Archive Page 2
We were wro…wro…wro… deceived
It has been brought to our attention that, perhaps, the clue involving the “Oh Suzanna” song was actually correct. We want to be honest here, and we can honestly tell you that we did not get the clue wrong.
No.
In fact, we had one of our satellite teams launch an investigation, and there is evidence that Team Lost in Place was actually spotted with a can of spray paint, altering the “i” in “Seanachie” to an “L”. Danger: Will Robinson? I think Danger: Nashville Police. Lost in Place are nothing but a couple of common vandals, willing to deface the sights of your fine city for their own advantage, including precious ones like the advertisement for a defunct Irish pub.
Have they no shame?
But don’t worry. If we find that we’ve actually made a mistake, we’ll be the first to admit it. You can trust us.
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In November, 1864, General Sherman began his infamous “March to the Sea” from Atlanta to Savannah, destroying everything in his path by burning it to the ground. From wikipedia:
Sherman’s March to the Sea followed his successful Atlanta Campaign of May to September 1864. He and U.S. Army commander Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant believed that the Civil War would end only if the Confederacy’s strategic, economic, and psychological capacity for warfare were decisively broken. Sherman therefore applied the principles of scorched earth, ordering his troops to burn crops, kill livestock, consume supplies, and destroy civilian infrastructure along their path. This policy is often also referred to as total war.
Certainly, there is nothing that is less beneficial to the “Common Good” than a fiery blaze. By using this tactic, Sherman helped force his enemy’s surrender–and if it worked for Sherman during the Civil War, it will work for us now.
The plan was to get ahead of the other teams, and then begin to set the countryside ablaze in order to force our opponents’ surrender. As we rocketed past Team Bloodshot on the highway, we gave them a friendly honk, as if to say “enjoy the lush greenery while it lasts… only flames and destruction wait ahead.” I’m pretty sure they got all that from the honk anyway.
However, our plan was foiled by Team Lazlo, who had duped us into believing they were but an innocent, three person team, with only the best intentions. Just as we were getting ready to commence with the burning, about 45 miles outside of Savannah as planned, we realized the devious tricks Team Lazlo Hollyfeld was up to.
As they say: Somebody set us up the bomb.
Through the use of some sort of invisible, improvised explosive device, they were able to destroy our left-inside rear tire, sever our fuel hose, and rip the gas cap off of the filler tube. Location of the IED explosion is noted here:
Impressive, Lazlo. Most impressive.
In times like these, we must turn to the immortal words of our own President Bush:
“Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again!”
Well said, George.
Pictures of the damage below.
Clearly, it was Team Lazlo that was behind the flat tire earlier in the week, ensuring that we would not have a spare with which to repair this latest damage. We pulled off the highway to call for help, and were promptly greeted with the most impressive army of gnats and other insects we have ever encountered. Lazlo has obviously been training these gnats in their evil laboratory, undoubtedly in cahoots with The Millers, despite whatever charade they play out on their blog.
Fortunately, two teams behind us remained unaware of our destructive plans, and we called upon the Goddesh of Richmond to cash in the positive karma we had built up.
Our prayers were answered, and the powers of the Goddesh forced Bloodshot to repay the karma for us having saved them from dehydration in Atlanta, and forced the Fellowship to repay the karma from the certain-death river rescue.
The RV was abandoned until the morning, and we headed into Savannah, for once with enough time to make it to the pub and hang out with the other teams. We even made it before the mandatory Kilt Kerfew ™ at 9pm.
Tomorrow is another day, and we will not let these silly little bombs or road-side rescues slow us down. Onward and upward. For great justice.
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Day 5: Atlanta
We made it into Atlanta in our usual late fashion and were unable to hook up with any of the other teams. Upon our arrival, we searched for some food around the hotel, and couldn’t find much, but we did find what was allegedly a “diner” down the way. It turned out to be some kind of dance club/karaoke bar that had marginal diner type food upstairs. We were starving, though, so it was good enough.
In the morning, we gathered for the next leg of the race, and set off exploring Olympic Park and the surrounding landmarks and monuments in downtown Atlanta. The clues seemed to go smoothly for the most part. We started with a hunt for a particular brick along one of those walk-of-fame things where you buy a brick and they stick it in the road.
Using our uncommon power of superior intuition (aka: visitor center database), we quickly found the brick and moved on. We would surely gain the upper hand on this day!
There were a lot of teams starting with this clue, and so as not to reveal its position, here is a photo I snapped of some random bricks, just before shouting “I got it!” in a very cunning and convincing diversion. Or something. Thank you Michelle Lynn Venable-Foster-Longname-of-Unusual-Size, of Atlanta.
More clues were gathered, we took one penalty due to being stuck, and deciphered a message which read, “examine nearby radioactive vessels.”
Ah ha! Surely it would be obvious; it was nearby, was it not? A quick search revealed nothing, and more teams started piling up at the same point. Our earlier time advantages had quickly disappeared.
We started asking locals who all seemed to think we were out of our gourds. Could it be a war monument? A naval ship? (the Atlanta navy? Hmmmm) A bomb shelter? The street lamps? The SunTrust building across the street? Some modern art?
Ah HA! We knew exactly who would know – the old guys that work at the Army Navy Surplus Center we spotted the night before, and it was just down the road. In there, we engaged in a very slow moving conversation for 15 valuable minutes, which ended with something like “Well, if you boys do find that radioactive stuff, I’d stay far away.”
Thank you for the advice, kind sirs.
Frustrated, we opted to head down to where the X was on the original treasure map. It wasn’t that close, but maybe we’d spot something along the way. As we got near, we spotted the Hard Rock Café which features the neon sign: “No Nuclear Weapons Inside.”
Ah HA HA HA!
Now we had it for sure. We went in and started to look around when the hostess came over and asked how many for lunch. We told her that we were meeting someone here and explained a bit about what we were doing. She told us that couldn’t happen, because if the entire party wasn’t there already, she would not seat them.
Apparently, our ability to accurately describe an imagined, optical-illusion triggered, near-death experience via Internet blog GREATLY exceeds our ability to verbally explain, in person, why someone might meet another person during a treasure hunt.
(On the other hand, the odds that you could even follow that last sentence are pretty slim… it all makes sense now.)
After getting another staff member involved, we were finally able to communicate what we were doing, and had permission to look around the restaurant. However, the hostess was absolutely positive that there were no nuclear or radioactive references anywhere in the restaurant.
Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever been in a Hard Rock Café, but let me tell you, there is an absolute ton of stuff all over the walls, with many different references to just about anything. Since this nice young lady didn’t even know what a treasure hunt was, we weren’t about to trust her ability to memorize a thousand different items and their meanings.
In hindsight, perhaps we should have.
We found nothing, went back outside, and started again with the “Ask the Locals” strategy (which, by the way, is patent pending, and we will sue any other teams which infringe upon our proprietary methods).
It should be said that there are two things guaranteed to create a 5 minute conversation. One: Explaining what Ravenchase is and why anyone would venture 2000 miles over 8 days to chase pretend treasure. Two: “Is that an iPhone?”
The correct answer is “No, it’s a Geiger counter and we are looking for radioactive vessels. Step away, or take us to them.”
We finally gave up, but before calling in for the answer, we wanted to walk back to where we found the clue, just in case the next one was near there was well. On the way back, I spotted a bright yellow newspaper box with a radioactive logo plastered right on the side of it. 20 feet from where we started. Out in the open, although its view was obstructed when standing on that start point.
Clearly, this 300 pound newspaper box was NOT there when we were looking for it before. A clear case of foul play is involved. We suspect Fellowship of the Van. Where’s the Fellowship (WTF) you ask? Running down the street carrying 300 pounds of bulky, bright yellow steel. Unnoticed. That’s where.
We have clearly underestimated their stealth abilities.
With the new clue in hand, it was off to a revolving restaurant, 70 stories up and across the street (of course) from the Hard Rock Café.
The clue said to tell the person we were staying at the hotel or else we’d have to pay for the elevator.
We did as instructed.
They were not amused.
$5 each was the fare, so we decided to send 3 guys up while Phil and I waited.
While waiting, I offered some other players (aka, cheapskates) from Bloodshot a bottled water. Their response of “Really? We can have some?” led me to believe that we somehow weren’t playing the game correctly, with our friendly ways and all.
First rescuing Fellowship from a watery grave, and then saving Bloodshot from death by dehydration? Are we TRYING to lose?
The other bloodshot members came down the elevator about that time and, snatching a bottled water, they departed by saying, “May the Blessings of the Goddesh of Richmond be Upon You.”
Sounds great. Unfortunately this was nothing but a ruse, as Bloodshot clearly sabotaged the elevators so we could not follow their tracks. Shortly thereafter, when Scott got in the elevator to come back down with the answer, the elevator stopped working.
With Scott in the elevator. Stuck between two floors somewhere between ground level and the top. With all the clues. For serious.
You just can’t make stuff like this up.
Half an hour later, our team was reunited on the ground floor and we were done with Atlanta. Back into the RV and off to Savannah we go!
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I totally forgot to add this story yesterday, but it’s a classic. While fueling up the RV, everyone had hopped out except for Mike and I (jeff). I was diligently working on the blog, when a truck towing a long flatbed trailer rolled up along side us and slowly started making it’s way from our front to back to line up with the pump.
Mike, who was in the back with me looks up in shock, realizing that it wasn’t a truck rolling along side us, but that WE are the ones rolling forward, toward another truck parked right in front of us, and a certain T-Bone collision involving a ton of time and several thousand dollars.
Springing into action, Mike quickly thrusts himself over the back of the drivers seat, smashing his shins into the steering wheel, in order to jam on the brakes and prevent the impending disaster.
But of course, it *WAS* the other truck that was moving, not us. All an optical illusion. I looked up from the blog and thought, “Man, it doesn’t feel like we’re moving, but HOLY CRAP WE’RE GOING TO HIT THAT TRUCK!”
No sooner does Mike pretend to risk life and limb so as to gloriously step on the brakes and save us all, then Scott saunters over with the windshield squeegee and begins cleaning the windows, completely unaware of the near-death experience we imagined to have inside the RV.
I think Mike needs a little more sleep. This Ravenchase thing is getting to him. 
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Since we’ve been complaining about clues today, we thought it a good time to provide some balance and talk about what we do like. We’re headed for an Irish Pub right now, which is where the last clue for the day is taking us. Last night, we were at the Flying Saucer in Nashville, which we very much enjoyed. Cool atmosphere, a ton of draft beers, and a chance to hang with the other teams.
So things we like, in short: Hanging with cool people, cool bars, and beer.
In that order.
Usually.
I bet you would have never guessed. 
We’ve also had a great time solving the puzzles and hunting around for clues. Some of the clues have really been great, and a ton of fun.
The only real frustration has been the broken clues, all of which would have been discovered with one simple playtest beforehand. We don’t really want to be beta-testers, we want to be real customers. I think only one clue was so difficult that no one solved it legitimately. The others have all been simple errors that suggest things were thrown together at the last minute.
We’ve had our reservation since last December, so there really shouldn’t have been that much last minute preparation, right?
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Back on the road for a four hour drive to Atlanta. The clue in the car was pretty cool, and it actually worked. The blessings of the goddesh be upon us.
Also, and yes, this is a little out of order, last night when we checked into the hotel, I noticed this little sign on top of the toilet in the hotel. Nice scuba guy. While you can’t read it, it basically says this: Building code says that we had to install low gallon-per-flush toilets. Unfortunately, this means that if you are “using” the toilet, you’re probably going to back it up. We don’t want to come up to every room in this hotel, every time someone needs spend a little time on the throne, so please flush multiple times while you’re using it.
So, the government requires installation toilets that use less water (for the “common good” to be sure), but then to actually use the toilet you have to flush several times, using more water than you would have with a regular toilet. Brilliant! And now you know why we are Enemies of the Common Good. And of miniature scuba divers with plungers.
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Day 4: Nashville, Tennessee
Oh where to begin. We had high hopes that the endless cycle of bad clues, misspellings, and broken ciphers would finally come to an end. As it turns out, we were terribly mistaken.
We started out fine, with a list of 5 clues that pointed us to 4 monuments all around Nashville. We found them all very quickly, and got the information we needed from each of them. Then, these were assembled into a matrix of letters below the clues “Befriend the fiend of Eden” and “Alea Iacta Est.”
The fiend of Eden being the snake, and (after a little help) learning that Alea Iacta Est was said by Julius Caesar (we should have gotten that), we knew we had to shift the letters, and then read the matrix in some kind of snake-like pattern.
This is where things started to go to hell. Here’s the clue:
Ok, so start at the bottom and head up, then right. “Find Star…” There are a few other words you find.”Sing” can be found on the right side, “Broad” can kinda-sorta be made from a plus sign in the lower right. “King” is in the second column. The longest thing we could come up with was “Find Starking Artist Broad Sing Skanna St.” but even that wasn’t connected like a snake.
After spending a fair amount of time with it, we called in for help. “Find Starving Artist, Broad, Sing Oh Suzanna.”
Umm… of course. Apparently we were looking for chopped up snakes that speak in tongues.
We checked our clues to see if we got anything wrong that would break it in this way, but the misspellings (or whatever you want to call it) come from all clues, so the same clue that spells “Find” correctly misspells something else. We met up with some teams later that had the same problem. Maybe we all made the same mistake. Who knows.
So, this makes yet another in a seeming unending list of important clues that are completely broken. One broken clue is annoying, two is frustrating, and 5 or whatever pretty much ruins the game. This sucks.
Anyway, once we got that ironed out, we walked down Broadway and found the starving artist, we sang Oh Suzanna, and he gave us a CD and clue. He also said “Did you guys sing ‘She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain’ to the other guy yet?” Huh? What? “No.” we said, but we then headed down, met up with the next guy, and just said “She’ll be coming around the mountain” and he gave us another CD and clue.
I don’t know if that guy was supposed to tell us that, or if we were supposed to figure that out from something else, or if there was supposed to be some acting involved, or if this guy was just in a drunken stupor. Bizarre as that whole experience was, we at least had some new clues and moved out, although still frustrated due to the lack of continuity between any of these events.
We headed to a bar where we met up with Team Lazlo and shared frustrations over the mornings busted clues. We found the clues we needed there, then headed down to the ‘C.D.’ museum where we got another clue taken care of. At this point, we could have totally cared less about the entire race, and contemplated just driving to New Orleans for a few days and forgetting the whole thing.
So, at this point Collier decided to buy a hat to ease his frustrations, and I snapped this photo:
Next we headed off to a large park/memorial/thingy for the next batch of clues. Here we met up with Lazlo again, as well as Fellowship of the van. One of the clues had us looking for “Ninety-Two pillars do surround” and we found an area with pillars in a circle, although there were only about 50 of them. We read that inside the pillars were 95 bells, and those bells ring every now and then.
By now we’ve learned that “50 pillars” + “95 bells” probably well means “Ninety-Two pillars” in Ravenchase misspeak, so we rolled with it and got the clue, which did work in the end.
There was a clue where we had to take the population of Tennessee from two different years, and then use the difference to shift a string of letters. Neither we, nor Lazlo, nor Fellowship of the Van could figure out that it wasn’t a shift one direction or the other, but both at the same time. So for example, if the number to shift was 2, and the letter was “C”, then it could be “A” or it could be “E”, and the next letter would not necessarily shift the same way. Very bizarre way to do it, but we ended up with “Madison” and went with that.
Finally, we were on to try and solve the final puzzle before heading off to Atlanta. Team Lazlo had parked in front of us, and so we all headed over toward the RV with them to get into some air conditioning and solve the puzzle. As we were crossing the street, Marcus spotted a Ravenchase paper stuck in the sewer grate. As it turns out, it was clue 12, the one we needed to find before heading to Atlanta.
We then looked at the grassy area next to our cars and spotted another 3 clues blowing around on the hill. They were all clue 12, so Lazlo took one, we took one, and I used a stick to secure the others to the ground so they wouldn’t blow away. Here’s a pic of the field where we retrieved the clues, and the stick we used to secure them. In the distance is Marcus from Team Lazlo after a failed attempt to deliver the clue to the Fellowship.
Knowing what it’s like to be totally frustrated by clues that don’t work, we and Team Lazlo worked together to quickly solve the previous clue, so we could figure out where these Clue 12 papers were actually supposed to be. We did that, and then ran them over to put them back where they belong. It doesn’t help out team time to do that, but at this point, who cares? If we can save another team a two hour headache, we’ll do that and hope karma works in our favor. We even tried to run one of the clues over to the Fellowship of the Van’s van, so we could just hand it to them, but we couldn’t find the van.
So we all pray to the goddesh of Richmond that the future clues will actually be checked for errors before handing them out. We can only hope. The broken clues really suck, but we do enjoy hanging out with the other teams, so we’ll be pressing on and hoping for the best.
For now, we’re off to Atlanta.
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Will post more details later, but we had another key clue get foobared today. For now, we declare this race to be:
CAT PATROL
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Through a crafty use of drafting, coordinated weight shifting, carburetor mastery, and blessings from the Goddesh of Richmond, we’ve been able to improve our gas mileage 50% – jumping from 6 mpg to an astounding 9 mpg.
It might be the moonshine we dumped in the tank in Tennessee, we’re not sure.
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The trip to Charlotte ended up being pretty pointless, due to the accident slowing everyone down to the point where the hunt was canceled. This really sucked, because we didn’t get to do what looks like it would have been a fun leg, and because the schedule had us off to Nashville first thing in the morning.We were given directions, but no clue, for the first part of the drive, with indications that we were in for “something different” along the way. The directions led us to Endless River Adventures, a rafting outfit in the Smokey Mountains.
We were told that each team had the option of having two teammates raft down the river and through some class 3 rapids (sounds scary, doesn’t it?). If you make it through without falling out, you get an hour bonus. If you choose not to try it, or if you fall out, you don’t get the bonus.
Scott and I volunteered to do it for our team, and we had a blast. In the end, the class 3 rapids weren’t all that difficult, but it didn’t stop us from celebrating with a team cheer of “LEROY JENKINS!!!” as we emerged from the final waterfall.
Team Lazlo would have you believe that they deserve some credit for finishing first, but don’t be fooled by those charlatans. There was no race aspect to the river, and we have exposed their pathetic attempt at bragging.
Instead, *WE* are the ones who deserve extra credit, first for finishing with the most style (just look at our command of the elements in this video!), and second, because we rescued the overturned members of Fellowship of the Van shortly before the final rapids.
Yes, you read that right. They overturned and got separated, and it was only through our fast actions (and the fact that we were immediately behind them), that we were able to get to them before any of the other 20 people in the area could spring into action. In those few seconds, we saved them from what very well could have been the deadly attack of an Australian croc or a great white shark. You never know.
In the end, I think Fellowship of the Van is the only team that fell in, and since it happened in the class 2 rapids and not the class 3, I’m not really sure that even counts. In any case, a successful rescue and finishing flair is worth at least a bonus half hour, our books.
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