Like the Jiggs Clan, I wanted to also praise Don & Gwen for their
fantastic gathering this weekend in Kernville. The weather was
perfect, and you could not find two more gracious hosts. Ten
letterboxes were hidden for the event, and some of those clues were
wicked smart. Instead of holding the event in a park, the whole city
of Kernville was our playground, and stamps were planted all over
town. Besides the event stamps, the whole Kernville area is a hotbed
of California letterboxing activity, thanks to Don & Gwen. This
small town rivals San Luis Obispo and Los Angeles for boxes, and also
thanks to Don, the carving is excellent. I wonder if there's another
stamp out there that is accessed by white-water rafting? My count
for the weekend is as follows:

April 23rd:
"The Troll of Kernville" (Black Widow spider encounter while stamping
in at the river's edge; fortunately for me, the spider came out the
worse for this fight.)
"The Cannell Quail"
"The Babe Lure"
"The Alten Wedding Bells"
"The Love Birds of Bull Run"
"Mailbox" (Which I picked up at 11:00 PM at night, after having
dinner with D&G. Don assured me that the police are asleep at that
hour, so I didn't need to worry about being picked up walking around
town with a flashlight--Kernville is not Los Angeles.)

April 24th (Gathering Day!!):
"Bob Powers: Kernville Country Classic"
"Cadence and Carson Seekin' Smokey"
"Western Welcome" (I dropped the "Arizona Vacation" hitchhiker in
this box, which was given to be by Emma B. at the SoCal Mini-Meet the
week before. It was picked up later in the day by another Gathering
attendee.)
"Just Enough Bull"
"White Water--Not" (With Don in command, we white-water rafted to
this site.)
"Silent Doug's Car Key" Hitchhiker
"River Statistic"
"Kernville Retrieve"
"Sign Bite" (After a chance meeting in town [well, the town isn't
that big, so there's a great chance for a chance meeting], Sierra
Sally and I went searching for this box together. Access to this box
is closed after 4 PM, and we got to the location well after closing
time, but a friendly attendant at this facility saw us wandering
around the parking lot and asked if we needed help [don't you just
love small towns]. Well, we spilled our guts [I think I'm the one
that started the spilling, but Sierra took up the gut-spilling
immediately], and told the attendant we were after a letterbox, so he
let us in after hours.)
"Mad Dawg"
"New Gold Strike"
"Bubble's Beach Beaver" (Scorpion encounter; kids, be like the
Buzzard, always wear gloves when reaching into dark holes.)
"Buzzard's Perch" (I was late to dinner at D&Gs house because I just
had to find this one.)
"Peace Meltdown" Hitchhiker
"Ralph the Hitchhiking Letterbox" Hitchhiker

That makes a grand total of 18 letterboxes and 3 Hitchhikers, which I
count as finds, for a total of 21. I also placed two letterboxes.
Thanks Don & Gwen for a great party!!

P.S. If you're listening Silent Doug, check to make sure you have
your car keys.
--Buzzard