The (Scavenger) Hunt is On

 Mr. Rip and I have always enjoyed a good scavenger hunt.

We were big fans of The Amazing Race, which features teams of two people on a race around the world where they complete challenges ranging from eating disgusting bugs to mental challenges to strenuous physical challenges like bungie jumping off skyscrapers.  The overall winner takes home $1 million and believe me, they earn every penny of it.

Mind you, we enjoyed watching other people compete in these madcap challenges as we sat comfortably on our couch with our feet up and cold drinks within reach.  There wasn’t enough money in the world to convince me to ever go on this show, and I shared this sentiment out loud every single time we watched.

One year for my birthday Mr. Rip set up an Amazing Race scavenger hunt in our house where I had to follow the clues to locate my gift.  That was fun and was just my kind of Amazing Race, although the final leg of the race up to the attic was a little hard on my knees.

So it came as no surprise to me that Mr. Rip wanted to do the Aviation Tour challenge when we visited Dayton, Ohio a few years ago.  Dayton is the home of the Wright Brothers, aviation pioneers, and the Aviation Trail is made up of 17 aviation-related attractions. If you visit at least 8 of these attractions, and get your passport stamped at each of them, you get a free Wilbear Wright teddy bear as a prize.  I probably don’t have to tell you that we were successful in this quest. Here’s Wilbear:

As you can imagine I jumped on the chance when a nice museum worker at the Phoenix Art Museum asked my sisters and I if we wanted to participate in a scavenger hunt on our visit that day.  I happily and eagerly accepted this pursuit, which involved finding specified pieces of art during your visit. 

My sisters declined, and I could have sworn that they were embarrassed that I participated because they thought the challenge was for children and because they looked and acted embarrassed. They tell me, though, that they weren’t embarrassed, one clarifying that she was just laughing at me.  Perhaps it was designed with children in mind, but the museum worker did ask if we wanted to participate, although it was probably clear that we were old enough to drink legally. How could I pass it up?

I had a ball completing the Phoenix Art Museum Scavenger Hunt, and not just because I thought I was embarrassing my sisters.  That was just a bonus.  A friendly docent was waiting at each designated art piece, and they shared information about the art, and some were delighted that I was an adult completing the challenge. I won a pin and bragging rights. The real icing on the cake was when I was mistaken for a docent after being overheard discussing one of the pieces with the real docent. I couldn't be prouder of this accomplishment.

Next time you hear about a good scavenger hunt, count us in, as long as I don’t have to eat bugs or jump off any buildings.