This puzzle geocache is dedicated to our dear daughter, Kimmie (also known as Kim, Kimberly, Kimmy, Angel, and Miss B), who was lost to us on February 15, 2000. Please be aware that the listed coordinates for this cache are not where you will find either the final or the intermediate cache. Rather, these coordinates mark the spot where our dear Kimmie met her premature demise.
Kimmie was a senior at Bel Air High School, and she was due to graduate in June. Her boyfriend, and the love of her life, Ron, had just proposed to her the day before on Valentine’s Day, but they were going to wait to get married until she was 2 years older and no longer a teenager. They would continue to walk daily and learn all they could about each other, just as they had since the beginning of their relationship. In the meantime, they would grow as a couple and they believed that after walking for 2 more years, they would know so much about each other, that nothing could ever tear them apart. The most horrifying evening in their lives, as well as that of many who loved them, came as they were doing exactly as they had planned. As they were walking to his home, they were both struck from behind by a car. Kimmie’s fiancée survived, but unfortunately, she was taken from him and from us that evening, far too early in her life.
Kimmie loved life. She used to say “143 Mommy; 143 Daddy. I Love You.” She experienced more in her short time on this earth than many adults who live to be centenarians encounter in their lifetime. Kimmie cheated death as a baby. She was among the few super-preemies who could survive being born at 26 weeks gestation in 1982 and weighing a mere 1 pound, 14 ounces. The professionalism and the extensive new high-tech care that she was provided by the staff of the neonatal intensive care unit at Duke University Medical Center gave Kimmie a slim medical chance to survive and live a normal life. Yet, it was Kimmie’s determination and desire to be like other children that allowed her to survive and thrive. She actually lived a life that was beyond normal. With her Dad as an Army officer, the family was required to travel across the U.S. 4 times. She saw almost every state in the US, from her parents’ home state of Maryland to much of the East Coast states and Washington, DC. Twice she lived in Hawaii, where she visited places other children would only dream about through her stories.
She also wrote of the other places she lived and visited. It was often a surprise to her that her friends weren’t familiar with the life she and others had in South Korea. She wrote of her experiences in San Francisco, including living through a major earthquake in 1989. Kimmie was to see a part of Europe when she stayed in Germany for a short time. Yet Kimmie was not simply a traveler who soaked up culture; she lived the life of those among her wherever she was, and she became a friend to people worldwide. She was an active member of her Girl Scout Troop in Hawaii, and also was a very energetic horseback rider. Her horse, Checkers, became a daily part of her life in Hawaii and not simply a horse to ride, but a friend to care for as she did anyone, whether they were humans or animals. She enjoyed being a member of the local theater community when the family returned to the Mainland for her Dad’s last assignment and her final place to call home. She could usually be found volunteering to work backstage at most of her high school’s productions.
As a young woman, she was a vibrant member of her church’s Young Women’s programs. She was a very loving child of God. Her educational and social experiences at Bel Air High School were extremely important to her, though she never forgot her old friends from around the country and the world. Her high school allowed her friends to take their school buses to her funeral service, and on that cold February day, it became obvious that there wasn’t enough room for everyone to honor her, so many stood in the parking lot and listened to her service in the freezing weather that was nonetheless marked with a bright sun on that day. Kimmie was known as “Miss B” for butterfly, as she had struggled to come into this world, brought and left behind too soon a world to which she had given bright colors and left smiles on the faces of everyone she met. She communed with nature and looked forward to each summer’s Young Women’s camp sponsored by her church. The lead vocalist of the pop musical group 4PM (For Positive Music) sang Butterfly Kisses at her funeral service and brought the mourners to tears if they weren’t already there.
Her final resting place is at the Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia where she is nestled amongst some of our nation’s finest patriots. 143 Kimmie – I Love You and I Miss You terribly, Miss B. For me - "B" was Beautiful."
This Mystery. Cache has two phases, both involving intricate puzzles.
Once the location of Phase 1 is determined, a field puzzle awaits you, and I anticipate that this puzzle will take some time to solve (30 minutes or more). Once solved, it will direct you to the Second Phase which is the final cache location where you will also find at least two additional field puzzles to solve.
Please be advised that the solution checker is for the FIRST PHASE ONLY, but it may contain a clue to the final, phase. Be sure to read the cache description thoroughly, as it may contain information that you may find useful. Please ensure that you place the caches back in the same condition that you found them for the next cacher. Good luck and good hunting.
Phase 1 location:: N 39° 28.ABC W 076° 18.DEF
Let’s play a little game of find the ZIP Code:
A = Kimmie’s favorite place that we lived was, of course, Hawaii. The second time we lived there, our house was on the outside of an extinct volcano called Aliamanu. What is the last digit of the Zip Code for where she lived?
B = From beginning to end, Kimmie was born at the neonatal intensive care unit of Duke UMC (Go Blue Devils), and she is buried at ANC. Add the numbers of each zip code together, subtract 1 and divide that number by 4 and add 2 This will be “B”
C = Kimmie’s 2nd favorite place that she lived was near San Francisco, CA, and her home was on a tiny island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay overlooking Alcatraz. Add the numbers in that zip code add 1 and then divide by 6 and subtract 3. Now you should have “C”.
D = For a short time, Kimmie lived in Hamburg, Germany. If you total up each of the digits of the APO ZIP Code for Hamburg, GE, and add the resulting numbers together, you’ll have “D”. For example, if the APO Zip Code for Hamburg, GE was 12345, then 1+2+3+4+5=15, and 1+5 = 6. “D” would equal 6.
E = Moving over to the opposite ocean, Kimmie also lived in Seoul, South Korea. Sum the first two numbers of the APO Zip Code and divide that number by the sum of the final three numbers and subtract 1. Congratulations, you now have “E”.
F = Finally, determine the zip code where Kimmy’s final home was at the time of her passing. Multiply the sum of the first 3 numbers by 6 and subtract from that number the sum of the last 2 numbers. You should now have “F”.
There is a special, un-activated trackable for the FTF as well as a special FTF wooden nickel. Again Happy Caching and Good Hunting.
Congratulations to the FTF Team of Snowsox, Flamingo Girl, and DadTwins. Well done.
