This will be a very laid back picnic event. It is in no way
intended to compete with our Spring and Fall picnics, so there will
be no attendance prizes, auctions, or any advanced planning needed
(which should be pretty obvious at the picnic). You will be
responsible to bring what you want to eat and drink. There are
several restaurants and stores in the vicinity if you choose by
'buy' instead of bring your food.
July's are always hot and our park attracts and holds the heat
very well. After we eat, you have several choices to things to do.
These choices include:
- Go home and be called a party-pooper.
- Hang around the pavilion and chat with fellow cachers. There
are tennis courts, a walking trail and childrens playground close
to the pavilion.
- Cache on your own around the Columbia Area. There are over 50
caches in Monroe County and five in the park itself.
- Participate in the SLAGA Road Rally. If you choose to
participate, the rules are listed below.
- Suggest something really creative that I haven't thought of
that sounds like more fun that anything listed above. I'm always
open to new ideas.
Road Rally
Rules
Start time will be at 1:00 pm.
Teams, of no more than four people (exceptions will be made for
families with more than four in attendance), may be formed ahead of
time, or during the picnic, and will be sent off to find a group of
caches in or reasonably near Columbia Illinois. Unlike most road
rally's, traveling above the speed limit will be counted against
you. Your teams goal is to travel to each cache provided (waypoints
will be available to be loaded if you don't have them) by the
shortest route distance and answer a question about the location.
You can also log the nearby cache if you haven't done so. The track
logs from your GPSr will be used to determine your teams total
traveled distance, to verify that you haven't been abusing the
speed laws of our fine state and to verify that your team actually
traveled to the location to get the answers. Teams should plan on
being back in Columbia no later than 5:30 pm.
The team having the most right answers and traveling the
shortest distance to obtain them will be the winners. Teams with no
readable track logs will be scored below teams with
complete track logs.
Things your team will need to bring with you include:
- Your own food and drink.
- A GPSr capable of keeping a track log of your traveled
route.
- A car with a full tank of gas if you are willing to be a
driver.
- A map of Monroe County may (or may not) be helpful.
- Willingness to have fun and be patient with the host (who has
never put on a road rally before and is playing it by
ear).
The winning team will have the honor of logging a FTF on a new
cache (in the Columbia area) at the end of the event.
Additional details will be provided to the participants on the
day of the rally.