A number of things happened while the girls and I were napping back in our room. Challenge added a new feature this year: a mini carnival for fun and prizes. It also had the traditional Individual Challenge. We pretty much missed out on all that jazz. Well, not all the jazz …
… as there was a small jazz combo for entertainment during the carnival and later ceremonies. Putting on my jazz snobbery for a moment, it wasn’t bebop, and it sure didn’t swing, but it was something different from years past, and I’d like to acknowledge that fact. One thing that is very much to the credit of this year’s Challenge is that there were some attempts at new things. I think some of them didn’t quite work, but some were nice. Regardless of how I felt about them, they were new, and I want to encourage that. Experimentation is a thing, and it’s better to try something and have it not work than to get stale and moribund. The future is coming, folks, and that right soon.
I managed to make it to the Texas Geocaching Hall of Fame inductions. I got to see friends KidWrangler and 98X and Mega-Event organizers extraordinaire Team-DnD join the hallowed annals of remembrance or some kind of crap like that. Seriously though, all of them have made great contributions to the caching community in Texas, both socially and organizationally, whether or not they meant to, so kudos to them all. The girls came down later, intent on catching another Challenge innovation that would have involved me being pied in the face (and they were sorely disappointed that it didn’t happen).
Afterward came one of the bigger events of Challenge for me, the 11th Annual TCC Finishers Reunion. Traditionally, this Event has been held at a brewery, bar, or something similar. This year, the first that it was hosted by the TXGA, it was held at the hall itself to avoid colliding with all the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations being held all over Wichita Falls. I honestly didn’t get to enjoy that much of it. It ended up starting earlier than scheduled, and I didn’t come attired for it (I thought I was going to be pied in the face, after all), so by the time I ran over to the hotel, showered, changed, and returned, most of the shenanigans were over. I missed the new finishers signing the new board, and I missed some of my friends who had already left for dinner. For me, that was a disappointment, but nothing is perfect. Besides, there’s always next year!
The next morning, instead of a breakfast event, there was a geocaching version of the Highland Games! It began with breakfast “stimulants” (donuts, coffee, juices, etc.) and continued with an ammo can toss (with different can weight categories), a balloon stomp (competitors have balloons tied to their ankles, and the last person with an un-popped balloon wins), and dog caching (each human and canine team had to find caches with treats in them), among other events.
One of my daughters had never tried hammer throwing before.
One of my daughters murdered a Signal-like piñata.
Signal, who witnessed the slaughter, was heartbroken.
Afterward, at the final CITO, we took some time to give back to the city that had given us a board to play on all weekend. And, as per tradition, the winners of the various competitions were announced. The winner of the Team Challenge turned out to be … Team Southeast! Congratulations to the victors on their repeat! Next time, we shall drive you from the region with your tails between your legs!
Unfortunately, that meant that another Texas Challenge had come to its inevitable end. The weekend differed greatly from the Challenges of the past. I did a bit less actual caching than I usually do because the girls were traveling with me. However, seeing it through the fresh eyes of my daughters and their first real Mega experience made it feel new again. It was good to see friends and acquaintances again, and it was (as always) a strange feeling having people recognize me from my writings. There was laughter, friendship, and camaraderie. And, barring weirdness, we’ll do it all again!
Next year, Floresville!
Oh, and PS:
Someone did, in fact, get pied!
Geocaching While Black 