Letterboxing in the Duke City

Today Thomas and I had to go to Albuquerque to pick up a friend from Texas at the airport. So we decided to make a day of it and do some letterboxing and go to the State Fair. This morning did not look promising - when we woke up it was pretty cloudy and there was a drizzling of rain. But we got our things together and made our way to Albuquerque with letterbox clues in hand. Thankfully the weather was much better in Albuquerque than in Santa Fe. There was the Pedalin Series of boxes and a couple of others that we wanted to look for. As we made our way into Albuquerque I read the clues and decided which box to go for first - we started with Pedalin Pigtail. We had to find the sculpture of Silente Paisano on the bike trail, which we did and then follow the clues to the box. We found it easy enough and stamped in and rehid the box. Next we decided to look for Pedalin Poet, again on the bike trail but near a memorial for Harry Ives. We headed in that direction but soon realized that we probably didn't have time to find that box and make it to the airport in time to meet our friend. Thomas said he could drop me off and I could look for the box and stamp in and he would go and pick up Donna and then they would come back and get me. So he brought me to the starting point for the box and left. I walked to the memorial and took a couple of pictures and read the poem and then followed the clues to the box. I found it and sat down to stamp in. I took my journal and stamp out and then opened the box and looked at the stamp and logbook. As I was stamping in I got a frisson. I looked up and then looked over my right shoulder and about five feet away from me was a coyote. I didn't hear the darn thing walk up behind me and let me tell you that I nearly wet my pants. So I composed myself and didn't make any sudden movements. I went for my camera and that scared the coyote and he took off - I did manage to get a picture but he was already far away. I couldn't believe that I was so wrapped up in the letterbox that I didn't hear him - I decided that for the rest of the day I would be more alert. Once he was gone I stamped in and rehid the box and walked back to the area where I was to meet Thomas and Donna.

They picked me up and we headed to our next destination - the Albuquerque Biological Park. There was one box to find and one to plant. We quickly found ABC Zoo Animals: D is for Dolphin. It is hidden near the entrance to the park and luckily it wasn't crowded and we were able to retrieve and then rehide the box without problems. Once that was done I went into the the park to replant my BioPark box. I had received a few 'attempts' and since it was hidden in a pretty easy spot to locate I figured it was missing. So I had recarved the stamp and made a new box this past week and wanted to get it back out there. I decided not to put it in the same spot, so I walked around the park and eventually found a spot I think will be safe - at least I hope so. I have updated the clues on AQ and put the box back as active.

Once we finished at the BioPark we wanted to get something to eat so we opted for the Route 66 Diner. After a nice quick lunch we were back on the road to look for our next box. This one was the last box in the Pedalin Series and it is called Pedalin Papa. We found the Chris Chavez Memorial and quickly located the box. I sat and stamped in while Thomas and Donna waited in the car. Wronghat did a nice job with this series - I really enjoyed it. After this I wanted to check on another one of my boxes that had been reported missing. So we went to Roosevelt Park and looked for the box - unfortunately we weren't able to find Roosevelt. I will work on another one and try and get that replanted soon. Now that we had finished with all that we decided to head to the State Fair for the afternoon.

The New Mexico State Fair started on September 11 and runs until September 27. Wronghat hid a box at the fair grounds in honor of the fair and I decided that I could kill two birds with one stone - get a letterbox and see the fair. There is only one place you can enter at the fair so we parked and got our tickets and went in. We made our way to the area where the letterbox was hidden and I spotted the landmark I needed. The only problem was that there were quite a few people around the area and there is a building right next to the hiding spot where the police are headquartered. So I played lookout while Thomas got the box - we thought we were being so stealthy but when Thomas pulled the box out another box fell on the ground and made a little noise. I looked around and it didn't look like anyone had noticed. So I took the box off to the side to a picnic table and stamped in. When I went to return the box there were about 10 police officers hanging around the building. So I kept the box and walked around the area for a little while until the officers all left and then I replaced the box. The box that fell was a small round lock & lock and turned out to be a hitchhiker (I really don't like hitchhikers that big - it makes them hard to get rid of).

Anyway, we had a great day of letterboxing and enjoyed the State Fair. We are looking forward to the El Rancho de los Letterboxes event on Saturday, September 26 - hope to see you there.