One GRAND Day of Letterboxing!

I first read about letterboxing in November 2005 when I was searching the internet for information about keeping a personal journal. One of the hits was a link to letterboxing. I read a little and it sounded sort of interesting, so I bookmarked the page. About two weeks later I returned to that page and started to read more about this intriguing hobby. I did my research and started to gather all the essential tools. It wasn't until January 2006 that I finally was brave enough to carve my first signature stamp. I was happy with it and I was ready to start searching for letterboxes. Due to snow and cold weather here in Santa Fe I didn't get out to find my first letterbox until February 16, 2006 - that box was Silver Eagle's Santa Fe Trail Microbox. From the moment I lifted that rock and found the box I was hooked - some may say obsessed - who am I to argue. Well, here it is two years, 5 months and 28 days later and I am still captivated by following clues to bits of art hidden in the most interesting and sometimes obscure places. Along the way I have learned a lot about myself, seen places I may never have visited and met a lot of wonderful people - I have even made some great friendships along the way.

Today marked a big milestone for me when I found my 1000th letterbox. It was special because it was my 1000th box but it was even more special because it was placed especially for me by my good friend Astro D. Yesterday I recieved a call from Astro D letting me know that the box was planted and she needed to bring me information that I would need to find the box. Unfortunately I was on my way to Albuquerque to visit the State Fair. She was kind enough to offer to drop it off at my house and leave it on my porch. So as soon as I arrived home last night I opened the packages and started to put the clues together (literally - they were written on the back of a puzzle). Along with the puzzle was also an envelope with papers that helped me to find the location. I gathered all the info along with a state map and figured out where I needed to be in order to locate the box. Thomas and I planned to make the trip this morning.

After finishing our responsibilities with Thomas' Dad we got in the car and headed north out of Santa Fe. After a pleasant drive of a little more than an hour we arrived in the Orilla Verde Recreation Area. Another place Thomas and I have never visited. It was a beautiful area and we savored the views as we drove to the box location. We parked in the area designated on the back of the puzzle and headed off on foot to complete the rest of the clues. A great map with simple directions lead us to that 1000th box. I found the box (Road Trip!) and was so excited - but I soon found out that I could even get more excited. Once I opened the box I found not one, not two, not three . . . but thirteen stamps in the box. It eventually became clear that Astro D had enlisted other letterboxing friends to contribute to this very special box. My first thought was that Thomas knew about this and kept it a secret. He denied knowing anything and suggested that maybe I should take the box home to enjoy all the stamps and that way I could stamp each image as many times as I wanted and maybe make a scrapbook page or something with all the images together. Since Astro D hadn't posted the clues yet I thought that was a great idea. We decided we would make the trip back here tomorrow to return the box to its hiding spot. I did spend a little time going through the box and took notice of who all had contributed stamps - Astro D & The Great Wuga Wuga, rubberpeace & rbrhorno, Twinville Trekkers, dewberry, Travelin' T's, Cold Front, Warm Front and Bell Motel. Thanks to all for making this box really special.


I walked a little further up the trail to take pictures and see a landslide that Astro D mentioned on the back of the puzzle. This landslide had completely blocked the road exccpt for a narrow trail to the other side. We then headed back to the car, making frequent stops along the way to take pictures. We began our trip out of the recreation area but made a quick detour to find a bonus box. The clues had been left in the Road Trip! box and we decided to pick that box up as well and take it home too. We arrived at the area to find the bonus box (Side Trip!) and began our search - it didn't take us too long to find the box but we did hang out a little while because the views from this area were spectacular. It was now a little after one in the afternoon and we were hungry.


Once out of the recreation area and back on the main road we headed back to Santa Fe. We found a place to grab a bite to eat and then drove the rest of the way home. I couldn't wait to open the box again and examine the contents. Each stamp is a treasure and I took my time stamping each one into my journal and onto an extra sheet of paper (not sure what I will do with it but I just wanted to have that extra stamped image). I finished stamping, logged into the box's journal and repacked the box. This box is an add on box so I found an appropriate image and carved my own stamp to include in the box. I then stamped into the Side Trip! box - it has two very nice images (as usual since Astro D always carves nice stamps) and repacked that box. Tomorrow Thomas and I will rehide the boxes so that Astro D can post the clues and everyone else can enjoy these incredible boxes. Also inside the Road Trip! box for me was an LTC and a note from Astro D and a first finder prize from rubberpeace.

I thoroughly enjoyed finding my 1000th letterbox and really appreciated all the work that went into the box - thanks Astro D for making this milestone very special. And thanks to everyone else that took the time to contribute a stamp to make a special box even more special. I am now looking forward to the many places and people that my next 1000 boxes will lead me to.