Terrell

On Saturday, Blue Butterfly went to the Dallas area, but I did not join her. I did, however, meet her in Terrell to return her GPS which she'd let me borrow for my spring break trip. I also wanted to do a bit of shopping, too. I made my way down I 20 and passed the outlet mall to find NANA'S HUMMINGBIRD. This is a great carving by Black Widow. After stamping in, I went back to the mall to meet BB. She wasn't there yet, so I did some shopping around. She met me and we finished up our shopping, and took in coffee at Starbucks.

After we parted ways, I wanted to stop by Bluebonnet Park in Ennis. I wanted to check in on my Pinky letterbox as well as see a field of bluebonnets. As I pulled up, the field of flowers that I was expecting did not exist. So, I checked on my LB in the park and it seemed to be in good shape. I walked around the rest of the trail and came out of the woods. I happened to see a few bluebonnets, so I got a few pictures of the flowers before I left.

Spring Break Trip-Day 4

The highest point in Arkansas

Wednesday morning brought another beautiful day in the mountains of Arkansas. We got up, took down our tents, then cleaned up camp. We made our way to Mt. Magazine SP, where we intended to hike the trail to the high point of Arkansas. I followed Adairmd to the park, and we found the trail. We made our way to the top. Ironically, this was an easier trek than the one out to the water fall we'd taken the previous day. We looked for a letterbox there, but could not find it.

While we were there, a family that we'd met at Petit Jean came up the mountain. We all took pictures and signed the log. The mom of the family told us that they had to evacuate Mather Lodge the night before for a couple of hours because the fire alarm went off. They were stuck outside from about 2:15 a.m. until after 4 a.m. I was certainly glad we hadn't been staying there!

We soon made our way back down the trail. I grabbed my LB and headed back up the trail and Adairmd headed out. I went back up the trail and planted Circle Pattern. After writing out the clues, I headed back down the mountain, but first stopped at an overlook to take in the view. Finally, I decided it was time for me to get back to Navarro County, TX. I had quite a drive ahead of me. I made it back to my house around 8:00 that night. I had a great trip. Thanks to Adairmd for letting me tag along!

View from an overlook at Mt. Magazine State Park

Spring Break-Day 3

View from an overlook at Petit Jean SP

Tuesday morning, after I finally dragged myself out of bed, Adairmd and I decided to try and find PETIT POLECAT by none other than Silver Eagle. Adairmd said he knew where the area was that it was hidden. So we hopped in my car and went to the overlook. It was beautiful. We were looking out above the clouds in between mountains. We admired the scenery, then found the LB. This box has had quite a few visitors!

After stamping in and taking a few more pictures, we decided it was time to find Baby Bear's HAPPY SUN. We found what we thought was the right trail, and headed down the path. This trail had a self-guided tour. When we got to the bridge, we came to realize that something wasn't adding up right. We finally came to the conclusion that we were on the Cedar Creek Trail rather than the Cedar Falls trail. We made our way back to the trail head, and drove around to Mather Lodge. The Cedar Falls trail was on the other side of the lodge, through the breezeway.

Adairmd and the St. Louis family searching for a cache

At the trail head, we admired another great view of a valley, then got on our way. The beginning of this trail is all down hill. However, it is made of rocks that are supposed to be steps. After climbing down this area, we were good to go. We made our way down the trail and to the bridge. We looked for Baby Bear's box, but just could not find it. I'm sure it's there somewhere, but it was eluding us. We decided to head toward the water fall.

There was a geocache near the water fall that Adairmd wanted to find. When we got to the area where the cache was hidden, we saw a family who looked suspiciously like cachers-and they were. This was a family from St. Louis who were looking for the same cache. Adairmd joined in the hunt, but the cachers came up empty handed. So, it was on to the water fall for us.

We finally made it to the spectacular water fall. In order to get a good view, one has to precariously climb over large rocks or take the rock steps up to another plateau. We chose first to climb over the rocks. Adairmd went out over the rocks a bit further than I did, but we both enjoyed our views of this spectacular 95 foot water fall. We also noticed that the temperature here was a few degrees cooler than it was on other parts of the trail. We took our time here, eating a snack and taking photos. After our break, we decided to head up the stairs to try another view. After we got to the top, Adairmd decided he wanted to take the trail out to get behind the water fall. I told him to have fun! He made his way along the "bowl" and to the back side of the waterfall. After he made it back, we headed back to the trail head.








Cedar Falls

After finally making it back to Mather Lodge, we took a break. We watched the people who were just starting their hike and those who were just beginning the hike and commented on the differences of the demeanor of the starters and the finishers. Those who were just starting their hike were all smiles and laughter-those who were finishing their hike were dragging back up to the lodge and would sit down on the benches in a huff.

We still had one more LB that I wanted to find. We made our way to Davies Bridge to find a box by the Petit Jean Gang. I felt like this box was probably not here, but wanted to try anyway. We made our way to the bridge and the smaller water fall, and where the box was supposed to be. There was a family on that part of the trail and the mom was taking pictures. We took a few pictures of our own, then were finally able to look for the box. It wasn't there as I had imagined.

Now, it was time for me to hide my LB. I decided I wanted one box to be on the Rock Cave Trail. We drove over Davies Bridge and down a gravel road to the trail head. We started out by taking the trail all the way to the Rock Cave, but first we walked over the Turtle Rocks. These are big rocks that are shaped like tortoise shells-pretty amazing. Then, we made it down to Rock Cave. After admiring the cave, we headed back down the trail. Adairmd wanted to find the CCC overlook for the water fall. When we got close, I took a break and he went on to take some more pictures of the falls.

Looking out from Rock Cave

On the way back to the trail head, I hid BALOO. This was the stamp I'd carved the previous night at the camp. After hiding well and getting the clues written down, we headed to Bear Cave to hide my other box. We didn't really take in the scenery or the cave on this particular trail-our one mission was to hide my box, get back to camp, and take a much needed rest. BACK PACK is hidden on this trail.


We spent the rest of the evening back at the camp, preparing for our day at Mt. Magazine.

Spring Break-Day 2

I think the little squirrel in Mills Park was watching me

The second day of the trip, I started out by going to Wal-Mart to get a few last minute items. I then headed out to Mills Park in search of a couple of Shiloh's boxes. I first looked for his 3RD ON THE SIXTH BOX. I could not make my mind understand one part of the clues. I searched, but came up empty handed, so I had to move on. I set out to find MILLS PARK LB next. I found this one and learned something new about sassafrass leaves. Thanks to Shiloh for planting boxes in Bryant for me to find!

After this, I finally ate some lunch, then headed to Petit Jean State Park to meet up with Adairmd. I found the campsite, and we set up camp. After getting everything situated, we talked about plans for the next day and I carved a stamp to plant in the park.

We sat around the campfire (no burn ban on this camping trip!) for a while, then got some sleep before our day of letterboxing fun.

Pictures from Spring Break Trip-Day One

Hopkins County Court House

Scott Joplin Mural-very "entertaining"

Yep-One foot in TX and the other in AR

Spring Break Trip-Day One

It's that time of year again...Spring Break! I will be meeting Adairmd tomorrow in one of the state parks in Arkansas. We will be camping, letterboxing and geocaching in some of the state parks there and taking in the beautiful scenery. I drove up to central Arkansas tonight and am staying in a hotel. Tomorrow night, I'll be in a tent.

Soo....I wanted to go ahead and post my story for the day. I was wanting to also post my pictures, but I left my silly camera cord at home. The pictures will have to be posted at a later date.

I left my house around 9:30 this morning. The first stop I made was in Greenville. I made my way to a cemetery and stamped into BREAST CANCER AWARENESS, which is a tribute stamp.

I hopped back on I 30 and headed to Sulphur Springs. I went to the Hopkins County Courthouse to stamp into one of JBK's boxes. Unfortunately, there were a couple of gentlemen near where the box is supposed to be that were playing guitar and singing. I decided to try again later. Next, I made my way to the DAIRY CAPITAL OF TEXAS. I admired the rather large cows out front, then found the box. I opened up the box and found nothing but a note. The note stated that someone had plundered the box.

After coming up empty on that one, I headed towards Texarkana. I grabbed lunch at Quiznos, then headed to Texarkana College. I wanted to try and find the AGGIE BRIDGE TROLL box. I found the two colleges and the walking trail. I took the trail and made my way to the bridge. I had a hard time reaching into the hiding space, so I'm not sure if the box was there or not.


I left the college and headed to the mural of Scott Joplin so I could find a box that Bell Motel had planted there. The mural there is a great tribute to a great Texas musician and composer. The stamp that Bell Motel carved for this plant is fantastic. The likeness of Joplin is amazing. There was hardly any traffic and I saw absolutely no pedestrians on this Sunday afternoon.

After stamping in at Scott Joplin, I headed to the state line. I wanted to find the boxes that denisrows planted there. I started out by finding the marker for the state line and followed the clues to her three boxes. I was only able to stamp into two of them because I felt like I was being closely watched on one of them. This was a fun series and I had a good time walking around this part of Texas and Arkansas.

After leaving the great state of Texas, I drove on into central Arkansas. As I mentioned earlier, I will stay here for the night and drive to the state park tomorrow.

Happy Trails!

Pictures from TALE TRIP-Day 3

Cloudy, but not rainining

Lucy Locket

Mother's Love and Blue Butterfly

TALE-Day 3

On Sunday morning, we got up again to a nice, dry day. This time, I made the pancakes and ML, BB, and I decided which LBs we would try for this morning. As we were tearing down the camp, the ranger came by and reminded us to "spring forward". After we got everything packed up, we hit the trail.

We started out by finding BIRDIE, BIRDIE. We made our way to the box. Mother's Love also found a Boots Tex box that was near there, and we all stamped in. BIRDIE, BIRDIE is a great carve and I really enjoyed stamping into it.

Next, we went back down by the pond and found DUTCH OVEN DELIGHT by Corazon. We wanted to look for LITTLE DUTCH GIRL next, and we discovered Can Can and her LSS already looking for it. We joined in the search and all stamped in together. Mother's Love had already stamped into this one, so while she was waiting, she found EUGENE C. BARKER. She brought it over and we all stamped into this one, too.

We said goodbye to Can Can and LSS, then tried to find one more. Unfortunately, we were so tired that none of the clues were making sense, so we had to call it a day.

TALE Trip-Day Two

Silver Eagle and Baby Bear

After crawling out of our tents on Saturday morning, Blue Butterfly made pancakes for our breakfast. The three of us talked about boxes and personal travelers. Corazon and her crew had snuck into the camp area in the middle of the night and were camping across from us. Silver Eagle stopped in to say hello and to ask us to be a part of his MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE game. We were thrilled to oblige him! Next to stop by was JB Kokopelli. She sat with us and we all talked boxing for a while.

Finally, it was time for us to prepare to go to the pavilion. We loaded up Mother's Love's car and rode down to the event site. We set up our food and the stamping frenzy began! I started out by getting the WONDERFUL event stamp carved by Baby Bear, then stamped some cooties I'd been carrying around since December (thanks Safari Man!). I immediately unloaded the cooties, then exchanged with the Boxhounds and got their PTs.

After that, it was a frenzy of stamping, talking, stamping, and talking. I had the pleasure of meeting several new folks and even some people from outside of TX. Granny Butterfly had traveled from Ohio. A few I'd met before, but were also from out of state: Goofy Girl and her family, Lionsmane, Astro D, and even Wanda and Pete. There may have been others, and I apologize if I left their names off.

Exchanges and PTs

Finally, it was time for lunch. Most of us took a break to eat and chat some more. I found out during this time that Puddle Splasher and I enjoy the same types of hiding places!

Can Can and her LSS

After lunch, we had the group picture. Then I asked Blue Butterfly if she wanted to go find some boxes, and she agreed we needed to stretch our legs. We grabbed a few clues and hit the trails.

We started out by finding Dee Pirate's BARN OF TEXAS. What an amazing carve!! We then headed farther down the trail to find MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and TOP-DOWN: TEXAS. We then left this area and went over to the San Antonio Road. We found TEXAS TRAIL RIDERS and POP IT UP. I ended up scraping up my leg pretty badly on this find, but I couldn't let it slow me down...there were more boxes to find!! We found RACHEL'S GIFT hidden near a very interesting tree combination and we just oohed and aahed over the story as well as the stamp. Our last find in this area was CADDO LEGEND: WOLF by Bailey's Bunch.

After this, we ran into ViewFinder and Puddle Splasher on the trail. We chatted with them for a few minutes, then headed back to the pavilion to take a break. We grabbed a snack and talked some more with a few others, then went back to our campsite.

Around 7:30, we made it over to the group campsite and the fireless campfire. We talked letterboxing with Silver Eagle, Baby Bear, ViewFinder, Puddle Splasher, Mother's Love, Gryzzled Gryphon, Sandibox, and many others. I think a fun time was had by all!

Pictures from Day One

Our dining room.

Looking through the pines.



Blue Butterfly stamping in.

TALE6 Trip-Day One

I managed to take Friday off before the big event this year, so I was pretty excited about getting down to Mission Tejas SP. I left my house around 8, ran a few errands, then headed towards the booming metropolis of Weches, TX. I realized when I got to Palestine that I'd never printed out the clues for Elkhart. Those letterboxes would have to wait for another day.



I drove down 287 and made it to Grapeland. On this quiet morning, there was no one in the cemetery where Blue Butterfly's GO SANDIES! is hidden. This is a really cute stamp of the Grapeland HS mascot. I left here and headed to Crockett, then on to Weches.



When I got to the State Park, I saw that Blue Butterfly's van was already parked at the Ranger Station. I met her inside and we checked in. We found our campsite and began unloading. I was in charge of setting up the tent while she was in charge of organizing the rest of the campsite, though we both helped with all of the tasks.



As we were setting things up, we spotted Boots Tex and Lone Star Quilter. We chatted with them for a bit, then continued with our projects. We finally got the tent up and BB got the bedding situated. At this point, it was time to do some letterboxing. Each of us had prepared a box for the park and there were a few more I needed to find. We drove past the rest room first and spotted Bailey's Bunch. We greeted Shelley and told her we were going to try and find the boxes at the Neches Bluff Overlook. She informed us that they had already been out to the Bluffs and it looked like there had been a fire and it was very difficult to tell exactly where the trails and landmarks were. So, we took her information into consideration and decided not to go out looking for the boxes in that area. We stayed inside the State Park and planted our own boxes!



We started out by finding one of LSQ's that had been missing the last time I'd been here. She had replaced INDIAN TRAILS QUILTBLOCK earlier in the week and it was just waiting for me! BB led me to the hiding spot and I stamped in. Special note: Pine needles are slick!



After finding this one, we decided to hide our own boxes. BB had some more things to do to her box before hiding it, so I left her and went to scout out a hiding spot. I went on a trail that I'd never been on before and found a great hiding place for ASSAULT. As I was sitting there looking over my clues, I saw BB coming up the hill. I told her I'd meet her back at the bridge and we'd trade.



After trading clues and finding each other's boxes, we headed back to camp. Just as BB was preparing dinner, Mother's Love found us. She chatted with us as we ate and decided to stay the night in our campsite with us. We talked about letterboxing and all the things that go along with it. Before the night was over, we also said hello to SandiBox, SoccerChick, and Goofy Girl.



Finally, it was time to say good night and prepare for the excitement of the coming event.

New Markers and a Letterbox

After using most of my markers in the past couple of weeks, I came to the conclusion that I definitely needed to purchase some new marvy markers. I decided to head east to Tyler and buy some at Michael's. I easily found what I was looking for, then headed to Rose Rudman Park to look for a couple of boxes.

I started out by trying to find BUFFALO WINGS, planted by Mother's Love. Unfortunately, there was a man sitting at the picnic area who was looking down at the hiding place, so I went around to the other side of the trail to attempt I LOST MY CAR, also by Mother's Love. I had a really hard time trying to find the lost car, and finally gave up. I headed back around to the other side of the trail and easily nabbed the BUFFALO WINGS.

This was my only box to stamp into for the day. I headed back to Navarro County.