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Roter Eulenflug Mystery Cache

Hidden : 1/20/2009
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   other (other)

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Geocache Description:


This is a cache about the infamous Burma Shave road-sign advertizments, and one in particular:

Free Free
A Trip To Mars
For 900
Empty Jars


Considering the amount of scrap metal that arrived in their Minnesota offices after they ran the series of signs promising a free jar if you sent in the fender of your car, you'd think they would've known better, but apparently they didn't. And so one day a letter arrived from a man wondering where he should send the jars. Allan Odell, president of the company, figured this guy was just kidding, and so dashed off a quick letter to him in Burma-Shave style, saying:

If A Trip
To Mars You'd Earn
Remember, Friend
There's No Return


But Odell didn't realize what kind of person he was dealing with in Arliss French. And Frenchy, as he was known, sent back a letter in the same style saying:

Let's Not Quibble
Let's Not Fret
Prepare Your Rockets
I'm All Set


And of course, Burma-Shave could do nothing but responded in kind,

Our Rockets are Ready
We Ain't Splitting Hairs
Just Send Us the Jars
And Arrange Your Affairs


But now the Burma-Shave people were getting concerned and decided to send someone to Appleton, Wisconsin to see what this guy was all about. They discovered Frenchy was the manager of the Red Owl supermarket and as such, was in a unique position to get his hands on 900 jars. At the Red Owl they found a huge display with flying saucers that kids could climb on, aliens on the rooftop that fired toy gliders over the parking lot, hundreds of empty Burma-Shave jars, and a huge sign that said "Help Send Frenchy To Mars." Each time a customer bought a jar of Burma-Shave, the contents would be emptied out into an ice cream container, and they'd add the jar to the display. This guy was serious.

The only problem, and it was a biggie for the people at Burma-Vita, was that there was no way to get this guy to Mars. NASA hadn't even succeeded in putting a monkey in space at this point. Fortunately, Arliss French was no John Leonard, and a solution was worked out. You see, this whole "Send Frenchy To Mars" thing was a big public relations bonanza for both Red Owl and Burma-Shave. Everyone was doing well from it. So after giving it some thought, Allan Odell decided to send Frenchy and his wife to "Mars" after all.

This was another great piece of PR. When Frenchy boarded the plane, he wore a space suite with a big Red Owl on the front. And as big a celebrity as he was in his hometown about this whole trip to Mars thing, he was totally unprepared for the reaction when he landed "on Mars". All of the resident aliens wanted his autograph.

To find this cache, you need to go to the posted coordinates and read the Burma-Shave ad series that begins there, which will tell you how to complete the cache. At the end of the ad you will be given one-half of the final cords in your native tongue and the other half in "martian".

The martians have adopted an earth language that most closely resembles their own and you may see them posting notes here. In fact, you will have to reach out to a martian to help you find the cache. When you do, you MUST sign them into the final and let them know when they can log this find. Also, each martian is only allowed to help find this cache once to prevent cross-exposure, and vice-versa. Logs without Martian collaboration will be deleted


UPDATE 2014: To resolve a potential conflict, the final for one portion of this, was moved about 120' to the east. For the proper trajectory to return to Earth, substitute a 4 for the 7 in your non-martian bearing.

UPDATE: 7.7.15: Please, if you are seeking the final, drive past the end of the yard and further down the road until you see a turnout. Park there and walk back to the cache.

Additional Hints (No hints available.)