2004 Allison Wonderland Mock Hunt

One evil Joe

Looks like my "rock" still looked fairly decent. I was worried the rain and snow would wash away my "paint" and there would just be this piece of green styrofoam sitting out there.

As for the party on Saturday, I'd like to have it at Fern's, but my experience tells me it's pretty crowded on a Saturday and getting a big table could be pretty difficult. I'm going to see if I can find anyplace that might work better, maybe even somewhere closer to Marydale.

Allison, the rock held up extremely well. I hope you don't have a copyright or anything, because I really want to copy it. Heh Heh

Now that the hunt is over, can I JOE now ;)

the "rock" held up out there due to the cold weather otherwise it is a wet muddy mess in my truck.

Me2 found a little pussy in the park? I thought she wasn't a lesbian...

Allison, the rock held up extremely well. I hope you don't have a copyright or anything, because I really want to copy it. Heh Heh

Go ahead if you like. You want to use a different kind of styrofoam though. The green gardening kind I had didn't seem to like getting wet too well. As for coloring it, I just pulled some ashes out of the fireplace, mixed in some water until it was pasty, and then covered the styrofoam with it. I wish I had thought of it earlier though as I might have applied one coat, let it dry, and then done a second. When I got to the park the ground was pretty wet and there was some exposed dirt in the pit so I used some of that mud lightly rubbed a bit onto the "rock" as well. It looked pretty real when I left it.

might be able to cover it with a matte clear coat to seal it up a bit.. not sure if it would affect the coloring or anything, but an interesting idea nonetheless.

Only those with habits like chasing white rabbits

Look in Wonderland trying to find this treasure, alas.

Vanished is the Cheshire Cat. Which park could he be at?

You might start with a peek through the looking glass.

The obvious clue one expects to find in Clue #1 is that it’s in a park. The part about starting with a peek in the looking glass helps set the tone for the “Alice in Wonderland” theme, but is also a hint as to the word game contained in this clue. If you take the first letter in each line, and then find its “mirror image” in the alphabet (e.g. A=Z, B=Y, C=X, etc.) then those letters will spell out L-O-E-B, the name of the lake in Marydale Park.

Clue #2

Alice’s adventure had begun before she saw the rabbit run,

In an outdoor setting having some biscuits and tea.

Go now and don’t be late for your very important date.

Dining and cooking you’ll find figure most prominently.

The dining and cooking simply refer to the many picnic tables and grills near the treasure hunt location. The very important date is retrieved by taking the first letter in each line and converting it to a number according to its place in the alphabet. A=1, I=9, G=7, D=4. 1974 was the date that Marydale officially became a park.

Clue #3

Hearing of the slithy toves and mimsy borogoves

Made Alice ask for a dictionary from the porter.

But when he gave her a tome as big as a home

She asked if there was any way to make it shorter.

The way to make a dictionary shorter is to “abridge” it. There is a bridge not far from the treasure site. The reference to “porter” is a mild hint that the bridge is for trains.

Clue #4

The March Hare and Mad Hatter each grabbed a platter

And offered Alice a cup with all their usual glee.

“You make it quite well, what’s your secret, do tell?”

“We simply gather up the rain and stir in the tea!”

If you take the word “rain” and add a T(tea) to it, you get “train”. There is a train that runs right behind the treasure site.

Clue #5

Alice was curious to know, which way she should go

When she saw the Cheshire Cat and smiled to herself.

He just gave her a grin, and then disappeared again

Saying, “Look for me near a road that crosses itself.”

On the east side of Marydale you will find the corner of Jessamine and Jessamine (Avenue and Court), a street that “crosses itself”. I’m afraid “near” was a relative concept in this clue.

Clue #6

Alice walked a mile, going round about for a while

When a caterpillar spoke, blowing smoke rings quite nifty.

He said, “Who are you? Are you looking for a clue?

Then perhaps you should search between fifteen and fifty.”

The trail around Loeb Lake, which you can walk around, is exactly 1 mile. Also, the entry to Marydale is a roundabout. The 15 refers to a number on one of the lights along the path and the 50 refers to an address prominently visible on a building on Maryland (it’s actually 501, but the 1 is missing). The treasure was located between those two on the northeast side of the park.

Clue #7

Alice took a second look, “This must be the wrong book!”

Thought she, as she spotted seven dwarves sitting on a perch.

Perhaps if she stopped to chat they’d help her find the cat,

But only one was able to give her a hint of where to search.

The useful dwarf is “Doc”. There is a dock on Loeb Lake that is visible from the hiding spot. “Perch” is also a bit of a hint referring to the fact that one can fish in the lake (it’s meant to be a children’s fishing pond).

Clue #8

Then Alice did see Tweedledum and Tweedledee

Like goofs standing very still as if they were unaware

Then alive they came, saying to win us this tiny game

You will first have to perfectly eliminate every last pair.

If you eliminate every pair of letters in this clue, the remaining, unpaired letters can be arranged to spell ROCK. The cat was hidden inside of a fake rock made from a carved foam brick and colored with ash. There is also a rock garden in Marydale.

Clue #9

To the left or to the right? Oh what an awful plight!

Which one was correct Alice could not quite say.

After she went to depart, she finished at the start,

Though a catfish in the middle pointed the (wrong) way.

Finishing at the start suggests walking in a circle which in turn suggests a park with a lake you can walk around. On the far side of the lake from the main entrance there is a sign with a picture of a catfish on it. The catfish points in the direction one will find the treasure. (Or at least I thought it did at the time)

Clue #10

The Gryphon told of a mystery in treasure hunt history

And the paradox of it was really quite twisted

Surely it’s forbidden for the treasure to have been hidden

In a park before it ever even officially existed!

The Winter Carnival Medallion was hidden at Marydale in 1972. Yet it didn’t officially become a park until 1974!

Clue #11

Alice packed her basket with toast and headed west for the coast

Where she found the Mock Turtle doing a dance under the moon.

With a sugar push and a tuck turn, he made Alice want to learn,

And the two of them did a dance until it was a little before noon.

“Basket”, “Sugar Push”, and “Tuck Turn” are all dance moves in West Coast Swing. There is a set of swings very near the treasure site. A little before noon suggests the time is eleven something. The address of Marydale is on the 1100 block of Dale (as evidenced by the 1120 address on the restroom building).

Clue #12

At the Queen’s soiree everyone played some croquet,

But Alice still hadn’t been able to find the Cheshire Cat

Then the White Rabbit ran by crying out, “My oh my!

Marydale Park is the place that I simply must be at!”

With movement quite deft the White Rabbit went to the left

And followed the trail to a group of tables near a swing.

Alice went to lean on a tree for so very tired was she,

When she kicked over a rock and said, “Here’s the thing!”

The cat was hidden in Marydale Park. If you enter the park from the main parking lot and go around the trail to the left, you will find a group of picnic tables and amongst the tables there are some trees scattered. At the base of one of the trees was a fake rock with the cat hidden inside.

Way to go Me2! You really deserved this one, I'm glad it was you!

And thanks AW for a great hunt. Good clues, nice park to hunt, very well done.

It's too bad I couldn't remember quite where I had put it in relation to other things in the park. If I had taken better note that it was near lamppost #12, I could have changed the explantion for clue #11. I guess it would have been useful anyway as "a little before noon" might have made people think it was a little before lamppost #12, and they would have been right! Funny how that works.

AW did you dig outta a grill?? at the park??

I was wondering why only one of the many grills that I went to had somebody diggin in it...(I figured AW was getting worried...maybe somebody burned it :)
I was looking "everywhere" ;)

Funny how that works.

Is that what the PP writer does...I don't think he/she plans to have other things come into play ..he just gets lucky....

Actually the ashes were from my fireplace at home. I made the rock up here and then took it to the park in a paper towel.

Congrats ME2!!!!!!

yeah-after I read clue 11 I thought it would be ...

a little before noon

if you stand in the middle of the lake and face north ---- you would look at say, 11:50-55 and there it was, to the west a bit form due north.

and the post #12 :)

Good job me2!!!!!

Ian, that's not Loeb Lake, is it?

Congratulations me2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I figured it had been found when I came home to 121 unread posts.

Hunting tonight would have been a bear with the rain. Glad I don't need to pull out the rain gear now.

Regarding that one grill that had been dug out...that one had had some kindling in it over the weekend like someone was going to start a fire. We pulled all that out of the grill and yesterday when we figured it had been hidden on the north side of the park instead of the south where we had been before, Med2K and I finished digging it out just to be sure.

So many trees and brush to dig around and through. Glad you finally found the right one me2!

And thanks again, Allison, for a great hunt!

Wish we could join you all for the rehash bash...but we have some of our own celebrating to do and we'll not be in the cities.

I think Allison hid it at 8:45 this morning

LOLOL

Ian, that's not Loeb Lake, is it?

I was looking at it too thinking it didn't look like Marydale to me.

But now that would make for an interesting hunt, wouldn't it? Looking at pictures, trying to figure out where something is.

great hunt AW!!!!

Reg, as a hardcore treasure hunter you should know where Marydale is, how to get there from anywhere in St Paul, the major landmarks of Marydale, and have been to the park at least three times. ;)

hard hunt

did jake go to marydale???

Jake was at Marydale yesterday for the first time. I don't think he got a chance to go out today.

dang he was probably close

So Jake calls me up before Clue #1. I think it was after I hid it, but it might have even been before. He tells me he's almost sure that I'm hiding it at Marydale. He says he's so sure of it, that as soon as the hunt starts Sunday night, he's going to be in Marydale all day Monday looking for it. so this worries me a little, but what am I going to do? I already had my spot and wrote my clues, so I go forward with my plan anyway, and if he finds it, he finds it, and good work on his part for getting it on Clue #1.

Then after Clue #1 comes out, he calls me up to say he and Reg have deciphered the clue. "Through the Looking Glass" was written by Lewis Carroll. Therefore it had to be either MLK, Carty, or Merriam. At one point I ask him where he got those from and he says, "They're all on Carroll Ave. Didn't you know that?" So then I think to myself "Oops." Then I say to Jake, "Interesting, but if Lewis Carroll is the clue, isn't there another more obvious park you're missing?" And then Jake spent the next two days in Lewis Park, forgetting about Marydale for the most part.

So as I've said before, the #1 rule of the Mock Hunt is "Never trust the cluewriter!" Me2 learned that and didn't call me so much this year and consequently I didn't throw her off like I did in the past and she ended up finding it!

So Jake calls me up before Clue #1. I think it was after I hid it, but it might have even been before. He tells me he's almost sure that I'm hiding it at Marydale. He says he's so sure of it, that as soon as the hunt starts Sunday night, he's going to be in Marydale all day Monday looking for it

yeah thats why he is probably ticked. We were very sure it was there before the hunt started so our plan was to look at the clue and find any way you could stick the word marydale into the clue. Then the clue came out and if I remember correctly, you used the letter "M" very few times. We decided to actually read the clue normally and we remembered when the medallion was in an area by the louis and carrol intersection. Our gut reaction was the MLK Carty area, and we spent some time out there.
We should've thought you'd be trickier than that

A agree, jake does talk to you way too much. Sometimes he has these insane ideas because of something you say. I remember when he was stuck on lewis before clue 2 came out and he said, "It's gotta be here. I'll tell you somethin' rag, I am willin' to bet were within 100 feet of this thing." He thought so because of the first clue but mainly because you responded "yeah that's what I said" when jake said "Lewis is a beautiful park!!!"

Yeah btw me2 that's why I didn't want to meet you at lewis. It wasn't because of you or anything if you got that impression, it was because we had already turned-over the whole place!!!
NICE JOB ME2! We were really close, which makes me think you deserve it even more!! We looked all over the place and didn't find it. We actually ran out of places to look and so we re-looked and re-looked. It is cool you found it with the same amount of clues we had because I know how well AW must've hid it and you were able to find it!! You just out-hunted us. Again a great job!! I don't you know if you consider this a compliment :) but I am willing to bet jake is happy you found it and not someone else.

I like this outcome a little more than last year's:)

Well I'm happy that we figured out the park, had a nice time out there on Sunday when we had been digging around where it was found...but we did a hit and miss all around the park and then settled more to the south side because of the road that crossed itself.

We never set foot in another park. Once we figured Marydale, everything fit like a glove.

Once we figured Marydale, everything fit like a glove.

For sure
I set foot in Lewis and MLK clue 1 (maybe 2 also) but totally Marydale from there

congrats me2

...I could've scoured at the Alamo ...

lots of green rocks there.

And a park (small, with lots of floral stuff).

But no damned rabbit!

What a disappointment for me. LOL.

CONGRATS! :-)

I am in the wrong state, but I love your hunts! Congrats again! :-)

I got the photos uploaded, and if you'd like to see them, go to My Visit to Wonderland

Cool pix Ian. Congrats again me2! Eggsalent hunt as usual AW!

Thank you for some wonderful clue writing, Allison! I had a great time trying to figure them out. Didn't get a chance to get out TO the park at all, although I had the opportunity to drive past it several times....hate having to do that, the car almost veers itself over toward the parking, but have to keep going.

The clues that put it there early for me were the (T)-rain, and the street that crosses itself....well, I had a suspicion about that one - been lost over there many times, so when I read that I wondered if that was the street/streets he was referring to.

Don't know if we'll be at the rehash or not. That'll kind of depend on where it winds up being and who we can get to watch the kids, I guess.

I also dug one out to the bottom. Lots of them had kindiling wood in them, but the ashes were frozen and I only dug one out all the way. I wonder who put the kindling wood in all of them? Thats kinda strange.

for helping me out the other day. There are some exelent noodlers in this group! Way smarter than me for sure!

Well I'm not seeing any place that's likely to be better for the gathering on Saturday so I think we'll just go ahead with Fern's and I'll see if I can make a reservation. Now to try and get an idea of how many to expect? 12? 16? More? Less?

Me and Gordy will be there :)

Me2-Make Mark come!!!

Me2-Make Mark come!!!

OMG !