It was a gorgeous spring day, perfect for letterboxing. It was April 2nd, 2005, the day of the Cabin Fever Letterboxing Event.



As Josh and Mandy finished setting up, Happydays and Letterboxing Richters (minus husbands; they came later) were the first to show up, bringing plenty to drink for all. Others soon followed and the signing-in process began. There were a lot of introductions going on us Oklahomans had never done anything like this before and few, if any, of us had ever met each other. It was great to finally put a face with a name/sig stamp. Pretty soon, a couple quietly wandered up. We all introduce ourselves and discover that this is Wanda and Pete (as in the Wanda & Pete?!!!)! We are all grateful, excited, and a bit start-struck by their unexpected appearance (one person, whom well keep anonymous, even took their picture and excitedly said she was going to put it in a gold frame! It was so cute). We felt so special and privileged! The seasoned Wanda noticed the lack of direction and activity and suggested we all start exchanging. Stamp overload! Many mouths were a-droolin during
our exchange frenzy.



After letterboxing for a little while, we all gathered for lunch. Between bites, we told letterboxing stories, finished exchanging, and awards were handed out. We all extend a hearty welcome to osugeography/N5CL and OK Outlaw Lady who were our Newest Letterboxes at just a month! Dylan aka Dyno-D was 2nd place at 3 months. Wanda & Pete swept the board as they received the rest of the awards: Boxing the Longest (over 4 years), Travelled Furthest (from Rhode Island), and Highest PFX count (Wanda just hit 7,000!!! Congratulations!).



About halfway through the day, a small group came in and borrowed one of our picnic tables. After about an hour, one of them finally got up the courage to ask what we were doing. Wanda? Sue? explained. Then they said, Oh, well were geocachers! We thought it was a neat co-inkydink.



There were a couple of unfortunate events. One of the Happydays members sprained her ankle early in the day. However, she was a trooper and managed to accomplish a lot. I also happen to know that many of us got poison ivy (I swear there wasnt any when I placed my boxes!!!). Several have already had to get steroid shots! Eeek!



A word on Hitch Hikers: Oklahoma finally has a hitch hiker hostel of its own! The Dolese HitchHikerHostel contained a good sized bundle of hitch hikers, including Out of the Ashes We Rise!!! thats been traveling for 3 years! At the end of the day, Wanda left me with the MMM Gathering Clean-Up HH. How appropriate!



There were a large number of letterboxes available for the event, 45 if Ive counted correctly. Thats almost twice as many boxes as there were people! This event raised most of our PFX counts considerably, as Oklahoma isnt exactly swimming in boxes (although were very proud of our advancements).



Heres a rundown:



- Mandy solicited boxes for the event from the whole letterboxing community. Ten different people from all

over the country contributed their time and resources by sending Cabin-Fever-themed temporary boxes our way. They really offered quite a variety:

- CW Sunseeker, AZ did Talk on the Phone

- Peppermint Patti, MA did Monopoly

- Kim Jarodsky, IL did Sorry!

- Family Man, VA did 40 Below

- Merenwen, ME did Just Paint

- Nut n Hunny, NH did Reading Books

- Bell Lady, CT did Piano Playing

- Dancin Feet, NH did Aloha

- RayvenMom, WA did Thats Entertainment

- Trailstompers, IN did Crocheting



-There were 4 surprise boxes (that I know of, anyway), including 3 candy items snuck in on the food table, and one that was filled with goodies:

-The Treasure Trove

- Phone Booth M & Ms

- The Chocolate Box (brought by Wanda and Pete)

- Jelly Belly



-Happydays placed 6 boxes in a series entitled Discover Oklahoma. This one was really clever. Each of the six pieces represented a different area of Oklahoma, or a country (i.e. Red Carpet Country, Frontier Country, etc.). As you collected the pieces, you could fit the puzzle pieces together to form Oklahoma. In addition, to collect the pieces, Happydays used the park to represent Oklahoma so that once youd found all of the pieces (instead of being in one area, they were scattered all over the park), you had, in a sense, discovered Oklahoma! Happydays presented a certificate of completion to those who explored each country.



- Thumbprint Bandit and Sticker placed a three boxes in a series called Critter Series. Their boxes included Frog, Turtle, and Goose. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to get to these, so I cant say much about them (comments, anyone?) except that the clues were really well thought out. I did see some of their other carvings, however, and those were fantastic; so Im sure these three were just as great! There were 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes for those who completed the series first. (This created some healthy competition among some in the group. J)



- CandD placed three boxes throughout the park. There were :

- Rustic Log Cabin (it was great cute and fitting)

- Birds of a Feather

- Thorny Cactus



- Captain Caleb, a very creative young man, was our youngest placer. He made a box to go along with a series, although only one was placed here for the event. It was called Rock Kirby. Way to go Capn!



- Letterboxing Richters placed an especially unique series about real national holidays that most of us never knew existed. There were fancy first finders certificates (they, as well as Happydays, stamped the stamp image onto shrinky-dinks, shrunk them, and then tagged the certificate with it great idea!) in all of these:

- Hans Christian Andersens Birthday (AKA Childrens Book Day)

- National Walk to Work Day (how many people do you know whove observed

this one???)

- Reconciliation Day

- and finally, drum roll please, National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day!!!



- Mandy had 2 series. Holly Hobby Goes for a Walk was in 3 parts. Sadly, the ants carried away boxes 2 and 3 before anyone could find them! However, the Good Ol Toys series was alive and well:

-Rubber Ducky

-Beach Ball

-Rocking Horse

-Robot

-Blocks

-Jacks

-Teddy

-Paddle Ball

-Spinning Top

-Bonus: Jack-in-the-box



- Donna placed Duck! She went for quality, not quantity. Shes a Naturalist who is a natural at carving! Her life-like ducks coming in for a landing were breathtaking. Many of us found this one on our way out as we wrapped up the day. The sun was starting to set; it was a perfect ending to a perfect day!



My photos have been posted on the Letterboxing USA Talk List in the Cabin Fever Event file. Any attendees are welcome and encouraged to add your photos of the event to the Cabin Fever Letterboxing Event Continued file.



Many, many thanks to all who attended and to those who contributed food, drinks, and boxes. Everyone together made Oklahomas first event fantastic!



Sincerely,

Mandy













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