My Shoes Are Wet....

...because I followed in Puddle Splasher's footsteps!

I decided to take a trip up to McKinney today to find a few boxes by Blue Butterfly, Puddle Splasher, and Boots Tex. I left my home around 8:00 or so and was on the trail by about 10:00. I first went to Erwin Park and found the LET'S DO LUNCH SERIES. I met quite a few bikers on the trail, and they were all quite friendly. I also found MAKE A WISH...OR TWO and HORN 1867. The weather was quite nice and I enjoyed the morning at Erwin Park.

After finishing up there, I headed over to a local cemetery to find THE WIZARD OF GAUZE: WHO'S YOUR MUMMY? This was a fun stamp that had originally been carved for the Yellow Brick Road event, and was placed in it's permanent home in McKinney.

After this, I went to Towne Lake Park and stamped into FOLK ART SERIES: QUILTING followed by going to McLarry Cemetery and stamping into FOLK ART SERIES: PRIMITIVE PAINTING.

I headed to El Dorado Street to find the cemetery and find my final box for the day. The next box on my docket was one of Boots Tex's Governor Series boxes. I went in the wrong entrance, but it didn't take me long to make my way to the West side of the cemetery and find the appropriate landmarks. After I found the box and was leaving, I called Blue Butterfly to give her a report, but when I told her I'd found only one in that cemetery, she let me know there was another box in that same cemetery. I turned around and went back inside, and found another Puddle Splasher box. Thanks to Blue Butterfly for your help on that box!

Finally, it was time to return to Navarro County. I came home, kicked off my shoes, and admired my finds :-)

When is Lucy Locket coming home??

View from the trail at Erwin Park

Letterboxing Luncheon at LaMadeliene's

Blue Butterfly and I were signed up for the Luncheon at LaMadeliene's Event, which was originally scheduled for September 13. However, due to inclimate weather in our parts of the state, we were unable to attend. LUCKILY, the organizers decided to have the same event again THIS weekend, and we were able to attend.

BB made it to my house on Friday evening, and we headed out on Saturday morning towards Grapevine. We got there a little early and found the restaurant, and decided to go find a few nearby boxes before lunch started. We headed out to the Botanical Gardens, which were lovely, and found BOTANICAL GARDEN GRAPEVINE SERIES. There are two boxes in this series. By the time we finished up enjoying the gardens and the boxes, it was time for us to go to lunch.

We arrived back at LaMadeliene's and were greeted by Batty Girl. As BG was talking with us, the PrairieDiamonds introduced themselves. Batty Girl showed us to the tables she had saved, where we discovered that Gryzzled Gryphon had already arrived, and the usual letterboxer's frenzy began. Other attendees who arrived included: Oliver and Company, Janet and Cassie of Blooming Flowers, Soggy Cereal, and Mother's Love.

There were three Event Stamps for the occasion. Oliver and Company carved a lovely event stamp called GRAPEVINE LUNCHEON. Batty Girl brought along GRAPES AT LUNCH, which is a very clever stamp that only Batty Girl would think of carving! The last Event Stamp was by Soggy Cereal and is called LB QUICHE WITH IKE ON THE SIDE.

After spending a couple of hours at LaMadeliene's, Mother's Love decided to join Blue Butterfly and I as we found a few more boxes in Grapevine. We spent until almost 7:00 hopping around Grapevine finding stamps by various boxers. We had a good time together. At the end of the day, we ended up back at LaMadeliene's, ate dinner, then headed home.

Stamps I earned this day:
Botanical Garden (Grapevine) Series: Box 1-Butterflies & Bugs/Box 2-Resident on the Rocks
The PrairieDiamonds-Exchange
Grapes at Lunch-Event Stamp
Grapevine Luncheon-Event Stamp
Two Dirty Martinis-Oliver & Co.'s PT
Oliver & Co. -Exchange
Soggy Cereal-new signature stamp
Cassie of Blooming Flowers-Exchange
Flowers-Blooming Flowers PT
Let's Talk around The World-Mother's Love PT
LB Quiche with Ike on the Side-Event Stamp
Artist Series Two-Chagall's Bonjour Paris/Picasso's Petite Fleur/Dali's The Persistance of Time/Munch's The Scream
Flying Low HH
Recover Whale
Beep Beep: Roadrunner
Moose-chief
By Any Other Name
Hop On Over
In the Air
Putt-Putt

Letterboxing in Shreveport

Since I had a three day weekend last week, I decided to go out and visit Roarin' Lion, Stinky Monkey, and Baby Sister. I left on Saturday morning and stopped in Shreveport to find LOUISIANA BOARDWALK by Blue Butterfly. This was a nice little walk and I easily found this one. A few hours later, I made it to my final destination and spent the next day with my niece and nephews. I had a good time spending the weekend with them.

On my way back home, I called Blue Butterfly and asked her about a clue to 2 more boxes in Shreveport. She looked them up and called me back with the directions. I found THE GNOME'S HOME and MOVIE WATCHING BIRDS by JBanana. These were fun boxes and the carvings are outstanding. Thanks to JBanana for planting these boxes!

Baby Sister

Roarin' Lion and Stinky Monkey

A Potpourri of Thoughts

Firstly, I'd like to say a special THANK YOU to Wyvern of Potsdam, NY. I sent her a stamp for her Drive In/Drive Thru/Drive By event and got a very special present in the mail this week for my participation. Letterboxers are some of the most thoughtful people!

In other news, I've gotten a new idea for a personal traveller. From the beginning of my LBing career, I made a personal decision to have only one PT at a time, so if I am able to make this new traveller work, then RAMONA QUIMBY will be retired. She's had a good run, and I've had a lot of fun with her. I hope some of you enjoyed her, too. Anyhow, the new PT that I have in mind will have something to do with one of my favorite TV shows, THE OFFICE.

Completely off topic from letterboxing, I've been able to sleep at my own convenience for the past few weeks. Tonight, however, I will be forced to set the alarm and get up at a decent hour and report to work. No more late night movies. No more late night AQ surfing. Just me, watching the backs of my eyelids. I guess I have to pay for all these LBing trips somehow!

Happy Trails!

It MUST be obvious....

(Red, White and Blueberry Group Photo-July 2007)

that I enjoy letterboxing. I thought I'd written about this previously, but I checked my facts and realized that I hadn't. So, here's the story: I met a young letterboxer named Mr. Monster Jr. at the first TALKK Event in November 2006. Fast forward to the following July when I went out to the RED WHITE AND BLUEBERRY Event, also hosted by Mama Cache. I was working on solving a clue with Ducky D when Mr. Monster Jr. came up to me and said, "Lucy Locket, is this what you MAINLY do?" I told the young lad that Yes, this IS what I mainly do....for fun. I told him that I also have a job that I go to every day. He seemed satisfied with that answer.

Hwy 21 LBing Run

Blue Butterfly and I made plans to head out to Nacogdoches today. We also decided that we'd be a little more adventurous and hit a few other towns along Hwy 21. The first box we hit this morning was Nac Trail Cat's THE LAMPLITE PLAYHOUSE. This was a fun one to stamp into and easy to find. Then, we headed out about 2 miles off of Hwy 59 and found GARDEN OF GOOD EATIN'. This was Blue Butterfly's 600th letterbox! Congrats to BB on such a milestone!!

(BB at the site of her 600th Letterbox)

We found one or two more boxes in Nac and checked on a couple of my boxes, then went to Auntie Pasta's for lunch. After this, we decided it was time to head west on 21 towards Alto. We easily found a few boxes in Alto, mostly planted by JB Kokopelli. My favorite was THE OLD PEPPER TREE. I've passed that tree several times over the years, but never stopped to take a look. This time, I had the perfect excuse!

We made it to Mission Tejas SP in Weches (also on Hwy 21). Blue Butterfly had found most of the boxes here, but she had her sights set on THE PIPE BANGERS: FRAGGLE ROCK SERIES. She'd missed this one when she'd made a previous trip. So, we found TEJAS BELL and NABEDACHE first, then looked at the map so we could follow the clues to PIPE BANGERS.

We headed out on our trek and followed the map very carefully to the CCC baths. We read the instructions and began looking for the box. No luck. We looked for the proper arrangement of logs, but we just couldn't find the box. Blue Butterfly and I sat down on the bench as disappointment hit us both. We sat there for a few minutes and BB said, "I'm gonna try again". She donned her special box-sniffing gear and headed back over to the area where we thought the box would be hidden. Eureka! She found it! WEEE HEEE! We happily stamped in, then re-arranged the logs back to their original style for future finders. After this, we huffed it back to the van, then headed for BB's house. It was a great day for letterboxing.

(LL at the CCC Baths at Mission Tejas SP)

The stamps I earned today:
The Lamplite Playhouse
Farm House
Garden of Good Eatin'
POWs at La Petit Mont Rouge
The Old Pepper Tree
Why Is Mary Weeping?
Tejas Bell
Nabedache
The Pipe Bangers: Fraggle Rock Series
Astro Star HH

Friendly Birds

(The dipping vat where cattle were brought to be dipped as a safeguard against ticks)

I had to work a few days this week (I know....woe is me, right?), but of course I had Friday off. I was planning on heading out to Blue Butterfly's house so that we could do some letterboxing on Saturday, but I decided to take the long way out. My main objective was to make it to Mineola so that I could snag her BIRDS IN A TREE SERIES. On the way, though, I stopped in Canton and picked up THE DIPPING VAT.



I passed the historical marker for the actual dipping vat itself, and decided I'd take a look at it on my way out after having stamped in. So, when my LB duties were completed, I drove back to the marker and read the information, then walked on down to take a look at this actual piece of history. As I was about to get back into my car, a man on a tractor yelled, "HEY!" So I went over and talked to him and he asked me if I knew what I was looking at over there. I told him that I read the information on the marker, then we had a little discussion about it.



I hopped back in the car and headed toward Mineola. When I got into town, I first found GRANDPA'S POCKET WATCH by Wag Time, then headed over to the Nature Preserve.

I noticed a little garden near the parking lot and the trail head, and stopped to enjoy what few flowers were blooming. As I walked down the trail, I saw a little open-ended shack and walked over to investigate it. This housed a beehive that you can open and look into. They have a couple of steps that children can stand on to get a close look at the bees. Then, I headed down into the wooded area and found the boxes. There are several wildlife viewing areas and a couple of nice bridges in this preserve. I enjoyed finding these boxes and walking along this trail. After I finished up, I headed to Blue Butterfly's house and we prepared for our next day's adventure!

(I picked up a few hitch hikers along the way, unfortunately, I can't log any of them!)

Within minutes of each other....

I recieved an e-mail from Silver Eagle saying he'd been at the Watermelon Thump box on Sunday at 12:05 and he'd seen that I'd been there earlier in the day. The funny thing is, I'd been there between 11 and 12! If I'd have taken a little longer to get into Luling, we may have run into each other on our respective trips. Isn't letterboxing fun?

Letterboxing Excursion (What other kind is there?)

(LL at the Luling Rest Area)

On Monday, I had some personal business to take care of near Victoria, so I made a decision on Saturday afternoon that I would go down a day early and do some letterboxing in Goliad. I started out by making a stop in Waco on the Baylor Campus. I'd deciphered a clue and thought I could get pretty close to the LB. AND...I thought....College campus...early Sunday morning...I'll probably have the place to myself WRONG! When I got to the intended place, there was a young man there enjoying the beautiful morning and doing some reading. ACK! I walked around for a little bit, but the guy was determined to stay. I had to leave sans letterbox.



I made my way down to Luling so I could get the WATERMELON THUMP LB and the LULLING IN LULING LB. I realized before I got to Luling that the Watermelon Thump festival would probably be going on while I was there. However, I was on a letterboxing mission and may not stick around for long. As I pulled into Luling, my suspicions were confirmed about the festival. I'm guessing they must have some sort of Watermelon Queen because there were some signs saying, "Vote for Suzy" and "Vote for Molly". I'm hoping the contest was fair and not seedy in any way :-) Anyhow, I made it to the box and moved away all the spider webs and stamped into the box. This is a great stamp! After this, it was getting close to lunch time, so I decided to make my way to the LULLING IN LULING LB and to eat lunch at it's location.

I got onto I10 and made my way to the designated rest area. This is a REALLY nice place. I found the box, and stamped in, then went back to the picnic pavilions to eat my lunch. It was nice under the shade and there was a breeze blowing. Thanks to Dewberry for taking me here! After cleaning up my lunch mess, I headed back toward 183 to make my way to Goliad.

Goliad SP is only about a half mile from Hwy 59 and is extremely simple to find. I checked in with the very friendly staff there, then went to visit the mission. The mission is beautiful inside and out. It's rare in America that we are able to see architecture that dates back to the 1800's, so this was a treat. After admiring the mission, I hit the trail and found my designated boxes.

Boxes I found on 6-29:
Little Foot
Mission Espiritu Santo
Six Flags: Mexico (This was a fun one to stamp into because it's been in place for so long....I loved thumbing through the logbook)
I10 Box Stop: Lulling in Luling

(Mission Espiritu Santo)

New Box in Cypress

I wasn't able to find any boxes yesterday, but I managed to plant one. Hitchin' A Ride is planted on a nature trail that is in the middle of a suburban area. I even saw a rabbit hopping down the trail while I was there.

TODAY WAS FUN!

(Blue Butterfly stamping in)

Today, Blue Butterfly and I decided to hit the trail and try to make it to Barefoot Lucy's gathering. We knew we wouldn't be able to stay long (BB had prior commitments), but we wanted to have some LBing fun along with the rest of the gang!

We started out by stopping in New Summerfield and getting LAST FLIGHT and 4 FRIENDS. Both of these boxes have touching stories attached to them. After stamping in here, BB wanted to visit the Secret Garden NSISD box. We went by the school and she stamped into the box there.

Next, it was time for us to hit Jacksonville. We wanted to try to get two boxes near the Tomato Bowl, but ofcourse, with the festival in town, it was just too busy. We decided to eat some lunch, then headed to BEWARE: THE MYSTERY OF THE PICNIC AREA. This would be our first stop along our path of boxes to Barefoot Lucy's Secret Gathering Site. While we were stamping in, I noticed a van had pulled up behind ours. It looked as though someone was looking for the box! It turned out to be Maydelle Queen Bee and Bee Mom. Here we were...two sets of mothers and daughters stamping in to the box!

We chatted for a while and were able to exchange with Bee Mom, then we all hit the road to find the rest of the stamps along the trail to the gathering site. We finally made it to the site and BFL was awaiting us, along with Mother's Love, NacTrailCat, TX Pokey, SJZ....and probably some others that I'm forgetting (sorry!). Anyhow, it was a nice little gathering and we had a good time while we were there.
Stamps I earned today:
Last Flight
4Friends

BEWARE: The Mystery of The Picnic Area

Bee Mom-Exchange

Scout Hut
Pecan Picker
East Side
Some Tomato!
SJZ-Exchange
Event Stamp

(BB and Rosey the Hippo)

(Maydelle Queen Bee, Bee Mom, and Lucy Locket)

Possum??? Really??

Since I had today off, I decided to head towards Blue Butterfly's house. Of course, I found some boxes on the way and took my boxing buddy with me! I stopped in Frankston and found JB Kokopelli's POSSUM AND TATERS box.



After this, I stopped in Cuney and checked on OSCAR'S LUNCH. Rosey told me that she wanted to get a drink of water and stamp into the box, so I accomodated her :-)

Next, I moved on down the road to find SECRET GARDEN NSISD. This is a pleasant location for a box and I wouldn't have known about the historical marker there if JB had not led me to it.



This was a pleasant afternoon of letterboxing with my buddy Rosey!

A Boxing Buddy

This week, I received in the mail Rosey the Hippo from a Girl Scout Troup in New York. CathCainGwen set up Rosey's journey and I'm happy to host her for a couple of weeks. Today, I decided to go and check on a couple of boxes nearby and take Rosey along with me so she could stamp in, too. I started off by going to Community Park to Blue Butterfly's PITCH IN! However, the landscapers were around, so I had to move on down the road.



Next, I went downtown and stopped at the pocket park to check on WOLF BRAND. The fountain was working today, and it was just a beautiful setting. Rosey stamped into the box, then we moved on.

I headed for Petroleum Park to find the box there. I was saddened to see, however, that the bush where the box is supposed to be hidden has been cut down and the box is missing.

6-7-8

After several months of anticipation, it was finally time for the TA-DA North of the Lake Event. I was extra-excited about this one because it was sort of a "school's out for summer" party, as far as I was concerned :-) Anyhow, Blue Butterfly flew in on Friday night and stayed with me, and we headed to Denton on Saturday morning.

When we arrived, we saw a sign asking WHICH WAY IS NORTH? and knew we must be in the right place. We added our food to the bounty already set up on the picnic tables, greeted our friends, and headed straight over to the event poster. After signing in here, Gryzzled Gryphon shared his clue for his newly planted letterbox. I looked it over and hoped I would be able to decipher it with little to no problems!

I was able to stamp into the two event stamps, exchange, earn PT's and the like while chatting it up with various letterboxers. Blue Butterfly headed out on the trail with Perky P and EagleMeister, while I stayed around the picnic tables. I chatted a little more with some of the letterboxers and was able to stamp into another event stamp, MY KING? I DIDN'T VOTE FOR YOU!, which was cleverly carved. I'd heard Allyall saying that she'd hidden a box that day, so I copied her clue, then hit the trail.

The first box I found was WINCHESTER'S ROUND TABLE. I was surprised to see I was the FF on this box! As I was finishing up with the stamping process, GG came upon the scene. I told him I was almost finished, and he hiked down the trail a little farther so I could finish up and re-hide. Next, I headed over to find QUEEN OF GRAPES. I easily found this box, and just as I was about to begin stamping in, BB called me and asked where I was. She told me that she and Perky P were on their way to stamp into the same box. She asked if I'd seen EagleMeister, and I told her No, that I was the only one on this trail and that I didn't see anyone else. A few minutes later, as I'm pulling my LB gear from my backpack, EagleMeister happens up on me. We visited for a while as I stamped in and he waited for PerkyP and Blue Butterfly.

PerkyP and BB came along on the trail and we all stamped in, then headed off together to find a few more boxes. I really wanted to find CAMEL LOT. The three of them had attempted to find it already, so we found another box first, then EM and I put our heads together to try and figure out where this box could be. After stamping in to CAMELOT: THE ENCHANTER MERLIN, we headed out to find CAMEL LOT. We easily found this box and had a good laugh as we stamped in.

By this time, BB and I were ready to go get a cold bottle of water, so we headed back to the event area. Of course, there was some more "tales from the trails" to share. BB decided she wanted to head over to Corinth Community Park to hide her three new boxes. I really wanted to try again to find Artsy Fartsy #2, but didn't have the clue. Luckily, GG gave me excellent directions to the box and I found it easily when I got there.

After leaving Corinth, we went straight back home. It'd been a long day, and we were tired, but our fingers were inky and we were happy letterboxers!

The stamps I earned that day:

Strawberry6703-New Sig Stamp

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not-Viewfinder's PT

Here Comes the Sun (small)-Viewfinder's PT

Allyall-exchange

Smiley and the Boys-Exchange

Artsy Fartsy #2

TA-DA North of the Lake Event Stamp

Batty Girl-Got her mini stamp

Trillion Grams-Exchange

Soggy Cereal-Exchange

Arthur Recieves Excalibur-Event Stamp

Breath of Life-Exchange

Here Comes the Sun PT(large)-Viewfinder's PT

Trainboy-Exchange

Hiking the "Y"-Allyall's PT

Sir Lancelot and the Not-So-Fierce Dragon

Winchester's Round Table

Queen of Grapes

Lovely Lady

Camelot: The Enchanger Merlin

Camel Lot

My King? I didn't vote for you! -Event Stamp (4)

Fab Four #1 John

A Day in Denton County

Next week, there is a gathering scheduled for Saturday at South Lakes Park in Denton. I decided yesterday that it might be a good idea for me to go ahead and plant my box for the event early, then I will have that part done next week! I found an image and carved it yesterday, then went to Denton this morning to plant it!

I decided to stop first in Corinth to check out Beneficus Rex's Artsy Fartsy Series. This series of six boxes was very well done. I missed one of them because there was an audience near the hiding place, but the rest were a pleasure to find.

After spending most of the morning in Corinth, I made my way over to South Lakes park. After finally finding the entrance, I had lunch and then came back. I planted my new box, A Knight with a Tail. I was also able to find one more box before I headed back home.

The boxes I found today:

Camelot: Heraldry

Artsy Fartsy Series: #1 What a Scream, #3 The Rotunda, #4 Self Portrait 1907, #5 La Giocanda, #6 Self Portrait 1889

Summer Dreamin'

Saturday was the Summer Dreamin' LB Event hosted by JBKokopelli and Barefoot Lucy. Blue Butterfly and I made arrangements to meet at the Palestine RR Park before the event to stamp into the Jamboree on the Trail Series that was placed there recently. Blue Butterfly arrived to the park before I did and discovered they were having military festivities in the park that day. People were dressed up in various period costumes in honor of our military's history. There were booths and exhibits set up near the depot. Blue Butterfly was able to enjoy this while she was waiting on her slow-moving daughter to get there :-)

Once I got there, I easily spotted BB and we hit the trail. We really enjoyed finding this series. As we walked by the pond, a little boy felt the need to tell me, "We almost caught a rabbit!" I asked him what he would do with it if he caught it, but he didn't have an answer for that....hmmm.....

Anyhow, we headed out of the park at about 10:45 and headed over to Davey Dogwood Park for some real letterboxing festivities. We found the group and unloaded our vehicles. We were greeted by BFL and JBK who explained what was going on. BB and I got to work with the stamping in of the event stamp. After the event stamp was taken care of, I visited a little while with some of the letterboxers, then got to work on the Dreamin' Series. After taking a short break to eat lunch in the middle of it, I finally fnished it off.

It was a lot of fun visiting with everyone...some old friends, and some new. After leaving the park, and on the way home, I stopped and got the CSBF Letterbox. I'd noticed that I passed the launch site on the way in to Palestine, and took advantage of the route on my way home.

The stamps I earned today:

CSBF
Lighthouse Keeper-new sig stamp
Lighthouse Keeper's Favorite American Icon PT
The Carousel Collector-new sig stamp
The Carousel Collector's PT
Maydelle Queenbee-exchange
Rclank-Exchange
CA-Exchange
Jimpalestine-Exchange
Rachel-Exchange
Rachel's PT
Dreamin' To Revisit-Disney, Arizona, DC, New York, Yellowstone
Summer Dreamin' Event Stamp
Fishin' 4 LB's Traveling event Stamp
Peggy the Pug Boxing Buddy
Dreamin' Around The World-France, England, Egypt, Australia, Italy
Dreamin Around the USA-Alcatraz, Alaska, Salem, Seattle, Hawaii
Jamboree on the Trail Series-Tiger's Roar, Wolf's Howl, Brave Bears, We'll be Loyal Scouts, The World Crest, Jamboree on the Trail
CA's PT
The Rodger's 7-Exchange
Perky P's PT
Rclank's PT

Green Trees, Blue Skies, Red Barn

I got up on Sunday morning and headed back into Coldspring. I made my way to Lone Star Quilter and Boots Tex's Red Barn and was ushered right inside. I was able to enjoy chatting with them about LBing and trading stories from the trail. I was even invited to enjoy one of their famous cinnamon rolls and stamp into the cinnamon roll stamp.

I finally headed out to the Lone Star Trail to pick up a couple of LB's there, then headed back to Double Lake. I'd carved a stamp the night before, and wanted to make sure I planted it before I left.

I left my car and headed down a particular trail to plant my LB, only to discover that this was a short trail that headed straight back to the parking lot. I turned around and headed back to the trail head, found a few boxes, and planted my own. I spent the better part of the day here and probably left around 3:30 or so to head back home.

By the end of the day, my logbook was getting pretty full. I had to go back on some pages and try to squeeze a few stamps in on some holes that were left. I've usually been pretty good in the past about keeping an extra logbook, but this time I wasn't quite so efficient. I didn't have too many problems, but I definitely need to go shopping soon!

The strangest thing that happened to me on this day was that I encountered a ghost at one of my stops. I can't reveal the secrets of the encounter, but he was a nice ghost and even let me exchange with him. Maybe there really IS letterboxing in the after life....who knows?

Stamps I earned on May 4:

Dog Gone

Little Rabbit Fufu

Paws For A Laugh

Dogpatch, USA

Redbarn Cinnamon Rolls

The Joker

A Year In the Life of Santa-March

Mr. Bobbles

IRA Boxer-exchange

Muppets Take TX Series: Gonzo

A Doggie Delight

Dogwoods

The Hound's Tree

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Buried Treasure at Double Lake

Best in Breeds: Lovely Lhasa, St. Bernard, Brittany, Airedale Terrier

Letterboxing 911

I decided a week or so ago that I might take this weekend to go down to Double Lake and gather up as many of the boxes planted for the DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Gathering in April as I could. I made up my mind on about Thursday that I would follow through. I was hoping the weather would be beautiful, because I knew the boxes were plentiful.

When I got home late Friday night, I started making some preparations for the trip, then went to bed. I woke up on Saturday a little earlier than expected and rushed around to finish printing off the remainder of the clues and pack my over night bag. I left town at about 8:30 and headed toward Double Lake.

I'd decided I wanted to take a brief detour in Madisonville to find SARAH'S FLAG by Lone Star Quilter. I went down the gravel road to the entrance of the cemetery and was stopped by a gate. Luckily, the gate was not locked, so I opened up the gate and drove on up and into the cemetery proper. I later found out that the Grimes County line is along that gate/cattle guard that I'd just driven through. Anyhow, I easily found the grave of Miss Sarah and was once again impressed with the stamp and the history lesson. I left the cemetery, closed the gate, and headed back into Madisonville. I stopped for lunch, then headed South again.

I'd printed out a couple of clues for Huntsville, since I knew I'd be driving through there. I wanted to find a box by Silver Eagle and another by Boots Tex. As I was following SE's directions to the memorial, however, I was stopped because there was a festival in town and many roads were blocked off. I decided that I'd better wait and find these boxes another day. As I changed directions and headed toward Coldspring, I went through downtown Huntsville and saw that they were having THE AIRING OF THE QUILTS. They had beautiful quilts hanging from buildings and set up on hangers all around the court house square. I wondered at the time if Lone Star Quilter knew about this event.

I finally made it to Coldspring and to Double Lake. I started out by finding Silver Eagle's box, DOUBLE DOG DARE. I then hit another trail and was stamping in when I saw a couple of men come down the trail, but they quickly headed a different direction. A few minutes later, I see them again, standing down the trail a little ways and they are talking. The next thing I know, they are headed right toward me! As they get closer, one of them asks, "Which way is North?" and just as he is saying this, I recognize Boots Tex and Will's World. They were in the park and checking on few of their boxes. I chatted with them for a bit and was invited to stop by the Red Barn Retreat. I was definitely going to take them up on the invitation.

I got a few more boxes, then decided it was time for a break. I went back to the car and got a few snacks and some cold water, and headed to a picnic table. I wanted to search through my clues and figure out which ones I could get rid of and make a plan for finding the rest of them. As I was looking through them, I discovered that Baby Bear's MOM, GUESS WHAT I FINALLY CAUGHT was a two-page clue. I only had the first page. I searched through my backpack and could not find page two. This was definitely a letterboxing emergency. I called the Letterboxing 911 hotline and reached Blue Butterfly. She hopped online and found the clue, read it to me (laughing the whole way through) while I wrote it down. I knew I had a cell phone for a reason! Thanks BB for your help!!

After resting and snacking, I headed back onto the trail and found some more boxes. I finally left the park and headed to Cleveland at about 6:00. It had been a great day, but it was time to call it quits.

The letterboxes I found on May 3:

Double Dog Dare

Legend of the Dogwood

Sarah's Flag

Some Days Your the Dog

Elf Quest: New Moon HH

Blue

Know Your Swimming Hole

The LetterBOXER'S Companion

Four Legged Letterboxers Series: Best Buddy, Little Spot, Flutterby's Friend, Where's the Bone, Best in Show

Mom, Guess What I Caught?

Easter Egg Hunt

Cranberry Cruiser-Mother Neff SP

I recieved word from a reliable source in January that Mother Neff SP was still closed due to the flooding from last summer. This most likely meant that my Cranberry Cruiser LB was lost for all of eternity. When I drove up I35 on my way home last week, I noticed the sign on the interstate said MOTHER NEFF PARK-OPEN FOR DAY USE ONLY. I really wanted to go check and see if there was a chance my box may have survived, but I didn't have the clues...and ...after driving and dealing with Bob in Temple, I was ready to get home. So, I just had to pass it by.

However, I got a status report yesterday saying that a letterboxer had stamped into my box! I'm guessing the box is in good shape, and still alive and well. Somehow, it survived the flood and is still parked in Coryell County.

A trip to Tyler

Friday, I went to spend some time with Roarin' Lion, Stinky Monkey, and Baby Sister. However, I decided to find a few letterboxes on the way.

My first stop was Rose Rudman Park. I easily found and stamped into AMERICA'S ROSE CAPITOL by Blue Butterfly. My next stop was Faulkner Park, where there are two letterboxes hidden.

I found the trail at Faulkner and followed it to find 15 MINUTES by TX Dragonfly. I have to admit that I didn't see the stamp for this box coming! It was a nicely done. Next, I wanted to find A SIGN: I LOVE YOU. Unfortunately, I went down the wrong trail. After realizing (finally) that I'd done this, I went back to the intersection. This time, I took the correct trail and everything lined up and I easily found the box.

After this, I headed to my niece and nephews' house. We played catch, made cookies, read books, played basketball, and just acted silly for a while.

Happy Easter Everyone!