Mountain Mysteries

Our very first gathering ever was Twelfth Night in Asheville, NC. It was January 2007 and we were nervous about meeting REAL letterboxers. We were excited about finding some fun boxes in our old hometown, though. We visited haunted bridges, old castles and a real mountain farm. It turns out that real letterboxers were nice and fun. Dixie was a legend in our minds at the time. As we have gotten to know her over the last year, she is still a legend! But she is one of the nicest legends we've ever met. And I don't care how many finds she gets. I just hope she keeps planting because she has some of the neatest boxes around.
When I saw the Mountain Mysteries gathering slated for this January I knew I had to be there. It was all I remembered from last year and more. This time there was the haunted prison, a valiant cemetery visit and fishing in the French Broad. Old friends were there, as well as new ones.
My favorite moments of the day:
*Happening upon hopeinnc and CDQ as we had an epiphanous moment. It was wonderful to see familiar faces before our day even began. And thanks goodness for small children who run into bushes!
*Being in the right place at the right time to be the very first to visit with Frank and Alpha! Yes, Frank was there...if you knew where to look.
*Finding Darth Wolf's stamp in my logbook.
*Seeing Firefighter Daddy find his special box. It was a moving moment. It was very kind of him to share it with so many of us!
*Watching Mojo and the kids with the cemetery kitty.
*Running down the LONG stairwell of a haunted prison after hearing noises!
*Eating pizza and visiting a bookstore with letterboxers. Journals were on sale and we all scoured them for books with no lines!
*Visiting Helen's haunt with Holly. Yelling for Helen to come forth. Then yelling for her to go away. Watching the teenagers who were scared silly. Seeing an SUV full of clowns or scouts tumble out of their vehicle in search of Zealandia. Later finding out they were letterboxers!
*Driving home with ARK asleep beside me, satisfied and full of new memories.
Thanks Dixie (and all who helped plant and prepare) for another great gathering!