With genie $2,000,000 without genie $20

Tracks and tressle

Now what do y'all reckon this many letterboxers could possibly be doing in one place? 

Just maybe

Now with the addition of a smartphone I hope maybe...  just maybe to do a bit more blogging but I realize how much I really miss letterboxing and my old online friends.   Maybe this phone can help me to reconnect.

Pathtags! i am having a blast with pathtags. to see some designs of mine go to treasureHikersUSA.com and check out the galleries in the links there. :)

? I :l/???v D ???2H^ ???0=?v???0??r%A?7? ??t??>??@?4 ??A???, ?Ap?[] ????;?>?@ a?~/???qXnO?? ?[
?Ae{?M ????? ??A?r? ???n ??N???0h ???

this is a test ;)
i now am bogging by phone

Mountain Letterboxing Challenge

The thoughts and ideas behind the "Mountain Challenge" has been playing out in my brain for a few months. It is an award program for letterboxers willing to challenge and push themselves to find some of our Mountain letterboxes in the southern Appalachians of mainly western NC.

The challenge includes some previously existing boxes as well as some brand new ones planted this summer. There are more boxes planned and awaiting placement and clues.

The boxes will be considered a challenge either because there are on a long hike or for some reason such as a challenging clue or location to reach. The boxes that will count as a challenge box will be predetermined and be listed as such on the website when it is up and running. Some boxes are already on the list of challenge boxes...so if you want to get started earning your award you may contact me (dixie) for the list of letterboxes already approved as challenges.

The award will be a new Mountain Challenge pathtag and/or patch. We are leaning toward the pathtag as the award at this time.

Stay tuned...

Can you believe...

It's been more than a year since I posted here :(
Yikes.

I have posted on my art blogs and LTC blog but not here.
The past 2 years have been weird for me but I think I may feel a good change coming on.
I hope so :)

My latest biggest project was the Treasure Hiker website
and designing the NC Treasure Hiker pathtags. Mama Fox just got word today that those have finally been shipped so we should see them soon. Woo Hoo!

Now my next big thing should be getting the Mountain Letterboxing Challenge underway.
I already have some super challenging letterboxes from noydb and others lined up to be part of this... as well as some incredible carvings from master carvers coming this way.

Stay tuned....

which flower?

wow...
the NC board went nuts today with this questionaire...
What Kind of Flower are You?

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

Mine said: "You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

Meetin' in the Mountains

it wont be long...
there will be another meeting in the mountains...
this time on the TN side of the Smokies!
I can't wait... I get to meet folks I thought I would never ever get the chance to meet from up North and also some like mstrwndl who gave me friendship and support when i was down and out. I can't wait to meet this wonderful bunch in Gatlinburg

Pub Crawl went BUST

I have apologized countless times and I still feel horrible...
but the Asheville Letterboxing Pub Crawl just couldn't come to be this time.
I still have it in my thoughts and hope to find a better time for it when it can be planned for well enough.

I only have a few short winter months to work with for organizing or attending events...
y'all let me know if you have some time to put into the planning of this future Pub Crawl.
It just sounds like too much fun to let it fall through the cracks... oh, and I have too many ideas on it too ;)

in your honor...

update:
The results are in 73% of those who voted say they'd rather have a traditional letterbox planted in their honor over the 27% who chose a Hitch hiker. Thanks for voting :)

-----------------------------

Here on this blog is a new poll listed for one night only!

Which would you rather be planted in your honor?
Please take the poll :-)

Who-zee #1 Blunder

I apologize folks for the Blunder I made on my first Who-zeewhatsit. The error has been fixed but it wiped out the voting that had taken place. Do you mind taking the poll again? I am truly sorry for the hassle. Thank for participating :-)

Who-zee Letterboxers?

Whozee what?
a Who-zeewhatsit!
My who-zeewhatsits are photos of a possible letterboxer in the past. Along with the images are polls where you will have choices as to who you think the photos are of. Play along and take the polls. The first Who-zeewhatsit is up and ready for your vote.

letterboxers revealed

In a recent blog entry I asked, "Who in the World is that?" as you were shown a photo of two smiling faces from years gone by. With the picture was a poll which officially closed today.
The poll also asked "Who in the World is That?" and gave 7 possibilities and a chance to vote.
The results are in. A total of 69 of you voted and here is how the voting breaks down:

• famous NHRA driver and his spokesperson - 2 votes - 2%
• dixie & one of those gang members she keeps running off with - 1 vote - 1%
• those behind the Dharma Initiative on LOST - 3 votes - 4%
• 2fist4 and Dixie 10 years ago - 31 votes - 44%
• two hillbillys running moonshine in the back of their hotrods - 14 votes - 20%
• a curmudgeon and his better half - 11 votes - 15%
• the Wolf pack leaders before becoming bald and Darth like - 7 votes - 10%

So the voting letterboxing public has done it.
They have revealed 2 letterboxers....
2fist4 and Dixie back 10 years ago. Dixie looking much different nowadays. This picture was unrecognizable even to Mojo.

but thing is...
just maybe the voters see something here.
There are two popular answers...
just maybe these people are both...
the hillbillys 2fist4 and Dixie running moonshine out of the backs of their hotrods 10 years ago... and as far as the 7 who voted for the Wolf pack before becoming Bald and Darth like... now that's funny right there
*chuckle*

Hale on the River

short notice...
but here is Hale on the River
There are still many letterboxes at this small park from the weekend of the Mystery event. This would be a perfect opportunity to meet Hale s Angel and get some fun boxes in one small river park.

who in the world is that?

to catch a gosox

oh my goodness...
how should I start...
and just how much should I tell?

the beginning?
well, it was already known that GoSox had no "exchanges" and hadn't been to a letterbox gathering. He, himself, says he's just an ole curmudgeon... but after the subject came back in to new light... I asked a question that was followed with this answer that got the interest sparked a bit. Yep... it was a topic of interest and one to have fun with. Mama Wolf seemed pretty determined to call him out into our world of stamping frenzies. gosox played along... teasing us with cooties and doing it more than once... but also making it plain that the only way to catch him was to catch him at a box.

all pretty innocent and fun... no biggy!
The day for the Mountain Mystery & Legends Gathering approached. Everyone had fun... no one put much thought into folks who hadn't signed up for the event except to say how we miss certain Wolves and such. It wasn't mentioned or a big deal that we still wouldn't get an exchange with GoSox.
well, that is until someone went and upped the stakes...
or shall we say... added a whole new dimension of determination.
Oh boy... he had just made it interesting ;)
What lengths am I willing to go to when the aspect of
sheer determination is involved? That was for me to know and GoSox to find out ;-)

to be continued...

• part 2

• the final chapter

to catch a gosox - pt.2

Sunday morning after the gathering...
me, Mojo and Mountain Scorpia are boxing...
She had never been to Helen's Bridge.
While stamping in to Helen's Haunt and discussing the fact that GoSox had announced how he went undetected at the gathering etc... we hatched a plan. First was to find internet access... ah yes...Malaprop's bookstore downtown would be a perfect place. Well...long story short here... we planted a "lure". A one day only box and we sat like a pack of rabid wolves (pun absolutely intended) waiting on GoSox to take the bait while we filled out bellies with Asiana cuisine. I really didn't expect it to work...afterall...GoSox was likely home watching football, cooking and drinking a brewsky...but it was worth a try and it sure made our meal a great deal of fun. *laugh*

*sigh*
A handful of us vowed we'd get him "one of these days" and here is where some of us went our separate ways after a fun weekend. Now to get a few boxes with The Little Foxes and to start thinking about that Pub Crawl idea that had been in my head for awhile. Some even felt the pub crawl would be a way to lure GoSox. *nodding* That was a very good possibility... but not my reason for wanting to do it... but a very good secondary reason indeed ;-)

I can never figure myself out.
I mean... sometimes I have patience to last a dozen folks...
other times... I get a determination that has no patience at all.
This was one of those times...
I had to at least try to figure out how to catch this guy and get an exchange.
Surely I could do this... after all... I always wanted to be a detective.

First to pick my own brain...
what do I remember about GoSox and his past emails to me?
Then... to start compiling clues and info from Atlas Quest.
Surely between emails, posts and his profile I can get a bit closer.

In a post just before the gathering I announced the Chicken Alley letterbox and asked people to please don't go at night or alone. Of course GoSox has to go against the grain just a tad and he consequently had given me a time frame and a general area that he is working downtown.

There was barely enough time to let the excitement of the Mystery gathering to die down when I listed Asheville's 1st PUB CRAWL. The NC boards also had an incredibly long message thread going on about the Pub Crawl.

I asked for other suggestions of pubs that are downtown and close in...
we don't want a bunch of drunk...er...fun loving letterboxers trying to drive to and fro to get to the next rubber stamp in a pub. We all know what we will do for a letterbox. anyway... GoSox gave his list of downtown pubs and some were great suggestions I had never heard of.

Then buried within that same bunch of messages was a post that gives me the notion that maybe we will be actually served by gosox as a bartender during this pub crawl. Ahhh.. and there is his first name too. Which... I think it was Mama Fox that had already told me she thought that was his name. Yep...right she was.

ka ching...
maybe I am one step closer yet. I just decided to write and ask GoSox...
are you a bartender? No. He used to be one. Dad gum it! So, I asked what he does do in an email. He replied "See...if I tell you this....I will give away my position.... I do work near Chicken Alley on Tuesday nights..... I work at places you will visit on the Pub Crawl...."

Most of this I already knew...
but now there was one new key element... Tuesday nights
*eye brow wiggle*
about this same time or the next day or so after is when things began to fall into place for me. I also found something within AQ that once I followed it's direction... I was shown his name. *snicker* What about that... now I know his middle initial and last name too. Then I knew I was gonna get him. How long would it be? Hard to say but it was not something that could wait a whole month. *shaking head*

Hey wait...
what was that thing that GoSox says he does?
No, no... not sunbathing nekkid in cemeteries in frigid January weather. That other thing. Oh yeah... there is a post about that stuff but I had the help of a sly Fox in finding it.

At this point I pretty much had all the info in front of me except for one thing...
it was like I had completed a puzzle and all that I had left to fill in was one empty spot...but I had 6 pieces left. Which piece would be the right piece... or shall I say place?

Tuesday rolls around...
this is it. This is the day I give it my first try.
Now... I think I am gonna get close to GoSox and may even nail him but I just knew "he aint gonna have his siggy stamp with him" so I set out on another scheme. Maybe if I called Chicken enough and at the right time... maybe he would take his ink and stamp with him. Oh...and this isn't all the effort and lengths that I went to ;-)

On my way now to Asheville... after a good hour of arguing with Mojo. She wanted to "bust him" as bad as me. Anyway... the whole way I am figuring how in the world am I gonna act in a bar no less. Geez. I quit that scene at least 12 years ago. Only one option... keep mama Fox on my side. We were letting our thumbs do the talking.

My first thing I needed to do was to check in Chicken Alley to see if maybe I could just catch him there... or maybe I can take a photo or two. There was no one in Chicken Alley. I definitely feel a different sense here sometimes. A few hurried photos here and back off to find parking. Something was happening at the civic center and town was packed with parked cars.

I found the place that I had reasoned was my best option as that place I was gonna catch a curmudgeon beer drinking boxer. I walked through trying to decide where to sit. Not at the bar... no way! I settled in the back of a darkened room with red globed lighting and cozy booths. I asked my waiter about their Tuesday night happenings. I liked his answer. Not only will my victim be here on this night but he will not be coming in to hand over some papers and leave as I thought might be the case... but he will be hanging around for awhile. *proud as punch*

Reporting in to my lifeline... Mama Fox... We texted each other the whole evening and this time it was to report that "I think this is gonna work". Her reply was simple but an excited "WOO HOO!"

I sat there a good 2 hours... trying to get my PDA to connect to the in house wifi and drinking diet coke. I watched each person coming and going. At one point I even did get the PDA to connect to AQ and I tried posting. It was tough but I managed a few short messages. One was about Chicken Alley, another was a tall tale and another was just for fun. Sometime after this last post the door of the establishment opened and in came the answer to my hopes on this day. I just knew it was him.

I waited nervously *heart pounding* while I also sat there having to force myself to keep the giggles and snickers under control and quiet. I didn't want these people to call the authorities because I was acting a bit looney.

Now...
how was I gonna approach him? What was I gonna do?
I got it... back on the phone to my life line. I text mama Fox and asked her to search for a mention of GoSox's favorite beer. I knew he didn't just have one cause I had read some of his beer posts but I had never kept a mental note of them. I figured I'd send him a beer with a note attached "From: Dixie" and then I'd just sit and wait on him to look down my way. Ya see... I couldn't see him from where I was but I could hear him doing his job up on the level above me where the bar is. So I giggled as I imagined him looking around to find who he thought might be Dixie.

Mama Fox came through as always and guess what she found... it's a post... called Functional Beer Drinking listing favorite beers with certain foods. She wanted me to try the one he likes with boiled peanuts... the Dixie Voodoo Lager.
*snort*
Did I just do that out loud? in this restaurant?
*more laughs*
You can't make this stuff up... Dixie Voodoo indeed.
*another snort while sitting all alone* That poor waiter.

to be continued...