5th Annual WNY Gathering ROCKED! :-)

Well, I would have posted a big wrap up last night, but after a few posts and replies to the 100+ e-mails I got over the weekend, the Highlander reached over, took the laptop and started shutting things down ("The world can WAIT for one more night!" as he put it!). Good move, too...I just got out of bed about an hour ago, so I TRULY needed the rest!

Anyway, the whole weekend was a giant blast! We (Skater Boy, the Highlander and I) began it early Friday morning around 6am (after going to bed around 2!) We took the Highlander to work, then CQ picked Skater Boy and I up with the intent to head to Sprague Brook, set up camp, then go to the Ridge and get some boxing in (we learned from experience that running a gathering means never leaving the pavilion, so we wanted to get some actual boxes before 100+ folks descended upon us!). We were hoping to meet up with Eidolon and Artemis at Chestnut Ridge around 2pm, so we wanted to really get moving.

What ended up happening was we helped CQ pack, stocked up on general supplies (donation boxes, raffle items, a new black marker) until the Highlander was already done with his half day of work. THEN the truck was doing ominous things with steering fluid and oil, so we dealt with that until we finally struggled into the CAMPGROUNDS around 2pm. We met Frog Prince, Queen of Everything and JB the Huntress, who'd arrived a little before we did. By then, Eidolon & Artemis had called us to let us know they were in NO way making it on time, so the sense of urgency turned into a sense of "sit in the woods on a cool rock to beat the 89 degree weather, then slog overheatedly into Springville for things REAL survival items...like WATER!"

Anyway, after we finally settled in, other folks started to arrive, like dee123, CathCainGwen, Chadams & Lady Lilac, the IAP and Bear and the rest of the Quinn clan. Party Pig and the Phoenix had started boxing at DAWN, so they were still at it by the afternoon/evening. Talking Turtle arrived around 5pm with car trouble that made our little bout with the oil and fluid look like a picnic. Luckily, she made it to the campsite, but unluckily, the auto service she got with her phone only worked on the phone she had at home (so she was told by the operator). After we all plotted the destruction of said phone company (don't worry, we'll get a name so that you can ALL hate it with us!), the Highlander and I called AAA and told them we had been riding with her and they towed her van to the local shop in Springville. Meanwhile, Party Pig and The Phoenix were STILL out boxing...

We kicked back and enjoyed the rest of the night. A group of folks (CQ, Frog Prince, Queen of Everything, and to my surprise, Artemis and Eidolon, who snuck in later) sat around exchanging stamps while the Highlander and Chadams cooked up some food. It became apparent that Chadams camping set up was way more conducive to grouping up (what with the gazebo, tent with a welcome mat and dog door and the actual campfire!) We sat around and shot the breeze for a while and Ryan told "The Cremation of Sam McGee" to us around the campfire while the dozen or so kids ran around playing sardines. I don't even remember when we all went to bed, but we were good and tired when it happened (and of course, Party Pig and The Phoenix were STILL out boxing, although they came back long enough to set up camp!).

The next morning had Green Star Quinn and a bunch of the 'tween boxers getting lost in the woods for an hour or so, just as we were getting ready to head to the park. I was so worried, I forgot the event stamp and all my boxing stuff when the Highlander shooed me off to greet folks at Chestnut Ridge. Luckily, they found their way to the main road in time for what was probably a tag team effort of parental/general adult chastisment, so I didn't have to ruin the event by sacrificing their small bodies.

All in all, the day went well! The kids never LEFT the playground (especially after the morning's scare) and folks rolled in to stamp and exchange at the pavilion and out to box and back in the same easy way they always do. To my dismay, the Highlander ended up burning himself on a misplaced barbecue fork while grilling, but Frog Prince saw him standing there with a bag of ice in one hand, the fork in the other and a line of folks with open buns in front of him (hmmm...more stuff for the Dirty Letterboxing Quotes list!) and came to the rescue! Meanwhile, I got to meet a bunch of new folks like Trekkie Gal (who must have been the star of the day since she's made it into two blogs now!) LOSTGIRL, S and K, K and T, jasondrew and a bunch of others I had only seen in logbooks or on boards. Balloon Fanatic's family was also there, which meant the winner of the youngest boxer award (Mermaid Girl) was present. She and her sister both look like they fell off a charm bracelet, they're so cute, so they probably coulda taken that award as well. We raffled stuff off and took pics around 5, just as a brief storm blew in...and blew out! Literally 2/3 of the boxers had gone when the suddenly the sun broke out and it was as if nothing happened!

With that, the Highlander and I headed back to Sprague Brook to get the night boxes placed. We'd intended to go eat at Ponderosa with everyone else, but just ran out of time before the boxing was to start. I was beside myself with ideas on where to hide them when Soccer Star 7 and gymnastics girl's dad Eric came up with the PERFECT path to hide the boxes on. It was partial in a field, but mostly in the woods, which were good and spooky dark by the time folks started finding boxes. A more mature and less rowdy group than Ryan's bunch went through with mostly kids and parents around 8, while the rest came around 10. After that, we all went to separate fun zones. A gang of adults hit the fireside again while a bunch of gamer kids and adults sat around our site playing Dungeons & Dragons again for a good 2 hours. Poor Skater Boy was out cold within the first 10 minutes, but everyone else was once again up until the wee hours having a blast.

Sunday morning began with my getting up and seeing a 6 foot something creature rear its multitentacled head from the vicinity of Ryan's sleeping gear. It took a moment to realize that this actually WAS Ryan wearing a funky ski hat to keep warm, but MAN, do I wish I'd had the camera on me for THAT! We all started to pack and say our goodbyes (being sure to give Ryan tips on how to keep strange men from touching him in the airport while he slept), then started to head our separate ways around noon (by which time Party Pig and the Phoenix were...hmm...STILL BOXING!). By the time the Highlander and I got home, I was ready to crash, but kept trying to post THIS leviathan of a wrap-up until the Highlander forced me to call it a night.

Oh, and Eidolon called me from the trail last night...he was still boxing, too, but wanted to see if we missed him yet. I told him I missed him so much that I had fallen asleep on the couch and he seemed satisfied....!

Anyhoo, for those who came, thanks for all the compliments, the donations and the general camaraderie. I couldn't have asked for more fun in one weekend, so I'm again REALLY glad we added camping to this event. Our most sincere thanks goes to Chadams for making this park more easily accessible to the layman and throwing his whole heart and soul into helping make this event come off. We also thank Frog Prince for saving the Highlander in his time of need and Eric Festor (who I'm gonna just call Nightbike for the sake of having a trailname) for saving me in mine! Another major thanks to folks who donated items for the raffle and boxes for the event (BTW, if you DID bring some event stamps, please help me out by listing them on the event page...I don't know HALF of what I got in this book right now!) :-O Also, for those who did them, the night box series (called Night Music) is listed here. If you told me the title of the song, you got the last stamp (#9). As far as pics, I know some folks are already posting pics at the event page, but those would be folks with digital cameras. Mine have to be developed yet (curse my desperate need for an upgrade!), but I think I took pics of every group that came through so you can put names with faces.

Finally, the next gathering has already been listed here. Not ABSOLUTELY sure about the location just yet (since Nightbike has mentioned another great park near Lake Ontario), but we'll keep everyone posted.

Thanks again, everybody! You make this yearly event a labor of love! :-)

The (worn, but happy) Sprite & the (happy, but burnt) Highlander

Hallowed Ground Tour 2007

Hey, folks! Felt bad that we couldn't make it to Infinity's Massacre-ade, so we decided to make our own fun in WNY! This event is part driving tour, part mini-meet, all spooky! Check out the details!

http://www.atlasquest.com/events/event.html?gEventId=453

The S & H

Planting at the Ridge complete!

CQ, the Highlander and I just banzai-ed Chestnut Ridge Park, planting everything we had (all 33 of ours, 14 of his and the 4 donations we received. We are "TO' up from the FLO' up", as my granny used to say (which meant "worn out" for you traditional Northerners!) but ready to go boxwise. I have a few more stamps to carve for the night event (and some prize stamps for various things at the event), but other than that, WNY is open for business!

The clues for the boxes planted today will officially be posted on the website by Thursday morning. However, if you are coming from out of state and leaving Thursday night before the clues are posted, have no fear! The exact info in on the page will be in the clue books at the park and out of town guests AUTOMATICALLY get one, so long as you come to the park for it. If you want to start early, the boxes that are already in the park have been posted on the site already...just print them off and you'll be all set! DO NOT use the clues that are currently (as of Sunday) posted, though...they've already confused one person, so Chadams is trying to rewrite them and they SHOULD be good by Wednesday.

More bulletins as warranted!

The (snuggling on the sofa, finally relaxed) Sprite & Highlander

Sending a box for the WNY Gathering?

Okay, Celtic Quinn and I are planting boxes tomorrow (August 15th) at Chestnut Ridge Park. We're planting all the ones we have and have received, but since neither of us is done carving as of this posting, we MIGHT make another trip down this weekend. If you have one that you plan to send us, write us IMMEDIATELY and mail the box so it gets here by SATURDAY the 18th. Anything that doesn't show up by then will be on the table for the gathering and planted afterward.

Remember, if we can't keep it (as a permanent plant), we don't want it! Not being rude or nasty, but the plan is to seed this park pretty heavily so it'll be a boxer's paradise; plus, the park's pretty far away for those of us in the northern part of WNY, so we won't be going back unless ABSOLUTELY necessary (maintenance and such).

More bulletins as warranted!

The S & H

Uncle Julie's (Third Swirl's the Charm) Mini Meet recap

Well, I'm finally home from Texas, where 102 degrees worth of heat and 9 other folks make for a great day of letterboxing! I finally got to meet Gryzzled Gryphon, Blooming Flowers and her hubby and little one, Puddle Splasher, Batty Girl and her hubby, plus I brought along a new boxer, Stealth Wookie. We all sat down to margarita swirls and event stamps galore while packing away Mexican fare. By the time I had nearly finished my swirl, the parking lot was looking kinda swirly, too, so I gave the rest to Stealth Wookie's wife and drank water until I felt like driving my father's new Infinity was a safe thing to do! ;-) Blooming Flowers gave me a LbTx patch and pin from Barefoot Lucy (not my first, but the first to go on my bag until I can find my LBMA patch again) and we all had a ball despite the heat. I even brought some noxer friends (since I really only had one day to catch up with friends this trip), but everyone was really nice about it...no taunting, mental abuse or ritual hazing the way we do with noxers up North! ;-)

Afterward Stealth Wookie and I dragged his wife along to do the Carrollton boxes of the A League Of Their Own series. What a cool set of boxes! Instead of stamping into your logbook, mater et regisfilia left a little baseball diamond so that you had to stamp the stamps (little ponytailed players) onto it! Had we done the entire set, we'dve had the entire field filled; how I wish we'd had the time to go to the other cities!

Frankly, aside from my brother's wedding, this one day was the most fun I had in the whole 5 day trip! Being without my husband/lifelong pal was tough enough (especially at the wedding where I had no one to dance with, pout, pout!), but the boxers of Texas really salvaged my visit. Thanks again everyone!

The (now freezing back at home) Sprite & the (just glad she's there to keep warm again) Highlander

WNY Gathering Webpage Updates

Hi folks! The beginning of August is already here, which means the end is not too far behind. As promised, the page for the even has been updated in many ways. First, Chadams has prepared a page of his own (http://www.geocities.com/chadams2691/chestnutridge.html) that will give anyone unfamiliar with the park some info on where things are and how to use the maps.

So far, there's not many changes to the main webpage (http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/gathering4.htm), but the clues page (http://thesprite.orgfree.com/letterboxing/gclues4.htm) now has the groups of boxes Chadams mentioned on his page for you to use in finding boxes without having to search in more than one place. I'm still adding them, but they'll all be on here by Wednesday (except the new music themed boxes, of course). Remember, we'll have this entire page plus maps printed up as a clue booklet available at the park for anyone who needs it, but it's first come, first served. Show up late and you might have to rely on your own printed (or PDA'd) clues!

The night boxing at Sprague Brook Park IS open for anyone that wants to come, whether you camp out or not. Our plan is to place the boxes along a path in Sprague Brook that's NOT in the overnight camping area so folks can still come and go as they please. It's a county park, so we can't say for SURE if they really are as lax with the dawn to dusk rules for visitors. However, since the budget cuts in Erie County, the parks are pretty well understaffed, and the ranger himself said that they don't come around checking to see where people are after hours, so we should be good.

Finally, we've got quite a few folks staying with us overnight at Sprague Brook. So far we have sites 55-64 with boxers, but we're totally out of the sites we originally reserved. If you decide to stay as well, you'll need to call the park yourself and reserve a site near us (which should still be no problem). The area we're in is shaped like an L, with the Highlander and I at the bend on Site #60. If you get anything in the 50s or 60's, you'll be in the same area as we are.

More bulletins as warranted!

The S & H

Batman is WAYYYY too easy...!

From the couple that brought you Squirrels After Dawn and the Voyeuristic Gopher....

Okay, so we're sleeping last night and all the sudden, the Highlander jerks half up out of the bed. I assume he's having a some kind of internal trouble, like acid, but when he barely makes a sound except a startled grunt, I start to think he's having a heart attack!

I go "Hon, what IS it?" and then he jerks a second time and I hear something hit the wall. He stammers something about there being "something", then flicks the light on and stares at the wall for second. Then he goes "Holy !@#$ it's a BAT!", jumps up and says "I gotta get something to put him in" before running out.

Either I totally missed him saying this or just didn't get what he was saying, so I end up laying there in the bed trying to see what he's seeing. I look over on the sill and hanging off it IS a BAT! Panicked, I go to get up and move and its HEAD follows my movements. This panics me into "deer-in-batlights" mode, so I'm just laying there frozen in place while he rushes back in with a plastic cookie thing.

He goes after it and catches it in the container while I bravely waited below the blanket, then he sighs and says "Well, it BIT me, so we're going to have to go to the hospital and THAT means I'm going to be TIRED in the morning!" Not "Oh, I could die of rabies...hold me, my love for one last kiss" or "gosh, shots really sound TERRIBLE!"...no, the Highlander's hacked because he's going to lose sleep over a winged mouse! (did I mention how much he HATES his second job at the lab???)

So, we (yes, even our new buddy) pile into the car and go to the hospital where the entire night staff (including some EMTs) come by to visit and express sentiments along the lines of "wow" or "gross" or "you gonna EAT that?". Eventually, they gave him a tetanus shot and some antibiotics, then they kept the bat to give to the health department. They'll have results on Monday after they destroy it and check the head, I think they say (Snappy's, of course, although for the right price, I MIGHT have let them check the HIGHLANDER'S head...would explain a LOT...!). They also let us take some pics that I have to scan in and show you guys.

The funniest part to me was when one nurse came in and said "Well, don't get too attached...we'll have to give it to the health department and they have to destroy it." The Highlander got all cute and wide eyed and tells the lady, "Oh, but I've already named him! I call him Snappy!" Maybe it was because it was so late at night, but when he started to nod happily, she looked like she really believed him and thought he was just getting messed up from the rabies or something!

So, this morning I told him company policy frowns on draining the blood from others and he was like "Don't worry, I'll be a pile of dust LONG before I get to work this morning! LOL Poor guy. Honestly, he's had the rash, the beasts, the burning fire (from his butt, anyway). So...I'm thinking locusts next.

The (shampooing her hair with garlic) Sprite & the (eyeing up the only non-garlicked eligible young females in the house to attack...our 3 cats) Highlander