As chance would have it, the official chapter picnic was today at Love Park. We landed in St. Louis, got our rental car, checked in to our room, then headed over to the picnic. It was great to officially meet "STL Surveyor" and several other local surveyors. We had a good time munching on chips and grilled burgers and talking mostly about the Cardinals. For the record, that's a new one for me -- normally a group of surveyors will talk nothing but surveying.
Also, they had a contest with prizes available. There were 4 points laid out in a hilly, grassy area in the park. Point #1 was the backsight, point #2 was the POB and we were to assume due North from #2 to #1 and 5000, 5000, 100 coordinates on #2. We were to make our guesses using no tools except for our eyeballs and feet. There were prizes for:
- Closest coordinates on points 3 and 4
- Difference in elevation from 2 to 3
- Difference in elevation from 2 to 4
- Distance between 3 and 4
Well, I'm not much to brag, but I won the first one. I was actually pretty amazed, as I didn't think I'd do so good since I've not surveyed anything for years. I basically just used several right triangles instead of trying to traverse. 😛
Anyway, we had a TON of fun! Thanks to the St. Louis chapter of MSPS for inviting us and being so welcoming. We had fun passing out koozies and stickers, too.
