SCRAMBLED A's AND HAMS

J and I volunteered our Saturday morning to the Crossroads-Bellevue Street Scramble, another event put on by the Cascade Orienteering Club. This event was headquartered at Crossroads Mall in Bellevue. J and I were asked to volunteer in exchange for a free entry into this scramble, any remaining 2005 scramble, or any 2006 scramble. We arrived at Crossroads Mall early and helped set up the snacks and hang signs. We were also asked to help register the participants. Our "training" on the matter almost drove me to drink at 8:30 in the morning. You know, The Cascade Orienteering Club is frequented by alot of A-type personalities. They all have sports watches that they set and reset and make beep alot. Many are runners or cyclists or some combination of multi-tasking busy folks. They like maps, like to use compasses and probably are good at math. They like rules and order. And they all have to be right and get in on the act. Now, as a team, J and I might fall into some of these categories some of the time. But we can't hold a candle to the Cascade Orienteering Club en masse.

It didn't take long for us to realize that we were not two of five registration coordinators but two of two registration coordinators. Slowly, the place began to fill up with people, all wanting to register for the scramble. Singles, teams, families, dogs, etc. You'd think for a bunch of A-types most of them would have arrived earlier. Patience thinned as the start time grew nearer but J and I were doing our best. We decided half way through the registration that we wouldnt' be volunteering in the future.

Long before the mayhem of registration, we had decided to not officially participate in this scramble. Instead, we took a scramble map and hit the sidewalks at our own pace and discovered the Lake Hills Greenbelt, a wetland coorridor right in the middle of the burbs. We followed the trails to Larsen Lake and then on to Phantom Lake and then back again. We covered close to five miles and that was enough. It was really hot. Back at the mall we shared a combo platter of kabobs, hummus, and a greek salad. Back at home we crashed and had a nap.