January 2011: Whew, what a whirlwind when I look back on it.

January started with snow in Missouri. Miss T took to it with much pleasure. We arrived in Missouri in October thinking it would be a month’s stay which turned to two, and then to three. It was a hard decision to leave and continue with plans that had already been made. My friend’s surgery and test results were not what had been hoped and she will be staying in Missouri longer than planned as well.

After much weather watching and decision making a departure dated was set. A week’s worth of good weather was forecast, and like most forecasts (it seems) was unreliable. On the way out I enjoyed a marvelous visit with a friend in Poplar Bluff who met our visit with letterboxing clues in hand. The irony of this is that she is not a boxer, not pretends to be a boxer, yet has checked out all the boxes local to her area and kept track of the ones that disappeared. I found this funny and am trying to cajole her into at least coming up with a trail name and stamp. One of our stops was at an historical house/museum with a cute little guy painting in the back yard.

We made it nearly out of Tennessee before having to stop. Two marvelous days of boxing with Hale’s Angel and a day with Rowdy Rodeo Rooster and then the storm came up from the south and no one was going anywhere. It’s one thing to drive my little car over the pass in questionable weather, but driving 13 ton towing the car made me a bit nervous so we stayed put as the snow piled up.

Finally, six months after leaving Washington, we arrived in North Carolina. None to soon it seems as the snow in Missouri is arriving in the 10s of inches this week, not just an inch or two and some ice. North Carolina still had some snow but it didn’t keep us off the trails. With this last storm making its way across the Midwest and Northeast United States, we seem to be spared. There are some mighty fine trails here and Miss T and I have logged over 13 miles since arriving. Our first trek was to the top of Mount Baker in the snow. Silly MissT ran up and down the creek then up and down the hills in the snow without a care to the temperatures.

On the first weekend after our arrival the two year olds got to meet. Logan wasn’t too sure about Miss T licking him, but by the time we left Logan was licking Miss T. A bonus was the opportunity to meet almost a dozen Virginia Beach boxers for dinner, exchanges and fun. Just a few were BB Stacker, J and J of Virginia and Casa de Sol; a great group of people I look forward to seeing again.

The trip to Virginia confirmed my affinity to take my *house* with me on overnights, but fuel prices and the number of miles I anticipate this year make that prohibitive. So I have opted for a yearly rate in this RV park (better price, better site) and will be taking the car on all the jaunts. However, figuring out what all needs to go into the pile of luggage feels a little overwhelming for short trips. What kind of trips? More trips to see Lindsey and Logan, trips to other states for boxing events, meeting longtime online friends for the first time face to face, and hopefully, working again on the family history project I started years ago. Our people settled this area when they leapt the pond. I have binders and binders full of dates and research; now I just want to find the stories. What happened during the dash (xxxx – xxxx).

North Carolina has not been without meeting and greeting and boxing either. There was the mini meet and eat with The Seekers followed two weeks later by 30 boxers out for Italian at the Movie Madness the Musical pre-event. Movie Madness, a musical movie themed letterboxing event drew in the neighborhood of 100 people. There was more fun than one could possibly have in just one day. Some of the attendees I still need to actually meet as we passed on the trails like ships in the night.

Whew, are you worn out yet? I am. Even so, off we went boxing again today in the drizzle. Feels good to be back on the trails again.

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