Saturday, August 26, 2006
Thank God That's Over With
Whooo. Too much trivia, too much downtime, too many goddamned treasure hunts.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
All Praises To The Playstation
Re-revised teams:
Elves: Maya, Ashley, Sam
Men: Jeff, Cameron, AA, Houle
Hobbits: Josh, Dain, Pat, Jackie
Evil: John, Pelkey, Karl
Hannah B is out, Jackie L is in. Is Josiah available for this one?
Teams will need good shoes, cell phones, ect. A digital camera will also be needed. Phone cameras will work just fine.
A word on quick clues: each location will have a trinket/small object hidden at it that teams must retrieve, or teams may need to take a picture there.
P.S.: Please call your teammates to confirm that they will be at Gregory at 10 am on friday.
P.P.S.: Tay, you'll always be Shadowfax to me whether you do this hunt or not. Hey, at least you were the lord of all horses. You could have been Bill the pony for chrissakes.
Elves: Maya, Ashley, Sam
Men: Jeff, Cameron, AA, Houle
Hobbits: Josh, Dain, Pat, Jackie
Evil: John, Pelkey, Karl
Hannah B is out, Jackie L is in. Is Josiah available for this one?
Teams will need good shoes, cell phones, ect. A digital camera will also be needed. Phone cameras will work just fine.
A word on quick clues: each location will have a trinket/small object hidden at it that teams must retrieve, or teams may need to take a picture there.
P.S.: Please call your teammates to confirm that they will be at Gregory at 10 am on friday.
P.P.S.: Tay, you'll always be Shadowfax to me whether you do this hunt or not. Hey, at least you were the lord of all horses. You could have been Bill the pony for chrissakes.
Monday, August 21, 2006
We Need To Put A Barrier Between Us And The Snakes!
Three bits of t-hunt news:
1. The fee will be $4 per person. This will cover the cost of game board production and decoration and gas for Matt and Pammy.
2. The hunt will begin at 10 a.m. at Gregory Park this Friday, August 25th. Anyone who wants to join midhunt is welcome to, provided they pay their fee and let us know via cell phone when they are planning on joining. The first part (the board game) of the hunt will take 4-5 hours. We will then have a short break for food, rest, and totaling of scores. The top two teams in terms of points will then move on to the finale, which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Participants from teams that do not advance are welcome to come observe the finale.
3. Teams will be divided into the different races of Middle Earth. However, the forces of evil are so diverse that we were forced to lump together a few races to fill out the ranks. Teams are as follows:
Men: Jeff Smith (Eomer), AA (Eowyn), Cameron Holmes (Aragorn), Tay Stevenson (Shadowfax)
Elves: Jason Houle (Elrond), Maya Kuehn (Arwen), Hannah (Galadriel), Sam Walker (Legolas)
Hobbits: Josh Mattson (Samwise Gamge), Dain (Merry), Pat Stenglein (Pippin), Ashley Hillstorm (sp?) (Rose)
Eeeeevil: John V (Gollum), Adam Pelkey (Cave Troll), Karl Magneson (Wormtongue)
Committee Members: Matt (Frodo), Max (Saruman), and Pammy (Gandalf)
Teams are reasonably flexible. We may change them around, but we'll need to hear a good reason before we do so. Keep in mind that each team will need agility, speed, and trivia knowledge.
1. The fee will be $4 per person. This will cover the cost of game board production and decoration and gas for Matt and Pammy.
2. The hunt will begin at 10 a.m. at Gregory Park this Friday, August 25th. Anyone who wants to join midhunt is welcome to, provided they pay their fee and let us know via cell phone when they are planning on joining. The first part (the board game) of the hunt will take 4-5 hours. We will then have a short break for food, rest, and totaling of scores. The top two teams in terms of points will then move on to the finale, which shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. Participants from teams that do not advance are welcome to come observe the finale.
3. Teams will be divided into the different races of Middle Earth. However, the forces of evil are so diverse that we were forced to lump together a few races to fill out the ranks. Teams are as follows:
Men: Jeff Smith (Eomer), AA (Eowyn), Cameron Holmes (Aragorn), Tay Stevenson (Shadowfax)
Elves: Jason Houle (Elrond), Maya Kuehn (Arwen), Hannah (Galadriel), Sam Walker (Legolas)
Hobbits: Josh Mattson (Samwise Gamge), Dain (Merry), Pat Stenglein (Pippin), Ashley Hillstorm (sp?) (Rose)
Eeeeevil: John V (Gollum), Adam Pelkey (Cave Troll), Karl Magneson (Wormtongue)
Committee Members: Matt (Frodo), Max (Saruman), and Pammy (Gandalf)
Teams are reasonably flexible. We may change them around, but we'll need to hear a good reason before we do so. Keep in mind that each team will need agility, speed, and trivia knowledge.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
i was getting my muskets clean...
alright so first business and then storytime...
the game board is completly finished. fineto. done. completed. and man, is it sweet. a picture will follow shortly. the next step is formatting the teams. max and i compiled a small unofficial list of potential hunters. the list is as follows:
tay
jason
mattson
john
ashley
dain
maya
hannah
jeff smith
hawkeye
cameron
pelkey
AA
the hunt will tkae place, as max mentioned, soley on the 25th. just a one day affair. if your name is on this list, comfirm your placement on said list. if it isn't on this this or you know of others that dont read this blog that would like to be on a team, add a comment please.
alright, enough shop talk. so last night max and i decided to head to "Wal-Fart" as he put it, to pick up some paints and whatnot. as we get to the stoplights where 371 and 210 meet, i forget to get into the left turn lane until the very last second. i make a quick and terrible lane change that leaves my car in a place that doesn't trigger the stoplight sensors so that we would get the green left turn light. meanwhile, a cop passes in front going south. we make nothing of this. the lights cycle few times and we still haven't gotten the green light. i make a snap decision and pull forward and back up so that my car is in the proper position. as i do this, another cop passes us going north. or so it seems. we get the green light and start heading towards walmart when i look in my rearview mirror and see what i think to be yet another cop right behind me. getting a little nervous, i slow down a bit. nothing happens. i turn right at the next set of lights. the cop follows. i turn left at the lights in front of walmart and the cop does the same. im very nervous at this point, wondering what i did wrong. but i didn't think that a cop would pull me over in the walmart parking lot. i was wrong. she pulls us over and the following conversation takes place. (m=matt, o=officer, x=max)
o: "so what happened back at the lights?"
m: *repeats story*
o: "well i kinda figured that what was going on. just so you know, you cant back up on the highway."
m: "oh, well i wasn't aware of that and i made sure that no one was around so that i wouldn't cause any damage."
o: "mmm." looks over my ID and insurance "so what are you guys doing at walmart this late."
m: (not wanting to explain everything) "well me and my friend here are getting some paint for a craft project that we are doing."
o: "what kind of craft?"
m: (cannot believe that she is grilling me about this. look to max for help)
x: "yeah, we are making a game board."
o: "what kinda game board?"
m: "well its for us...and a group of friends...uh..."
o: "well whats the game board like?"
m: "well, its a mix between monopoly and life i guess. you ever play life?"
o: "yeah! are you going to patent it?"
x: "yeah we really should"
o: "then you can remember the cop who pulled you over and curse her name right?"
m: (trying not to lose my grip) "nah, we would give you your cut." *forced laughter*
o: "i'll be right back."
m & x: (lose it)
a few minutes later...
o: (while shining light in my back seat) "you got a little guy back there!"
m: (not realizing i had a stowaway) "what?"
o: "i can see his feet! a little guy!"
m & x: proceed to look for this "guy"
o: "hes right there! passenger, grab him!"
x: (stunned that he was just referred to as "passenger")
o: "in the back of your seat!"
m: (pulls out the woody doll with the chuck norris face taped on) "yeah...its a woody doll...you know, from toy story...with chuck norris' face taped on..."
o: "oh man you guys are too funny! you are the best car i have pulled over today!"
m: "yeah, i have all sorts of stuff in here. i got a typewriter..."
x: "...and a whole bunch of corks."
o: "oh, so you are wine drinkers eh?"
m: "nononononononono i work at an italian restaraunt and i open a lot of wine so i collect the corks."
o: "oh, where do you work?"
m: "italian gardens."
o: "wheres that at?"
m: "out at grand view lodge."
o: "oh. i didn't know that they had an italian restaraunt out there. i actually have a friend who is an italian sous (sp?) chef. i wonder where he is right now? well, make sure you buckle up. well, i suppose it doesn't matter in a parking lot. take care!"
m: "yup."
the cop heads back to her car as another cop pulls in behind her. apparently, max and i posed more of a threat that first imagined. we take off to go park, the second cop follows us and loops through the parking lot back to the exit. thats right flatfoot. never turn your back.
the game board is completly finished. fineto. done. completed. and man, is it sweet. a picture will follow shortly. the next step is formatting the teams. max and i compiled a small unofficial list of potential hunters. the list is as follows:
tay
jason
mattson
john
ashley
dain
maya
hannah
jeff smith
hawkeye
cameron
pelkey
AA
the hunt will tkae place, as max mentioned, soley on the 25th. just a one day affair. if your name is on this list, comfirm your placement on said list. if it isn't on this this or you know of others that dont read this blog that would like to be on a team, add a comment please.
alright, enough shop talk. so last night max and i decided to head to "Wal-Fart" as he put it, to pick up some paints and whatnot. as we get to the stoplights where 371 and 210 meet, i forget to get into the left turn lane until the very last second. i make a quick and terrible lane change that leaves my car in a place that doesn't trigger the stoplight sensors so that we would get the green left turn light. meanwhile, a cop passes in front going south. we make nothing of this. the lights cycle few times and we still haven't gotten the green light. i make a snap decision and pull forward and back up so that my car is in the proper position. as i do this, another cop passes us going north. or so it seems. we get the green light and start heading towards walmart when i look in my rearview mirror and see what i think to be yet another cop right behind me. getting a little nervous, i slow down a bit. nothing happens. i turn right at the next set of lights. the cop follows. i turn left at the lights in front of walmart and the cop does the same. im very nervous at this point, wondering what i did wrong. but i didn't think that a cop would pull me over in the walmart parking lot. i was wrong. she pulls us over and the following conversation takes place. (m=matt, o=officer, x=max)
o: "so what happened back at the lights?"
m: *repeats story*
o: "well i kinda figured that what was going on. just so you know, you cant back up on the highway."
m: "oh, well i wasn't aware of that and i made sure that no one was around so that i wouldn't cause any damage."
o: "mmm." looks over my ID and insurance "so what are you guys doing at walmart this late."
m: (not wanting to explain everything) "well me and my friend here are getting some paint for a craft project that we are doing."
o: "what kind of craft?"
m: (cannot believe that she is grilling me about this. look to max for help)
x: "yeah, we are making a game board."
o: "what kinda game board?"
m: "well its for us...and a group of friends...uh..."
o: "well whats the game board like?"
m: "well, its a mix between monopoly and life i guess. you ever play life?"
o: "yeah! are you going to patent it?"
x: "yeah we really should"
o: "then you can remember the cop who pulled you over and curse her name right?"
m: (trying not to lose my grip) "nah, we would give you your cut." *forced laughter*
o: "i'll be right back."
m & x: (lose it)
a few minutes later...
o: (while shining light in my back seat) "you got a little guy back there!"
m: (not realizing i had a stowaway) "what?"
o: "i can see his feet! a little guy!"
m & x: proceed to look for this "guy"
o: "hes right there! passenger, grab him!"
x: (stunned that he was just referred to as "passenger")
o: "in the back of your seat!"
m: (pulls out the woody doll with the chuck norris face taped on) "yeah...its a woody doll...you know, from toy story...with chuck norris' face taped on..."
o: "oh man you guys are too funny! you are the best car i have pulled over today!"
m: "yeah, i have all sorts of stuff in here. i got a typewriter..."
x: "...and a whole bunch of corks."
o: "oh, so you are wine drinkers eh?"
m: "nononononononono i work at an italian restaraunt and i open a lot of wine so i collect the corks."
o: "oh, where do you work?"
m: "italian gardens."
o: "wheres that at?"
m: "out at grand view lodge."
o: "oh. i didn't know that they had an italian restaraunt out there. i actually have a friend who is an italian sous (sp?) chef. i wonder where he is right now? well, make sure you buckle up. well, i suppose it doesn't matter in a parking lot. take care!"
m: "yup."
the cop heads back to her car as another cop pulls in behind her. apparently, max and i posed more of a threat that first imagined. we take off to go park, the second cop follows us and loops through the parking lot back to the exit. thats right flatfoot. never turn your back.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Here At The End Of All Things
Okay, so I'm going to attempt a brief explanation of the board game portion of the treasure hunt. This may require some explaining, but hopefully things will be clear when you see the board. Just trying to get some of our work done early, that's all...
The object of the game is to finish with the most points. There are four teams, each with a game piece. Teams will take turns rolling a die to move around the board. There will be four types of spaces teams can land on:
1. Direction spaces-These will direct teams to move their game piece backwards or forewards, result in a lost turn, ect. We may also have spaces that allow teams to switch places on the board with another team.
2. Trivia spaces-Teams must answer a Trivial Pursuit question to get 1 point. Categories may be determined by a variety of factors (color of space, number rolled, team choice, ect.).
3. Quick clues-When a team lands on one of these spaces, they will be asked all 6 questions on a Trivial Pursuit card. They will then be given a clue, with a time limit. They must get to the clue area and bring back proof that they found the spot (a small item hidden there, or a picture in some cases) within the time limit. If they do so, they will recieve one point for every question they got right on the initial TP card. Thus, a quick clue can be worth anywhere from 1 to 6 points. If a team fails to get any of the questions right, or goes over the time limit, they can still get one point just for finding the clue.
Most quick clues can be done by every team, if every team happens to land on them. Some, however, are one time only, first come first serve. If a team lands on a one time only clue that has already been found, they will be given a trivia question but no clue.
Each space corrresponds to a specific clue. No team can do the same quick clue twice; if a team does land on a quick clue space a second time (due to a direction space back/switch with another team), they will be given a trivia question instead of a clue.
4. Stop signs-The most important spaces. There will be three of these. Teams will stop moving once their game pieces reach one of these spaces until all teams have reached it. Each team will then be given the first clue in a short series of clues that will lead to the next board location. Each team will follow a separate path. We hope that they will be fairly equal. Teams will draw their first clue from a hat to determine their route. Points will be awarded at the next board location based on the order in which teams arrive.
The initial location will be revealed later.
As always, teams are encouraged to remember both good shoes and discretion. The hunt is scheduled to take place on August 25th and perhaps the 26th as well. Now, really, if you plan to participate please leave a comment.
Additional points will be rewarded for performance in a few physical challenges scattered through the hunt, and for a final lightning round of Lord of the Rings trivia. So bone up on the lay of Frodo of the 9 fingers and the Ring of Doom! Oh, and a lot of the clues have a LOTR bent to them as well. Just a heads up. Who here considers themselves fairly knowledgable or better in LOTR? We'd like to know, for team building purposes.
(P.S.: Matt Capelle had a very nice, if somewhat late, Lord of the Rings line the other night. He thought that when I heard Jason's team had attempted to scale a fence along Washington at 11:30 pm, I should have said "Fool of a Took!" It is an excellent phrase to use whenever someone does something foolish, and I wish I could have thought of it then.)
The object of the game is to finish with the most points. There are four teams, each with a game piece. Teams will take turns rolling a die to move around the board. There will be four types of spaces teams can land on:
1. Direction spaces-These will direct teams to move their game piece backwards or forewards, result in a lost turn, ect. We may also have spaces that allow teams to switch places on the board with another team.
2. Trivia spaces-Teams must answer a Trivial Pursuit question to get 1 point. Categories may be determined by a variety of factors (color of space, number rolled, team choice, ect.).
3. Quick clues-When a team lands on one of these spaces, they will be asked all 6 questions on a Trivial Pursuit card. They will then be given a clue, with a time limit. They must get to the clue area and bring back proof that they found the spot (a small item hidden there, or a picture in some cases) within the time limit. If they do so, they will recieve one point for every question they got right on the initial TP card. Thus, a quick clue can be worth anywhere from 1 to 6 points. If a team fails to get any of the questions right, or goes over the time limit, they can still get one point just for finding the clue.
Most quick clues can be done by every team, if every team happens to land on them. Some, however, are one time only, first come first serve. If a team lands on a one time only clue that has already been found, they will be given a trivia question but no clue.
Each space corrresponds to a specific clue. No team can do the same quick clue twice; if a team does land on a quick clue space a second time (due to a direction space back/switch with another team), they will be given a trivia question instead of a clue.
4. Stop signs-The most important spaces. There will be three of these. Teams will stop moving once their game pieces reach one of these spaces until all teams have reached it. Each team will then be given the first clue in a short series of clues that will lead to the next board location. Each team will follow a separate path. We hope that they will be fairly equal. Teams will draw their first clue from a hat to determine their route. Points will be awarded at the next board location based on the order in which teams arrive.
The initial location will be revealed later.
As always, teams are encouraged to remember both good shoes and discretion. The hunt is scheduled to take place on August 25th and perhaps the 26th as well. Now, really, if you plan to participate please leave a comment.
Additional points will be rewarded for performance in a few physical challenges scattered through the hunt, and for a final lightning round of Lord of the Rings trivia. So bone up on the lay of Frodo of the 9 fingers and the Ring of Doom! Oh, and a lot of the clues have a LOTR bent to them as well. Just a heads up. Who here considers themselves fairly knowledgable or better in LOTR? We'd like to know, for team building purposes.
(P.S.: Matt Capelle had a very nice, if somewhat late, Lord of the Rings line the other night. He thought that when I heard Jason's team had attempted to scale a fence along Washington at 11:30 pm, I should have said "Fool of a Took!" It is an excellent phrase to use whenever someone does something foolish, and I wish I could have thought of it then.)
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Sunday, August 06, 2006
RrRrRock Me Amedeus
We've pushed back the date for TH5 to late August. Capelle will just come back into town for a couple of days before classes start. Will any of the 28th, 29th, or 30th work for people?
And today we scouted out possibly the sweetest location of all time. It's just...amazing. Just you wait. It's going to be hard not telling everyone about it as soon as I see them.
I will try to come up with a brief, easy to understand description of the board game portion of the hunt. For now, I must depart for work.
P.S.: Cameron and Jennifer called me from the car on their way to see the Great Gatsby (luckies) to inform me that they had seen a bread truck drive by with the motto " A Loaf Of Bread In Every Arm." We salute you.
And today we scouted out possibly the sweetest location of all time. It's just...amazing. Just you wait. It's going to be hard not telling everyone about it as soon as I see them.
I will try to come up with a brief, easy to understand description of the board game portion of the hunt. For now, I must depart for work.
P.S.: Cameron and Jennifer called me from the car on their way to see the Great Gatsby (luckies) to inform me that they had seen a bread truck drive by with the motto " A Loaf Of Bread In Every Arm." We salute you.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
TH5: The Battle For Middle Earth
I met with Matt and Pammy last night, and we formed the outline of the 5th hunt. It will have an entirely new format, to be outlined in detail later.
Suffice to say that it will be unlike anything you've ever seen, and split into three parts. Part one will be a mixture of trivia and clue finding, part two will be an obstacle course,and part three will be the thrilling downtown finale. There will be eliminations after each round, down to the final two for the third round. This could all fit into one day, but we think it would be more enjoyable as a two-day hunt. August 15-16 is looking pretty good to me, as I can probably get those days off, the road trippers will be back, and Matt will still be in town (he leaves the 21st, I think). Do we have any problems/suggestions on dates?
Ashley: I think we're going to keep this one in Brainerd, mostly because we're trying to keep driving time to a minimum.
Jennifer: What ideas do you have for clues? Please e-mail them to me. We're going to need all the help we can get getting good clues for this one. In fact, really anyone with clue ideas could send them in, and we could keep careful track of who wrote which clue so they wouldn't get their own, but everybody else would. That'd be kind of neat. Individual clues or clusters are welcome.
Teams will probably be named after regions of Middle Earth, just because that'd be pretty special. Plus, then people can take on individual names of characters from their region. We can have more teams for this hunt, 5-7 would probably be ideal. Does Karl want to form a team? Dain? Maya? Stitch/Ellens/Northway? Please sign up in the comments of this post. I think we may have teams form themselves for this hunt, or have it be self-formed with a little rearranging to keep things even.
Suffice to say that it will be unlike anything you've ever seen, and split into three parts. Part one will be a mixture of trivia and clue finding, part two will be an obstacle course,and part three will be the thrilling downtown finale. There will be eliminations after each round, down to the final two for the third round. This could all fit into one day, but we think it would be more enjoyable as a two-day hunt. August 15-16 is looking pretty good to me, as I can probably get those days off, the road trippers will be back, and Matt will still be in town (he leaves the 21st, I think). Do we have any problems/suggestions on dates?
Ashley: I think we're going to keep this one in Brainerd, mostly because we're trying to keep driving time to a minimum.
Jennifer: What ideas do you have for clues? Please e-mail them to me. We're going to need all the help we can get getting good clues for this one. In fact, really anyone with clue ideas could send them in, and we could keep careful track of who wrote which clue so they wouldn't get their own, but everybody else would. That'd be kind of neat. Individual clues or clusters are welcome.
Teams will probably be named after regions of Middle Earth, just because that'd be pretty special. Plus, then people can take on individual names of characters from their region. We can have more teams for this hunt, 5-7 would probably be ideal. Does Karl want to form a team? Dain? Maya? Stitch/Ellens/Northway? Please sign up in the comments of this post. I think we may have teams form themselves for this hunt, or have it be self-formed with a little rearranging to keep things even.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
A Brief History Of Rhyme
I'm posting my post-hunt business here to avoid boring any Mustache readers who just don't give a damn about treasure hunts. And there are several.
First off: I apologize to anyone who didn't have a good time. We (by which I mean Mattson, Pammy, and myself) underestimated both the skill of some of these teams and the vigilance of the Brainerd Police Department's Special Vagrant Task Force, or whatever the 6 cop cars crusing north Brainerd call themselves. We had more clues in the planning stages, but circumstances gradually eliminated them until we were down to a spare 10 clues, enough for a quick, tight hunt. When police interference cut out a couple of clues, things got disappointly short.
Regarding the fee: I realize that the past two hunts have cost $3 and $7 (with pizza). However, it's also important to remember that in both cases, the organizers took a huge loss. We decided that this was a rather silly situation, and $6 is a fair price to pay for a couple hours of entertainment. A night hunt required much more scouting and materials, and with $6 per person we roughly broke even (see JM's math). Tay may be gentlemanly enough to deal with working for dozens of hours and losing a bunch of money, but I feel that we set an appropriate precedent for future hunts, should they come to pass.
Regarding the final standings: John Wilkes Booth arrived at the BHS lot about 5 minutes before Lee Harvey Oswald. Matt Capelle finished his final banana just as the Dain Train started in on his potassium-loading. Roughly 10 minutes later, Leon C showed up, and Mattson decided to hold them for a few minutes so we could have an eating showdown with Sam Walker. In retrospect, this move doesn't make much sense, but it seemed like a great idea at 1 a.m. Ashley Widmark overcame her hatred of both Sprite and bananas to defeat Chris Runyan by a spare 1 yellow fruit.
Here we come upon the first of our issues: who won between these two teams? Leon C arrived there first, but Sam Walker won the eating contest. If we'd have let Chris start when his team arrived and let Ashely start when she arrived a minute later, this would have been much more fair, but we didn't, so it wasn't.
Another issue: Lee Harvey didn't recieve their morse code sheet due to a mix up at the park, so they had a delay while going to get a key from someone's house. Would this have pushed them past John Wilkes Booth? Impossible to tell.
And finally, probably our biggest blunder in respect to finishing order: there was a clue down by the river access past the cemetary. Team Sam Walker spent 15 minutes walking through the dark on a fruitless search for a clue halted by either technical difficulties or a parks and rec worker. We called the halt soon after this. No other team had been to the cemetary yet, and due to the fact that two groups (Sam Walker and Pammy and myself) had been stopped by cops down there already, we decided to cut the clue. Here we made our mistake: we neglected to compensate Sam Walker with a time bonus, or make other teams wait 10-15 minutes when they would have been doing that clue. Realistically, this could have been the difference between first and third place for Sam Walker.
Leon C had some delays as well, but those were both brought largely upon themselves. Climbing a fence on Washington? Going the wrong way down a one way? C'mon guys.
To those who chose not to continue after things got weird: we hope you had a good time, and we are sorry that thing got a little stickier than predicted. To those who kept going and finished: Congrats on finishing. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, sorry if you didn't.
For my thoughts on comparing this hunt to previous hunts, see my second comment here.
Now then: is there any demand for another hunt?
First off: I apologize to anyone who didn't have a good time. We (by which I mean Mattson, Pammy, and myself) underestimated both the skill of some of these teams and the vigilance of the Brainerd Police Department's Special Vagrant Task Force, or whatever the 6 cop cars crusing north Brainerd call themselves. We had more clues in the planning stages, but circumstances gradually eliminated them until we were down to a spare 10 clues, enough for a quick, tight hunt. When police interference cut out a couple of clues, things got disappointly short.
Regarding the fee: I realize that the past two hunts have cost $3 and $7 (with pizza). However, it's also important to remember that in both cases, the organizers took a huge loss. We decided that this was a rather silly situation, and $6 is a fair price to pay for a couple hours of entertainment. A night hunt required much more scouting and materials, and with $6 per person we roughly broke even (see JM's math). Tay may be gentlemanly enough to deal with working for dozens of hours and losing a bunch of money, but I feel that we set an appropriate precedent for future hunts, should they come to pass.
Regarding the final standings: John Wilkes Booth arrived at the BHS lot about 5 minutes before Lee Harvey Oswald. Matt Capelle finished his final banana just as the Dain Train started in on his potassium-loading. Roughly 10 minutes later, Leon C showed up, and Mattson decided to hold them for a few minutes so we could have an eating showdown with Sam Walker. In retrospect, this move doesn't make much sense, but it seemed like a great idea at 1 a.m. Ashley Widmark overcame her hatred of both Sprite and bananas to defeat Chris Runyan by a spare 1 yellow fruit.
Here we come upon the first of our issues: who won between these two teams? Leon C arrived there first, but Sam Walker won the eating contest. If we'd have let Chris start when his team arrived and let Ashely start when she arrived a minute later, this would have been much more fair, but we didn't, so it wasn't.
Another issue: Lee Harvey didn't recieve their morse code sheet due to a mix up at the park, so they had a delay while going to get a key from someone's house. Would this have pushed them past John Wilkes Booth? Impossible to tell.
And finally, probably our biggest blunder in respect to finishing order: there was a clue down by the river access past the cemetary. Team Sam Walker spent 15 minutes walking through the dark on a fruitless search for a clue halted by either technical difficulties or a parks and rec worker. We called the halt soon after this. No other team had been to the cemetary yet, and due to the fact that two groups (Sam Walker and Pammy and myself) had been stopped by cops down there already, we decided to cut the clue. Here we made our mistake: we neglected to compensate Sam Walker with a time bonus, or make other teams wait 10-15 minutes when they would have been doing that clue. Realistically, this could have been the difference between first and third place for Sam Walker.
Leon C had some delays as well, but those were both brought largely upon themselves. Climbing a fence on Washington? Going the wrong way down a one way? C'mon guys.
To those who chose not to continue after things got weird: we hope you had a good time, and we are sorry that thing got a little stickier than predicted. To those who kept going and finished: Congrats on finishing. I hope you enjoyed yourselves, sorry if you didn't.
For my thoughts on comparing this hunt to previous hunts, see my second comment here.
Now then: is there any demand for another hunt?
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