In a tribute to one of the most consistently popular bands over the last 40+ years, we present this Earth, Wind & Fire cache. Verdine White, Philip Bailey, and Ralph Johnson are the remaining original members of Earth, Wind & Fire – an R&B, Funk, and Soul band that was formed in Chicago and later moved to Los Angeles. With approximately 20 studio albums and over 10 compilation/live albums to their credit, Earth, Wind & Fire still has a large following and delivers rich, soulful, funky, and spiritual music to fans worldwide.
For more information on the band, visit their official website at http://www.earthwindandfire.com/. We hope this mini-puzzle teaches you a little bit about Earth, Wind & Fire and makes for a fun geocaching experience.
The posted coordinates are not those of the cache. There are three intermediate waypoints (we call them Earth, Wind, and Fire) before you arrive at the actual cache location. The coordinates of all locations will be in the form of N 33° 5x.xxx and W 118° 2y.yyy. All computations to derive coordinates should be done only on the last four digits without the decimal point. For example, if you were asked to add 1234 to N 33° 55.555, you would get N 33° 56.789.
Now, on to the fun and games!
Before you begin your quest, you need to research a little bit of information on Earth, Wind & Fire. We found the Internet to be extremely helpful, and Google is a very nice search engine. The answers to the following questions will be helpful as you move from point to point: We advise answering all of the questions first, then heading out to the first waypoint; don't try to calculate and drive at the same time!
A) Yes, I remember this night of September.
B) We will live together and our voices will ring together until this day of never.
C) What was the overall episode number (between 1 and 180) of the Seinfeld episode that featured Elaine "dancing" to an Earth, Wind & Fire #1 hit?
D) You want to groove? You should move yourself and glide like this.
E) Our voices will ring forever, we all will live forever, we then will expand love together as this many people.
F) Earth, Wind & Fire first had a #1 song in this year.
G) Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in this year.
H) Total number of siblings of Maurice White that have been Earth, Wind & Fire band members.
J) Last two digits of the year in which Maurice White formed the Salty Peppers, the name of the band before it was renamed Earth, Wind & Fire.
K) Earth, Wind & Fire also appeared in an episode of Grace Under Fire, where Grace and Nadine are reliving their youth on the way to their high school reunion. What is the three-digit episode number from the original Carsey-Werner production company catalog? This can be calculated by multiplying the season number in which this episode was aired by 100, and adding the specific episode number within this season. (For example: season 1, episode 8 would be 108.)
L) In 1992, Earth, Wind & Fire released a three-CD compilation of their greatest hits. How many tracks can be found on the 3-CD set?
Time to start finding waypoints!
The coordinates of the Earth waypoint can be found as follows:
- The latitude of the Earth waypoint can be found by adding the latitude and the longitude of the posted coordinates.
- The longitude of the Earth waypoint can be found by adding D to the longitude of the posted coordinates.
You can check your answer for the Earth waypoint by clicking here.
Once you arrive at Earth, you will need to copy down some numbers that can be found there:
- M) The address on the closest building to you while standing at Earth.
- N) The speed limit on the closest relevant sign (if you see more than one sign, use the biggest number).
The coordinates of the Wind waypoint can be found as follows:
- Add B and J to the latitude of Earth, and then subtract F, H, and K to get the latitude of Wind.
- From the longitude of Earth, subtract L, and then add N and one-fifth of M to get the longitude of Wind.
You can check your answer for the Wind waypoint by clicking here.
Once you arrive at Wind, you will need to find some information from two plaques near the main attraction:
- P) There is a plaque commemorating the restoration of this structure. In what year was the structure restored?
- Q) The other plaque identifies a tree dedicated to a very famous individual. In what year was this tree planted?
The coordinates of the Fire waypoint can be found as follows:
- Take the latitude of Wind, add B, E, H, and Q, and then subtract A and ten times L to get the longitude of Fire.
- Start with C and subtract E and H. Multiply that result by 10, subtract that answer from the longitude of Wind, and then subtract G from that answer to get the latitude of Fire.
You can check your answer for the Fire waypoint by clicking here.
Once you arrive at Fire, you will need to copy down some numbers that can be found there:
- R) The year the building at Fire was built.
- S) The building at Fire might be one of a series of similar buildings. Of the series, which building # is this?
The coordinates of the cache can be found as follows:
- To get the latitude of the cache, take the longitude of Fire, and subtract C as well as the number you get by taking the last two digits of D.
- To get the longitude of the cache, add E, H, L, and S. Divide that sum by the quotient of G and 20. Multiply that result by P, and add R. Finally, add that result to the latitude of Fire.
You can check your answer for the cache location by clicking here.
Here’s a little bit about the history of this cache. This location is the fifth home for this cache. Each version of this cache will be associated with an Earth, Wind & Fire album. To date, we have:
- 1971: “Earth, Wind & Fire”. This self-titled debut album corresponds with our first hide of this cache under the bench at Fulton Park.
- 1971: “Need of Love”. EWF's second album is similar to our second hiding place - in a metal pole outside of Fulton Park. This cache was dearly in need of love.
- 1972: “Last Days and Time”. EWF's third album featured "Where Have All The Flowers Gone", obviously a song about the base of the tree at the north end of Polliwog Park where the third version of this cache used to reside.
- 1973: “Head to the Sky”. EWF’s fourth album, signifying that you had to look up into the hedges near the power lines just south of Artesia Blvd. between Phelan and Felton Lanes.
- 1974: "Open Our Eyes". Earth, Wind & Fire’s fifth album, reminds you to open your eyes and gawk at the huge structure near the current location of this cache.
We hope you enjoy the tour of the South Bay, learn a little about Earth, Wind & Fire, and get to dust off your algebra skills!