For those who were participating in the College Times Treasure Hunt, it's over!  The $1000 certificate was found yesterday, near Hunt's Pyramid at Papago Park in Phoenix, by a 20 year old Scottsdale Community College student.  Clues for the Treasure Hunt were printed in each edition of College Times, but you could sign up to receive clues early by text.  Before the treasure was found, seven clues were released by text, plus a bonus clue was available by visiting the College Times 'street team' at ASU.  I think you could also get bonus clues by following College Times on Twitter and Facebook, but I didn't do that.  Perhaps I should have.  My family was searching by Tempe Town Lake since the clues referred to 'water northwest of ASU'.  We weren't even close!

While the chance of finding the $1000 loot was slim to none, we had a great time looking.  It's fun the whole family can enjoy and good exercise too.  It's also a great excuse to get out of the house, go places you normally wouldn't go and see parts of the Valley you may not otherwise see.  While at Tempe Town Lake searching for the 'treasure', my family ended up pedal boating on Tempe Town Lake as the sun went down.  After that, we walked down Mill Avenue and found a great little Turkish grill where we ate dinner.  Our college-aged daughters probably wouldn't normally want to hang out on Mill Avenue with my husband and I.  But they made an exception in this case, and we all enjoyed ourselves!

Times Media regularly has similar treasure hunts in the Valley.  Interestingly, I just found this old post on a 2007 Times Treasure Hunt where the treasure certificate was found in basically the same place - under a rock at Hunt's Pyramid.  Except back then, the prize was $3000 instead of $1000.