Scavenger Hunt

This afternoon, my friend Shawna, her 5-year-old son Payton, and our friend Chad participated in a "Green" scavenger hunt. The intent was that you should complete the entire hunt on foot, bike or public transport. Of the three teams that competed, we were the only ones that went completely green. We had to find 16 individual items and get 22 different photos with at least 2 team members in them. Some of the best ones (or best stories to go with them) are below:

We were the only team to take a photo in a fountain that actually had water in it. Payton was standing watch to alert us if any cops came by.


We had to get a photo with a uniformed police officer or firefighter. The first cop we stopped was a young guy who told us "No, I can't do that. I don't want to wind up on some my space page." So, while walking to the bus, Chad notices a fire truck and ambulance at a furniture store. His master plan was to walk by "casual like" and he'd take our picture with the paramedics in the background.


We walked across the Centennial Bridge (a first for me) and hit a gold mine at the Davenport Farmer's market as it was closing up. A photo with a port-a-potty. This is Chad's "paparazzi face."

The playground equipment there is SO cool.

We had to get our photos in front of someone playing a musical instrument. Chad and Shawna noticed that a couple kids had viola and flute cases. They had been playing at the farmers market to raise money for earthquake relief in China. They played beautifully and Chad gave them $5 towards their fundraiser.


We also needed a photo with something Polish. We saw a hot dog vendor packing up, so I told him what we were doing and that we needed a photo with something Polish and asked if he had any Polish Sausages. He said no, and as we thanked him and started to walk off, he said, "Wait, do you just need a picture with something Polish? I'm Polish!" So Chad, Shawna and Payton took a picture with him. He tells us, "the name's Crackwheel." Not sure that's exactly how it's spelled, but that sure is what it sounded like to us.


We also needed a photo in front of the vats at a local brewery. We visited Front Street Brewery in Davenport. Their vats are down in the basement. Chad talked the bar tender into taking us down there. It's down 2 flights of stairs, through the banquet room, through a storage area and way in the back.

This final photo is all the items we had to collect. The hardest to find was a non-expired pizza coupon. 4 papers and a phone book later, Shawna was able to get one from the Radisson in Moline.


It was a great time. Even though we were the last team to finish, we got a bonus prize for actually going green. We each got John Deere water bottles and a $10 gift card to Best Buy!