Checking Out and Heading Home

On Tuesday morning, I awoke before dawn and checked out of Boudreaux's Boarding House. I headed back toward Baton Rouge because there were still a few boxes that I wanted to stamp into there. On my way through Baker, the "police photo squad" was out snapping pictures of speeding cars. I REALLY hope they weren't getting me!!

I made it to the capitol grounds in Baton Rouge on this foggy morning. I stopped to admire the water and the birds, then off to find the boxes!

I started off by looking for BIG BANG IN A LITTLE BOX. This one was very cleverly hidden and on a sunny day, probably provided a great view. After wiping off the gun powder, so to speak, I went hunting for THE LA SENATOR. One part of the clue says you are supposed to be able to see the capital building, but with the fog, it was impossible. I did find the senator there and easily stamped in. It was nice being there early with not too many people around!

After this, I headed to the LSU campus, where I wanted to find a puzzle box. I drove around LSU a bit and thought I'd found the right place, then doubted myself. I kept driving a little further, then decided I needed to get back on the road. As it turns out, I was in the right place the first time. I should have pulled around the back to find the box....I guess I'll have to go back!!

After this, it was a pretty uneventful drive to Lake Charles. In Lake Charles, I went to the Sam Houston Jones State Park to look for a box that might not be there and to plant my own. I felt like the trail heads were hard to find at this park, so if you go there, keep your eyes peeled. I drove around one of the circles one time, then on the second time around, found the orange trail head. As I walked along this trail, I discovered that I'd started at the wrong end. Luckily, this was a 1.6 mile trail and not a 5 mile trail! I hadn't anticipated this hike, but I was game for it. When I finally got to where the box would be, of course, it was no where to be found. I hiked back down the trail a little ways to hide my Flying Turtle. I hope he will feel at home here for a long time!

Now that I'd finished my boxing for the day, it was time to get back on I10 to head east. I went a little bit different way back to the interstate, following the signs for I10 East. When I got to the first ramp, the police had it blocked off. Oh dear. Plan B. I drove around a little and finally found another on ramp. Oh dear. Blocked again. The problem with being here is that I was on the wrong side of the water and had to find a bridge to get over. I backtracked and headed west and got on I10. When I got to the bridge, the bridge itself was blocked off, and I was forced to take the exit. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I decided to pull into a parking lot and get online to see if I could find out what the problem was. I was able to pull up the Lake Charles news and it turns out that a truck carrying propane had overturned on the bridge and it was going to take at least 12 hours to make the bridge passable. Phooey!

I called Blue Butterfly and let her know what was going on, then whipped out my LA map and found a way to get to the I210 loop. I drove across town to the highway and saw that it was stop-and-go traffic because everyone else was doing the same thing I was. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of gas, so I filled up, then joined the crowd. The traffic was slow, but I finally made it out of Lake Charles and on into Beaumont. I decided to stop here for the day, which was around 4:00 and get some rest.

On Wednesday morning, I drove straight back to Navarro County. I'd finally made it home!

TALKK 2009

Mama Cache and I met at Caroline's Country Kitchen for a good breakfast. MC had a great plan mapped out for the day, so I was certainly excited to hit the road!!

We started out by going to a mystery location to get SQUAD CAR. This box was created, including the carving, by one of my favorite junior letterboxers, Babadge. He did a great job of carving the stamp and finding a clever place to hide it. Thanks, Babadge!!

Lucy Locket at the location of Squad Car--boy, I looked tired ALREADY!

After leaving the secret location, we went to a local cemetery to stamp into HONEY, THIS AIN'T VERMONT. This is a seasonal box by MC. I now have two out of the four seasons.....I guess I need to make plans to come back in winter and spring!!

We made our way towards Jackson to find two Blackberry Patch boxes. Our next stop was at the Centenary State Historic Site. Here, I met Daniel and stamped into the fantastic event stamp. MC left the event box with him and we went hunting for MC's box on the grounds. We found the box, and I stamped in and while MC looked over it and did some box maintenance.

Mama Cache performing box maintenance

Our next stop was the Mary Ann Brown Nature Preserve. There was one WOM box here, and I also have two boxes on site. We found the WOM box and decided to exchange our new signature stamps while we had our things available. We took our time and chatted while we did this. A family of hikers came along and probably thought we were nuts-o, but that's ok.

We went looking for my two boxes in a backwards sort of way. I recognized the place where I thought the first box was and stopped to take a look. It was there, but the logbook was in bad shape. MC helped me do maintenance on this box, then we were on our merry way.

With MC's help, I was able to find the first box in the series. It turns out that one of the signs I'd referenced in the clue was missing, but the box was still there!! I was thrilled that both boxes have lasted almost three years. Both of the IN SEARCH OF boxes are ready to be stamped into by the next letterboxer who passes through!

After making our way back to the trail head and grabbing a granola bar, it was time for us to go to the Audobon SHS to find a few themed boxes that Blackberry Patch had planted. This is a beautiful area. There was a turkey lurking at the front door of the gift shop, so we talked to him for a bit. This area has two ponds, picnic areas, historic buildings, and a few short hiking trails. Definitely worth the visit. MC and I spent quite a bit of time here and found a total of three boxes. It was a beautiful day. While we were on the trail, Blackberry Patch called MC and we made arrangements to meet back at the Centenary Historic Site.

MC and I went to Subway and grabbed a sandwich, then went back to the Historic Site to await Blackberry Patch and Big B's arrival. I even saw a bunny hopping around the edge of the picnic area while we were waiting.

BP arrived and we all greeted one another, swapped stories, and had a grand time. By the time we parted, it was dark. MC and I headed to Angelle's Laundry, a small and intimate restaurant where we feasted on lasagna and salad, with entertainment by a cowboy. We stayed until the kitchen closed, then it was time to call it a day.

The TALKK 2009 Group: Big B, Blackberry Patch, Lucy Locket, Mama Cache

Boxing Along The Way

I left early Sunday morning to head towards Clinton, LA to take part in Mama Cache's annual TALKK event, which would be on Monday. I headed south to Houston, then hit I10 to go east.
While passing through Baytown, I stopped and snagged a couple of boxes by Bailey's Bunch, then hit the road again.

By the time I got to Rayne, it was around 6:00 or so and already dark, but I decided to attempt JBK's Alligator's Cooking LB. It was in a nice little park and I was able to snag it. I hopped back in the car and drove to Walgreens, where I stamped in, then drove back to the park to rehide. This is a cute little stamp and I wish I had been able to try and find the mural it is based on.

I finally headed toward Baton Rouge, then made my way north to Clinton. I pulled into Boudreaux's Boarding House and was greeted by the lovely Katherine. She helped me get settled into my room, then left me to get a good night's sleep. I was certainly looking forward to letterboxing with Mama Cache the next day!

Game On!

On Sunday morning, I awoke in plenty of time to get to Memorial Park early and look for a couple of boxes before the event. I made my first stop at the Houston Arboretum, where I found one box, then decided to go ahead and hide my own box there. Since this event was about games, I carved a box for Mario from the Super Mario Brothers game. I found a nice place to leave my Italian friend, then headed off to the park.

I still had time to find some boxes before the event started, but I decided to drive around and see if I could spot the meeting place. Sure enough, I found Dewberry, MO5, LSQ, and BT setting up. I jumped out of the car with my letterboxing gear and pre-inked fingers.

I posted my clue for Mario, greeted everyone, and stamped in to the event stamp. Dewberry's "event poster" was very clever. After writing down a few things and ciphering a clue or two, I went to find a couple of boxes with BT, LSQ, and Mosaic Butterfly. We started off by finding the Mouse Trap box. As we were walking away from this box, we spotted Silver Eagle, Baby Bear, and Clueless Collector. We all greeted one another, then went seperate ways.

Now, the four of us were on the hunt for Baby Bear's Bingo Card and Bingo Piece. We easily found the Card, and while we were in the area, LSQ remembered there was another box near this one. She gave us the clues to this one, and we stamped into this lovely carve. After packing this one up, it was time for us to go after that Bingo piece. We followed the bear down the path and eventually yelled BINGO! Lucky for us, we were all winners!!!

By this time, we decided to head back to the event site for more talking and stamping. I was able to meet Dawn's Glory and her family. I ate a little bit, chatted with some folks, and found some more nearby letterboxes.

Meeting up on the trail

After a little while, I joined Pacifickle and Miss S in hunting down some more letterboxes. We found Diamonds Are Forever, The Tin Man's Lost Oil Can, and The Writing's on The Wall. We searched for one more, but we had a hard time finding that one and came up empty. We did, however, find some neon colored fungus!





The day was beginning to grow darker and it was time for me to hit the road. We made it back to the trail head, and I sadly headed out of Houston and back to reality.



Thanks to the organizers of the GAME ON! Event for doing such a fabulous job!

Saturday in Houston

After getting off from work around midnight on Friday night, I set my alarm for a somewhat reasonable hour and crashed. I was so excited about heading down to Houston for the Game On! event. On Saturday morning, I got up and drove south on I45 out of Navarro County toward the promised land!

Late in the afternoon, I drove down I10 to find my first LB of the day. I got out of the car here and finally realized I was in the wrong part of this particular park. I hopped back in the car and drove to the correct spot. For some reason, I could not find my bug spray, but decided to give it a shot anyway. I was 90% sure that I'd packed it, but just couldn't find it. I headed to the area where the box should be and the mosquitoes were TERRIBLE. I looked in the area for as long as I could stand it, then had to leave. I'm not reporting that box as missing because I know for certain I was being distracted and may have certainly overlooked it.

So, after escaping the mosquito farm, I made my way to Wal-mart. I picked up a couple of items for the pot lock and TWO bottles of bug spray. After finishing up at Wal-Mart, I made my way to the Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary. As I opened the door to the other side of my vehicle, I found my original bottle of bug spray--lodged half way under one of the seats!

I made my way through the trails to find boxes by Mother of 5 and IRA Boxer. Both letterboxes were worth the drive! Mo5's is extra special because she carved it for some very special treasures in her life. I took my time stamping in, then made my way back to the trail head. It was time for me to find the hotel where I'd made reservations and take it easy!

Tyler State Park

Last Saturday, Blue Butterfly, PS Guru, and I met at Tyler State Park for a day of outdoor fun. I met them around 10 and we found the easy bike trail and rode around it. After that, PS Guru went on a harder trail while BB and I rode around the perimeter of the park--which we thought would be easier, but I guess we weren't counting on the hills!

After a morning of bike riding and a picnic, it was time for BB and I to find a few letterboxes. We started out by finding one by Barefoot Lucy, which took us over a bridge. After that, we were led on a scenic walk by Adams Trails as we found two of their boxes.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience!