Checking Out and Heading Home

On Tuesday morning, I awoke before dawn and checked out of Boudreaux's Boarding House. I headed back toward Baton Rouge because there were still a few boxes that I wanted to stamp into there. On my way through Baker, the "police photo squad" was out snapping pictures of speeding cars. I REALLY hope they weren't getting me!!

I made it to the capitol grounds in Baton Rouge on this foggy morning. I stopped to admire the water and the birds, then off to find the boxes!

I started off by looking for BIG BANG IN A LITTLE BOX. This one was very cleverly hidden and on a sunny day, probably provided a great view. After wiping off the gun powder, so to speak, I went hunting for THE LA SENATOR. One part of the clue says you are supposed to be able to see the capital building, but with the fog, it was impossible. I did find the senator there and easily stamped in. It was nice being there early with not too many people around!

After this, I headed to the LSU campus, where I wanted to find a puzzle box. I drove around LSU a bit and thought I'd found the right place, then doubted myself. I kept driving a little further, then decided I needed to get back on the road. As it turns out, I was in the right place the first time. I should have pulled around the back to find the box....I guess I'll have to go back!!

After this, it was a pretty uneventful drive to Lake Charles. In Lake Charles, I went to the Sam Houston Jones State Park to look for a box that might not be there and to plant my own. I felt like the trail heads were hard to find at this park, so if you go there, keep your eyes peeled. I drove around one of the circles one time, then on the second time around, found the orange trail head. As I walked along this trail, I discovered that I'd started at the wrong end. Luckily, this was a 1.6 mile trail and not a 5 mile trail! I hadn't anticipated this hike, but I was game for it. When I finally got to where the box would be, of course, it was no where to be found. I hiked back down the trail a little ways to hide my Flying Turtle. I hope he will feel at home here for a long time!

Now that I'd finished my boxing for the day, it was time to get back on I10 to head east. I went a little bit different way back to the interstate, following the signs for I10 East. When I got to the first ramp, the police had it blocked off. Oh dear. Plan B. I drove around a little and finally found another on ramp. Oh dear. Blocked again. The problem with being here is that I was on the wrong side of the water and had to find a bridge to get over. I backtracked and headed west and got on I10. When I got to the bridge, the bridge itself was blocked off, and I was forced to take the exit. I wasn't sure what to do next, so I decided to pull into a parking lot and get online to see if I could find out what the problem was. I was able to pull up the Lake Charles news and it turns out that a truck carrying propane had overturned on the bridge and it was going to take at least 12 hours to make the bridge passable. Phooey!

I called Blue Butterfly and let her know what was going on, then whipped out my LA map and found a way to get to the I210 loop. I drove across town to the highway and saw that it was stop-and-go traffic because everyone else was doing the same thing I was. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of gas, so I filled up, then joined the crowd. The traffic was slow, but I finally made it out of Lake Charles and on into Beaumont. I decided to stop here for the day, which was around 4:00 and get some rest.

On Wednesday morning, I drove straight back to Navarro County. I'd finally made it home!

TALKK 2009

Mama Cache and I met at Caroline's Country Kitchen for a good breakfast. MC had a great plan mapped out for the day, so I was certainly excited to hit the road!!

We started out by going to a mystery location to get SQUAD CAR. This box was created, including the carving, by one of my favorite junior letterboxers, Babadge. He did a great job of carving the stamp and finding a clever place to hide it. Thanks, Babadge!!

Lucy Locket at the location of Squad Car--boy, I looked tired ALREADY!

After leaving the secret location, we went to a local cemetery to stamp into HONEY, THIS AIN'T VERMONT. This is a seasonal box by MC. I now have two out of the four seasons.....I guess I need to make plans to come back in winter and spring!!

We made our way towards Jackson to find two Blackberry Patch boxes. Our next stop was at the Centenary State Historic Site. Here, I met Daniel and stamped into the fantastic event stamp. MC left the event box with him and we went hunting for MC's box on the grounds. We found the box, and I stamped in and while MC looked over it and did some box maintenance.

Mama Cache performing box maintenance

Our next stop was the Mary Ann Brown Nature Preserve. There was one WOM box here, and I also have two boxes on site. We found the WOM box and decided to exchange our new signature stamps while we had our things available. We took our time and chatted while we did this. A family of hikers came along and probably thought we were nuts-o, but that's ok.

We went looking for my two boxes in a backwards sort of way. I recognized the place where I thought the first box was and stopped to take a look. It was there, but the logbook was in bad shape. MC helped me do maintenance on this box, then we were on our merry way.

With MC's help, I was able to find the first box in the series. It turns out that one of the signs I'd referenced in the clue was missing, but the box was still there!! I was thrilled that both boxes have lasted almost three years. Both of the IN SEARCH OF boxes are ready to be stamped into by the next letterboxer who passes through!

After making our way back to the trail head and grabbing a granola bar, it was time for us to go to the Audobon SHS to find a few themed boxes that Blackberry Patch had planted. This is a beautiful area. There was a turkey lurking at the front door of the gift shop, so we talked to him for a bit. This area has two ponds, picnic areas, historic buildings, and a few short hiking trails. Definitely worth the visit. MC and I spent quite a bit of time here and found a total of three boxes. It was a beautiful day. While we were on the trail, Blackberry Patch called MC and we made arrangements to meet back at the Centenary Historic Site.

MC and I went to Subway and grabbed a sandwich, then went back to the Historic Site to await Blackberry Patch and Big B's arrival. I even saw a bunny hopping around the edge of the picnic area while we were waiting.

BP arrived and we all greeted one another, swapped stories, and had a grand time. By the time we parted, it was dark. MC and I headed to Angelle's Laundry, a small and intimate restaurant where we feasted on lasagna and salad, with entertainment by a cowboy. We stayed until the kitchen closed, then it was time to call it a day.

The TALKK 2009 Group: Big B, Blackberry Patch, Lucy Locket, Mama Cache

Boxing Along The Way

I left early Sunday morning to head towards Clinton, LA to take part in Mama Cache's annual TALKK event, which would be on Monday. I headed south to Houston, then hit I10 to go east.
While passing through Baytown, I stopped and snagged a couple of boxes by Bailey's Bunch, then hit the road again.

By the time I got to Rayne, it was around 6:00 or so and already dark, but I decided to attempt JBK's Alligator's Cooking LB. It was in a nice little park and I was able to snag it. I hopped back in the car and drove to Walgreens, where I stamped in, then drove back to the park to rehide. This is a cute little stamp and I wish I had been able to try and find the mural it is based on.

I finally headed toward Baton Rouge, then made my way north to Clinton. I pulled into Boudreaux's Boarding House and was greeted by the lovely Katherine. She helped me get settled into my room, then left me to get a good night's sleep. I was certainly looking forward to letterboxing with Mama Cache the next day!

Game On!

On Sunday morning, I awoke in plenty of time to get to Memorial Park early and look for a couple of boxes before the event. I made my first stop at the Houston Arboretum, where I found one box, then decided to go ahead and hide my own box there. Since this event was about games, I carved a box for Mario from the Super Mario Brothers game. I found a nice place to leave my Italian friend, then headed off to the park.

I still had time to find some boxes before the event started, but I decided to drive around and see if I could spot the meeting place. Sure enough, I found Dewberry, MO5, LSQ, and BT setting up. I jumped out of the car with my letterboxing gear and pre-inked fingers.

I posted my clue for Mario, greeted everyone, and stamped in to the event stamp. Dewberry's "event poster" was very clever. After writing down a few things and ciphering a clue or two, I went to find a couple of boxes with BT, LSQ, and Mosaic Butterfly. We started off by finding the Mouse Trap box. As we were walking away from this box, we spotted Silver Eagle, Baby Bear, and Clueless Collector. We all greeted one another, then went seperate ways.

Now, the four of us were on the hunt for Baby Bear's Bingo Card and Bingo Piece. We easily found the Card, and while we were in the area, LSQ remembered there was another box near this one. She gave us the clues to this one, and we stamped into this lovely carve. After packing this one up, it was time for us to go after that Bingo piece. We followed the bear down the path and eventually yelled BINGO! Lucky for us, we were all winners!!!

By this time, we decided to head back to the event site for more talking and stamping. I was able to meet Dawn's Glory and her family. I ate a little bit, chatted with some folks, and found some more nearby letterboxes.

Meeting up on the trail

After a little while, I joined Pacifickle and Miss S in hunting down some more letterboxes. We found Diamonds Are Forever, The Tin Man's Lost Oil Can, and The Writing's on The Wall. We searched for one more, but we had a hard time finding that one and came up empty. We did, however, find some neon colored fungus!





The day was beginning to grow darker and it was time for me to hit the road. We made it back to the trail head, and I sadly headed out of Houston and back to reality.



Thanks to the organizers of the GAME ON! Event for doing such a fabulous job!

Saturday in Houston

After getting off from work around midnight on Friday night, I set my alarm for a somewhat reasonable hour and crashed. I was so excited about heading down to Houston for the Game On! event. On Saturday morning, I got up and drove south on I45 out of Navarro County toward the promised land!

Late in the afternoon, I drove down I10 to find my first LB of the day. I got out of the car here and finally realized I was in the wrong part of this particular park. I hopped back in the car and drove to the correct spot. For some reason, I could not find my bug spray, but decided to give it a shot anyway. I was 90% sure that I'd packed it, but just couldn't find it. I headed to the area where the box should be and the mosquitoes were TERRIBLE. I looked in the area for as long as I could stand it, then had to leave. I'm not reporting that box as missing because I know for certain I was being distracted and may have certainly overlooked it.

So, after escaping the mosquito farm, I made my way to Wal-mart. I picked up a couple of items for the pot lock and TWO bottles of bug spray. After finishing up at Wal-Mart, I made my way to the Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary. As I opened the door to the other side of my vehicle, I found my original bottle of bug spray--lodged half way under one of the seats!

I made my way through the trails to find boxes by Mother of 5 and IRA Boxer. Both letterboxes were worth the drive! Mo5's is extra special because she carved it for some very special treasures in her life. I took my time stamping in, then made my way back to the trail head. It was time for me to find the hotel where I'd made reservations and take it easy!

Tyler State Park

Last Saturday, Blue Butterfly, PS Guru, and I met at Tyler State Park for a day of outdoor fun. I met them around 10 and we found the easy bike trail and rode around it. After that, PS Guru went on a harder trail while BB and I rode around the perimeter of the park--which we thought would be easier, but I guess we weren't counting on the hills!

After a morning of bike riding and a picnic, it was time for BB and I to find a few letterboxes. We started out by finding one by Barefoot Lucy, which took us over a bridge. After that, we were led on a scenic walk by Adams Trails as we found two of their boxes.

It was a beautiful day and a beautiful experience!

Playin' Hooky

I looked on my work calendar a few weeks ago and saw what we would be doing on October 27. I decided then and there that this would be a day they could survive without me. So, the night before I got on AQ and LbNA and took a look at where I wanted to go. I decided to hit up the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens and S.Z. Boaz Park.

I left my house around 9:00 so that I would be sure to miss the DFW rush hour. I arrived at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens around 10:30 or so. The first box I went after was one of Viewfinder's Music Boxes. I found the Blues Brothers and visited with them for a while, then moved on.

Next on my list was Puddle Splasher's Artist Series. I made my way to the appointed garden and checked in with Vincent. I spread my towel out on the wet bench (the DFW area as well as Navarro County got hit with some pretty bad storms on Sunday and Monday), and began stamping into this fantastic box. As I was stamping in, I saw a gardener inside the children's garden going about her business. So after stamping in, I whipped out my book and sat a spell. The gardener finished up her chores rather quickly, so I was able to re-hide and move on.

I then made my way to check in with Claude. I was stopped at the top of the stairs to take a picture of a lovely couple--he was from Australia, then went on my way. I easily found this box, then moved on to visit with Georgia. I even saw the turtles sunbathing as Puddle Splasher suggested I would.

Thanks to Puddle Splasher and Viewfinder for bringing me to the gardens. This was my first visit here and it was a lovely day!

After eating at Uncle Julio's for lunch, I moved on to Strawberry6703's Twilight Series. I'd been wanting to find these boxes for quite some time and was glad to have the opportunity to do so. I found the three boxes with their exquisite carvings and was thrilled. By this time, it was around 3:30, so I had to leave the rest of the boxes in the park for another day so that I could again miss the rush hour traffic.

On my way back to Navarro County, I stopped at Mansfield to find a box by Fantastic Four called The Gristmill in Mansfield. After stamping in here, it was time to head back to Navarro County and reality. :-(

West, Texas

On Saturday, Blue Butterfly and I headed out to a little town called West, TX. I'd read about the Kaska Family Farm and wanted to visit it and go through the corn maze. After talking about it, we decided to have fun at the farm, then go find a letterbox or two.

We arrived at the farm on a very cool morning. Lucky for us, not too many people were there. We went through the maze and made it safely back out again. Then, we walked around and took pictures and admired some of the little play areas and props. We decided that since there was a campfire, we would buy a s'mores kit and eat a traditional campfire snack. I roasted the marshmallows and BB put the "sandwiches" together. After this, we used our token to shoot the corn gun. Neither of us hit the target, but we had fun anyway.

After leaving the farm, we went into the town of West and found a place to eat lunch. We decided to give Leo's Mexican Food a try. We enjoyed our inexpensive meal there, then went hunting for the CZECH STOP LB. This is a beautifully carved stamp.

After this, we headed to Waco. We went after a box, that -as it turns out- we already had. By this time, I was feeling the effects of a late Friday night and was exhausted, so we turned and headed back to Navarro County.

Sunday Morning Jaunt

On Sunday morning, the day after the Middle Earth Event, Blue Butterfly left my house to go home long before I woke up. After I awakened and thought about the coming week, I decided to hit the road to find one more letterbox before starting the work week.

One of my favorite carvers and historians, Boots Tex, had recently planted a new letterbox in Walker County at a beautiful rest area. This rest area is complete with the usual restrooms and water fountains, but also features a history lesson about Sam Houston and the area, and a lovely nature trail that goes around the pond, perfect for stretching your legs on a road trip.

I printed out the clues and drove a couple of hours down to the rest area and made my way to the designated hiding place. A lovely, detailed carve found in FANTASTIC IN PLASTIC was my reward.

Thanks Boots and LSQ!

Middle Earth Event

The Group Photo

Breath of Life and Trillion Grams organized an event centered around The Lord of The Rings. I will confess that I have neither read the books nor watched the movies, but I was excited to get together with some other letterboxers on this day.

Blue Butterfly and I arrived around 11:30 or so and were greeted by several old friends. I then went to the main event table and stamped into the BLOOMING FLOWERS TRIBUTE LB and entered BB and myself into the drawings. Trillion Grams offered up her newest signature stamp, as did Breath of Life--both are lovely carves.

I hunted down the event stamp and then met, chatted, and exchanged with Bucky's First, Gran's Fam, and Clueless Blues. After wrapping up with that crowd and chatting with Clueless Blues, Captain Lola and her family joined us. We had a delightful time chatting and exchanging--by the way--I just now saw there is a hat on your signature stamp, Captain Lola...very clever!

Now it was time for me to join the Fantastic Four. One of their clan was missing due to a prior commitment, but the remaining three were a delight to chat with. I was able to exchange with them and #4 of the group showed me a great letterbox they'd stamped into in Oregon. It was one of those boxes that the finders are supposed to add stamps to when they find it, and this one was a real treasure trove of stamps.

After getting a bite to eat, we decided it was time to hit the trail. So, Blue Butterfly, Mother's Love, Beach Bum TX, Pink Cookie and I set out on the trail to find the event-themed permanent stamps. We found the five theme stamps, plus the BLUE HERON stamp.

Thanks to the event organizers for a lovely day! The weather was perfect!!

Three of The Fantastic Four

Stamps I earned on this day:

Blooming Flowers Event Box

Trillion Grams-New Sig Stamp

Breath of Life-New Sig Stamp

Middle Earth Birthday Bash Event Stamp

Bucky's First-Exchange

Gran's Fam-Exchange

Clueless Blues-Exchange

Panda Pop-CB's PT

Bloo-Exchange

Captain Lola-Exchange

Juice Box-Exchange

Harry Berry-Exchange

Fantastic Four-Exchange

D&D Dragonfly-Exchange

The Silmarils

The Riders of Rohan

The Nine

Prince of Mirkwood

Luthien Tinuviel

Blue Heron

Yahoooooooooz!

After leaving Blue Butterfly's house on Sunday afternoon, I decided to go through Tyler and run a few errands. Since I would be going through Whitehouse, I decided it was high time I stopped and stamped into PurpleNic's box located on the grounds of a little coffee shop (no pun intended). Lucky for me, the shop was not open, so I was able to retrieve, stamp in, and replace the box with no audience what-so-ever. Thanks, Nic!

Soccerchik's Event

Soccerchik is a freshman at SFA this year, so SandiBox and JBKokopelli wanted to throw her a "Welcome to Nacogdoches" event this year. I was able to spend the night at Blue Butterfly's house on Friday night, and we were able to drive together to this event.

When we got to Nac, it was misting a little bit, but that made it easier for me to find a box in downtown. I was able to find ASL FINGERSPELLING SERIES: A. After re-hiding that box, we headed toward the park and the event.

When we arrived at the event, most everyone was there already. Luckily, JBK had us in a pavilion because it rained off and on most of the day. We stamped into the very lovely event stamp, then sat around and chatted for a while. I was able to exchange with Alton, a new letterboxer from the Houston area.

Sandibox planted a lovely tribute stamp for Soccerchik and she shared the clues with us. We hunted it down and brought it back to the pavilion to stamp in. After that, we tagged along with Sandibox to find THE CHIEF'S SONS, then we headed out.

Blue Butterfly wanted me to go check out LSQ's letterbox near San Augustine. BB had found this box a few months ago, and I wanted to stamp in, too. We made our way east to the cemetery and I easily tracked down this wonderful box. Thanks to BT and LSQ for a great addition to my logbook!

Now, it was time to head home. On our way northward, BB mentioned that I should stamp into PerkyP's box near Henderson. Blue Buttefly wasn't sure exactly which road she should turn down---so I remembered my handy-dandy IPhone. I whipped it out and looked up the clue. We made a slight detour to get GRANDMA'S COKE FLOAT.

It was a great day of letterboxing and letterboxing friends!

A Beautiful Flower

We are saying special prayers for Janet (Blooming Flowers), Cassie, and the rest of the family.

Tyler Mini-Meet

AndPlus2

Yesterday, Blue Butterfly and I attended the Tyler Mini-Meet hosted by AndPlus2. The event was set on the beautiful grounds of a church's recreational/nature facility. I arrived at the pavilion and was greeted by AndPlus2, who gave me a beautiful LTC and a clue book for the day. I unloaded my water and popcorn, then began chatting and stamping.

I started out by getting three of Breath of Life's PTs and she easily earned mine. We exchanged our favorite stories about The Office while she stamped in and we just laughed and laughed. After that, I went to AndPlus2 and earned her Literary PT. What an amazing carve!

Breath of Life

After a few more exchanges and finally ciphering one of the clues, Blue Butterfly, Beach Bum TX, JB Kokopelli, Pink Cookie and I went off to find some boxes. We found the one that was closest to the pavilion first, then worked our way outward. After finding the third of four boxes, we decided to join everyone for lunch, then find the fourth one afterwards.

Time for Fishing

After lunch, we went down the road to find the fourth box. Mr. AndPlus2 came along and told us we were in the wrong spot, and pointed us in the right direction. Blue Butterfly eyed the hiding spot and we all gathered around to stamp in our final box of the day.

We headed back up to the pavilion because a new letterboxer had just arrived when we were leaving and we wanted to meet her and, of course, get exchanges. We came to the table and were greeted by a smiling Rogue Artist. This was her first event, and I think she was having a good time. :-)

Finally, the day was hot and I still had to drive back to Navarro County. Blue Butterfly and I said goodbye and headed our seperate ways. Thanks SOOOO MUCH to AndPlus2 for hosting a great event. I really had a great time!!!!!!!

Stamps I earned today:

The ROC August 2009-Event Stamp

Pixie Dust-PT

Super You-PT

Sign of the Bat-PT

AndPlus2's Literary PT

Trillion Grams New Sig Stamp

3Search-Exchange

At The Roc

What Brings You to Tyler?

Fishing for Fun

Pretty As A Flower

Rogue Artist-Exchange

Agent X-Exchange

We found it!

Too Hot to LB????

Blue Butterfly and I have been drooling over the letterboxes that Safari Man planted a few weeks ago in Flower Mound, TX. About mid-week, I asked BB if she wanted to accompany me to Flower Mound to find these great boxes, and she quickly agreed!

Unfortuntately, it has been raining quite a bit here for the past week and Saturday morning was no exception. I watched on the radar as the rain and thunderstorms swept through the Flower Mound/Grapevine area and hoped that by the time we got there, there would be no more storm systems until after our adventure was over.

BB got to my house around noon and we ate lunch, then hit the road. We finally made it up to the park and found our starting point. We started out finding the first series that Safari Man had left. Since the trail was wet, we only ran into one cyclist and only a few hikers. The bad news is, since it was wet, I was going down a hill off the trail and ended up taking a spill....clues flying everywhere. The blessing on that is, only one leg landed in the mud and I wasn't hurt. My right leg was covered from ankle to knee in mud!

After hiking and finding all the boxes in the first series, we went back to the car to take a little break before heading off to the second series. Blue Butterfly decided to walk down to the marina and check things out while I stayed at the car and cooled off. When she returned, we began part 2 of our adventure.

We followed the clues for the second series and on parts of the trail, we were in a field where the flora was "as high as an elephant's eye" on both sides of the trail. We found the boxes in this series and enjoyed our hike on the lake, then headed back home. It didn't rain on us the whole time!!!

Fort Boggy State Park

I visited Fort Boggy in Centerville today. I don't know why this park has flown under my radar for so long. Silver Eagle and Baby Bear have had letterboxes here for quite some time. It was brought to my attention when Boots Tex made a post about it on the Texas Yahoo! Group a few weeks ago. I decided I needed to get down there and take a look!

There are four boxes in this park, the ones I already mentioned plus the two more planted by Boots Tex and Lone Star Quilter. I managed to find all of them! I was quite proud and pleased with myself. I will say though, it was HOT HOT HOT out there!!!

Hill Country Trip-Day Three and Four

On Tuesday morning after breakfast, I finished putting together my letterbox, then hit the trail to find a place for it. There was a trail head next to my campsite, so I decided to start there. I found a place for the letterbox at the top of a VERY STEEP hill. The box is called YAKKING IT UP. I made my way back to the camp site and cleaned up the clues, then headed to Uvalde. It was at this point that I realized my sunglasses were not with my hat any more. I guessed I'd probably dropped them along the trail at some point. I'd have to go back for them later.

I made my way to Uvalde, stopped at WalMart, then headed out to find the FORT INGE LB. Of course, I passed the turn and had to turn around and go back. When I got to Fort Inge, I stopped the car and went to the gate. I wasn't sure if the grounds were open or not, so I just climbed through the gate and took the box back to my car and stamped in there. After leaving the fort, I went to the Uvalde Library and posted the clue to my newest letterbox.

After making it back to camp that afternoon, I rested for a while, then went back down the trail, hoping to find my sunglasses. I made my way down the trail and climbed up the hill to the box, and there they were, on the ground by the tree. I'm glad I found them. :-)

That afternoon, I talked with one of the mothers from across the street who had sent her girls over to help me. We had a nice little chat, then that evening, she brought over a plate of food for me. I thought that was really nice. I had almost a whole bundle of firewood that I would not be using, so I offered it to her and she gladly took it. She told me they would be staying in Garner until Monday and I told her I would be leaving tomorrow morning.

On Wednesday morning, I got up and packed up the camp. I headed out of Garner and wanted to go through Bandera so that I could get another Baby Bear LB. (Unlike certain ghosts and bozos, I am definitely in the Baby Bear Fan Club) I made my way to Bandera and the Hill Country State Natural Area. I easily found the box, and of course, got a good laugh from it!

This was my last letterbox of the trip. I made it safely home that afternoon and unpacked the car. The suitcase is another story......

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