Narcoleptic Squirrel

Medallion, Schmedallion...

I blog, therefore I am.

I was all set to write my bizarre Winter Carnival experience yesterday, but I was le tired. Hence, I came home from work, I saw the bed, and I crashed.

So, here I backtrack.

As you may or may not know, G and I are medallion hunt junkies. Every year, we hunt, some more than others. Last year, we didn't give it our all, as we hadn't gotten buttons in time to register them. For those unfamiliar with the hunt, someone hides the official Winter Carnival Medallion somewhere in Ramsey county, MN prior to the start of the Winter Carnival. Then, The Pioneer Press publishes a clue each day for 12 days, each of which should bring one closer to the medallion. If you find said medallion, you win $2500. If you also have clipped all of the clues from the paper, you get an additional $2500. If you have a registered button, you get another $5000. So, there is a possible $10K at stake.

This year we were ready. We had registered buttons. We faithfully clipped the clues from each days Pioneer Press. We thought about the clues, deciphered them. For once, some of the useless trivia ratting around in my head became useful. On the night of Day 10/morning of Day 11, G went to Phalen Park after getting the latest clue. He had a gut feeling of where it was. However, he did not prepare himself by bringing a rake and shovel to dig around in the snow and mass of leaves in the hiding place (a wildflower patch). So, on Day 11, he picked me up from work. We bundled up...we could have been Columbia poster children. We had all of the clues stapled together and in G's hidden pocket. We had a pitchfork and rake, and a Maglite. We were ready. We headed to Phalen, and arrived just after 6. There were a lot of people there, but according to G, not as many as the previous night. We started at the spot he believed to be the hiding spot. We looked for a while there, then did some other exploring of the park. Eventually, we were starving, and decided to take a warm-up/food break, and come of with a plan of attack. At Perkins, we determined that the medallion must be in the Wildflower patch, we were just on the wrong side of the hill.

We went back to the park, which was packed at this point, many people awaiting a call from a loved one to get the last clue. We went to the Wildflower patch, we went to the other side of its' hill, and starting sifting through the mass of snow and leaves. After a bit, I noticed that everyone in the park had started moving. I asked G if we should follow them, though we weren't sure where they were going. However, within moments, it was clear. They were coming to us. Within a few minutes, we were surrounded. It was like being in an outdoor moshpit, only everyone had shovels, flashlights and pitchforks. Some were better equipped than others. All were hoping that luck was on their side. The whole thing was very surreal. As the search progressed, many were discouraged and left. They were either too cold, too frustrated, or believed the medallion was found.

At 2:15 AM, I realized I could no longer feel my toes, and felt we should warm up in the car. The hillside that at the start of the night had between 1-2' of snowfall, with drifts around 3' was bare of snow. It had worked its way to the bottom where there were a few die hards still digging. Unfortunately, once we were in our car, we noticed how filthy we were, how cold, and how tired. Apparently about 6-7 hours of digging in the snow will do that to a person. We made a decision to go home, clean up, nap, if it hadn't been found, we would head over before work for one last sweep. Unfortunately, getting to bed at 3:30 doesn't make that easy. I arrived at work about * to hear that the medallion had just been turned in. I wouldn't be bitter, if they had been out there freezing just like everyone else, and if they would have bothered to register a stinking button!! Last year, the people that found it had their shit together...and as I said we didn't, hence we didn't put that much effort in. I was happy for those guys. In previous years, the people that found it were rarely prepared. Oh well, next year, it's all about us. We learned a lot through this years hunt. And, I'll admit it was a rush just to be hunting. Oh, and the medallion was supposed to be hidden in a donut. They used a REAL donut...WTF?? So, when the couple found it, there was just the medallion....no donut. No wonder it was so stinking hard.

All in all, I guess we were miserable failures.