Google Maps Scavenger Hunt

Is the river navigable to the sea from the city? It looks like there are barges or some sort of vessels just below the city. It flows southeast, and looks like it transitions from a highlands fast flowing river to a slow plains river at the city.

This must have been a large irrigation project of some kind.

[edited a little later] Hooboy - ask Google for irrigation circa 300 BC and the board lights up all over the globe - 300 BC was when irrigation really took off basically everywhere.

Yes or no (to avoid giving the game away) - was an historical household name involved (we already eliminated Alexander the Great)? Or is the precise location an instantly recognized place name?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mojo @ Oct 3 2007, 07:15 PM) [snapback]520904[/snapback]</div>

[attachmentid=11833]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Oct 3 2007, 08:12 PM) [snapback]520934[/snapback]</div>

No
This must have been a large irrigation project of some kind.
Yes

was an historical household name involved (we already eliminated Alexander the Great)?
No,That depends on where your household is though.The guy who built this is probably very well known in the region

Or is the precise location an instantly recognized place name?
No

 

Looks like the Grand Canal in China, but the dates don't fit.

 

I wonder how much of clue that smog is. If it's smog. China's lousy with smog. So's India.

Hmmmm.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Oct 3 2007, 09:36 PM) [snapback]520985[/snapback]</div>

I don't know if there's smog there,but you're getting hot.

 

I am indebted to Mojo, who PM'd me with the vital missing clue that 250 BC was the key date to focus on. Googling "Irrigation 250 BC" brings up the Dujiangyan, China Irrigation Project as the topmost entry, followed immediately by methods of irrigation in British Columbia (BC) or irrigation equipment dealers with area codes of 250, so this is one topic that can definitely be categorized as "Obscure to Damned Obscure". I assume Mojo visited there and took the snapshot meant as a clue, and while there was properly impressed by what is, in the grand scheme of effective engineering, a colossal triumph: a wild river successfully flood controlled and tapped as an irrigation source without mishap or works deterioration for more than 2,000 years!!! (Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans Division, take heed).

Here's the brief Wikipedia Briefing.

I seriously doubt any of us would have found it, though, without Mojo's help - it's deep in inland China and China is a big place, a VERY big place.

Since I can't take credit for the find, I'll turn it over to Mojo again to find us something slightly less obscure, or at least something with clues we can get a grip on

MB

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(airportkid @ Oct 4 2007, 01:29 AM) [snapback]521041[/snapback]</div>

Not me ,I obviously need a break.
The final mistake I made was misinterpreting a websites reference to "3rd century BC" as 300 BC( which is not accurate).All other references say 250 BC .
When I realized I had thrown Airport kid's Google search off the track, I emailed him.
Actual Wikipedia link is
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dujiangyan_Irrigation_System
Pretty interesting read about how to divert a river with fire, water ,and bamboo.

 

The field's open, in case anyone's interested in keeping this game open.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 4 2007, 01:38 PM) [snapback]521344[/snapback]</div>

Even though ARKANSAS is visible in the image, I suspected that this was Wal-Mart's Home Office, Bentonville, Arkansas before I saw that little giveaway.

Give me a few minutes to come up with an idea I just thought of for a NEW category ---

 

A NEW category! The group of buildings highlighted are famous enough their name would be recognized instantly throughout most or all of the developed world, but not for any architectural reasons.

[attachmentid=11844]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 4 2007, 10:55 PM) [snapback]521524[/snapback]</div>

Based on your suggestions, my wife said Mayo Clinic, http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&...p;z=17&om=1

And so it is!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 4 2007, 11:18 PM) [snapback]521535[/snapback]</div>

Thanks, give me a minute and I will find something new.

Found it. There is an old saying about a house being protected by two people.

[attachmentid=11845]

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Toups @ Oct 4 2007, 08:23 PM) [snapback]521539[/snapback]</div>

It took some Googling because I'm not an expert in this field, so the old saying meant nothing until I saw the NAMES Smith and Wesson - and this is their headquarters in Springfield Mass.

What on earth are all those school buses doing in the parking lot? - field trips to the gun factory??? We have truly gone over the edge if that's what those really are.

Well, there's gotta be something left on this planet we haven't managed to spy on yet - but if I haven't put anything up by 10:30PM Pacific time it's open season.

MB

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ Oct 5 2007, 12:32 AM) [snapback]521601[/snapback]</div>

I'm thinking amusement park on the east coast (even the property line isn't straight east-west), but that doesn't narrow it down much for me, what ones use up that much space? Generally all the rides are packed closer together. It's not Busch Gardens in VA, which does include a zoo.