Letterboxing On Our Way Home

The phone rang at 5:30am for our wake up call so we could get on the road early and head home to Santa Fe. The car was loaded and we had take away breakfast from the hotel and we were on the road. It was still dark and there was no traffic which made it easy to get from Westminster through Denver. We didn't even have trouble getting through Colorado Springs - there was no traffic at all. I guess everyone was taking today as a holiday as well. We stopped in Pueblo to fill up the car with gas and to use the restroom. Then we were on our way again. I had clues for boxes in Raton, Folsom and Capulin so we had planned to take a detour and get these boxes.

Raton Sign on Goat Hill

When we arrived in Raton we made our way up to Goat Hill to find Texas Longhorn placed by Gryzzled Gryphon and Frost Maiden. We found the landmarks and in no time I had the box in hand. I stamped in at the car and then replaced the box. After that I took some pictures and enjoyed the views. Fifteen minutes later we were heading down Hwy72 toward Folsom. We drove to just before mile marker 10 and found TaiChi and ChaiTea's To NM from CO. It was covered with about a half inch of snow but easy to retrieve. I was surprised to find that I was the first finder - woohoo! Once that box was in place we continued our drive along Hwy72 heading east. We kept our eyes out for the landmark for the next box.

Rainbow Ranch

This was Rainbow Ranch by DennisonExplorer. Eventually we found the sign and the bike. We parked and I could see the box from the car. It was just under a bush, not covered or anything. When I went closer I could see that it was probably hidden that way to begin with. There were no rocks anywhere and no hole or anything to cover it. So I took it back to the car and stamped in. After I replaced it we drove through Folsom and continued on NM325 to Capulin. We drove past the volcano and made our way to the center of town to the Capulin Country Store. There was supposed to be two boxes here. So I went in search of the first box (which contains the clues for the second box) and Thomas went in to the store to get some snacks and distract anyone inside. I followed the clues and searched for the box but was having problems. I was feeling a little uncomfortable just walking around the building searching things and I was also right on the highway. After 15 minutes I decided to give up and returned to the car. A few minutes later Thomas came out of the store and got into the car. He said the man inside was a little suspicious and asked what I was doing. So I am thinking that this isn't a good spot for the box. And Thomas thought maybe the man found the box and removed it and was thinking I might be looking for it - but he didn't say that to Thomas. Anyway we decided to call it a day and head home. I hope I just missed the box and that it isn't missing but I would like more direct clues so that I wouldn't have to snoop around the store and make the man suspicious if I decide to go back and look for the box again. The rest ot the drive home was uneventful and we were glad to be home before the snow started. We had a great trip, a nice visit with Thomas' brother and found some wonderful letterboxes.