Arizona Letterboxing Trip

Thomas and I decided to get away for the Thanksgiving holiday. And what better reason to plan a letterboxing trip. Thomas has a brother in Phoenix so we decided to head to Arizona for a few days. I decided to do a loop trip. We are headed to Flagstaff the first night. Then we would go to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. On our way home we would take I10 through Tucson and in to New Mexico and finally head up to Santa Fe on I25. When I get home I'll post a photo album. For now, read about the trip by clicking on the picture.

My Coyote Friend

This coyote has been a frequent visitor in my backyard. On November 16, 2006 I was able to capture a little bit of video. The music is Coyote Animus by R. Carlos Nakai.

Santa Fe Mini Meet

Well, the Santa Fe Mini Meet is now history. It was a great night - at least I had a good time. We had a small group of 12 people and it was held at our home. Most of the group was from Santa Fe but we did have a few out-of-towners: thanks KAT and kennamtn for coming from Moab,UT; Lore drove in from Amarillo; preboxed made it down from Denver and Funhog was in town from Oregon on business and took time from her busy schedule to visit with us. Astro D, the Great Wuga Wuga, Highwayman, Lovely Rita Meter Maid, rubberpeace, rbrhorno and myself (lionsmane63) live here in Santa Fe - we were happy to have letterboxers from other areas in town to find our boxes. We ate, had a little wine, ate some more and stamped (exchanges and personal travelers as well as the incredible event stamp carved by Astro D). I really hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as I did. Thanks to all who attended! I put a few photos in an album titled Santa Fe Mini Meet on Atlas Quest, I will try to add more photos later.

Land of Enchantment

Thomas and I headed out early this morning to get a series of letterboxes planted and to get in a nice hike. We were not disappointed! The morning was crisp and cold to start but then warmed up enough to make the hike incredibly pleasant. We completed a 4 mile hike with about a 1000 foot elevation gain, while at the same time we got nine letterboxes planted. They are my Land of Enchantment Series. Come and find them - I promise you won't be disappointed. We had a great morning and now we are getting ready for the Santa Fe Mini Meet which is tonight - I am so excited - it has already been a great day, I am sure the evening will be just as great!

Letterboxing Can Be Dangerous!

What a morning! I got up early to replant one letterbox and plant a new one. While walking around trying to find a good spot to replant The Crow Knows letterbox, two large elephants charged me. I swear I must have been really concentrating on finding a good hiding spot because I never saw that elephant's tail. Now I have a goose egg over my right eye. Luckily, no blood or loss of consciousness. And, the box has been replanted and I will update the clues in a few minutes. I was feeling okay, just a little embarassed and I had a red bump on my forehead - so I continued to my next destination to plant my new box - Going In Circles.









Getting both these boxes planted felt good - I wanted them in place before the Santa Fe Mini Meet on Saturday. So now I need to exercise - exercise my right to vote that is. So I headed to my polling place and made my voice count. I hope all of you did the same. If not, there is still plenty of time.

Can You Believe This Sunset

While working on things for the Mini Meet this incredible sunset appeared before my eyes. I don't need to say anything else!

A Perfect Day!

What a great Sunday this turned out to be.

Thomas and I woke up at about 7:00 AM, we dressed and had a little breakfast and then headed out to White Rock and Los Alamos. We couldn't have planned better weather or a more perfect day. We arrived in Los Alamos and I was stamping in to Joseph's Dream Letterbox a little before ten o'clock. After starting the day with a quick and easy letterbox find we headed out to White Rock to hike the Blue Dot Trail. Again, the weather was perfect - blue skies, cool temperatures and a gentle breeze.

As we made our way down the trail we stopped to check in on a favorite box of mine. Astro D's Blue Dot. It is a great box in an incredible setting. The view from the box's hiding place is spectacular. It is worth the time to drive to White Rock and take this hike, well worth the effort. After checking the box and making sure it was hidden well we continued on our way. We encountered a family of five making their way back to the top - we chatted for a minute and then started down again. The views of the Rio Grande from here are great and then there is all the volcanic rock everywhere - an absolutely great hike. We made our way to the river and found a nice rock to sit on and enjoy the views and watch the river rush on by. After a 30 minute rest we headed back up. We met another couple on their way down - they were hiking with their two Boston Terriers - the dogs seemed to be having a great time.

We made it back to the car and logged in a 2.5 mile roundtrip hike. Excellent way to spend a Sunday morning. Driving back to Santa Fe, Thomas and I talked about what we needed to get done this week - after all the Santa Fe Mini Meet is on Saturday night. We stopped and completed a few errands and then returned home. As I was making a "To Do" list for the coming week it dawned on me that a new box had debuted in Santa Fe that day. After checking the clues I headed out to find my second box of the day. This was an easy drive-by box and I was not disappointed. Another box by rubberpeace and rbrhorno done spectacularly. The End is Near Letterbox - all I can say is WOW!

I then ran an errand and as I pulled in the parking lot I saw this beautiful bird sitting atop a bush just in front of the car. I grabbed my camera and got a candid shot. Just another great thing that happened today. I returned home to have supper with Thomas. After eating and cleaning the kitchen we sat out on the porch and watch the most incredible Full Moon rise over the mountains. Again I had the camera ready! What can I say - it was the perfect day! To see a photo album of a few pictures from today click on the blue dot picture above.