Jump Start for My Letterboxing Trip to Texas

I am leaving tomorrow for a two week trip through Texas. I will be visiting friends and doing some letterboxing. You can read all about the trip by going to Touring Texas, Visiting Friends & Letterboxing.
Today I had to run an errand in Albuquerque, so I decided to get a jump start on my letterboxing. I haven't been letterboxing since October 18, 2007 when I found The Lazy Wheeler and Angelfire when I took a friend of mine to drive the Enchanted Circle. There were four boxes waiting to be found in Albuquerque. The Duck Pond at UNM, The Alburwocky, Christmas Cactus and Palomas Park. I didn't really have a lot of time to spend at each place. The Duck Pond and Palomas Park are qucik drive-bys and didn't take me very long to find. They were both store bought stamps and were okay boxes. Christmas Cactus was in a neighborhood that has a walking trail where there are petroglyphs. I am not sure if this is part of the Petroglyph National Monument or not. I did have a nice walk out there. It was a little cold but it was also nice and sunny. My last stop was to find The Alburwocky. I can't tell you where I was because this is a mystery box. It took me a good two months to finally pinpoint the location. Early on I figured out what type of place I was looking for but was having trouble on the exact spot. Well, needless to say I finally found the box. It felt good to be out letterboxing and I am looking forward to my Texas trip.

CLUE Letterbox Edition

Hey Autumn Whispers - what do you think?
This is an example of what I think you are looking for.
Am I on the right track?

Well, here is the actual carving of the top image.

I think it came out pretty good.
I hope it fits in with all the other cards.
I can't wait to see the whole set together.

Here are links for CLUE Letterboxing Edition . . .

CLUE Letterbox Edition: Maine (Location)
CLUE Letterboxing Edition Tracker

A Gallery of Signature Stamps

I have put all the images of my retired signature stamps in one place. You can click on the photo to get to the slide show of these stamps. This only includes my retired stamps - you won't see the stamp I am currently using. That is a surprise - you either have to meet me or find a box that I have found or planted using that stamp to see the image. I will add to this blog as I retire any stamp.

Another Mini Meet in Santa Fe

This morning Astro D and I met some visiting boxers for coffee and letterboxing talk.
Front Range Hiker (who visited us earlier this month for the SPOOKtacular) and Grosse Point Wine Lover were in New Mexico and specifically Santa Fe for a little boxing. We met them at one of our favorite coffee spots - PD Bean. It was really convenient for them since their hotel was right next to the coffee shop. We had a great visit and always enjoy meeting other boxers. I got the feeling that they both enjoyed their time in Santa Fe and also enjoyed the boxes they found. After a couple of hours they headed out - they wanted to find a few more boxes before getting to the airport - now that is the sign of a true letterboxer.

Picacho Peak

It was a cold and windy morning . . .

OK, I will spare you - but it was really cold and windy when I met John & Mark (otherwise known as the Weeny Boys) and Chris to hike up to Picacho Peak. We all met at the parking area to the Santa Fe Nature Preserve. There were already five or six vehicles when we arrived. I thought that was a lot for such a cold morning. Anyway, we headed out for the Dale Ball Trails and our destination - Picacho Peak. I have a letterbox hidden at the peak and John was searching for it - he would be the first finder. The hike was pretty uneventful, I mean it was just a very pleasant and relaxing hike. Of course this hike offers excellent views of the Santa Fe area. We made it to the top easily enough. But there was a little problem with the clues to my box. You have to take quite a few steps from a sign and I guess that over that distance it puts you off a little. In the end John found the box and stamped in. We then made our way to the peak and enjoyed the views - but only for a little while. It was a little cold so we headed back down the trail. All four of us counted the steps and came up with different numbers but all very close. So I will update the clues with an average of what we found. I will also probably add a few other landmarks just to help verify where you are when you take the appropriate steps. In a short time we were back at the parking lot and parting ways. This was a great hike for a brisk fall morning and as I am writing this it is now snowing. I guess it was a good thing we went hiking this morning.

New Mexico A to Z

For a while now I have been thinking of doing a series of letterboxes that would highlight the state of New Mexico. I have been doing research looking for interesting places, people or events that would give people information about The Land of Enchantment. The series will be called Alphabetical New Mexico. Almost every letter has been decided upon (decisions on a few still remain) and I am looking for images to carve. So far I have carved five stamps for the series and yesterday two of those were planted. The letters "V" and "E" are now placed and ready for finders. The boxes will not be placed in alphabetical order since placing these boxes will require traveling throughout the state. So the boxes will be placed depending on where I can travel to and when I can get there. This series will not be placed all at once - I feel it will probably take me at least six months to get them all done. So stay tuned and I hope you enjoy.

Enchanted Circle

Yesterday I took a quick trip to Albuquerque to pick up my friend Regina at the airport. On the way I made a detour to the Bosque to search for Coronado's Campsite. I arrived at the parking area and made the short walk to find the box. It was a nice find in an interesting place, except that there was some construction going on in the near area. And there were a few construction vehicles that passed by me - a little uncomfortable and noisy. Once I stamped in and replaced the box I headed for the airport. Regina arrived right on time and we headed back to Santa Fe. We spent the afternoon and evening talking and just catching up.


Today we decided to drive the Enchanted Circle. This drive starts in Taos and goes along Hwy 64 to Angelfire and on to Eagle Nest. Then takes Hwy 38 to Red River and Questa. The circle completes in Taos via Hwy 522. I wanted to look for two letterboxes and plant two letterboxes. Around nine this morning we left Santa Fe and headed to Taos. From there we drove on to Angelfire to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We walked around and took pictures and looked for a good place to hide my letterbox. It was very windy and a little cold. Eventually we found a spot and hid the box. (I will get the clues posted soon.) We visited the chapel and the memorial - which was nice since it was warmer inside. We left the memorial and went to find the Elliott Barker Trail and the Angelfire letterbox. Once we found the trailhead we took the short half mile hike to a small pond. Along the way we saw a couple of hawks flying around. At the pond we followed the clues and easily found the box. I sat and stamped while Regina walked around - she was trying to stay warm. (She lives in McAllen, TX and says the temperatures this past week have been in the 90's.)

From here we headed toward Eagle Nest to look for another box and to plant another box. On the way we stopped at a historical marker to find The Lazy Wheeler letterbox. This was an easy find just off the highway. Our next stop was Eagle Nest Lake - I had another letterbox to plant. When we got to the lake it was hard to find a spot to hide the box. But I was persistent and eventually found somewhere to hide it. (Again, I will post the clues soon.) Today was a nice day, the sun was out and the drive was beautiful - the only problem was the wind. Now that the letterboxing was done for the day we headed to Red River to get something to eat. But we were soon distracted - we stopped to see Elizabethtown. This is a ghost town on Hwy 38 between Eagle Nest and Red River.

It was interesting - we walked through a small museum, took pictures of the old courthouse and visited the cemetery. Now we could head for Red River to find some food. Unfortunately it is the slow season in this area and all the restaurants were closed until around 5:00pm. So we did a little walking around in Red River but succumbed to hunger pangs. We decided to head back to Taos and find an open restaurant. The drive to Taos was beautiful. Wheeler Peak has snow on it already and there were still plenty of trees with fall colors. Once we had eaten we headed back to Santa Fe. It was a great day, a beautiful drive and a relaxing adventure.