Sandifest (tm) results

I know that the burning question is on the minds of some: Who won the
Sandifest ™ scavenger hunt?

Well, when the three teams arrived at the Rendezvous Cafe, all were
psyched and ready to compete. Originally, I had wanted the hunt to
begin in the parking lot of the restaurant, but as it was raining we
all met inside by the bar. The wait staff (while obviously bewildered
at the sudden surge of buisiness on this rainy Saturday) were very
nice and accommodating to the hordes of silliness I had unleashed upon
them in the name of Sandi's birthday.

Sandi and I unpacked the trophies and door prizes (several very cool
buttons). I then made sure I had all the team captains contact numbers
before reading the rules. Team Exhibition, (in their Expedition,
consisting of team captain Raymond, Rebecca, Petri, Charlotte, Ragnar,
and the still gestating Fin spawn) seemed confident of an easy win.
Team Slaughter, (in a mini van, consisting of team captain and forum
newcomer Cheri, and four of her friends whose names I can't remember),
obviously had the eye of the tiger thing going on. Team Gilbeau (in
the Gilbeau family jeep, consisting of Amy, Bobby, Paige, and Amy's
librarian friend whose name I cannot seem to remember either. Damn
this short term memory loss!) was fairly sure of themselves as well
despite the other teams having numerical superiority and larger
vehicles. After a quick review of the rules, (and some disagreement
about the `no interpretive dance during the hunt' rule) the teams were
given their scavenger lists, and the race was on.

The list consisted of 58 items, 27 photos of varying point value, and
instructions for finding the finish line. Among the items and photos I
was more proud of including were:

A birthday gift for Sandi
A piece of clothing from a member of another team
A male stripper
A photo of Sandi prior to 1977
A nationally recognized celebrity
A speeding ticket dated that evening
A street sign that reads "Sandy Cove"
A photo of the team re-enacting a historical event
A photo of the team in a fountain
A photo of the team with a wal-mart greeter
A photo of a team member pumping a stranger's gas for them
A photo of the team with a cop, (extra points if team is in handcuffs,
assuming the position holding donuts)
A photo of the team re-creating a Beatles album cover

The finish line clues were a shopping list… teams needed to get
specific digits of each product's upc code, when all were obtained,
they would give them a phone number of a friend of mine that would
reveal the finish line to be at the Fox and Hound, where Sandi and I
waited patiently for the teams to arrive. After all the teams were in,
the points were tallied, team Slaughter edged out team Exhibition by a
narrow 161 point margin to win first place.

That's right... the team that started at 7:1 odds won. Anyone who had
taken me up on a ten dollar bet would have won 70 bucks. Thank
goodness it was just a joke.

Among the highlights of the evening (for me, anyway… anyone who
participated feel free to add their own)
Team Exhibition's photo of Rebecca, Ragnar, and Raymond re-enacting
the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Team Slaughter's story about how each time they convinced a cop to
pose for a picture, the cop would get called away on police buisiness.
Team Gilbeau tracking down Sandi's Mom to get childhood photos of her.
And what had to be the best pic of the evening… team Exhibition's
recreation of the "Abbey Road" album.

The important thing is that everyone had a great time. Thank you to
all who participated. We'll have to do it all again soon!