Posted by Diana on June 16, 1999 at 15:29:54:
Greetings to all,
I hope everyone is making or has made it safely home. Normally, I can't wait to get back in the swing of things after a vacation, but this is one time I must confess I was a little depressed to see such a wonderful weekend come to close. Heavy sighs when rising to the 6am alarm and getting ready for a day's work rather than an excursion to magnificent cliffs or falls with new friends.
Thanks so much to Rich and Elaine for all you've done to make the Gathering a reality again this year and for all the things you both do daily in maintaining the site and the board. You truly are the foundation and the glue for many, many memories that will long be cherished. And of course, special thanks to MMMMarcia for having such a generous spirit and big heart for making all the CRP plans and many others. And I can't imagine what an LOTM Gathering would be without Eric Hurley and Sharon. Thank you Soldier #2 for all the explanations, enthusiasm, and excitement you brought to our days in MohicanLand. And thanks Ilse, Jo, and Sarah Z. for your contributions and efforts with the T-shirts and Program Guides. They were terrific!!! And thank you to Sarah M. for helping us organize our memories of such a WONDERFUL TIME!!!! And a big Thanks to Eric Schweig for the precious gift of his time spent with us as we visited MY favorite star of LOTM - the scenic NC mountains. I was so fortunate to grow up here, and now I have such special memories there with each one of you that I met this weekend. It was truly an exceptional weekend I'll always cherish.
Lucky for us, we were able to acquire a certain Dutch Trader for a little mountain excursion on our way home. We went to Cherokee, then headed up to a rainy Mt. Pisgah, saw Sliding Rock, Looking Glass Falls, Brevard, Ceasar's Head (SC) and stopped in Greenville(SC) for dinner finally ending up in Hickory for the night ( at my Mom's ). On Tuesday morn we headed to Charlotte so Ilse could catch her plane and sadly turned toward home in eastern NC.
Sorry such a long post - just had lots to blubber out. So now I'll look forward, jump back into life and start anticipating a 3rd Annual Gathering!!!!!!(please,please,please!)
Miss you all already (in case you couldn't tell),
Diana