Another Scenic Driving and Letterboxing Day

Last week I was unable to get two boxes on my day of letterboxing and driving. So I decided to try and get them today. I also had clues to two new boxes. After breakfast and coffee I gathered my things and I was out of the house around 8:00am.
My first stop was near my house at the Spur Trail in Rancho Viejo. It was only a short walk down the trail to two benches and I easily found ArnoldZiffel's The Road to El Dorado. I love the stamp - it is a nice carve. I stamped in sitting on a bench and while there three people passed me with dogs. I ended up having two dogs come and inspect what I was doing.

Embudo Station (now closed)

When the coast was clear I put the box back in place and walked back to my car. From here I headed to NM 599 and then to US 287 and headed north to Espanola. I then continued my drive along NM 68 to Embudo. I was sad to see that the gallery and restaurant there are now closed. I parked and found Speleo's Embudo Station box.

Our Lady of Guadalupe at Embudo Station

This was another nice stamp. I stamped in while sitting in the car and when done got the box back into place. I ended up walking around and taking a few pictures before getting back on NM 68 and heading back south. Just a few miles down the road I stopped at Black Mesa Winery hoping to get ArnoldZiffel's Black Beauty box. This time when I asked for the box the woman behind the counter knew exactly what I was looking for. But she had a little trouble locating the box but found it in about five minutes. I stamped in and got another great stamp by ArnoldZiffel. I returned the box back to the woman and headed to the car. I drove south again on NM 68 and then turned right onto NM 74 toward Hernandez. This was the same route I took last week. The only difference was this time I didn't head toward Abiquiu. Instead I headed to Espanola and then took NM 30 to the Santa Clara Puye Cliffs Welcome Center. There is a sign on Santa Clara Canyon Road that says you need a pass to continue so I stopped in the center and asked. The woman told me I could just drive in. So I followed the clues for RNNR's Hidden Puye Treasure box which is hidden at a scenic overlook area. I parked and followed the clues but I was a little confused about where to look. The clue said 45 paces from information sign to look for a cloud shaped juniper hidden behind a baby juniper. First there were some baby junipers but none actually hid a bigger cloud shaped juniper. And second there were lots of junipers. So I picked one and headed to it. I found a large rock hidden under the juniper and I moved it and found the tip of a ziplock bag. I pulled it out of a hole in the ground and found the bag had a black box in it.

Hidden Puye Treasure Letterbox Stamp

I took this back to the picnic table at the information sign to stamp in. I am assuming I found the right box but the logbook didn't have the same name as the clue and the placer's name wasn't on the logbook. I stamped in wondering if this was the right box. The stamp was made of foam not rubber and was mounted on a piece of stick with a handle (that is a picture of the stamp mount on the right). When I was done I returned the box to its hiding spot and then I kind of searched around a few other junipers just to make sure I found the right spot. I didn't find anything else so I am counting this as the box I was suppose to find.

After finding this last box I decided to head back to Santa Fe. When I reached Santa Fe it was a little after noon so I headed to Five Star Burgers for some lunch. I ended up having the crab burger. Once I was done eating I had one errand to make and then I returned home. It was another great day driving around New Mexico and letterboxing. Incidentally I was the first finder on all four boxes I found today.