Fancy Meeting You Here!
EAST COAST ROAD TRIP, Chapter 61:IN WHICH THE BABY STEALS THE SHOW
Once we all hugged profusely and recovered from the shock of crossing paths so unexpectedly, we stamped in and then found a couple of other nearby letterboxes before separating and driving off in opposite directions.
Needless to say, Kendyll's beautiful baby Anna (Willow Sapling) was the best little letterboxer of all, so she was rewarded with many hugs and kisses, which she accepted graciously.
Now we know how to turn a dull travel day into a delight...stumble upon your fabulous cousins!
DAILY STATS
Day 60: Princetown, WV to Asheville, NC. Headed on a definite path back toward the furnace we call Georgia, we left West Virginia this morning wanting to just log some miles and get to Asheville, where we needed to do some maintenance on a letterbox we planted there.
We found a few letterboxes along the way, none too special, and continued down the road. Our route today was back on the interstates: I-77 to I-81 to I-26. This would take us through the corners of Virginia and Tennessee and into North Carolina.
With a letterbox waiting there, we pulled in to the parking lot at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-81 in the early afternoon. We had yet to eat lunch, so we decided to prepare some sandwiches before looking for the box. Finally we reviewed the letterbox clue and headed out. Walking toward the hiding spot at the opposite end of the parking lot, we saw a couple of women scaling the hill and approaching the multi-trunk tree that held the box.
"Those women have to be letterboxers," Ken said. "Let's go introduce ourselves and exchange stamp images with them." Before we reached the hill, we heard someone knocking on the window of a nearby vehicle. Turning to look, we were stunned to see our cousin Kyle from Gallatin, Tennessee.
We immediately realized that the women we saw climbing the hill were his mother and sister, our letterboxing cousins Alison and Kendyll (Songbird and Willow Sage, by their letterboxing trail names). They were on their way home from a trip to Virginia. We couldn't wait to surprise them.
We found a few letterboxes along the way, none too special, and continued down the road. Our route today was back on the interstates: I-77 to I-81 to I-26. This would take us through the corners of Virginia and Tennessee and into North Carolina.
With a letterbox waiting there, we pulled in to the parking lot at the Tennessee Welcome Center on I-81 in the early afternoon. We had yet to eat lunch, so we decided to prepare some sandwiches before looking for the box. Finally we reviewed the letterbox clue and headed out. Walking toward the hiding spot at the opposite end of the parking lot, we saw a couple of women scaling the hill and approaching the multi-trunk tree that held the box.
"Those women have to be letterboxers," Ken said. "Let's go introduce ourselves and exchange stamp images with them." Before we reached the hill, we heard someone knocking on the window of a nearby vehicle. Turning to look, we were stunned to see our cousin Kyle from Gallatin, Tennessee.
We immediately realized that the women we saw climbing the hill were his mother and sister, our letterboxing cousins Alison and Kendyll (Songbird and Willow Sage, by their letterboxing trail names). They were on their way home from a trip to Virginia. We couldn't wait to surprise them.
Now we know how to turn a dull travel day into a delight...stumble upon your fabulous cousins!
DAILY STATS
- Miles driven: 259
- Letterboxes: 6
- New schoolbuses in transit: 28
- Cows lying in the shade: 389
- Surprised cousins: 5 (The baby wasn't fazed.)
TUESDAY, 29 JUNE 2010
