Over the river and through the woods... O.K. so we weren't on our way to
Grandma's house (that's our next trip) instead, BeMa was traveling through
the trees and over the 16 bridges at the Shamokin Springs Nature Preserve at
Wintergreen! Last year, with the drought, these gurgling, bubbling streams
had all been dry and bridges a mystery. But, this year, with all the rain,
the preserve literally sang with the flowing of the water! Having ensured
that all BeMa members hit the bathroom before we hit the trail, we were
really able to enjoy these peaceful sounds!

We were really excited to be back at Wintergreen as it was one year ago in
that same place that we first stepped foot on a path that was not a track in
a gym or an aisle at a supermarket (or Toys R Us...) and we've been loving
it ever since. Of course, we didn't start letterboxing until after we got
home, but, in that year's time, several more boxes had been planted at
Wintergreen -- yeah!!

We merrily counted our bridges and came to the gap between number 6 and
number 7 -- even checking the little metal tags on each bridge. We looked
for a gnarly tree with roots and proceeded to look and look for Megan's
Magpie. No luck! Da was on one side on the bridge, Na was on the other.
Who knows where the kids were 'cause we were so intense peeking under rocks
and around roots!... Darn how the physical well being of one's offspring
can get overlooked in the thrill of the search! We did everything but wade
in the water (I did forage downstream to see if it had been washed
away...)Luckily, the kids were still above water and safe when we finally
agreed that we had been beaten. No Magpie could be found. Oh well, we put
on a bright face and exclaimed that we were there to "enjoy nature" anyway
(yeah right -- nature is a lot more fun with a stamp in the journal....)
But, we soon got over our selves and hopped along up the trail toward's
Megan's Mousie.

Now that cute little mousie was right were it was supposed to be (once we
figured out which way to go on the AT) and we hid her a little more
carefully, seeing that the rains had washed away some of her leaf and twig
nest.

Back over more bridges and to then end, we loaded everyone up in the car and
convinced the kids to try for another box on a nearby trail since we hadn't
found the Magpie. A little bit of whining (and a promise of a trip to the
indoor pool and a souvenir later) and everyone was belted up and ready to
go. Just then, Da asked to look at the clues one more time. He had this
funny look in his eye as he gazed toward the sign just in front of our
bumper reading "Shamokin Springs Nature Preserve Loop/ to Old Appalachian
Trail"... "Sweetheart", he crooned. did you notice the part of the clues
that say you must start at this entrance of the clues "won't make any sense
at all"? Whoops! Sometimes a Mom can't be bothered to really read the
clues, just like a Dad can't be bothered to stop in at a gas station and ask
for directions!... With a lesson to the kids about the importance of
actually paying attention to the directions, we tumbled back out of the car
and started counting bridges starting from the correct entrance to the
trail. Voila!! Megan's Magpie was just where it was supposed to be
"inside, under and behind" (clues which did make much more sense now....)

So, anyone who is at the preserve, looking for these two boxes, please
ignore our little sad faced note at Maggie's Mousie and remember to start on
the right side!! BeMa

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