Spy vs. Spy

(I know the post looks long... And it is, but if you don't read it all, try to at least skim it) =)

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock- 5:30 on a Saturday morning wasn't exactly my definition of "sleeping in," but it was well worth it. We were going letterboxing =)


After hearing so many great things about the original Spy vs. Spy event, my dad- X Marks the Spot -thought it'd be a good idea to go to this one and try our luck with some friends. Originally, he intended it to be myself, him, Gallant Rogue, and BullDawg. But, BullDawg got busy and, unfortunately, couldn't make it to the event. So, we decided to let a seeming double agent into the group. It was Yankee Chick, who wrote a request to join the team to Gallant Rogue, interestingly, literally minutes after Casa del Sol had told him to trust no one. We made sure she was legit, of course, and agreed to let her join the group.


So, I checked Facebook, showered, ate cold pizza for breakfast, etc., just in time to wait for Gallant Rogue to pull up. We headed out for our three hour drive and on the way, started chatting about our strategies and plots. Meanwhile, a motorcycle going around 120 raced in between our car and several others' while being chased by multiple police officers around 8:15 in the morning.


He obviously was running from the law (and not just from a speeding ticket), and it turns out he fell off the motorcycle a few miles up the road. He didn't look like he was in too good of shape when we went past, and we made conversation as we wondered how his motorcycle had ended up a good 300 yards past where he landed... It was an interesting and bizarre drive up, but we finally got there.


We were to start at Starbucks. We parked in the Burger King next door's parking lot and had 20 minutes to kill. Yankee Chick pulled up, as X went to get chips for the potluck later from the Farm Fresh across the street. When he came back, we realized we had forgotten to carve a team signature stamp... We pulled together some carving supplies and came up with a design. At first, X used the wrong team name for the design (niiiiiiiice), so we had to come up with something quickly. Rogue had a brilliant idea- our name was "Rogue eXiles" so he recommended we use the design of the Rx, as a pharmacy does. So, the design was drawn up, and within ten minutes, I had carved the stamp (Rogue finished the last corner of the X off), and we were all in matching white patterned headbands. Our team was ready to go.


Everyone but I, who was carving on the hood of Rogue's car, went into the Starbucks and got the first clue from the Special Agent Jason Bourne. It was a toilet paper roll. On it- a notice that we'd need it to for the park that had only Porta-Potties. Rogue had researched all the nearby parks and he immediately knew which one.


There was also one little detail- I was the Mole. Essentially, I held the key to the other teams' victory. The others were to tell someone a key phrase, in hopes that the person they were telling it to was the Mole. If they told the correct individual (me), then they'd get one of the five required mission stamps. The other 4 were boxes in the park that you had to get lucky in locating. There were quite a few scattered in the park, but only 4 of them were ones that would help you win the game.


We decided the best strategy to hide this fact and keep them from bothering me would be for me to play the disgruntled teen. I had one or both of my headphones to my MP3 in, trying to keep a bored look as other teams passed by and asked other members of my team if they were the Mole.


We were told at the gate that we'd need everything we'd received. X slowed us down, as he made small talk with Casa del Sol. Soon, we hurried him along and got into the park. We figured we'd solve the harder cyphers while we were fresh. Yankee Chick, Rogue, and I cracked several of the letter one, while X worked on one he specialized with. Overall, we spent about 20 minutes sitting under a small shelter working on codes.


But, we were in danger of being caught. Another group of Leabhar and Buster Bunny approached us and quickly roped us in offering to take a team picture. They had us. They told us they wanted to make a guess as to what country we were from. (We were assigned a country in the beginning that, if anyone with the two elimination stamps correctly guessed, we were out. If they're wrong, the other team gets to take the death stamp to use.) They quickly came up with a genius lie. They told us they had already taken out two teams with the stamp. Rogue decided to attempt a deal with them- we'd tell them who the Mole was if they intentionally guessed wrong. It was a great deal that we don't regret, even going back and analyzing our game.


The deal was made and the Mole stamp was quickly stamped into their book. It was something that may threaten our game, but if worst came to worst, we had an elimination stamp to try to get them out.


We had to get to some boxes and start getting on with finding the other 4 required stamps. We met Sherlock and Jason (again), and bribed Casa with an opportunity to solve Cryptex!... Bribing was incredibly legal, and strongly recommended, so we definitely knew how to pull it off. We got some other boxes, likely contained in places and with clues that are classified (well, may be used at future events like this, so I won't post any potential spoilers)...


We soon ran into Nancy Drew... But we had a problem: We had found a TON of the boxes and only gotten one of the required stamps other than the Mole stamp we already possessed... The other teams were gaining hugely, we suspected. So, we resulted to meeting with the double agent slicky kitty. We got some crucial information as to which boxes may be important to go for and which ones we probably should probably skip.....


But, there was another problem. We had told a double agent that I was the Mole. This... was a mistake.


We proceeded to go to a box that we believed contained a significant stamp. We got the box (across a bridge). But it was a dud- nothing of significance to winning the game. We were in trouble- being pursued. It was about to be all over.


We started crossing the bridge back to the main portion of the park when we encountered a group of four women. The double agent had given away who the Mole was. The group had four of the required stamps... and I was the last one they needed. But there was no escape. They had us. We reluctantly gave up the Mole stamp...


But wait! There was still hope. We had the elimination stamp. We had a shot!


And, the shot missed. We guessed the wrong country and the four women ran to the finish line... The game was over... And it had been a TOTAL blast =D


I was sad to see the game was over. It was a great time. In the end, we had skipped 6 boxes and half of them were ones we needed to win... We had gotten unlucky, but I truly think we had played a great game strategically.


So, we stuck around for the potluck. Had some fried chicken, jellybeans, and some other really good stuff =) We got some exchanges (although I forgot my signature stamp at home, so I'll be sending out quite a few copies of my signature stamp on Monday). Overall, it was an event of good company and well managed. I'd definitely do it again =)


And, on the way home, I got to sleep for a little while, so I made back some of the lost sleep this morning. But, my family will not see me until later than usual tomorrow morning. I'm sleeping in =)


~BOB~

Mysteries in the Mountains (The 100th Post)

First and foremost, this is the 100th post to the blog! Didn't think we'd get this far, but woohoo! =)

(This post looks really long... And it is, but try to get through it all- it just looks really long because I made it into so many paragraphs)

So.... this weekend was awesome =D =D =D

We headed up to the Foxes' farm on Friday in my dad's Toyota truck (despite the poem I wrote on Thursday). We stopped at Subway restaurant on the way and later at the grocery store to pick up some chicken for dinner...

And, we got to the farm first... And I mean first... Mama Fox wasn't even home yet, so we put on all our warm excess clothing. Then they all started to show up... And, I gave her the event stamp, which Wassa cleverly suggested I mount to a whoopee cushion. It was inside an Outhouse birdhouse, so the farting noises just made it a hilarious stamp ;D

I found a few of the newer stamps on the farm, but it was so cold I was really wanting to hang out in the barn. Plus, mixing, mingling, and exchanging are fun =) I met a ton of boxers I've been waiting to get exchanges with, but it was so cold and there were so many people, I wasn't really going for too many PTs...

Mama Wolf finally showed up with her family and Seattle Bound (she didn't have her alligator with her, sadly)... While everyone was exchanging, the Wolf Family and I all went over the Outhouse to get the HH Hostel. Mama Wolf decided we needed to do a parody of the Blair Witch Project... That was the most hilarious part of the weekend! It was staged perfectly ;D

I have since learned from Mama Wolf that the rights to the "production" have been acquired by Wassa.... There's no telling what he could do with that!! The footage is hardly usable, but the entire situation, including the audio is priceless... =D =D =D

So... the rest of the event was a lot of exchanging in the cold and listening to others sing for the Sheeeet Music! PT... Yeah, I chickened out... I can't sing...... AT ALL ;)

We got Dixie to guide X, DC Stones, Seattle Bound, and I to our cabin. It was pretty nice, and we found the name of the street it was on amusing: Spooky Branch =)

That night, X, DC Stones, and I stayed back at the cabin while Dixie, Mojo, and Seattle Bound all went out in the cold to put some of the boxes in their places for the event. They asked if we wanted anything from the store... I always have a craving for cookie dough ice cream, so I kiddingly asked for it...

All of us at the house fell asleep around 11 while everyone else stayed up until like 4 in the morning ;)

Speaking of which, I'm kinda wondering what the loud crash *cough*DIXIE!*cough* in the middle of the night was... ;)

And......... When we woke up in the morning, it sucked... THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND! We drove 7 hours to go box in the SNOW?!?! But, the weather channel told us it was going to be sunny later... I'm not sure I believed it, but it did...

So, the "early sleepers" got up and went for some boxes near a really nice almost fairytale hotel. X and I planned to get those and then go meet up with the Wolves... On our way to Carrier Park (HQ for the event), we found out she totally wimped out... She claims it was because of the snow and her old green van's difficulties in it, but we all know she was just scared of the hug Fluffy Cow was going to plant on her =)

We froze our butts off at Carrier Park... The wind chill must have been around 0 degrees (maybe less) under there. But, I got my exchange with Fluffy Cow!! Wooh! =)

So, we dove into the Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet (considering the fact that my dad didn't even get me breakfast) and stayed there for a while. I got exchanges with people I had missed the night before and others who weren't there...

The event stamp was PHENOMENAL!... It was carved by 3 Blind Mice (who else?) and a very large two layer stamp (are you regretting leaving yet, Mama Wolf?) ;)

X, DC Stones, and I all got together with Lavagirl and Seattle Bound. We did some quality slack-car boxing for the cemetery, but got some incredible stamp out of it =)

Lavagirl had to head home, but the rest of us hunted some more boxes and headed over to the barbecue restaurant... Those cheese fries were good (are you regretting leaving YET, Mama Wolf?) ;)

We decided to go for some night boxes... HELEN COME FORTH!! My dad's truck's engine had been spazzing out all day and I still hadn't gotten my exchange with Seattle Bound.

When we got up there, weird things began to happen......... As X and Seattle Bound were hunting the box, Seattle Bound's signature stamp disappeared... She set it on the top of her logbook right next to her and she reached down and it wasn't there. We checked all over, but it wasn't there.... And Dixie's passenger seat was up when she got back in her car...... and it wasn't any of us because we were all looking for Seattle Bound's sig stamp... But, in return for the sig stamp, the truck survived another day and got us through the 7 hour drive back home....

Thank you, Helen! But at the same time, darn it, Helen!

That's okay, because I'm going to carve her a new one within the week and send it to her, I'm hoping =)

We also picked up Undead Mayhem (great box!) and Zombie Elvis (a little freaky because of a story Mojo had told me about a usually drunk homeless man that lives near the box)...

We went back to the cabin after that around 10:30 or so... Everyone slowly started falling asleep... Except for Dixie and I... We were eating rocky road and cookie dough ice cream at 2:15 in the morning! ;D

Good times, good times =)

~BOB~

Fredricksburg!

WOW!

Just wow!

Today was a BLAST! It was the most fun day I've had in quite a long time =D

So... if you guys all follow the boards closely, you already know that Dixie, Mama Wolf, and Mojo all came up for the weekend event! Dixie wanted to learn more about her history and experience Fredricksburg, Mama Wolf wanted to exchange with me and hunt some boxes at the event, and Mojo was along for the ride! ;D

X and I woke up normal time this morning, got ready, and got on the road! It was about an hour drive to Fredricksburg... And, as we thought we were getting closer and closer, we noticed a car on the side of the road....... And, it said on the back "FREDRICKSBURG OR BUST!"...

...And, then I saw Dixie!! We were in the right spot! ;)

We got out of the car, did the hugs, and got all our stuff in order =) ...And then there was Wolf... Cussing under her breath as she approached ;D

Then, she got really excited as she saw all of us and we went into the coffee shop... Mojo joined us pretty quickly... We got our clues, my dad got his coffee, and Mama Wolf and I did our long-awaited exchange! * HALLELUJAH CHORUS IN THE BACKGROUND!*

The event organizer, Four Survivors had to get the lollipops separated for anyone who got the bonus clues... So, I decided I could help with that... And, we didn't have any scissors, so I used my ever trusty carving tool! Four Survivors asked if I wanted to get some scissors from the front desk, but I was having too great of a time! I DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' SCISSORS! ;)

Soon after finishing my job, BullDawg and Trailing Emerson joined us with their new baby Journey, as well =) We all picked up some clues...

...And we were off! After being kicked out of the coffeehouse by management (even after people offered them money to stay), we decided to hunt boxes =) Gallant Rogue decided to join us for the adventure =)

So, we went from store to store to bar to store finding nearly every single box =)

After running around in the rain, we stopped for lunch at one of the box locations. It was reeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaalllllllly good food =D Scarab came in for a short time while we waited for our food and we exchanged =) Journey fell asleep, so BullDawg and Trailing Emerson departed...

And we hunted more and more boxes, exploring stores and bars and the Confederate Cemetery. Dixie was extremely interested in all of the history there, as she should be! It was pretty cool =D

We headed over to Carl's World Famous Ice Cream, which actually serves custard, according to Ellbee =) And it was GOOD!

And we walked around town and found just one more from that point... We told stories and talked about carving... Ya know, lettergeek stuff ;D

Dinner time came around so we made our way back to the tavern... There were lots of exchanges, some hard times given... (Yes, I'm talking about you Mama Wolf!) AND..............

I GOT NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT THREE HUGS FROM WOLF! ;D

It was for a 3 Blind Mice stamp, so we had to! And there had to be photo proof.... And, Dixie was such a bad picture taker, we had to take it over and over again... We fired Dixie as the photographer after the second blurry picture and got Mojo to take it =)

Thankfully, the bad photography gene was not inherited from her mom ;)

Mama Wolf says she needs therapy, especially after having to do it three times!

So, after the hugs were done, we went upstairs, had dinner, exchanged with people, and had a raffle! I won a fancy cork to a bottle of wine and X won a box of fudge =D

Mmmmmmm.... Hopefully he's out of the house tomorrow so I can break into it before he gets the chance to =)

So, after saying our goodbyes, we departed... Agreeing we'd see each other again within a few months at future events =)

.....X and I agreed that it was a great time. I certainly wish we could do it again tomorrow! ;D

~BOB~

A Day at the Beach... in a jacket

So, I moved in a week ago officially and we got our first guests the other day: my two cousins, aunt, and uncle. We went to the beach today and guess what I wore there: a jacket! When you hear the words "beach" and "summer", you don't typically think about jackets and big shoes. But, now that we've moved to the Pacific Northwest, we should get used to the idea... It was an awesome day even though it was kind of cold... (Okay, really cold: My feet were numbed after only a few minutes in the water.) We went to the Pig and Pancake, a restaurant that's in Oregon and we all love to go there. =)

In other news, to make this about letterboxing, just a little bit... I am working on a letterbox... It's a book, a puzzle game, and it will travel from one person to another.......

I know, I know, it sounds like an 'X'box..... Well, I'm trying to follow in his footsteps in a little and not to just plant a piece of tupperware in the woods... =)

...More on that later...
~BOB~