A Potpourri of Thoughts

Firstly, I'd like to say a special THANK YOU to Wyvern of Potsdam, NY. I sent her a stamp for her Drive In/Drive Thru/Drive By event and got a very special present in the mail this week for my participation. Letterboxers are some of the most thoughtful people!

In other news, I've gotten a new idea for a personal traveller. From the beginning of my LBing career, I made a personal decision to have only one PT at a time, so if I am able to make this new traveller work, then RAMONA QUIMBY will be retired. She's had a good run, and I've had a lot of fun with her. I hope some of you enjoyed her, too. Anyhow, the new PT that I have in mind will have something to do with one of my favorite TV shows, THE OFFICE.

Completely off topic from letterboxing, I've been able to sleep at my own convenience for the past few weeks. Tonight, however, I will be forced to set the alarm and get up at a decent hour and report to work. No more late night movies. No more late night AQ surfing. Just me, watching the backs of my eyelids. I guess I have to pay for all these LBing trips somehow!

Happy Trails!

It MUST be obvious....

(Red, White and Blueberry Group Photo-July 2007)

that I enjoy letterboxing. I thought I'd written about this previously, but I checked my facts and realized that I hadn't. So, here's the story: I met a young letterboxer named Mr. Monster Jr. at the first TALKK Event in November 2006. Fast forward to the following July when I went out to the RED WHITE AND BLUEBERRY Event, also hosted by Mama Cache. I was working on solving a clue with Ducky D when Mr. Monster Jr. came up to me and said, "Lucy Locket, is this what you MAINLY do?" I told the young lad that Yes, this IS what I mainly do....for fun. I told him that I also have a job that I go to every day. He seemed satisfied with that answer.

Hwy 21 LBing Run

Blue Butterfly and I made plans to head out to Nacogdoches today. We also decided that we'd be a little more adventurous and hit a few other towns along Hwy 21. The first box we hit this morning was Nac Trail Cat's THE LAMPLITE PLAYHOUSE. This was a fun one to stamp into and easy to find. Then, we headed out about 2 miles off of Hwy 59 and found GARDEN OF GOOD EATIN'. This was Blue Butterfly's 600th letterbox! Congrats to BB on such a milestone!!

(BB at the site of her 600th Letterbox)

We found one or two more boxes in Nac and checked on a couple of my boxes, then went to Auntie Pasta's for lunch. After this, we decided it was time to head west on 21 towards Alto. We easily found a few boxes in Alto, mostly planted by JB Kokopelli. My favorite was THE OLD PEPPER TREE. I've passed that tree several times over the years, but never stopped to take a look. This time, I had the perfect excuse!

We made it to Mission Tejas SP in Weches (also on Hwy 21). Blue Butterfly had found most of the boxes here, but she had her sights set on THE PIPE BANGERS: FRAGGLE ROCK SERIES. She'd missed this one when she'd made a previous trip. So, we found TEJAS BELL and NABEDACHE first, then looked at the map so we could follow the clues to PIPE BANGERS.

We headed out on our trek and followed the map very carefully to the CCC baths. We read the instructions and began looking for the box. No luck. We looked for the proper arrangement of logs, but we just couldn't find the box. Blue Butterfly and I sat down on the bench as disappointment hit us both. We sat there for a few minutes and BB said, "I'm gonna try again". She donned her special box-sniffing gear and headed back over to the area where we thought the box would be hidden. Eureka! She found it! WEEE HEEE! We happily stamped in, then re-arranged the logs back to their original style for future finders. After this, we huffed it back to the van, then headed for BB's house. It was a great day for letterboxing.

(LL at the CCC Baths at Mission Tejas SP)

The stamps I earned today:
The Lamplite Playhouse
Farm House
Garden of Good Eatin'
POWs at La Petit Mont Rouge
The Old Pepper Tree
Why Is Mary Weeping?
Tejas Bell
Nabedache
The Pipe Bangers: Fraggle Rock Series
Astro Star HH

Friendly Birds

(The dipping vat where cattle were brought to be dipped as a safeguard against ticks)

I had to work a few days this week (I know....woe is me, right?), but of course I had Friday off. I was planning on heading out to Blue Butterfly's house so that we could do some letterboxing on Saturday, but I decided to take the long way out. My main objective was to make it to Mineola so that I could snag her BIRDS IN A TREE SERIES. On the way, though, I stopped in Canton and picked up THE DIPPING VAT.



I passed the historical marker for the actual dipping vat itself, and decided I'd take a look at it on my way out after having stamped in. So, when my LB duties were completed, I drove back to the marker and read the information, then walked on down to take a look at this actual piece of history. As I was about to get back into my car, a man on a tractor yelled, "HEY!" So I went over and talked to him and he asked me if I knew what I was looking at over there. I told him that I read the information on the marker, then we had a little discussion about it.



I hopped back in the car and headed toward Mineola. When I got into town, I first found GRANDPA'S POCKET WATCH by Wag Time, then headed over to the Nature Preserve.

I noticed a little garden near the parking lot and the trail head, and stopped to enjoy what few flowers were blooming. As I walked down the trail, I saw a little open-ended shack and walked over to investigate it. This housed a beehive that you can open and look into. They have a couple of steps that children can stand on to get a close look at the bees. Then, I headed down into the wooded area and found the boxes. There are several wildlife viewing areas and a couple of nice bridges in this preserve. I enjoyed finding these boxes and walking along this trail. After I finished up, I headed to Blue Butterfly's house and we prepared for our next day's adventure!

(I picked up a few hitch hikers along the way, unfortunately, I can't log any of them!)