Finding Boxes in Santa Fe

Ever since my return from Minnesota I have been extremely busy and haven't been able to do any letterboxing. Today I was off from work and I didn't have any appointments or errands. So I decided to head out and find a couple of letterboxes that are hidden here in Santa Fe. I left home and made my way to Governor Miles Road to find a box by ArnoldZiffel, Art in the Round - Santa Fe. I followed the directions and parked. The clue said to look down to admire the art. I have to say I wasn't sure what I was looking for but I continued following the clues to find the box. Finding the box was easy and I grabbed it and found a spot to sit so I could stamp in. Once I opened the box and saw the stamp I realized what art I was supposed to see and everything made sense. I stamped in and then replaced the box so I could continue on for the next box. I have to say I love this stamp, it is a great carving.

Sena Plaza

For the next box I made my way to the Plaza. Whenever I visit the downtown area I usually park across the street from the Capitol and then walk. so that is what I did. I parked in the parking lot for the old PERA building and then walked to the Plaza and made my way to Sena Plaza. This is a courtyard with lots of different things. There is La Casa Sena, Goler Shoes, Todos Santos Chocolates, Zephyr Clothing, Sock Magic, and other shops in this area and there is also a beautiful garden. I got there just a little before lunch and there were already a few people sitting outside at La Casa Sena so I had to be really sneaky. I pretended to be taking pictures and was able to grabbed the box without anyone noticing. I took it back to a bench to sit and stamp in. This box is called Santa Fe by C4. It is a nice carving and a very sneaky hiding spot. Once I finished stamping in I had to repeat my faux picture taking to rehide the box. After the box was back in place I left Sena Plaza and walked around the Plaza and eventually made my way back to the car. It was a nice morning of letterboxing in Santa Fe and I would like to thank ArnoldZiffel and C4 for two nice boxes.

Back Home in Sunny New Mexico

This morning started off cold and snowy. When we woke up at 6:00am to get ready to head to the airport in Minneapolis we noticed a light dusting of snow on the cars and ground. The temperature was 30° and we both said it will be good to be back home in Santa Fe. We got our things together and put them in the car and headed to the rental car place. It was only a four minute drive and at 6:30am there wasn't any traffic.

Back in Sunny New Mexico

We turned the car in and caught the shuttle to the airport. There was no line at the Southwest counter so we quickly got our boarding passes and checked our bags in. We arrived at the security checkpoint and didn't have any lines there either so it was a fast check in. We stopped to get a cup of coffee at Caribou Coffee and then settled in at the gate to wait for our flight. Thomas read and I surfed the internet. I had wanted a non-stop flight but there were none available but we got the next best thing. The flight takes us from Minneapolis to Chicago (we didn't have to change planes here, so it was just a landing - unload and load - and then we took off again) and then to Albuquerque. When we arrived in Albuquerque the weather was perfect - sunshine and 73° with a slight breeze. After getting our bags and catching the shuttle to the parking to pick up the car we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading to Santa Fe. We stopped at Taco Cabana for some tacos and then it was on to home. We are now unpacked and resting from the trip. It was a good trip despite the rain, snow and cold weather. We got to do everything we wanted to do and you can read all about it at Letterboxing in the Great Lakes Region.

Traveling to the Great Lakes Region

Thomas and I are headed to the Great Lakes area for a little week long trip - we leave tomorrow morning. Thomas has a conference to attend in Minneapolis for two days and then we are going to travel a little to get some letterboxes and see some State Capitols. We will first be in Minneapolis for three days and I will letterbox and visit the State Capitol in St. Paul while Thomas is at his conference. Then we leave Minnesota and drive to Lansing, Michigan to see the Capitol there and try to get a few letterboxes in that state as well. Next we head back to Madison, Wisconsin to visit the State Capitol and letterbox before we head back to Minneapolis to fly home. I think this will be a nice trip and it is an area that neither one of us has visited. I have also lined up some other things to do like sculpture gardens and the Mall of America. We will be very busy during this trip and you can read all about at Letterboxing in the Great Lakes Region for details and pictures.

My Letterboxing Milestones

Here is a list of some of the milestones I have reached during my letterboxing years. I have had tons of fun letterboxing and I hope to continue adding to this list.

Finds

Milestone	Box Name	Planter	City, State	Found
1st	Santa Fe Trails Microbox	Silver Eagle	Santa Fe, NM	02/16/2006
100th	Float Your Boat Canada: I Pulled It!	chocolate bunny	Belcarra, British Columbia, Canada	08/05/2006
200th	Olga Little	Esmerelda	Durango, CO	10/01/2006
300th	The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	dewberry	Tomball, TX	10/21/06
400th	Clay Menagerie: Box #3 Laguna	artTrekker	Tesuque, NM	02/16/2007
500th	Two Chess Pieces	artTrekker	Mystery Box	05/28/07
600th	Grow Where You Are Planted: Hawaiian Palm	night writer	Gilbert, AZ	07/14/2007
700th	Izzy	auntie&Hoosiers3	Lander, WY	08/27/2008
800th	Watchful Birds	Wanda	Skidmore, TX	01/28/2008
900th	Along the Bluebonnet Trail	Lone Star Quilter	Bastrop, TX	03/01/2008
1000th	Road Trip!	Astro D	Pilar, NM	09/13/2008
1100th	Coelophysis	Jags	Windsor, CT	10/18/2008
1200th	Scout Series: Oh, To Be A Tiger	Barefoot Lucy	Rusk, TX	03/06/2009
1300th	Summer Fun at Lake Murray: The Currents	Penguin Patrol	Ardmore, OK	04/03/2009
1400th	The Fools of April: Clown	Leviathan	Westminster, CO	07/06/2009
1500th	What My Sister REALLY Wants For Her Birthday	Hodgindaz	Lincoln City, OR	10/10/2009
1600th	Sycamore Reservoir Trail Series - Prison Camp	Azroadie	Tucson, AZ	02/14/2010
1700th	The Beetle	Chunna	Wareham, MA	05/14/2010
1800th	The Lights at Night Series: Pt. Judith, RI	mudflinginfools	Harpswell, ME	08/07/2010
1900th	Clayton Lake	Stormcrow	Clayton, NM	09/06/2010
2000th	Go Kazan	RJWata	Mystery Box	02/16/2011
2100th	Brown Mountain	Azroadie	Tucson, AZ	03/25/2011
2200th	Patsy Ann	sewsewbizzy	Celebrity Millennium, AK	07/09/2011
2300th	Constellations: Corvus	LyssaGirl	Augusta, MO	09/17/2011
2400th	A Brain, A Heart, A Home, The Nerve: Have A Heart	I Dig Toasters	St. Louis, MO	09/25/2011
2500th	NFL Series, Box 1, Houston Texans	Gators88	Houston, TX	03/02/2012
2600th	Second Saturday Seekers, Leave No Trace	The3DT's	Los Alamos, NM	04/24/2012
2700th	Betsy Ross	codgillfish	Philadelphia, PA	07/27/2012
2800th	Paladin	Wronghat	Albuquerque, NM	02/16/2013
2900th	Burnet Rumble	Princess S	Burnet, TX	03/03/2013
3000th	Bless My Family	Sunny Delight	Chimayo, NM	09/25/2013
3100th	Beverage of Choice: The Ginger People	Open Space	New Caney, TX	10/19/2013
3200th	Plutospective	Earminator	Flagstaff, AZ	04/02/2014
3300th	Blackadon #2 - Kangaroo	Mark	Ivybridge, England	08/29/2014
3400th	No. 1 - Dapedium	Dartmoor	Widecombe-in-the-Moor, England	09/03/2014
3500th	Texas Independence Tidbits: Overdue	topcrop	Washington, TX	10/23/2014
3600th	Which? C Sharp M or A Sharp M	The Woodshed	Denver, CO	11/08/2014
3700th	Tribal Treasure	Grumpy Grinch	Austin, TX	03/06/2015
3800th	Navajo Lake Fish - Mama	C4	Navajo Dam, NM	05/26/2015
3900th	Bear's Den Quartet: Sleepyhead	the lazy letterboxer	New Salem, MA	06/06/2015
4000th	London Bridge & UK Fictional: The Darlings	SnakeDoctor	Lake Havasu City, AZ	11/14/2015
4100th	Camp Woodshed: Mystery Carols #59 - What Child Is This?	paper trail	Parker, CO	12/05/2015
4200th	Air Mail @ Flying J: Band Leader	Front Range Hiker	Aspen Park, CO	08/12/2016
4300th	Winter Wonderland: Tied With A Bow	Front Range Hiker	Evergreen, CO	08/13/2016
4400th	Santa's Busy Elves: Grumpy Elf	The Woodshed	Parker, CO	12/03/2016
4500th	Pinto Line	ArnoldZiffel	Santa Fe, NM	01/12/2017
4600th	Egyptian Hieroglyphics: Sema-Union	The Woodshed	Larkspur, CO	08/16/2017
4700th	Phunny Pharaoh's: Smurfette	The Woodshed	Castle Rock, CO	08/19/2017
4800th	Courthouse Conundrum	cezannie	Prescott, AZ	10/14/2017
4900th
5000th	Donald to the Rescue	The Woodshed	Parker, CO	08/03/2018
5100th	Hidden Mickeys: Musical Mickey	The Woodshed	Parker, CO	08/03/2018
5200th	Princess Promenade: Bear Queen	The Woodshed	Castle Rock, CO	08/03/2018
5300th	Adventure Land: Fight Scene	The Woodshed	Parker, CO	08/04/2018
5400th	Disney Oddities: La Ratatouille	The Woodshed	Parker, CO	08/04/2018
5500th	Oro Series: Olympic Gold	Azroadie	Tucson, AZ	01/31/2019
5600th	Ya'at'eeh	Wronghat	Nageezi, NM	10/25/2019

Plants

Milestone	Box Name	City, State	Planted
1st	Chimney Rock	Abiquiu, NM	04/15/2006
25th	Honor, Loyalty and Peace	Santa Fe, NM	10/08/2006
50th	New Mexico's Eternal Flame	Santa Fe, NM	10/06/2007
75th	Texas Heritage: Eugene C. Barker	Weches, TX	03/07/2009
100th	Sportsman's Paradise Series: State Tree	Mystery Box	03/31/2010
125th	Angel Peak	Bloomfield, NM	11/01/2010
150th	Giacomo Casanova	Venice, Italy	11/03/2012
175th	lionsmane's 10 Year Letterboxiversary	Santa Fe NM	02/16/2016
200th	NM Scenic Byways: Enchanted Circle - Questa	Questa, NM	09/04/2017

A Letterboxing Day in Santa Fe

Yesterday I got an email from ArnoldZiffel asking if Astro D, rubberpeace and I wanted to meet for lunch. So we scheduled to meet today at 11:30am. I had a few errands to run today and I also had clues to two letterboxes to find in town. So I left home this morning with all my letterboxing stuff and my list of things to do.

Swine

So in between my errands I made a stop to find a letterbox/geocache hybrid. I parked at the Santa Fe Spa and went in search of Bit of a View S.F. placed by angel77ra. It was an easy find and I sat and stamped in enjoying the view. After stamping in I returned to my car and continued my errands. Once my errands were done I went in search of one more letterbox before meeting everyone else for lunch. I made my way to Letrado St. and found a parking spot near the box. The box I found here was ArnoldZiffel's NOT My Favorite Swine. I took the box back to the car to stamp in. I really loved this stamp and the concept. I won't say too much about the box because when you find it I think you will get a chuckle out of it and it will be a great surprise. I replaced the box and drove to Felipe's Tacos to meet ArnoldZiffel, Astro D and rubberpeace for lunch. We had a great visit and a nice lunch. I really loved my letterboxing day in Santa Fe.

Letterboxing Blows Me Away

Last Tuesday Thomas and I were invited to a birthday party for friends in Albuquerque for tonight. We also had a couple of errands we needed to run in Albuquerque.

Mormon Battalion Monument

So we decided to make a day of it and find some letterboxes as well. We left Santa Fe sometime after 11:00am and with a lot of wind. We made a stop at the Mormon Battalion Monument in Budaghers to find Wronghat's Pillar for Polygamist. We parked and I decided to read the clues and try to locate the box from the wind free safety of the car. I was pretty sure I had the right spot so I exited the car and almost immediately went on a mad run to recover my hat. Once I had my hat I went and looked for the box. It was in the spot I figured so I grabbed it and returned to the car to stamp in. As usual it was a great Wronghat carve and I loved the title of the box. When it was time to return the box to its hiding spot I had to wait a little bit because the wind had picked up and there was lots of sand blowing around. When it subsided I made a mad dash and replaced the box. Once I was back in the car we headed toward Albuquerque.

We went to Trailhead Park to look for a bonus box to the Filmed in New Mexico series (I am not giving anything away - it states in the clues that there is a bonus box).

Daisy and Rozie

Once there I didn't find the box because I was really confused about the clues and the wind was a little aggravating. I tried to figure it out but still came up empty handed. So we left there and continued on. The next stop was Rio Grande Valley State Park where we looked for another Wronghat box - Quest Aloft. I followed the clues and hunkered down against the wind. It took a little more time to find this box because the wind and blowing sand had us taking little breaks behind trees to protect ourselves. Once I found the box I sat down in the middle of some trees which helped to block us from the wind. I stamped in and got a first finder certificate for my troubles with the wind. I replaced the box and we bolted for the car to get out of the wind. We drove to the Rio Grande Zoo to find the next box which is Sunny Delight's Rosie's News. We didn't have as much trouble with the wind here because there were buildings to help cover us. I found the box easily but ended up getting a few scratches - the bush where this box is hidden has some serious spines so you need to be careful. I brought the box back to the car to stamp in.  Once I was done and the box was back in place we made our way to Old Town. The next box we looked for was Wronghat and Semicolon's New Mexico Women #4: Sarah Ruiz. This box is at the Church Street Cafe.

Church Street Cafe

I have eaten here a few times and I love the food. We hadn't had any lunch so we decided to get something to eat while here. The box is sitting on a fireplace mantel in the entry so I grabbed it and took it to our table when they seated us. We order our food and then I stamped in. I got a great stamp carved by Semicolon and a first finder card. I then replaced the box on the mantel and then we ate. While we were eating I ended up talking with Thomas about the bonus box we couldn't find earlier and I had some ideas but still wasn't certain. After the meal was done we left to run our errands and while Thomas drove I emailed Wronghat for some insight to the bonus box - I didn't ask for the clue just his thoughts. During our last errand I stayed in the car and Thomas went inside. I got on my iPad and tried a few things and voilà I had the clue and I also checked my email and Wronghat had sent me a note. When Thomas was back in the car I told him I had the clue so we headed back to Trailhead Park. By this time the wind was a little better and we found the box without any problems. After stamping in we returned to the car and headed to the party.

We had a nice time visiting with our friends and celebrating their birthdays. There was lots of food and cake and very nice company. But Thomas and I were tired - the wind had really beaten us down and we still had to drive an hour to get home. So around 9:00pm we left Albuquerque and headed to Santa Fe. Thankfully the wind was a lot less by this time and the drive wasn't bad. Even though we had the wind to contend with it was still a great day of letterboxing and we found some nice stamps - thanks to those who planted boxes.

Back Home After TALE 10

It was an incredible week of letterboxing, visiting friends and exploring Texas but it is good to be home. I always have a great time when I letterbox in Texas. There are incredible carvers in Texas and I find some incredible boxes in interesting places.

Visit Texas

This trip took me into west Texas through towns like Brownfield, Odonnel, Tarzan, Midland, Odessa, Crane and Rankin. Then I traveled east and spent some time in and around the Hill Country in towns like Junction, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, Austin, Bastrop, San Antonio, Marble Falls, Burnet, Llano and Brady. And as I began to return home I drove through Indian Creek, Trickham, Brownwood, Santa Anna, Coleman, Winters, Nolan, Sweetwater and Lubbock. I covered lots of area and enjoyed seeing all these beautiful Texas towns. And TALE 10 was a great celebration of Texas letterboxing. You can read all about my trip by going to