When you look for the letter X, especially if playing that ever-popular "ABC game" while traveling on a long road trip, you know how difficult and elusive the letter X can be as you near the end of the alphabet. I remember as a kid I was always glad while playing this game that I lived (and mostly traveled) in the State of TeXas with my parents or grandparents. The Lone Star State is proud of its name and displays its name everywhere, so if you're playing the ABC game in the state of TeXas, you're sure to find the X relatively quickly. This cache is dedicated to this traveling game and the great memories I have of all those many miles traveled while playing this game! Please use the sentences/paragraphs below to help you figure out how to move from the X-like intersection in Tomball (which as you can see forms a X when you look at it from a satellite view) to the actual cache. Cache is a small 35mm film canister with only a log sheet. Please bring your own pen.
The cache is located just over a half-mile away (as the crow flies) from the posted coordinates! Enjoy the puzzle and the hunt!! Please use caution at the final GZ as the terrain is a little steep and can get muddy after a rain. (And by the way, it was raining when I placed the cache!) You may check your final coordinates:
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.
CONGRATULATIONS TO LOG DAWGS FOR FTF ON 20SEPT2011.
GET READY ---- SET ---- GO!!!
Super Bowl XXX was played on January 28, 1996, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. This was my birthday and one of the only times in my memory to have had the Super Bowl played on my birthday. I particularly remember that day because I was a huge Cowboy's fan, the game was played on my birthday, and the Cowboys won, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. Other significant events have occurred on my birthday but one, in particular, was not a joyous occasion. The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred on January 28, 1986. It was an extremely sad day for the space program and for our nation. All seven crew members perished, including a New Hampshire School Teacher named Christa McAuliffe. Media coverage of the flight was extensive because of Mrs. McAuliffe's participation. "The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida at 11:38 am EST. The disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter." (Source - Wikipedia, September 17, 2011.) The crew members: Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair; Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik will forever be American Heroes in my mind for their extreme sacrifice.
In thinking about the letter x, a question came to my mind, what word has the most xs in it? According to Wikianswers, there are two words with the most xs in them. Each of the two words has 3 xs in them. The longer of the two words listed is the word hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia which means the fear of the number 666. If I were to list the other word here your eyes might start to cross because of all of the xs shown in one place.
Here are the lyrics to a popular song you will hear played/sung during the 7th inning stretch at a Houston Astros' Game. "The stars at night are big and bright, Deep in the Heart of Texas. The prairie sky is wide and high, Deep in the Heart of Texas. The sage in bloom is like perfume, Deep in the Heart of Texas. Reminds me of the one I love, Deep in the Heart of Texas." Can you guess the title of the song? Yeppers, it's "Deep in the Heart of Texas." Extreme caution should be exercised when using extremely sharp or dangerous tools which could cause irreparable damage to human extremities. Warning labels, especially those found on hazardous machinery will show, somewhat graphically, what dismemberment of extremities might look like if extreme caution is NOT exercised in the operation of those machines. Please also be careful to make sure you aren't drinking intoxicating libations before or during the use of these extremely dangerous tools and machines. We certainly wouldn't want you or anyone else to get hurt! When the appropriate time comes, make sure you give thanks and congratulate yourself for the hard work you've put in to solve this puzzle! Not only will you get a smiley to your credit, but you'll also have the right to brag because you heeded the warning(s) above!
So why is the letter X often used in abbreviations and for the purpose of shortening words? Does xtreme really make you think of extreme when the x is already in the word? Does it really save you all that much time in typing or writing the word without the e? What about the ever unpopular x-mas? How does it really represent Christmas? What about xfer for transfer? So, if the x is used to replace other letters or combinations of letters, does that mean that x-ray and xylophone are really longer words and we just don't know it? "Extra! Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" yelled the paper-boy from the corner of Main and Sixth Street. He repeated the phrase so many times that he wondered if he should have asked to be paid by the phrase and not by the number of copies of "The Mexia News" that he sold. Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006. Austin has a population of 790,390 (2010 U.S. Census). The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos metropolitan area, which has a population of over 1,716,291 (2010 U.S. Census), making it the 35th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. (Source - Wikipedia, September 17, 2011.)
Wolves and Foxes are often confused in the wild, especially when seen from a distance. A wolf is usually a much larger animal, whereas a fox is typically more slender with much thicker and "bushier" hair. When I think about words I sometimes wonder what slang type terms are associated with completely innocent words. Sometimes the slang is innocent but often it is not. For example, a "Fox" might be a moderately innocent slang word for an attractive person who in most cases I would suggest is female in gender. One would use it by saying, "Man! She's a fox!" Some others might describe a good looking woman as "foxxy!" Regarding slang for the word wolf, well I'll just leave that one for you to research on your own!
In elementary school, I remember memorizing my multiplication tables. At one point my teacher would drill us on being able to correctly answer 100 simple multiplication problems in a minute or less. Ultimately that was more than one per second and I had to repeat those tables over and over in order to memorize them. Night after night, I would study those multiplication tables. I started with ones, then twos, and all the way through twelve. For some reason, the 7s were my hardest numbers to memorize. 1x7=7 2x7=14 3x7=21 4x7=28 5x7=35 6x7=42 7x7=49 8x7=56 9x7=63 and on and on forever. All I can say now is "Please don't pull me aside and quiz me on my multiplication tables, I might have horrific flashbacks and pass out right there on the spot."
Texas is the second-largest U.S. state by both area and population and the largest state in the contiguous United States. The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in East Texas. Located in the South Central United States, Texas is bordered by Mexico to the south, New Mexico to the west, Oklahoma to the north, Arkansas to the northeast, and Louisiana to the east. Texas has an area of 268,820 square miles and a growing population of 29.5 million residents. (Source - Wikipedia, March 24, 2020.)
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog!