I will probably drive down for the Texas meet. Is anyone interested in going? We can leave Friday morning and be back late Sunday night.

-- Dan (daniel.meenehan@umb.com), October 07, 1999

Answers

Seems the last time an OKer took a trip down south to orienteer it was Gene. I think he spent something like 12 hours one day in the car. Turns out the meet was cancelled. Never hurts to check on those things.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), October 07, 1999.

Actually I was thinking about this event . . . if my brother in Dallas is home and can let us stay at his house (it's about a 40 min drive from Dallas to Texhoma). I would have prefered the New York event, but bother places would be good to run at. . . .IF this meet gets canceled, there are a lot of great eating places ... Discuss this on Sunday?

-- Gene (gmw@ukans.edu), October 08, 1999.

The entry deadline for Texas is Saturday. I think Mike, Mary, possibly Gene, and I are going to attend. We will leave Friday morning and be back late Sunday night. There is also a contingency from PTOC going with a rumor that even Grafton Potter is going to show up. It is about a 530 mile drive. If you are interested in going, let one of us know, so we can work out the details.

-- Dan (daniel.meenehan@umb.com), October 22, 1999.

How did Texas go? I couldn't find any results posted on the web, so it would be interesting to hear a report. Did Grafton show up? Did Dan clean up on the blue course or was Yuri too much for him, having recovered from his carbon monoxide poisoning? Seems it has been a while since an OKer won the blue course at an A-meet!

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 08, 1999.

Just time for a short report....

OKers (and even Possum Trotters) at the event were: Dan, Grafton, Dick, Nancy, Mike S., and I. Results were mixed. I was pretty satisfied with my runs (I won M35, but I think I was the only runner...I think I also had the best times on Red).

The terrain was far-from-pleasant. The woods were dense and there were a lot a thorns (I've got a pretty gruesome gash on my neck from running into a thorny vine). The courses were ok. The map was reasonable -- there were a couple of rough spots, but overall it was fine.

The maps were color copies of maps printed on an ink jet printer -- in other words, the quality of the printing was not great. It was a bit difficult to read some of the finer detail. I also didn't even notice the lightest shade of green until after I'd already completed the courses. I'm not really sure what I think about having maps printed like this instead of on a offset printer. Clearly the quality suffers, but in some cases it is not really much of a problem. Hmmm....maybe I'll start another thread about map printing...or maybe not.

The trip was a lot of fun. Of course it was great to see Grafton (hopefully we'll see him more often as he travels to more events!). Dan and I visited a strange place called Sulphur, Oklahoma. The area has a number of mineral water springs. The government (much like Dan and I) can niether confirm nor deny the medicinal benefits of the mineral waters. We did drink some of the water, and Dan splashed some on his sore ankle.

We managed to have a couple of only-in-Texas experiences. Going to Hucks for catfish on Friday night. Staying at a rather strange -- but comfortable -- hotel that catered to fishermen ("Do not clean fish in the rooms"). Getting trapped in the parking lot when a pickup truck parked behind us preventing any exit.

All in all, a fun visit to Texas....

-- Spike (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), November 08, 1999.

When Spike says "results were mixed" I read into this statement a euphemism... I think the club that hosted the meet will be posting the results on the web, so if any OKers had bad runs they can't hope to escape public scrutiny! I guess that's just part of orienteering in the '90s.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 09, 1999.