Letterbox Check-Up

This morning I decided to do some checking on my boxes in the downtown Santa Fe area. I am happy to report that all of the boxes are alive and well but there are a few little things I need to report.

I started my checks on Canyon Road. I parked at the beginning of Canyon Road near Paseo de Peralta and started my walk. I parked very near one of the boxes and checked on it - it was in place and everything associated with the clues was accurate so I moved onto the next box. I only had to go a little ways for the next one and it was in place. Unfortunately when I reached for the box I hit it and pushed it out of reach for my hand. My hand was a little too big to reach in so the box may be a little too far back for some people to reach - I hope to rectify that problem. (Note: this box is hidden next to a telephone pole - there is a yellow, metal, half-circle sleeve next to the pole. That covers a pipe inside. The box is suppose to attached to the inside of the yellow metal not to the pipe inside. Unfortunately, it was on the pipe when I reached in and that is how I hit and moved it too far back. Please attach it to the yellow part inside when replacing it - Thanks!) I am hoping that someone with a smaller hand can get to the box and place it more in reach. Time to continue on. I reached my next box and had to make a decision. The clue for this box is a photo collage and about a week ago I was on Canyon Road and noticed that a major landmark for the box was gone. After looking at the photo clue and looking at the hiding spot I made the decision that the box was still findable so I left it in place. At some point later on I may move it but we will see. I was still on Canyon Road so I checked on an artTrekker box - it was in place and safe - I don't know why I checked on it because I knew it was safe because Astro D had checked on it recently. Now I took a side road and headed toward downtown and on the way I checked on another box - absolutely no problem with this box. I made my way to Alameda and checked on a box hidden along this road - it was in the right spot and safe so I continued on. From Alameda I walked into the downtown area just skirting the Plaza and checked on a box that I had not checked on in quite a while - this box doesn't get many finders so I was a little nervous that it might be missing - but alas my fears were for naught - the box was there and well hidden - that made me happy. From here I moved a little further away from the Plaza and checked on a box that I have had a few problems with. The sculpture that I originally use for the box was taken away and since the box was attached to the box was also taken away. Luckily rubberpeace happened to see them taking a part of the sculpture away and got a phone number so that I was able to retrieve the box. Then when I went to rehide the box I ended up knocking my head on a statue. I eventually moved the box to its current location and not long ago received a note that it was missing. Astro D and I went and checked on it and sure enough it wasn't where it should have been. But Astro D's keen eyes spotted it right in front of us in the open - so we moved it to the correct spot and I am happy to report it is still there. The next box took me on a little walk even further away from the Plaza. I love this spot, it is peaceful and has great views. The box was in good shape and right where it should be. Now I headed back to the Plaza area. I checked on another artTrekker box and it was in place so I moved on to my next box. This box went missing once and I replaced it almost in the exact same spot so I get really nervous that it may go missing again. But when I sat on the bench and reached under it there was the box. I only had one more to check on and this one is just off the sidewalk at a pretty busy intersection and can be hard to be discreet. So when I reached the area I stood there, looked around and when the coast was clear I reached in and found the box. WOOHOO!!! All the boxes were in place, that made me very happy. Now, you may have noticed that I haven't mentioned any box names and I have been very vague about the spots. All of my boxes that I checked on today are mysteries or semi-mysteries so I didn't want to give anything away. But now you know that if you look for any of my boxes in downtown Santa Fe they should be there.

The other thing I did while checking on these boxes was to look for another statue for another box. I am about to retire another signature stamp and need a place to hide a new box. I found only three statues that could possibly work - I need to have a metal surface near the statue that can hide a magnetic key holder. It can be really hard to find good spots, especially ones that allow the finder to be discreet and that will not be noticed by the casual walker-by. Hopefully soon I can hide a new box and post those clues. I had a good walk and am happy that all those boxes are alive.

A Day With the Dead

Astro D had a series of two stamps that she had placed at our Santa Fe SPOOKtacular Letterboxing Event back in 2007. She had decided not to leave them at the place we held the event, so she took them home and marked them as unavailable. She had always planned to rehide the boxes and had picked out a new spot. But as we all know life can get in the way of plans and the boxes remained unavailable until today. She found the boxes in her closet a while back and decided it was time to get them back out there. So yesterday she called me to see if I wanted to accompany her when she went to replant them. And I decided it would be a nice outing and I like the trail she wanted to place them on so I jumped at the chance to go with her. The name of the boxes are Cancion de Amor and La Catrina and the series is called Day of the Dead. So she decided that a good spot to put Day of the Dead boxes would be on a trail to a ghost town. Our destination today was the Glorieta Conference Center and the trail to Glorieta Ghost Town.

I arrived at Astro D's house at about 9:00am and we chatted a bit and then hopped into the car and started our trip. On the way to Glorieta we pulled off the Interstate at a little Civil War Memorial/Museum. I have passed this place quite a few times and never even noticed it. It was a little strange and a little interesting. We only spent a little time here before heading out, but I think I might stop again next time I am in the area. We arrived at the conference center, parked and headed for the trailhead. We had a leisurely walk and just talked about everything and nothing. At one point we thought we may have passed the landmark that Astro D was wanting because we were talking and not paying attention. One of the nice things about the walk was all the wildflowers - they were everywhere - it was wonderful. Eventually we reached the first old car and Astro D searched for a spot for one of the boxes. I took some pictures while she hid the box and wrote the clues. Once we were done there we headed back the way we came. There was still one box to plant (and on our way we passed a tree that would make a good landmark) so we walked back to that tree and looked around for a spot to plant the box. We eventually found a good spot, hid the box and Astro D jotted down the clues. Now it was back to the car. We left the conference center and decided to check out a Civil War Site. We both had read about a battlefield that had been closed to the public but was recently opened. We found a fenced parking area and a couple of plaques but not really any hiking trail or battlefield. Not sure if we were in the right place - I will have to do more research.

By this time it was a little after noon and we were both hungry. We were going to stop at Real Food Nation but they were closed so we ended up at Harry's Road House and had lunch out in the courtyard. We relaxed and talked and ate - it was a nice lunch. After lunch we drove around town, stopped at Cost Plus, went look at a couple of statues and then ended up back at Astro D's to end the day. It was a great letterboxing outing and is always fun spending time with Astro D - thanks Astro D for a great day.

A Mini Meet with the Travelin' T's

The Travelin' T's (Sha, Ann, Carter and Max) are in Santa Fe for a little vacation. So Astro D arranged a little mini meet at her house for us to get together and visit. It was the Travelin' T's, Astro D, The Great Wuga Wuga (who grilled some really good chicken), rubberpeace, rbrhorno, Highwayman and myself. We had a nice little dinner of grilled chicken, grits and salad. For dessert Highwayman made a choclolate cake (it is called Texas Brownie) - it was a request from rubberpeace. We had a great time talking and sitting out in the backyard on the deck - it was such a nice evening (the day had been pretty hot), cool and breezy. We had the ¡Bienvenidos! 2009 event stamp for everyone to stamp into and the Travelin' T's brought along and hid Bird Takes Flight. This is a very clever letterbox that moves around and the clues are posted on Twitter. So we all got to stamp into that box as well. And then there was the obligatory group photo. Carter and Max were great - such well behaved kids - it was a pleasure hanging out with them. I hope that the Travelin' T's have a great time in Santa Fe.

Astro D got this shot of rubberpeace enjoying Highwayman's chocolate cake - is this not the perfect advertisement.

A Holiday Weekend in the Centennial State

Thomas and I decided we needed to get away so this past weekend we headed to the Denver area - and more specifically to Broomfield. Thomas' brother and his family live there and we decided to visit for the July 4th holiday. Thomas is going to help his brother with a couple of projects around their house and I am going to do a little letterboxing. We left Santa Fe on Thursday afternoon about 1:30pm. We weren't in any hurry because we were only driving to Trinidad for the evening. So we took a little side trip on our way up to Colorado. There was a new letterbox planted just south of Cimarron, NM by stormcrow at the beginning of the month. So from I25 we exited at Springer and headed west on NM21. This was the first time I had been on this road and it was beautiful. There really isn't much out there but open land with mountains for backdrop and the beautiful blue New Mexico Sky. We really enjoyed the drive. We passed through Miami and stopped by the lake for a couple of pictures before reaching the area where the letterbox was hidden. We found the pull off and I quickly found the box. It was a nice carving of a pine cone and pine needles. And the views from this area were fantastic. After stamping in and rehiding the box we continued on NM21 to Cimarron and made a quick stop at the St. James Hotel. I had read about the hotel and we just thought we would look around. One of the hallways from the lobby has some great pictures of all the people who have stayed there with information about their fate. It was really interesting, but it was time to head out again. From Cimarron we continued a short way to the junction on US64. We took this road north through Colfax. We weren't sure why Colfax was on the map because all that was there when we passed through was the Colfax Tavern (serving Cold Beer according to the sign). We never saw any houses or anything else for that matter). Now that I have access to the internet I found that Colfax is a ghost town. A few miles up the road from Colfax we did see quite a few antelope. Eventually we merged back on to I25 just south of Raton and continued our trip to Trinidad. We had time some time before meeting Thomas' cousins for dinner (they were driving up from Albuquerque on their way to Casper, WY) so we went to look for another letterbox. This one was placed by the boxtops (one of a series of 64 they are working on - a letterbox in every county in Colorado). It was a great little box on a nice walk along the river. During the walk we passed a great mural that covered walls, was under bridges and even on rocks. The only bad part was that there were a ton of mosquitos so I didn't linger when stamping in. Once the box was back in its hiding spot we made our way back to the car. We then did some driving around and looked for a place to have dinner. We found a nice little restaurant and then called Thomas' cousins and gave them directions. They arrived about 20 minutes later and we enjoyed a nice meal and had a great talk. We then went to find a hotel so we could rest up for our continuation up to the Denver area.

On Friday morning we left the hotel around 7:00am and headed for our first letterbox in Ludlow. The box is hidden at the site of the Ludlow Massacre. It was a really incredible lesson in the history of unions. I am really glad we stopped and learned about this.




From Ludlow we continued north on I25 to Colorado City to find Shrek - apparently he went camping. So we made our way to Greenhorn Meadows Park. It didn't take us long to find Shrek. I stamped in and rehid the box and we were able to continue our trip. While walking back to the car we came upon some gophers just running around - I think they were babies and they just sat there when we walked up to them. We needed to be in Broomfield by 5:00pm so we opted to to skip stopping for letterboxes until we got to Castle Rock. I wanted to stop at Castlewood Canyon State Park. I had looked up some things on the internet and I really wanted to visit this park. I also knew that they had placed their own letterbox and I wanted to look for it. So we arrived at Castlewood Canyon and I got a map and the clues for the letterbox and we headed for the parking area. We followed the clues and learned a lot about the canyon and had a great walk. The park was incredible and the views of the canyon were spectacular. It did take us a little while to find the box because one of the landmarks for the clues was missing. It was a very enjoyable walk through the park but we needed to head out if we were to make it to Broomfield on time.

We called Thomas' brother to see what was scheduled and told him we were just leaving Castle Rock and we thought it might take us a while to get through Denver with traffic on a Friday afternoon (and it being a holiday weekend). Surprisingly we made it to their house in a very short time. So we had time to unload the car and get cleaned up before we headed out to Denver. Today is Ashley's (Thomas' niece) birthday and she wanted to have dinner at Casa Bonita. Everyone kept warining us that this was a pretty cheesy place and that we should probably eat dinner before we went to the restaurant. They have all kinds of "acts" going on throughout the evening. Things like divers, magicians, jugglers, puppet shows and other entertainment. The whole thing was like being at DisneyLand. We had to stand in a line to get in and then we were loaded in by going through roped off areas weaving back and forth until you reached the area where you picked up your food and then you were escorted to your table. Even though the place wasn't all that great we all had a good time. When we finally got home we visited for a while longer then everyone went to bed except me - I wanted to get a little blogging done.

On Saturday morning everyone seemed to have their own plans. Thomas and Chris were going to do some work on the house and Karla and Ashley went to some street fair and then to do some shopping. As for me - I of course was going letterboxing. I got all my things together and headed out. I decided to go to Genesee Park for the morning. I found Big Bison HH Hostel, Beaverbrook, Ambigram #1, What Was THAT?, Where Are The Buffalo? and G is for Genesee. From the park I headed to Wheat Ridge - I had decided to look for part of the SWS series on the Clear Creek Trail. I found Bear Fetish, Roadrunner, Rock Art, Santa Fe Sign, Turtle, Cactus and Cowgirl. During my walk to find the SWS series I was unable to find Roadrunner, Turtle and Cowgirl. On my way back to the car I decided to look for roadrunner again (I had made two efforts for turtle and cowgirl but only one for roadrunner) so I followed the clues and got to the same spot but no box - I decided that those three boxes were missing and I made my way back to the main trail. As I emerged from the trees I saw Front Range Hiker. She was out replacing those three boxes that I couldn't find - so we visited for a short while and I was able to get those last three boxes before leaving the park. Front Range Hiker will be attending El Rancho de los Letterboxes in September and she graciously offered to contribute a letterbox for the event. i am looking forward to seeing that stamp. So we said our goodbyes and I headed back to the car. By this time I was pretty tired and decided to head back to the house and get cleaned up for dinner. We had a nice dinner with grilled burgers, corn on the cob, pasta salad and chips - a pretty good Fourth of July meal. After dinner everyone went to the neighbors house to visit except for me - I was feeling pretty antisocial so I stayed home and relaxed and did a little blogging. Later everyone returned and we had ice cream and cake for Ashley's birthday (we didn't have time to do it the night before) and watched Ashley's CDs of Arrested Development. I have to say today was a good day.

The plans for Sunday were pretty much the same as on Saturday. Thomas was helping his brother while Ashley and Karla did their own thing. I of course was back out there letterboxing. I returned to the Clear Creek Trail but on a different portion to continue my search for the remaining SWS series. So once I arrived at the trailhead I started reading the clues and headed out. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, very peaceful and perfect weather. I ended up walking about three miles and found ten boxes . . . Kokopelli, Moose, Gecko, Arches National Park, Thunderbird, Mountain Goat, Chief, Cougar, Soaring Eagle and Cowboy. I thoroughly enjoyed this series and my two days walking the Clear Creek Trail. By the time I reached my car it was beginning to get warmer. I decided I wanted to do a little more letterboxing so I found boxes that were on the way back to Broomfield. So my next stop was in Arvada. My first stop was Gold Strike Park to find Whar's Me Stuff? - it seems Pete the Pirate had had a few things taken from him and he wanted them back. Luckily I found all three items and I hope Pete is much happier now. This park has the coolest pedestrian bridge and was the perfect place for this series. Now that this problem was solved I headed to Majestic View Park to find three boxes. The School Daze series was planted by wandering newmans to introduce some fourth graders to letterboxing. Unfortunately I only found two. One of the landmarks for one of the boxes seemed to have been removed and with it the box - oh, well. I decided at this point that I was too hot and tired to do any more letterboxing so I headed back to Broomfield to relax and visit with Thomas and the family. Once showered I was feeling better, so I sat down to log in my finds and do a little blogging. While doing this Ashley and I watched Entourage (she had rented Season 2) - I really enjoyed this show - very funny. Later we had a great dinner of shish kabobs, watched a little more entourage and then had some cake and ice cream. We were all in bed at a decent hour since Ashley had to work the next day and Thomas & Chris were tired from all the work they did this weekend. Thomas decided to stay one more day to help Chris get a few more things done so I was going to go letterboxing again on Monday. Especially since I was so close to reaching another milestone - my 1400th box.

By the time we got up and dressed on Monday morning Ashley was already gone to work. Chris, Karla, Thomas and I had some breakfast and talked about what a circus Michael Jackson's funeral was turning out to be - not a chance that he was going to have a dignified service. Around 8:00am I helped Thomas and Chris load some OSB panels onto the roof so they could finish that project then I left for some letterboxing. Today I decided to stay a little closer to Broomfield so I headed out to Lake Link Trailhead to find GAQLBE08 Mountain to Mountain. This was a nice area and a nice box. The trail went around a small pond - Josh's Pond (dedicated to Josh Cassell 1981-1991 who liked to play in the area) and then up a hill. I didn't walk the entire trail - I only needed to go a little ways and then take a side trail up to a fence. The box was hidden under a rock ledge and while I stamped in I got to enjoy some beautiful views all around. As I made my way back to the car I stopped at a bench. It is part of an Art Bench Project the city of Broomfield had. It is a stone bench with bronze fish on the back and one fish off to the side. One of the fish on top is reading a book to three smaller fish. There is a poem inscribed on the book - see the pictures below. I really enjoyed my walk in this area but I needed to move along.


From here I headed into Westminster and to the Big Dry Creek Park to find This Way 2009 Feet. This was a nice enough park but nothing compared to the places I had been so far on this trip. So I quickly found the box, stamped in, rehid the box and moved along. My next stop was McKay Lake. I was looking for Eagle Feather. I didn't have much of a walk because the parking area for the lake wasn't available due to road construction so the clues sent me to an optional parking area which put me at about 100 yards from the box. I did love the area and enjoyed sitting on the bank of the lake while stamping in - the stamp was a nice carving and I ended up spending about half an hour just relaxing near the water. It was cool in the shade of the cottonwood trees and I was enjoying a little relief from the heat but I was so close to reaching 1400 boxes that I decided to head to one last area. I arrived at the specified location (can't tell you where because it is a little bit of a mystery) to look for The Fools of April by Leviathan. This is a series of three letterboxes - Mime, Clown and Harlequin and if I found at least two I would reach my goal. So I parked, got my clues and headed for the trail. I am not sure if I was just tired & hot or if I was excited about reaching 1400 or what but I was unable to find the first two boxes and I started to doubt whether I was in the right place or not. Then I found the third box - what a relief. I stamped in and then rehid that box, then reread the clues to the first two trying to figure out what I had done wrong. So I back tracked along the trail and almost stepped on a snake - I freaked and this didn't help me any because I found myself back at the trailhead one box from 1400. I sat down on the side of the trail and read the clues again and looked around trying to find a landmark - it took a minute or two and I finally found the error of my ways and I was excited again. The grass had grown and obscured the path I needed a little making it hard to see - but now I was on a mission. I made my way along the trail and in no time I was holding my 14ooth find. WooHoo!!! I was so happy! So I took my time stamping in and enjoyed the milestone. After rehiding the box I continued on for the next box. I was still on the path that was overgrown and for the second time in about half an hour I almost stepped on a snake but I wasn't going to be stopped - I wanted all three boxes in this series. So I found the next landmark and found the box, stamped in and rehid the box. I sat on a bench a little ways up the trail and relaxed (those snakes really scared the bejeezes out of me). Once I was feeling more relaxed I realized how hot I was and decided to call it a day. So I headed back to the house.

When I arrived at the house Thomas said he wanted to try and leave for home about 3:30pm. Our original plan was to leave early Tuesday morning but he had been getting emails about the budget and some meetings that he needed to be at so he wanted to at least get a little closer to home this evening so we could make it home by noon today. While Thomas helped Chris with one last part before we left I got everything packed and into the car except for some clothes for Thomas - he wanted to take a shower before heading out. The project took them a little longer than they thought and we didn't get to leave until almost 5:00pm. We said our goodbyes (except for Ashley - she was still at work - sorry we didn't get to see you before we left) and headed out. We did get into a little bit of traffic on I25 near downtown Denver but it wasn't too bad. Somewhere around Castle Rock we stopped for dinner and then drove until Pueblo where we decided to stop for the night - that would give us a four hour drive today and we could make it home in time for Thomas to go to his meeting. We checked into the hotel and had a good night's sleep. This morning we were up really early and on the road by 5:30am and we made it home around 9:45am. It was a good trip and we both enjoyed ourselves but now it is time to get back to work.

A Letterboxing Road Trip Through Central New Mexico

For the past few weeks I have been wanting to get out and spend the entire day letterboxing. Unfortunately with work and other commitments it wasn't possible . . . until today. When I realized a couple of days ago that today was free and clear I started making plans. My original plan was to go to Albuquerque and hunt for boxes there. (At present there are at least 12 boxes that I haven't found yet in Albuquerque.) But then I decided I also wanted a road trip. I didn't want to spend the night anywhere so it needed to be a road trip that I could do in a day. So I started mapping out clues. There are some boxes in the southeast portion of the state, some around Las Cruces and a bunch in the northwest corner of New Mexico - but all of those would have required me staying overnight. Then I realized that I could do a trip through Central New Mexico, find boxes and get to visit some great places - and all in a day.

So let's get the day started. And it started early. I was on the road by 5:30am. I love driving in the morning, there is less traffic and it seems so peaceful. I started my trip by heading south on US285. This first part of the trip wasn't very exciting, it was just a nice relaxing drive. I drove from Santa Fe to Clines Corners and then onto Encino. In Encino I stopped and took pictures in a small cemetery and also got some pictures of antelope (they were everywhere). At Encino I turned onto NM3 and headed to Duran. I took a few pictures and then continued my trip on US54 driving through Corona and Carrizozo to my first letterbox stop in Tularosa. I made my way to the Tularosa Public Library. I had been here before about a year or so ago - I found a box located in the library and looked for one outside the library (which turned out to be missing). The planter of that missing box eventually replaced the box and that is why I was in Tularosa - to find Tularosa Two. I had to wait a few minutes because there were three kids sitting in the area and one was on the bench I needed. That kid soon moved over to another bench and I sat on the bench with the box. I pretended to be texting on my phone and casually reached into the plant and grabbed the box. I waited a few minutes and then went to my car to stamp in. It was a nice stamp and I enjoyed the box. Rehiding the box was much easier as the kids had left by then and I didn't have to worry about them seeing me. So I had my first box of the day and was ready for more. From Tularosa I had to retrace my drive back to Carrizozo for the next box. So I drove back to Carrizozo in search of "The Book of Eli". (They filmed the movie of the same title here.) When I arrived in town I followed the clues to the Carrizozo Heritage Museum. I reread the clues in the car and then pretty much figured out the hididng spot from there. So I headed to the spot. I was looking for a concrete block and I found one but no box. I was supposed to be on the left side of a building at its north corner. I took out my compass and realized I was at the south corner so I went to the north corner - no concrete block. But I did find the box partially hidden by some weeds or a bush - I couldn't tell if they were weeds or a bush. I took the box back to the car to stamp in and I'm not really sure what the stamp had to do with "The Book of Eli" except that the movie was filmed in Carrizozo. When I rehid the box I tried to make it match the clues. But I don't think that the box will last - it just isn't a good spot. Anyway, I decided to drive down 12th Street to see where they did the filming. It was really colorful and you could tell that everything had been repainted. I can't wait to see the movie just so I can compare the area with what I saw today. Oh, and you have probably heard about and seen the painted horses and cows that were done as art projects - well Carrizoz has their version - painted mules - EVERYWHERE!

Time to continue on - I still had a little ways to go retracing my drive. I continued up US54 to the junction with NM55. Here I turned left and continued driving, this being a new part of the drive. If you look at a map or if you have ever driven NM55 you will see that the road has lots of twists and turns - you could even say it zigs and zags - right Twinville Trekkers. This road inspired the Trekkers to plant a box called Zig Zag (cute name). In her clues for the box she mentions that the road reminds her of an Etch a Sketch drawing and I agree. To find the box I had to locate a certain mile marker, which was easily done and then another sign with certain writing and then a tree with a bush at its base - Bingo! I found the box. It was a great box and a nice location. Out in the middle of nowhere and very peaceful - I saw one car drive along NM55 while I stamped in. I enjoyed sitting out and looking at the rolling hills, there were a few cows out and there were the mountains in the distance - a relaxing stop to say the least. With the box back in its hiding spot I continued on my way.

The next section of NM55 was no stranger to me. I have been to that area numerous times. This area is home to Salinas National Monument (Abo, Quarai and Gran Quivira Ruins). I only stopped by Gran Quivira this trip and enjoyed a nice walk among the ruins before heading to my next stop. (Side Note: If you are ever in New Mexico or if you are from New Mexico and haven't visited the Ruins I highly recommend it.) My drive was taking me to Tajique and more specifically the Fourth of July Campground. From NM55 I had to take Forest Road 55 for about 7 miles though the area of the Trigo Fire to get to the campground. It was a nice drive and the dirt road was okay (but I can't imagine driving it if it had been raining). Once at the campground I found the parking area for the Crimson Maple Trail and parked. With letterboxing supplies and clue in hand I started up the trail. I only had to walk for about 15 minutes to reach the letterbox. It was a very peaceful walk through oaks and maple trees. I found the box and stamped in - the box is called 1/4th of July. It was a pretty clever stamp - an 'L' shaped design of different leaves and if you stamped it four times rotating the stamp 90 degrees each time you could make a frame. The logbook suggested that you stamp or paste a leaf into your completed frame. After stamping in and then rehiding the box I found a bench and sat and listened to the birds for a little while before continuing on my way.

So far I was having a great day. I found all the boxes I was looking for, I was driving through a beautiful part of New Mexico, the weather was perfect and I was more relaxed than I have been in a while. I was now getting closer to the end of my trip but it wasn't over yet. I still had a bit of driving to do and one more box to find. So I drove back down Forest Road 55 to NM55 and shortly turned on to NM337. I reached the village of Tijeras and made my way to NM14 (The Turquoise Trail). I was headed to NM536 and Tinkertown. Twinville Trekkers hid a box here called The Fortune Teller. The clues were very specific - pay the entry fee, find the fortune teller and get your fortune told, take that to the gift shop counter and get the letterbox. I did the first two parts and then walked through the museum and enjoyed all the oddities - it was a very interesting place and I enjoyed my time there. I returned to the gift shop, showed them my fortune and got the box. I found a bench outside and stamped in - it was a nice stamp and box. - thanks Twinville. I then made my way back to NM14 and on to Santa Fe and home. I had a fantastic day of letterboxing and I loved my road trip - I love letterboxing and I love the places that it takes me!

A view looking down NM54.

An Old Friend Returns Home

At the beginning of the month I received an update for Boudreaux's Hitchhiker. He had been found in Red Hook, NY by Rabbit's Friends and Relations. The update let me know that the stamp had broken so I made a decision and asked them to send him back to me. Boudreaux arrived home on June 11, 2009. He was originally placed in Mighty Oak in Lafayette, LA on May 21, 2006. He had three years of travel and got to visit quite a few places. When I got him back I immediately took out the logbook to see who had found him and where he had been. The logbook was almost full and in great shape. It doesn't look like it had gotten wet or anything, it wasn't torn and none of the entries were faded or smeared. This was my first hitchhiker that I released and it was very special. It was made for my English Bulldog who travelled with us most of his life until he got too old and wasn't able to make the trips anymore. In November 2008 Boudreaux passed away - so having this stamp and logbook back means a lot to me. There are quite a few entries in the logbook so I have a good idea of where he traveled, but there are some times where I think the person who found it forgot to stamp the image of the box they placed it in.

Here is a list of the boxers who found Boudreaux . . .
Sporky Rat
Nitrocat
Travel'n Turtle
Laney Bug
The Pirates
BB Goldie
BB Trexx
Tivoli Trekkers
The J's
Hugs
Fluttering By
Rabbit's Friend and Relations

Here are some of the boxes that he stayed in . . .
Mighty Oak
Mrs. Clancy's Boarding House
Country Comforts: Rise & Shine
Dog Breeds: Golden Retriever (PLB)
Spree For All: Buck
Spree For All: Bandit
Independence Day
Dicken's Treasure
A Pirate's Life

And here is a list of the cities he visited . . .
Lafayette LA
Vicksburg MS
Des Plains IL
Newark IL
North Royalton OH
Peninsula OH
Brunswick OH
Schnecksville PA
Clermont NY
Red Hook NY

Boudreaux's Travels
Boudreaux's Hitchhiker

I am really glad that Boudreaux made it home safely. I have decided to retire him and keep him home. I would hate to lose all the great entries in the logbook. Thanks again to Rabbit's Friends and Relations for getting him home safely.

Plans Have Been Made

Back in April I may have mentioned something about a rumor of an event being planned in Santa Fe. Well it is no longer a rumor - the plans have been made and the wheels are in motion. El Rancho de los Letterboxes is going to happen. Astro D has done most of the work so far but rubberpeace and I are starting to help out. Here is some basic information about the event.

El Rancho de los Letterboxes
Saturday, September 26, 2009
El Rancho de las Golondrinas
Santa Fe, NM

For more detailed information and to sign up for the event just click on the photo. We are looking forward to this event and hope to see you there.