Reflections

Finally...after what seems like ages (probably just a month), the boys and I got out and got one letterbox!! It was such a good feeling to be on the trail with my pack on my back. I could've gone a few miles, but I only had a short time. I knew exactly where the box was because it was on the way to the first box we ever found. So after finding “Tiger Swallowtail” (which is a beautiful stamp, by the way!) we decided to go re-visit that first find. “Knot in Paris” was still in place, high and dry with the original logbook! We found our first sign in. Each of the kids had signed their names and we had a little store bought stamp, but had forgotten our ink.So we traced the stamp image onto the paper. A year and about 280 finds later, we are still boxing!
With two of our children in public school this year and me working on weekends, we will not be boxing quite so much this year. I guess it is nice to slow down and enjoy the hunt, though. We'll just keep taking it one box at a time.

EDITED to say: OK, I see our last trip boxing was actually August 8, less than a month ago. It feels like it's been years: )

Clowning Around

The Woody Clowns contacted me about getting together because they had a little 'surprise' for me. You can't imagine the wonderings that filled my head in the days preceding this meeting. I don't know what it is about me and clowns. I think I have some childhood issues I need to resolve! Anyways, I was certain I would be explaining to the owners of Leopard Forest why there were clowns in the cafe. And I was mildly afraid that I was going to be clown-napped. I left most of the children at home for this reason: ) I only brought one to keep me company should we end up in the circus.
As usual, the Woody clowns surprised me, pleasantly! They are really SO nice and not scary. If any of you have clown issues, like me, they are the clowns to meet!! They did not show up with little red noses, big shoes and brightly colored hair and the only clown-napping that was imminent would have been of my own planning. With only one vehicle (van is begin repaired for cooling system failures...imagine that in this heat??!!) we did juggle a few ideas for carpooling to the Greenwood mecca of letterboxes together before school starts.
My surprise from Paula of the Woody Clowns was a plb of a clown car! It was perfect!! Also, Threespoiledboxers passed on a HILARIOUS cootie! Be on the lookout for the BP cootie, coming to a boxer near me..SOON!!

Threespoiledboxers and a new boxer, Armymom, also showed up. Yep, another mini-gathering: ) We are all looking right at home in the coffee shop aren't we?
Armymom was well indoctrinated and I am sure left with her head in a whirl..postals, cooties, exchanges... She still seemed more excited, not less, when she left. I think that's a good sign that she is one if us!
So for all of those boxers I asked to come in after me, should I not make it out alive...I made it! And who knows, I might even become a clown for a day myself one of these days?
Especially if there is a letterbox involved!

That's Just WEIRD!!!

While browsing a local Barnes and Noble a very special book caught my eye. In large fiery letters I saw the words WEIRD CAROLINAS. Touristy type things usually lose me, but you say WEIRD and you've got me! This book claimed to show and tell some of the weirdest places and stories in SC and NC. This seemed to me almost like a letterbox planters guide book! I didn't purchase the book that day, but since I couldn't stop imagining what was in between the hard cover of this captivating book, I finally used my Amazon certificate I'd been saving for a rainy day and got it.
The book arrived via UPS today and has been in somebody's hands all day. Fender Bender was the first to be hypnotized by the strange tales and as soon as I saw him set the book down, I grabbed it. Now Large Talons is being drawn into it's mysterious web. It feels like The Deathly Hallows all over again. We are each just waiting for a chance to get our hands on it again. And 'd' has yet to open it. As soon as he gets home, he will have to pry it out from under somebody's pillow, I am sure! There is so much fun information in these pages that it is impossible to absorb it all in one day. And after you read it you will be ready to get in your car and GO see them. After all, they are right in your state!
With chapter titles like, Local Legends, Bizarre Beasts, Roadside Oddities, Road Less Traveled and Cemetery Safari, you can see why our attention has been captured. This book is full of strange stories about the towns and cities near us, like the UFO Welcome Center in Bowman, SC. There are strange sights like Vollis Simpson's Whirligig Park in Wilson, NC . There are strange people like the Button King of Bishopville, SC and there's the Bureaus of Biggism in High Point, or how about the bottle farm on the outskirts of Forest City, NC. Judaculla Rock, Elmwood Cemetery and Poinsett Bridge are also featured.
When I see names of the counties and towns listed I can't help but imagine all of the letterboxers that go with those places as I read. Here are box ideas begging to be made and hidden, many of them already have!
What's even cooler about this book, is that it is part of a series based on Weird US. There is a book for most states! Somewhere near you there is a weird tale waiting to be told. Check this book out, I am sure you won't regret it. I am also secretly hoping that a letterboxing boom will come on the tails of this wonderfully weird knowledge.

Too Hot to Letterbox? Never!

If you are lucky enough to have boxes like somebunny's near you! The temperature was 104 in upstate SC today and we decided to head to the coolest place around, Jones Gap State Park. Jones Gap is a mountain cove with the Middle Saluda River running right through it. This river is normally cold enough to make your toes go numb. There are mountain ridges on either side that tower above the gap. The rhododendron and tall hemlocks keep the air about 10 degrees cooler than the countryside where we live. This was the place to be today!
It just so happened there was a new letterbox here. Don't you love it when that happens? There are actually two more boxes here in this park that I haven't made it to, but the other two boxes involved small hikes and we weren't dressed for hikes, we were dressed to swim! Plus, it was way too hot for whining today. On our way out, however, we did grab some Vintage Whine. Somebunny has been so kind to all of us who box with our kids by planting a series of boxes in honor of those whiny days when the kids just can't take another one. Since the kids were so cool from their swim and the box was SO close to our car: ) we managed to letterbox on one of the hottest days in the past few years with not a single whine. Way to go somebunny, it worked!
We also got Africa #7 on our way home. It was a quick drive-by and also very appropriate for today. In the clue threespoiledboxers speaks of their experiences hauling water in 130 degree African heat and then having to get home, boil it, and filter it before they could drink it! We definitely felt grateful that it wasn't that hot here today. And grateful for our easy access to thirst-quenching, life-giving water. Thanks for reminding us of our blessings.

Garden and Park Boxing Adventures

Today we went letterboxing in our own neighborhood. We went to a certain bookstore for a box that should have taken us about 5 minutes to get. BUT...we LOVE bookstores!! It took us about 45 minutes to get out of there!
Then we headed to Roper Mountain Science Center. Our family has been there many times to go to the observatory and planetarium. However, today we went to the butterfly garden, the pond and the pioneer village that I never even knew existed!! Large talons got a few good opportunities to hone his photography skills there. We will definitely be back soon.
When we could finally peel ourselves away from that place we headed over to find the "Day at the Park' series in Simpsonville. We were to meet a few of our letterboxing friends there. Letterboxing is always more fun with friends! This park has a little bit of everything, including one of those fabulous water parks. Since that was not on our agenda for the day, the kids satisfied themselves with a field sprinkler!
Another fine boxing day! We sure are going to miss these days when school starts.

Burnsville Pictures

Finishing the Quilts of Burnsville, NC

Today's journey began early this morning with a little side trip into Africa. Threespoiledboxers were missionaries in Africa until one of the family contracted malaria and they had to come home. They have put together a series of boxes that will make you feel as if you know Africa as well as they do by the time you are through.I have really enjoyed the extra information in their clues. Some of the logbooks even have pictures of the sights of Africa.
Then we headed up the mountain into Asheville. We were able to visit Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary in the summer. Last time we were there, the foliage was just beginning to come out. Wow! What a difference! We found Anna's Rose and got to see a blue heron while we stamped in.
Next we went to Lake Louise to get our 250th find!! Mama Fox has planted a box called “Good Friends”. She had seemed a little bit anxious for me to find it and now I know why!! It was a beautiful image of Baby Fox and Little Bird made from a picture she had taken last time we were there. Little Bird was amazed and very proud!!! Thanks Mama Fox, we are honored to be called your friends.

Now we could hit the road for some real boxing. We met The Little Foxes in Burnsville, NC, home of the Appalachian quilt squares. There are quilt squares all over town and country here based on the traditional patterns. At the Southern Highlands gathering in June, boxes were planted in honor of them and I only found half of them. So I was looking forward to finishing up my collection.
But first we visited the tea shop because I wanted the kids to have tea with me in the coolest tea room ever! The Orchid tearoom is a self serve tea lounge in the upstairs of a paper shop. The décor and the teas are exotic. They loved it and at the end of the day, this was one of their favorite stops.
From there, we headed over to an amzing used book store. All of the kids were busy devouring books, while Mama Fox and I tried to restrain oursleves from buying them all!
Mama Fox and I found a few more drive-by quilt square boxes. I loved standing at the box and seeing a barn with the same square on it just across the road!

The high point of our day, however, was 4338'. We made it to the top of Phillip's Knob without a jeep. We did take our cars up a good way, but we also hiked about 2 miles. Those amazing kids were right there with me all the way! (most of them were, anyways) The walk was beautiful. We saw a deer and lots of deer tracks. In fact, by the time the day was over we had seen 6 deer!! We also saw lots of unique Appalachian wildflowers. Turk's Cap lillies, Black Cohosh, turtle head, indian pipes, bee balm, spotted jewelweed, and pale jewelweed to name a few. The younger girls also found tons of large pieces of mica. I guess being that close to the ground pays off sometimes. In all of that wonderful nature, the kids managed to see an old wrecked car down the hillside that just fascinated them. It was just near the top of the mountain on a steep hill. I can't imagine wrecking there. It was a good thing the trees stopped them!

Our next stop was supposed to be a quicky. We headed over to Yummy Mud Puddle art studio to replace that box, only to be greeted by the duckmaster, himself. John promptly took us on a tour of his studio. He showed us some works in progress and lots of finished art. He uses lots fo salcvaged material -that's trash to most of us. His art was amazing. His organization system for all of that trash was even more amazing! We left inspired!
Lastly we had some night boxing adventures with boxes that were not meant to be found at night! We drove a Mountain Scorpia couple of miles out into a place where everybody knows everybody. And they definitely know when someone new is aorund! We found the box at the Bee Log School's baseball field while the kids played on the playground in the dark. We managed to only attract a few strange looks out of lighted front doors and rocking chairs on porches. Then we spent some time trying to decipher another Mountian Scorpia clue: ) When we finally 'got' it, it was about 10pm. We had to get the box, it was the last one and here we were ALL the way out in who knows where!! The clue stated that we had to walk in a gate where we were welcome, and although Harold and Mavis the dog would bark at us, they were friendly. We really trusted Mountain Scorpia on this one.
We crossed an old mountain bridge and headed very quietly up to the barn that displayed the quilt square....at least that's what we thought it was in the dark. So far, so good. The gate had been open and the dogs had not even barked. Then just as we approached the bar to figure out where vampires never go, an automatic motion sensor light came on!! That immediatley set the dogs to barking, but it also lit up the box. There it was...our final box. We grabbed it and ran towards our cars. But, of course, we had not escaped the notice of the barn owner. When he got to us, we told him Lucy had sent us. We were crossing our fingers that he knew who Lucy was. Luckily for us, he did and he was happy for us to get the box. Whew!
We returned home from our mini vaction at midnight. We had seen many interesting places, met a few interesting people and made memories we will not forget soon. That's what letterboxing is about: )