My mom had a very interesting “39th +++” birthday. Mom is the ringleader of ‘treasure hunts’, so my brother Michael, his wife Viola, and sister, Melissa, decided to send her on one – “Amazing Race” was the theme! My mother is an avid fan of the show so my siblings decided to have some fun sending her all around the little town of Gallatin, Missouri on “chores” in search of clues.
Mom loves her clues!
After being ignored all day, Mom was beginning to think what had promised to be a great birthday just wasn’t going to happen. About the time she decided to quit pouting & take a nap, her little apartment began filling with her family: son Michael, daughter Melissa, Mother Lorene, daughter-in-law Viola, son-in-law Mancho, grandchildren Chris, Amanda, Beth & baby Angelina. She was handed a birthday card and thus began “The Amazing Race”. The first clue was attached to her card:
1) “Happy Birthday Mom, we hope you’re not a quitter, to begin this challenge we’ve picked you a sitter. Look at the faces, one grinning from ear-to-ear, your clue is not there but on her derriere.”
After a search of everyone’s bottoms, the person with the smiling face and the clue in her back pocket was Beth, my niece. Mom read aloud the next clue:
2) “This is a pass to spend $5 on gas, that’s not all, the rest is for our Powerball. Don’t be blue, the lady in red has your next clue.” This clue included a $10 gift card to the local gas station.”
Mom finally realized she was going on a “treasure hunt”. After wasting about 10 minutes jumping up & down in excitement and running about her apartment looking for her shoes, she (with her “sitter” & camerawoman Beth in tow) hopped in her car and they were off.
Mom entered the store, found the ‘lady in red’, purchased the gasoline and the lottery tickets and was given her next clue:
3) “Revenge is sweet as we have all done this before, now it’s time to look inside your car door!”
There was a small glitch as Mom’s gas tank was almost full, so she had to go back into the store to get a refund. She had already found the 4th clue, and the cashier wanted to know what is was, so Mom read the clue in the store to anyone who wanted to listen:
4) “We just didn’t have time to get the shopping done, so for your next run, go to Dungy’s, hun”.
See the manager, Jeremy, within and say with a grin, “it’s my birthday you see, have you something for me?”
Dungy’s is the small local grocery store, so off Mom went and entered the store asking for Jeremy. Well it turned out Jeremy had left, but the clerk said she had a clue and handed it to Mom. Mom, thinking she had the clue already, decided it would be funny to call son Michael and tell him Jeremy had left. Michael says “I’ll call you back” and after a small amount of panic on Michael’s end, Viola was sent to Dungy’s. In the meantime, Michael called Mom to let her know Vi was on her way, and just as Mom was telling Michael she had only been messing with them and she had the clue, she realized it was the wrong clue:
6) “No big deal, the same side as your wheel, look under your seat for your next feat.”
Vi shows up, get it all straighten out and Mom gets the correct clue:
5) “You need to pick up some chips, dip, pop and OH, your birthday cake. No go check out but don’t be late (don’t forget to ask the cashier for your next clue)”.
In that clue was $30 to make the purchases, so Mom picked up the chips & dip, soda and her own birthday cake (which had been wrapped so she couldn’t see it). Waiting to make the purchases, Mom, still excited over her ‘race’, told everyone willing to listen about her adventure. Back out to the car, since Mom had already located clue # 7, she proceeded to her next stop:
7) “Even though he is not regular family, you can always count on him to be there happily. Go to the “Freeway” without any travel, then your mystery gift will begin to unravel.”
This latest hint was referring to a family friend, Wayne, and his dog, Freeway Jack. Mom found Jack on a freeway, hence the nickname. Mom was fully convinced everyone was at Wayne’s so as she approached his house, she scanned the area looking for vehicles, but there was none other than Wayne’s. Wayne handed her the next clue:
8) “Your car is disgusting, it could use some dusting. Now be clean, go through the car wash before your next scene.” In this clue was $5.
Mom headed to the car wash, all the while bemoaning the fact she had to ‘work’ on her birthday, and how mean her kids were to her to make her wash her car and where on earth was she going to find her clue at the carwash lol. She was unaware of the smudged lettering made from potato peels on her windows that only could show up through the car wash. The water and suds were supposed to stuck to the hidden potato mash and spellout her next clue; “See Beth”.
Unfortunately it didn’t work, but as they left the carwash, Beth gave her the clue anyway:
9) “It’s true, “HIS” van is not blue, it’s sitting at home here all alone. In the window you’ll see something from me.”
This meant Mom had to drive to Michael Lee & Viola’s house, since Michael drove a van, which was not blue. On the way there, she decided Beth, who was her ‘sitter’, should be renamed Miss Treasure Huntsitter. Upon pulling into the driveway she saw a large sign taped in the van’s rear window:
“10) NOT FOR SALE, no not at all. For more information, here’s who to call…”
On the sign in the window was my cell phone number. Now, I had been waiting for this call since 12:30 PM California time and it was already well past 3:00 PM. There was a lot of noise and distraction in my office so I had to abandon my cell phone for about 10 minutes, and OF COURSE my Mom called during that time! I raced back to my phone only to see a MISSED CALL from her!! OH NO!!! I really thought I had blown it, but only a minute had passed, so I immediately dialed my mother back and to my surprise, she answered! I profusely apologized but she was patiently waiting for instructions, so I proceeded with my verbal clue:
“11) Happy Birthday Mom, a dear friend you have become. Now before you leave, a light is on, I do believe. Sorry for this mundane task, that’s all from you I’m going to ask.”
Mom (still giggling) said thank you for adding to her birthday fun and we hung up. Mom, by now convinced everyone was still back at her apartment, entered the house and headed for the only light on which happened to be in the bathroom. Finding a birthday card taped to the mirror, she opened it and just as she exclaimed “You mean I did all of this for a card!”, out comes everyone, pummeling her with balloons & shouting “Surprise!”. Within minutes tables were ladened with food and all the trimmings.
The entire family had worked hard to put her party and hunt together, and Mom said it was the best birthday she had ever had. I am glad she had so much fun and even though I’m many miles away, I felt very much a part of this celebration. Happy Birthday, Mom! And thank you to my wonderful, clever family for all the fun!!
The Faces behind the Hunt!
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