Event #3784

We Live and Breathe Letterboxing XX

McKinney Roughs Nature Park, 1884 TX-71 W, Cedar Creek, TX

Registered Boxes: All Traditional HH/Cootie/Flea Postal LTC Event Box Traveler Other

Starts	Fri October 26, 2018 12:00pm
Ends	Sun October 28, 2018 8:00pm
Owner	Open Space
Admins	Baby Bear Bell Motel Mosaic Butterfly NLW Open Space Origami Hen PI Joe Puddledunk Silver Eagle Wry Me
Signups	305/∞
Location	McKinney Roughs Nature Park, 1884 TX-71 W, Cedar Creek, TX View Map
Add to Calendar	Google calendar ICS file (e.g. Outlook, iCal, etc.)

Description

********* Informational event listing only! Visit https://www.liveandbreathexx.com to register ************
********* You will need to register and pay in advance to attend this event ***************************

Please join us to celebrate the 20th anniversary of letterboxing in North America - Texas Style!

For those who aren't familiar with the concept, this will not be your typical gathering. It won't be a potluck at a park, or an overnighter in a campground. "Live and Breathe" is a weekend retreat, more like summer camp for letterboxers except you won't be scheduled from one activity to the next; you decide what you'd like to do! It will be an extra-long weekend jam-packed full of letterboxing madness and mayhem. This is going to be another one of those events that you just have to experience to really understand! Activity planning is in progress and updates will be posted here.

There is a registration fee which covers daily access, facility rentals, and activities. Optional group lodging is available for the weekend (dorms with bunkbeds), and an optional meal package is available for purchase regardless of where you are staying. There are plenty of camping, RV, and hotel options nearby.

Please join this event listing to receive updates and registration information.

Jun 24, 2017: Dates finalized
The dates for the Live and Breathe event are now finalized! The event will be the weekend of October 26-28, 2018. We expect to begin early Friday afternoon and wrap up after dinner on Sunday night. Mark you calendars and start planning now!

Oct 23, 2017: Event Location!
I'm happy to share that We Live and Breathe Letterboxing XX will be held at McKinney Roughs Nature Park! This is a beautiful park with new facilities and 14 miles of trails. The park is between Austin and Bastrop on Highway 71 with the Colorado River along the north edge. For those flying in from out of state, it's a quick 20 minute drive from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

If you haven't visited Texas, you may imagine it's all desert and cactus, but this park showcases a variety of the best parts of the state. There are piney woods on the east side, post oak savannah at the entrance, beautiful old growth pecans with deep shade, cypress along the river, and dryer hill country terrain on the west side. If that isn't enough, the event will occur during the height of the Monarch butterfly migration! We hope you love it as much as we do!

Oct 28, 2017: Stamp requests – Please share!
We hope you will consider sharing your carving talents by donating stamps through the following trackers. We would really appreciate your help and look forward to seeing your creative contributions. If you are willing, please sign up for multiple trackers.

Please send your stamps by September 1st—containers would also be appreciated. Mosaic Butterfly will be organizing our stamp donations, so please contact her with any questions. Thanks in advance for your support!

Represent your City or State!
Texas Wildlife
Dartmoor/UK Theme
J. R. R. Tolkien (Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit)

Nov 19, 2017: Hotel room block available
For those of you who have expressed interest in a hotel room, we now have a block of rooms at the Best Western - Bastrop Pines Inn. Rates are $84.99 for a single King bed and $94.99 for double queen beds. We have 25 of each room available from Friday Oct 26 to Monday Oct 29.

To make reservations, call the hotel directly at (512) 321-0900 and give them the group name - Live and Breathe. They tired to set up a link to reserve online at the group rate, but after two days of trying it still doesn't work LOL!

You must make reservations by August 26 to get the group rate. After this date the room block is released to public availability.

Nov 19, 2017: More lodging options
If you are looking to secure lodging early, we have several lodging options for the event.
1. Dorms rooms with bunk beds at the park - available at registration.
2. Hotel room block at Best Western (see information above)
3. Other local hotels, campgrounds, and RV parks. Baby Bear has put together a list here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6eXq-Kwm8j-eW82T1JOdWhKOXM/view?usp=sharing

Feb 1, 2018
Registration is open! Visit https://www.liveandbreathexx.com for details.

Feb 13, 2018: Updates and raffle donations
Origami Hen started a tracker for raffle donations. We are looking for items related to letterboxing, hiking, camping, and/or the outdoors. Thanks for your help!
Live & Breathe XX - Raffle Donations

We also added a page to the L&B website to show the number of attendees signed up for the event (these are not all confirmed yet). This page also includes details on the dorm space available (we have plenty of space!)
Registered attendees and dorm availability

Feb 16, 2018: L&B weekend menu published
We now have a preliminary menu for the meal package available on the website: Event menu

Feb 22, 2018: What activities do you want at L&B?
We want your feedback! Please let us know what activities you are interested in at the event: Activity discussion

Apr 4, 2018: LTC exchange for L&B event
We have news for all of you LTC fans out there! first, Stitches in Longview is hosting a Texas Wildflower themed exchange for the event. I'm a little late on the announcement so we already have several signups. This is a traditional LTC exchange.

We will also have a room and time set aside for exchanging and trading LTCs in person at the event. I created a separate event listing here for those who want to meet and exchange.

May 2, 2018: L&B event schedule posted!
The detailed event schedule and activities list is now available here!

There are several activities which we ask you to sign up for in advance (to give us a headcount for space and materials).
Stamp carving workshop
Puzzle and cipher class
In person LTC exchange

May 3, 2018: Private group for L&B confirmed attendees
We now have a private group and event listing set up just for confirmed attendees of Live and Breathe XX! If you registered, you should have an invitation in you AQ mail box. If you don't, I haven't received your payment (or something else went wrong) - so please contact me!

May 11, 2018: We are on Facebook!
Thanks to Bell Motel, our event is now on Facebook! Check it out here!

Jun 21, 2018: L&B Event T-Shirts!
We now have t-shirts available with the event stamp design! Order details are on our website here. Please read the notes before you order.

Jul 20, 2018: L&B Event Patches
We just finalized the design for the event patches! One patch is included with your registration package. If you are not attending the event, or you want extra patches, they are available for $4 each. View the announcement on our website for details.

Jul 26, 2018: Volunteers needed for L&B
We need your help! Please help us make this event a great success by donating a couple of hours to help out during the event. We have more details and a link to sign up at our website.

Aug 12, 2018: Registration deadline
If you have not registered or paid, the deadline is September 12. We are also offering late registration, but it has some risks. See the details on our website.

If you have registered but not paid, I'll be sending out some reminders by AQ mail if I'm not aware of your situation.

Aug 16, 2018: L&B Puzzles, mysteries, and more
We have several sneaky clues for you to get an early start on! A few more are in the works, so check back again when you finish the first batch. There is also a "Clues" menu link on top of the main website so you can find these easily.

Sep 8, 2018: Last call for registration!
Just a reminder that the deadline for regular registration is next Wednesday - Sept 12. This is critical for anyone who wants meals or dorm lodging. If you can't get payment to me by Wednesday, please contact me ASAP! Meals and dorms will not be available after this date!

Sep 27, 2018: Things to do in Austin and guide to snakes
Wry Me has put together a guide of things to do while you are in the Austin area. She also found a helpful guide to venomous snakes in Texas. See the details here on the event website

Sep 29, 2018: Puzzle updates
We have a new puzzle! Check out Texas Bacon Bash! (at the end of the list)

Also, please note there is an update to Ce N’est Pas Du Bacon. The park has cleared some areas of underbrush and small trees, so we had to move the box location. The puzzle has not changed, I just added some additional instructions at the end. Here is the update if you want to write it down on your copy: From the puzzle sloution, walk 20 more steps to 2 oaks.

Oct 15, 2018: Waiting list for meal plan/dorm
We have a couple of registered attended who can't attend and need to drop out. If anyone still wants to register with meals or dorm lodging (or you want to add one of these to your registration), I'm setting up a waiting list and I'll connect you to people who need to drop. Right now we have two spots open (late registration is also still open!)

Oct 17, 2018: Weather update
The event will be held rain or shine. We will only cancel in the event of dangerous weather conditions, and we see nothing in the forecast to expect this. While it’s still too early to tell, the initial forecasts for next weekend look good.

For those watching the weather in Texas, you may have heard reports of serious flooding. This is occurring in the hill country west of Austin. The park is on the Colorado River downstream of the areas experiencing flooding. The LCRA is currently opening floodgates and releasing water through a series of dams to release the floodwater. This could cause some flooding on the park trails along the river, and the park has closed trails as a precaution. They expect to reopen the trails this weekend. Right now my main concern is that we have a few boxes planted which may be at risk. We will provide updates on any missing boxes at the event and update you if conditions change. FYI - There is an elevation change of 200ft between the main park facilities and the river, so the main portion of the park is way above the river and any flood risk.

Oct 18, 2018: Puzzle clue updates
Please correct El Chupacabra with the following: Due to clearing in the park after the puzzle was created, the box location has moved. You are looking for an oak 30 steps off the trail.

I also have a slightly better update for Ce N’est Pas Du Bacon: First solve the puzzle. From the reference on the trail, walk 30s at 165 deg to an oak.

These updates are now on clue pages on the website.

Oct 18, 2018: Sign up for text announcements during the event
We will use a group texting service to send out announcements, reminders, and updates during the event. This text message service is for announcements only - no replies are possible. This service is provided through Remind which was originally created for teachers to communicate with students and parents, so it’s secure and private.

To subscribe, text @livebre to 81010
To unsubscribe, text @LEAVE

Oct 22, 2018: Updates - weather and trail conditions
Unfortunately the trails along the river have flooded due to the flood control operations. Sadly, I'm afraid we have lost boxes in the Tolkien and Represent series as some of these boxes are under several feet of water.

Due to the flooding and recent rain, all of the park trails are currently closed. The park expects Riverside, Deep Sandy, and Cypress trails to be remain flooded and closed throughout the event. We will have access to the trails at higher elevation, and I'll let you know when they start to re-open trails. At this point we plan to plant most of the boxes as late as possible!

On the positive side, the weather forecast for the weekend looks great!

Oct 29, 2018: Please share your photos of the event!
We now have a shared google drive where you can share and view event photos! I've posted two of the better group photos here and will add more pictures tomorrow.

Google drive is a free online cloud storage service. Anyone with the link can view photos, but you need a free google account to upload pictures. (FYI - if you have gmail, you already have a google sign in)

Signups

Total signups:305