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!

TALE 7-Day One

On Friday, March 5, I was just too sick to go to work, so I headed down to Palmetto State Park instead. :-) Blue Butterfly had to work that day, so she would be meeting me down there. I stopped in Waco to try and find a couple of boxes. The only one I was successful in finding was Legends Crossing 2: Urban Hike. I will have to say that this is one of the tiniest boxes I've found. Luckily, no one was in this park, so I was able to stamp in without any eyes watching me.

My next stop was in Belton, where I tried again in vain for a box that I did not find. So, it was getting later and I needed to get to Palmetto SP. I finally arrived at the park, and I pulled in right behind Puddle Splasher and Viewfinder. We greeted one another, then they went on their way to hide a box while I checked in.

I checked in and started driving around the park, attempting to find my camp site. I spotted Sandibox, who was putting up her tent. We exchanged hellos and I continued my search. I finally found the campsite we'd been assigned, but I saw another one that I liked better. I called the front office and asked if I could change sites, and they told me to just talk to the park hosts in that area. No Problem! I went up to their travel trailer and the lady greeted me and helped me out with a smile.

I had a few things that I could set up, but the tent was Blue Butterfly's so I'd have to wait on that one. I set up the lights and the clothesline, then settled down to figure out what trail was near me that I might hide my box. While I was there, Lone Star Quilter and Boots Tex came by and said hello, and while they were doing that, Corazon stopped by. It was nice to see all of these great letterboxers.

At this point, I thought I'd go ahead and get my box hidden and write out the clues because it would still be a little while before BB got here. As I was at the head of the trail, Sandibox came along and was also going to hide her own box. I was glad to have the company, so we set off on the trail together.

As we headed down the trail, we noticed a large fallen tree that had been cut into pieces. Sandi suggested this as a hiding place, but I knew my box was too big. We walked around the area, and saw this HUGE box that was actually a geocache. We opened up and took a look, and went on our merry way. A little ways down the trail, I found a great place to hide my box. SandiBox and I went ahead and allowed each other to stamp into our boxes there on the trail. I hid my box in a tree stump, then we continued down the trail to find a place for hers.

As we continued down the trail, I saw a place that might be good for her letterbox, and SandiBox went over to check it out. I stayed on the trail with Meekah (Sandi's dog) while she hid the box. Well, she called me over to take a look.....there was a box already hidden there! So, we gladly had some Bear Stew right there on Friday night. After this, I looked at my watch and knew it was getting closer to time for BB to arrive, so I left Sandi on the trail and I went back to the campsite.

BB arrived about 20 minutes after I got back to the campsite. She was also greeted by Viewfinder and Puddle Splasher, as well as CanCan and SandiBox. We got to the task of putting up her big, fancy tent. Luckily, we got it all up just before dark.

As BB and I were sitting at the picnic table talking, and people started arriving back from the "Come and Get It" dinner. We said hello to Perky P and the Rodgers7, then later on, LSQ and BT stopped back by. Then....it was time....for us to stamp into...THE CIRCUS TRAIN!

We got out our backpacks and went into the tent. We set up our flashlights and head lamps, closed up the windows, and got to stamping. It was so much oooohing and aaahing over all of the stamps and the logbook pages. After this, it was past time for us to go to bed....so that's what we did.

Was I the ONLY ONE.....?

That DIDN'T see this sign?????????

(insert annoyed grunt here)

Food For Thought....

So, I was thinking about my little trip to the emergency room last night and I thought I'd share something with everyone. This may be something that most people do for themselves, but I never thought about it until now. When I was whisked away to the hospital, I had my letterboxing back pack, but not my purse. My driver's license and (more importantly) my insurance information were left at the camp site. I'm definitely going to make copies of these two documents and add a couple of emergency contact names and numbers to it so that I won't be caught without it again. I think it's a good idea for us to keep these items in our backpacks with our letterboxing gear....just in case!

Marshall, TX

The last weekend of February, Blue Butterfly and I decided to try once again to make it to Marshall to find a few letterboxes. We had tried the previous weekend, but I had problems with my vehicle and couldn't make it. So, after having to take my car BACK into the shop on this particular weekend and waiting for FOUR HOURS, they finally gave me a rental so that I could go letterboxing!

I met Blue Butterfly in Longview where we ate lunch, then headed to Marshall. Our first stop was for a Texas Governor. BB already had this one, so I stamped into this box, then we headed to find a Tin Lizzie. When we arrived at the roadside park, there was a man on a motorcycle there. We were trying to decide if he was coming or going before we got out of the car. We sat in the car for a few minutes, and he left, so we were able to get out of the car and go on our hunt. We found the letterbox, and used (of course) my black stamp pad for the color!

Now, it was time for us to head to a cemetery which contains a sculpture called Grief. Again, Blue Butterfly had already been here, but I needed (yes--NEEDED) to stamp into these boxes, too. There are two boxes in this cemetery-one by JB Kokopelli and the other by Boots Tex/Lone Star Quilter. We took our time finding the boxes and I was absolutely amazed at the details of Boots' carve. How does he do it? I can only imagine the time and care that goes into a carving of this nature. My hat's off to you, Boots!

After leaving the cemetery, we headed back into Marshall proper to find a few more boxes that Blue Butterfly has not stamped into yet. We found Fire Ant Festival, a very clever carve, and Marhsall, Capitol of Missouri. After these, BB took me to find JBKokopelli's Marshall Pottery LB. I really wanted to go to the real Marshall Pottery, too, because I've never visited, but they were closed. I did however, stamp into the letterbox on a peaceful bridge in a quiet cemetery.

All in all, a good fun day once I was finally able to go letterboxing!!

January Letterboxing Fun!

PSGuru, Bluebutterfly and I went for a visit to Vicksburg, MS to our family there. We picked up Roarin' Lion, Stinky Monkey, and Baby Sister on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning, we decided to find a few letterboxes.

Yep--I FINALLY found my first letterbox of 2010!!

We started out by finding a box planted by Corazon. This box is planted near an outlet mall, and we were early enough that it wasn't open yet. We left the gang in the van while Blue Butterfly and I searched for the box. We easily found it and took it back to the van to stamp in. When we got back, the boys were looking through their logbooks and Roarin' Lion made a comment about how cute the Teddy and Teddy stamp is that Baby Bear carved for the Tour Bus.

After replacing Ray Lum, Muleskinner, we headed out to find another box.

We made our way to the small community of Bovina. We made an early morning trek through a cemetery to find St. Alban's. We left Baby Sister and PSGuru in the van for this one. :-)

Our last box in Vicksburg was another Corazon box. Blue Butterfly and I had each tried seperately to find theis box before. Luckily, Blue Butterfly had a better idea this time as to where the box might be located. We drove up to the area and let Blue Butterfly do her magic. She came back to the van with the letterbox! We stamped into Tornado! and felt a sense of satisfaction of finally nagging that box!

This was our last letterbox together for the day. The rest of the crew went their way, and I wanted to go ahead and head west. We said our goodbyes and went on our merry way.

On my way home, I stopped in West Monroe to find LA State Bird by Pastry Princess. It was a fun little walk including a suspension bridge. After getting back to the highway, I knew there was a quick drive-by in Calhoun, so I stopped for Quick! Make A Wish! This was my last box of the day. It was definitely time for me to drive back to central Texas.

Thanks to my letterboxing buddies for a fun day!!!

Christmas Solo Trip-Day Three

By the time I woke up on day three, I was ready to head home. Of course, I took a look at the available letterboxes and adjusted my route to pick up a couple of boxes. The first box I hit was in Pattison, TX. Here Comes The Judge is another in the TX Governor Series.

After visiting with the governor, I went through Hempstead and nabbed Silver Eagle's Watermelon Capitol.

That was all I was good for, so I looked at my GPS and pushed the HOME button. :-)

Christmas Solo Trip-Day Two

On Monday morning, I woke up and headed toward Brazos Bend State Park. This park is known for it's alligators. However, I didn't see any since most of them are camping out at the bottom of the water.

My first box to find of the day was Silver Eagle's Brazos Bend. I easily found it safe and sound in it's hidey hole. Next on the list was Keen Observer by Team King. I made my way to the observation tower, climbed up and enjoyed the view. After I climbed down, I found and stamped into the box, then made my way down the path to find Strong Poison.

It was now time for me to go to a different part of the park to find a few other letterboxes. My next box to stamp into was Wish Upon A Star by SoccerChik. I opened up the box and looked through the logbook. There were two notes from park volunteers who were picking up litter, found the box, then returned it to it's hiding spot. I thought it was great that these people were kind enough to understand that this letterbox was not actually litter.

The next box I was going after was Baby Bear's Star Gazer. I wasn't sure I would be able to find this one because he stated in his clue that there had been some hurricane damage and he wasn't sure if the box was in the right place. I followed his clues, taking the number of steps he indicates, but did not see the sign to which he refers. I go into the woods, just guessing as I'm looking until I see a suspicious rock at the base of a tree. WOO HOO! I found the box! I eagerly stamped in, enjoying the peace and quiet. After rehiding the box, I made my way back to the trail head.

It was time for me to find another Team King box. I made my way around the pond and found Bonnie Parker. After stamping in, it was time to make my way to another part of the park to find a couple of more boxes.

My last two boxes of the day were LA and the TLRE and Good Luck. After finding these last two historic boxes, it was time for me to head back to the hotel and get a good night's rest!!

Christmas Solo Trip-Day One

On December 27, I set off on a trip with the express intent of FINALLY letterboxing at Brazos Bend State Park. I left my home during the late morning and headed south. Since I was going to be driving through the Houston area, I definitely wanted to try to get the boxes in Mother of Five's Mythical Creatures Series. I was a contributor to this series a couple of years ago and had been wanting to see all the stamps that were a part of this series. I made it to Terry Hershey Park in the late afternoon and made my way down the path and followed the clues.

There are five boxes in the "beginning" part of this series. I wanted to get all of these, plus hopefully a few from the second part of the series. I easily found the first box. I picked it up and made my way to the second box. At the location of the second box, there were children at the swingsets, so I opted to try again on my way out. Going toward the third box, I made my way through the woods and over a couple of bridges to the site of box #3. Unfortunately, I could not find this one. ON TO BOX #4! I twisted and turned along the path and found the appropriate landmark. YES! I found the box. There was a nearby bench, so I stamped into Box #1 and Box #4. I returned Box #4 to it's hiding spot and continued along the trail to the next box. I searched for Box #5, but I came up with nothing. :-( By this time, I knew it was getting too late for me to safely continue on to the next part of the series, so I headed back to the beginning of the trail. I stopped to look for the second box, but could not find the landmark that was indicated in the clues. After giving up the search, I continued back toward the parking lot, replacing Box #1, then headed on to the hotel.

Don't worry...I'll be back for the rest of the series some day!!

Annual December Trip--Part Two

The Rotunda

On Sunday morning, we left the beautiful home of Bell Motel and headed down to the capitol grounds. We felt like this would be the perfect time to get these boxes.....and it was! There were three boxes on the capitol grounds, two by Bell Motel and one by Princess S. It was fun roaming around the capitol, even though it was VERY COLD.





Our next stop was at an undisclosed location to find Pacifickle's Brunch Series #1 LB. This was a quick drive-by, then we headed out to find Bell Motel's The Head of St. Michael LB. After having passed the location a couple of times, we finally pulled into the parking garage next to the museum. We stamped into this BEAUTIFUL box, admired the sculptures, then headed on our merry way.





Our next stop was a local Austin cemetery. Here, we added to our Governor's Series collection by Boots Tex and also found the Oh, Susannah! LB by LSQ. After paying our respects here, we wanted to make one more stop before heading home. Blue Butterfly had played the Game of Life and we wanted to reap the rewards for it! We made our way to the location of this box and stamped into Silver Eagle's The Game of Letterboxer Life-TX Edition. We were thrilled to have stamped into another one of SE's game series.





That was the last stop for the day. After this, we headed back north and east. PSGuru met us in Palestine to pick up Blue Butterfly, then we each headed to our homes. It was a great weekend filled with lots of fun, friends, and hospitality. Thanks to all of the Texas and Utah Letterboxers who made our weekend great!

Lucy Locket on a cold December morning!

Annual December Trip--Part One

Mt. Bonnell

Blue Butterfly and I arrived in Austin at the Bell Motel late Friday night. We were greeted here by the wonderful "staff" of the hotel. They greeted us with specially made cookies, so we chatted over cookies and tea, then headed off to bed.

BB and I woke up early on Saturday morning. We devised a plan, then headed off! Our first stop was Zilker Park. We made our way to the Austin Science and Nature Center (one section of Zilker) to find a few boxes there. We started off by finding one of Boots Tex's governors. After paying our respects to the governor, it was game time! We were thrilled to be the first finders of Chutes and Ladders by Silver Eagle. His game series is proving to be a lot of fun before you even get to the box!!

We looked at our next clue and realized we'd missed part of the instructions. We were supposed to pay attention to the owl exhibit and make some notes before getting on the trail, so we backtracked to the trail head and made the necessary notes. After this, we easily found the box called Oct. 09. Now, it was time for us to climb a "few" steps to get A View From the Top. We got to the top, enjoyed the view of downtown from the peaceful serenity of the park, then found the box. On our way back down, we ran into Cancan, Anna Bee, and CW Sun Seeker. We chatted for a bit and made lunch plans.

Our next stop was to find the Little Women: Beth LB. This one was easy to find and a bench was provided for us to sit on. Before we were done with the box, the trio found us again! We made our way back towards the original trail, then took seperate paths.

At this point, BB and I decided to leave the nature center and head to a different part of the park. We wanted to find Oh, Tannenbaum LB because it was a limited time box AND because we'd heard rave reviews. We made our way over to the pool area and found the trail head. We were led down to a stream and found the main box. While I was digging out the main box, BB found the ornament boxes. We were delighted to find and stamp into this one! It was a lot of fun.





At this point, we knew if we wanted to meet Cancan and the gang at 1:00, we'd better get to moving. We drove to a sandwich shop and grabbed sandwiches, then made it out to Mt. Bonnell. Unfortunately, we didn't get there until 1:30 and there was no sign of them. So, we pulled out our lunch and had a lovely lunch at the top of the mountain. There is a letterbox here, but it was too crowded for us to attempt it. :-( We took our time here and took pictures, then headed back down the mountain. It was at that point that BB remembered---we were supposed to meet at 12:30, not 1:00. Oh dear!





Our next stop was at The Oasis where Baby Bear has a box hidden. Unfortunately, it looks like there is new construction in the area where the box might be. We weren't able to go after this one inconspicuously. So, we decided to head off to another park to find the Let's Have A Picnic Series. This series is on a trail in a leashless dog park. There are seven boxes in this series, but we stamped into only five. We had fun crossing the creek several times on the rocks and stones. By the time we stamped into the last box, it was getting late and we really didn't want to get stuck in the dark, so we hurried back to the trail head.





It was time for us to head to the Hula Hut for the big event. When we arrived, we found Bell Motel, Whiz Gee, Pacifickle, and a few others already there. We had a great time that night eating, stamping, and visiting! Thanks to Cancan for hosting this event for us. We were so excited to meet CW Sunseeker, who came from out of state.



After leaving the Hula Hut, we went back to the Bell Motel, where CW Sunseeker and her four legged letterboxing partner Jasmine joined us. Again, our lovely hosts provided us with late night snacks and great conversation before we went to sleep for the evening.

Blue Butterfly