Do I Need a 12 Step Recovery Program?

Yep, I finally have to admit it, I am a hopeless letterboxing addict.
There are lots of ways to identify a letterboxing addict: inky fingers, stashes of PZ cut, a stream of strange packages in your mailbox, seeing places to hide boxes everywhere you go. These are all the usual symptoms.
But I am getting way past all of that. Today as I was spray painting my Lock-N-Locks with the Krylon camo paint, I knew I had gone past the point of no return. This used to be a hallmark sign to me that the planter was a die hard boxer!! Camo painted boxes are awesome. Especially when you are getting ready to plant about 20 new boxes. You just lay out your boxes and spray. 15 minutes later you are done and your boxes are beautiful. Camo duct tape is a thing of the past! I'll save it for the double sealed ziploc baggies.
But that's not all.
Some of you may remember that one reason our family ended up letterboxing and not geo-caching was that we didn't have a GPS. After discovering letterboxing, I decided we wouldn't be needing a GPS. Times have changed. I've got to get one of those things!! As a matter of fact, technology has been calling me like never before and why? Because of letterboxing!
I NEED the GPS so I don't get lost when I leave my mapquest directions at home.
I NEED an iPOD, so I can download clues to keep with me!
I NEED a laptop so I can race resQlou to log those finds in as soon as I get them. And so I can write on this blog from anywhere.
I NEED a cell phone so I can meet any letterboxer anywhere, anytime!
How have I lived this long without all of this wonderful technology?
I guess I wasn't addicted to letterboxing back then.

A Morning Well Spent

This morning ARK and I went out to find a very special new series of letterboxes in Greenville, The Thin Blue Line. These boxes are dedicated to the police who lay down their lives for us every day.

We discovered an American Legion War Museum we didn't know existed.

It was neat to see the old artillery.

We also had one other box on our list.This fighter plane is in the park where we meet with our running group every Saturday morning. I have driven past this plane for many years, but never stopped to take a closer look. Thanks to skelly and his Major Anderson's Fighter box, we finally stopped here today. Skelly did a great job choosing a location and carving his stamp. Way to go skelly!!

Yep, we had five boxes under our belt by 11 am, a morning well spent!

Clearing the Table

Well the J Walkers and I spent some time scouting out the area today and making plans with all of you in mind. We are looking forward to the gathering in November. Here are the details for those who have missed them:
http://www.atlasquest.com/events/event.html?gEventId=421
We will have the shelter reserved very soon. The shelter we are looking at is right next door to a playground and bathrooms! For those of us with kids, that is awesome!! and we are mapping out where we'd like to see some boxes: ) We even got a few special ones planted today!
However, we did discover that there were some other folks who are looking forward to being at Table Rock the same weekend as we are and they like the cabins. There are only three left that are available. If you can't handle the campsite camping, you'd better act quick!! Get your campsites reserved while you can, too. Although, as of today, campsites were plentiful. There are several other state parks very near by with great cabins. We are still working on finding out any other nearby commercial cabins and hotels. It will be chilly in November, but is usually not too cold to camp.
We are planning a Table Rock summit box (a seven mile round trip, strenuous hike) but there are several other summits in the park. If anyone would like to volunteer to do some serious hiking and get a summit planted that would be wonderful! Otherwise, expect to see me in tip-top shape by November, I will have some major hiking to do!

It's About the Journey

When we first began letterboxing, this was absolutely true. We letterboxed for the places we got to go. As we have increased our F-count, there have been times when we set out to box with a numeric goal in mind. Today we are going to find x number of boxes and then our F count will be x! Often we are rewarded with a great journey in spite of ourselves. But the rushing around can be frustrating. Sometimes it causes us to miss out on really enjoying some of the places folks have put boxes at for us to enjoy.
This week, the girls and I had the joy of finding only 2 boxes on a day we had set out to find almost 15!! We headed to Fletcher Community Park (near Hendersonville, NC) to find these 2 boxes in what I thought would be a quick stop. The park was unassuming at first glance. There was a gravel path that seemed to border it. This path followed a river. We knew we needed to be on it in order to find the boxes. So we set out on our quick journey.
The quick journey ended up being a long and slow walk meandering quite a ways until we reached the second box. The girls and I began playing the 5 senses game.
We saw a flying fish, a rabbit running to the bushes, a chipmunk hopping across the path, a squirrel, some interesting birds, cornfields, flowers and butterflies riding the wind.
We heard the fish leap out of the river, the river, the rain, the birds, kids playing in the river, runners footsteps on the gravel and rustling in the bushes.
We smelled the bathrooms (yuck) and the rain.
We tasted the wild blackberries and the rain.
We felt the soft leaves of a lamb's ear plant, the warm summer rain on our faces and arms, the rusted metal frog we found on the bridge, and the itchy grass on the way to the cornfield where I made the girls pose for a picture.
The park had much more depth to it than I would've known about had we not had a letterbox to hunt for. Isn't that why the planter placed it there?
We didn't reach our goal of getting to 250 boxes that day. But I think the time we spent enjoying the search for those 2 boxes was worth leaving F-counts behind!

True Boxing Buddies

Some people say letterboxing is about the counts, the stamps, the puzzle solving, the hiking, or the places boxes take us to. And while I love many of those aspects of boxing, we really have enjoyed making our very own boxing buddies!
Two of the Galaxy4 stopped in our hometown, all the way from Alabama last week. We had coffee at Leopard Forest with them and chatted. It was a pleasure to meet them and share the places we love with them. They were so nice. We are looking forward to meeting the other two stars one day.
We also had the much anticipated pleasure of meeting Woody Clowns this week, the professional clowns who place balloon hats on their children's heads to keep track of them at parks: ) Not a bad idea. However, I did learn that they box incognito, dressed as regular folks. Until you see my logbooks, you'd never guess they were clowns. By the way, these clowns have gone planting crazy and they are really good at it! If you are ever in Simpsonville, SC you MUST check out “Barefoot Annie”. This box is ingenious. They really had me stumped here and the box is in “plain sight”. After eating lunch, mulling over my coffee, sending children to poke and looking from all different angles, I finally spotted it! DUH!!!
New friends are great, but today we spent the afternoon/evening with our dear old boxing buds, The Little Foxes and the J Walkers. Of Course, we had to meet at the coffee shop, since it just so happens to be so central to so many Travelers Rest boxes. They were even roasting tonight, so the smell was especially yummy. The JWalkers came in looking worn and bedraggled, but happy. By the end of the night they had quite a few finds under their belt. At least 17! I think there were a few more mysteries and postals in there, though. If you ever happen to meet up with them, be sure and ask about Bozo the President. The Foxes had to trot on up to Asheville before dinner, so we said goodbye to them. You'll all be glad to know I saw Foxy Baby smile a little smile. I know her poor teeth are hurting, but she is a real trooper! The JWalkers joined us for hot dogs and smores. They left really exhausted and sticky: )
I loved hearing Foxy Boy and Fender Bender talk, I loved that Little Bird couldn't wait to see her friend Foxy Baby and ARK was beside herself about getting to sing and dance with Pizza Nia. I loved watching Large Talons play “Blinkie” with all of the kids. I could sit and listen to td talk letterboxing for awhile. He is one of the most informed letterboxers I've ever met. If you live within 100 miles of here, I am willing to bet he knows your F-count. And if you have any scraps of PZ cut, he is the master of putting those to use!

So who are the boxers in your neighborhood?

Not all who wander are lost, except probably us....

It was a little over a year ago when we received a homeschool flyer in the mail that introduced our family to letterboxing. I was already interested in learning about geo-caching, but we didn't have a GPS. Letterboxing seemed like the perfect activity until we got one. I had no idea what kind of Pandora's box I was opening!!
I still remember how excited we were when we followed the clues to our first box, “Knot in Paris”. There was actually a box that someone had hidden exactly where they said it would be! And lots of people walked right past it never knowing about this treasure. That was exciting.
We were at a park we'd visited before within 15 minutes of our home. Yet, this box had taken us down a trail we had never been on. Knowing the distance to the box also gave me the courage to go ahead with my 4 children.
Of course, this became the infamous loop mistake. I did not consult my map ahead of time and I was sure that loops were always better completed rather than backtracked. Turns out, I was wrong. We ended up hiking a good four to five miles right on top of the mountain and back down. Everyone was amazingly cheerful. We ate wild blueberries and kept our eyes open for bears. In spite of this, my children loved letterboxing and we've gone on to find many more!!
We've canoed down an alligator infested river, hiked to beautiful waterfalls, visited historic graveyards, explored museums, immersed ourselves in historic cities and met many wonderful people all in search of our little secret boxes! We all know more about SC than we ever knew before we began letterboxing. We have learned so many different reasons to love where we live so we could share our place with you, just as you all have shared with us.
Having cake day on AQ has just been a chance to reflect on all the amazing places letterboxing has taken us this year. Here's to many more years of letterboxing adventures!!

Ode to a Fox

or two or three...

Today The Little Foxes and I share our very first 'cake day' on Atlasquest. We have been official for a year now. Cheers Mama Fox!!
Mama Fox is very special to us because she is the very first letterboxer we ever met. And we met her by pure and hopeful coincidence. She was the very first finder on our brand new box we had planted at our local coffee shop. We had come that morning to put a first finder prize in it. As we sat at our table (all six of us!) we watched everyone who came in wondering if they were letterboxers. Finally a mother with two wonderful children came in with a red bag strapped over her shoulder.
“That's a letterboxer.” I nudged 'd' and pointed to her. Let's watch her. So we watched as she ordered her drinks and got settled. Well, maybe not. Then she very casually got up and began browsing the photos that we had hidden our box behind. She was good. I almost missed her getting the box. Once she had it in hand, we all stormed her table. She must've been overwhelmed.
So you're a letterboxer? What kind of logbook is that? Oh, wow, look at those markers! Postals, what are those?
We had a million questions. She was ever so gracious. In fact, she eventually showed us around her hometown and we tried to return the favor here. And those cubs are so great! Foxy Boy is such a help when I am trying to solve those tricky clues of his mom's. And my girls just think Foxy Baby is such a fun friend. If you haven't met Mama Fox and her kits, make a point to. And be sure to tell her Happy Cake day today. She is making wonderful contributions to the letterboxing world every day!!

How to have another gathering without planning it!

Attend a local kids letterboxing class at your public library just to see what they are saying about letterboxing. If you are as lucky as I was, a few letterboxers you haven't met yet will show up. Between the 2 librarians who put the class on, resQlou and her 3 basseteers, the alphabet kids and Somebunny with her sidekicks skelly and misty, we had a regular inky fingers stamp exchanging gathering. If I had realized it would be such a great get-together, I would've planted a mystery box or two there!
I enjoyed meeting so many local boxers. There was a time when there were only a few boxers in our area, but now we are starting to really get things going. And it's great! Somebunny planted a box in a place I have wanted to bring people to, but never really gotten around to. I was thrilled to go find it today and the kids had a great time playing there. If you are ever in the area and especially if you have children, be sure and check out the 'Linky Stone' box by her. Her son, skelly, has also gotten in the act and I am looking forward to going to find the box he planted. It's good to have local boxing buddies.
However that means we now have competition for being first finders. And resQlou doesn't intend to make it easy on us. She will brave firetrucks and photographers to get out there and get those boxes!!
The one family I was disappointed not to meet was the woody clowns. They are actually professional clowns and my active imagination has been picturing them in all of their clown splendor hunting for our boxes. I really need to see them in their real 'people' costumes: )
The class, by the way, was excellently presented. The children were given the etiquette guidelines from LBNA. The librarians presented a brief history of letterboxing. After making stamps from foam and bottle caps, they headed out to the library to find the box the librarians had planted. There were several parents in there who seemed genuinely interested. The librarians aren't quite as busy as our family about letterboxing (not many are, though), but they might've had a fire lit under them after meeting all of us locals. I know more people can mean more muggles. I think it's worth having some folks nearby to share our favorite places, challenge us to better boxes and just to have fun with.
We are really getting to know one another here in upstate SC!! Jwalkers, we better get moving on those plans!

How to have a gathering without planning it!

First you find a really great coffee shop. You visit it often and get to know the very nice owner. Then you offer to plant a letterbox in the shop. It will bring her business and give you just one more excuse to keep stopping by for coffee. If you are in the shop often enough, you might get to see a letterboxer scouting the area for a possible box. It also makes a great place to invite a local boxer to meet you for an exchange.
Today we had a planned meeting with resQLou and the three basseteers. I mentioned this to threespoiledboxers in case they wanted to drop in. I arrived at the coffee shop to see a table full of letterboxers exchanging stamps! It just so happened, Carolina Pines had stopped by to find our box before they headed out of town. It was so fun. Tons of kids and inky fingers and meeting lots of new letterboxers...That's my kind of day! Now we have faces to put with some really cool people.
ResQLou, smax and 7, and the fambly and I went on to some of the local bridges. We had a great time. '7' even chanced upon a geo-cache. That explained the blue paint chips in my letterbox. It was so funny because after we put in all of our junk so we could take out some of their junk, my kids seemed to like what resQlou put in the most!! We could've exchanged junk at her car: ) Fender bender did manage to get an emergency poncho, which is probably about the most useful junk I've ever seen in a geo-cache.
The upstate letterboxing community is growing. It is very fun to have some local boxing buddies. And to those not so local, stop by sometime for a cup of coffee at Leopard Forest. You never know who will be there.

Hidden Treasures

This is what our kind of hidden treasure looks like. Little Bird likes to be the one to 'nab' the box. She has lots of competition with the 'fambly'.

Finding Our Way

Our family has been 'finding our way' since the day my husband and I got married. Letterboxing is just another path we are taking. So far, it is one of our favorites! We have been to many unique places and met some of the best folks in the world. We have learned to be sneaky and had some wonderful adventures. Every letterbox is a story and we get to be a part of it.
Of course, the 'd' and the 't' aren't all there is to us. The 'fambly' consists of our four children and our dog 'travel dog', who occasionally boxes with us. Given time and space, you might see 'fender bender', 'large talons', 'ARK' or 'little bird' in your logbook. They are four of the greatest kids in the world!! Each of them enjoy letterboxing in their own way.
Don't worry, we will not give spoilers on this blog. But we will share the adventures in our journeys with you. We'd also like to share some of the wonderful photos we get while we are out. And you never know when there might be a hint to a clue or two on here: ) Of course, I've got to get better at my tricky clue writing first!