What a creative, crazy, enthusiastic group we’ve gathered here today! We’re truly touched by your participation and research efforts. We’re also impressed that those of you who came into this knowing the answer kept guard so nicely.
Now, a few of you have asked for extra hints and more clues; and very early on, someone was so, so, unbelievably close. Really. Almost. Right. There. As a result, we’re going to speed things along, give you some extra help, and join together clues #5 and #6. But, as they say on Top Chef, there’s a twist: you only get one final entry. You can repeat or modify a previous guess; you can modify or second someone else’s guess; or you can take the plunge with a new guess. But remember, you only get ONE final guess so make it good. Oh, and you have to post your answer on the blog so everyone can see it. We will unveil the winners there as well.
Remember, in addition to the Grand Prize (first person with the correct answer), there are awards for the most creative answer and the best suggestion for our November trip. (There’s some heavy competition in that category.) And to encourage those of you who’ve yet to venture any guess whatsoever, we’re offering an autographed photo just for playing. How can you resist? So strip off your inhibitions, dust off that old atlas and give us your best guess.
Here are a few little things that might help:
Earlier entries via Alan’s email:
Vincent & Jean-Pierre: Botswana (until they realized the “Bs” were out)
Jean-Pierre: Paraguay (until he got the clue about English being the dominant language)
Rob: Zimbabwe
Also note there are some recent guesses that showed up in earlier blog posts.
Clarification:
The answers you see on the blog put forth by “Alan” come from Alan Herzfeld, not dearly beloved Alan Irwin.
Bonus Clue:
Harriet likes wordplay. You might consider reviewing everything carefully. There may be clues in addition to the official clues within a blog post. Today’s posting, for example, has a little gem (or two or more) in it.
Bonus Clue:
Marla, Harriet’s older sister, asked, “Would Dad go there?”
Answer: Yes, but it wouldn’t be his first choice, nor would it be yours or Gayle’s. However, if he were still alive, Dad would try to meet us there. Alan’s mom has some trouble with altitude, otherwise, she’d like to go there.
Time for the big finish everyone. READY? ALLEZ!!!
Clue #5
Jet lag is not a concern.
We fly out of Santa Barbara Wednesday morning, July 7th, and make one change of planes.
Alan and Harriet have both been there before.
6th and Final Clue
This is something Harriet, in particular, never thought she’d be doing and feels slightly ill thinking about it.
Alan is pretty calm about the whole thing.
There will be a Judge.
Harriet will wear white.
Careful… careful…
Hey! You outed me. What ever happened to the anonymity of the internet?
Anyway, my final, official (and first halfway decent) guess cannot, unfortunately, be original. I’m going to have to fully and formally agree with the person who said Reno for fencing.
Also agree with Nevada, especially after the last clues.
And so congratulations will be in order??
I cannot forget about the Gold Clue, also the white clue and Hot. So my guess is the Golden Nuggett in Nevada. You can get a $25 room there but the Honeymoon Suite may be a little higher unless they are putting you up for the night. The altitude is high especially if you get into the grand canyon. Perhaps you will take a helicopter ride and land in the canyon as part of your honeymoon adventures. I am not sure Harriet would wear a white wedding dress so perhaps it’s a white bathing suite when you swim in the pool with the shark tank. That could be dangerous.
Reno for Keno
Yup, I know I’m right. Fencing competition in Reno July 1-10.
Hmm I have a daughter (your niece) that could help you with those nerves you may be having while wearing white. ….She has much experience in these events…….
smoke, mirrors….
Yep, gotta be Reno. So I WAS close with Sacramento.
Oh, poo. Beaten to it by not being awake early enough. Yes, I’d have bet Reno for all the above reasons. But what are you planning there? Fencing? Swimming with sharks? Helicopter over the Grand Canyon? All sound like, uh, fun.
And now for the awards: Since Diane’s clue helped lead to my answer, we should get #1 and #2 awards. So we are flying out Thursday for the swordplay and wedding; I will be Harriet’s best man and Diane will be Alan’s maid of honor. Just let us know the color scheme so we can coordinate. As for the November trip, the Welsh Open is on my birthday this year, Harriet.
Reno. Off the strip? Average July temp is 91, and prediction for the next 5 days is low 90s. High altitude. A good place to wear white and unveil. It sounds like perhaps congratulations are in order. Yay!!
It’s 6pm and I finally got to a wifi spot. Clearly, Reno at 4400 feet and it’s gold (and silver) production gave us all the answer. The strip and dust references helped too, you clever wordsmiths. Have a fab time, and I wish we all were there. Are you taking Karma as the flower girl?
Okay, I am also on board with Reno, everything fits for Harriet’s participation in something like the Veterans 50 Women’s Epee tourney on July 10. Everything except the expense of the trip. I mean, how can Reno be more expensive per day than Europe? And are there any multi-star businesses in Reno? So I’m thinking that part of the time will be spent in Tahoe at some really expense Tahoe chalet. So my final guess is Lake Tahoe/Reno.
keith and i both think it is the grand canyon with the altitude being lower than harriet likes to be, the gold being the ex-senator and the white…maybe the colour her skin will be when she sees how high the rapids are!!! have a fab time wherever it is!
Since everyone is guessing Reno (and Andy, good sneaky way to fit in two cities in one guess), I will refrain from making yet another vote for Reno. out. I just want you to know how happy I am to comment on a blog – I’ve never done it before. But this experience has inspired me and Andy to start our own blog, although it will be from my one of the cat’s perspectives. I’m picturing “Dark Night of the Soul” meets a Friskies commercial. The name will be “Mr. Chippy’s Blog – The Life of a Tormented Tabby.” I’ll let you know when it’s up and running.
Have fun in Reno!!
“Marla’s got it. Reno. You guys are mean, with the white and judge thing. Very mean. Some people can’t take that kind of shock when they first get up in the morning.”
I sent the Final Answer above via email to Alan at 8:41 this morning, and Harriet is making me post it. She cites Paragraph 2 Line 7 above as the requirement that I post, not email. I’m only doing this for the autographed picture. And yes, I realize there is no stated requirement that H&A will be in the autographed picture. Since I’ve irritated Harriet, there’s a good chance my picture will be of Fess Parker.
What an excellent game. I just got back from a trip myself, so I’m late in joining the fun.
You say jet lag is not an issue; so no change of time zone. That rules out, well, everything, as none of the countries that share Santa Barbara’s time zone are landlocked. And everyone else has done such a lovely job on the states, I’ll back off on that front.
So I’ll expand my guess to one time zone change (an hour change means jet lag’s not an issue, too, right?). Landlocked countries? Bolivia (already ruled out) and Paraguay.
Paraguay is cut north to south by the Paraguay River. It has highlands to the east. Paraguay even means, apparently, “river that runs to the sea” or something similar. It can be between 80 and 100 in the summer, but summer is in January (of course, I think the hint said “summer” and not “July,” so that doesn’t entirely rule it out). But the major language spoken there is not English, but Spanish and Guarani. So, unless there is a white-wearing English-speaking enclave somewhere with interesting altitude, I’m back to the drawing board.
Hm.
Ok–I woke up in the middle of the night and starting thinking about the “Harriet will wear white and there will be a judge” and I thought I was so clever in figuring out the fencing competition idea–until I read everyone else’s guesses this morning. If you are coming to Reno–call me as I am up at Tahoe until the 6th! And there is a river running through downtown Reno.
Good luck!
We’ve been beaten to the Nevada guess.
The judge, Harriet’s nervousness, wearing white: you’re planning to rob a casino.
I’m going along for the rest and vote for Reno. Though must admit, I didn’t realize until now it was at an altitude. Kudos to to the resourceful genius (is that a tautology?) who offered up the fencing competition clue. Bon chance and happy dueling/duo-ing….
As for November holiday suggestions, would strongly recommend your backyard–namely Mexico! With all the scaremongering, tourism is down, so prices are often negotiable and the locals happy to oblige.