Oh, what a puzzle!

Just got back from an afternoon of cache searching. Rather than head towards Walla Walla for the rest of the clues for Goblet of Fire, I went looking for some multi-cache puzzles over by Pendleton. I really enjoy the challenge of these sorts of hides.

Example - here are directions for one of the ones I did:

Step 1: To start, go to the opening location, sit on the bench, and take in what is being presented. You will need to use the only year located on one of the seals or emblems found above the State of Oregon.

Let the year be represented as “ABCD”
If you add 3139 to the year, you will get “EFGH”. (ABCD + 3139 = EFGH)

To get to stage 2 of this cache, use the letters from above and go to (N) CE° CF.CAF (W) AAG° CH.DDB
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Step 2: Locate the date when the first State of Oregon police officer was killed on duty. This date could be written as mm/dd/yyyy. You will use these numbers and the following clues to create a word which is the final location of the cache. This location is within 100 feet of the plaque honoring this officer.

Use the day of the month and add to it the number of horse thieves in the gunfight killing the first police officer in the State of Oregon. Use the letter in the alphabet that corresponds to this number (for instance A corresponds with 1 because it is the 1st letter in the alphabet). This letter is the 1st, 3rd, and 4th letter in the word.

Divide the number of horse thieves in half. Use the letter in the alphabet that corresponds to this number (for instance A corresponds with 1 because it is the 1st letter in the alphabet). This letter is the 2nd letter in the word.

Multiply the month by 5. Use the letter in the alphabet that corresponds to this number (for instance A corresponds with 1 because it is the 1st letter in the alphabet). This letter is the 5th letter in the word.
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Step 3: Figure out the word, find the word, and find the cache.

Took some doing - especially since the YEAR at Step 1 was in Roman Numberals, which I was a little rusty on, but fortunately my husband knows enough HISTORY to place the appropriate decade and I could decipher the last part.

Some people like crossword puzzles. I like geocache puzzles. We also found a couple standards - and got stumped on another that appears to have gone missing. But at least we were out spending time together, getting some nice exercise and learned a little bit about the history of this region we did not know before.

Gotta love it!