From Café Olé to Bishop's Lodge

Things have been a little busy since just after Easter. Work, family things and just everyday responsibilites have kept me occupied all day long for a few weeks now. Astro D and I have been trying to get together for coffee and a chat - but she has been quite busy as well. We finally were able to meet up today and get caught up. We met at a coffee shop that neither of us had been to before - The Café Olé. It opened back in November, replacing PD Bean. The new place is pretty nice. Astro D and I enjoyed some coffee and tea while we talked. I guess we had a lot to catch up on because we met at 9:00am for coffee and tea and we were still talking when noon rolled around. So we decided to have some lunch. After eating lunch and talking some more we finally parted ways at around 2:00pm. It was nice to see her and catch up on things. Hopefully it won't be so long before we get together next time.

After leaving Astro D I headed out to Bishop's Lodge. Wronghat placed a letterbox there just two days ago and I had some time today so I decided to go and look for it. I headed up Bishop's Lodge Road and turned into the Resort. I made my way to the Visitor's Parking area and read the clues. I found the trail head and started my way up. The box was placed at the top of Pincushion Hill. The hike wasn't very long but it was pretty steep - at least the last half of it was. Once at the top I had a great view of the entire Resort. That view is the picture posted here. For anyone who has read Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop, which is based on the life of Bishop Lamy, you can see the steeple in the bottom right corner of the picture that is Bishop Lamy's private chapel.

Back to the box. Once at the top of the hill and after a few pictures I read the clues and located the hiding the spot of the box. The box is hidden on the down hill side under a small juniper covered with rocks. The hill is pretty steep and and I had a hard time keeping my footing. Finally I had to grab onto one of the branches of the juniper to hold myself up and reach for the box with my free hand. Once I had the box I carefully made my way back to the top of the hill. I sat and stamped in and enjoyed the views. When I was finished stamping in I put the box back together and proceeded to the front of the juniper. This time I knew to grab the branch and I didn't slide down the hill. Once back on top of the hill I took a few more pictures and the hiked back down to the trail and back to my car. It was a very nice day, relaxing and visiting with a friend and letterboxing - who could ask for more.