Quick and dirty

Canoe orienteering protip:  stay in the boat

I've got a puzzle hunt coming up next weekend (sign up, folks!), and Potlatch this weekend, so my vast audience will have to be satisfied this week with a quick and dirty post.  Plus I'm exhausted from winning the Issaquah Street Scramble and DNF'ing the BEAST race at Union Bay (who thought getting out of their canoe would be a good idea during canoe orienteering?  This guy.)

The Past:  See what you've been missing

• A meta-recap of the 9-5 scavenger hunt.  
• A philosophical recap of the Girls of Summer 2 alleycat.

The Present:  If you lived here, you'd be home by now

• Book Scavenger hunt - Seattle Public Library's Teen Summer Reading Program.  .
• Ready Player One Easter Egg Hunt - 2nd gate opens up on Sunday.  But you still have time (a month) to do both gates before the final mad rush on August 1.

I only quote the finest films

The Future: That is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives  

• Long O - June 30, Salmon La Sac.  The mountains will keep the rain away, right?  Right?
• ZLOGCAT - June 30, Cal Anderson Park.  Alleycat race.
• Gorilla Challenge - June 30.  Amazing-Race + gorilla suits
• 4th of July Cheshiahud Challenge - July 4.  Make your way around Green Lake, answer trivia questions for a chance to win Gold Bumbershoot passes.  Free.
• First Thursday Adventure Run - July 5, Green Lake.
• CitySolve Urban Race - July 7.  Another Amazing-Race
• TRIOBA 24 Hour Adventure Race - July 7, Cougar, WA.  "There will be 15-25 miles of flat water paddling, 50-75 miles of biking, and 20-30 miles of trekking and trail running."  Be prepared, or just stay at home and rest up for...
• Summer Puzzle Hunt 2012 - July 8, 1pm.  Put on by yours truly.
• Road to the NACCC - July 14.  Alleycat (to fundraise for next year's North American Cycle Courier Championships), followed by a concert.
• Evening Orienteering - Wednesday, July 18, Big Finn Hill Park, Kirkland.  With a big barbecue afterwards.
• Pirate Treasure Hunt - Friday, July 20, 6pm.  Meadowbrook Community Center.  Family event, I imagine.
• Amazing Kitchen Race - July 21, 11am.  Scavenger Hunt + cooking competition.  Paging Menu Hunters Anonymous.
• Urban Bike Adventure - July 22.  Looks like a bike version of the Amazing Race.  Solve puzzles, bike to checkpoints, cash and other prizes.  I'd totally enter this except I have a prior commitment.
• Tour de Watertower - July 22.  A punishing race to all of Seattle's high hills ('cause that's where the watertowers are, baby).  Since the towers and the starting/ending points are widely known, this race favors speed and endurance over route planning.
• Choose Your Own Adventure - July 22, UW.   Orienteering on campus, with a get-together at the Big Time Brewery afterwards (in the early afternoon, which means the Big Time is all-ages).
• Seattle Night and Day Challenge, July 28-29, show up around 2:30 at Road Runner Sports in Green Lake.  Basically a gigantic Street Scramble that covers most of Seattle and starts at 4pm, with options for 90 minutes, 3 hours, 7 hours, and 16 hours.  16 hours gets you a real 'night and day' experience.  I prefer the 7 hour option, which still gets you some night, but with less of the hangover after you pull an all-nighter.  If you clear the course (I almost did it once; forgot the Locks closed at 9pm, dammit), you'll go around 70-80 miles.

Geocache puzzle of the week:  Puzzler's Puzzle.  One puzzle too easy for you?  How about 31?  Solve (or at least partly solve) 30 puzzles so you can solve the underlying meta-puzzle.  This one took me about 15 days.