OK, here it is: my first attempt at placing a geocache. Since I
have 0 experience with this, I rely on you completely to tell me
where I go horribly amiss. First, a bit of background.
For me, the best kind of cache has four simple
traits:
1. A hopefully amusing puzzle
2. Easy parking where I don't think my car's going to get
stolen
3. A nice stroll through a scenic area (well, as scenic as things
get in Indiana anyway)
4. Finally, a cache at the end that doesn't require me to wade
through half a mile of weeds
This cache, I hope, meets all these criteria (though the
hike/stroll is always optional if you're more of a P&Ger)
Part 1: The Puzzle
The puzzle is simple enough. I'll show you six pictures of
things, tell you how many letters (maybe give you a clue) and you
write down your answers. Easy enough, right? Well, maybe. I'll be
showing you pictures of simple, everyday items. Items that you most
CERTAINLY have in your house, on your person and probably handle
every single day. Well, maybe not EVERY day and maybe not IN your
house. But Close. Problem is, my pictures aren't your average
everyday holiday snaps. These pictures are at 30-60x magnification.
Let's try an example:
EXAMPLE PHOTO
_ _ _ _ _
OK, so in our example, the answer has 5 letters (thus the 5
blanks under the photo). So, you'd simply fill in the letters for
your answer "P E N N Y" in the blanks because you recognized the
photo as the little tiny Abraham Lincoln on the back of an U.S.
Penny. Simple enough, eh? So here are your other 6 clues:
Note that some answers may have more than one word.
Clue #1: How refined!
_ _ _ L _ _ _ _ _
Clue #2: Smile!
_ _ _ _ H _ _ _ _ _
Clue #3: Sticky
_ _ _ C _ _
Clue #4: Such a dandy clock
_ _ _ _ _ _ I _ _ _ _ _ _
Clue #5: Always hanging around clue #1
_ _ _ _ _ _ E _ _ _ _
Clue #6: Honey, can you throw this out?!? Please?
_ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _
Now, since you've figured out all the pictures. Here are the
coordinates of the cache:
N P9 TQ.LBR
W 86 XH.9CE
Yes, those coordinates look a bit odd. I agree. Here's how we
fix them:
For each letter in the coordinates, look back at your answers to
the 6 puzzle pictures. Count the number of times you wrote down
that letter and put that number in place of letter in the
coordinates. So for example, to decode the first letter, P, you
would count the number of times you wrote down 'P' in all the
answers and put that number in place of P in the coordinates.
Continue this process until you have a reasonable set of
coordinates. Be sure you DO NOT count the answer for the example
photo but DO count the hint letters I give you for each picture.
Once you're done, all the digits from all coordinates will add up
to 65.
Part 2: The Parking
The best parking (in my opinion only, of course) can be found at
the posted coordinates for this cache in Thompson park. To use this
parking you'll have to take Part 3 "The Stroll" at full strength.
You can also find curbside parking nearer the cache, just watch out
for the kiddies who might be playing nearby.
Part 3: The Stroll
If you park at the posted coordinates you can enjoy an hour-long
stroll (round trip) through some nice south-side neighborhoods. I'd
advise going south from the parking and then angling east towards 5
points to take the scenic route. When that bit of sidewalk ends you
can detour briefly to visit one of Anabel's caches and then cross
Edgewood for the final leg of your journey. Total round trip should
be about 4 miles.
Part 4: The Cache
The cache is a small container filled with money. No guarantee,
however, that your local Wal-Mart will accept anything the cache
has to offer. The first to find the cache gets a handsome bit of
money picked out especially for them. Oh, if you find yourself
bushwacking more than about 3 feet, you're messing up. This cache
is not designed to get cockleburs in your socks. It's just enough
off the beaten path to keep it hidden from random passersby.
There's also no need to get your feet wet.
You can check your answers for this puzzle on
Geochecker.com.