THE CACHE IS NOT AT THE POSTED COORDINATES!
This story is not very imaginative nor is it written well - and it may or may not have a point. It all starts with a geocaching adventure. Nobody remembers the cache involved but they all remember the chase. One group of West Side puzzle-loving geocachers (Criffree - FamilieRyan - Geogeex) decided to challenge another set of West Side puzzle-chasers (BigBender - HoosierRanger - L_Clan - TeamCull) to a race to solve a new puzzle cache. The first part of the race appeared to be straightforward. Both teams loaded the cache page and started looking for clues. Many creative ideas were considered and rejected for a variety of reasons. For a while it seemed that the challenge could end up in a stalemate. At one point Criffree appeared to break the pseudo - logjam but the approach fizzled and it was back to the drawing board...
Finally - a breakthrough - the team of Criffree - FamilieRyan - GeoGeex found the key to the cipher-based puzzle and soon after BigBender - HoosierRanger - L_Clan - TeamCull followed suit although they took a more brute-force approach that yielded slightly less-than-perfect results. Regardless of the approach both teams were now past the first part of the puzzle. Now they were focused on figuring out the leap of faith required for the second part. Just when both teams were about to give up they each found the sneaky clue that could lead to success...
Now the battle really started to heat up. Criffree - FamileRyan - GeoGeex spied one puzzle piece while BigBender - HoosierRanger - L_Clan - TeamCull spied a different piece - but both teams were making progress at a feverish pace. Step by step the answer drew closer. There were lighthearted claims of sabotage and spying. BigBender was sure the puzzle had a binary twist. Criffree was working on a bitmap approach. FamilieRyan was stuck as usual but was looking into base conversions. GeoGeex sat pensively thinking deep thoughts. HoosierRanger grumbled about the unnecessary overabundance of puzzles on the West Side. L_Clan checked out several types of codes. TeamCull kept wondering what he had gotten himself into by moving to the West Side of town. Finally - Criffree punched a set of coordinates into the checker and got the green light from Homer. Not to be outdone Bigbender got the green light as well a few seconds later. With the final coordinates loaded both teams headed off to GZ and the race was on...
Well - I can't make this stuff up - the rest of the race was comprised of a series of bizarre events. As the teams raced towards GZ a herd of wild pigs knocked L_Clan off his bike. Criffree ripped his pants in two on a well concealed barbed wire fence. GeoGeex ran away hysterically when HoosierRanger pointed out a snake to him. BigBender tackled FamilieRyan and yelled something about the Giants and Patriots. TeamCull - the newest member of the team - found himself in the prime position to score the find - but one thing stood in his way. He arrived at the cache - fully expecting the FTF - but there stood a smiling GrangerFam and Muddy Buddies signing the log - The End -
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.