Riddle to mystery location

[cknits99]

Hi,
Every year, my youth group goes on a summer trip, the location of which is kept a complete secret from us until a certain deadline. Before the deadline, our leaders usually give us a riddle to the location of our trip. Specifically, one of our leaders, who has a degree in Physics from the University of Chicago, enjoys coming up with these riddles. They're always very difficult and in the past have including things like ASCII code. This year, despite the collaboration of our entire high school group, we can't get anything out of this riddle, and we would greatly appreciate any help you can offer.
Here it is:

I see places hidden in my memories.

I know this is incredibly vague, but in the past, these riddles have always been doable. Additionally, they have transitioned in recent years from codes to more textual riddles. For example, the riddle last year was "I'm famous for what I do not have" and the answer was Costa Rica (Costa Rica doesn't have a military). Two years ago, the clues were "ranch dressing" and "Stephen King," and the answer was Estes Park, Colorado (Stephen King wrote The Shining at the Stanely Hotel in Estes Park, and ranch dressing refers to the hidden valley ski area in Estes Park).
Also, we may be going on a trip with a certain youth organization, in which case the following locations are possibilities:
Navajo Nation, Arizona
Pawley's Island, South Carolina
Montana (not sure of exact location)
Honduras (again, not sure of the exact location)
We don't know if were going with this organization or not, but it's something to keep in mind. We're also probably more likely than not to stay in the US, but the only thing have been told for sure is that the location is not Costa Rica or Colorado.
Any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated! The location will be disclosed on Sunday, so we only have four days to try to break our losing streak against this leader (we haven't been able to solve any of his clues for the past two years). Thanks again!

 

[zoobyshoe]

Sounds like a fun challenge.

...and ranch dressing refers to the hidden valley ski area in Estes Park).

"Stephen King," makes perfect sense, but I'm not seeing how you'd get from "ranch dressing" to "hidden valley ski area." What's the train of logic there?

 

[cknits99]

Sounds like a fun challenge."Stephen King," makes perfect sense, but I'm not seeing how you'd get from "ranch dressing" to "hidden valley ski area." What's the train of logic there?

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing is a popular branch of Ranch Dressing, so the "ranch dressing" was a clue to "hidden valley" which was a clue to the hidden valley ski area. It was definitely not a straightforward as the Stephen King clue.

 

[collinsmark]

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing is a popular branch of Ranch Dressing, so the "ranch dressing" was a clue to "hidden valley" which was a clue to the hidden valley ski area. It was definitely not a straightforward as the Stephen King clue.

Actually, it makes perfect sense to me. The "ranch" in ranch dressing originates from "Hidden Valley Ranch" brand salad dressing (not the other way around).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranch_dressing

 

[Psinter]

So the clue is: I see places hidden in my memories. I'm not smart at all. And in my own not-smartness I think very famous Memoirs probably have clues. If we talk about USA maybe it's Mount McGregor. Based on what? Based on this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_Ulysses_S._Grant

In June 1885, as the cancer spread through his body, the family moved to Mount MacGregor, New York, to make Grant more comfortable. Propped up on chairs, and too weak to walk, Grant worked to finish the book. Friends, admirers and even a few former Confederate opponents made their way to Mount MacGregor to pay their respects. Grant finished the manuscript on July 18; he died five days later.

I've never read the Memoir and I don't know if it contains description about places, but it's a famous Memoir. I can't come up with other famous Memoirs.

EDIT:

If I go by the word see in the riddle I could probably convert it to sea. And what Memoirs do we have about the sea or islands (which are surrounded by sea)? Hiding Places: A Memoir from the Pirate Princess of Tybee Island. Which points to? Tybee Island.

 

[collinsmark]

I see places hidden in my memories.

Perhaps a place known for computer memory technology or maybe hard drives/SSDs (e.g., South Korea, among other possibilities)? Some of these devices can use encryption ("hiding" the memories, so to speak).

Okay, maybe that's a long shot.

 

[Psinter]

Perhaps a place known for computer memory technology or maybe hard drives/SSDs (e.g., South Korea, among other possibilities)? Some of these devices can use encryption ("hiding" the memories, so to speak).

Okay, maybe that's a long shot.

I like that.
Possibilities are so big I'm at a loss. Check it out:

1 3 6 6 2 2 8

The last word has 8 characters and "mountain" has 8 characters. But which mountain in the USA is worth of the word "hidden" in urban legends or history? No idea. Or which mountain in the USA is worth of having many different "places" in one spot? No idea. Or which mountain in the USA has a long history of events which people are reminded of (memories of the past)? No idea. On the other side we have 7 words in the riddle which gives us the following word with 7 characters:

forests

But forests in the USA are a lot (I think). At most, like I said: Tybee Island which is located in Georgia which is a State whose name has 7 characters. Argh, this is hard.

Resume:

• 7 words
• 7 characters -> Georgia
• 'Memory', 'hidden', 'places' -> Hiding Places: A Memoir from the Pirate Princess of Tybee Island
• Tybee Island -> Georgia

Anyone?

 

[cknits99]

One thing I should add - our youth group often goes on trips that are oriented around volunteering, teambuilding, or outdoor activities; in the past we've helped build a playground at an impoverished school in Costa Rica and gone on teambuilding trip with lots of outdoor activities in Colorado.

 

[cknits99]

I like that.
Possibilities are so big I'm at a loss. Check it out:

1 3 6 6 2 2 8

The last word has 8 characters and "mountain" has 8 characters. But which mountain in the USA is worth of the word "hidden" in urban legends or history? No idea. Or which mountain in the USA is worth of having many different "places" in one spot? No idea. Or which mountain in the USA has a long history of events which people are reminded of (memories of the past)? No idea. On the other side we have 7 words in the riddle which gives us the following word with 7 characters:

forests

But forests in the USA are a lot (I think). At most, like I said: Tybee Island which is located in Georgia which is a State whose name has 7 characters. Argh, this is hard.

Resume:

• 7 words
• 7 characters -> Georgia
• 'Memory', 'hidden', 'places' -> Hiding Places: A Memoir from the Pirate Princess of Tybee Island
• Tybee Island -> Georgia

Anyone?

Hmmm... I hadn't really considered that this could be some sort of code... thanks for the idea, I'll have to check into Tybee Island!

 

[Psinter]

Hmmm... I hadn't really considered that this could be some sort of code... thanks for the idea, I'll have to check into Tybee Island!

I'm actually throwing random stuff. I'm clueless.

 

[gjonesy]

The last word has 8 characters and "mountain" has 8 characters. But which mountain in the USA is worth of the word "hidden"

Hiddenite North Carolina Is a town in the North Carolina mountains, The site of the emerald hollow mine and there is a road in hiddenite called (memory lane)

lenas memory ln Hiddenite NC

http://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=+Hiddenite+NC++lenas+memory+lane&mkt=en&FORM=HDRSC4

 

[Psinter]

Hiddenite North Carolina Is a town in the North Carolina mountains, The site of the emerald hollow mine and there is a road in hiddenite called (memory lane)

Awesome! You know a lot!

 

[gjonesy]

Awesome! You know a lot!

Lucky Guess lol

 

[cknits99]

I'm actually throwing random stuff. I'm clueless.

So am I, but I figure the more people throw out random stuff, the more likely one of us is to be right!

 

[cknits99]

So this is a wild guess, but if we take the clue more literally, could the place be hidden in the word "memories?" Because if we look at "memories" we get "Rome," which is definitely a place (though probably an unlikely location for our trip).

 

[Rx7man]

A random thought... unlikely helpful... if you take the letters of the alphabet corresponding to the number of letters in the clue, you get
acffbbh
If the H stands for hexadecimal,... 0xACFFBB = 11337659... doesn't ring any bells to me.

Another angle? What's a place that's hidden in your memories that you might not even remember until you see them again? I'd say things from early childhood? Children's hospital is what comes to mind for me.

 

[cknits99]

Update: We have been given another riddle:
I'm in you,
But not in him,
I go up,
But not down,
I'm in the colosseum,
But not a tower,
I'm in a puzzle,
But not a riddle.

This one seems more doable, and in theory, both riddles should have the same answer.

 

[Samy_A]

Update: We have been given another riddle:
I'm in you,
But not in him,
I go up,
But not down,
I'm in the colosseum,
But not a tower,
I'm in a puzzle,
But not a riddle.

This one seems more doable, and in theory, both riddles should have the same answer.

U

not that that helps much ...

 

[cknits99]

U

not that that helps much ...

Thanks! I just talked to the person who gave us the second riddle, and it turns out they were just trying to mess with us, which I sort of suspected, but I wanted to checked what the riddle meant just to make sure.

 

[Mstef]

I like the idea of Hiddenite North Carolina! Could be, it's in the mountains, and that thing about memory lane!

 

[Silicon Waffle]

U

not that that helps much ...

Hiddenite North Carolina Is a town in the North Carolina mountains, The site of the emerald hollow mine and there is a road in hiddenite called (memory lane)

lenas memory ln Hiddenite NC

http://www.bing.com/mapspreview?q=+Hiddenite+NC++lenas+memory+lane&mkt=en&FORM=HDRSC4

Oh no, why couldn't I think up something like you two could.

 

[Samy_A]

Maybe Navajo nation?

Read about Navajo Mythology:

Diné Bahaneʼ (Navajo: "Story of the People"), the Navajo creation myth, describes the prehistoric emergence of the Navajo, and centers on the area known as the Dinétah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo. This story forms the basis for the traditional Navajo way of life. The basic outline of Diné Bahaneʼ begins with the Niłchʼi Diyin (Holy Wind) being created, the mists of lights which arose through the darkness to animate and bring purpose to the four Diyin Dineʼé (Holy People), supernatural and sacred in the different three lower worlds. All these things were spiritually created in the time before the Earth existed and the physical aspect of humans did not exist yet, but the spiritual did.

The first three worlds could be considered "places hidden in the memories" of the Navajo people.

 

[Psinter]

Maybe Navajo nation?

Read about Navajo Mythology:

The first three worlds could be considered "places hidden in the memories" of the Navajo people.

Awesome, awesome, awesome.

I've been wondering what is a youth group.

 

[gjonesy]

I like the idea of Hiddenite North Carolina! Could be, it's in the mountains, and that thing about memory lane!

I'm not sure any more, Hiddenite does have outdoor activities like gem hunting, it is the only spot on the east coast you can find emeralds and the only place on Earth you can find hiddenite. But what does the letter U have to do with hiddenite NC ?

 

[gjonesy]

I see places hidden in my memories.= place Hidden in my memory

I'm in you,
But not in him,
I go up,
But not down,
I'm in the colosseum,
But not a tower,
I'm in a puzzle,
But not a riddle. answer ; U abbreviation for universityBest guess; Final answer Emory universityhttp://www.emory.edu/home/index.html

 

[gjonesy]

So what do you guys think?
Place hidden (in) my memory= EMORY

I'm in you,
But not in him,
I go up,
But not down,
I'm in the colosseum,
But not a tower,
I'm in a puzzle,
But not a riddle

definitely U

EMORY U
gotta be EMORY university.