When cabin fever hits, some of the most surprising excursions aren’t too far from your own backyard

Idon’t think of myself as competitive. But when our block lost power Sunday morning of Memorial Day weekend, and we were told it would only be restored that evening, we were stuck. No Shavuos cooking and no laundry, fine, but no air-conditioning or access to the fridge and freezer, not so much. There we were, faced with the prospect of two tired, hot, cooped-up adults and five tired, hot, and cooped-up kids, with literally nothing to do and nowhere to go (thank you, quarantine). Good thing our shul, Congregation Zichron Eliezer of Cincinnati, had scheduled a drive-by scavenger hunt for that afternoon — the van has air-conditioning! — so away we went.

We’re not really the scavenger-hunt type: We don’t know trivia, our kids are too young to be significantly helpful, we just toilet trained our toddler so we’re hesitant about long car rides, and quite frankly, we’re boring — but the promise of cool air and some sort of destination had us heading for the van.

The shul emailed out the list of ten clues at 2 p.m. Objective: figure out the location in our Cincinnati neighborhood for each clue, drive there and spot the yard sign with the shul logo and two characters — no need to exit your car or get close to other people, the shul reminded us only a few times — and once you have all 20 characters, unscramble them for a Shavuos-themed message.

Some of the clues were pretty easy. Aldi is the store that requires a 25-cent deposit for a shopping cart, the police station is where the shul delivers a Thanksgiving meal every year, and the closest park with hiking trails? French Park, here we come! Of course, we entered and drove through the whole park before spotting the clues outside the exit (Time lost: seven minutes; fazed parents: zero; frantic kids: five.) Some clues needed a simple Google Maps search (closest pharmacy to the shul where you can fill a prescription) and for others we did some sleuthing (original location of the JCC, thank you, Coach Mike!).

I think this is when I realized I can be competitive, because making our way through the clues, figuring out the answers, finding the shul’s letters, racing against the clock — it was all part of the fun.