Historical Hide & Seek

On May 13th, 2000 11:00am twenty one Miatas and one Rav4 gathered at the El Dorado Hills Park & Ride for the SAMOA Historical Hide & Seek Rallye. It was cloudy, but no threat of rain and not too hot. In short, perfect top-down weather.

Genny Osborn did a superb job creating an event that was fun, interesting, and somewhat challenging. The basic premise of the event was to find a series of clues hidden throughout the northern California foothills.

The first clue was hidden at the starting area, and it had information to lead us to where our next clue was hidden. Each clue consisted of a photograph of a sight at or near the location, and a short paragraph which provided some addition information about the area. Additionally, there were trivia questions for each clue that could be answered once you found it.

Altogether, there were nine clues (locations). The participants were divided into 11 teams (two cars per team), each team would visit the nine locations in a different order. So at about 11:30, this group of Miatas (and the Rav4) received their first clue and dispersed in different directions.

Our team initially headed south to Sutter Creek. While driving around looking for the location of the clue we did encounter a couple of other teams doing the same thing. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, we found the location, the Sutter Creek Cemetery. Two other teams arrived shortly after we did and all six of us were combing the cemetery looking for our next clue. Little did we realize at the time, that we would be spending a lot of time this afternoon in cemeteries. Answers to the trivia questions were always found somewhere in the cemeteries.

At this point we'd like to point out that having to search the cemeteries for clues and the trivia question answers was a great idea. It made us get off our butts and move around and it gave us time to get to know our teammates. In addition, at almost every location we encountered another team (or two). As a new member of the club, this turned out to be a very good way to get to know other club members.

Now, back to the event. Our second clue led us to the Catholic cemetery right next door. Unfortunately, we didn't have to drive to get there, it was only a short walk away. We then visited cemeteries in Drytown, Fiddletown, Plymouth, Rescue, Folsom, and the last clue was also in Folsom. Along the way we got to see some great scenery and drive on some nice Miata roads. Roads like Fiddletown Rd, Deer Valley, and Old Sacramento Rd are a blast to drive, even if you're not running in an event. Never, during the course of the event were we in danger of becoming separated from our teammates. Genny gave us plenty of time to find all the clues and meander at whatever pace we were comfortable with between the locations.

The event concluded at Yeager's in Folsom. All 11 teams found the clues and made it to the finish. Nine of the teams answered all the trivia questions right! The grand prize was won by the team of Bob & Sue Carter and Ev & Gus Young. To top off the great food, we had birthday cake for two club members, Skip and Robin.

Now that we've successfully completed our first SAMOA event, we can hardly wait for the next! Great job Genny!