Playin' Hooky

I looked on my work calendar a few weeks ago and saw what we would be doing on October 27. I decided then and there that this would be a day they could survive without me. So, the night before I got on AQ and LbNA and took a look at where I wanted to go. I decided to hit up the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and S.Z. Boaz Park.

I left my house around 9:00 so that I would be sure to miss the DFW rush hour. I arrived at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens around 10:30 or so. The first box I went after was one of Viewfinder's Music Boxes. I found the Blues Brothers and visited with them for a while, then moved on.

Next on my list was Puddle Splasher's Artist Series. I made my way to the appointed garden and checked in with Vincent. I spread my towel out on the wet bench (the DFW area as well as Navarro County got hit with some pretty bad storms on Sunday and Monday), and began stamping into this fantastic box. As I was stamping in, I saw a gardener inside the children's garden going about her business. So after stamping in, I whipped out my book and sat a spell. The gardener finished up her chores rather quickly, so I was able to re-hide and move on.

I then made my way to check in with Claude. I was stopped at the top of the stairs to take a picture of a lovely couple--he was from Australia, then went on my way. I easily found this box, then moved on to visit with Georgia. I even saw the turtles sunbathing as Puddle Splasher suggested I would.

Thanks to Puddle Splasher and Viewfinder for bringing me to the gardens. This was my first visit here and it was a lovely day!

After eating at Uncle Julio's for lunch, I moved on to Strawberry6703's Twilight Series. I'd been wanting to find these boxes for quite some time and was glad to have the opportunity to do so. I found the three boxes with their exquisite carvings and was thrilled. By this time, it was around 3:30, so I had to leave the rest of the boxes in the park for another day so that I could again miss the rush hour traffic.

On my way back to Navarro County, I stopped at Mansfield to find a box by Fantastic Four called The Gristmill in Mansfield. After stamping in here, it was time to head back to Navarro County and reality. :-(

West, Texas

On Saturday, Blue Butterfly and I headed out to a little town called West, TX. I'd read about the Kaska Family Farm and wanted to visit it and go through the corn maze. After talking about it, we decided to have fun at the farm, then go find a letterbox or two.

We arrived at the farm on a very cool morning. Lucky for us, not too many people were there. We went through the maze and made it safely back out again. Then, we walked around and took pictures and admired some of the little play areas and props. We decided that since there was a campfire, we would buy a s'mores kit and eat a traditional campfire snack. I roasted the marshmallows and BB put the "sandwiches" together. After this, we used our token to shoot the corn gun. Neither of us hit the target, but we had fun anyway.

After leaving the farm, we went into the town of West and found a place to eat lunch. We decided to give Leo's Mexican Food a try. We enjoyed our inexpensive meal there, then went hunting for the CZECH STOP LB. This is a beautifully carved stamp.

After this, we headed to Waco. We went after a box, that -as it turns out- we already had. By this time, I was feeling the effects of a late Friday night and was exhausted, so we turned and headed back to Navarro County.

Sunday Morning Jaunt

On Sunday morning, the day after the Middle Earth Event, Blue Butterfly left my house to go home long before I woke up. After I awakened and thought about the coming week, I decided to hit the road to find one more letterbox before starting the work week.

One of my favorite carvers and historians, Boots Tex, had recently planted a new letterbox in Walker County at a beautiful rest area. This rest area is complete with the usual restrooms and water fountains, but also features a history lesson about Sam Houston and the area, and a lovely nature trail that goes around the pond, perfect for stretching your legs on a road trip.

I printed out the clues and drove a couple of hours down to the rest area and made my way to the designated hiding place. A lovely, detailed carve found in FANTASTIC IN PLASTIC was my reward.

Thanks Boots and LSQ!