iwishiwasthere said:
I will do my best to explain. Each group is given a set of cryptic directions to follow and questions to answer about the trip. Example - N R at curve....go north, take the first right at a curve. After a while you get the hang of it. We had 4 people in our group, and it helped to have extra minds. The person who returns with all the questions answered in the shortest time is the winner. There is a person in our town (I live in a rural community with lots of back roads) who will create one. Maybe there is someone in the SoWal area that would be able to make it. It would be fun for children to do in Seaside, because the area is so contained. If you are further interested, I could scan my directions and pm you what I did. I think it would be a great way to learn different aspects of the area as I tend to spend most of the time on the beach. This site has made me want to see more than the beach. The bayside and Eden Gardens look so beautiful.
I do these things all the time - great stuff
example follows:
3 or 4 or 5 or more 'teams' made up of individual drivers, driver/navigator, or a 'jam-bulance' (driver/navigator/aunts/uncles/children, probably all taking at once) and a 'monitor' person who has all the clues
radios are allowed - pick one channel/frequency for the contest
'leaving from the old apple tree in the parking lot at 2:00 pm friday'
1st clue given at departure (from said old apple tree) - it says: "look to the east where the golden road meets freedom" - golden road= auric street - freedom would then be freeway, oh, auric street entrance ramp!
at the auric street entrance ramp is a parking lot (for safety - never have them stop on the road) - on the east side of the parking lot, tied to the fence is a golden ballon - inside (slip it in before you blow it up) is the next clue - whoever gets there first takes it with them (but unknown to them, the 'monitor' will replace it for the next team)
complication and misdirection are the key - too easy and it gets dangerous with too many headed there too fast
clues can be anything from visual (like a sawmill sign), to virtual (clue is on a website), to a encrypted location (like the above), to a set of gps coords to a pig pen, and a line of shovels (ewww)
have fun but remember to be safe at all times
being the monitor sucks unless you are the anal rule freak type that enjoys punishing people, because you have to haul replacement clues, ect., monitor progress and saftey, checking all the time if everybody is going in the right direction, find out where some missing guy went and show up and give them a clue that they're headed in the wrong direction and still make it to the next destination before anybody else! trick is to have a really circular set of destinations and you can just cross the circle
first one to decipher the last clue and arrive at the final destination (usually a bar or picnic site) wins
nothing like thinking you are in the lead then you arrive and they're all there before you! grrrrrr!
be sure to write everything down - when people arrived by time, etc. - so as to avoid arguments
there are also checkpoints along the route where the 'monitor' will watch them pass on their way to the next clue
make sure your clues cannot be found out (cheating)
really fun on a sunny afternoon with a picnic in a pavillion at the end - enjoy!