Southlake Log House Travel Bug Hotel
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Southlake's log house sits next to Bunker Hill, which settlers used as a lookout point, and Blossom Prairie, where wagon trains heading west camped. This is a travel bug hotel. Please leave one and move another one along it's journey.
The coordinates for this cache take you to GZ but you will need to solve these three questions in order to open the cache. IMPORTANT: CODE MUST be displayed in order to close the cache, please mix the dial AFTER closing. All the answers can be found very near GZ. The cache is good sized and intended to be a travel bug hotel. Several travel bugs were started with this new cache! A) How wide were the covered wagons the settlers used to get to Blossom Prairie? B) How many boards were used to make a trunk? C) How many fireplaces are here? The lock is stiff so be sure to use firm pressure to slide it to the right. Since this cache seems to get vandalized, I have tethered and bolted the cache into place this time. PLEASE be sure to scramble the lock when you are done and place the cache in the same location as found. Southlake’s log house is a replica that represents a house built in the 1850s by a well-off family. At 14x14 feet, it is only as big as many bedrooms in today’s Southlake. Of special interest are the supports for the back porch – they once were telegraph poles made about 1853 that ran alongside the Butterfield Stage line in Wise County. Also interesting is that the house sits next to Bunker Hill, which settlers used as a lookout point, and Blossom Prairie, where wagon trains heading west camped. Southlake’s log house, built in 2008, is made from three log structures from the 1850s and 1860s that stood within now-Southlake: at Carroll Avenue and Southlake Boulevard; south of Southlake Boulevard on White’s Chapel; and adjacent to Summit Park in Town Square. After being stored under tarps for up to 10 years, some of the logs had deteriorated, so no one building could be reconstructed in full. Restoration expert Bill Marquis of Denton County handmade replacement rafters, shingles, flooring, and window and door trim, then put all the parts together. No lumber-yard materials were used. Inside, Southlake’s log house has a stone fireplace and bois d’arc mantle. Porch supports in front and back are bois d’arc, and the squared-off stones the house sits on came from the log home that stood at Carroll Avenue and Southlake Boulevard. Red sandstone for the fireplace also came from Southlake. Wall logs are post oak, as are the rafters and shingles. The flooring is bur oak, and the shutters and doors are pecan. The red clay between the logs is local and what pioneers living here would have used. This single-pen (one room) log house represents a popular style. Other log homes might have had a sleeping loft, a “dog trot” between two rooms, or several adjoining rooms. A log house from the 1800s would have had fewer windows, as cutting openings weakened the structure.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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