Hill Country Trip-Day One and Two

Last October, Blue Butterfly and PSGuru took a trip to Garner State Park and camped out for a few days. I decided that it sounded like such a good idea, that I would take a few days down there this summer for myself....and I did!

I made the drive down to Garner State Park on Sunday, June 21. I finally made it there in the late afternoon. I went to check in and discovered there was a line and I had to take a number. I waited in the lobby area for about 45 minutes, then finally checked in. I made my way to the camp site and began unloading and setting up. As I was putting my tent together, two teenage girls were sent by there mother from across the road to help me set up the tent. I was grateful for the help! They asked me if I was camping alone and I told them yes. I didn't mention that my main goal was to look for rubber stamps in the woods! They were very friendly, and I thanked them and they went back to their family and I continued with the set up routine.

After getting everything set up, I was ready to go find a box. I made my way back to the front of the park and found Blue Butterfly's A COWBOY DELIGHT. I was the second finder, but I still beat the Gryzzled One to this box! After having my letterbox fix for the day, I went back to camp and read for a while, then went on to sleep.

With the breeze blowing, it was not hot at night and I slept very well. As day two arrived, I headed out toward Leakey (pronounced LAKEY) and found the scenic overlook and a letterbox. It has a great view and is located (if I remember correctly) on Hwy 83, which stretches from the Northern tip of Texas to the Southern tip of Texas.

After leaving Leakey, I headed toward Vanderpool. I found the Lone Star Motorcycle Museum, which happened to be closed. This was good news and bad news. The good news is, I could nab the box without on lookers. The bad news was, I could not experience the museum itself. So, I took my time and enjoyed stamping in at the gate of the museum, then moved along to Lost Maples State Natural Area.

I was looking forward to finding two boxes here. One was by Silver Eagle and is called LOST MAPLE. This box is about five years old, if I recall correctly. I found the box and was alone on the trail to stamp in. (Of course I was....who else would be hiking out in this heat except for a letterboxer?) I replaced the box and headed for the next box. I took my time enjoying the scenery and watching butteflies as I moved along the trail. Then I FINALLY looked at the clue again...a five mile hike....well, I had plenty of water and I'd brought along snacks...maybe I could handle this. As I got farther in, I saw the hike is "fairly difficult". Then when I got to the steep part of the trail, I knew why it was difficult. I decided to give it a try. I ended up having to bite the bullet and turn around. It was too much for me. Maybe I can go back after I am a more experienced hiker and grab that box. I made it back to the car, cooled off, and made my way to Utopia.....literally.

There is a box called THIS IS UTOPIA and it is located in Utopia, TX. This was at another museum that was not open when I was there. I stamped in, and remembered I'd passed a library, so I decided to see if I could access the internet there.

I spent about 20 minutes on the internet in the Utopia Library, then headed back to camp. That night, I carved a stamp and prepared the box with plans to hide it in Garner SP the next morning.

Impromptu Gathering

Letterboxing Friends Event Stamp. The shoe on your left should say 2009 and the shoe on your right should say June, but it didn't turn out too well.

On Monday evening, AndPlus2 and I decided to meet for an exchange in Terrell. SalliMander, who is AndPlus2's mom would be joining us, also. Knowing that two or more letterboxers meeting means an event, I was able to pull together an Event Stamp.

I made it to Terrell and to Starbucks and saw who I thought might be the letterboxing ladies getting out of their vehicle. When I saw them in the coffee shop, I recognized AndPlus2 and gave her a big smile and wave. The three of us greeted one another, exchanged, stamped into the Event Stamp, and chatted for a while. It was a lot of fun getting to know this pair.

After leaving Terrell, I think they headed to Canton to find a few boxes, but I needed to go back West. I headed to Forney to look for THREE FLAGS OVER LADY LIBERTY. There is a replica of the Statue of Liberty here off Hwy 80. I found the statue and the flags, and finally found the LB.

It was definitely too hot out there today to do much else, so I headed back to Navarro County!

If You Like to Talk to Tomatos.....

Saturday, June 13, was the Tomato Fest in Jacksonville and we attended an event there hosted by Barefoot Lucy. BFL sent out the clues on Friday night, but there was a storm in my area, so I had to shut down my computer prematurely. Luckily, I was going to be meeting Blue Butterfly, Nac Trail Cat, and Puddle Splasher, and I hoped they had better luck than I did!

I met the ladies in the parking lot of Walmart on the morning of the event. By the time I got there, they were already discussing the clues and mapping out a plan. After BB went in and got some water and ice for us, we loaded up the van and headed out. BB was the driver, and NacTrailCat was the navigator.

We found a parking space and headed toward the festival on foot. We were quickly recognized by BeeMom who had a clue for us. First however, we had to tell her the Letterboxer's Bible Verse. We quoted from the book of Matthew and collected our prize.

We walked by the Ham Radio Operator's booth and I asked them if they had a clue, but they just looked at me as if I had two heads. No luck there. Next, we went to the Democrat booth and asked there. EUREKA! One of the ladies knew what we were talking about. We told her our "unusual fact" and collected another clue.

Barefoot Lucy told us that in order to get one of the clues, we'd have to know who won the 2006 Soccer World cup and advised us to walk toward the stadium where the soccer tournament was being held. When we got there, I asked a group that looked like they were a soccer group who won the last World Cup. They told us Italy. Armed with that information, Blue Butterfly called BFL to get the clue. She passed the phone off to me, and we got the information.

After this, we found a water gun booth and told the Scout Leader there some of the Boy Scout Laws and earned another clue. After this, we headed off to find some boxes!

The first box we looked for was the one given to us verbally. Once we FINALLY figured out the location, we were searching through the Asian Jasmine when we saw a fellow waving to us. It was Gryzzled Gryphon. He and Frost Maiden had the box and were busy stamping in. We joined in the fun, then he re-hid the box and we went our seperate ways.

From here, NacTrailCat took the lead and led us around downtown Jacksonville to four more festival boxes and one accidental find. We met up with JBK, LadyBugTree, PurpleNic, Maydelle Queen Bee, and PrincessA in the process. After finding the boxes downtown, we were in a hurry to get out to Lake Jacksonville because we only had a thirty minute window to get this clue. PurpleNic and LadyBugTree joined us as we headed out to find "the man". As we passed by the Lake Jacksonville sign, BB commented that there used to be a letterbox there. After we finally found "the man" and asked for the clue, we were on our way to find this fishy box. We read the clue and realized the box was in the same place that Blue Butterfly had commented about. We went back to the Lake Jacksonville sign and stamped in.

After leaving the lake, we went back to the festival. We wanted to find Otto from The Simpsons to see if he had a clue for us. We walked down the streets and did not find him. We found out that Otto did not make it to the festival, so we were done with letterboxing for the day. Some of our group grabbed some tomatos, then we headed to Legends cafe.

When we got to Legends, people came in at various times, enjoyed the cool air, the shade, and the food. We were able to make exchanges with Frost Maiden, Beach Bum TX, and Pink Cookie. I think this was the first event for all three of these letterboxers.

I had great fun at this event, met some new people, chatted with old friends and found letterboxes. What more could a letterboxer ask for??

Stamps I earned this day:

1. World Tomato
2. Tomato Fest
3. You Say Tomato (my personal favorite)
4. Ready, Aim, Tomato
5. July Puzzle
6. Fries with that Tomato
7. Pescados y Tomates
8. Frost Maiden-Exchange
9. From the Sea-PT
10. BFL's new Signature Stamp
11. Happy Tomato Event Stamp
12. Beach Bum TX-Exchange
13. Pink Cookie-Exchange

Terrell Again

I noticed last week that Black Widow put out a new, seasonal box in Terrell. It is called HAM'S ORCHARD and is on the grounds of said orchard. On Saturday morning, I made my way to Terrell and found Hwy 80, which led me to the orchard. It was great! I went into the air conditioned market area and was in dream land. I'm not really a cook (boy, that's the understatement of the year), but I appreciate fresh produce and products made from it. I bought a few items, then headed out to find the box. The stamp is a lovely carve and I'm glad Black Widow brought me here. I might just have to go back!

After leaving the orchard with my purchases and my new stamp image, I headed toward Ben Gill Park to find a few boxes there. I looked for a couple of boxes by Frogkisses, but could not find them. Finally, I went to the rail car and found BUILD YOUR OWN TRAIN PART #2.

I had a great day of boxing....and shopping...in Terrell!

Bunny Trail

This post has nothing to do with letterboxing. I just wanted to share. :-)

This morning, I looked out my bedroom window to see if that darn squirrel was in my bird feeder again. I looked down and saw a rabbit in my yard! I don't exactly live out "in the country", but I don't live in a concrete jungle, either. Anyhow, I took a picture of the little guy through the window. I wonder if he will visit again.

LBing in Lufkin and Livingston

Blue Butterfly stamping in

On May 23, Blue Butterfly invited me to take a trip to Livingston SP with her and PS Guru. I decided to go with them on their trip and went to their house on Friday night to spend the night. We got up not-so-early (thanks to me) on Saturday morning, and headed South. Blue Butterfly saw that we would be going through Lufkin, so she suggested we stop to get LUFKIN LOOKOUT2 by Silver Eagle. We'd been here before to get the original Lookout box, so it was fun to stop again and log another find.

After this, we were going to check on my LAND OF THE LITTLE ANGEL LB, but there was some sort of fire fighter training going on in the parking lot. We would have to check on the angel another time.

We continued heading south and finally made it to Livingston. By this time, it was lunch time, so we unpacked the cooler at a picnic table and dug in. The birds were singing, and I managed to get a picture of one blue bird.

After we ate, we set out on the trail while PS Guru went another direction to shoot photographs. I have found most of the boxes in this park already, so I tagged along while Blue Butterfly stamped in. I was able to help her since the trails and landmarks were different because of Ike, so that was good. We had on our rain ponchos and it showered on us a couple of times. The bad part of this was it brought out the mosquitoes! They wouldn't leave us alone, even though we sprayed ourselves down with bug repellent. At one point, the mosquitoes were totally covering my head....it was bad.

One new box that I was able to stamp into at Livingston SP was THE LONG KING LB by Boots Tex. This is another absolutely amazing carving with a great story behind it. It is definitely worth the trip to get this one!

Blue Bird at Lunch time

Mother's Day Celebration

Blue Butterfly and I had a mother-daughter-mother's day celebration-letterboxing weekend the first weekend in May. We headed down to Huntsville, did some letterboxing, and attended The Airing of The Quilts in downtown Huntsville. We had a great time, even though we were rudely awakened by the thunderstorm on Sunday morning!

The Airing of the Quilts

Cat Quilt-One of my favorites

Blue Butterfly and Lucy Locket on Sunday morning--getting out of the rain.

Crockett, TX

Pictures from Lake Murray

Movie Time!

On May 9, I had a moonlighting opportunity in the Fort Worth area. I finished up there pretty early, and decided to head up to Ardmore, OK to take advantage of all the fabulous plants from the recent gathering at Lake Murray.

I got to Ardmore around lunch time and checked into a hotel. The room wasn't ready yet, so I went out to the lake and got started. I pulled out the map and was able to find the area where Puddle Splasher and Viewfinder had hidden their boxes. I drove to the trail head and followed the clues to KICKAPOO INDIANS and TORNADO OVER OKLAHOMA.

After getting back in the car, I made may way to another trail head to find the 80's MOVIE SERIES. This was a fun series to find.... and YES, I climbed up the side of that rocky hill! Thanks to Penguin Patrol for collecting and hiding these great stamps.

After finding those boxes, I was pretty beat, so I went back to the hotel and called it a night.

I got up Sunday morning and decided to hit the trail early. It was supposed to rain on Sunday, but I wanted to take my chances. I decided to find two boxes on the same trail. I easily found the first box, JESTER OF MURRAY. Just as I found the right log, the light shower started, but it wasn't too bad. I decided to take my chances and find the next box.

The rain came off and on rather lightly on the trail, but the trail was VERY muddy. I made my way around to the box, and just as I was replacing it in the hiding spot, the bottom fell out of the clouds! It was raining hard. I had an interesting walk back to the trail head. My back was soaked as I had protected my backpack by carrying it on my front side and held the umbrella over it. After making it back to the car, it was time to head back to Navarro County, TX.

I had a great weekend at Lake Murray, and I'll definitely going back to enjoy the rest of the boxes!!!!

Roarin' Lions Birthday

The first week of April, Roarin' Lion turned 8 years old. I can hardly believe it, he is growing up so fast. The good news is, he still loves his Aunt Lucy :-) Blue Butterfly brought the trio out to my house so we could do a little celebrating. We didn't get to go letterboxing because I had to work on Saturday, so I only got to spend a few hours with the kiddos on Friday evening at my house. I loved every minute of it.

Roarin' Lion sporting his elephant.

Stinky Monkey showing off his whoopie cushion.

Baby Sister coloring a picture of Dora.

Choose Your Own Adventure

On the trail at CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE EVENT.

PurpleNic had an event slated for Saturday, April 18 in Lindale. I knew when she posted the event that I would not be able to attend, due to work obligations that day. However, lucky for me, the event was rained out and postponed until Sunday, April 19. I was able to drive out to Lindale on Sunday morning to enjoy what was a spontaneous event, at least for me.

I arrived at the park and noticed there were a few balloons and a couple of letterboxers at the pavilion. PurpleNic and TX Dragonfly were busy stamping in, so I joined the frenzy. I met Lady Bug in a Tree and Herbst and exchanged with them. I also stamped into the main event box and also a couple of traveling event boxes that TX Dragonfly brought along to share.


After chatting for a while, PurpleNic, BarefootLucy, Lady Bug in a Tree, TX Dragonfly, and myself went looking for our own adventure! This series is put together very cleverly. I wasn't able to stay long enough to find every stamp in the series, so I hope to go back sometime and finish it up!

Thanks to PurpleNic for a fun event and for my letterboxing friends for letting me go 'boxing with them! I had lots of fun!!

Stamping into the first LB of CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE.

Lady Bug in a Tree and TX Dragonfly stamping in.

Mystery!

A few weeks ago, I went out to a state park in central Texas to find a couple of mystery boxes. These mystery boxes brought me to see some beautiful Texas flowers. Thanks to the planters for giving me a Saturday of Fun!

Luckily, this was the only snake I saw that day.

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.