A "Comic"-al Trip Begins

I am heading to Arizona for their annual letterboxing event. This year the event isn't in Tucson, it is in Sonoita. The theme for the event is comics. The event is the 14th Annual Tucson Gathering: It's "Comic"-al. Little did I know that this trip would be comical almost from the beginning.

This morning I headed out early and my plan was to letterbox along the way and get to Willcox at a decent hour. I left Santa Fe in the dark and when I arrived at my first stop (Bosque del Apache) the sun was just coming up and it gave me enough light to find my first box of the day - Bosque del Apache by Jaybirders. This was a quick and easy find and when I was done stamping in and got the box back in its hiding spot I headed for the driving loop. I drove the north loop and stopped at the Farm Deck. I was updating my Alphabetical New Mexico: S (Sandhill Crane) box. I took the old box and placed the new one (same image and location, just updated). I finished driving the loop and the got back on I25 and continued my drive south. My next stop was at Elephant Butte Lake State Park. I drove to NM177 and made my way to a pullout with an historical marker. From here I followed the clues for Elephant Butte by Baqash. At first I had a hard time locating the landmark shown in the photo for the clue, but eventually I was able to locate the area. So I started making my way up and over some rocks. It wasn't a pretty site - I tripped multiple times and you could swear I had no coordination at all. It took me about 10 minutes to climb about 20 feet, it was ridiculous!. But finally I made it up to the tree. Then I searched for the box, and I searched for the box, and I searched for the box. After 15 minutes I gave up. I had no luck finding the box, I think it is missing and so I climbed back down the rocks and made my way back to my car to continue my trip.

My drive continued on I25 until I reached Hatch. From here I took NM26 to Deming. On NM26 about two miles from Deming I stopped at Centennial Park to find Spring House at Fort Cummings by WanderingOkieWomanj. This wasn't much of a park, it was mostly overgrown with a few covered picnic areas. There was also some police doing practice drills and there was lots of shooting. Thankfully, I was not too close to the shooting where I found the box. I used one of the picnic tables to stamp in, then replaced the box and headed out, happy to get away from the guns. Then I headed for Rockhound State Park to look for PAL Day 2017 - Thunderegg by Yaateeh. I took the Thunderegg Trail from where it starts between campsites 13 & 14. I only had to go up a short distance to a wooden bridge to find the box. There was a bench nearby that I used to sit and stamp in. Then I replaced the box and made my way back down the trail to my car. Next, I headed over to the Spring Canyon area of the park to look for Environmental Steward Series: Appalachian Mountain Club by Dawgdok. This box is hidden at the top of the Lover's Leap Trail, well maybe not quite the top but at the saddle. The clue said about two strenuous miles round trip. As I drove into the park I saw a sign stating that the park closed at 4:00pm, and it was about 2:15pm - I thought I would have time. So I parked and started on the trail. At first it was okay, but soon the climb started to get to me. I had to take frequent breaks and move slow. Thankfully, I had a full camelback of water. Closer to the top I got really tired and then I noticed the time - 3:25pm, and I still had a ways to go. I decided that I would have to head back down in order to make it before they locked the gates. So I turned around without finding the box and began moving fast down the hill. At one spot I hit some loose rocks and my feet and legs came out from under me and I landed on my butt . . . and on a cactus. It didn't really hurt at first but when I got up and started to move I felt the cactus spines in my leg and butt. So I spent a few minutes pulling the biggest ones out but had trouble with the smaller ones and the ones that weren't sticking out through my pants. I thought about taking my pants off and trying to get more of the spines but realized I needed to get back to the car. So I continued my hike down. During that time all I could think about was the scene in The Lion King where one of the hyenas goes off a cliff and lands on a bunch of cactus and the other two hyenas are laughing at him - really all I could hear in my head was Whoopie Goldberg's voice - laughing and saying "Cactus Butt". [See video below!] I pretty much laughed all the way back to my car. A comical trip indeed. When I arrived at my car the Rangers were waiting - but I made it with 10 minutes to spare.  And, I still didn't have time to get the spines out of my butt. I got in my car and drove out of the park. I decided that I would have to make the best of things until I got to my hotel in Willcox. So I continued letteboxing (cause that's what we do) in Deming. I went to three areas - Nacio Herb Brown Park, Deming Luna Mimbres Museum and Pit Park to find four boxes in the series NM Favorite Things by WanderingOkieWomanj. The first box at Nacio Herb Brown Park was missing, but I found the other three boxes - one at the museum and the last two at Pit Park. Now it was time to get on I10 and head to Arizona. Oh, but one last stop in New Mexico before making my way to the hotel. I pulled off of the interstate at the Gage Rest Area about 20 miles west of Deming. Here I easily found Mickey on Vacation by WanderingOkieWomanj. After stamping in and replacing the box I decided that I was done with letterboxing for the day and I would just head for the hotel.

So the rest of the drive to Willcox was uneventful and I arrived sometime around 6:00pm. On the way to the hotel I picked up something to eat so I wouldn't have to go out again. After checking in and getting to my room I took off my pants and started pulling spines out of my pants, leg and butt. After 30 minutes I stopped and took a shower. By this time my dinner was cold but I was hungry so I ate it anyway. I still have spines but they are so fine I can't get them out. I will just have to see how things go from here. It was a weird, funny, crazy and good day. But I need some rest so I can continue on my trip tomorrow.