Der Mad Stamper and Friends would like to cordially invite you to a weekend jam-packed full of letterboxing madness and mayhem to help celebrate the ten year anniversary of our beloved hobby!

We will be frolicking in the forest along the shores of the Sandy River at Camp Namanu, a 552-acre outdoor residential camp located one hour east of Portland, Oregon, on the shoulder of majestic Mount Hood. This is going to be a letterboxing retreat unlike anything you've ever experienced before!

All ages are welcome, and we're planning to organize everything... food, cabins, entertainment, and an amazing variety of letterboxes! All you need to bring is your sleeping bag, your letterboxing gear and your sense of adventure as we revel in the past, look forward to the future, and party 'til the needles fall off our compasses!

Mark your calendars now for our tentative date of September 19-21, 2008. Stay tuned to this event posting and our website (www.mitchklink.com/letterboxing/retreat) for costs, reservation information and additional details as they develop.

We promise this is a celebration you won’t want to miss!

Wow! This looks AWESOME! The place looks great...its like scout camp for Letterboxers! Oh, I'm gunna block that onto my calendar right now.

jackbear

Our family spent an overnight at Camp Namanu last spring. Besides the rain it was an absolutely wonderful place. My kids are still talking about the canoe pond, archery, walks by the river, etc. The cabins are rustic and the food is
definitely camp food. But add in letterboxing and letterboxing pals and I have no doubt that it will be an unforgettable weekend. We'll see you there!
Murray7

Quote

Mark your calendars now for our tentative date of September 19-21, 2008

Okay, I missed at first that it's not in a couple of months but next year.

I just have to ask: Is that because we're going to need all that extra time solving the ciphers and cryptoquizzes for the boxes?

KuKu
who just wants to mention that her first LB was DMS's Japanese Garden

oh, I did not catch that date either =o) Good to know.... any chance of doing it a bit earlier (before school starts again) so we lowly little Californians can come too? LOL

Cheers!
Rhea

Nope, the summer camp is in session until Sept. This was the first weekend we could get it. But we did plan it for the weekend so that boxers all over the US could come :)

Maiden

But we did plan it for the weekend so that boxers all over the US could come :)

Hmmmm...yet another state I could go to a gathering in. Since I will be at one in an east coast state in August, I will try to cover the west coast next year. :)

TG

It's pretty hard for me to make a weekend trip once school has started, because Oregon is just a huge trek from Houston. But, if we possibly can, we'll be there. Sounds like an amazing event. And I'd finally get to meet all my PNW imaginary friends.

dewberry

Thanks for giving us such a long heads-up time to plan for this. The kids can miss a couple days of school for this one, in my opinion. We'll be there from the mid-west (God willin' and the creek don't rise).

Thanks,
~Perdu

Woo-hoo!

Team Garlic will be there for sure!
So reserve a cabin for 5 please ;)

This sounds like way too much fun!
And the weather in September is often nicer than earlier

Mariette
(doesn't want to wait a whole year)

Call the neighbors and wake the kids!

Der Mad Stamper and friends have a few announcements to make about the ‘We Live and Breathe Letterboxing’ event that you will want to be aware of...

First, and most important, we have changed the date of the event to Friday, September 12th, through Sunday, September 14th, 2008. This is now a firm date and you can begin to make your plans with confidence.

Another change with less impact to you is a change of venue. We became very concerned with the lack of professionalism exhibited by the staff at Camp Namanu. The good news is that we have an even better site now and, in retrospect, probably should have been there all along.

The event will be held at Camp Adams in Molalla, Oregon, which is about 35 miles south of Portland. This is a residential camp with heated cabins and 210 acres of forested trails. We are very excited about the new venue and will give you more information about this fantastic camp in the near future.

We know you have been patiently waiting for more information with regard to the cost of the event. We are currently working on getting our final pricing together and getting the registration form up on the website. In the meantime, we can only give you a very rough estimate of $150 per person for the entire three-day weekend. This would include room, board and all activities for the event. We are hopeful the final price will be less, but wanted you to have some idea for your budgeting purposes. Again, we will get more information and our final pricing to you soon. The very latest updates will always be available at www.mitchklink.com/letterboxing/retreat.

And finally, to avoid the possibility of miscommunication, we have created an email account (weliveandbreathe@yahoo.com) which is the one and only official contact address for the event. Please direct all questions and comments to that address.

This still promises to be the letterboxing event of the decade! We promise it's going to be a letterboxing get-away unlike anything you've ever experienced before. We're looking forward to seeing you all at the event!

Sincerely,

Der Mad Stamper
Bookworm
Buppsters
Camp Fire Lady
Marmalade
Rad Rhymer
RaqsEnigma
The Stealthboxxers

The place is AMAZING! We're going to have so much fun!

Man, I sure wish this was being held in August. It's really tough getting off in September, just when school (& therefore work) is starting up again.

Sahalie

ok, when are you doing one of these in michigan??????
condo

Quote

Man, I sure wish this was being held in August. It's really tough getting off in September, just when school (& therefore work) is starting up again.

I understand your predicament, Sahalie. Unfortunately, every place big enough to hold a gathering of this magnitude is permanently booked throughout the summer for the Camp Fire Kids, Scouts, outdoor schoolers, etc.

Besides, summer is so HOT!! Early Autumn in the Pacific Northwest is a true pleasure to behold. If there's any way you can manage to get the time off, I promise this will be worth it! The camp is really wonderful, and we've put together a fantastic planning committee. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those once-in-a-lifetime events!

--DMS

Quote

Besides, summer is so HOT!! Early Autumn in the Pacific Northwest is a true pleasure to behold.

Ah, yes - my oldest son was born in Eugene on August 8th and it was 101 degrees. But it was a dry heat (not like the humidity of the East). I think I might be getting sick around mid September next year (cough cough). The PNW would be good medicine!

Sahalie

Counting down...
my son is realy wondering why your name is
Der Mad Stamper,
should I keep him guessing???

Some trail names are self-explanatory.

Like yours or Der Mad's.

And, according to lots of people, mine!

KuKu

my son is realy wondering why your name is
Der Mad Stamper,
should I keep him guessing???

Because he is a stamper, he is a bit mad, and he always has this der look on his face! ;0)
Camp Fire Lady

my son is realy wondering why your name is
Der Mad Stamper,
should I keep him guessing???

Because he is a stamper, he is a bit mad, and he always has this der look on his face! ;0)
Camp Fire Lady

It was rather cute though...I think he got it, but it still made him
wonder WHY someone would be mad stamping!?
Hmmm, maybe he envisioned someone running around mad stmaping his feet all the time?!
Just kidding. But it was cute the expression on his face when he asked. Then when he saw
me type the question he said "MOM!"

hmm, now maybe I should wonder...it just dawned on me now. His name was Starfish boy, but after that he decided he wanted to use a stamp he carved and change his name from
Starfish Boy to Dragon Claw 898...
oh oh,
at 7 is the competitvie nature coming out?
Is there to be a showdown between Der Mad Stamper and Dragon Claw 898?
tee hee

And there is a huge difference between mad=angry and mad=crazy. DMS is most definitely the second.
Marmalade

The "Der" part comes from what he says if you ask him if he would possibly like a beer.

KuKu