Hometown Quest

We participated in the Hometown Quest 2009 this year. Starting out at the Senior Center, we received a package of information with clues. We had three hours to solve various puzzles with that information and end up at the correct location. Each puzzle we solved would get us a stamp, and putting the stamps together revealed the location of the key. (We were supposed to find a 'key to the city,' and the first team back with it would win the prize.)

The people who made this up really did a good job--lots of clever puzzles. Albin figured out a map where x marked the spot. It was in a school volleyball court, and Elise found the clue in the sand. Elise and I worked out a puzzle of finding words, and the only ones left spelled out the name of a park. At that park, we had to come up with a way to keep an egg safe being dropped from six feet to get our clue. (We wrapped it up in lots of loose newspaper and taped the top of the bag shut. It worked.) Elise had to play blackjack and win 21 chips to get a stamp--she did. We had to listen for clues in songs that helped us find answers at the library for the location of another stamp. We had to total items at the grocery store and do some math to figure out a license plate--the clue we didn't get! We went to a self-storage facility, found the right locker, and opened a box with a stamp. We had to throw water balloons with a big slingshot and hit a board at a golf course. The kids did a good job. We had ten balloons, and they were getting really close. Elise finally nicked the corner of the board with our ninth balloon. The golf course gave us a map where a stamp was hidden on the bike path, which the kids ran down and found. Hmmmm, is that all? There were eight puzzles and we found the stamps to seven of them in three hours. It was a great time, perfect weather!, and we look forward to doing it again next year.