Wednesday Afternoon Drive-By

Wednesday afternoon, it was time for my junior boxing buddies to go back to their home. However, I knew of a quick drive by and when I asked if they wanted to find another stamp, the answer was YES!

We stopped by the location of the B & B CAFE letterbox. It was cold and the wind was blowing, so we used the car as a shelter. We had a great three days of fun!

Tuesday Letterboxing

After spending the morning watching Cinderella and The Polar Express, it was warm enough for us to get outside! We went first to find a local GOVERNER SERIES box. After replacing that box, we found a local WOM box.

After finishing up with these two boxes, we played at the park for about an hour, then headed back to my house for lunch.

Stinky Monkey, Baby Sister, and Roarin' Lion

Monday Afternoon

I was able to pick up Roarin' Lion, Stinky Monkey, and Baby Sister to take them with me for a few days. On the way to Navarro County, we stopped in Athens at the East TX Arboretum. There is a Children's Story Series here, and I thought it would be the perfect place to spend an afternoon.

Roarin' Lion, Baby Sister, and Stinky Monkey at the first box of the day!

We found the appropriate trail entry, and made our way to THIS LITTLE PIGGY. This was the perfect stamp for Baby Sister's first find! Her favorite color is pink, and the pink piggy delighted her! The boys enjoyed stamping in, then standing on the bridge and seeing what was in the water. After stamping in, we continued along the trail to find LITTLE MISS MUFFET, HUSH-A-BYE BABY, and BIG BAD WOLF.

After the fourth box, I decided it was time for us to pack it up and head back to the car. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that we were on an inner loop at that time instead of the main loop. We went all the way around an extra loop before getting back to the main trail, then the trail head. Luckily, we were no worse for the wear and have an interesting story to tell!

I spotted this little fairy princess in the woods....

Monday Morning

Monday morning was the official first day of my winter break! I woke up from Blue Butterfly's house and headed out to letterbox. I have a new logbook and it's high time I added some images to it!

I'd recently seen that the Texas Pioneers are in the process of placing their HOLIDAY TRAIL OF LIGHTS Series and there is one in Kilgore. This was my first stop. After following the instructions, I easily found this delightful box...and I was the first finder!

After leaving the cemetery, I headed over to the World's Richest Acre. I came up empty handed on this one, but I enjoyed learning about the history of this park and the oil boom that happened in Kilgore.

The World's Richest Acre. These derricks are decorated with lights at Christmas time.

I headed back to Henderson, and went to The Depot Museum. There are three letterboxes on this property, but I only had time to find two of them. I stamped into THE DEPOT MUSEUM and SYRUP FESTIVAL. By the time I stamped into those two boxes, it was time for me to head out to pick up Roarin' Lion, Stinky Monkey, and Baby Sister. I couldn't keep them waiting!!

A look inside the outhouse. The corn cobs add a nice touch to the display.

My Secret Santa is Better Than Yours....

For the first time ever, I participated in the Secret Santa exchange at my school. I decided that it might be fun to try and sneak around to leave a present for a colleague...you know...in and out without being noticed....? We filled out a questionnaire concerning our hobbies and favorite things.

Favorite Color: Purple
Animals: one cat
Scents you enjoy: Vanilla, Cinnamon
Hobbies: hiking & camping (You can't expect me to put letterboxing...these people already think I'm nuts.)
The last question was : Magazines you enjoy reading

Well, I'm not really a periodical kind of person. I get most of what I need from watching the news and reading articles on the internet. So, on a whim, my answer was--- April 1998 Smithsonian. If you can find this, you will be my hero.

For the first four days, I got very nice gifts. I even managed to deliver my gifts without being caught by the receiver. Thursday afternoon was the big reveal.

We all met together for the reveal. Unfortunately, my Santa wasn't there due to a death in her family. Luckily, she made arrangements for my gift to be delivered to me at the party. I opened the gift....and there it was.....a magazine....hmmm? It was upside down. I had no clue what this was. I turned it over and saw the word SMITHSONIAN across the top. WHAT?? I looked for the date...April 1998 ....WHAT? Yep. My wonderful Secret Santa had found the magazine that I've been wanting for....how many years?? Not only that, but she knows about my letterboxing activities and she guessed that the article I was after was the THEY LIVE AND BREATHE article.....she had a sticky tab on the page. I was able to turn right to it. Talk about a happy camper!!! I was just sitting there at my table in the reveal party....about to burst.

Thank you, secret Santa!!!! Now, I need to take you out and let you go on an adventure with me!

I will cherish this magazine for a VERY LONG time.

Maybe it's time I get a safe deposit box......

This is me with my April 1998 issue of Smithsonian Magazine :-D

THANKSGIVING DAY LETTERBOXING!

On Thanksgiving Day, after the dust had settled around the kitchen, Blue Butterfly and I packed our things and headed out to find some boxes! It was close to 4:00 p.m. by the time we got on the road, so we knew we didn't have a lot of daylight left. We headed out to Faulkner Park and found 3 boxes in the Hobo Trail series there. We were so thrilled to be letterboxing on Thanksgiving, it didn't bother us (too much) that we were FREEZING. Unfortunately, we didn't get the entire series, so we will be back!

Waco

There are a few "art cows" at the Art Center of Waco.

I had to work this morning in Waco, but made plans for some possible covert activities afterwards. I finally got off around 1:00, ate lunch, then headed out for some letterboxing. I stopped first for JBK's HOTM: Dr. Pepper box. I came up empty handed on that one. Then I headed over to the Mayborn Museum. There are two HOTM boxes behind the museum in their pioneer village. When I got there, however, I saw that the village is closed down due to construction. So, off I went again. I made my way to the Waco Art Museum. There are sculpture displays outside and oil paintings inside. I visited the inside of the museum first, then headed outside to find the box. After deciphering the clues, I found the box and enjoyed the weather as I stamped in. I looked at my list and saw there was a box near the suspension bridge, so I headed that direction. After I got there, I realized that the group that planted this box probably didn't find a very good hiding place. I found the designated area, but no box, just as I suspected. I hung around the park for a bit and eyed the river and the river trail. I happened to have my bicycle in my car, so I got it out and took a ride on the river. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed my afternoon!!!!

Eat, Play, LB Weekend-Day 3

I don't have a lot to report about the third day, because it is shrouded in secrecy. Blue Butterfly and I had FINALLY cracked a code of a puzzle letterbox, so we decided to get it on this beautiful Sunday. Let's just say, it was TOTALLY worth it and just thinking about finally stamping in puts a smile on my face!!

Eat, Play, LB Weekend-Day Two

On Saturday morning, I got up early and hopped on the computer looking for bike trails. I found a great bike trail that Blue Butterfly, PS Guru, and I decided we could try on Sunday. For now, we ate breakfast and then took a ride on the seawall. It was a beautiful ride!
We came back to the hotel to get ready for the event. We decided to head to the visitor's bureau to try and find a map of Galveston and some information on the Oak/Chainsaw sculptures that I'd found online. We had a time of that!! We went to three different places before we finally found it! This made us a little late for the event, but that was ok.

When we got there, the group was already busy stamping in. Blue Butterfly and I greeted folks, then ate lunch, then got to stampin'! Boots Tex had hidden a few HIPS boxes inside the candy jars and IRA had somehow managed to sneak in and hide one, too! The event stamp was lovely and very detailed, too. I don't know how Boots does it!


After some exchanges, Boots called a meeting for us to divvy up the assignments. Blue Butterfly and I agreed to check on three boxes, one of which was my own, and hide my new letterbox, TREATS ONLY, PLEASE. We headed off to Galveston SP to hunt down my Watering Can LB. We got to the designated area and searched, but we found nothing. We believe that the tree that it was hidden beside may be gone now, Post-Ike. We did manage to find Dawn's Glory's box that she had hidden this weekend, though.

Our next stop was to find one of LSQ's quilt blocks. We easily followed the directions to this lovely box and stamped in. I decided to hide my box on the same trail.

After leaving Galveston SP, we headed to Lafitte's Cove to look for a couple of older boxes there, as per our assignment. We found HIDING FROM PUTTY TAT and added a few index cards for future finders. We then headed around to find SYLVESTER. We had a hard time finding that one, as some bushes or vines have grown up considerably over the past few years and are now over six feet tall. Blue Butterfly made her way back there, but could not find the box.
It is my understanding that Dawn's Glory was able to find it on Sunday.

We headed back to Kempner Park to report on the boxes that we'd checked on. We also made notes of those who had planted that day with the intent of hopefully finding them on Sunday.

The most special part of the day was when we ate dinner with Boots Tex, Will's World, and Lucky 13. We called PS Guru to join us, but he was about 8 miles from the hotel on his bicycle, so we had to go without him. We had a great time "talking shop" at The Original Mexican Cafe with this trio! We wish Lone Star Quilter could have made it to this event, but we understand that she had other obligations. I think a good time was had by all!!!

Stamps I earned on Saturday:
Don't Be a Barnacle Head
Happy Halloween
Lucky 13-Exchange
Will's World-New Sig Stamp
Karloff
Caw-Mosaic Butterfly PT
Open Space-New Sig Stamp
JMarie-Exchange
Lore-Exchange
XXX
NLW-Exchange
Mardi Gras Galveston
Cool Ghoul
The Storm of the Century
Eat...Play...Letterbox Event Stamp
Quilt Block-Ridley Turtle
Quilt Block-Angel Fish

Eat, Play, LB Weekend-Day One

On Friday, October 29, I took off from work to head down to Galveston for the Eat, Play, Letterbox Event. Of course, I wanted to find a few boxes on the way down, and Boots Tex gave me a suggestion of one of his boxes in New Waverly. Of course, I added that one to my list and headed south on Friday morning.

I made it to New Waverly and easily followed Boots' directions to the cemetery. I found a lovely display of butterflies at one particular grave. I visited Minnie Fisher's grave, then headed to find the box. I was proud to be the first finder of this box!


After rehiding Minnie, I moved south toward Houston. There were a few boxes in a cemetery that I wanted to find. After making my way to Washington street, I realized that I had been here before with Blue Butterfly. I was able to stamp into ANGEL BAND and GTT-TX GOVERNOR SERIES. There was one more that I wanted to find, but it was getting late and I knew that Houston traffic on Friday afternoon would be challenging at best.

I made my way down I45 to Galveston and met Blue Butterfly and PS Guru at our comfy hotel. There would be no more letterboxing for the day....it would have to wait until Saturday!

Poe and a Gun Fight

Last Sunday, I decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and head to Fort Worth. I had my eye on Oakwood Cemetery, where there were five boxes for me to find. I had the pleasure of stamping into three boxes for the EDGAR ALLEN POE SERIES by Black Widow and two boxes in the GUNFIGHT AT THE WHITE ELEPHANT SALOON series by Viewfinder. I absolutely enjoyed my afternoon of letterboxing and finding beautifully carved stamps!

Cradle of Texas

Blue Butterfly made a trip through Deep East Texas this weekend. We wanted to find some new boxes as well as do some box maintenance. I am proud to say that my CRADLE OF TEXAS box is still alive in San Augustine, TX. It is almost five years old! Thanks to all of the finders of this little box!!

East TX Letterboxing

On September 11, Blue Butterfly and I decided to take a drive through East Texas. She wanted to check on her box in Nacogdoches, and I wanted to check out mine in San Augustine. Of course, we would find some boxes along the way. Listed below are the boxes we stamped into on this wonderfully fun Saturday!

Winnie's Leg-San Augustine, TX
Historic Walking Tour-Nacogdoches, TXNo Man's Land-Shelbyville, TX
The Finest Bale of Cotton-Woods, TX
Country Legend-Mystery, TX
ASL Fingerspelling Series-B, Nacogdoches, TX
Millard's Crossing-Nacogdoches, TX
Regulator/Moderator War-Shelbyville, TX
Church Hill Battle-Shelbyville, TX

Blue Butterfly took this shot while I was finishing up with the last box of the day. Isn't it beautiful?

Round Rock, TX

On Saturday morning, I had to attend a meeting in Belton, TX. So....I took out the map and found Round Rock was not too far from Belton and decided that I would spend Saturday night in RR to go letterboxing! I finally arrived to my hotel around 3 PM and decided that letterboxing would not be in the cards for me this afternoon or evening.

Donuts and a Letterbox!

When Sunday morning rolled around, I got up, took a look at the clues, and headed out. There is a three part TEXAS PUZZLE Series that I wanted to tackle. The second box in this series is located at a famous donut shop that I'd seen on the Food Network. I decided that my first stop as well as my breakfast, would be here. I made my way to the designated bakery and was lucky enough to find a parking spot. I hopped out of my car and found the box, tucked it in my back pack, then went inside to order. I even got to see two of the famous "as big as your head" donuts! I took my donuts outside to a picnic table, stamped in, then began eating my donuts. A local couple sat down and struck up a conversation with me. They said I'd picked the perfect time to come because it wasn't so busy. I asked if they would mind taking my picture, since they already knew I was a tourist, and they obliged. After that, I packed up, drove around the corner, then rehid the box. I was on my way!

I made my way to two more boxes that were hidden in the same park. The first box I tried for was hidden under stairs at the mansion in Settler's Park. When I got to the stairs, someone's barbecue and cooler were right next to it. I didn't want anyone to think I was going to try and run off with their things, so I left without without snagging that particular box.

The Open Space Team

Now, it was time for me to find the third puzzle piece. I made my way to the parking lot and the designated tree, rooted around for a bit, then finally found the box. I walked across the trail to a shady spot and commenced to stamping. After I got everything packed up, I still had no idea what park the first puzzle piece was in, so I continued to sit in the shade and attempt to look things up on my phone. As I'm sitting there, I notice a family looking around the tree where the box should be hidden. I wonder what they are up to..... I see the man has a compass...... I wait to see if they are just examining the tree, then I finally ask if they are looking for something. YES! We are looking for the letterbox! I tell them that I have it and they were in the right place. I share the box with them while we chat and exchange. The Open Space Team has already found the first box, so I ask them if they could help me out. They were nice enough to give me a map and show me where the park is. I was so grateful! They also mention that they had hidden a box in the past 24 hours, so as she is describing it to me, I recognize the name of the box. I promise to go find it and hopefully be the lucky first finder!



We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. I was able to complete my puzzle and I easily found OH THE PLACES YOU'LL QUACK, which is a beautiful carving! By the time I found these boxes, it was time for me to head back to Navarro County. It was a fun letterboxing morning!!!

A Hot Day in July

Even though it was a hot day on July 31, Blue Butterfly and I decided to get out and letterbox that morning. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that day, but we did manage to find a few letterboxes!

Harvest Time-Jacksonville, TX
Tomato Flower-Jacksonville, TX
The McCowan Brothers-Jacksonville, TX
Neil McCoy-Jacksonville, TX
In Honor of Eliza-Tecula, TX

New Mexico-Day 4

On Wednesday morning, we went back to White Sands and we took our log books to get the National Park Passport stamp added to our stamp collection. We spent most of the morning there, then headed back to Alamogordo to find a few letterboxes. The first one we found was FLY LIKE AN EAGLE. We had a bit of trouble at first, because I had the East/West directions reversed. Luckily, Blue Butterfly figured it out for us and we were able to stamp in!

Next, we attempted a box at the space center, but couldn't quite get the clues to work for us. Our next stop was a the Toy Train Museum. We decided to break out our lunch here. Again, we couldn't get find this letterbox, so we sat on the grass under a shade tree and ate our lunch.
Our next stop was TulaRosa. We drove about 15 miles to this town and found the library, where two boxes are located. We went into the library and asked for the first box and also asked for use of the internet while we were there. The friendly librarians were very accommodating. After stamping in and planning our box-finding route back home, we went outside to find the second box on the library grounds. Both of these boxes were great carves and fun finds!

We drove around the Village of TulaRosa a bit, then headed back to Alamogordo. On the way back, we stopped to see the World's Largest Pistachio, located at a pistachio farm. After visiting the pistachio store and the unique landmark, we continued on our route.
We had one more box to try and find in the area, so we made a small detour to nab it before getting back to the cabin. The ironic thing about this box, is that it is at a scenic overlook that we had stopped at on our way into town the first day. We didn't realize there was a box here ! So, we headed to find THE TUNNEL LB near High Rolls.

After we finally made it back to the cabin, two exhausted letterboxers, we rested for a while, then Blue Butterfly prepared dinner for us. While eating dinner, we could see that in the distance, there was a rain storm and we were graced with a beautiful rainbow.

New Mexico-Day Three

On the third day, we did not letterbox. We spent most of the day at White Sands National Monument. We had a wonderful time hiking a couple of trails, despite one of us getting sun burned. I won't say who it was. :-)

Lucy Locket

Flowers in the desert.

Lucy Locket and Blue Butterfly on one of the beautiful white sand dunes. This photo is courtesy of a park ranger who suffered from logorrhea.

This is our one-room cabin in Alamogordo. Move over, Bobby Flay, Blue Butterfly's at the grill tonight!

Headed West-Day One and Two

A few weeks ago, Blue Butterfly, PSGuru and I decided to take a trip out to White Sands, NM. A few days before the trip, PSGuru had a conflict come up, so BB and I went on without him. BB met me in Navarro County on Sunday, July 11, and we headed out west.

Our first stop was in Eastland to find Boots Tex's box OLD RIP. We had to bypass paying our respects to the Real Old Rip since it was Sunday, but we found the LB and were once again in awe of a BT carving. Boots' attention to detail is amazing.
After repacking Rip, we continued to head west toward Abilene. Here, we searched for and found FLITTER FLUTTER by Batty Girl. I can't remember if it was in Eastland or Abilene, but in one of those two cemeteries that we visited, we found the grave of the man who wrote the 40-Hour Work Week for Texas.

We made our way to Big Spring, where we spent the night. We decided not to set our alarms since we were on vacation. :-)We got up on Monday and continued our journey westward. First, however, we found a box by Maydelle Queen Bee in Big Spring called A DEAF ARTIFACT. Our next stop was in Andrews, TX. We made a stop in Andrews to find Astro D's box KIRBY WEST. She cleverly had the box made out of a pouch that was wrapped around a tree limb.

We finally made our way to New Mexico and drove through several small towns before finally winding our way into Cloudcroft. There were four letterboxes hidden on/near a roadside trail. THE CLOUD CLIMBING RAIL ROAD is a tribute to a railroad that used to run through Cloudcroft. We were only able to search for three out of four because by the time we stamped into #3, there were some workers from the Parks Department hanging out near the fourth box.

After packing up in Cloudcroft, we continued towards Alamogordo. We stopped after going through a mountain side tunnel to take a look at the scenic overlook, then finally made it to our destination!

Athens, TX

On June 26, I met Blue Butterfly in Athens for an afternoon of letterboxing. We met for lunch, then headed out for a stampin' good time! We started out by going to the B&B CAFE LB. I had already stamped into this one, but BB hadn't found it yet. After leaving downtown Athens, we headed toward a cemetery to find PEATINI. We easily found the box there, then headed to Fuller Park.

We found the entry gate to Fuller park, and were relieved to see that the first box in this series was outside the gate. As we were looking for the box, a car stopped and asked us if we were from "around here". We told them no, but they were on a hunt to find those people who were buried in the cemetery inside the park. We chatted for a while, then bid them adieu. We stamped into the box, but decided to not pursue the rest of the series since it was inside the park and everything looked like it was overgrown and possibly snake heavy.

Tomato Fest

The annual Tomato Fest Letterboxing Event was a blast! Even though it was HOT, HOT, HOT, we had a great time traipsing around the festival area, deciphering clues, and collecting our beloved stamps. Blue Butterfly and I got to spend time with PurpleNic during our morning of letterboxing, then we met up with the rest of the crew for lunch!

Stamps I gathered on this day:
Wag Time-Exchange
LB The Cat-PT
Event StampLight House Luvin' Mama-Exchange
Baby Bee-Exchange
Hands On-Exchange
Happy Trails-Exchange
From Seed to Salsa: Peppers
From Seed to Salsa: Tomato
From Seed to Salsa: OnionFrom Seed to Salsa: Garlic
Flamenco Dancer: Traveling Event Stamp
With Love PT
Fairy PT
Dawn's Home Town Movie PT
Ocean View PTB&B Cafe -Athens, TX (I got this one on my way home)

Meeting Letterboxers in San Antonio

I was lucky enough to schedule an exchange with SHH and Padawan as they were taking another cross-country field trip. So, on Monday, I headed south from Navarro County towards San Antonio. I stopped first in Waco so that I could nab one of Lone Star Quilter's newest boxes, MY SPECIAL ANGEL. After leaving here, I went straight down to San Antonio, checked in to the hotel, ate lunch, and took a break.

I got a call from Padawan to meet up at 7:00, so I headed over to their hotel around 6:15. The ladies arrived, and we got to stamping and talking letterboxing. SHH and Padawan mentioned that they had struck out on finding a couple of Texas letterboxes, so I filed that in brain, hoping that I could remedy that situation. At the end of the visit, we took pictures, and said our goodbyes.
Since I still had some daylight left, I decided to try for a couple of Boots Tex boxes that were somewhat near down town. I easily found Maverick and 13 Days of Glory. I was not disappointed! By this time, I was ready to head back to the hotel room and eat some dinner.

When I got back, I emailed Padawan and SHH and let them know that the two boxes I 'd found this evening were easily accessible, if they wanted to grab them before they headed out Tuesday morning.
On Tuesday morning, I took my time getting up, found an IHOP for breakfast, and took a look at my clues. There was one more Boots Tex box in the same area where I'd been the night before, so I decided to head back to the cemetery. Just as I was pulling into one side of the cemetery, the letterboxers from the beautiful PNW were coming out of the other side ! They had just found one box, but had trouble with the other one, so I offered to go with them to find it. I led the way, then left them to stamp in.

I went on to find BEN'S BONES, then headed to find ALL THE PRETTY HORSES by Silver Eagle. Silver Eagle's box is located at Comanche Lookout. I followed the clues to the top of the lookout and stamped into this box. There were beautiful flowers along the trail on the way up. This was my last box for the day, so I headed back to Navarro County.

Stinky Monkey's 8th Birthday

Stinky Monkey (L) and Roarin' Lion (R)

Baby Sister

Stinky Monkey had his 8th birthday at the end of May. We were lucky enough to spend the weekend with him and his two siblings. We had a ton of fun!

Creepy TX Critters

On Saturday, May 22, I decided to visit the Ft. Worth Botanical Gardens. There were a few boxes that I wanted to find, so I headed out for an adventure. I started out by taking the trail for CREEPY TEXAS CRITTERS series. This is a series of four, with one box marked unavailable. I was able to find the RATTLE SNAKE (very creepy!) and the MEXICAN FREE-TAILED BAT.

After finding those, I went around to try and find a few more boxes, but the gardens were so crowded at the point, I didn't want to "get caught". I was happy to find the critters, then headed on out.

Wonderland

I had been eyeing the ALICE IN WONDERLAND series, which was placed in Eagle Mountain Lake Park by Black Widow. So, on April 25, I made my way to the park and got started! The clues are written in the style of a story, and the finder must use their imagination to get to the boxes. However, the carvings are spectacular and well worth it. It was a beautiful day to wander around this wonderland.

Roarin' Lion Turns 9

Last week, Roarin' Lion had his ninth birthday, so we headed out to his house to help him celebrate the big day. We didn't go letterboxing, but Blue Butterfly and I brought our cooties, hitch hikers, and yet-to-be-planted boxes for them to stamp into. We had fun!

Roarin' Lion getting help from Blue Butterfly

Should Stinky Monkey join the circus?

Blue Butterfly with Baby Sister, who is sporting her "swimmin' soupt"

Spring Break-Day 4

On Wednesday morning, I got up, had a bit of breakfast, then packed up the camp site. I'm glad that, once again, there was no rain! I got everything loaded up, then left the beautiful Palo Duro Canyon.

I decided to go through Conway because I wanted not only to see the slug bug ranch, but also to get the letterbox that JBKokopelli had left there. I easily found the "ranch" and got out with my camera and clues. I didn't bring any spray paint, so I wasn't able to leave my mark for the rest of the world to see, but future letterboxing visitors will know I was there. :-)

After leaving Conway, I headed down 287. I usually don't letterbox much on the way home, because I'm usually ready to get back to the house. A few hours later, I stopped at one of the nice rest stops, and decided to take a look on my phone at what boxes might be nearby that I hadn't attempted on my first pass through here.

According to AtlasQuest, there was a box in Doans, TX. I looked on the big map that was displayed, but didn't find this town there. I looked at the clue and saw this was a Boots Tex box. How could I pass this up? I read his clue and saw it was north of another town that was on the map. No problem! I hopped in my car, headed south on 287, then followed Boots' directions. I easily found the Up The Trail letterbox. Even though it has been here for over a year....I was the first finder! I was so excited to find this box! I even called Blue Butterfly to tell her that I was the first finder of this treasure.

I continued on toward Navarro County and decided to stop in Decatur. I found a box by Black Widow there, then headed on home. It was a fun trip and I enjoyed ALL the boxes that I found! Thanks to all of the carvers and planters for a memorable trip!!

Spring Break-Day 2 and 3

I woke up Monday morning and looked out the window.

Yep, it was raining.

I turned on the weather report.

1000% chance of rain today.

Well, this would certainly make things more....interesting today......

I got loaded up and checked out of the hotel, and made my way to Palo Duro Canyon SP. I checked in and drove down to my camp site. Did I mention that it's still raining???? I knew there was no chance of the rain ever stopping before dark, so I donned my pancho and started setting up the tent. I managed to set up the tent and unload the necessities in the rain.

By this time, I was hungry and cranky, so I ate a bit of lunch in the car and attempted one letterbox in the rain, but I couldn't find that one. Grrrr...... I remembered seeing that the feed time for the State Longhorn Herd was around 1:00, so I headed back up to the feeding area to see what this was all about. When I got there, I saw only one longhorn eating his lunch. I decided to wait and see if the others would come along, but I never saw them. Maybe they were as irritated with the rain as I was. Anyhow, I took a few pictures of this guy, then visited the information center.







After visiting the information center, I just spent the rest of the day trying to stay warm and dry. :-)

Cold, windy, and rainy. This was in the parking lot of the visitor's center.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up to the sound of....NO RAIN! Yee haw! I loved seeing those blue skies. I decided to make my way to the famous Lighthouse Trail. I really wanted to get a few letterboxes that are placed on the trail as well as see the actual landmark itself.


When I got to the trail head, I was the only car in the lot. I headed out to find three boxes. The trail is 3 miles one way, and every tenth of a mile, there is a marker indicating how far along the trail you are. I found it interesting that given this information, people that I met on my way out would ask me, "how much farther?".



Anyhow, my first stop was for Chili Bowl-TX Symbols Series #2. This was an easy find and there is a nice covered bench to stamp in on. After I replaced that one, I discovered that Blue Bonnet Blues-TX Symbols Series #1 was very near here, also.







After finishing with these two letterboxes, I continued on to find Silver Eagle's Palo Duro Mouse 2. Due to the rain the previous night, I could not retrieve the logbook, but I did manage to get the stamp and record it in my own logbook. Thanks to Silver Eagle for planting this one!


As I continued along the way, the trail became more and more muddy. I did manage to fall one time and had to crawl up the hill! My poor camera had to be cleaned up later. There was a man who was going back toward the trail head and said it might be best to "stop at the picnic table. It's beyond dangerous right now". I thanked him and went on. When I got to the picnic table, with only 3/10 of a mile left to the light house, I realized how steep and muddy the remainder of the hike would be. Since I'd just spent three days in the hospital, I decided to turn around. I'll have to visit the light house rock formation another time.



After going back to the camp site and resting a bit, I decided to head into Amarillo. I visited the famous Ozymandias and found JBKokopelli's box there, as well as the Floating Mesa, where she has another box. This was the final box of the day, and time to head back to my camp site.

Spring Break-Day One

I'd decided several months ago that I wanted to visit Palo Duro Canyon over Spring Break. So, I took the Saturday to clean up and pack up, then headed out on Sunday morning. I knew it was going to be quite a drive from Navarro County, so I wanted to drive most of the way on Sunday, stay in a hotel, then drive the rest of the way on Monday.

I loaded up 90% of my supplies on Saturday night, then hopped in the car bright and early Sunday. I stopped in Midlothian for a couple of boxes. The first one, I didn't find, but I did find Gospel Series: John letterbox. I continued on my route toward the Panhandle, and stopped in Wichita Falls for V-TX Governor Series box. Of course, this was another terrific box by Boots Tex.

After Wichita Falls, I stopped and made attempts at a few more boxes, but came up empty handed. I finally stopped for the night in Clarendon. I watched the weather report, and saw that rain was in the forecast for Monday. Yuck. I was hoping they were wrong.

From Nitrocat

A Poem By Nitrocat....

http://sitstaywrite.blogspot.com/2010/03/i-pick-ticks.html

Thanks, Nitrocat!

THANK YOU!

I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who helped us through the snake trauma. Blue Butterfly and I appreciated the emails, posts to boards, phone calls, text messages, and everything else that we received from not only Texas Letterboxers, but others from around the country that we have met at letterboxing events or that we have only corresponded with.

I told one of my fellow teachers (he knows about my secret letterboxing life) about all of the things that were done for us and his comment was, "It's nice that your community is so close that they would come together like that for you. " Indeed it is.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I can't say it enough.

A Few Days Later....

A few days later, I came home and found a package on my front porch. Hmmm....I don't remember ordering anything......

I looked at the return address and it was from SandiBox. This put a smile on my face. I came inside and opened up the package. SandiBox and Beach Bum visited the gift shop at Palmetto and found a couple of things for me. They just couldn't resist purchasing a Snake T-Shirt and Snake Patch with the Palmetto SP logos on them. NICE! I got a good chuckle out of that.

They also sent me a letterbox commemorating the snake bite, which I can either plant as a traditional or use as a PT. What more could a letterboxer ask for?

Thanks Beach Bum and SandiBox! I LOVED this gift!

TALE 7-The Rest of The TALE (at least for us)

Baby Bear and Silver Eagle

Saturday morning, Blue Butterfly and I got up and began preparing for the day. We were lucky enough to have been invited to eat cinnamon rolls with Boots Tex and Lone Star Quilter, so we were preparing to go to their campsite when Baby Bear and Silver Eagle stopped by. We talked with them for a few minutes and they mentioned that they missed us at dinner the previous evening. We explained that we weren't able to make it due to our time constraints Friday night. (We were touched that they missed us).

We made our way over to BT and LSQ's camp site with the Circus Train in hand for Baby Bear and Silver Eagle to stamp into. We explained to the gang that we were planning on writing the clue on a sheet cake. The clue would direct the letterboxer to our campsite, where the train would be "hidden" on our picnic table. They agreed that this was a good idea.

After eating the best campsite breakfast known to man, the famous brothers needed to get to the pavilion and we needed to finish getting our clue ready. While we were loading the clue, the Rodgers 7 stopped by, so Blue Butterfly had to do some quick maneuvering so we wouldn't give anything away. (That was close!) We finally made it to the pavilion.

The clue for the Texas Circus Train.

We added our dessert to the dessert table and watched carefully from a distance. A couple of people asked Blue Butterfly about the Train, and she told them to check the dessert table. Finally, Beach Bum and Pink Cookie picked up on the clue and claimed the train. We were glad that they were able to take it home and enjoy it!

After exchanging, getting personal travelers, and eating lunch, it was time for the famous group picture. After the picture, Blue Butterfly and I were anxious to actually "get out there and box". We wanted to start on the hiking trail because Blue Butterfly wanted to have some Bear Stew (sorry Baby Bear!) AND I definitely wanted her to be able to grab my box, too. We looked at the clues and saw that Bell Motel's box would be the first one we would pass, so we hiked down the trail to the dedicated spot. Since we like to kill two birds with one stone when possible, I said, "My box is just right over there. I'll go grab it while you get Bell Motel's. "

I went to the stump and was pushing the leaves out of the way and saw the box, but felt a sharp prick on my finger. I said "OW!" and pulled my hand out. At first, I thought it was just from a thorn, but it seemed to hurt more than a usual thorn. I thought the thorn might actually be IN my finger, so I was squeezing it to see if I could get it out, but I wasn't seeing anything. Blue Butterfly came over and asked if I was ok. "Yeah, I think I got a thorn in my finger". As I was saying that, she looked at the stump and said, "You were bit by a snake."

At that point, I was no longer calm.

I dropped my binder, BB dropped what was in her hand, and we ran to the trail head. There, BB found Barefoot Lucy who called for Fearless Fox. Fearless Fox was good enough to drive us to the hospital. We first stopped at the Ranger Station to ask for directions, and the Ranger came out to look at my finger. He said he'd recently been bitten by a copperhead and I should be ok.

The Offender

FF took us to Luling to the ER. I went in and told the nurse and doctor what happened. They gave me a bed and took a look at my hand. They put me on an IV with anti-venom, gave me a tetanus shot and FINALLY gave me some pain medication. My hand was starting to swell and it was certainly hurting by now. They decided to take me to Brackenridge in Austin and they used the ambulance to get me there. We loaded up, BB sat in the front of the ambulance, and we made the trip to Austin with full-on lights and sirens.

After waiting in the Austin ER for a while, (did I mention I still had my Lucy Locket name tag on my shirt?), they said they would keep me for at least one night. They finally took me up to the intermediate care floor. My mom called Barefoot Lucy and told her we'd be there for the night.

Between the pain and the nurse coming in every couple of hours, I didn't get much sleep on Saturday night. When Sunday morning rolled around, my hand was still swollen, but the surgeons had come around and said it didn't look like surgery would be necessary (whew!).

Sunday afternoon, I got a special package from Dewberry and Mother of 5. Later on that day, Bloomin' Gramma Jo came to visit. She also brought one present for me and two more "presents" that I would later find in my bed. You should have seen the look on the Nurse's Assistant's face when we pulled back the blanket on the bed as he was helping me back in it! Bell Motel, Whiz Gee, and Can Can also came to visit. They brought Blue Butterfly her suitcase, and they brought me my letterbox that Beach Bum and SandiBox had rescued from the vicious snake's nest! Our camp host had also sent a nice card wishing me well. It was great having all of these visitors! It meant SO MUCH to me that they would come to the hospital to see me.

We were also told that several letterboxers had pitched in to pack up our campsite. We were also grateful for that since that meant Blue Butterfly could stay at the hospital. I think it was Barefoot Lucy and Fearless Fox who drove BB's van to the hospital for her, too. (Please forgive me if that's wrong). It was great of everyone to pitch in to help us out. Again, we are forever indebted to all of you!

Earlier that morning, the docs had said that I might have to stay another night. We got word on Sunday afternoon that I would, indeed, be staying Sunday night, too. I had to make a couple of calls to work to let them know that I was stuck in Austin with a snake bite wound. After all the excitement of the visitors (and the cooties), I took a rest. Around 10:00, they said I was doing well enough to go to another floor. This meant I wouldn't be hooked up to the machines any more! Yay!

On Monday morning, I was visited by a couple of more surgeons, who said everything was looking great and the swelling in my hand had mostly gone down. I was finally discharged around 1:00. Lucky for us, Barefoot Lucy and Fearless Fox took a detour on their way home and dropped my car off at my house in Navarro County. This was a great relief, especially since I still had limited use of my left hand and was generally in no shape to drive.

After finally getting discharged, we left Austin and headed to my house. Blue Butterfly stayed with me on Monday night, then she went home late Tuesday afternoon. I went back to work on Wednesday and was welcomed by my students.

The wounded area. Luckily, the swelling was mostly gone by this point. However, see the pink ink on my fingers? Some of the nurses were also concerned about that. :-)

What did I learn? Well, a couple of things. First of all ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS poke with a stick SEVERAL times before using your GLOVED hand to reach into any type of hidey hole. Secondly, the letterboxing community is filled with AMAZING, CARING people. BB and I don't know what we would have done without all of the extra special attention we were given by Texas Letterboxers. We don't know what we did to deserve it, but we are genuinely grateful!

THANK YOU TEXAS LETTERBOXERS! WE LOVE YOU ALL!