Brittney and the Treasure Scouts

I will likely be abandoning my letterboxing efforts in the month of November in favor of one of my other favorite activities: NaNoWriMo! It is true, November is National Novel Writing Month, and I will be assailing that mount in earnest this year. In order to keep my letterboxing fix, however, I am using that as a key element in the book. The story includes young Brittney Birch and her younger siblings, Pepper and Bobby Birch. They find a series of clues to a hidden treasure, and, using their compass and clue-solving skills, they find the long lost treasure, though it is not what they expect!

I am really looking forward to this project, and I hope to channel some Nancy Drew in its course.

Another Perk of Having a Voice That Carries. . .

So there we were, after letterboxing earlier in the day, taking a brief sojourn at Le Boutique Target, and I was mentioning to my beloved wife how much fun we were having while in the field earlier that day, when a gentleman down the aisle says, "Did you say 'letterboxing'?" I replied in the affirmative, and he and his wife immediately started telling us how much fun that they had while letterboxing and how they just found their hundredth box! It was one of those chance meetings when you really wish that you had a Personal Traveler with you. It was a really fun chance encounter in any case.

The Year of the Dog

I felt the urge to try out the new leash, so I mentioned to my wife that I was going to take Maggie for a walk. Mrs. suggested that we might head out for a letterbox, so I said, "Sure!" and we were off. I had already printed instructions to The Year of the Dog in El Dorado Hills, California, so that was the direction we headed, and it could not have been a more perfect day for it. Since we were in a rural area, we were able to let little Maggie run off the leash for most of the adventure, which she loved. The box is a nice walk out into some lovely, hilly pasture land, which is probably even more beautiful in the spring, but today it was a lovely autumnal hike. The box itself is just challenging enough to keep it interesting, but my no means a difficult one. The stamp is handmade and very cute, and we are pleased to have that record in our journal now. If you are passing through the El Dorado Hills area, I highly recommend it!

Folsom Powerhouse

The Wandering Walkers took off on the path of the Folsom Powerhouse box this late afternoon. It promised to be a very simple one, but, as it happened, the terrain had changed significantly, and it proved quite challenging. It was great! We took the intrepid boxhound, Maggie, with us, and we spent an hour evaluating the terrain and searching for likely clues as to its location. We had all but surrendered, when we spotted the hiding place. It was an exhilarating and rewarding afternoon of box-hunting!

We placed our stamps in the log book and put the lovely hand-carved stamp in our own, carefully re-packed the box and returned it to its hiding place, and we took the trek to our automobile. Once home I noticed it – I had forgotten to recover our own logbook! What a sad loss! I plan to return tomorrow to see if it is still there, but my hopes are slim. Ah, well, it gives us a great opportunity to start afresh, but I do hope that it is still there upon our return.

UPDATE: 10/3/2008 We made the morning trek back to the niche where the letterbox was hidden, and there, undisturbed, remained our cherished log book. Though far from full, I am relieved to have it back again.