Running Gateway Park Orienteering In The Forbidden Zone With Geo-Cachers

In the picture you are looking at the Forbidden Zone in Fort Worth's Gateway Park. In the center of the picture a teenager is running west, while I head east.

I have never seen so many people in Gateway Park engaging in so many different activities as I saw today, on this last Saturday of October of 2012.

I knew something was up when I pulled into the parking lot zone and saw a lot of school buses and groups set up under canopies, with food and drink, among other things, being provided under the canopies.

Soon I started seeing dozens upon dozens of kids wearing green North Texas Orienteering t-shirts. Others were in camouflage gear.

My intention today was to get me some extra endorphin inducing aerobic activity by running, but I was feeling like a big, lumbering lug when I started to run. I think it may have been the excessive amount of clothing needed due to it being cold that may have thrown me off my running game.

As I made my way through the Forbidden Zone I came upon multiple groups of two or three doing the Orienteering thing. I came upon one kid doing the orienteering solo. He said, "Excuse me, sir," as if he wanted to ask me something. I asked if he was lost. He said he was not lost, but he never said what he was excusing me for.

I came upon an older lady bent over doing something. When she saw me she acted embarrassed and explained that she was geo-caching.

I came upon a group of guys playing a strange game that involved underhand throwing of what looked like mini-bowling balls.

In addition to these out of the ordinary activities I also ran into many examples of people doing things I usually see in Gateway Park, like mountain bikers, disc golfers, walkers, skateboarders, dog walkers, plus soccer and baseball games.

The attraction of orienteering eludes me, but those doing the orienteering sure seemed to be having themselves a real fine time.

After I was done with Gateway Park I did my regular Saturday thing and went to Town Talk. I got a lot of produce today. 3 big heads of Romaine lettuce for a buck, 2 big heads of cauliflower for a buck and a half, 4 bunches of cilantro for a buck and 8 big oranges for a buck. In the non-produce realm I got 2 cases of yogurt for 3 bucks each.

What was I thinking? Getting 3 big heads of Romaine lettuce?  That is a lot of salad.