I had been pondering attending the Gargoyle Preserve event for quite a while but originally had to put the idea aside since there were other family plans in the works. When those plans fell through, I happily signed up for the event and now have so many wonderful memories that I am glad that I did. I made my way towards West Virginia on a beautiful Friday afternoon, hoping to reach the preserve before dark. Ironically, when I stopped at a rest stop for what I knew would be my last real bathroom use for the weekend, I ran into Idlemoon and Blue Delft, who had actually left an hour earlier than I did and from York which is an hour closer to the preserve than Reading. My luck at using the turnpike and other roads which are 65 mph paid off as they had to use the tedious start and stop driving Rt. 30, to get to where we met. It turned out to be to my advantage to run into them because we were able to pick up two new boxes there that I might have passed by. We parted ways temporarily as I had to stop to eat before I continued on the last leg of the journey. I eventually entered the state of West Virginia and made a stop for a letterbox at this sign.
I made one more stop for a box before heading to the preserve and enoyed this view of bovine wooly bums.
I managed to make it to the preserve before the sunset and met our host, Gargoyle Bob, who directed me to my home away from home for the weekend. Idlemoon and Blue Delft had arrived before me and were busy setting up their campsite while their boys kept busy with the chess board that they had brought.
As I began to look around, I quickly decided that this was an absolutely beautiful setting for an event and an even more beautiful spot for a home.
I began to notice the event theme was more than just an event theme here, it was a way of life as little touches of gargoyles, fairies and gnomes were apparent everywhere.
We had been warned by WebCatcher aka Mrs. Castlekeeper that there would be chickens roaming the campsites the next morning, and sure enough, there were. These were not the usual white chickens with red combs though and they were great models for photos.
I am an early riser and I was up and about before most of the other people, enjoying the views and getting acquainted with the layout of the land. This gorgeous view is what the Castlekeepers see from the big windows in the front of their home.
And this lovely gargoyle is what I saw from the window of my temporary home.
Our message board was in place and already sported instructions for our searches. Our poor hosts had been up all night placing last minute boxes and took some time to enjoy some much needed sleep but we were definitely not going to wonder what to do while they rested.
Beautiful views were within our site the entire weekend. Below are a few.
This view may not have been as beautiful but it certainly was a source of fascination for many of us, especially the mini boxers. This and the last two pictures above were on the island across the river.
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