Camp Crop A Lot

I just went to the best scrapbooking retreat I've ever been at. I attended Camp Crop A Lot, hosted by my Facebook Friend (who I had never met) and her friend/down-line. Do these two girls know how to put on an event!

It all started with a common interest in a cocker spaniel named Taz (actually two cocker spaniels named Taz) and the wonders of a social media website called Facebook. Is it so strange that an old lady like me would travel from Minnesota to Ohio to scrapbook with 52 other scrappers that I had never met? Well, a friend and I did just that and we're still in shock at how AMAZING the venture turned out to be.

We left MN at 6:00 am on Thursday and enjoyed each others company along the most scenic fall drive through Wisconsin, into Illinois, Indiana, and then Ohio. Other than a stop for pizza in Chicago and about 7 toll booth stops, we drove straight here. At the last toll booth, we we're so happy to get a cheerful attendant, we couldn't help but start up a conversation with her. She asked us where we were going and when we told her she seemed really interested and said she used to scrapbook. Then she asked us what was new and we told her - DIGITAL. That really got her interested but she didn't seem to grasp it, so we invited her to stop by the retreat so we could show it to her.

Have you followed that so far? We were going somewhere we've never been, to scrapbook with people we've never met, and we invited someone else we didn't know to join us! YIKES. No wonder some of the campers were worried that we might be stalkers.

Well, if it had turned out bad, you wouldn't be hearing about it. We'd go home and tell everyone we had a great time, but secretly we'd be really upset that we spent the time and money doing something so strange.

But, that's not what happened. EVERYONE and EVERYTHING was perfect. The people we're so AWESOME, the accommodations GREAT, we accomplished so much, and even made the cut and got invited back!

In the picture are me and my friend from MN, the two CM consultants that hosted the crop, and our new toll booth friend. Simply amazing that this all started with a picture of a cocker spaniel named Taz on a website.

We're packed and ready to head home tomorrow morning, but we're taking back with us much more than completed projects. We have developed friendships that I think will last us for the rest of our lives. And, thanks to Facebook and scrapbooking, we'll be able to stay in touch and share our passions with each other until we see each other again. How cool is that?