Idea for a UE-related orienteering-style game

[Slim Jim]

This isn't exactly UE, but is UE related (kinda trespassing but not quite, at least not in most states) so I figured it was close enough to be worth posting here.

I was driving around the hilly streets of Jefferson County last weekend noting how, as is typical of St. Louis much more than any other metro area I've been to, the streets intentionally do not cut through. Often one has to drive 1-3 miles around to get from one house to the house one street over, due to the street layout.

Then I got to thinking...back in high school I used to cut through people's yards a lot in unfamiliar areas at night, and, in areas with lots of cul-de-sacs and odd street patterns, I was occasionally surprised where I came out. Some of you might think I'm crazy or retarded or something, but cutting through yards is fun, and gives one a different perspective on the landscape than if one is restricted to following the streets. How about some sort of orienteering-style obstacle course game, whereby the objective was to move on foot as quickly as possible between a number of different intersections in close geographic proximity but not directly or easily connected by the streets, taking pictures of, say, the street signs at certain intersections to prove you were there. You would basically walk/jog/jump fences, etc. to get between the streets as opposed to going around the long way. Obstacles could include fences, steep terrain (in Jefferson County, for sure), woods, creeks, barking dogs, neighbors thinking you're a criminal, etc.

Not sure about MO, but in most states this wouldn't even be illegal because you're not trespassing until you're given notice you need to leave. If somebody asks you to leave you would simply stay out of their yard. The worst I can see happening is the cops would show up thinking you're up to worse crimes than just snooping around, run your ID, decide you're weird but harmless, and ask you to leave town. In that case, game over you lose.

In a grid-pattern neighborhood, this is downright laughable. In a typical non-St. Louis suburban neighborhood, it kinda makes sense but still could end up being lame depending on the neighborhood. What excites me is the extremely hilly topography of Jefferson County combined with the almost obsessive streets-not-cutting-through.

If you're interested, check out this map. This is the neighborhood where I got this idea:

http://maps.google.com/?ll=38.402908,-9 ... 014462&t=h

It's hard to tell from the aerial photo, but the terrain in this area is intermittently steep.

Call me nuts, but I really think this would be fun. Anybody else interested in giving it a shot sometime?

[Cowracer]

Hmmm.

If you click left arrow once and down arrow once, you can see my house.

Really!

Tim

[Nodus]

Sounds to me like you'd need more parkour skills than real UE skills.

In any case, it would be kinda fun.