The cache is not at the listed coordinates (WP1). The posted coordinates place you in front of the mural at Chase Bank on the northeast corner of Torrance Blvd. and Arlington Ave., near the historic district of Torrance. Following instructions in the 3rd paragraph and a little geo-sense (esp. for Lat's minutes), you will count some facets of the mural and then use those numbers to generate the final coordinates.
This mural is the work of the Millard C. Sheets, an artist who became nationally renowned in the thirties for his paintings. Much of Sheets' art celebrates various aspects of early California life; Sheets was usually trying to match his art to the history of its specific locale. Howard Ahmanson Sr. bought Home Savings and Loan in 1947, and in 1952 commissioned Sheets to create designs to replace his "boring" acquisitions with exciting ones. Ahmanson gave Sheets plenty of latitude to create "banks clad in travertine and trimmed in gold, adorned with mosaic, murals and stained glass, and sculptures that lauded family life and the history of the Golden State." Thus, starting in the fifties, Sheets designed artwork for at least 42 (maybe as many as 100) Home Savings bank buildings. Californians shared Ahmanson's love of Sheets' art, and the bank prospered by making home loans to SoCal residents during the mid-century boom. In 1998, Home Savings sold to Washington Mutual, which collapsed in 2008. Its banks were acquired mostly by Chase. We have seen numerous caches based on Sheets' murals in the OC and in the Claremont/Pomona part of LA County but none here before ours in Redondo Beach earlier this year. Thus, with two other former Home Savings banks with Sheets' murals in Torrance and one in Palos Verdes, we plan to continue extending these artistic caches to our part of the South Bay. (For more information about Sheets' bank murals, see https://la.curbed.com/2011/10/10/10435072/how-la-banks-got-their-midcentury-mosaics-and-murals )
|
Final waypoint (WP2) is at N 33 AB.CDE W 118 FG.HIJ. Observing the mural on the south wall (above the doors) of the Chase bank at WP1, find the values for A-J:
A =? (Hint for A & B: "final is somewhat southerly of the mural")
B =?
C = # of buttons on foremost Railroad Conductor's Vest
D = Total # of Little Girls Playing in mural
E = # Loops of Rope visible below the Vaquero's right arm
F = Total # of (non-human) Animals in mural
G = # Conductors + # Passengers on and around Railroad car (look carefully) PLUS 1
H = Total # of Children in mural
I = Total # of Men in mural without Mustaches
J = Sum of first 2 Digits on Hat
K = Total # of Flowers in mural
You can validate your puzzle solution with certitude.