Celebrating 9 Years of Letterboxing

Today marks my 9th anniversary of letterboxing. I note every year that I started letterboxing on February 16, 2006 and the first box I found was Silver Eagle's Santa Fe Trails microbox. To mark my anniversary each year I always go letterboxing and today was no different. I had saved some boxes in Albuquerque specifically for today. So I left home around 7:30am and made the drive to Albuquerque.

But my first stop was actually before I got to Albuquerque. I exited at Bernalillo and drove about 10 miles up US550 to an historical marker for Santa Ana Pueblo. Here I found C4's NM Sunset. This was a quick and easy find and I stamped in sitting in the car because it was still a little chilly when I found the box. After replacing the box I made my way to Albuquerque. My next stop was Sophia's to find a box that I tried for before but couldn't get to because the place was really busy and someone was sitting right where I needed to be. So I decided to try again. Today the place was empty when I arrived. So I put my things on the table near where the box is hidden and then I ordered some breakfast. After ordering I quickly nabbed the box and stamped in while they were preparing my breakfast burrito. I was even able to rehide the box before any other customers showed up and before my food was ready. I was glad to finally get this box. A couple of things about the place . . . first, the food is fantastic. My breakfast burrito smothered in red chili was delicious. And second, they are changing the name of the place to Eli's. Everything about the place is the same - the same owner, the same menu and food and the same atmosphere - only the name will be different. You can read a great review at Gil's Thrilling (and Filling) blog. When I finished my meal I left and continued my letterboxing. Next I went in search of Wronghat's Epicure's Icon. I followed the clues and made it to the location and found a spot to park. Then from the car I found the hiding spot and quickly made my way to it. I easily found the box and then stamped at one of the picnic tables. It was still early and the area wasn't busy so I had no problem getting to the box. Once I was done here I drove to the Sandia Peak Tramway. I parked in the lower lot and followed the clues to easily find Dopey Dogs visit ABQ by Dopey Dogs. This was another quick and easy find and I stamped in while sitting in the car and then I replaced the box. Next I headed to Holiday Park to find a couple of boxes by Fan Five. The listings on AQ show six boxes but the clues only lead to two - it was all very confusing. Anyways, I parked and started following the clues. The first box I looked for lead to the edge of a school and the to the edge of a concrete arroyo. The slope was a little steep so I decided the box with the store bought stamp wasn't worth sliding head first into concrete. And there were people at a playground across from the arroyo and they were looking right at me so I didn't think I could be stealthy. So I returned the way I came and then I followed the clues for the second box. This area seemed better and I felt I was safe and hidden so that no one could see me. Unfortunately I didn't find the box - I think I was in the right spot but there was no box. I decided to cut my losses and head out. I had a clue for one last box and I had looked for that box one before and didn't find it. So I decided to try again just in case and since I was close to the area I headed there. I again came up empty handed so I think the Oh Deer! box is missing.

I had a great time celebrating my 9th anniversary and finding boxes. I am now at 3678 finds. After all this time I still love going out and finding boxes and I still love all the interesting places this hobby takes me. I am looking forward to many more years of letterboxng!

Tucson Trip Complete

Well another letterboxing adventure has come to an end. I had an incredible time in Arizona and I found some great boxes. I also got to visit some new places and learn some great history. One of my goals of this trip was to collect boxes in different counties in Arizona for two series - one by Azroadie and one by Squatchis. I am happy to report that I did get all the counties that I had planned. I am still not done but I am closer to finishing both series. I am hoping that I can find time this year to complete them, so that means I need to plan another trip to the Grand Canyon state. Also on this trip I was able to find some boxes here in New Mexico that I hadn't had time to get to. If you are interested in what I did on this trip you can read all about it at Tucson Gathering and Collecting Counties.

Attending a Gathering in Tucson

Just a couple of days ago I decided to attend the 11th Annual Tucson, Arizona Letterboxers Gathering. I got a great deal on a hotel and decided I wanted to get out and do some letterboxing. This will be my third Tucson gathering - I attended the 2nd and 7th annual events. This event is held during the Gem and Mineral Show so it is hard to find hotels and they usually aren't cheap but with travel points and a deal I found I was able to justify the trip. I am also trying to go through as many counties as I can so I can get closer to finishing Azroadie's Arizona 15 award and Squatchis' Arizona Counties Series. I am leaving tomorrow morning and will get back home on Tuesday. You can read about the trip at Tucson Gathering and Collecting Counties.

A Trip to Alamogordo

Thomas has to be in Alamogordo tomorrow for a meeting so we decided to leave this morning and do a little letterboxing along the way. So we headed out around 8:00am and made our way to Stanley.
Here we found Guardians of Stanley: The Cemetery which was placed by Children of the Forest. This was a pretty easy find once I got past the snow. After stamping in and replacing the box we got back on the road and continued our drive. It was a great day to be on the road - there was no traffic and the weather was fantastic. Our second stop was at Three Rivers Petroglyph Site. We found nmcanchaser's Ancient Writings and Hi Desert's Face in the Rock. Both were quick and easy finds. The next find was just a box hidden on the side of the road. It was Harden My Heart and was a letterbox/geocache hybrid - it was nice to see the stamp was still there. Next we headed to La Luz which is just a little north of Alamogordo and we found cowpatti's Yoga-OM (Aum). I was the first finder of this box and I was glad we made the stop to find it. Then we headed in to Alamogordo and found four more boxes - cowpatti's Flying High and Bark at the Moon (Jim Griggs Multi-Sports Complex), Twinville Trekkers' Beatles Series #17 "Across the Universe" and CT Nite Owl's Scissors Sisterz. We had a nice time letterboxing today and found a great batch of stamps. There are still a few boxes in the area I haven't found yet so I guess another trip will need to be planned.

Albuquerque With Visiting Friends

This morning I went to Albuquerque to meet some friends who flew in late last night from Massachusetts. Lazy Letterboxer and The Letterboxing Ham came to New Mexico to visit us for Thanksgiving. I picked them up at their hotel and we headed out to do some letterboxing before heading up to Santa Fe.

Our first stop was at the Hotel Parq Central. Here we found Ghost of Parq Central letterbox. This was a quick and easy find. We stamped in while sitting in the car and then replaced the box. Our next stop was at the Standard Diner for the Standard Diner letterbox. You had to go in and ask for the box. The Letterboxing Ham went in and got the box and brought it back to the car. Again we stamped in while sitting in the car. When we were done he returned the box to the diner. But it seemed to take him a while and when he finally came out he was carrying something - fried pickles. So we had fried pickles at 9:45am and they were delicious. From here we went to Old Town. I didn't need to find boxes here but I thought it would be a good place to bring the friends. So we spent a little time wandering around Old Town looking for boxes and did a little sightseeing. For lunch we ended up at Marble Brewery for a little snack. After eating we headed back to Santa Fe but instead of taking the interstate I decided to give them the back road tour and drive home on Hwy 14. In Tijeras we stopped to drive on the Singing Road. It was so worth the detour and then it was on the road home. We had a fun time letterboxing in Albuquerque and hopefully our friends will enjoy their visit to New Mexico.

Denver Botanic Gardens and a Little Letterboxing

This morning Thomas and I had plans to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens to see the Chihuly Exhibition. So after a nice breakfast we made out way there. We were a tad bit early and we had to wait in line to get in. The wait was short and we already had tickets so we immediately started walking around. I was amazed and fascinated by the glass sculptures. And I love the way they were incorporated with the plants. We ended up walking almost every path, I took about 250 photos and we spent about 3 hours in the Gardens. It was wonderful and a terrific way to spend a Sunday morning. I am so glad we made the trip to Denver to see this show.  After we finished at the Gardens we started walking back to the car but took a detour to find The Woodshed's Modern Lilly hidden in the parking garage. We easily found the box and I took it back to the car to stamp in. Once I was done I returned the stamp to its hiding spot and we left the Gardens.

We next made our way to Governors Park to find preboxed's Hey Guv box. We arrived at the park and we started looking for the box. The park was filled with homeless people. I counted nine people sleeping all over the park. Fortunately I was able to find the box without being seen. I took the box back to a bench to stamp in. When I was done Thomas had to stand in front of me while I hid the box so that a couple of people sitting against a wall wouldn't see me hide the box. Once that was done we went have some lunch at a restaurant across the street. We ate at Lala's Wine Bar + Pizzeria. The food was so good and we just sat and relaxed. Two hours later we decided to move on.

We looked for two boxes in the downtown area . . . Then and Now: Denver's Chinatown and 100 Years. I had no luck with either of these boxes. The Chinatown box was confusing since there were so many buildings and so many metal boxes. We looked under quite a few metal boxes and didn't have any luck. We also spent a little time at Union Station, which they have really fixed up. We sat and had a snack and enjoyed the building. Then we went for a walk in City Park which was great - the day was beautiful. Eventually we gave up and decided to call it a day. Tomorrow we will visit the Capitol Building and then head home. We had a great time in Denver and we are l1ooking forward to our next visit.

Here are a couple of slideshows from our visit to the
Denver Botanic Gardens.

I hope you enjoy! 

Chihuly Exhibition

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Denver Botanic Gardens

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A Day in Denver

This morning we slept in and just relaxed. After getting showered and dressed we decided we wanted to get some breakfast - and not the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, so we headed out in search of something. Just down the block from us we found a Le Peep and headed there. We had a great breakfast and then decided to do a little letterboxing until Thomas' brother drove in from Broomfield to spend the day with us. We drove to Fairmount Cemetery to find a few boxes. Thankfully I had printed out a map off the internet and had mapped out the boxes. So we started at one box and followed the map and did a circle around the cemetery finding boxes along the drive. We looked for eight boxes and found seven. We found three of the Fairmount Halloween 2011 Series, Hello Zombie, Which? C Sharp M or A Sharp M, Memento Mori, Fairmount Cemetery: Treestone and Quoth the Raven. When we finished at the cemetery we headed for another box nearby but Thomas' brother called and we headed to The Container Store to meet them. Here we did a little shopping and the headed over to Meininger Art Store where we did a little more shopping. By this time it was around 2:00pm and we were getting hungry. So we headed for Park Burger on S. Pearl Street. We had a great meal and got to visit for a while. After eating they needed to get back home so they headed out. Thomas and I decided to try for another box before calling it a day and heading for the hotel. We drove to Four Mile Historic Park to look for Supernatural Series: Vampire. It was a short walk and a quick find. Now we are at the hotel and we are relaxing and taking it easy. We had a good day and enjoyed visiting with Thomas' brother and sister-in-law.