Wow....

wow....

wow....

I have such a long list of thank yous....I will try to include everyone....

First of all, I want to express my gratitude to those who hopped on airplanes and rented cars to cross multiple state lines to be with us! Alaska Homeshcolmommy....her and her family hopped an Military Transport....flew over a whole nother country, to California, rented a car and trekked all the way up here, and then stayed in a hotel~! Lisa and Robb overcome physical limitations and barriers and flew into Portland and came to stay with us in Centrailia as well. MickeyMouse rearranged her life and work schedule to make it all the way from Connecticut. I am extremly humbled that you put enough trust in this event to make that effort...and I can't wait until I can come visit you!

And all those that made their way all the way up I5 from Eugene, McMinneville and Salem. Lots of miles on the letterboxing mobile and hotel shampoo for those folks! In fact, I'm not sure, but I'm willing to bet that Oregon folks far outnumbered us Washingtonians!

And all those great boxes people planted! Maiden's stunning work (as always), Lisa's artistic box, Marmalade's beautifully carved trip down memory lane, Papaya's incredible OZ characters, Murry7's intricate St Patrick icon, Amanda's Irish geography and history lesson, Calli-K's great box (I still need to get that one!!!), Kurious Jo and WoodAugs terrific boxes, carved on site from their mobile letterboxing Nirvana, Pupp's Celtic creations..as well as the boxes already living there from Don & Gwen and daelphinus....all boxes that anyone would be proud to have in their logbook!

The woods were covered with...(how perfect is this...) Oxalis. There was millions of little shamrocks, covereing the forest floor with chartreuse. The trillium made a stunning apearance around every corner too. There was a special WOM for those who brought back trash from the trail...and we ***filled almost a WHOLE trash can!!!**

In addition to those who carved, I had helpers around every corner of the shelter. Bookworm, The Weatherlys, and TerraKacher (thanks again for the caffiene), Marm, Skippy, Maiden, Tarnished Knight, Miniles, AuntTeri, Kurious Jo and Woodaug, they where there early and stayed late. They schlepped and carried and toted and fixed and decorated and planted and took pictures and directed and cleaned and put up canopies...with barely an asking from me. They saw what needed to be done and then just did it. Events don't just happen...and I could not even think about doing something like this without letterboxing kindred spirits as these!

There were secrets everywhere, and clandestine boxers made their presence known, but were hard to find! The weather held out until the very end. Boxers were everywhere, and it didnt matter if we all didnt live by the same creed...we where there for the thrill of the hunt and for the fellowship of friends.

I have had friends promise not to let me do this next year...but I don't know if I can resist!

btw...the Shamrocks, the Thank You WOM box, the Choose Life WOM have now been added...please let me know if I've missed something!

Thank you Buppsters, for making our first event, an experience we will never forget. Thank you for making it so very kid friendly. We are so happy to be part of this wonderful community.
The Weatherlys