CLUE #20 - FOUND!

*Please read the rules! Do not remove clues!! *

 *Do not pester the employees! They do not know about the clue!*

Congratulations to Sylvia Hurtado for finding Dinosaur #20!

I realized I had done a piss-poor job of documenting this hunt, so I went back today to see if the clue was still in place. I figured due to the large amount of dust on the tops of the shelves at Alexander Book Company I wouldn't have to worry too much about the employees discovering the clue. I was right.

Looking inside the hole this is what you see...

Also, Sylvia works at a frame shop in SF! She said she'll hook anyone who wants to frame their dinosaurs with a discount!

CLUE #19 (2nd attempt) - FOUND!

(RULE #5. READ IT. I'LL WAIT. IT'S OVER ON THE RIGHT...)

Congratulations to Nicholas Skogen for finding Dinosaur #19!

So, I'm still not totally sure what happened with the clues involved in this hunt. I figured something like this would happen eventually, but I didn't expect it in Gilroy. The first clue is a newspaper clipping from Gilroy that I've had since high school. It was the first piece of non-gang related artistic-statement grafitti I remember seeing growing up, and I really got a kick out of it. The grafitti has long since been covered up, but the box is still there, on the levee.

This code is made up of a bunch of anagrams of: LIVE OAK CREAMERY. It's an abandoned building just on the other side of the railroad tracks that run through Gilroy. I've been fascinated with this building for no specific reason for years, other than my buddy AJ and I used it as a set piece for a bunch of weird films we made.

On the loading dock next to a broken electrical box I attached a lock box to the wall. The key (attached to a tag and a plastic dinosaur) was stashed in a space in the wall where there was a missing brick. Inside of the lockbox was a battered copy of Jurassic Park. On top of the binding, a quick Rot13 code read:

NQQERFF RDHNYF CNTR

Inside Jurassic Park was a clue leading to the next location...

Unfortunately, someone not only removed the book (which I figured might happen) or forgot to put back the key (which again, might happen), they removed the whole box from the wall, which was attached with wood screws! I wasn't so much annoyed at losing the box as I was at several people having to waste HOURS looking for a clue that was no longer there!

Anyhow, after finding out this clue was missing (big thanks to Kimber who not only took these photos, but hunted around Gilroy looking for the clues and after realizing they were missing, helped me confirm that the painting had not been taken from it's hiding place yet) along with the NEXT clue, I decided to post the final clue.

This is a picture of Casey Tibb's Funeral. Casey Tibbs was the cowboy from the statue that use to adorn the roof of Hall's at 6th and Monterey, although the current location of the statue remains a mystery:

The text I added at the bottom of the message is from his headstone (although I put it in a really loose quick code...)

The painting was taped to the window of Hall's, which has been condemned. It was sticking out right next to the sidewalk, but since no one walks around downtown it remained unmolested for nearly 12 hours!

CLUE #19 - FOUND!

CLUE #18 - FOUND!

 

Congratulations to Evan for finding Dinosaur #18!

Here's a synopsis of hunt in his own words:


I was so stoked to find that clue 18 was just a short bike ride from my house! I hopped on and rode over (motivating my ride with 'Dino DINO dino Dino DINO dino' under the breath), locked up, and started looking for that robot . . . maybe looking a little too long in the middle of the street. I crossed Grand to check out that All Seeing Eye neon sign, and then the little alien they have in the window. But didn't see any dinos till I crossed back over to get at the same perspective the clue was taken from. And right by my bike on the trash can there, a sticker with a dino phone number to call. 

(You can still call the number: (206) 312-6254 -AdamD)

I was late. He had been waiting for me in Grand Lake Theater for like an hour and I was holding him up, he had things to do, etc. He told me he had to get on the freeway and would leave 'it' with the penguins. I first thought of the bird sanctuary at Merritt, and started to hop through the Farmers Market, trying to remember if there were penguin statues or something by the eastbound 580 onramp . . . when I remembered the totally sweet mural I had just walked past (without noticing it that time, but I do love driving past it, even though there's never enough time to really check it out).

Turned back around and found some adorable little penguins on a rock, but no dino signs!

 

I looked in a bunch of those little holes for a note or something, then decided to continue up the mural, to make sure I wasn't missing anything before getting over to the bird sanctuary on my bike. And! At the very tip top of the mural, giant emperor penguins! And behind the support beam for the pedestrian walkway! ... Some kind of object?

I ran up the penguin-incline and there was what looked like an red-orange dino -- ENCASED IN A BLOCK OF ICE. (didn't see any 'found' sticker though. . . )

(Oops, forgot to put that in there before I froze it -AdamD)

Well, I'm not the patient type so I went with 'smash' over 'melt', and cracked the whole thing open on the North Pole. My dino was free! We are so happy together! Thank you dinohunt!

CLUE #17 - FOUND!

Congratulations to Kimber, Donny Shot & Rue for finding Dinosaur #17!

Here's a summary from Kimber of the hunt:

Donny, Rue and I were loaded up and ready to hit the streets for Dino#17, and the clue dropped! I knew right away that the numbers on the image were GPS coordinates. The only problem I was having is that I was missing the (,) and the (-) when I was putting them in my google maps app. I hadn’t noticed them being part of the image. Therefore, my result kept coming up as “Yellow Sea” in Korea. Thinking this might be some silly part of a clue, I searched “yellow sea” in SF and Oakland, hoping maybe there was a restaurant, business or landmark with the name. After getting no results, I looked at the image much closer. Alas!! Once I noticed the (,) and the (-) and entered them correctly, we had an address of 217 Leidesdorff St, in SF!



Upon arriving at the corner pictured in the clue, I immediately noticed a little card hanging from the pole on the right. I quickly took all the information from the card and headed back to the car where Donny & Rue were waiting. The front of the card contained a random group of words. On the back of the card, a picture of a Dino and in the corner “password:qwerty”. Donny and I got to work at trying to solve the meaning of the words I jotted down. I couldn’t make sense of them to mean anything specific so I started looking at them being some scrambled word puzzle. After taking the first letter from each word, I got “Bummer and Lazarus”. Donny quickly found a lead on google, containing the location of a plaque, just a block away, honoring the two stray dogs that once roamed the city streets.

 

As Donny & Rue circled the block, I quickly roamed through the Transamerica Redwood Park. On the concrete planter box where the plaque was located, there was a picture with text that read “In Emporer Norton We Trust” “SODOZL GY IGKOMGF OO”. Back at the car with Donny&Rue we started googling and letter scrambling. For the moment, the password:qwerty had spaced my mind, and no letter codes I was familiar with were working to solve the jumbled letters. After googling, Donny had found information on Emporer Norton that linked him to Mark Twain, as well as San Francisco Brewing Co. Near the park there was an alleyway named after Twain, but after a thorough search, we found nothing in that alley. San Francisco Brewing Co. was not too far away to walk, just a few blocks up Columbus.


Upon realizing the SF Brewing Co. was a bust, Donny remembered the password:qwerty and learned how to use the code to solve the jumbled letters at the bottom. It spelled out “limits of horizon II”. He found that it was a sculpture in a park at One Maritime Plaza, near Embarcadero Two. We quickly headed back down that direction and to the park. Once at the park, we looked all around the sculpture trying to find either the Dino or another clue. We were just about stumped when Donny discovered a little tag attached to some fishing line that had been buried in the shrubs and grass. The metal tag had a phone number that I quickly called, and left a message.

Within a few minutes, I received a callback. The voice on the other end was familiar, and I was asked what the password was. I answered with “qwerty”, and I was then being navigated out of the park and away from the structure. “proceed straight out of the park. Make a right. Make a left. Proced straight. Make a right, make a left, go over the bridge. Etc etc.”  The voice had navigated us to a bridge near Sydney Walton Square, at the corner of Davis and Jackson. We were then instructed to check the round planter box. We let Rue look around and she quickly found the Dino stashed under one of the planters. Success!!

This was an incredibly well put together hunt, and was tons of fun!!

CLUE #16 - FOUND!

Congratulations to Kimber (with the help of Donny Shot via text) for finding Dinosaur 16!

Here's a summary of the hunt from Kimber:

So, as soon as I saw the clue, I right away thought of the old Parkway theater in Oakland. I knew they were trying to re-open it based on an article Donny had sent me months ago. However, I had not heard of a grand opening. I decided to drive by the old location on my way home from work, around 8:30pm. As I rolled by, it looked very sketchy, with big scary dudes hangin out front. I didn't feel like being robbed, and didn't think this would be Adam's idea of an adventure on a Friday night.
I googled pizza, beer and theaters for east bay, and discovered that El Cerrito theater had the same type setting as Parkway, so I thought it could be a possibility. After looking around Cerrito theater lobby and exterior, I found nothing, and went home.

Waking up this morning, I was sure someone had to have found the dino. However, there were no updates. so I quickly headed back down to the old Parkway. It was a totally different environment in the daytime. I quickly found the next clue.

It was a picture puzzle on stickers on the side of the wall. I wasn't sure the meaning of a few of the images so I used the Google "goggles" app on my phone to find their significance.
I got "bruce lee+N+Ing" "hammertoe+bib weir" "UVrays" "Peets+Extraction"
I quickely sent them off to Donny, asking for help. Within a few minutes he was replying with "Leaning tower of Pizza!! There's one nearby, trust me!!" and he gave me the addy on Wesley Ave.

Once at the leaning tower, I looked all around the store front, remembering to check plant boxes and under tables. I noticed a large mural on the side of the store when I parked, so I rounded the corner. I immediately spotted a little taco man drawn and stuck to a pipe on the side of the wall with a bubble that read "I'll be at MY RANCH. Give me a ring" I sent a picture of the friendly taco guy to Donny. I got an instant reply,  "Mi Rancho" its a taco truck at 1st on 14th. "That truck rules!"

So I headed over and looked all around the front of the truck. There were many stickers but no dinohunt logos. I then spotted a payphone to the left of the truck and as I approached, there was black plastic covering the hollowed out phone booth, with taco waste resting on the bottom. I peeked behind and saw the wrapped dino hiding inside!!

This was definitely a fun hunt. And I couldn't have found it without Donny's knowledge of the food spots in the area. This was definitely a joint find.

Thanks for the fun Adam! And thanks for the help Donny!

CLUE #15 - FOUND!

Congratulations to Emma Logan!

Here's a rundown of the hunt directly from Emma:

I got clue #15 and knew right away where that pesky little blackbird used to dive bomb folks. It was a little after 10:30 in the morning. Dare I run out of work to go look for a dinosaur? YES! Early lunch! So I run out the door and text my friend Puppet to see if she can play. Good call because she was my clue solver from afar.

I get to the tree and hanging from it, among all sorts of treasures, is a little pterodactyl with a clue!Remembering the previous clue that required rot13, I quickly texted Puppet and she went to work - they were 14 off this time! "Monument to Maternal Instinct". Puppet says there is a statue across the street.

I head over there and try to be inconspicuous looking in the bushes around it. I don't see a clue on the statue. Then I see a fellow wandering around looking too! I have to wait him out so that I don't
have to share, when I realize there is a little wire around the base of the statue. The construction worker on the corner eyes me warily as I pull the little tag out from under the mother's dress and try to take a picture of the clue on it. It's too small for a picture! Dang iPhone 3G. I try to be really sly, standing there next to a statue typing the clue into a text for Puppet:

. _ _ / . _ / . _ . . / _ . _
 _ / _ _ _ / . _ _ / . _ / . _ . / _ . .
. _ _ . / . . / _ . / .

Puppet says "Yay. Morse code. Stand by." See how important it is to have help? I can't really look up Morse code with a smart phone and make any progress. I should have brought pen and paper...

Walk toward Pine.

I walk toward Pine and half way down the block see a dino sticker on a newspaper box with an arrow pointing into a little courtyard with a panini place called Birley's Cafe. It is a bank building. I am, again, trying to be sly looking around everything. There are so many tall things! I bet I can't find it because it's up high. I try hopping. 5 ft plus one hop in girl shoes equals not very much taller. I leave the courtyard - maybe I'm in the wrong place? I look in all the newspaper
boxes back out on the street...and then go back to the courtyard. In the fountain? No. Behind the trash cans? No. I text Puppet that I am about to give up and go back to work. I see a metal statue of dragons on a very tall pedestal with a space under it so I drag a chair over to peek underneath and viola! The dino package!

Very exciting. :)

   

The DinoHunt Goes International!

I'm pleased to announce that there will soon be paintings hidden in Toronto (where I've visited in the past) and Australia (where I've never been!)

I will post clues as soon as they are hidden, but please help spread the word to your friends abroad!

IN OTHER NEWS!

CLUE #15 will be posted TOMORROW, hopefully before noon. Nothing like hunting for dinosaurs first thing in the morning!

CLUE #14 - FOUND!




Congratulations to Robin for finding Dinosaur #14! 

Clue #14 was an illustration I did of the Moonrise sculptures by Ugo Rondinone, located in front of 555 Mission St. (hence posting this clue at 5:55pm)

When I arrived, I was saddened to realize that I could not hide the paintings inside of any of their mouths like I originally planned, so I settled with putting it behind the middle pedestal.

 

NEXT CLUE 

at

5:55PM today.

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• I've updated the guidelines on the right. Please read them before heading out on a hunt.
• Clues have been going up with no schedule, and I've been toying with the idea of setting up some sort of schedule. Would this work for you? What dates and times would be best for dinosaur hunting? Let me know in the comments below.