SOHT 2014

SOHT was the first time since my engagement that we got to go out and letterbox. My school is located out in the middle of nowhere and I don't drive, so I haven't really gotten to letterbox which makes me sad.


Anyway, October 11th was SOHT. I've been looking forward to going to SOHT again. I've really enjoyed the event and going out into the middle of nowhere, away from noxers. And luckily it was a nice day for a letterbxing event.


Tyrus and I did engagement pictures before we left for the event. Well...we need to redo the photos. But, after the photo shoot we left for the event, got lost, got on the right path, got lost again, and finally made it.


This year was....different. I'm not sure what it was. It was just different from the past ones we've gone to. Usually as soon as we arrive we are swarmed by people wanting to do trades, especially when there are new people there and I know there were many boxers there I had never met before. This year we weren't approached by many people, and those who did I would consider close letterboxing friends.
Tyrus and I decided to hit the trails right away because we are normally the last ones to find the boxes because we are usually busy doing trades. It took us way longer than I thought it would to find the boxes. It was mainly my fault because I kept stopping and showing Tyrus all the different types of tree where there(I'll explain this in my next post).
Speaking of trees.... there were Tulip trees EVERYWHERE. Tulip trees are my favorite trees.

Tulip Trees

The trail were a little muddy from the week of rain but it was such a nice day out. The boxes were neat with some good carves, but I've noticed that stamps were reused from previous years, but that's understandable since this event is held every year.
There were 3 day trails and we only got two of the three. I was a bit sad we didn't grab the last ones since it was a series about Safari Man, but we were just way too tiered.
When we got back a lot of people left in the time that we were out boxing. It was surprising because it was only about 4:30 and all that were left were mainly those who were camping. So we missed a lot of trading opportunities there... We did hang out a bit and ate. I grabbed some of the table top boxes that I hadn't already gotten, but again not many people wanted to converse with me. From my experience you always have someone to talk to... Most conversations I had with people was them congratulating me and Tyrus on our engagement and then it was over. I don't know if this year was just a "been there, done that" year where people just wanted to get the stamps and leave or that I just appeared to not be approachable or interested...
There was also a lot of debates about things that people didn't really have any idea what they were talking about(not going to go into details) which can get very hostile very fast and was just awkward to listen to.
There was also a lot of kids this year(that or I just never really noticed them) which isn't a big deal, until they are out of control and running around all over the place and beating each other with any straight object they could find. And with children being rowdy comes yelling, and with that comes barking from dogs, and from that can come more yelling and crying and the whole thing just puts other people in awkward situations.
And there was alcohol. I don't know if there has been alcohol at past event and I never noticed, but I definitely noticed this year. I don't know. I've just always had this idea of letterboxing being a clean and family friendly activity. And at events I usually feel like it should be a safe, clean, and friendly environment with not a lot of cussing, profanity, alcohol or violent acts. I don't know, that's just me. I like being able to get together with a group of people, a group of adults, and feel like I am in a safe clean environment to do something we all love. Now, I'm not saying the event this year was awful and unsafe, but there just seemed to be a lot of awkwardness and almost drama. If I wanted to deal with some of the stuff that was going on I would go back to high school.
Did anyone else who attended this year feel like it was different? Like there was just a weird and awkward vibe in the air?

Once it got dark out and the fire really got going I made more s'mores than I should have and then we left. We didn't go night boxing this year unfortunately.

I was a okay time this year I guess. I really enjoyed getting to see many friendly faces and those who helped Tyrus out with the proposal. And a thank you to the R gang for another year of SOHT! Next year Tyrus and I will be able to camp for the event as rather newly weds.

So before I sign off I have some questions for those reading,

What kind of environments do you like for letterboxing events?
How do you feel about alcohol at events that are not at facility serving alcohol and have children around?

~Catchow