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Road Trip Mystery Cache

Hidden : 5/25/2008
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size:   regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This is the description of a puzzle cache. The cache is not at the posted coordinates. You'll need to solve the puzzle below to learn the actual coordinates. This puzzle was inspired by an idea of my daughter Lizi.

   
This cache contains a clue
for Summer Stumper.
Click here to learn more.

Gas up your car and get ready for a road trip! To solve this puzzle, you'll need to travel to 15 cities. In each city you must find a clue. The cities, and the coordinates within those cities that you must visit to locate the clues, are listed below.


Detroit, MI N 42 26.499   W 82 58.402
Dallas, TX N 32 53.675   W 96 42.925
Portland, OR N 45 28.064   W 122 42.769
Palo Alto, CA N 37 26.880   W 122 09.568
Fond du Loc, WI      N 43 48.701   W 88 22.298
Brooklyn, NY N 40 37.369   W 74 00.295
Courtenay, BC N 49 41.442   W 124 59.965
Dallas, TX N 32 54.674   W 96 48.279
San Jose, CA N 37 20.252   W 121 53.402
Los Angeles, CA N 34 03.697   W 118 18.570
Chicago, IL N 41 53.277   W 87 46.376
Boston, MA N 42 21.795   W 71 03.365
Phoenix, AZ N 33 31.385   W 112 03.901
Miami, FL N 25 50.374   W 80 11.059
Garland, TX N 32 52.411   W 96 40.845


You must visit the cities in the order given. When you arrive in a city, stand at the specified coordinates and look around for the clue. You will not need to move away from where your GPSr zeroes out: just look around. Each of the coordinates is in the middle of a street, though, so be careful!

This won't be easy or cheap. According to Google Maps, the complete trip is 21,199 miles and will consume 314 hours of driving time. That's in excess of 13 days spent driving, and doesn't include the time you'll spend eating and sleeping. If you drive 15 hours per day, it'll take 21 days. If you're lucky enough to get 30 miles per gallon, you'll pay more than $2600 for gas at today's average price for regular.

Your reward, though, will be the 15 clues that you'll need to locate an ammo can hidden less than half a mile from the beginning of a popular trail southeast of Salt Lake City. The cache is about 180 feet from the trail. There are a number of ways to reach the cache from the trail, but keep in mind that the most direct way is by far the steepest. If you approach from the east, there is a distinct unofficial trail that you can follow to within 80 easy feet of the cache. No significant bushwhacking is necessary.

You may be planning to speed up the process by simply flying over the coordinates I've provided and looking for the clues from the air. I'm warning you now that this won't work. If you're not actually standing in the street, you won't have the proper view.

Have fun on your trip. I'm looking forward to reading your log entry in about three weeks.


Congratulations to himilecyclist for being first to find.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)