Union Hardware - N 38 59.290 W 77 5.742
You are now standing in front of Vincent van Gogh's 1889 painting, re-imagined in remnant and salvaged plumbing parts and over 1,250 shiny brass doorknobs. It's the work of hardware store owner David Goldberg. Supposedly if you rub the doorknobs and/or pipes, you'll have good luck. There are signs on either side of the "sculpture" that tells you what will happen if you rub certain items. The signs will also give you some of the information that you need for the location of the physical cache.
A = size of the ball wand-in-cap included with standard PVC primer
B = (number of countries from which materials originated) * 2
Now head further south on Wisconsin Ave for Stage 2.
Madonna of the Trail - N 38 59.046 W 77 5.653
A recurring piece of public statuary stands in twelve locations from Maryland to California, tracing a historic travel route from covered wagon days. The statue is the Madonna of the Trail, an 18-foot-tall tribute to the pioneer mothers who traveled west with their crazy husbands.
The Madonna of the Trail is a pinkish, stony-faced pioneer Mom, in long dress and bonnet, strutting westward with a rifle on one arm, an infant on the other, and another little cruncher grasping Mom's skirt.
The Madonnas of the Trail were a project of the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution. They were erected in 1928-29, strung along the National Old Trails Road, now mostly US 40. The sites were chosen with the help of the president of the National Old Trails Road Association, a then-little-known Missouri Justice of the Peace named Harry S Truman.
Artist August Leimbach reportedly created the design in only three days (According to his grandson, he was later banished to Germany by the Americans and thrown in prison by the Russians). The poured algonite stone sculptures -- a mixture of crushed marble, Missouri granite, stone, cement and lead ore -- are identical. The historical info on the base of each varies from locale to locale.
Nearly all of the five-ton pioneer moms face west, although subsequent contsruction projects have repositioned some statues in other directions.
The twelve locations, east to west are...
- Bethesda, Maryland
- Beallsville, Pennsylvania
- Wheeling, West Virginia
- Springfield, Ohio
- Richmond, Indiana
- Vandalia, Illinois
- Lexington, Missouri
- Council Grove, Kansas
- Lamar, Colorado
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Springerville, Arizona
- Upland, California
Looking at the text on the statue:
C = sum of the digits in the date that Major General and his army crossed over the highway (date, not the month or the year)
D = last digit of the year of rededication
Physical Cache - N 38 59.0AB W 77 0C.D54
A = size of the ball wand-in-cap included with standard PVC primer - 1 (from stage 1)
B = ((number of countries from which materials originated) * 2) - 1 (from stage 1)
C = sum of the digits in the date that Major General and his army crossed over the highway (date, not the month or the year) (from stage 2)
D = last digit of the year of rededication (from stage 2)
You're looking for a well camoed hide-a-key.
Congrats to zorrobarnes for FTF!