder Tower. The Wonder Tower was formerly owned and operated by Jerry Chubbuck, an amateur archaeologist, historic preservationist and full-time exhibitor and entrepreneur. Welcoming visitors to his attraction (entry fee was $1) and showing off his curiosities and oddities was his life's calling. He died in August 2013 and the contents of his store/attraction were auctioned off later that fall.

His tower had a historic pedigree back to the early 20th Century and was a stage stop before that. This was an essential stop for my family on our way back from visiting relatives in eastern Kansas for many years. I even placed a cache on the grounds, with Jerry's permission of course. The cache (See Six States!) earned many a fave point from intrigued geocachers.

The cache is adjacent to a public frontage road - you'll have to get off the Interstate and drive past the near-ghost town of Genoa to get there. The cache is not on Tower property, which is fenced and posted No Trespassing. You can drive past the property on the public road and see the traces of the old, pre-Interstate highway route on the north side of the property (you can see how the roadside attraction was once oriented in this direction).

The name of the cache refers to the feeling that this region is slowly drying up and blowing away. The Tower didn't do much to bring business to town (there haven't been any stores, restaurants or gas stations open in Genoa for years). But it was a spark of life. It's sad that the State of Colorado wasn't interested in buying the property and making a historic site or park out of it. They're always talking about doing something to revitalize the Eastern Plains and getting a tourist industry going, but they don't seem to do anything about it.

The Chubbuck family still owns the property, but has "For Sale" signs posted on the fence. Maybe you could be that person who acquires the site and continues Jerry Chubbuck's dream. Think about it.