So we got there and normal event stamping/exchanges/greetings/meetings ensued. It was by far the smallest of the 3 gatherings we have been to and we knew a lot of the people there already which was really great. It's cool that people are starting to remember us and we're remembering other people. It's like we're finally becoming part of the LB'ing community and it's awesome. We met some really nice new people, too. Bikers and hikers were so nice and their kids were so cute. And Jigglet #2...what a fun little girl! I want to rent a kid to take to a gathering just because they're so fun to watch :) I also can't wait for the day that I can finally get Brent to a gathering. I talk about him so much when he's not there because he's always boxing with Katee and I and it seems weird to be doing it without him. I know I wouldn't be able to get him to exchange with people but I think he would still enjoy going. I'm going to my first VW show this summer so I think it's only fair he goes to a gathering!
It seemed like a lot of people broke apart early to go boxing, maybe because it was such a small gathering so they weren't tied to a table exchanging and doing event stamps. Katee and I ended up going out boxing with Craftymouse and Dandelion which was so much fun! We've never really gone boxing with someone else before and it was neat to see how other people box. When you have a normal boxing partner or group then it seems you have a rhythm and way of doing it. For instance, Katee gets us to the location and then I handle the clues and get us to the right spot. Then we both usually look for the box (but I inevitably end up finding it). Then Katee usually inks while I stamp in and write in the logbook. Brent's job is to reach into all the stuff we don't want to put our hands in and he's an awesome re-hider. I had to practice some major self restraint while out with Craftymouse and Dandelion to not grab the clues and then bound ahead to get the box but I did well :) We got several boxes but then the clouds became ominous and we headed for the pavilion. Not too soon, either because it started to downpour! And from my previous posts, you should all know how I feel about rain. BOO HISS! Oh, and I forgot to mention that they gnats were insane! We battled them the whole weekend!
A little heart on a bridge I saw while boxing with Craftymouse and Dandelion
After we left the gathering we headed to our motel. Katee chose it because it was fairly cheap but it was set up so funny! There was a little bathroom with a stand up shower and one large room with a double bed, a table, cupboards with a little sink and a microwave and mini fridge, a dresser with a little tv and...oh....a HUGE whirlpool tub with mirrors on 3 sides! Right in the middle of the room! It was so funny, Katee thought the motel seemed like something that construction workers could rent while staying for a job but what would they need with that huge tub in the middle of the room? Wait, nevermind, I prefer not to think about it...
After we checked in we drove around town a little, ate some dinner and then went to the movies. Katee can't have a trip without a movie :) We saw Baby Mama and it was hilarious! Although I think that the funniest part was when we were leaving. I reached over to get my fleece to put on and accidentally tipped my purse onto the floor. My bag is huge and Trixie likes to dig in it and play in it so about 4 or 5 bouncy balls that she put in there went rolling all over the theater! Katee and I were running around in the dark trying to catch them all. We can't even have a normal trip to the movies ;)
The next day we got up pretty early, got some breakfast and then headed back to Webster park to get the boxes the rain stopped us from getting the day before. We did a really great series by Bikers and hikers and it was a beautiful day but the mud was INSANE! Katee has some pictures of me wading through the mud up to my ankles. I had my pants rolled up to my knees and they still got muddy. What the heck. Mud is now ranked right up there with rain in "Conditions I will not Letterbox in". Yes, I whined, yes, I fought it, but I soldiered through and with a good outcome. I loved how the stamps all fit together like a puzzle and it really was a pretty trail.
The next box we got allowed me to take a picture of Katee demonstrating why I need her to box with me:
Look at that height! There's no way I could have gotten that box without her. She's the best :)
Next we got some boxes around town. One was at the shopping center that took us 15 minutes to get. There was this crazy kid jumping off the lamp post benches and we sat in the car laughing at him without him having a clue! There was also a guy in his car watching us so it took a while to get the box but it was hidden so well. Then we got another 3 box series by Bikers and Hikers that their daughter carved. They were really cute and it was a lovely park but again with the mud! And gnats! But the park was so pretty so it made up for it. It also gave me a chance to harass Katee into taking some pictures. She's been slacking! I, of course, had to take some pictures too (although they're no where near as good as hers).
This tree looked like a weary man to me...
After that we got a box that was at a pond with lots of geese and we could barely find a place to sit without poop around. Who knew they pooped so much? It was stinky too, dirty geese. Getting this box was a chance for us to practice being stealth because there were muggles everywhere. I took a lot of pictures of Katee as our "cover".
Katee doing what she does best:
Geese! Ducks! Assorted birds, oh my!
After that box is when our craziness kicked in. It was about 2:00 or 3:00 and Katee really wanted to try Crazyolis' 26 box alphabet series. I was a little skeptical that we could do it in time but we figured we'd give it a try anyway. I'm really glad that we did because they were all so cute! My favorite was Frank Flamingo, of course, given my flamingo love. We found a geocache in the same spot as the very first box and it was the cutest one we've seen yet. It was a rubber chicken with a hole cut in the bottom and stuff inside. It even had one of the geocaching coins (or whatever they're called) in it that I read about a few weeks ago. I'm not a huge fan of geocaching but the chicken was a good idea.
After that my camera ran out of room for pictures. It's a common problem for me since I feel the need to take pictures of EVERYTHING so sadly, there are no more pictues.
We continued on to the other boxes (through minimal mud and no gnats because we remembered bug spray) and the first 10 were fun and the park was great. I loved the dog park section the best and of course Katee and I had to stop for a while to watch all the happy dogs playing and running in and out of the water. They were having a blast and it was a great day for it! After the first 10 or so boxes the clues took us back to the parking lot. We stopped for some apples and water and I started to wind down a lot. I really didn't know if I would make it the rest of the way because I was so tired and being a weenie. I hadn't had a lot of sleep the previous days and almost none the night before and I had an overwhelming urge to lay down and take a nap. I didn't want to give up though because I wanted the whole set of boxes! So we continued on and we made it to a point where there were only 9 boxes left and it was 6pm. We were both worried that we wouldn't be able to find them all before the sun went down and we knew the chances of us going back to finish the series was small so we kicked into "Extreme fast boxing" mode. We dropped off our stuff and took off running in different directions, racing around this cool gully in the woods. We'd bring the boxes back to our spot, stamp in quick and then run off again to replant and find more. Our stamping quality went downhill pretty fast but it worked because we were able to get all of the boxes in time! We were so pumped when we were done that we did it and we beat our personal record for most boxes in a day! I also had my phone in my pack and it has a pedometer on it. I thought that we had hiked about 4 miles that day but we actually did almost 10! (Saturday we hiked 3.3 miles). It was a great series and a great trail and we were both so happy that we finished it. Thanks, Crazyolis!
After that we headed home and got back around 9:30pm. We were so exhausted at that point that we didn't even stop and get ice cream which is something we do on every trip. It was a great weekend though and I can't believe we were able to find all that we did. We found great boxes, met and hung out with great people, and overall just had a wonderful time--which is exactly why I love letterboxing so much :)
One last picture for you, after reading through this mega post...
How can you not love that? :P
