Northwest New Mexico Loop - Part III

Sunday, October 31
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

This mornig we slept in, we didn't leave the hotel until around 9:30am. We weren't in a hurry since our plans only involved letterboxing within Farmington. Since we didn't have any long drives we decided to take it easy this morning. When we finally did get around to getting out we headed to Berg Park. With clues in hand and letterboxing gear in tow we headed out to find three boxes. We walked the nature trail and visited the Riverside Nature Center and also walked around the All Veterans Memorial Park. It was a beautiful Sunday morning and the park was a great place to be, we even managed to see two deer. I guess we spent about an hour and a half at the park and managed to find three letterboxes - Love Stars Box, The Tree Sniffers and The Red Brick Box. From Berg Park we made our way to Gateway Park. Here we were looking for two letterboxes. I followed the clues for one and found 'a' box but not 'the' box. I was looking for Frolick in the Garden and what I found was Native Mandala. So before stamping in I read the clues for Native Mandala the box was in the right spot but it was hidden by a brick and the clues stated to look for a rock. So I reread the clues for Frolick in the Garden and retraced my steps to see if I was looking in the right spot. I thought I was but I never found the box. I am not sure I was looking in the right spot or not but we ended up walking all around the garden and still came up empty handed. So I stamped in to Native Mandala and rehid it as I found it. I hope the other box isn't missing - I just hope I misread the clues. We decided it was time to move along.

We headed to the north part of town to Lions Wilderness Park. We drove to the Overlook Shelter Area and parked. While I looked for the box Thomas sat under the shelter and read. I followed the clues and found Here Lies Jose HHH tucked nicely in its hiding spot. I decided to take the box back to the shelter to stamp in where I could have a nice flat surface. The hostel only had two hitchhikers in it (and the clues stated that there should be three) so I didn't take any hitchhikers with me and I didn't have any to leave there either. So I just stamped into the box and rehid it. From this part of the park we drove back to the Amphitheater area. I found Smelly Snail and quickly stamped in and put it back and then went in search of Wronghat's Sting box. I didn't have any problems with the clues and soon I was sitting on the incredible rock formation enjoying the beautiful sunshine and stamping in. This was another wonderful Wronghat/Semicolon box! Once the box was back in its spot I returned to the car. I had a box that I had planned to hide in the park but wasn't sure where. While I was stamping in to Sting I decided that I wanted to put it in the area where I found Jose. So we drove back to the other area but instead of going to the Overlook Shelter we went to the Rocky Point Shelter. It didn't take me long to find a good spot for He Strikes! and get the clues written. I enjoyed this park, especially the landscape - the rock formations were incredible.

When we left this park we decided to find a place to eat and relax for a little while. We had an enjoyable lunch and rested for about an hour before heading out again. We didn't have much left to do in the way of letterboxing. I had clues for seven boxes but only three of them were actually available. Four of them were either missing, retired or pulled. And I still wanted to get one more box planted today. Our first stop after lunch was Vietnam Veterans Park where we found The Lucky Box. I stamped in and rehid the box and then decided to give the park a once over to see if I could hide my box here. The park is small but after looking around I decide it would work perfectly. I think The Lucky Box may have been lucky for me. I quickly found a spot for Alphabetical New Mexico: F (Farmington). There were a lot of things that fit - a big "F" on the hill, I found a bench that had "The City of Farmington" on it and it just felt right. So with that box in place we could move on. We next went to the Farmington Library and found Play-Doh. I sat on the beautiful lawn and stamped in while enjoying the terrific Fall weather. After getting that box back into place we headed off for out last box in Farmington. This one would be a quick drive by as it was hidden right on the side of the road. We parked on a side street and I made the very short walk to retrieve Fly By Knight. I brought it back to the car to stamp in and then I walked it quickly back to its hiding spot. So we managed to get all the boxes that are available in the Farmington area - except one and we will get that one on our way home tomorrow and we will leave one final box in the area as well. All our things are organized and I think we are ready to head on home. Thomas and I both miss Daisy and Buddy and it will be good to get home and see them. And tomorrow just happens to be Buddy's 1st birthday.

Monday, November 1

Today we are going to make our way home to Santa Fe. We did want to get an early start so we were up at 6:00am to get things ready. After a quick bite to eat we got on the road, I was wanting to get to our first stop before the sun was up too much. We left Farmington and made our way to NM550 and headed for Angel Peak Scenic Area. We got there just as the sun started peeking above the horizon. We watched the sun hit the landscape and loved the way the light played on it. We did all this from the car as it was 35 degrees. We finally got out and took a few pictures and then went in search of Wronghat's Angel's Peek letterbox. It took a little bit of searching but we finally found it. I found a place to sit and stamp in and Thomas high tailed it back to the car - he was cold. I enjoyed the views, especially the ones of Angel Peak and Castle Rock. After I got the box back into place we left that picnic area and went to another one so that I could hide a box. I placed Angel Peak at the Cliffs Picnic Area. Once we had the clues written down we headed out.

We continued down NM550 to Cuba, well actually a little bit before Cuba. We stopped at Apache Nugget Casino to find T.P., the letterbox not the roll of, placed here by D-Girl. It was a quick and easy find right near the bathrooms. I took this one back to the car to stamp in as it was still quite chilly. I love the carved image - it really made me smile. And I enjoyed finding this box on our drive home. With the box back in place we were done with the letterboxing portion of our trip. Truthfully we were completely done with our trip except for the remaining miles of the drive home. That is exactly what we did - drive. We made it home around noon and were excitedly greeted by Daisy and Buddy, and today is Buddy's first birthday.

Our trip to the northwestern portion of New Mexico was a lot of fun. We found some great boxes and enjoyed visiting some spectacular places. But as always it is great to be home. We found 31 boxes on this trip and placed 9. Some of the boxes I placed are in out of the way places but believe me it is worth the drive to the area - what you get to see is spectacular.