Mark & Sue Pepe hail from Kensington, CT USA.

After finding our initial box in June 2002, we have since found letterboxes in 18 states and placed them in 13 states; 4 countries: Aruba, Bermuda, The Netherlands, Great Britain; and on a cruise ship! Thanks for stopping by our website and we appreciate your continued support.

"Have fun and just get out there & box!!!"

Email us: mjpepe1@comcast.net (Mark) or suepepe1@comcast.net (Sue)

Thursday, June 22, 2006

Ithaca is . . . .

TERRIFICA!

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The great view that we all experienced from the pavilion

The gathering in Ithaca this past Saturday was a whole group of things: hot, fun, busy, mischievous, and chocked full of waterfalls, gorges, friends, exchanges, boxes and WOM's.

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Our own little piece of boxing heaven - our pavilion

Sue & I left Kensington on Friday evening bound for our first stop - the midway point motel in Liberty, NY where we would spend Sue's birthday! After a good night's rest and a quick breakfast, we were off to the big I - Ithaca and Turtle McQ's gathering! We arrived at Stewart Park about 11:30 am and quickly found the smaller pavilion where we saw some familiar faces. Stewart Park is a small community park located at the very tip of one of the Finger Lakes with nice facilities and great lake views.

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Jump into the exchange pool - the water's fine!

After unloading our gear, we said hello to old friends like Turtle McQ, TGD, Ryan & Amanda, Silent Doug and Clueless and others. We then jumped into the exchange pool and the water was fine! It was fun to meet some New Yorkers whom we've corresponded with but never met like JackBear and Joystar, Sprite & Highlander and Peace & Balance (sounds like 60's rock groups, no?) We also enjoyed meeting, talking with and exchanging with new people - listening to their stories of how they heard about letterboxing and what they liked most about this hobby that brought together such a diverse group as was assembled here on a hot day to Ithaca, NY in June!

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Da Girlz: Amanda from Seattle, Turtle McQ and Clueless

When Turtle McQ met us at the car when we first arrived, she told us she had arranged a little surprise for Sue. Since Friday was her birthday, Angele had hidden a birthday box for Sue and handed the clues to her. The directions at the pavilion stated that boxers must find the person celebrating a birthday, sing Happy Birthday to them and then they would receive the clues. It also turned out that Scout was celebrating a birthday as well so there were 2 clue-givers available for the special "Bonne Fete" box which translates from French Canadian to Happy Birthday. The stamp was nicely carved by Ryan (Green Tortuga) and just the thought added a special twist to the day for Mrs. Pinecone. Sue is always the quiet half of this duo and is never in the spotlight so it was great to see her experience some letterboxing love aimed just at her. Thanks, Angele and Ryan for arranging this special little surprise for Sue. After spending her birthday in the car Friday night driving to Libery, this was a welcomed belated gift! Last year, we celebrated Sue's birthday in the car driving to Michigan! Do you see a pattern here????

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Boy - did we want to jump in here!

After settling in, we went out to get some of the boxes in Stewart Park - some WOM's and some published for the event. The great event stamp was carved by Mama Bear and held a clue itself for another box called "Ithaca Is . . ." Our group headed out to find that box first and we were first finders. It seems that when Mama Bear hid this box, there was a homeless person asleep on the bench where she had planned to hide the box. She gently placed it there; not wanting to wake the sleeping man. She told us she had no choice to hide it there since the clues were already carved into the event stamp!

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A very special jumbo kinda box!

Silent Doug found the box under the then vacant, blanket-covered bench. After we all stamped into the box, we noticed that the homeless man was back on his bench. Now what were we to do? After some conferring, we decided that the clue located on the event stamp, featured 8 footsteps from the bridge, could be placed on the other side of the bridge, away from the curious homeless person and making it much easier for others that would be hunting the box later in the day. All ended well! When our group returned to the pavilion, I told Mama Bear what we had done and she was pleased to know others could now steer clear of "the bench."

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Colum, CrunchyMama's son -is that a beautiful baby or what?

The rest of the day was a blur~meeting new boxers, getting reacquainted with old friends, picking at the pot luck table and just enjoying the boxing talk that was rampant both in the pavilion and at the picnic tables surrounding it. Sometimes we like to just sit back and watch the fun! The enthusiasm that letterboxing creates among strangers and friends is really amazing. After all - they're only stamps! But the time and care and friendships behind those stamps make it such a great way to spend a day, or a vacation - or a lifetime~ :-)

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The gang: Lori & Brian of TGD, Turtle McQ, Amanda & Ryan (GT)
and Sue & Mark

We'd like to thank Turtle McQ, our dear friend, for encouraging us to attend this event, although it didn't take much. We had heard so much about last years event and were sorry that we were in MI to miss it. Sue and I had a blast on Saturday, as it seems everyone else did. One thing is for certain - we'll be back next year for sure!!!

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One of the many beautiful sights that Ithaca had to offer




posted by Mark and Sue at Thursday, June 22, 2006