O-Meet

This past weekend made it all too clear why my mom supported my involvement in Scouting so much during my teen years.

She knew there would be at least one weekend a month and one full week a year that I would be out of the house allowed to act like the complete teenaged mutant that I was without bothering her.

After battling the Houston traffic for well over two hours just to get out of the metro area in monsoon-like down pours, I met up with a Philmont crew I led into the backcountry to join Venture Crew 2770 out of Buda, TX for the annual "O-Meet" at Bastrop State Park. I had never done an orienteering or land navigation competition before and have always wanted to. Not to mention I look for any excuse to get out of the city.

So there I was standing in a field shivering on a rather frigid Texas morning waiting for the meet to start watching hundreds of teenaged boys with nappy, shaggy haircuts run around like little Osama Bin Ladens burping, farting, wrestling, and talking about how Mountain Dew was their favorite soft drink because of the caffeine. Oh Lord have mercy. After witnessing the chaos around me, my Scoutmasters should be eligible for sainthood.

I really didn't care about the competition. I was there simply to camp and to have an excuse to buschwack around the woods. My Team Ranger Danger teammate and fellow Philmont Ranger friend Jameson Pugh had competed before and knew the general location of most of the markers. The meet began and the frenzy ensued. The first markers had large crowds but they soon slimmed down as the kids' became frustrated and gave up. Ranger Danger was on pace to score a lot of points, but my teammate's knee began to bother him and we called it a day.

The rest of weekend involved eating and sitting around the fire to stay warm. Only two things could have made it better: a beer and an ATW . . . all-terrain woman.