Print a copy of this page and take it with you!
This cache will not require a lot of walking…but you can walk or bike the route if you like. It covers about 2 miles along the route of the original Lincoln Highway as it passed through Tama, Iowa, in 1915. At the end you'll find a small cache of Lincoln Highway information, a keychain or two and some toy cars. The 'theme' of the cache is the highway so please try to leave something somewhat related to highway transportation...like a different toy car, keychain or even an old map.
This is NOT a scenic route with abundant wildlife, it's more of a trip back in time. As you travel the route consider what it was like in 1915, bumping along at a break-neck top speed of 25 MPH (and that's out on the open road with a tail-wind). You'll be accoustomed to a flat tire every day or two (if you even had pneumatic tires!) and some kind of mechanical failure about every 200 miles or so (every day or two!) just to keep you on your toes. Your car does not have AC, cruise control, power anything…no heat and not much of a suspension. No comfy seats. GPS…What's that? If you were lucky maybe you had a crude compass…but without a map you better just be watching for signs or asking directions.
OK, returning to the 21st century. The first stop on this cache is the waypoint indicated above. At this point you'll find a very prominent sign describing the historic landmark that is just to the south. Use the sign to decipher the directions you find below. They will lead you along the route of the original Lincoln Highway through Tama. The cache is located near the end of this route. Traffic along this route is generally not too heavy but do use extra caution when looking for clues and waypoints as there may be children playing nearby.
Each encrypted letter in the Directions (below) is represented by a three-digit number or 'triplet'. The 1st digit in each triplet indicates a line number in the text of the sign (do NOT include the top or bottom lines that are apart from the main paragraph…that leaves 9 lines of text numbered 1 to 9); the 2nd digit indicates the position of a word in that line and the last digit indicates the position of a letter in that word. The letter that appears at the indicated position is what you substitute into the directions. Numbers, like '1915' and '5th', in the sign count as one word each. Triplets appear in alternating bold and normal text with the first letter in each word appearing in bold.
For example, the first line in the paragraph on the sign reads: "The Lincoln Highway Bridge was constructed in 1915 to…". The number 123 then represents the letter 'n'… 1st line, 2nd word, 3rd letter. By the same convention, this string of triplets '131171133134 184' spells 'High 5'.
Directions
Before departing, read ALL of the questions below as you'll have to find the answers along the route. Also, there's an additional clue hidden in a micro-cache affixed to a 371162515681 441932667561127318 611612635663 663421513777.
1) From the Bridge, proceed 841312763111 for a distance of about 222.432 454372934842663.
2) On the 123622352231667west corner of the intersection is a utility pole with a faded Lincoln Highway route marker painted on it. Proceed as indicated on the marker for a distance of about 331333521821 651662664245.
3) Proceed on heading 333434222 for a distance of about 531532534 137921942318663.
4) Bear 953911513211941 for about 222.221 miles.
5) Proceed West on this cross street for a distance of not more than ½ mile until you can find a safe place to stop away from traffic.
The cache is hidden at N 41° 58.abc', W 92° 3d.efg'. Where,
ab = The number of the last street in the route from step 5 above…doubled.
c = The number of YIELD signs you encountered along the route after you crossed the Lincoln Highway Bridge.
d = The number of the first street on your route.
ef = The transpose of the number of the US Highway that you crossed along the route.
g = There is one word in the Lincoln Highway Bridge sign that is misspelled. How many letters are in that word when it is spelled correctly?
Feel free to take one of the Lincoln Highway informational materials from the cache and learn more about it. Also, visit the Lincoln Highway Association's websites starting at http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org or search for Lincoln Highway on the web.