Cache has been placed with full knowledge of, and permission of,
the property owner. No need to go up the stairs; that's employee
only territory.
Gratz to TeamOttlet for being FTF!
Original contents: stickers, ComBots trading cards, two travel
bugs, Fimo clay, GBA sigitem, and a geocoin.
Trackable Warning: Many trackables have been going missing these
past five months. Make sure yours have a clear mission statement
attached!
As you approach Ground Zero, look up. This Sunnyvale landmark has
been in place since 1899 ; you can see a photo of the original
building (which I remember from 20 years ago)
here. Look all around you; in 1899 this entire area was nothing
but orchards for miles on end. Not many people realize that long
before this was ever known as Silicon Valley this area was prime
agricultural territory, growing fruits ranging from plums and
apricots to peaches and cherries. To get an idea of what the valley
used to look like, here’s an old photo of the area from 1932.
Indeed, fruit production was so great here that Libby’s
opened up a fruit packing factory here in 1906; the Sky Can
(GCQNPV) cache is located at the site of the old Libby’s
factory.
Moffett Field was built nearby in 1931, and at least one XSB2D
aircraft crashed in the orchards not far from where you’re
standing now. Hanging in the Palo Alto Airport tower is another
photo of a P3 Orion that also crashed in this orchard; look to your
south, and the P3 came to a rest right where the Starbucks stands
now. During World War 2 the orchards were slowly cleared to build
factories and businesses to support high-tech industries. By the
mid-80s, the remaining trees had started to suffer from root rot,
old age, and blight and were steadily dying off. This mall was
built over one of the old orchards in the mid 90s but the water
tower was preserved and placed back on its original location from
1933. If you’d like to see one of the last remnants of the
orchards, head on over to Speed Ease (GCQNDQ) and look directly
across the street. Imagine the entire valley looking like this. Now
think about the microclimate effect of replacing all those trees
with rooves and pavement.
The Sunnyvale State University referenced on the tower does not
(and has never) actually existed; this was something of a standing
joke with the locals. It seems Charlie Olson liked to travel to see
the NCAA Final Four games. On one of his trips he found himself in
the elevator with the coach of the North Carolina State U team;
Charlie introduced himself as from Sunnyvale State U. For several
years afterwards Charlie used to get free tickets to the Final Four
until someone finally figured out that SSU doesn't exist!