A Morning at Museum Hill

Last night I got a notice from AQ about a new box in Santa Fe hidden at Museum Hill. So I printed out the clue and put it with my things I already had together for some errands I needed to run today. And since I was going to Museum Hill there were a couple of other things I wanted to do. So I headed out early this morning and got to the parking area and there were only three other cars in the lot. I gathered my things and started following the clues for the new box - MIAC to MOSCA. I found all the landmarks and in no time I had the box in hand. I had passed a bench on the way to the box so I took it back there to sit and stamp in. This was kind of in a secluded place and was very peaceful - so I stamped in and then rehid the box.

Next I crossed the street to the overflow parking area and went to Astro D's Little Edie's HHH. I had in my possession five hitchhikers that I needed to do something with. So I got the HHH and opened it to find four hitchhikers in it (well, really three, one was a flea). I looked through them and took one and then I put four of the five that I had in the HHH. So now I have two hitchhikers to find homes for. That is a whole lot better than five. After doing all the requisite stamping I got Little Edie back into place.

I then went back over to the Hill and decided to take the short walk to check on a box I have hidden here. Happily I found it in place and all is well. I had a nice morning at Museum Hill - it was a peaceful way to start the day.

Peaceful and Interesting

Two days ago I found a letterbox - Catch a Wave in Santa Fe - that is associated with a murder mystery called Death by Kindle. There are a total of four boxes related to this story. I found Read or Be Read back in June and then the one a couple of days ago - well today I went out and found the other two. I can't tell you where I was because both of the boxes are mysteries but I can say that I really enjoyed both spots. They were interesting and nice places. I found Catch Me If You Can in a very relaxing and serene place that was enjoyable. I sat on a bench near the hiding spot to stamp in. It was in a really nice and quite spot and I was totally by myself. Where I found HUB was interesting in a couple of ways. The history of the building was something I hadn't known about and there is some interesting artwork around the place. These were easy to find once I got to the areas and that gave me time to just enjoy my outing. If you get the chance you should read the story and the go out and find these boxes.

A Little Box Maintenance and Catching a Wave

All summer long I have wanted to hike the Hyde Park Circle Trail and check on my Land of Enchantment Series but there was always something stopping me. The boxes had been found this summer but I still felt the need to do a little maintenance. Well this morning Thomas and I got up early and headed to Hyde Memorial State Park. It was a chilly fall morning but I was loving it. A couple of days ago we got some snow in the mountains and I was hoping most of it was gone on the trail so we would have a nice hike. So we made the four and a half mile hike and checked on all nine of the boxes. I made sure everything was dry and that all the bags were sealed well and the boxes closed tightly. I also needed to add some map cards and post cards in the first box. The trail was pretty clear except in the really shady areas where the snow was lingering - fortunately it was only a light covering and we had no problem maneuvering the trail. By the time we got to the top (which is about the half way mark and is about 9200 feet elevation - a 1000 foot change from the trailhead) we took a break and had a little snack. The rest of the hike is all down hill or pretty much level. We made it back to the car and I had gotten all the boxes really well sealed and hidden. I also went over my notes so that I could tweak the clues once we got home. Now we headed back down Hyde Park Road.

Before we headed home we decided to look for a letterbox. This letterbox - Catch a Wave in Santa Fe - is one of four letterboxes associated with Death by Kindle. This is a new murder mystery, set in Santa Fe, with 'clues' planted as real letterboxes around town. I had found one of the four boxes - Read or Be Read - back in June, you can read about that one at I 'Read' Today. I didn't know about this Death by Kindle at the time so the person I thought was Postal, wasn't. Anyway, we made our way to the location and it didn't take long to find the box. I stamped in and then rehid the box. Thomas and I had a great morning hiking and letterboxing - now isn't this a great way to spend a Monday morning - much better than working.

Another Horcrux and a ?Toy?

Back to my To Do list that I mentioned in the last post - I still had some things left to take care of. Some of the things on the list were running errands. Yesterday another clue for the Horcrux Series popped up and I already had a clue for a box hidden on Upper Canyon Road so I decided I would do a little letterboxing before I ran my errands. So I put all my things for the day into my backpack and headed out. My first stop was at Genoveva Chavez Community Center. Here is where I went in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's Diadem. It was a short walk to where the box was hidden but it took me a little while to actually retrieve the box. The trail this box is hidden on is so busy. Finally, the coast was clear and I grabbed the box and sat on a bench to stamp in. Unfortunately I wasn't the first finder on this box - Astro D and The Great Wuga Wuga beat me to it. After stamping in and enjoying the early morning I replaced the box and returned to my car.

On to the next box. This one was hidden on the Dale Ball Trail off of Upper Canyon Road. I really like this area and I love this part of the Dale Ball Trail. In fact I have my Waiting on the World to Change letterbox is on this trail. I parked at the Santa Fe Canyon Preserve and crossed the road and started up the trail. The box I was looking for is called Tiny Toy Story. It didn't take me long to reach the box, it was only a little over a quarter of a mile. Once I had the box I found a nice place to sit and stamp in. I opened the box and ended up confused. Box Title = Tiny Toy Story, Stamp = store bought stamp of mushrooms, ??? = a tiny toy car and a dinosaur. Did I just find a geocache? But the name of the box on the clue matched the name in the logbook. The whole box was disconbobulated - nothing made sense - why plant a box like that? Oh, I have this stamp and I will take some paper and a couple of little toys and I will put them in a box and then I will go plant it even though nothing really makes sense - oh, but I can say I planted a box. The only thing good I can say is that thankfully it was on a fantastic trail. So after getting the box back in its hiding spot I decided that the only way to redeem this was to hike the trail a little more. I didn't get up to Picacho Peak but I got a nice hike in and enjoyed some of the views this trail has. But alas, it was time to come back to the world of being a responsible adult so I returned to my car and went on to my errands.

Hunting a Horcrux

This morning I woke up to a To Do list that was insane. After getting three things scratched off the list I decided I needed a break. So I sat at the computer and checked my email and then went to Atlas Quest. One of the new boxes listed was in Santa Fe. So I printed out the clues and put them aside. I went back to my list and got a few more things done but the clues were there in the back of my mind. I decided I needed another break and so I got my letterboxing stuff and the clues and headed out. The box was hidden just a few miles from my house and it only took me about 15 minutes to get there. I parked, followed the clues and had the box in hand in less than 5 minutes and was happy to see that I was the first finder of this box. The box I found is Tom Riddle's Diary - the first of the horcruxes to be destroyed in the Harry Potter Series. I sat at a picnic table to stamp in and enjoy this beautiful first day of October. Putting the box back in place was just as easy as finding it which is always nice. I love Harry Potter and I am looking forward to finding all the boxes in this Horcrux series. Oh, and I did get back to my To Do List - I just didn't finish it - yet!

Back from the Beyond

Well, I am back home after another wonderful adventure or should I say odyssey. I had a great time traveling around the midwest and attending the 2011: a space odyssey event. I met some great people and visited with some old friends - hi Front Range Hiker, deniserows and Goofy Girl. I added four new states to my list of states I have found letterboxes in - Missouri, Iowa, Ohio and Kentucky - which brings the total states I have letterboxed in to 33. I also got to visit seven State Capitol Buildings - Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee. They were all quite different and some I liked better than others. I took quite a few photos and it took me a while to go through them so that I could put together a slide show - well I ended up with two slide shows. I did one for the trip - Missouri and Beyond and I did a second one for a sculpture garden I went to - Citygarden. And if you want to read all about my adventures you can go to Missouri and Beyond for my blog post. Now that this adventure is now history I will have to start planning my next adventure.

Letterboxing Trip to the Midwest

Well we got home from our Alaska trip and got things back to normal and then I started preparing for my next trip. I am headed to Missouri to attend the 2011: a stamp odyssey letterboxing event. I will be doing a lot of driving and site seeing while in the area. The event is just outside St. Louis and I will be there until Sunday morning. On Sunday I will be heading to Jefferson City and my whirlwind driving tour begins. Before I return home on the 26th I will have visited seven states (four of which will be new states that I will be letterboxing in). I will also visit seven state capitols during this trip. I think it will be fun and I will try to keep up with the blog as I go along. If you wish you can follow along by going to Missouri and Beyond. When I return home I will go through all my pictures and make a slide show of the trip. Well here I go on another odyssey of exploration.