DIA Day

Off to downtown Detroit for more of the Detroit Institute of Arts cache quest. The museum is very interesting - and on a Sunday it wasn't crowded at all. The displays that I enjoyed the most were the European medieval sections. The colors are so vibrant, and the craftmanship is amazing.

They have several versions of the Madonna and Child - it's fascinating to see the various interpretations.


This medieval French chapel was brought here piece by piece after WWI. The architect of the museum incorporated the chapel into the general framework of the building.


It was a thrilling place to be this morning. I haven't even mentioned the Rivera Hall. which is painted on all sides with Diego Rivera murals.....


....and VINCENT VAN GOGH!



Then off to the Detroit River to do another part of the DIA cache quest. Did you know that there is a William G. Milliken State Park? We didn't. It's right on the shores of the Detroit River.

The fabulous glass wall where we found the clues to the cache coordinates (with a little help from our friend).

VIEW OF LE CROTOY FROM UPSTREAM by Georges Pierre Seurat

(with Windsor casinos in the background!)

The paradox of Detroit - The beautiful Renaissance Center and condemned buildings as seen from Atwater Street.


When we left downtown Detroit, we headed north to Oxford, Lake Orion and Walled Lake to pick up three more DIA caches. Two out of three isn't that bad! At Oxford, there were way too many muggles to make a find!


Here are Dick's logs for today:

Found it 10/03/2010 You found [Traditional Cache] Chevy
Working on the series today we decided to try one up north. This was so straight forward after the puzzles we had worked on that it was an absolute pleasure. Thanks very much for the cache. Took nothing but pictures, signed the log, grabbed the code and left a flask of hand sanitizer.

Found it 10/03/2010 You found [Unknown Cache] View of Le Crotoy from Upstream
Today was a classic "Had it not been for geocaching, we would never have seen this place". For us, "this place" is downtown Detroit. Years ago we used to laugh at our step-father, who, when they were on their semi-annual trips to Florida, would not drive I-75 because it went through the city. Now we have become him. However, a cache in a park named for William Grawn Milliken, Michigan's greatest governor, is something that we couldn't resist.
Arriving at GZ, we were stymied. The puzzle form is something outside our experience. Even though the cache owner had answered our email prior to our seeking the cache, we didn't have a clue. Standing in the wind and the rain we just could not see the solution. Another phone call to Rattrack, another very patient answer. Eventually, the light dawned and we were able to solve the riddle of the glass wall.
Construction in the area caused us to track and back track but eventually the cache was discovered. We signed the log, traded sigs and bugs, grabbed the code and split town.
Many, many thanks Rattrack for your patience and assistance. With out your help we would have never puzzled it out.

Found it 10/03/2010 You found [Unknown Cache] The Detroit Institute of Arts
The puzzle caches in this series overwhelmed us. Because we were apprehensive about how to proceed after reading the earlier logs we contacted the owner prior to heading out for a drive into the city.With his answers in hand, we picked Sunday as the time for the least traffic.
In the past, we had visited Detroit on many occasions starting with birth for one of us. When our children were young, trips to Belle Isle, Tiger Stadium, Hudson's, Cobo, Hart Plaza etc. were commonplace. However since it's been more than 20 years since we have ventured into the Motor City, today we were both somewhat outside our comfort zone.
When we arrived and went to GZ, our expectations were dashed, how to get the required answers? We bought tickets and went inside. We had a great visit and saw many of the pictures that have been posted around the area but were surprised that none of the docents were familiar with geocaching, let alone the DIA series. (They do now) We answered the questions, and completed our tour. (We think that the section with medieval armor and early Christian art is spectacular) With the questions answered and the cords entered we set out to find the final only to be accosted by a panhandler seeking enough money for a burger". We discovered that our solution led us to private property. Ouch!
A call to the owner pushed back in the right direction but it was being staked out by the panhandler seeking more "burger" money from other visitors. We waited him out and finaly scored the cache. WOW!!
Many thanks toRattrack for his help and putting up with us today.

Found it 10/03/2010 You found [Multi-cache] Dancers in the Green Room
Thanks to a hint and encouragement from the owner we stopped back today when we were in the area. I can't imagine how we missed the first stage on our earlier trip. It was right where we expected it to be and we both think we looked there. Successfully found the final, took the code and left a small hand sanitizer.
Thanks 5* for the help!!

DANCERS IN THE GREEN ROOM by Edgar Degas

On beautiful Walled Lake, "Where the shores meet the stores" !