Another Christmas; Another Year~

Boy - how the years fly! It's almost Christmas and New Years again!

December 29th marks the 4th anniversary of this letterboxing blog - begun with just a modest listing and a few comments on our finds to date! How that has changed! Mystery links and boxes hidden hither and yon on our current blog; interviews with the famous; highlights from our past Dartmoor trip; the breakdown of Lady Prisspott, the Presidential candidate letterboxing interviews with GW and John Kerry, Poison Ivy's Letterbox Rating System, the Great Urban Plastic Pink Flamingo Caper, Butterfly's Birthday Bash, Mystery Box Planting Day and so much more. So much craziness that began with a simple report of the boxes we had found! Who woulda thunk??



The Schmoopies

It's also the time of year, amid the hustle and bustle, that we tend to look at our lives to see what we've experienced during the past year and maybe, plan for the future. And for Sue & I, as usual, it's been a hectic and wonderful year since we always have such a good time together!





We had the opportunity to spend a great week letterboxing in the Pacific Northwest in northern and central Oregon with the bestest host in the land - our pal, Funhog, who's Camp Funhog kept us going and going . . . . but in the end - we saw so much and visited such treasures like Smith Rock State Park, the Metolius River, Sisters, the Columbia River Gorge and that well kept secret - the Rockin' K Ranch!






Spirit of Dartmoor Gathering in OR


The rowdy table from Spirit of Dartmoor gathering, OR

It was a week, shared with Deanne and Dave, of boxes and gatherings and boxes and gatherings and beautiful snow-capped mountains and cowboy towns and historic waterfalls and new friends like Don & Gwen and Birder - all 3 who gave up precious time to spend with us on our journey to hunt Tupperware. One of our goals was to finally meet Mitch Klink, Der Mad Stamper, and we realized that goal as well as a face-to-face with the Green Tortuga - both of whom we have emailed over the years but had never met in person as well as Pungent Bob, who helped us a few times with some blogging mischief. Sue & I were pleased to leave behind some memories, Postcards from Oregon, as our way of thanking those prolific Northwest boxing planters.



Deanne, Gwen & Don and John from 4DToes





Da Girlz: Amanda from Seattle, Turtle McQ
and Clueless


TeamGreenDragon, Turtle McQ, Amanda from Seattle
and Green Tortuga, Sue & Mark

Besides the 3 gatherings we attended in Oregon, Sue & I showed up at 7 others! 10 gatherings in a year is really a lot and many were just a few weeks apart. Memorable gatherings were the Ithaca gathering, hosted by our friend, Turtle McQ, Kreepy Kelli's Pirate-themed bash and the Capers gathering at the end of September. At all of these events, it was wonderful to add some more names to the list of letterboxing friends that continues to grow exponentially as we get more involved in letterboxing - people whom we meet as strangers but that end up as part of our letterboxing family. One of the things I have to work on is to get more exchanges at gatherings. I start talking and boxing and picture-taking - forgetting all about the exchanging part. We'll do better at that in 2007 and beyond so don't be afraid to remind us by asking us for an exchange!

What does the New Year hold for Sue & I? Besides the unknown - we're going back to Dartmoor again in September of 2007 with 14 other boxers. This time there will not be a London component to the trip. We'll spend the entire week on a farm near Ivybridge at the southern end of the moor. And we'll box til we drop and our mouths will drop open again as we gaze on those mighty tors that majestically rule over the patchwork fields below. Our group name last time was The Baker's Dozen. Our new name for the 2007 trip is: Mor Tor-ists - cleverly suggested by PineTree and chosen by the group from a list of 5 or 6 possibilities. You'll be hearing a lot more about our Dartmoor trip as plans develop and once we return!

And, finally, there's a real huge project that Sue & I have been working on with a committee of 6 others. A secret project that is something we believe in and hope the rest of the letterboxing community will as well. Hope to have some word out by late spring or early summer. Stay tuned.

Whatever you do during this holiday season; however you choose to celebrate it - know that Sue & I are eternally grateful that you click on a link or come to this blog via a bookmark. We never take that for granted and realize that without readers - this blog is just a bunch of words; floating out there in the internet. It's your interest and loyalty that keep us thinking of new ways to "just get out there & box!!!"

Happy Holidays

and

A Happy & Healthy New Year

to All!

More Pictures of Our Letterboxing Family

Wild Rover


Butterfly's Grand Daugher


MayEve and her grand daughter


RTRW and Bandaid


Clueless and Brian of TeamGreenDragon


Dave, The Letterboxing Ham


Lori of TeamGreenDragon


Dave, Deanne, Choi and Sue


Carolyn, Leader of the Pack


The gang awaiting Butterfly


Butterfly at her birthday bash


Deanne, Deanne and Jay Drew


Poison Ivy and Mark


The mischief-makers at the 2006 Mystery Gather


Rick, Leslie, Sue & Mark


Deanne and Dave with some of the Flamingo detectives


Susan Davis and Sue


Luvvy Huffington is reunited with Percival


Azobox and SpringChick


Mark and Mrs. Doglvrs


The Spring Boxing Drive group


Veronica


Rae Record


Celtic Quinn and Marmalade


Kreepy Kelli, Lori of TeamGreenDragon and Veronica


CapeCodLetterboxer on the right and daughter


Mumma and Chunna


Rae Record, CapeCodLightningBug
& Archimedes' Screw


Ginger Blue and Bob


Silent Doug





Thanks to you all for being so special to us!

Mark & Sue