A neat birthday present

[+user13371]

I turned 50 on Saturday, and my adult step-children decided to do something interesting on my birthday.

 

Late Friday evening, I got an email from my Cara with a list of ten coordinates, and a note saying I would get the "starting point" in the morning. In the morning there was another email -- another two sets of coordinates and a note saying "Find one of these first, then you'll know what you're looking for."

 

I didn't need a map to recognize the starting coordinates: one in my front yard and one up the street in Ed Benedict Park. So I went out and looked around, and found a 2" high letter "B" (the kind of stick-on reflective letters people use for signs) stuck inside our mailbox. A quick spin up to the park found an "A" stuck under the sign for one of the park's annexes.

 

So Saturday and Sunday, Jill and I drove around the Portland area -- to the top of Rocky Butte, under and over the St Johns Bridge, out to Sauvie Island, down to Sellwood, and then hiked a couple miles on the Springwater Trail.

 

Putting the letters together in the same order the coords were listed in Cara's email spelled out 'BEHIND BARREL." So when we got home from our hike, I looked behind the barrel planter by our front door and found my gift: A birthday card & a DVD. The birthday card included a promise for lunch or dinner at the Timberline Lodge. The DVD? Stanley Kubrick's version of "The Shining."

 

Neat, huh?

 

Funny side bits:

 

- While she was placing the letter in our mailbox late Friday night, a neighbor across the street started yelling at her. Neighborhood watch at work, next time I see Virgil I think I owe him a drink.

 

- On the St John's Bridge, RIGHT NEXT to the spot where Cara pasted her clue, someone else had put smaller numbers of a similar reflective, stick-on type. When I got home and looked it up, I found this spot is part of someone ELSE'S puzzle cache also.

 

- Most of the coords were spot-on, but a few were far off because she used her cellphone instead of a "real" GPS. She asked me afterwards if the one on top of Rocky Butte was okay -- says her phone didn't save that one correctly so what she put in her email was guesstimated from Google Earth. No problem on that one; it was within 10 feet.

 

I think Cara needs a real GPS for her next birthday, don't you?

Edited April 19, 2010 by lee_rimar

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

That is a totally cool birthday gift.

[+The Ravens]

Very nice! I wonder if my wife and/or kids will ever get an idea like that for me some day?

 

HAPPY 50th!!

[+bittsen]

The value of a gift is measured by the thought that went into it.

This sounds like the gift of a lifetime.

 

Congratulations on having such a wonderful set of step children. The mere fact that they were willing and wanting to do this for you is a testament to what a great addition you are to their life.

 

You are blessed.

[+Casting Crowns]

Yes....HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Very thoughtful gift, indeed! Funny how she brought you back "full circle"....hahahahaha!