Day 1: The Treasure Map

Project for November 1, 2013

Okay, so I wanted my first activity to be fun and exciting, but it was pouring down rain outside and it was dark by the time I finished my shopping and preparation for a project at work that's due Monday.  I have been in the mood to do something fun and adventurous since
I started watching The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines during dinner.  The problem was that everything that came to mind involved needing dry weather or daylight.

Then I had it: I could create my own archaeological artifact, complete with a legend, based solely on things I could find in my house!

My quest began:
Old clothes . . . a whistle . . . an air freshener . . .
I wasn't coming up with much.
I found some jewelry and some blue duct tape, but nothing jumped out at me as being material for an Indiana Jones movie.

Finally, I found some faux parchment writing paper that was designed to look several hundred years old.  I remember buying it a couple of years ago at a museum gift shop for stationary.  I had a pack of small sheets.

Oooh! I can make a map to my artifact!

I still hadn't given up on making an artifact yet.  I dug through some old boxes and found my Jacksonville Jaguar headphones, but nothing else.  I finally struck out.

And then I did something dangerous: I started thinking . . .

So here is my first project:

I have created the treasure map in the picture below.  Since I don't have any treasure, I have to figure out where it leads and what the treasure is!  For those who are going to to ask the obvious question "If you wrote the bloody thing, don't you know where you're going to go and what you're going to find?".  The answer is a resounding no.

I had several ideas in mind for writing the map.  I had to make sure that there were features that were common to a lot places.  I did have several locations in mind while I was drawing, so there was some definite inspiration.  But here's the catch: I'm going to take this map with me to Raleigh on Monday and visit a park or location to which I have never been or to which I have not been in so long that I have forgotten the layout.  Then I'm simply going to follow the map and see where it goes.  When I get there, I will use whatever I can find/buy at the end of the map to create the one for Tuesday.

I hope this inspires you to draw your own treasure map and randomly follow it!