Letterboxing with Mark & Sue

We've Moved . . .

2008-10-07T00:06:00.006-04:00

That's right - We've moved.

To a brand new home.

Please adjust your bookmarks accordingly. We're almost done unpacking and hope that you'll stop by!!

Visit us here.

We Lived, Breathed and Totally Loved OR!!!

2008-09-29T23:48:00.002-04:00

So ya think we had a great 10 days in the wonderful state of Oregon and the fantastic Live & Breathe historic gathering?
Hell ya!

And to prove it, we've started a diary of our trip. It's not quite complete but we'll be adding to it as the days go on. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh -you'll find the story at a different location - one you might want to bookmark!

Still Time to Sign Up for Bed & Boxing . . .

2008-09-24T23:15:00.003-04:00

There is still some time to sign up for Bed & Boxing - our next Pinecone Adventure. We've extended the signups for 2 more weeks. At present, there are 30 people signed up. Initially, there was only about a 2 week window in which to sign up and then Sue & I hit the Oregon trail.

If you are interested in attending, you can find all the info you need at our special Bed & Boxing webpage.

Notice the nifty, retro logo to the left? It's our logo for the event and has been designed by PA's own Crayola Posse members True Indigo and RGBisMe. They also designed the winning patch for our Newboxers list and our recent First Ever Letterboxing Cruise. Sue & I love their work which is why we keep going back, asking for more! Thanks Terri & Jim, we really appreciate the wonderful work in such a timely fashion and exactly what we wanted!

It's All About the People!!!

2008-09-23T23:21:00.013-04:00

Our recent 10 days in Oregon have answered that age old question - "What do you like most about letterboxing?"

At Live & Breathe, we met the most awesome boxers - DeniseRows (who embarrassed us with her excitement when meeting us,) SandiBox and daughter, Miss Moon, SHH and Triple T, the GA contingent who impressed us with both their boxing abilities and their friendship (Hi 123 Family!), Poodle Dudes & Spiral Seeker, Shiloh, Wassa and so many more that we met, exchanged and spoke with for a few minutes. And the most excellent Live & Breathe committee - who pulled off what we feel is the most important gathering besides that very first one held in Killington, VT with those original letterboxers back in the day!

And then - Sue & I went to the coast for 6 days where we met more wonderful people! The restaurant owner who gave Sue a petrified shell when she asked about finding agates on the beach, Roy & Kay - volunteers at the Depot Bay Whale Center who showed Sue & I our very first whale as we were gazing at the Pacific in one of those lovely pulloffs that dot the coast, Yiker & Spike and their family who took us under their wing for a day of boxing, made a terrific lunch and shared their love of family and the area in Corvallis, and Heron A Foot who shared her playground in the Heceta Lighthouse area (pictured above) and, along with her husband Eran, showed us how to hunt for edible mushrooms while boxing (they were delicious in an omelette I made the next morning!) Yiker and Heron gave up their precious time to spend a day with us and Sue & I are so appreciative to have shared that special time with them; allowing us to get to know them better and, as usual, parting as more than just boxers but friends.

So where is this all leading, you ask? Sue & I planted 5 new boxes in Oregon (besides a new addition to the Musician's Series in Portland - Thanks Gamecock!) and we're going to call them "Memories of Oregon" and each box will be dedicated to one of those amazing people we met along the way. We hope to have the clues up in a few days. The places we planted them are very special to us but the people to whom they are dedicated are even more special!

Back from Oregon But Not Happy About It!!!

2008-09-21T23:24:00.005-04:00

Well, we're home as of late Saturday evening from our 10 day trip that included the Live & Breathe gathering and the ensuing 6 days on the Oregon coast! And what a 10 days it was!!!

What can we say about Live & Breathe besides a fantastic time was had by all! Excellent clues, artfully-carved stamps, terrific locations and some very unique ways of hiding boxes. Sue & I cannot thank Mitch/Der Mad Stamper and his committee enough - Raqs Enigma, Marmalade, Camp Fire Lady, the Buppsters and Rad Rhymer. Camp Adams was an ideal location with over 200 acres of old growth forests with some challenging trails as well as moderate and easy venues. Clues ranged from straightforward to those puzzles and coded devils that DMS loves! We were pleased to see that most of the clues were either challenging or required a bit of thinking to solve. Sue & I were able to participate in our first night boxing on Saturday night as well.

This committee thought of everything. There was no stone left unturned when it came to the planning aspect - great meals, coffee & trail mix/snacks in every cabin, a bottle of water to be refilled so as to avoid cumbersome water bottles, a gorgeous patch for each attendee, a commemorative booklet with very informative articles (and a clue on the cover!) and a commemorative travel coffee mug and flashlight as well.

The photo in the top left is the re-creation of the main page of the LBNA homepage - one that Mitch designed back in the day. He told me that one day he was sitting in his living room and was looking around. He spotted some of the items he had photographed for the LBNA homepage and thought it would be a great display for L & B (Live & Breathe.)

One of the highlights was the excellent event stamp carved by Raqs Enigma. It took Raqs over 80 hours to complete and was a thing of beauty. We hope it will be either planted somewhere permanently or put on display at future gatherings. It was really remarkable!

Also displayed was an array of patches from the Dartmoor 100 Club in the UK along with a very nice note and sig stamps of the membership including Godfrey Swinscow. Other patches included regional and special patches from around the US.

We will detail more about the gathering and the wonderful time Sue & I had boxing at the coast after the event as this week progresses so stay tuned. The gathering was terrific and again, we thank the committee for their 2 years worth of work in organizing and planning this event. And the boxers attending - they were also great with a nice reprresentation from the East coast, the South and West. And even Alaska (DeniseRows.) While we didn't have time to exchange and talk with everyone, those that we did proved our theory that letterboxers are the very best of folks.

On the right you will notice 2 of the crazy masquerade ball attendees dressed for Der Mad Stampers Masquerade Ball. I wonder who they might be?

More to come later along with clues to about a half a dozen new boxes that we left along the coast and one new addition to the Musicians' Series in Portland.

Live & Breathe Event is Almost Here!!!

2008-09-07T21:07:00.002-04:00

We can hardly wait - the 10th anniversary of letterboxing's We Live and Breathe Letterboxing event is only 5 days away!

Sue & I, along with travel companions Dave & Deanne, leave early this Thursday morning for an 11am arrival in Portland. After a night's rest at McMenamin's in Troutdale, we head to Live & Breathe on Friday morning.

Then the fun will begin! We hope to record thoughts of the event from the over 300 letterboxers in attendance from around the country. We'll also be taking copious amounts of pictures to share once we return.

After the gathering on Sunday morning, Sue & I will be heading for a nice condo across the street from the beach along the Oregon coast. There we'll rest from the busy gathering activities and enjoy all that the coast has to offer.

We wish you all a great few weeks while we're gone and wish those of you heading to the Live & Breathe event a very safe journey! Early thanks to Der Mad Stamper and his wonderful staff for all of the hard work that they have poured into this gathering over the past year. I'm sure it will be one that all of us will remember the rest of our lives!

Another CT Town Celebrates Boxing Style!

2008-08-18T23:38:00.005-04:00

First it was Ridgefield, now New Milford is celebrating their tercentennial with - you guessed it - letterboxes!

New Milford, CT has put out clues to 30 letterboxes located at historical sites and town parks. Please note that several are marked as being discontinued. Feel adventurous and want to get them all? A special commemorative coin will be your prize. The town's webpage related to it's 300th celebration letterboxes is located here.

OK - who's next???

Only A Month Away!

2008-08-14T09:14:00.008-04:00

We can hardly wait - the 10th anniversary of letterboxing's We Live and Breathe Letterboxing event is less than a month away!

Based on several emails from Der Mad Stamper, posts we've read on line and just the general buzz about the letterboxing community, we are confidant that this event will be unlike any other previous. Knowing Mitch and the committee and their penchant for mystery and innovation, we can expect the unexpected! This event will truly be the gathering of the decade.

The official guest list was released the other day, but our theory is that it is incomplete. Might there be a surprise guest or two? Time will tell. As we said, expect the unexpected! If I can stay focused enough at the gather (those that know me realize that's a problem!) my intent is to record the reactions and impressions of some of the attendees and the recording will be forwarded to Jackbear for a future podcast. Again - if I can keep my wits about me!!!

Keep up-to-date with all of the latest We Live and Breathe news at the official event website.

After the non-stop action of the weekend gathering, Sue & I are headed out to Newport, OR and the beautiful OR coastline for some relaxing and boxing. Luckily, we came across a condo unit to rent for the 6 nights that is located across the street from the beach. We are spending Sunday night through Saturday morning there. I have already run off most of the boxes within a 25 mile radius of Newport - heading north, south and west. We probably won't have time to do them all but it's better to have too many with us than not enough!!!

So - that's the plan for our next adventure. We hope that you will also consider attending the gathering. It should be something for the record books - ah - logbooks!

A 300 Anniversary Boxing Celebration!

2008-08-12T21:44:00.008-04:00

Sue & I heard about the tercentennial celebration going on in Ridgefield, CT this year at one of the early spring gatherings. "There are 22 special letterboxes" we were told to celebrate the town's 300th anniversary.

So I quickly sent an email to the committee's email address and received a nice email from Terry who is the head of the committee. She sent out a book of clues for the event and 4 weeks ago, Sue & I hit the letterboxes hard! We netted 14 of the 22 and thoroughly enjoyed the history and the locales that each box presented. Clever hides, interesting places, wonderful vistas. Ridgefield has it all!

This past Sunday, we finished the balance and sent an email to Terry and the committee for a job well done. I asked permission to post the info here for all of our readers who might be within a short trip to Ridgefield, CT which is on the NY border. Believe me, it's well worth the trip.

Ridgefield is a wonderful town with huge homes on well-manicured lawns. We were told about the location of the home of the owner of Priceline.com and our jaws dropped when we passed! It's the largest home we've ever seen - even larger than Buckingham Palace, I would guess!!! The town has very interesting terrain so you won't be bored - some large hills, lakes and such that keep the series very engaging.

These boxes are out until September 15 after which some may appear in a different form or place but you must get the complete series in situ. The town's website for the celebration is located here. To find out about the letterboxing portion of the celebration, go down the left side of the page and click on "Letterboxing."

Clue books (free of charge) not only tell the history and important facts about each of the locations but have a cool square where you may place the image. Our completed cluebook really looks great and we used our own markers to add some color to the images. Sue & I also stamped the images into our current logbook as well. If you venture to Ridgefield on the weekend, you may obtain a book at one of the following venues - some of which are open on the weekend:

Union Savings Bank, Danbury Road/Route 35
Squash's Office Supply, Main Street
Books on the Common, Copps Hill Common, Danbury Road/Route 35
Town Hall, Information Desk, Main Street
Chamber of Commerce, Bailey Avenue - just off Main Street
Ridgefield Historical Society, Sunset Lane - just off Grove Street
Conservation Commission Office, Town Hall Annex (old High School Building)
Neumann Real Estate, Main Street

One of our most favorite locations was the Weir Farm, a National Historic Site, that not only was the home of artist J. Alden Weir and his family, but served as a refuge and retreat for friends and fellow artists. The grounds are to die for - and was the spot we chose for a perfect picnic lunch respite from a long day of hiking and boxing. We suggest that you think about doing the same. The gardens are wonderful and the old stone walls really fascinated me.

So - that's the ticket! Get them before they are gone. I hope you make it there before September 15. Let us know how you liked the series and send an email to Terry and her wonderful committee from the website to let them know how much you enjoyed the series. The stamps, while commercially done, are originals that show both a consistency and a change for each location.

I think you'll find that it's time well spend in a beautiful town with much to offer in the way of history, hiking and boxing. A perfect trifecta!

Note: I took all of these photos just at Weir Farm as we walked the property, enjoyed our picnic lunch and hiked to the box.

Bed & Boxing Signups Now Being Accepted!

2008-08-06T23:01:00.005-04:00

Now is the time to make your reservations for the Bed & Boxing event - our next Pinecone Adventure - that takes place the weekend of November 14 to 16.

We've set up a special webpage that details the 3 participating inns, room categories and pricing. Also included is the menu for the special Friday night Welcome Buffet and more.

You don't want to miss this event! Be sure to phone the inn of your choice by September 1 and make your deposit. Call now to ensure that you obtain the room category you desire. Click here to be taken to the official Bed & Boxing page!

Hope to see you all there!

A Message from the Silver Texan!

2008-08-05T23:34:00.002-04:00

We're glad to report that Silver Eagle and family are safe.
The following is a portion of an email we received this afternoon:

"Well, Edouard has gone by and thankfully it was a dud. It ended up coming ashore about 30 miles east of us and we only got a little rain and very little wind. It is amazing how close you can be to a Tropical Storm without feeling the full effects if you are on the "good" (west) side of it. Just last month when Hurricane Dolly came ashore in South TX, we felt some effects over 400 miles away to the east. However, this Tropical Storm was not that bad even to the east, so bottom line I think most people are ok. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Silver Eagle"

We're Keeping an Eye . . .

2008-08-04T13:29:00.004-04:00

As Hurricane Edouard sets it's eye on Texas, the boxers and residents there are in our thoughts. Resident boxers include Silver Eagle and Barefoot Lucy.

After an email to them last night, we were informed that Barefoot Lucy is above the Houston area but Silver Eagle is right in the preliminary path of the storm. We have asked them both to let us know when the storm has past. We'll keep you informed as soon as we do.

Please keep them in your thoughts the next few days.

It's Over!!!

2008-08-03T22:12:00.005-04:00

That's right - our hiatus is over!

We've been away on the Bermuda Letterboxing Cruise and since we've returned it's been so hot and humid here in Pineconeville that we haven't made it up to our non-air-conditioned computer room except for short periods of time.

With this newest cool front that moved in today, we're typing and ready to go!

Where to begin . . .

* The First Ever Letterboxing Cruise!!! was a huge success (if we say so ourselves!) Great weather except for a few rocky days at sea. Our 3 days in Bermuda were sunny and warm. The boxes planted on the ships were very creative in nature - both in hiding places, carving and clues.

Many of the 37 passengers want to do this again so Pinecone Adventures is looking into The Second Ever Letterboxing Cruise!!! to take place in 2010 with possibly Alaska as our destination. We're just starting to research that and will invite the whole letterboxing public once the cruise line, dates and itinerary are chosen. Alaska is a place Sue & I have wanted to travel so we'll see how the cruise develops.

Watch this blog for more of our Bermuda cruise trip later.

* We begin work now on our next Pinecone Adventure - the Bed & Boxing weekend event that will take place the weekend of November 14 to 16. I will begin working on a webpage with all of the rates and inns as well as the itinerary for the event. Look for that later this week.

Our original deadline for reservations was August 1 but you can't register without info, right? Our new deadline for calling the inns will be September 1. You must call the inn of your choice and pay 1 night's deposit to be included in this event. At the time of this story, there are 68 people scheduled for this event. We hope you will join us for this special weekend of boxing where you will be pampered at one of 3 historic inns with your favorite people - letterboxers!

Plans are underway for some great new boxes that will debut that weekend by some of the most creative people in this pastime.

* Sue & I are pleased to announce the engagement of our son, Steve, to Katie! You've read about Steve and Katie in many of our blog stories relating to VT. Katie's parents, letterboxers know as The 2 Putts, came on the Letterboxing Cruise with us and were our constant companions, along with travel partners Deanne & Dave. Sue & I got a great opportunity to spend some quality time with her parents and really get to know them. Katie's mother really got to know me but that's one of those embarrassing moments that can't be shared here!

We're thrilled to have Katie as part of our family and her parents as well. We look forward to many adventures with the 2 Putts as well as the fun of watching the wedding plans unfold.

* We're signed up for the weekend Murder Mystery Boxing at Austin Hill Inn from August 15 to 17. Austin Hill Inn is located in beautiful West Dover, VT - only several miles from our VT home. I contacted the owners when I noticed that they were advertising letterboxing weekends. After meeting with them and tons of emails, these series of events came about.

While you may not know them, Debbie & John, owners, are very much into letterboxing. John has done extensive research and we've helped and advised wherever needed. They are making sure that letterboxers receive the handout created by Sojourner that gives a nice overview and some Do's & Don'ts about letterboxing along with some terms and definitions.

This will be a fun weekend to attend. Just a few weeks ago, they sent us a preview of 5 special boxes that will premiere at the event. The clues are good and the locations are some of our most favorite! We hope you have the time to attend one of these events. One took place in July, there's the one we'll be attending in August and one more scheduled for September.

The Time Draws Near . . . .

2008-06-21T16:08:00.003-04:00

for our First Ever Letterboxing Cruise!!!

37 excited letterboxers board the Norwegian Dawn early afternoon tomorrow, Sunday, June 22 for a 7 day journey of rest, relaxation, boxing and fun.

Our bags are packed, we've made all of the final necessary arrangements and now comes the waiting - until 21 New England area boxers join Sue & I at our home 10am Sunday morning awaiting the arrival of the chartered bus to the piers in NYC - home of the beautiful Norwegian Dawn - our home away from home for 7 days.

We'll have some stories to share with you when we get home! In the meantime - have a great week!

Happy Birthday - and Thank You!!!

2008-06-15T20:08:00.002-04:00

June 16 is Sue's birthday and our 6th letterboxing anniversary!

Several months ago I sent out an email to some of our letterboxing friends asking them to carve a 2 x 2 quilt square for Sue so she could fashion a letterboxing quilt or pillow from all of the stamp images. The response has been terrific and I could hardly wait until Monday!

Tonight, unable to keep it to myself one minute longer, I showered Sue with quilt squares a plenty - 14 to be exact! Sue posted the following for those who made a contribution:

Dear Letterboxing Friends!

I am truly overwhelmed by your kindness and thoughtfulness in carving all of the wonderful quilt squares that Mark gave me tonight - from carvers/friends from all over the US! I'm not sure how I will fabricate the "quilt" as this point but definitely want to stamp the images on paper to frame for a special place near my quilting table.

Always in the background in support of Mark in this hobby, I am so thoroughly touched by this gesture that words cannot fully express my heartfelt thanks. Thank you all so much as well for all that you do to support Mark in this his obsession. You have no idea how much you all mean to us.

Love,
Sue

Cruising and Musing

2008-06-10T10:27:00.004-04:00

The time is fast approaching for our First Ever Letterboxing Cruise 2008!!! And this pinecone couple is getting pretty excited! We depart a week from this Sunday.

After receiving permission from NCL to plant boxes on the ship (scavenger hunts, I called them - not wanting to use the word "letterbox,") we've been in somewhat of a carving frenzy. We have 2 series to plant of 6 and 3 boxes as well as 7 different forms of puzzles that, when completed correctly, earn the boxer a unique & very special stamp. And some surprises as well.

There are a total of 37 passengers in this little group out of the 150 that expressed interest in the cruise early on. In an effort to save the group an additional $100, we moved the cruise to June 22 to June 29; the last week before the summer price increases. In doing so, that eliminated many people who have school age children, graduations and the like. If we run this trip again - which will more than likely happen in a few years - we will opt for a week or two later departure so more boxers may be included.

Don't get me wrong - I'm pleased that there is a nice sized group of 37 and it will prove to be a great mixture of many good personalities from around the US. Especially where this is a new trip, I find comfort in the fact that if we fall flat on our pinecone faces at least it's to a limited crowd (and many very good friends of ours that will be understanding!) I've noticed that the first trip, like Dartmoor, is always the most difficult. Details to work out, negotiations with the cruise line, learning how to have Sue & I set up as a travel agency, etc. Now that the work is done, we'll just have to replicate our efforts and make improvements that we spot along the way.

Our Bed & Boxing event will gear up shortly after our return from the pink sands of Bermuda. Funny - we received several emails asking why our events always had a fee involved which eliminated those that want to attend a Pinecone Adventure but might not be able to afford a trip to Dartmoor, a cruise or a weekend at a B & B. We've thought about that pretty extensively and we're starting to think about a gathering - just a plain, old gathering without any costs to take place next year some time. And we might do it in VT. We'll see how that goes. Like any good idea, it has to percolate for a while!

There are no plans to do a diary type report of our trip. Don't know if you've noticed but we still haven't finished our last Dartmoor diary! (I promise I will, Bookworm!) But we'll try to keep a few notes to refresh our memory of any memorable events that occur on the ship. We also have a few other ideas of ways to report our comings and goings aboard ship and playing in Bermuda. Whatever we come up with, as usual, you will be the first to know!

Have a good week.

Calling All Bed & Boxers!

2008-06-05T10:44:00.008-04:00

Most of the planning is out of the way for our First Ever Letterboxing Cruise!!! on June 22 to June 29 heading to Bermuda. With 37 excited boxers who have been given permission by the cruise line to hide boxes onboard, something tells me we'll be the craziest ship asea and maybe a floating Dartmoor!

Our thoughts now (of course!) turn to our next Pinecone Adventure - the Bed & Boxing event to be held in the quaint village of Jackson, NH the weekend of November 14 to 16. The photo, at right, is the Honeymoon Bridge, a local attraction.

The 3 inns participating are The Inn at Jackson and Whitney's Inn - both in the village of Jackson and Glen Oaks Inn, located nearby in Intervale. By the first week in July, we'll have a special webpage setup with descriptions and pricing for the 3 locations. Prices will include 2 nights stay and 2 full breakfasts. Additionally you will be charged for taxes and the Welcome Buffet.

The Welcome Buffet will be held that first evening, Friday, November 14 at The Whitney's Inn in their private White Birches room. The charge is $15 per person; $10 per child and must be reserved when you place your room order. You can choose any of the 3 inns where you will breakfast both mornings but the Friday night buffet will be held in Birches. Please tell your reservation taker the number of people for the buffet. Menu includes Chicken Divan, Vegetable Lasagna, Macaroni & Cheese with Lobster, vegetable, salad, bread & butter, cheese and fruit platters and non-alcoholic beverages. Alcoholic drinks may be purchased at your own expense.

Reservations will open early July and must be completed by August 1. A 50% deposit will be required at the time of reservation. Your buffet fee will be added to your room. Stay tuned for details on room accomodations, prices and other specifics.

Please sign up for the event if you are interested here. When the Bed & Boxing webpage is ready for you and reservations are open, I'll send an email to the group registered at the event page. Hope you can make this newest boxing adventure that has been in the planning for almost a year!

In the interim, all 3 inns have given us permission to hide boxes on their grounds. Our hope is that the boxing community will plant boxes for our group to find during the coming summer or fall months. If you decide to plant boxes on their grounds, just go to the front desk of any of the above-mentioned inns and explain what you are doing, then plant your box. We ask that you include the tag line "Planted for Bed & Boxing" in your clues and you publish your clues on LBNA and/or Atlas Quest Monday, November 10 - Thursday, November 13. This will allow attendees the ability to print out these new clues Friday before they depart for this exciting weekend.

Sue & I hope that you can join us. With the almost 70 people already signed up, there will not be an organized group to hunt for boxes on Saturday or Sunday. We encourage small groups of boxers to head out on their own. We can all enjoy each others company at the individual inns over breakfast, at Friday night's Welcome Buffet and a meal being planned for Saturday evening back at Birches private room. Come along with us, pack your boxing gear, some warm clothing and enjoy all this area has to offer during this special weekend!

Can You Hear the Barking???

2008-06-04T09:47:00.007-04:00

I'm sure you must!

Bookworm, Sue & I spent some quality time with the dogs on Sunday. It's been a little embarassing that we've only nabbed a few of those puppies - since the location is right around the corner from our home and we started it all with our Dog Walk Series and the challenge of encouraging other letterboxers to carve and plant their own favorite pooches!

It was amazing to see the number of dog-related (and other!) boxes that continue to pop up in Bicentennial Park. I learned from someone who knows the park much better than I that there are over 50 boxes here - counting the mysteries!!!

It was so cool to walk around and find these pooches knowing that a hair-brained scheme of ours began it all. This is such a great place to walk - with or without your dog. Recently we read in our local paper that the town is adding on another trail to this park very soon. Can that mean that there will be more dog-themed boxes to come? We certainly hope so!

Our thanks to all of the planters who have made this a fun, safe place to box on any given day. The Worm, Sue & I ended up with 26 boxes in the roughly 4 hours we were out. Not bad when you think that before October of 2006 there wasn't a letterbox in site - or hidden! So come on down, bring your kids & dog(s) and maybe a box to leave behind. It's great fun and we hope the planting never stops!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

2008-05-23T13:24:00.003-04:00

While you are out and about this Memorial Day weekend, we hope you will remember the troops all over the world keeping us safe here in the US.

And remember those who have given their last full measure so that we might live our lives. Never forget their sacrifice and the fact that they have given us the ultimate gift - their lives.

Have a great weekend!

Vermont Morning

2008-05-18T10:50:00.005-04:00

Friday night Sue & I ventured to Vermont for a meeting I had on Saturday. Driving up Friday night in the rain was such an effort - heavy rain with fog and mist combined with the fatigue of another busy week here in Pineconeville. This was the very last thing we wanted to do!

Waking on Saturday, I found an unexpected and glorious morning taking shape - with the sun shining and the birds singing - weather that was not predicted. In the quiet of the morning on our deck, letting freshly brewed coffee clear out the night's cobwebs, the following reflection popped into my head and I thought I would share it with you.

Vermont Morning

The morning quiet -
A symphony of solitude.
Then, a sudden burst of breeze
brings forth the rustling of leaves.

Amidst bright blue sky overhead,
I plan my day - coffee in hand.
A protesting bird reminds me that I am
but a guest in this unspoiled, untouched land.

Heard a Letterboxing Rumor . . . .

2008-05-18T10:41:00.002-04:00

Amidst all of the excitement of the Spring into Boxing Gathering, I forgot to mention that our sharp reporter's ears picked up on a rumor that day.

It seems there is a "series" of what some are calling "hole plug" letterboxes that have shown up around CT. These little devils have no clues but are located around the state in "likely places."

Have you ever seen something amiss as you walk along the trail? You know there isn't a clue for a box there but you overturn a rock or move that pile of leaves and voila - a letterbox! These "hole plugs" are planted in the same fashion - no clues but in hidey holes where you might expect there to be a box - and somewhat in plain or easy view from the trail.

Sue & I found one such "hole plug" box when we did Noah's Ark back several weeks ago. We heard at the gathering in East Hartford that there are 14 more of these boxes-without-clues out there in the state! Have you found any???

So, get out there & box and turn over some rocks!!!

A Special Email from Der Mad Stamper!

2008-05-12T06:42:00.017-04:00

Mark,

I'd love it if you could let everyone know how much we appreciate the huge response we've been getting for our "We Live and Breathe Letterboxing" event. We'll be posting a list of attendees sometime soon, but for now let me just say that we're really excited about how many people have already registered to attend! We do still currently have space available, both as overnighters and Day-Trippers, but if people want to attend they shouldn't wait much longer to register. Nobody's gonna wanna miss out on all the fun we're planning in celebration of the first ten years of American letterboxing!

I'm thrilled that we're holding this event in the gorgeous Pacific Northwest. The region is known not only for its breathtaking scenery, but also for its highly creative letterbox clues. This gathering is going to be a perfect chance to get a taste of the beauty and innovation that make the PNW such a special place for 'boxing. There's gonna be picture clues, narratives, puzzles, riddles, and rhymes... not to mention plenty of straightforward, easy-to-follow clues for those moments when your brain just needs a little rest. You may also want to polish up your orienteering skills and be prepared for some old-fashioned, Dartmoor-style, compass triangulation clues.

Oh... did I mention night-boxing? I'm totally pumped about the night-boxing!! We're completely taking over a huge residence camp and its adjacent old-growth forest for the entire weekend, so there won't be anyone telling us that we're up past curfew and need to go to our cabins. We're gonna have a special series of letterbox clues that you'll only be able to decipher after dark with the help of your trusty flashlight! It's a slumber party in the woods... doesn't get much better than that!

But don't forget, this isn't just another letterboxing event. It's a freakin' celebration... a full-blown PARTY!! On Friday night there will be a fabulous barbeque to welcome everyone to the camp, followed by a special campfire circle with music, laughter, and (of course) S'mores! And throughout the weekend there's gonna be lots of fun and games, including frisbee golf, a swimmin' hole, and plenty of other indoor and outdoor activities. I promise we're gonna have something for everyone, regardless of whether or not they're into letterboxing.

The highlight of the celebration will be Saturday night, when we're hosting something we like to call the "Letterboxer's Masquerade Ball." We'll be encouraging people to dress up as their trail personas, favorite 'fantasy' characters, or whatever else they want to be for the night. There will be dance music, prizes, special performances, and even a little bit of karaoke thrown in just for laughs. The concept is that all the entertainment will be provided BY letterboxers, FOR letterboxers. So, if you've got any hidden talents, please step up and share them with your peeps! It's all in the name of FUN!!

For all the details, be sure to visit our official event website www.WeLiveAndBreathe.com and check out the FAQ section.

I'm really looking forward to seeing you and Sue again, along with all the other people who are going to be attending this full-tilt blowout shindig. It's gonna be a blast!

Your Friend,

Mitch,
Der Mad Stamper

What a Day . . .

2008-05-11T18:43:00.011-04:00

Saturday was quite a day for us!

Sue & I attended the Spring into Boxing 2008 gathering in East Hartford. This gather is always one of our favorites as it is organized by MayEve, RTRW, Music Woman and Wild Rover, which means great boxes and a real good time.

We arrived at the gather at about 1:30 and noticed that the room was pretty full - about 100 people had signed up and exchanging and general stamping was well underway when we arrived. Tony, Veronica, Butterfly and Donutz arrived as we did so we said our hellos and gave our hugs.

After stamping the event stamp - another stellar effort by RTRW, we stamped our name badges with our sig stamp and stamped 2 entries - one per person - for the raffle. The organizers decided to copy Astrii and Celtic Root's idea of not selling tickets for the requisite raffle but to let everyone have 1 entry per person. With the wonderful gifts on the raffle table at the Spring into Boxing gather, it worked out that every boxer went home with something.

As we greeted our hosts, Wild Rover made mention that I might like the raffle item on the right corner of the raffle table. There, in a protective plastic sleeve was a mint, April 1998 edition of the Smithsonian Magazine - the edition that featured the article that started letterboxing in the US - "They Live and Breathe Letterboxing." I tried to picture myself going home with this treasure but was realistic enough to know that my chances weren't that good! Funny, just yesterday I told Sue that one of the letterboxing items I would like to own someday would be this historic piece of boxing history.

Sue & I then waded into the letterboxing pool of exchanges and table top boxes. MayEve, who along with her brother, Wild Rover, are very creative and table toppers were a cut above the norm. Many of the table toppers were posted on AQ the night before but the bulk of them had a story that went with them. You felt like you were finding something special. There is always something special at this gather. Scarab sent part of Boch's Circus; which included several new boxes that weren't with the original circus when Sue & I proudly brought it to the Michigan gather several years ago so it was fun to stamp those into our journal.

Wild Rover several weeks before had let me in on a special series that he was planting with help from the rest of the committee. The series, Hospital Rock, would make its debut at this gather, and told about the history of healing done on Rattlesnake Mountain in Farmington. In the late 1700's, several physicians took the position that administering a smallpox vaccine, which was innovative at that time, would help protect people from contracting this dreaded disease. A makeshift hospital was established on Rattlesnake Mountain and treatment began, including prominent families from Farmington, Hartford and other parts of CT. Many of those treated enscribed their names in a flat rock near the hospital. While the hospital is gone; the rock remains. This series is a must do and Sue & I plan to head up there the first open weekend day we have. I venture to say that this series is one of the most exciting ones to come to CT in a long time.

Sue & I were so pleased to see Rubaduc! We haven't seen the Duc since our first Dartmoor trip, we believe, although we do correspond via email. It was great to see her and to finally meet her new beau, Gizz. He seems to be the perfect match to her and the Duc had a glow on her that we've never seen before! Another old friend we saw from our first Dartmoor trip was Alexis, Talking Turtle, from NY. It was great to see Lex and catch up a bit on our lives. Patrick & Amy showed up mid afternoon with their 2 sons and I even held Sam for a bit. He wanted to come to me to examine my mustache - which he grew tired of very quickly and went back to the welcoming arms of Bookworm!

The time came for the raffle and our name was called for a homemade tissue box cover. And we waited a bit, ever watchful of that Smithsonian Magazine. We assumed correctly that the magazine would be the final prize given away. Some time mid-raffle, our names were called and I won a headlamp - which suited me fine because I know it will come in handy for our night boxing at the We Live & Breathe Gathering coming up in September in OR.

Speaking of that gathering, I heard from Marmalade who was supposed to attend this CT gather but was sad to inform us that her business trip to Boston was canceled and she would not attend the gather. She mentioned that there is still room to join the rest of the hearty for this historic gathering in September. Be sure to book soon. Info can be found here on the gathering website. Be sure to register and if you have any doubts, poke around the website for the weekend schedule of events and Funhog's whirlwind tour of area attractions. We hope to see you there!

Anyway, as disappointed as we were at not getting the Smithsonian, we were happy to have the headlamp that we would have had to purchase for the September gather. We watched the rest of the happy faces as the raffle continued. Then, drum roll, the last name was pulled for the Smithsonian Magazine and Music Woman was the winner. Lucky her!

A group of us helped the committee clean up, fold up the chairs and some of the tables and Sue, RTRW, Bookworm, Brandy and myself left the gathering with a promise to join the group at the restaurant for the post gathering celebrations. But first, we were headed a few miles away to get the Spongebob Squarepants series carved by RTRW. After fighting the mosquitos the whole way, we found the 5 boxes and headed to the restaurant to join the rest of the group.

Once settled at our table, the late kids ordered and Wild Rover came over and sat next to me. "I was going to do this at the gather but I didn't want to embarrass you so I thought this would be better here." He showed me a folder and said to me "This is a lifetime achievement award for you" and he handed me the folder. Everyone at the table stopped to see what was inside.

And inside was a pristine copy of the April 1998 Smithsonian Magazine! I struggled to keep my emotions in check but this unexpected tribute and surprise was way more than I ever dreamed or deserved. I look at the minor things we do for letterboxing as our treat - I love this hobby and I've always said that I get way more out of it than I give. And here was that coveted magazine in my hand - not only pristine but as a tribute of sorts.

I hugged Wild Rover and thanked him with what words I could muster. RTRW was quick with her camera and grabbed a shot of the magazine between the two of us. I was still in shock. Wild Rover reminded me that he has asked me in an email if I had the magazine many weeks previous when we were emailing each other about the gathering, Hospital Rock and several other items. When he heard that I didn't have the magazine, he proceeded to purchase 3 of these historic volumes from a dealer - one for the gathering raffle, one for himself and the third for me.

Words are not enough to convey the thanks and the gratitude that I feel. This is one of the nicest gestures I've ever received. Even today, as I rode around the yard on my lawnmower some 24 hours later, I still could not believe I own this magazine - and through the kindness and thoughtfulness of Wild Rover and his family. It is truly a day I will long remember. And never will I look at this magazine without remembering all that this game means to me; the wonderful adventures of which we've been privileged to experience, the various places along the way, our unfolding love for all outdoors and the true blessing that nature is but, most of all, the friends - true friends - that we have met along the way on this journey. Thanks Bill & Laurie, Gilly and Liam for a gift that I feel is totally undeserved but so thankful to have received!

Yes - it was truly a special day for Mr. Pinecone; one that I won't ever forget!

A New Personal Traveler . . .

2008-05-09T21:38:00.005-04:00

For those of you
with a wild side,
check this out!

News, News, News . . .

2008-05-08T21:04:00.007-04:00

There are a few stories on which we'd like to report and thought that this format might work as a vehicle by which we can convey that info.

WHERE IS MY LBNE???

That was the battle cry this morning and throughout the day as waking boxers clicked on the Northeast regional talk list, looking for the latest posts.

What did they find? Nothing - nada - zero - bupkus!

It seems that this beloved talk list has gotten deleted through no fault of the moderators/owners, TeamGreenDragon. In an email to Lori this afternoon, she wondered if her weekend problems with her Yahoo email was the reason that Yahoo decided to pull the plug on this historic group.

Thanks to Jay Drew, our mentor, a new LBNE talk list is up and ready to go. It's unfortunate that the posts from the old talk list may be forever lost. Brian, of TGD, has posted that he has sent an email to the Yahoo people asking them to restore the old group. We'll keep you informed of the result. In the meantime, those of you hankering to rejoin or join the new list can do it here.

Thanks to Jay for his quick-wittedness and to TGD for trying to correct the mistake that some trigger-happy dweeb has made!

Update: I just received an email from Lori of TGD with additional news on the old LBNE talk list. She and Brian have been on the phone and email all evening with Yahoo and they "hope to have it restored soon. We'll post the "big list" once we know what is going to happen."

Thanks, TGD, for the latest news on the LBNE. Watch the big list for the announcement.

DON'T FORGET TO SPRING TO THE GATHERING THIS SATURDAY!

This should serve as your reminder to attend the annual Spring Into Boxing gather in East Hartford, CT this Saturday, May 10, between 1 and 5pm at the East Hartford Community Cultural Center with a communal pizza feast immediately following at Charlie's Pizza and Fine Food.

This gather is a joint effort by CT boxers extraordinaire: MayEve, RTRW, Music Woman and Wild Rover. Watch the major clue repositories for new special boxes that will debut at that event on Friday night. At last check, 114 people had signed up, including Sue & I, who wouldn't miss this event for anything!

Don't just read about this gathering on Sunday - attend it and be part of the story!

NEW PINECONE PRODUCTIONS . . .

Sue and I returned last Saturday from a wonderful week spent at the House of the Mouse - Walt Disney World. We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge in the park and were enthralled with the vistas of animals living as they would on the savannahs in Africa. We enjoyed our morning coffee on our porch, watching zebra and long horned cattle, giraffe - included a knock-kneed newborn, born at 6 feet in height so they can reach their mother to nurse, gazelles and numerous other creatures.

While there, we found and planted our first Florida boxes, 2 of which we've already published and one more to come. The new published boxes are Nelson! and Hitchhikin' Mutt.

We finished our idyllic week with a meet & greet arranged by ThreeHearts with the central FL boxers. Since this was such a small group - about 15 to 20 - we brought along our Pepe-cones to share with the group. During the day, we added 3 more pinecones to our collection finely crafted by ThreeHearts, Sits N Knits and Kilroy.

It was great to meet the boxers whose boxes we had found during that previous week. Thanks to all who attended and a special thanks to ThreeHearts, who played hostess, arranged the meet & greet and took us to Dartmoor West for the day and to Sits N Knits, who came along with us on Friday as well. Y'all made a couple of Northern pinecones feel right at home!

Lost Roman Coin Post = CLUE!

2008-04-23T08:31:00.005-04:00

Thanks to all of you who sent heartfelt emails of concern over the loss of my good luck piece - my Roman coin. I wanted to carry this caper a little further but I felt guilty duping you all like that. I'm amazed at how many of you were concerned!

I first thought of clueing this box in this fashion after a recent post on the big list by Silver Eagle, that veteran boxer from TX. During one of his posts, he brought up the subject of giving better directions to clue locations. SI thanked all who took part in the discussion after the thread had run its course - many with differing opinions (moi included!) but the tone stayed civil. SI said that he thought the big list was dead and wondered before this incident, why Randy bothered keeping it going. That got me to thinking about the days when I read every post as if it were a clue; then at its face value!

I wanted to use this post - Please Help Me! - as a method to re-introduce the talk list as a clue repository. "Back in the day," when Sue & I first joined letterboxing and the big list, clues were hidden within the context of certain posts. New boxers ask all the time - "Are there any other places to find clues other than LBNA and Atlas Quest?" I hope our little excercise helps prove that there are many ways - creative ways - to post clues for a letterbox other than the mundane methods we all currently use by simply putting them on one of the 2 sites.

Nothing I've done here is very innovative; it's all been done before many times by those much smarter than me. It's just another method to clue a box called Roman Coin that might show a little creativity and raise the bar a bit. I hope you will all join me in challenging yourself to come up with new and different methods of clues so that this game remains fresh and keeps us on our toes (both on the trail and mentally!)

If I can do it; anyone can! This hobby will be all the better for it!

Please Help Me . . .

2008-04-22T21:31:00.006-04:00

The following was posted to several letterboxing talk lists:

Hi Boxers,

Sue & I walked to Timberlin Park in Kensington, CT tonight after
supper to get a few letterboxes. And sometime during that walk, I lost
a rare, Roman coin that was a gift from my college roommate. This coin
has been with me as my lucky charm in Dartmoor and many other places.

I had it in my pocket when I found Astri's monthly boxes and it was
there after we found Butterfly Suzy's new Yo-Yo box. After that, I
noticed a huge, debarked stump that it looked as if the woodpeckers
had visited and that was the last I remember it being in my pocket.

I'm sick about losing it and I know, in the past, others have posted
about lost hats, glasses, etc. I hope the letterboxing community will
come to my aid.

Thanks,

Mark

My Rare Roman Coin

A Picture Perfect Weekend~

2008-04-20T22:42:00.003-04:00

Sue & I headed to VT for the weekend and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect - not a cloud in the sky on either day and temps in the low 70's.

Vermont is at its best during mud-season - we think! Very little mud this weekend, thanks to warmer than normal temperatures the previous week. Many of the locals are on vacation this time of year and the other property owners in our complex stay away this time of year so it was like we were the only people around!

We found time to enjoy the birds and could hear the loud tap-tapping of the pileated woodpecker. While we never caught a glimpse of them, we could "hear" their progress up the side of the mountain, as they advanced their way from tree-to-tree. Very few bugs are around this time of year and the beautiful blue sky was a joy to behold.

Fairly early on Saturday, Sue & I headed out to find a very special letterbox! After a few chores on Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a nice dinner and capped off the night while sitting around the firepit on the deck - planning our spring and summer adventures - including our upcoming FL trip this coming Saturday and our fast-approaching Letterboxing Cruise!

We hope that whatever you did this weekend, you enjoyed nature's beauty and the wonderful weather that we were graced with in New England and that you had someone special with which to share it!

Have a good week!

It's The Journey . . .

2008-04-18T18:43:00.008-04:00

One of the first questions we're asked when we meet people is what we like best about letterboxing. Without hesitation, our answer is the title of this little narrative - the journey. Now the "journey" can be taken two ways - the hike to the letterbox or our overall journey in letterboxing. Either way, we love the journey!

Many times while boxing with Sue and others, I'll be bird-watching or enjoying the scenery - the rushing Metolius and grand peaks in the distance in Oregon, the patchwork-like "quilts" of Dartmoor with its majestic, granite Tors, the 360 degree views at Putney Mountain in Vermont or the stunning beauty of where rock meets sea on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. I clearly remember Funhog and Don (of Don & Gwen) laughing at me as I seemed to be disjointed from the quest at hand. I was too busy taking it all in! I was enjoying the journey! As we approach our 6th letterboxing anniversary, I began to wax poetic!

It might seem, at times, that I'm just along for the ride and I guess - maybe I am! It's the smell of the pines and the song of the birds, the passing of rumors and sharing of special WOM clues with other boxers, the views, that weird-shaped rock, the awesome blue of the sky - all of the sights and sounds that add to the memories of the journey.

Our memorable personal letterboxing journey began on June 16, 2002 when I took Sue away for a major milestone birthday that she was less than pleased about reaching! "Consider the alternative," I told her but to no avail. So I secretly made reservations at a B & B in southern CT for the weekend. "Pack your bag for a weekend," I told her and we were off to Essex, CT. Unbeknownst to Sue, I had purchased a commercial stamp of a pinecone and a ruled journal (both items that I was to learn much later we not the best choices!) and ran off some clues in Essex by a family called The Drew Clan. I was intrigued with their website and secretly packed this little packet of clues, stamp & logbook.

The morning of June 16, we headed off for our first letterboxing hunt - Sue was very excited. Many months previous she had spotted an article in the Hartford Courant that had a picture of eagles and the accompanying story about letterboxing including the reference to the now famous Smithsonian magazine article. She thought it was something we might do together and we talked about it briefly but put the article on the shelf "for the future."

We had the clues in hand for Zoom Zoom Zoom by the Drew Clan. We followed the clue - passed the library, crossed at the crosswalk, etc. And we reached the end of the clues. Now - what was a juniper? We figured it out but realized early on that we had to study up on our trees and all of these sisters! Two sisters, three sisters . . . We made mental notes to check out the internet for a primer on trees but at this moment we savored the view and the victory of finding our first box!

Several personal traits proved to be very useful in our letterboxing journey - Sue always loved a challenge (she married me after all!) and is very persistant. I am curious by nature and love to search and wonder "why?." With some of those traits in hand, we found the big talk list and some individual clues that were hidden in all the nooks and crannies of the internet. This letterboxing thing was getting interesting!

Our first big jump into the letterboxing ocean was one cold January Saturday in 2007, when Sue & I attended our first gathering with our 2 nieces. We arrived at the first Moose Hill gathering and saw many cars in the parking lot. Once inside, we were amazed at the people! After dropping off our potluck item (chili, I think) we headed upstairs to the restrooms. There, at the top of the stairs sat a man who said simply "Welcome - I'm Jay Drew." Oh my God, I thought, this is Jay from the Drew Clan! I had been to his website at least 100 times!

We all walked downstairs and starting exchanging with others. What a crazy scene it was! People of all sizes and shapes and ages! We then ended up going outside in the 17 degree weather to find some of the letterboxes on the grounds and were met by a couple who had a young son with them. "We are TeamGreenDragon" they said and thus a strong friendship developed that has lasted since our first words of introduction. That day we met many special people who would remain close to us over the years: Deanne the lazy letterboxer & Dave the letterboxing ham (although I don't remember them from that gathering,) Butterfly and Lobsta, RTRW and Bookworm, our hosts CSCM and RustyPuff, Pine Tree and a whole host of others too numerous to mention.

Since that first gathering, Sue & I have had the pleasure to attend 2 special gatherings with Godfrey and Anne Swinscow in Dartmoor National Park, several events in Oregon with our porcine host and great friend, Funhog and Der Mad Stamper; a Detroit area gathering where we met SpringChick and others; VA Beach where we ended a vacation with a small gathering overlooking the beach and hosted by Shell & BullDawg; a lovely lakeside gather in Ithica hosted by Angele and other gathers in Maine with Phyto, the Cape gather hosted by "the girls," and who knows where we'll show up next! And at each stop, we met boxers who were strangers at first but became part of our extended letterboxing family.

The next stop on this continuing journey takes us to the Orlando area in Florida in a week and a small gathering set up for us by Three Hearts on May 2. Although we've been to Florida many times, we're looking forward to getting our first Florida exchanges and boxes! After that, we hit our Letterboxing Cruise on June 22 for an awesome week at sea and on the immaculate, pink sands of our favorite island - Bermuda with 35 boxing friends. May is time for Spring into Boxing hosted by MayEve and Wild Rover. August brings us to the Murder Mystery gathering at the Austin Hill Inn in West Dover, VT! September and the cooler weather brings us out to the mother-of-all-gathers, We Live and Breathe Letterboxing in Oregon - a gather that we and the rest of the country are awaiting. We end the year with our Bed & Breakfast gathering that will be happening in November. Whew - that's 7 scheduled gathers in CT, VT, NH, Bermuda, and OR. Do you think we're addicted?

Now matter where we roam and how long this letterboxing journey lasts, Sue & I relish every minute of it and we're so thankful to those who have befriended us along the way and all of the planters from around the world whose boxes we've found.

It's been a great journey thus far and the future looks even better!

A Boatload of Fun!!!

2008-04-13T21:49:00.003-04:00

Sue & I spent 6.5 hours today in East Hampton, CT doing a series called Noah's Ark. This 29 box series, coordinated and planted by Flutterby, features pairs of animals carved by some of CT's best carvers as well as a handful of other carvers from across the US, including the Ark and Noah and spouse!

As if these 29 weren't enough, several other boxers decided to fill in with missing animals not in the original series so they have added their own to the menagerie! Two-by-two we found them; hither and yon!

The series is hidden in Salmon Brook State Forest - an unspoiled natural habitat of ups and downs that is host to some ancient trees of all species. While the weather looked iffy this morning before we left, we only ran into a few very brief showers and really enjoyed boxing in the cool temps.

It was a wonderful day that found our pedometer reading 5.16 miles when we finally returned to our car and our logbook showing a record 44 finds in one day! While we don't generally count our finds, we were naturally curious as to how many different pairs we had found - including the Beatnik HH by Wisconsin Hiker. It sure was a blast and we thank Flutterby and her many carvers (and those other creators who filled in with missing animals!) It was a great way to begin the week!

Finally - A Whole New Twist . . .

2008-04-01T09:14:00.003-04:00

Ryan/Green Tortuga of Atlas Quest fame, has finally done it! He's taken letterboxing to a whole new level and we're excited! Let's face it - this new venture will probably bring thousands of new, eager letterboxers into the fold.

Atlas Quest has partnered with the hamburg giant to produce a new letterboxing website for the masses - McLetterboxing, if you will!

So visit the site, click on the links and join in the fun! Check out the drive-bys in your area.

I'm lovin' it!

Ever Been to Hanapepe???

2008-03-31T09:31:00.004-04:00

As you may know, we routinely troll the new letterbox lists on both LBNA and Atlas Quest in search of new boxes that might prove interesting. Performing that check this morning, I was amazed with a new box we found placed in HI!

Longtime friend, Tempus Fugit, just planed a box near the town of Hanapepe called HanaPepe. You can imagine our surprise when we read the clues!

Thanks, Donna, for starting our mundane work week with a nice little surprise!

Easter Greetings!

2008-03-22T13:04:00.015-04:00

Sue & I would like to wish
you and yours
a very Blessed
and
Happy Easter!

Long Arm of the Law . . . and Letterboxing!!!

2008-03-21T13:36:00.006-04:00

Now here's a story for you . . .

I just got a call from our older son, Matt, who works as a police dispatcher in town. Matt is the son that still, after almost 6 years of letterboxing, doesn't quite understand why Sue & I hunt Tupperware in the woods. He's really freaked out by what we do and thinks it's quite foolish!!!

So - in our phone conversation of a few minutes ago, he tells me that he's at work and a woman just came into the police station with a paper. "Can you help me," she asked.

"Do you know where this is?" she asked. "We're with a group of letterboxers and are looking for this location." And she proceeded to hand Matt the paper with the fireplace picture.

"Did Mark Pepe plant this box," Matt asked as I'm sure he rolled his eyes!

"No, not this one, but we've done alot of theirs!"

Unfortunately, Matt wasn't able to determine the location but he had to call! He assumed that if the box was in Berlin, I was somehow involved. He even admitted that he was my son! Surprising!

I told him "Face it, Matt. Letterboxing is everywhere so you'd better get used to it! There's no escaping it!"

And this small world keeps spinning around . . .

Mystery Book Ends???

2008-03-21T01:58:00.006-04:00

It seems good friends, Tony & Veronica, are at it again! As you may or may not know, all of their letterboxes are mystery boxes. Not a single non-mystery in their collection. While this might put some pressure on the finder, Tony has told me in the past that it does create some angst from their side as well. Mystery boxes are sometimes more difficult to clue than straight-forward boxes.

Their newest box is called Book Ends Mystery Box. While we're not the brightest bulb in the letterboxing light department, I easily solved this one at 2 in the morning after a very hectic 3 weeks at work so I'm sure you'll all do just fine. Try it!

Have fun with this box and to Tony & Veronica - Cheers for another great box in your very mysterious tradition!

You Need Adventure in Your Life!

2008-03-17T23:25:00.007-04:00

For the past year, we've read with a passion a new magazine by National Geographic called simply Adventure. This magazine is for those of you that are active and love to travel to those offbeat places - or those of you who want to travel someday. The articles, like the parent publication, offer insight into out-of-the way destinations, the newest in hiking/biking gear and tours with guides that can take you to any of the four corners of the world! Their motto is "Dream it. Plan it. Do it"

In the most recent edition, there was an article by a doctor who put together a portable ER - a makeshift first aid kit for those readers that hike, bike or generally find themselves many miles away from the nearest emergency room. With the upcoming September letterboxing gathering in Oregon and the influx of boxers from around the country that will be hiking in areas unknown to them, we thought it might serve the letterboxing community to itemize those items you might want to consider stuffing into your backpack before you head out to do the Columbia River Gorge series - a must for all boxers heading to OR - or any number of those great hikes that this state has to offer! The notes in parenthesis after the item are suggested uses as detailed in the article.

1) Ziploc bags (dry storage, wound irrigation)
2) Moleskin (chafe prevention, blister protection)
3) Gauze (padding, absorption)
4) Sunscreen
5) Non-antibacterial soap (dish, body and teeth cleanser)
6) Butterfly Bandaids
7) Water purification tablets
8) Imodium A-D (antidiarrheal)
9) Ibuprofen (pain relief, anti-inflammatory)
10) Duct tape (splinting, casting, fastening)
11) Iodine (antiseptic)
12) Multitool (ideally with pliers, wire cutters, a serrated Blade, flat & Phillips head screwdrivers and scissors)
13) Tweezers (splinter, tick and wood debris removal)
14) Safety pins (fasteners)
15) ACE bandage (limb stabelization, elevation, support)
16) Krazy glue (gear repair, wound closure)
17) Latex gloves (CPR barrier mask, sterilization)

So - just get out there and box - and be prepared!

A Duc and Seven Fishes~

2008-03-17T21:58:00.005-04:00

I'm sure you've figured out by now that we keep a close eye on new letterboxes that are posted on the 2 major clue repositories - LBNA (letterboxing.org) and Atlas Quest.

Reading the new boxes this evening, one caught my Italian eye! It was called Feast of the Seven Fishes. Longtime readers of this blog know that every Christmas Eve our home is the location for the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes - a joyous evening that our nieces and nephews tell Sue & I is their most favorite night of the year; filled with family, fun and traditional fare!

A letterbox, I thought? Imagine our surprise! So, I clicked. And there it was - a Rubaduc production! And many months early as well. Find the clue here. And the Duc has asked that those boxers under the age of 12 to submit names for each of the 7 fish.

All I can say is "Atsa nice, Duc!"

CT's Own Letterboxing Cookie Monster!

2008-03-16T21:58:00.004-04:00

You might know her as Krusty Krab - a favorite of ours - but Gillian Horan has made news on the CT Public Broadcasting Network for her efforts in joining other Girl Scouts around the country as they sell their yearly fundraising, delectable cookies.

Below is an excerpt from that article.

You might have spotted someone nibbling a Girl Scout cookie recently. While the size of the cookie is small, the scale of the sales is enormous.

"Would you like a bag with that."

"Sure I would love a bag."

Brownie Troop 327's table of treats sits in front of the produce section of an East Hartford Stop & Shop. Gillian Horan is eight years old. Each time she sells a box, she thanks the customer and then a couple seconds later, she exclaims "Awesome." She wears a brown sash over her gray sweatshirt and sits behind the snacks.

"Well, we have natural Tagalongs, All Abouts, Chocolate Chip (sugar free), Do-Si-Dos, Thin Mints, Truffles, Trefoils, Lemon Chalet Cremes and Samoas."

In front of this cookie line up is a little cardboard sign that reads $4 a box.

And for Horan those dollars add up. For each box she sells, her troop gets 75 cents that can be used towards troop activities, like camping. She’s already sold 80 boxes, and she tries to calculate what that means for sales.

"So 80 times 4 is probably around $325."

Horan is one of Connecticut's 32,000 Girl Scouts trying to meet the statewide sales goal of $12 million. And if you wanted to translate those millions in terms of boxes, you’d go to the Girl Scout of Connecticut's enormous cookie jar.

Great job, KK! Seems as if you are as voracious a cookie-seller as you are a letterboxer! See you in May at your aunt's (MayEve) and father's (Wild Rover) Spring Into Boxing gathering!

Alaska or Bust!

2008-03-16T21:31:00.011-04:00

Several weeks ago, Donutz wrote to me, telling me about a HH she wanted to launch while she and her husband were in Florida. Her idea was to have the HH, which she would launch in FL, make its way to Alaska, where her brother would finally retrieve it once the Alaskan boxer emailed Donutz telling her that they had found the much-traveled HH.

This week I received another email from Donutz on vaca in FL letting me know that the HH was in the wild - somewhere in the Sunshine State and would hopefully begin its journey forthwith.

Here's the background and the explanation in her own words taken from that initial email that she first sent me:

" . . . Several years ago when visiting Alaska, my husband and I spent a few days in Seward and came across a Memorial for Benny Benson. John Ben "Benny" Benson is responsible for creating the flag for the Territory of Alaska in 1927.Up to that time, Alaskans had flown only the

U.S.

flag since the territory was purchased from

Russia

in 1867. Benson's design was chosen over roughly 700 other submissions from school children statewide in grades 7–12. He was 13 years old at the time and an orphan. He looked to the sky, choosing the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) and the North Star for his symbols. He described his choices: "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska Flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly of the union. The dipper is for the Great Bear symbolizing strength."

His sentiments are echoed in the state song. The whole story behind the creation of the Alaska Flag inspired me, so now I would like to try something. I don’t know if it will work, but I think it would be fun to launch a stamp in Florida of the Alaska Flag as a hitchhiker, “I want to Go Home HH,”and see if it could travel to Alaska. The logbook would ask that the finder move it in a Northwesterly direction. Perhaps people on LBNA and AQ could post that they’ve found it. Would you be willing to post something on your Blog? My brother lives in Anchorage and would be happy to retrieve it if and when it arrives."

So there you have it - the story behind the "I Want to Go Home HH." If you find this wayward HH, please email Donutz and do your best to plant it in another host box in a northwesterly fashion.

We wish good luck to Donutz and the journey of her ambitious, new HH which is now Alaska bound!

Spring Into Boxing Gathering Set!

2008-03-11T00:06:00.005-04:00

In springtime, a young boxer's fancy turns to . . . . . .
gatherings and the essential gathering of the spring is the Spring Into Boxing 2008 Gathering!

This year's location will be at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 2833 Main Street, Glastonbury, CT on May 10 from 1 to 5pm

Event hosts are MayEve, RTRW, Music Woman and Wild Rover.

The following is the official text submitted by Wild Rover:

A gathering will be held on May 10, 2008 in Glastonbury, Connecticut to celebrate the arrival of Spring, and with it more temperate New England weather that encourages more Letterboxing. The event will be sponsored by MayEve, RTRW, Music Woman and Wild Rover.

The original Spring gathering in 2005 was a drive that originated in Glastonbury, continued to Bushnell Park, and concluded at RTRW’s house in West Hartford. The Spring 2006 gathering christened the newly opened Glastonbury Cultural Center on the Connecticut River, followed by feasting at Luna’s Pizza. Despite the wonderful success of both events, a Spring gathering was not undertaken in 2007, but returns with vim and vigor for 2008.

The gathering will be held at the Knights of Columbus Hall at 2833 Main Street in Glastonbury, which is best accessed from Welles Road. Parking is ample in the lot behind St. Paul’s Church, which is adjacent to the K of C Hall. There is no fee and no requested donation for this gathering. There will be a raffle, but no raffle tickets will be sold. Astrii’s method of collecting stamp images from attendees for the raffle will be emulated at this gathering. Any donated raffle prizes will be greatly appreciated, but please do not feel at all obligated. Please bring a snack to share, as with most gatherings.

Several new letterboxes will be planted in the area, with clues available the night before or the morning of the gathering to encourage boxing in the area before the gathering. Tabletop boxes are welcome, and in the past several wonderful boxes debuted at the events because of the kindness of Donutz, Bandaid, Warrior Woman and many others. I am excited to report that Scarab has accepted Bookworm’s invitation for the Phineas Boch Traveling Circus to attend Spring 2008. And RTRW will once again be carving the event stamp, which is sure to be fantastic!

The gathering will begin at 1:00 P.M. and conclude at 5:00 P.M. A post-gathering feast is being planned at a nearby location, with more definite information to follow as the gathering date nears. The only downside of this gathering is that the size of the K of C hall restricts attendance to about 65 people, and if a larger venue is not booked soon there will be an RSVP list limited to about 65 people posted in the near future.

Hope to see you at the Sprint Into Boxing 2008 Gathering!!!

Thank You. --Wild Rover

Hi Ho, Hi Ho - It's Off to OR We Go!!!

2008-03-10T23:04:00.003-04:00

We've been busy since we've last posted - busy arranging our OR vacation for this September! The main focus of our time there will be the 10th anniversary celebration of letterboxing in the US called We Live and Breathe Letterboxing! This event takes place the weekend of September 12 through the 14th and we'll be there and can't wait!

Along with that, our thought was to dovetail a week's vacation after the event since the airfare was paid for anyway. When last the Pinecone Pair hit OR we so wanted to visit the OR coast but there just wasn't time for the trip. This time - Sue & I have made the time!

After the first announcement of the Live and Breathe event back in October, we signed up for several choices with our timeshare for a condo in 3 different locations along the beautiful OR coast. Since nothing has yet surfaced, we've been chomping at the bit. If you haven't guessed by now, Sue & I are planners and without a place to stay, we didn't want to book airfare or rental car with the uncertainty of where or even if a condo would open up during that time frame.

Then, Marmalade set us straight! Why not make reservations and for a place that you know you'll get in she wrote - so we did! A week or so ago, we booked a nice place on the beach in Lincoln City and that will be our fall back location. So - airfare and car rental are now booked and ready and a sigh of relief was taken! If a condo comes through, we'll take that but if not, we're fine with this great little hotel located on the beach in Lincoln City!

So - you may be asking yourself, what's up with the 7 Dwarfs lead in and picture???

The tie in is a wonderful new series somewhere in OR by Maiden. She's the originator of Jay's Tool Box. And Maiden has really done it this time with a very cool clue that ties in Google Earth and all this program has to offer along with You Tube to create a very unique and innovative letterbox clue. The mystery series is called 7 Hats for 7 Dwarfs. You can see the clue here and don't forget to click the "video of the tour" link there. That's were the fun really begins!

Great job, Maiden!

Connecticut Boxers Rule!!!

2008-02-22T21:11:00.008-05:00

OK - so we're bragging and maybe just a little proud but the breed of boxers that hail from CT have been planting up a storm - even in winter! All one has to do is visit "What's New" on Letterboxing.org and you'll see a plethora of plants in our fair state - 10 in the newest 25!

Rubaduc has been on a planting roll since her retirement from work and hooking up with Gizz. This couple has been mighty busy planting all over the state this fall and winter. Her newest boxes are Don't Be One Two and Elephriend.

Flutterby is also a planting maniac and has contributed many puppies to our Dog Walk ever-growing series. Her 3 new mysteries are: Scents of Summer, Maude's Grave plus Celtic Butterfly.

Sadie & Russ, that fiendish and very creative couple from the southern part of CT, are known for wonderful carvings and boxes with more twists and turns than a back country road. They didn't leave us hanging with their newest addition called Fish Tale.

J. Peter has been planting for years in the south west part of the state and adds to his cache with a series of 5 called The Roosevelt Bugs and a unique, new, visual mystery called The Crossroads Letterbox.

Trailhead Tessie rounds out the current crew on "What's New" with Short Beach.

With the ongoing snowstorm raging outside as I type and the 6 to 10 inches of white stuff around the state at the storm's completion, some of these goodies will have to wait for warmer weather but we are thankful to all of the above boxers who take the time and effort to contribute wonderful boxes to our local CT community!

Keep up the great work! Collectively, you are what makes CT such a great state in which to live and box!!!

Will You Live & Breathe Letterboxing History?

2008-02-17T22:12:00.013-05:00

That huge buzz that you might have heard the past several weeks humming around the letterboxing community most likely was centered around the upcoming September gather in Oregon appropriately penned "We Live and Breathe Letterboxing."

This joint effort of a committee of dedicated local boxers is spearheaded by Der Mad Stamper, one of the original US letterboxers, and is set for the weekend of September 12 through 14th in Colton, OR. This gathering name was penned as an homage to the name of the original Smithsonian Magazine article that appeared some 10 years ago. This article is widely credited to introducing letterboxing to the masses of the new world. And what a proper tribute since the first US letterbox in the US, Prayer Rock, and thus letterboxing, is celebrating it's 10 year anniversary this year!

This past Saturday at noon PST was the hour that many letterboxers across the country sat with bated breath in front of the computer monitors; awaiting for the registration form to appear on the official gathering website. Manned by some of the committee members, the online registration form has been one of the most awaited events in recent memory and Sue & I would be out of town - and possibly on the road in our car!

Sue & I were invited with 8 other letterboxers to the home of Deanne (the lazy letterboxer) and Dave (the letterboxing ham) in MA to spend an evening playing the dice game, Bunko, with a group of letterboxers. While Sue & I planned to arrive earlier than the group, we gave specific instructions to Deanne that if for some reason we didn't arrive at their home by 3:00 pm, that she should go ahead and reserve a deluxe room for us or face the wrath of the Pinecone Pair!

The letterboxing gods shined down on us and we arrived at their home in plenty of time to make the online registration debut. After unpacking and getting settled, Sue asked Deanne if she would mind setting her cooking timer for 2:55 so we wouldn't get distracted talking and miss the beginning of registration. And you all thought I was the obsessed one, right?

At the appointed time, we all convened around the lazy monitor and waited as the magic hour approached . . . and nothing happened! And then, at 3:02 by Deanne's computer, the registration form was there! Deanne, with nimble fingers, clicked on the registration form and entered our 4 names and the other requisite information that would enable us to attend this memorable event.

After two tries at her PayPal login (I contemplated throwing her out of her chair and taking over if her second try at her password didn't work,) we were in and received a notice via email that our rooms were confirmed. Luckily we registered at the very beginning as it seems that in 10 minutes time all of the deluxe rooms had sold out. But as of this posting, there are still some beds available.

This is going to be an event that you really don't want to miss. The creativity of Mitch and his group is known nationally. Sue & I, along with Dave & Deanne, had the pleasure to visit OR several years ago and experience the talent of that local letterboxing community. Twists and turns were around every corner and we are sure that this special weekend will offer more of the same.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank the committee for all they have done thus far and for what they will do in the ensuing 7 months until letterboxers from around the country convene at Coulton, OR and celebrate the 10th anniversary of letterboxing. It will be one amazing weekend chocked full of letterboxing memories to last a lifetime. And don't you want to meet all of those boxers you've seen post on the talk lists?

We hope that you, too, will reserve your space soon before you are locked out. Attendance is limited due to the size of the location. More details including the schedule of events, some photos and FAQ's can be found on the official website.

Please register soon. You can read about the fun on this blog but wouldn't you really rather be there and experience it yourself???

Happy Valentines Day!

2008-02-14T12:56:00.001-05:00

A Very Busy Saturday . . .

2008-02-13T13:04:00.003-05:00

Sue had a baby shower to attend Saturday so I made good use of my time "alone!"

I spent the morning letterboxing with Bookworm across the street from our house getting a few of the dogs from our Dog Walk Series add-ons. My simple challenge to the local boxing community has turned into at least 25 additional add-ons plus some mysteries! I had the opportunity to plant our long overdue bonus to the series Home Sweet Home. (By Sunday, 5 of the locals had already found it!) After a quick cup of tea to warm our bones after the sudden rain and snow showers, the Worm & I headed to Astrii and Celtic Roots' gathering in Berlin called Winter Solve & Carve.

The gathering was a very low key delight which was located at the Peck Memorial Library in their community meeting room. The fact that the attendance was limited to 60 people due to fire regulations turned out to be a blessing in disguise since this gathering was forced to remain small and quite intimate. And therein lay the charm along with the ability to renew old friendships and make some new ones. It was wonderful to travel only a few miles to a gathering in our own hometown!

Several friends expressed their concern at our posting hiatus at the gather. One our dear friend, Butterfly, sent the following email the day before:

"I know how long a mile is; I know how long a year is; I know how long a week is. I don't know long a hiatus is. I miss you."

After reassuring several of our friends that Sue & I were fine, happy and healthy, we spent the rest of the gathering exchanging and meeting new boxers and talking with old friends. As always, the potluck snack buffet (the gathering was held from 12:30 to 3:45pm) was as bountiful as any we've seen with every imaginable munchie represented. I had offered and arranged for an after gathering pizza dinner at a local pizza house so the munchies really fit the bill.

There were a few memorable occurances that we'd like to share. One being the carving of 12 year old who goes by the trailname of T2 . I predict that this young man will eventually be one of the premier carvers in this country. He is that good. His mom told me that her 12 year old son carved their sig stamp after I admired it. "Go ask him to see the ship stamp." After we exchanged, I went over to the table and introduced myself and asked to see the stamp that his Mom had sent me to check out. After our exchange, he stamped it in my book. It was a small image of a masted ship carved with surprising precision. If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was carved by Brian of TeamGreenDragon or Archimedes Screw. His mom later told me that she had recovered it from the wastebasket. Justin threw it away because he was not happy with it!

Another memorable event was a trio of senior women. (Am I allowed to say "senior?" I've been thinking long and hard about how to write about their age!) One of the women came over to the event stamp table and explained that she was a newbie and asked what were we doing. We explained the event stamp process and I introduced myself. "I'm R" she said, "Not very original." It seems R is the first letter in her first name. Later on, R came back to me to exchange and said "Spannerman" which is the secret word to get my personal traveler - an Easter stamp carved by Spannerman of Dartmoor and gifted to me on our first UK trip.

In conversation, I asked R how she came to hear about letterboxing. "A long time ago" she explained but she never did anything about it because she "didn't need letterboxing as a reason to get out and hike and enjoy the outdoors!" Several years later, a friend and their children discovered letterboxing in VT and came back raving about it to R. It was then that she started - last year at some point - and brought her other 2 friends who were also at this gather into the fold as well. "I've been reading your blog," she whispered to me. "I really enjoy it - especially the interviews." Needless to say, R is my new best friend and has been added to our will!

This was a gathering like those when Sue & I first starting letterboxing. Not a lot of boxes planted at the event - just time to exchange and socialize; renew friendships and begin new ones. Some of the letterboxers were from the Kensington area and it was great to meet new locals - some with whom we've corresponded and others whom we didn't even know existed! Also boxers traveled from MA, NY and RI.

Thanks to Astrii and her parents, Celtic Roots, for putting on a most enjoyable afternoon. It was just what the letterboxing doctor ordered for a snowy February afternoon! The only element missing was Sue - who joined the group later for the after gather pizza.

We'd also like to thank all of you who have emailed us with your concerns when we first posted about our hiatus. The 50 or so emails we received were unbelievable - from friends and strangers alike. In watching the hits this blog has received in the days we didn't post, there was no appreciable decline in visitors. It seems that many of you used the time we were away to further explore our site - discovering the goodies hidden here and there. That was a real gratifying statistic to discover.

One of the activities we've pursued while on hiatus was sitting in front of the television enthralled by the election coverage, the debates for both parties and the ensuing primaries. And - never too far from letterboxing - this election hobby has fostered a few new sets of ideas for boxes that should make their way to a hidey hole soon. As you know - everything eventually has a letterboxing tie-in with the Pinecones!

The Passing of One of Us . . .

2008-02-11T23:14:00.003-05:00

I heard from MayEve today via email of the passing of her dear friend and fellow letterboxer, Ruby Tuesday at the young age of 56.

We would like to respectfully ask that you keep a good thought or prayer for her family and friends that she left behind. Ruby's online obituary is located here.

"There's no time to lose, I heard her say
Catch your dreams before they slip away
Dying all the time
Lose your dreams
And you will lose your mind.
Ain't life unkind?

Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I'm gonna miss you..."

Image courtesy of TeamKing

We've Pulled the Puglia Trip

2008-01-21T09:33:00.000-05:00

We've decided to cancel our group 2009 trip to Puglia, Italy.

After some careful consideration, Sue & I have decided to visit Italy on our own instead of heading up a group trip. While this was never intended to be a letterboxing trip per se but just a group effort, we have come up with another alternative in Italy in which we'd like to participate in a solo fashion. We have pulled the trip info from Atlas Quest.

Also - we will be taking a hiatus from posting here for a while as well.

It's Back to Normal . . .

2008-01-07T09:09:00.000-05:00

With the holidays over for another year, it's back to normal - screaming alarms at early hours, traffic on the commute and cubicle sitting for the day!

We do look with excitment at the upcoming letterboxing schedule of events for the year, the new boxes yet to be planted and that fact that we'll be out there boxing during this current January thaw, April-like weather that the East is now experiencing.

Realizing that winter is probably not too far away; we'll enjoy the days of respite that we have while we have them. We hope you, as well, get out there and enjoy the weather and do some Tupperware hunting!

A Letterboxing Tempest!

2008-01-03T00:50:00.000-05:00

Looks like we struck a nerve with our "A Disturbing Statistic" post (see below.) Our inbox has been jammed with support from boxers around the country and we appreciate it. But, we also realize that those that don't agree with us aren't as apt to email us directly.

But, Chuck (of Chuck & Amy) made reference to our post on Atlas Quest and the thread about my post (Posts entitled "Disturbing Statistics) continued for a few hours at near record pace. While there were some that agreed with us; others didn't and some that didn't quite understand our point. Regardless, things stayed pretty civil and if nothing else, we hope we've created an awareness that traditional letterboxing is done outside.

Someone called the other activities - virtuals, boxing buddies, postal boxing - the "gravy" in letterboxing. That's a pretty good analogy. To take it a step further, would you have a meal where the side dishes were larger or more important than the entree? While the gravy or sides might complement the meal, the main meal is the entree. Some people don't like sides or gravy - just meat. That's all we were saying.

My purpose was to shake things up and I hope we accomplished that. My post was done in the spirit of a parent (both of the Dartmoor groups have nicknamed me "The Daddy") who every now and then needs lecture their child to reinforce a life (letterboxing, in this case) lesson.

Consider yourselves lectured!

Love Dad

A Disturbing Statistic

2008-01-02T16:13:00.001-05:00

I will preface this post with the caveat that some of you will be upset with what I say here but it's something we feel must be said.

In looking at Atlas Quest's new statistics page, a glaring and very disturbing pie chart jumped out at me! Look at the "Found" pie chart. It shows that almost half of the boxes being logged into boxers' logbooks as being found are Virtual letterboxes. And the remaining quantity to equal exactly half is made up of Postal boxes.

Now we've always maintained the different strokes for different folks mentality when it came to boxes other than traditional but half of all boxes found are completed by never leaving your home! Does this seem right? Not in our opinion!

Sure, some people are infirmed and others are stuck inside but half? This is a very upsetting statistic and one that we hope will change as letterboxing should involve the outdoors! As someone who looks back frequently at what our letterboxing pioneers intended for this game, it's amazing that only half of the logged finds are done by people actually getting dressed and venturing outside. Unbelieveable. Do you realize that letterboxing began as an activity to walk and commune with nature and spend time outside with your family? It's whole purpose was to get children and adults out in the fresh air and discover new places while make new memories. Out in the wild, in the fresh air - not in front of your Dell in your bunny slippers!

Am I the only boxer upset with this?

Please - put on some clothes, pack a lunch, leave your homes and get the hell out there and box!!!

Anything short of that is just doing yourself and our beloved hobby a real injustice.

A New Addition to our Interview Series

2008-01-01T13:39:00.000-05:00

The 11th installment of our Interview Series is now complete.

This interview is with Daniel Servatius, a name that may not be on the tip of every letterboxer's tongue but one of the early names that helped formulate this game that we all love. We hope that you all enjoy it!

To read our other 10 interviews, check out our Interview Series page.

We Wish You . . .

2007-12-31T20:23:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-23T10:40:00.001-05:00

Sue & I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours the best holiday season ever and a happy & healthy New Year.

As we prepare for our traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes, we just had to make the time to write this holiday message.

Tomorrow night our house will be full with family, delicious smells and all of those special ingredients that a make a special day. We wish that in the coming days you, as well, gather up all of those ingredients necessary in making your own special holiday. And don't forget the reason for the season!

We be back after the new year but we can't leave without wishing ourselves a happy 5th anniversary - for this blog that began on December 29, 2002. We've expanded a bit and reach a few more people then we did at first and would like to thank our loyal readers. As I've said before, anyone can do this and the latest spate of blogs show that. It's you, the readers, that make this blog what it is - your interaction and emails that continually encourage and suggest new ideas. For that, we are truly grateful.

As we close another Pinecone year, we reflect back at our special letterboxing moments - the highlight of which was our Dartmoor trip and the magic it left in the hearts and souls of all of the participants. You must make a trip there - whatever it takes. There's a real connection there with the boxes, the people and that beautiful moor!

And reflecting forward we have a very busy year! A Florida trip in late April, our Letterboxing Cruise in June, a return to OR for Mitch's special They Live and Breathe Letterboxing gathering and finally, our Bed & Boxing event in November in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. And who know what weekends or gatherings might crop up in the meantime!

We wish you all the very best and hope you'll come back and visit us here real soon. And don't forget -

Have fun and just get out there & box!!!

O Come All Ye Boxers

2007-12-12T10:23:00.000-05:00

It's that special time of year when a certain Cape address has a very specially decorated Christmas Tree and Hanukkah Bush!

That's right, Archimedes Screw and Cape Cod Lightning Bug and the rest of the Cape Crew have once again posted their clues for their O Letterbox Tree & Hanukkah Bush. This 26 box effort is available only for a limited time - don't miss out!

If you are in the area and can only do 1 holiday box, do yourself a favor and take the trip to the Cape!

Tis the Season!

2007-12-09T03:41:00.000-05:00

It's December 9th and already the Pinecone place is beginning to look alot like Christmas!

Those that know us well know that Sue loves to decorate our home for the holidays. And those that know us even better know that I am not into it - I call the constant daily decorating the "drip, drip, drip" - equating daily decorating sessions to the old fashioned Chinese water torture that prisoners would have to endure! I help Sue but many times I would make the Grinch look like an elf!

Other years, we've spent all of our waking hours (and weekends!) carting the 20 plus boxes of decorations down from the attic, unpacking them, packing up the non-seasonal items and then climbing the 2 flights of stairs back to the attic - only to reverse the whole process in a few short weeks after New Years! We usually are finished decorating just in time for our large Christmas Eve famiily get together.

This year, Sue took a few days off from work and I joined her Monday of last week. We spent last Sunday and Monday afternoon doing the decorating tango! Also, a few evenings after work this week we once again danced the dance of the decorating divas. Friday night we decorated the tree. Yesterday, my birthday, again I did the Christmas tango for about 4 hours and guess what? We are done! What a great birthday gift - the dance is over - for a bit!

The Chinese water torture is over for this season at a record pace. December 8th and we are all through! Gifts bought and all. All that's left is wrapping the presents, sending out our Christmas cards and Sue has to bake her requisite holiday cookies.

I'm giddy with the possibilities! Might we have time this season to really celebrate? Will we get our Christmas cards out early enough? And wouldn't it be nice after everyone leaves Christmas Eve to not have to wrap our sons' Christmas gifts at 2 in the morning on Christmas Day because they are already wrapped well before the deadline?

So this is what it's like anticipating the holiday season! Wow! Imagine! Maybe time for a holiday letterboxing series or a special evening with friends. Some time to sit and enjoy the glow of the tree while we reflect the reason for the season. I could get used to this!!!

Our hope is that you all, as well, get a chance to stop amidst the hustle and bustle of the season to take some time to actually enjoy it. Sure there is so much to do but the holidays come at us really quickly and they are gone in a twinkle of the jolly elf's blue eyes.

So just find a special moment or two to enjoy the holiday glow with your favorite special someone. I think you'll be glad that you did.

But don't linger too long because before you realize it will be time to do the de-decorating jig. But if your Christmas and New Years is filled with a special moment or two, the de-decorating won't be so difficult after all! At least that's my take on it . . .

2008 is Time to . . .

2007-12-08T16:37:00.001-05:00

That's right!

And what better way to celebrate every month of the year in 2008 than to find a new letterbox every month!

Fellow Berlinite, Astrii, has seen fit to take up this deed by planting the Celebrate the Year Letterbox. A different stamp will be hidden the first day of every month and removed when its newer month replacement is planted.

One stop - 12 boxes! Something to which all CT (and visitors) boxers may look forward to adding to their logbooks!

A New Collaboration Box in AZ!

2007-11-26T20:22:00.000-05:00

It all started in Dartmoor, when RTRW said, "I brought you some stamps that I carved. You are welcome to take all of them or none of them!"

If you know her work and carving ability, you would have done what I did - thank her and stuff them all in your pocket to fly home and plant at a later date!

Enter Butterfly - CT's Winged Wonder who wrote to me via email a few weeks ago all excited that she was going to visit a relative during the Thankgiving weekend in Arizona. "Do you have any HH's or boxes you'd like me to plant?"

I thought about it and found just the box to send - The Green Cow. Clues are up and we thank these 2 great ladies for carving (RTRW) and packing, transporting, clueing and planting (Butterfly.)

Now the great boxers of AZ can enjoy a joint collaboration by 4 boxing nuts from CT. Please take good care of our little green bovine! And keep us informed of it's health!

Thomas' Toy Box

2007-11-25T19:07:00.001-05:00

Deanne, the Lazy Letterboxer, has a new box out called "Thomas' Toy Box," which is an homage to the infant son of good friends who passed away at a very young age.

This box was inspired by Zess the Treehuggers' Children's Memorial Box in Northboro, MA and borrowing the unique twist of Maiden's Jay's Toolbox from Fairview, OR.

Deanne has asked that anyone from any part of the country or world who would like to contribute a toy-related stamp in memory of a special child to send it along to her. Her email is dave.deanne@verizon.net. You just have to send a stamp and Deanne will take care of the rest, including maintenance. Sue & I have already signed up to do a rocking horse.

Do You Live & Breathe Letterboxing?

2007-11-14T23:15:00.000-05:00

If your answer is "yes," then you'll want to begin making travel plans for the weekend of September 12 through the 14 of 2008!

Why?

Because a gathering celebrating 10 years of letterboxing in the US is going to be held at Camp Adams in Molalla, OR. The camp, located about 35 miles south of Portland, is a residential camp with heated cabins and 210 acres of forested trails which will most likely be chocked full of letterboxing fun and surprises!

One of the key organizers is Der Mad Stamper who was one of the first letterboxers in the country. You can read more about Mitch/Der Mad Stamper in our exclusive interview with him to celebrate his return to letterboxing.

Mitch and his gang have begun to set plans in motion by setting up an Atlas Quest event page where you may respond and see the other almost 200 guests already signed up! They have also set up a webpage that you will want to bookmark so you can get updates as they happen. If you plan to go you must contact them directly from their official "We Live & Breathe Letterboxing" website. There is also a special Yahoo Talk List for the gathering that was started recently by Mainekokopellian.

Make your plans now - you won't want to be left out. The current estimate for the entire weekend - room, board and all activities is estimated at $150 per person. That's a price that can't be beat for the non-stop mischief that will surely happen all hours of the day and night! Any questions should be sent to the group's official email address: weliveandbreathe@yahoo.com

Sue & I have fashioned a week's vacation around this event. What better way to spend US letterboxing's anniversary than with 200 plus letterboxers from all over the country and Mitch Klink as one of your hosts? You'll surely be hearing more about this most important event.

Have We Got Dogs!

2007-11-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

A while ago, we issued the challenge to other boxers in the area to place an add-on or two to our Dog Walk Series located in Kensington's Bicentennial Park, which is within walking distance of our home.

It seems that this series has exploded! There are presently 15 add-ons besides our original 3 boxes!

Who knows where this all end - but it's a blast watching! One day Sue & I have to take a walk there and plant our bonus but we've been waiting for the add-ons to die down. Now, we're wondering if that will ever happen!

Thanks to all of the boxers who have taken up the challenge. This may end up being the largest dog-themed series in the state - or the country!

Patch Page Finally Updated!

2007-11-04T21:40:00.000-05:00

Found some time tonight to finally update our letterboxing patches page. I went through all of our old email and uploaded photos and info from way back in April! Thanks to all of the senders who have been more than patient while I found the time to update the page!

If you have a new patch that you would like featured on this page - or one that I might have misplaced in our email inbox! - please email me with the talklist or group it represents, the contact person, your email or snail mail address or just email contact and the price. The photo of the patch must be in jpeg format or if you have it on a web page somewhere, send me the link and I'll work with that.

And just get out there and buy all of these patches!

Newest Entry Ready in Our Dartmoor Diary

2007-11-04T18:43:00.000-05:00

The latest entry in our Dartmoor Diary is now complete. It tells about the Monday the complete group spent scavenging on Arm Tor, Brat Tor which is home to Widgery Cross, a famous Dartmoor landmark.

Enjoy!

News from Dartmoor!

2007-11-03T19:10:00.000-04:00

While Dartmoor remains just a memory from our recent trip, we continually hear about happenings there through an invaluable network of friends we've made there during the past two UK visits. Emails have been winging their way via cyberspace with some very special friends we made there so the news about all things Dartmoor continues to flow our way.

The Fall Meet was once again a success and the retirement of several key Dartmoor 100 club executives was announced. The twice annual UK Letterboxing Meets, which happen on the equinox in spring and fall, are like a gathering in this country but it is done on a much, much wider scale - booths set up selling letterboxing wares, tons of people, etc. These events are so big that there are pre-meet events the day and night before! A proliferation of new, special stamps appear and excitement is truly in the air.

We heard from Stephanie Paul, who with her husband Roger, met with us in Dartmoor. You'll read more about that as we delve into our Dartmoor Diary but we spent a wonderful evening with them and Godfrey & Anne Swinscow at Blackadon Barn Cottages. Godfrey, through Malcolm Allderidge, had asked if we minded if the Pauls came along to the dinner since they would be taking the helm for Godfrey in the membership portion of the Dartmoor 100 club. Malcolm and his wife Angela would be taking over for Tony and Silvia Moore handling the updates to the Dartmoor Catalogue of Clues as well. While all of this was unofficial, we can now talk about it since at the just-finished Fall Meet this new guard was officially announced.

It seems that Roger & Stephanie have been quite busy! They are featured on a German website and also are on a BBC radio show done by John Govier. The photo at the left shows Roger and Steph (second and third from the left) while taking Kevin on a letterboxing adventure from the radio show. You can read the story about the show here. The radio link is located at the end of the article. You'll find a reference to the Moor Tor-ists when Roger answers a question about where else there are letterboxes. There is also a clue to a new box that they planted especially for the radio show. The clue is located on the left portion of the page.

Our thanks go to Godfrey & Anne Swinscow and to Tony & Silvia Moore for all of the individual achievements and contributions they have made to Dartmoor letterboxing. Sue & I are most appreciative to both couples who met with the Baker's Dozen in 2004 and with the Swinscow's who met with the Moor Tor-ists in 2007. These are 4 people that typify the spirit of Dartmoor letterboxing.

Godfrey was responsible for the Dartmoor 100 Club, for meeting with the national parks authority when those in charge wanted to remove all but the two Dartmoor letterboxes housed in permanent structures - Cranmere Pool and Ducks Pool. As a result of negotiations and some give-and-take, permission was granted to leave boxes within the Dartmoor National Park. One of the results of those negotiations was the development of the Code of Ethics to which all who letterbox on the moor must follow.

We received two wonderful poems from Noddy, the Toytown Trekker, who we had the pleasure to meet at the Plymouth monthly meeting when the Moor Tor-ists were in town. Again, you'll hear more about Noddy in an upcoming edition of our Dartmoor Diary. Not only did Noddy, whose real name is Mark, make a special one day stamp tribute to The Moor Tor-ists, but Mark sent us 2 poems that are dedicated to Godfrey and The Moores upon their retirement from their letterboxing positions. These 2 poems commemorating the achievements of Godfrey and the Moore's are part of his rhyming Thank You Boxes. With Mark's permission, we are pleased to reproduce the poems below for your enjoyment.

Mournful Moor
by M. A. Fenlon

Mist, languishing lace like, knotted around the tor,
Tears of dew, distressed on moorland floor,
Chorus of dawn sings a much sadder song,
Sunshine pretending nothing is wrong.

Rivers, tearful, flush away their emotion,
Shadows, disturbed, creating commotion,
Distraught wind hurries aimlessly by,
Willow tree, alone, continues to cry.

Humans, inky, bid farewell to their sage,
Reluctantly, Visitor book, turns a new page,
Unofficial President's retirement is true,
Godfrey Swinscow. THANK YOU.

Ode to the Moore (s)
by M.A. Fenlon

There once was a time,
When all was not fine,
Whilst collecting the stamps on the moor.

When a new box was sited,
Our knowledge was blighted,
Knowing not, of new stamps on the moor.

For miles we would trek,
Then shout out "Oh Heck,"
When a stamp had been moved off the moor.

From South Brent, a pair,
Soon eased our despair,
Making updates of stamps on the moor.

Packed full of the news,
Of new letterbox clues,
It helped us find stamps on the moor.

A catalogue followed,
Their names became hallowed,
By all who found stamps on the moor.

Now they must retire,
In armchair, by fire,
Whilst we're wet and cold on the moor.

Now somebody new,
Will fill an old shoe,
To aid us find stamps on the moor.

What we must now do,
is say a heartfelt - THANK YOU!
To Tony & Sylvia Moore

Noddy
The Toytown Trekker

Boxin' & Cruisin'

2007-10-31T19:05:00.001-04:00

Imagine our surprise when we checked to see which of our blog pages were the most popular and found our Letterboxing Cruise page right near the top of the list! It seems there must still be some interest in this cruise and we're happy to say that there's still time if you are interested.

This is what you do:

1) Visit our Letterboxing Cruise page and determine which of the 3 room styles suits you best, noting prices, etc.

2) If you are interested, visit our Atlas Quest event page and sign up there.

3) We will contact you after you sign up on Atlas Quest with the URL to our cruise attendees only Yahoo Talk List so that you can begin the reservation process. Post #45 has detailed instructions as to how you make your reservations with the cruise lines and get your group rate.

4) Once you've made your reservation and have paid the $250 per person deposit, you will be assigned a room number. Record that room and your name(s) in the database set up for that in the Talk List.

5) Then, if you are located in New England and want to be part of the special chartered party bus to the cruise ship in NYC and back, sign up in the appropriate party bus database.

6) Payment info:
a - $25 per person holds a space for you - deadline January 2, 2008
b - $250 per person lets you get a room assignment - everyone must pay their $250 per person by the deadline of March 22, 2008. Many pay the $250 right away to choose their rooms early.
c - Balance of the room must be paid for by the deadline of May 1

And that's all there is to it! Currently there are 52 people signed up even though the event page show 49. We would love to see you join us - a beautiful cruise ship, the pink sands of Bermuda and letterboxing - a winning trifecta!!!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T08:23:00.001-04:00

Wishing you all a safe Halloween.

While we couldn't drop some candy in your bag, we thought we'd leave you a virtual treat or two!

Treat #1 Treat #2 Treat #3

Treat #4 Treat #5 Treat #6

Treat #7 Treat #8

And a trick!

The above photo is courtesy of Cape Cod Letterboxer, who took this photo but has no idea we put it on our website . .

Gotcha Diane!!!

Great carving job (as usual!)

Click the photo to see a larger size!

And another trick!

This one on Archimedes Screw!
Big Papi never looked so good
She calls this "Red October, Again!"
The Screw carves pumpkins like her stamps - Excellently!

A Winning Formula???

2007-10-30T08:20:00.001-04:00

So I get this email from Deanne, the Lazy Letterboxer where she makes the stunning observation that in 2004 we go to Dartmoor and the Red Sox win the World Series - the first time in over 80 years and the Curse of the Bambino is finally lifted.

And, she goes on to write, we went back to the moor this year (as if you didn't know!) and the Sox again wear the World Series crown. Is there a winning formula here?

In the same email, the lazy one asked if I know how many other Americans have garnered the Dartmoor 200 patch besides the returning members of Bakers Dozen.

Last night a quick email was sent to Stephanie and Roger Paul in the UK. You will hear more about them later in our Dartmoor Diary but a reply received this morning held the surprising news that our group - those that were members of the original Baker's Dozen - are the only Americans that have ever reached the 200 finds status in the Dartmoor 100 Club!

Very cool if I do say so myself!

Another Dartmoor Diary Entry is Ready!

2007-10-29T20:41:00.000-04:00

I just completed the entry in our Dartmoor Diary for day 2 - Sunday. You will have to scroll down below day 1 since the journal is written in chronological order.

Day 2 includes our visit to historic Ducks Pool as well as a surprise visit by a special friend.

Enjoy!

Not All Geocachers are Bad!

2007-10-29T10:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Sue & I spent a wonderful day letterboxing with half of The Schmoopies (the other half of the Schmoopies were home nursing a bad back.) Our game plan was to have a Bandaid marathon - hitting as many of Bandaid's boxes as we could in the Redding, CT area. We have wanted to visit that part of the state for the longest time so plans were made many months ago which resulted in our having to beg off from the invite to attend Music Woman's letterboxing shower that was held at Bluebird's on the same day.

When planning the day, I noticed 2 series of boxes along the Housatonic River in Shelton that looked interesting so we started out our day there after leaving Southington at about 9:30. While we were going from the first to the second box in the first series, we encountered a father and his young son, papers in hand, who said to us "Are you doing what we are?"

It turns out they were geocaching, not letterboxing, since this park held not only 7 letterboxes but, as he told us, about 10 geocaches as well. Now we understood why the first box we found, and all of the other 6 afterwards, had little notices in them that said "This is not a geocache" but went on to include a geocachers log as well. Everything made sense then.

He asked if we had found the "Charter Oak" box since they had just replaced it. It seems they search for both letterboxes and geocaches. "Replaced it?" I asked. Then he told me how they were out Saturday (the previous day) in the pouring rain (geocachers are nuts as well!) and after finding this letterbox, noticed kids hanging around where the box should be replaced. Instead of risking the box getting stolen, he said, he decided to take it home overnight and had just returned it in its proper place. I wondered how many letterboxers would have thought to do the same?

When we went to search for this box - there it was - safe and sound in it's hidey hole. The moral of this story is that boxers & cachers can peacefully coexist!

Suffice it to say that the rest of the day was just as remarkable as we hunted around the hills of Redding looking for all things Bandaid! Parts of Redding reminded us of Hartman Park in East Lyme. It was a great day that yielded many humorous moments; sunny and cool weather sprinkled with some great boxes and a story or two to tell. The perfect ingredients to remind us why we do this thing - and how important it is for us both physically and mentally to . . .

Just Get Out There & Box!!!

And the Winner is . . .

2007-10-29T00:31:00.001-04:00

Congratulations

Boston Red Sox

on the victory
over the Colorado Rockies.

Day One of our Dartmoor Journal Complete!

2007-10-26T19:50:00.001-04:00

Well, I did it! The first day (really our Friday night departure and all day Saturday in the UK) of our Dartmoor Journal is now complete - pictures and all. I hope to have another day ready for later this weekend. Hope you enjoy it. (By the way - the graphic on the left is Japanese for "Accomplishment.")

And thanks to all of our friends who dropped an email about our "Under Pressure" post. I think Don of Don & Gwen hit it on the head - "It's time for you to retire!" If it was only that easy! Thanks to all who shared some thoughts and showed understanding.

Under Pressure

2007-10-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

In advertising, they say one letter or email might represent the opinion of up to 100 people who just haven't taken the time to write but feel the exact same way. Well, we've heard from 5 people in the last week asking if everything is alright - are we sick, etc. Might that represent 500 of you???

I realize that I started the Dartmoor trip journal and quite a few weeks have passed without an update (although I have finished the first day now but need to put some pictures with the text.) I have been working mucho overtime at work and really don't feel like spending more time on a computer after 10 or so hours at work; and we've been in VT the past 4 weekends when I normally would have caught up on the blog and I'm a Red Sox fan and haven't missed a playoff game or will not miss a game of the pending World Series.

Phew! I guess those 3 things have kept us more than busy. It's funny - even when I'm busy I get this niggling feeling that I'm not doing what I should! "Update the blog," that little guy in my head says. "Your readers are waiting!"

Sure, at times, there really is nothing to write. Not now, though. Many of you have sent us updates on our boxes to be recorded and first letterboxing finds. Our Dartmoor journal should be updated since we ended after only our very first day! I have most of an interview with Daniel Servatius finished. While Daniel may not be a household boxing name, he has contributed much to this hobby working side-by-side with Erik Davis in those very early years.

So - give me some time to adjust. Something happened to me in Dartmoor this last trip. No, it wasn't Irene from Hikers & Hounds! Really - she was a pleaure! It was the realization that our lives are much too hectic - not just Sue & I - but we Americans as a whole. That sense of peace and the beauty of the moor hit home more than ever this trip. It was truly life-changing for me. My coworkers remarked how good I looked after our return to work after the Dartmoor trip and I have to admit that I felt different. More relaxed and almost like a changed person. I can never remember feeling so much at peace as after our immediate return from the moor.

Well, that didn't last once life's pressures took hold. But there is a rebellious spirit in me that says "I don't want to return to life as normal" And that, my friends, is what I've been struggling with over these past 4 weeks. Looking back, this blog was born in December of 2002 as a fun pastime; initially our way of recording our finds. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that anyone would actually read it! We've made so many great friends through this blog and some of those friends have accompanied us to Dartmoor and have made lasting impressions on our lives. Such was the case this trip as well.

In an email to Silent Doug tonight I expressed the option of taking a hiatus from this blog - maybe until after the holidays. I still may do that. But first I want to finish our Dartmoor trip journal and publish the interview with Daniel Servatius. If I didn't, that guy in my head wouldn't leave me alone!

After that - who knows where my head will take me. Rest assured that we appreciate the loyalty of our readers and those that take time to write. One of the coolest things ever was all of the emails Sue received after I published her new email addy. Many from friends but many from new people we haven't yet met. I think that's why I feel that little guy telling me to "write, write, write . . . "

So - if you were wondering where we've been, you know now. We're here - partially, and the rest is in Dartmoor among the ponies and the boxes and the wonderful boxers we met and the tors and the brilliant blue skies and the sheep and the gorse and the . . .

Dreaming of Dartmoor
Photo by Mark Pepe

And the Dogs Keep Walkin' . . .

2007-10-22T00:07:00.000-04:00

The add-ons to our Dog Walk series has increased again! There are now a total of 9 add-ons to our original 3 boxes. And watch for our newest bonus box to be added on to one of the add-ons after next weekend! Our bonus is called Home Sweet Home and its clue will be placed in one of the add-on boxes.

Thanks to all who have added on their favorite breed to this growing series. Bicentennial Park in Kensington is a large park and there is plenty of room for more dogs. Who know where this will end!

Wanna Dance???

2007-10-15T20:40:00.000-04:00

While this has nothing to do with letterboxing - I just couldn't resist. My sister, Linda, has the same crazy sense of humor as I - go figure, right?

Well she sent this link to me today and it's the funniest thing I've ever seen. Enjoy!

So Where's the Rest of the Dartmoor Diary???

2007-10-14T19:55:00.000-04:00

Some of you have written; some of you have wondered - where the heck is the rest of the Dartmoor Diary?

Well, our return to work from our Dartmoor trip has been quite hectic (and has taken a bit more of adjustment that we thought after the wonderful week spent on the moor!) That, coupled with a few weekends away playing in VT, has led to a slightly longer delay than we had first anticipated.

Sue & I returned to VT again this weekend and used the cool, crisp weather as an opportunity to do some box maintenance on our boxes there as well as plant a new box.

Our new box is called Vermont View and is a tag-along of sorts to our early Birds of a Feather series. While the photo above was taken in VT, it is not associated with the letterbox or its location. It was from a trip taken to Thetford, VT the previous weekend - a weekend where Sue & I completed about 10 Valley Quests and took some pictures of many more Vermont views. We hope to put those photos up on a page by themselves this week or next.

Speaking of Dartmoor - we also posted a little series of boxes that the group left in Dartmoor - a collaborative effort by The Moor Tor-ists. While we had originally planned to plant a series of boxes called Pirates of Penzance in Penzance, the whole group just couldn't tear itself away from the moor.

A small group of us - Deanne & Dave, Silent Doug and Sue & I planted this series of 3 boxes called Talk Like A Pirate Day Series since we planted it on September 19 and it was the only link to the pirate subject that we could find!!! We hope you will look for this series if you are ever Dartmoor bound. While we're pleased to host these clues on our blog it was a joint effort that features the carving of 2 boxes by Deanne, the Lazy Letterboxer and 1 by yours truly; clues and grid references by Silent Doug & Sue; hunting places by the complete group; and scavenged boxes along the planting route by Dave, the Letterboxing Ham!

Have You Walked Your Dog???

2007-10-11T21:07:00.000-04:00

It seems our challenge to area letterboxers to add on to our Dog Walk Series has been quite successful. As of today, we have 6 boxes that have been added on to our original series of 3. Thanks to all of our friends who have added to this series. Now if only we could tempt a few more of you to plant . . .

Can we throw you a bone? Look for a new box that will planted by us very soon. It's clues will be found in one of the add-on boxes!

Sue Enters the Digital Age!!!

2007-10-09T14:46:00.000-04:00

Sue has finally entered the digital age and has agreed to let me open her own email account. She's not sure if she'll get any email!

Well, I'd like to fix that! I told her I bet she'd gets lots of email!!! :-)

If you have a moment, please contact her with a few lines. I just love it when a plan comes together! And thanks!

We're Going to See the Mouse!

2007-10-04T11:28:00.001-04:00

Sue & I are heading to Florida the end of April and the beginning of May of 2008. It's been a while since we've been to Florida so we're pretty excited about it. In fact, I think the last time we visited was BB - "Before Boxing!"

So, in preparation of our visit, I posted on the Atlas Quest Florida board about our trip plans and asked if anyone wanted to get together for a casual meal to meet and exchange. One thing let to another and before we knew it, there was a mini event scheduled!

Thanks to 3H for spearheading the effort and Kilroy for copying and pasting our AQ post to the Central Florida talk list. Sue & I are looking forward to meeting all of the central Floridians that turn out at the mini meet.

That leads us to another thought. Someone mentioned pinecones and it got me to thinking about the Pepe-cones that some of our good friends made for us back a while ago. We've kept them in a safe place in our home; never wanting to plant them for fear that they might go missing. At the same time, they are great carvings and should be shared.

So, beginning with the Florida mini meet and every gathering we attend thereafter, you just have to tell us what Don (of Don & Gwen) called these little pinecone gifts and you get to stamp into the entire collection (minus the stamp carved by daelphinius since it's our VT house box!) If you whisper that word to us at a gathering, we'll turn over the Pepe-cones to you. There will also be a beautiful home-made logbook that Brian of TeamGreenDragon made for us that you can stamp your sig stamp. We've decided to call this collection Pepes' Passel of Perfectly Produced Pinecones. Love the alliteration, eh?

It seems that a few of the Florida boxers are planning to make more pinecone stamps for our traveling collection. As you can guess - we never have enough pinecones!

Hint: the solution to this clue is found somewhere on this website. Don's term has since gone on to be used again and again for stamps that are unsolicited. Good luck!

Another Pinecone Production Hits the Trail

2007-10-03T20:15:00.001-04:00

We were asked by both Marmalade and Maiden to carve a stamp for the upcoming Willamette Valley Wine Stroll that takes place on October 13. It was pretty dicey there for a while with the Dartmoor trip but we're happy to say that our stamp is finally carved - although not our best effort - and ready to mail tomorrow.

The box, which will be permanently placed for us is called The Sights, The Sounds, The Tastes. Look for its permanent placement soon.

And to those revelers on the Stroll - we wish you a great time and know that Sue & I are sooooo jealous!

More to Come . . .

2007-10-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you who have jotted us an email that you have enjoyed our Dartmoor trip diary. You'll have to hang in there as we're headed to VT for a long weekend to peep at some leaves, find some boxes, and enjoy the unseasonably warm great weather predicted. Hopefully, we'll be on track for the continuation of our Saturday evening and our Sunday outing on the Moor on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.

As an aside - or as RTRW says "Background information that you don't need to know" - our first installment of the diary took me about 4.5 hours to get ready. And - I had already written the text which I did each day or so while in Dartmoor before the "fuzzies" set in after we returned home. All of the photos used were from Lobsta, who sent each one of the trip attendees their own personal set of cd's with photos. She pared down the list from 1300 to about 600!

Have a great weekend!

First Installment of Our Trip Diary is Ready!

2007-10-01T22:34:00.000-04:00

We've spent most of tonight recording the first few days of our recent Dartmoor trip with The Moor Tor-ists. While we've run out of steam, the first two days are almost complete. There is a little more to add that we'll take care of in a night or two. For now, we hope that you enjoy our account that you will find located here.

If you click on the individual pictures, they will enlarge to their full size. This will be most beneficial once we post the pictures on the Moor and its environs.

Special thanks to Lobsta - Bonnie Pease - for always being there to take the shot. While several pictures are our own, most of the shots were taken by Bonnie - who always seemed to be there to capture and preserve a special memory. Thanks for everything, Lobsta!

Do You Want to Visit Dartmoor?

2007-09-27T20:57:00.002-04:00

No - Sue & I aren't going until 2010 and that trip is already booked up!

We've heard from several of you who want to go to Dartmoor to letterbox where this hobby began. Many of you have said it sounds complicated to make arrangements having never been there before. Short of hiring me to act as your guide (which I'm sure we can work out!) arrangements have been made with Mark & Jacky Walker - our hosts at Blackadon Barn Cottages in Ivybridge, Devon which is on the southern edge of the Moor.

Mark is a trained Dartmoor guide and is willing to make arrangements for your very own custom letterboxing holiday. You can be picked up at the Bristol airport - under 2 hours away - and brought to your comfy cottage. Arrangements can be made to rent a car locally or Mark can guide you on several day trips to the Moor, along a coastal walk or where ever you decide to visit. Mark & Jacky are very accommodating and will work diligently to be sure your Dartmoor vacation is all you've dreamed.

If you are interested, please contact me for a brochure. Mark sent a stack of them home with me. If you send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to me, we'll be happy to send out this informative brochure that tells about all Blackadon and Mark & Jacky have to offer.

Home Happy & Safe

2007-09-23T10:03:00.000-04:00

We're home - safe and sound - with wonderful memories of the moor and the people we met along the way. Our trip to Dartmoor was better than our last, I think. Having been before, the emphasis wasn't on getting the 100 to enter the Dartmoor 100 Club since we did that last trip.

This trip was more of a return to the beauty of the moor, spending time with the other Moor Tor-ists and just enjoying the area and the special beauty it holds. I wouldn't have cared if we found enough boxes to garner our Dartmoor 2oo patch but we did. Renewing friendships with the great Andy Wilkes, who gave up a week of his precious time to put up with us as well as thanks to Spannerman & Ali and Chris & Louise Donovan for joining us for several days. We're also glad for our other visitors who drove hours to meet with us like Yorkshire Tortoise, Cadenza & Andrew, The Dartmoor Bounders - Ian & Caroline and especially Malcolm Allderidge and his wife, Angela. You'll hear more about Malcolm later. Also thanks to the wonderful Plymouth meeting letterboxers who welcomed us with open arms, even after I messed up the address of the meet location and we arrived late!

We also must mention a special evening spent with Godfrey & Anne Swinscow and Roger & Stephanie Paul. Godfrey retired from his role of running the membership portion of the Dartmoor 100 Club which has now been taken over by the Pauls. Thanks to Pinetree who brought her digital recorder thinking I needed it for the clues to some boxes we were going to plant, we have about 10 minutes of Godfrey's talk to us recorded and will share that with you later in the week.

So much to catch up on but you'll hear more in a few days. We're still compiling our trip diary and we'll begin posting it - a day at a time after we download some pictures. Just wanted to let you know that everyone is home safe and happy!

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Decker (who says she's Clueless?)
Thanks for the picture, Jen, we love it!

Well over 100 Finds . . .

2007-09-20T09:28:00.000-04:00

and still counting!

Sitting here after a few hours out in the driving rain, fog and cold while hunting for letterboxes on Thursday. We're back home in the cottages now - waiting for a special dinner - but more on that later! Another surprise for the group!

We hit the Moor on Tuesday where we did a Charity Walk - a special series of letterboxes put out for just a limited time where you pay the placer about $10 that is passed on the the particular charity of the placers choice. This walk was a series of 19 boxes but we were told, when the clues were emailed to me, that we should scavenge the area as well. We ended up finding the 19 for the walk and with the scavenged boxes ended the day with 53. Funny, though, I don't feel the sense of urgency to find boxes this visit as last. We've gotten our Dartmoor 100 patches last visit and looks like those of us that have returned will earn our 200 patches and newbies will garner their 100.

Wednesday evening we visited the Plymouth letterboxing group's monthly meeting. We had prewarned them of our arrival just so our crazy group wouldn't arrive taking them unaware. What a special evening! Our hosts were the best ever. And the meeting is held in a community center that had bar -pints of draft beer at 1.75 pounds ($3.50 approx.)

We'll post much more when we return but wanted you to realize that we are all alive and well and having a wonderful time! Enjoying the beauty of the Moor, the excitement of the hunt for boxes and the beer and food (like bangers & mash, fish & chips.) And the Moor Tor-ists are even crazier than the Bakers Dozen!!!

We're Here!

2007-09-16T01:53:00.000-04:00

The Moor Tor-ists have landed in the UK and are on the Moor! After a three hour flight delay in Logan - something about a part being flown in from France - we arrived in England to sunny skies and warm temperatures on Sautrday.

It's early Sunday morning here a I write this and RTRW and I are the only ones up at this point. I've had some time - about an hour - to enter the previous 2 days activities into our journal. Now awaiting for the 2 cottages to awaken for today the Moor Torists are headed to Duck's Pool - Dartmoor's second oldest letterbox. Moor to come tomorrow!

Almost Time to Travel . . .

2007-09-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

Clothes are out and ready to pack; minivans have been reserved; the plans are made; airfare tickets are in hand; airport limo has been reserved; excitement is starting to mount because The Moor Tor-ists are ready to travel!

Posts on our private talk list have gotten more anxious as our travelers begin the countdown before we leave this Friday. 11 of us depart on Virgin Air at 8pm Friday from Logan Airport in Boston - arriving Saturday morning in Heathrow, London at 7:30am on Saturday when we begin our very first day. The 5 others who have left at varying times this past week and last will meet us at the car rental locotion right outside of Heathrow. Then, The Moor Tor-ists will begin their almost 200 mile drive to Dartmoor and the Blackadon Barn Cottages - our home for the week.

While we will not be posting further before we leave, our hope is to hopefully pen a few lines on several days while we're on the moor. If not, you can expect a full diary with all of the details, stories and photos of our trip after we return.

Before we leave, I have to thank Malcolm Allderidge from Devon, UK. I can't tell you how helpful and invaluable this total stranger has been to us. It all started after he read our Baker's Dozen trip report and noticed that we were returning to Dartmoor in September. He wrote wondering, while we were at the Dartmoor Prison as mentioned in the diary, did we check out the prison store which held a bevy of boxes at the cash registers. I wrote back, thanking him for the email and told him that we had gotten the boxes there.

This initial email dating back to the beginning of August has turned into a wonderful resource of advice and help from a fellow letterboxer and a friendship has developed. Sue and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malcolm for all of his help and wish he and his wife congratulations on the recent birth of their first granddaughter. Your help has made this coming trip more fantastic than I could have ever imagined, Malcolm!

As you can see, this email contact has blossomed all because of a common love of this game and those great souls who always seem willing to help - even if the person on the receiving end is a total stranger. Ah - the kindness of letterboxers . . . .

I guess there are no strangers in letterboxing - just friends yet to be made!

We Will Never Forget

2007-09-11T10:27:00.000-04:00

Hiking Friends

2007-09-06T20:15:00.000-04:00

Our friends Koyote, BullDawg, Shell, Wisconsin Hiker and Martini Man recently went out for a nice 6 to 7 mile hike this past Labor Day weekend.

BullDawg was kind enough to email us the link to the video to share. The video lasts about 7 minutes and has some great views of the VA countryside.

You can access the video by clicking here. Enjoy!

Sad News . . .

2007-09-05T15:53:00.000-04:00

I just heard from Yorkshire Tortoise from the UK. It seems the historic Cranmere Pool letterbox has had its stamp stolen sometime at the end of August! She was letting us know just in case we had plans to hunt that box next week when we leave for our Dartmoor trip.

Sadly, it appears that stolen letterboxes are not limited to the US. Yorkshire Tortoise hoped the replacement stamp would be returned soon.

Oh The Places You Will Go . . .

2007-09-04T11:46:00.000-04:00

When our 2 sons graduated college, Betsy & Joe, from The Schmoopies, gave them both the Doctor Suess book entitled "Oh, the Places You Will Go." While it fits a college graduate as they persue their careers of choice, it also is a great title to describe letterboxing - and the places that boxes take a boxer.

One of our boxes in VT, Sugarbush Cheese Block, remains one of our most popular boxes. Everyone tells us in emails how they spend way too much money on the wonderful cheeses that they offer for sale and how friendly the staff is. When we planted this box the owners were more than enthusiastic.

Well, yesterday we received a status report via the "Contact Placer" option on Letterboxing.org from our good pal, Rubaduc. It seems she and Gizz had just found the box and remarked how, growing up, the Duc had crossed the bridge mentioned in our clues many times during her childhood while visiting family and attending reunions in that area. As they made their way into the cheese store, Duc remarked to one of the employees that she grew up in the area, etc.

Come to find out one of the employees is a distant cousin of Rubaduc's but was off for the day. The Duc was told that a family reunion was planned and they were looking for lost relatives - Rubaduc and Chapuline (Duc's sister) being two of the missing.

So besides a letterbox and some cheese, this boxer made a long lost family connection and will attend a family reunion. Oh the places you will go . . .

New Look & New Poll

2007-09-03T15:39:00.000-04:00

We've have a new look to our Letterboxing Poll, thanks to a new service called Poll Daddy. Also - to kick of the new look and since our coming Dartmoor adventure is on our minds, there is a new poll dealing with which, if any, of our letterboxing trips you might find interesting. Please vote in the usual spot - the right hand lower column. Thanks.

Plans and More Plans . . .

2007-09-01T16:05:00.001-04:00

We haven't been posting much because we've been planning - making final plans for our upcoming Dartmoor trip; preliminary plans for our June 2008 Letterboxing Cruise and initial plans for our November 2008 Bed & Boxing weekend in Jackson, NH.

Dartmoor is just a week and a half away and already I've had trouble sleeping nights! We have 7 full days planned for the Moor Tor-ists; our band of 16 letterboxers who are anxiously awaiting the trip as well.

7 of us are returning members from our original Bakers Dozen trip and 9 are newbies to to our trip with 7 being new to Dartmoor as well. This trip presented some challenge as 5 of our group are arriving from several days to a week before the core group of 11 travel on Friday, September 14. One of the highlights planned for this trip besides 3 to 4 days on the moor is a day trip to Lands End and Penzance, where we hope to leave a new series that we've all been carving called "Pirates of Penzance." We'll publish clues here on this website when we get home.

Silent Doug, one of the Dartmoor newbies coming with us along with Clueless, is bringing his laptop with him on the trip. I may be forced to post a line or two while we're away if I can sneak off behind Sue's back! If I do post, it will be just a few brief lines without pictures and the usual doodads with which we usually spruce our stories. If all else fails and we don't post during our trip, rest assured that there will be another day-by-day diary similar to our last trip. I'm taking our diary from last trip to add this year's trip's notes for that very reason.

The letterboxing cruise plans are progressing. As of this writing, we have 46 members in our party. If there are some of you that haven't signed up and are still interested, email us. We can book rooms for the cruise until January 15, 2008. The Atlas Quest event listing is located here.

There is still time if you are so inclined. How can you miss - boxing at sea and on the beautiful island of Bermuda with time for yourselves as well! We plan to hunt and leave some boxes on this pink sand island. And, like all cruises, half the fun is getting there!

Our newest Pinecone Adventure, Bed & Boxing, will take place in November of 2008. I spent Thursday evening on a conference call for about an hour making plans with the 3 inn owners as we brainstormed and filled in some needed blanks. There will be more on that after we return from Dartmoor. Signs ups are available. You will need to pay a 50% deposit by July 1, 2008. Again, more on that after we return from Dartmoor.

We have negotiated special pricing for our group for the two nights at one of 3 inns. Also planned, at an additional charge, is a private special Kick Off buffet dinner to take place the Friday night of our arrival. An organized pub dinner on Satuday night is also in the works. Both of these meals will be an additional price to the weekend stay package but will be priced affordably. If all goes well, we hope to make this an annual event with new boxes being added every year for our group.

Needless to say, while we our presence on this blog has been limited as of late, things are going crazy and much is happening in the background.

Beauty from a Boxer's Eyes

2007-08-16T21:16:00.001-04:00

In June of 2006, Sue, Deanne, Dave & I took a trip to Hogland in OR. During that great week, we had occasion to letterbox in the desert of central OR. Funhog threw an intimate gathering at her sty for us and we had the opportunity to finally meet the 4DToes who we had corresponded with over the years. Don and Gwen were with us that night as well. We also met Birder for the first time that warm evening in the desert where we all enjoyed a breath-taking sunset. He joined us later that week at Smith Rock State Park for a box-filled day. This gentle, kind man made such an impression on us.

Forward to a few months ago. I opened a Flickr account and within a week was contacted by Birder. It seems, unbeknown to us, that Birder is a fantastic photographer. While we were in OR, he gifted us with a beautiful original pen & ink drawing so we knew he was left brain but WOW. Below find the link to his Flickr account. His photos are wonderful. We hope you enjoy them and someday get a chance to this boxer who told us the history of central OR, identified wildlife and the terrain. Great work, Birder!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7292036@N05/sets/

Dartmoor is Calling . . . .

2007-08-13T09:19:00.000-04:00

The beauty of the moor is calling and it's getting closer for The Moor Torists - the group of 16 letterboxers we'll be leading to the moor beginning Friday, September 14th.

With just a little more than 4 weeks remaining before we leave for Dartmoor, The Moor Tor-ists are starting to get excited. Plans are being made, friendships in the UK will be renewed, clues have been printed, final payments are being made, stamps are being carved and suitcases will be packed.

After over a year of planning, we are in the home stretch! I've had clothes and gear put aside for many months! Our time nears and we can hardly wait . . .

Another Pinecone Adventure . . . .

2007-08-04T11:44:00.000-04:00

While we've both been swamped at work and haven't been posting much, behind the scenes there's been stuff a-brewin'! We're pleased to announce our next letterboxing adventure for the boxing public . . . . .

It's called "Bed & Boxing." Now don't go rushing to conclusions about the name! This event will take place sometime in November of 2008 in Jackson, NH for a weekend of boxing in the beautiful, classic White Mountains area.

Sue & I were contacted by an inn owner who represented 3 inns that have formed a "Letterboxinn" group. Together, they planted 10 exclusive boxes that are available only to their guests. Boxes are planted in 3 difficulties ranging from easy to more difficult hikes.

We're still working on clarifying the rates, we've negotiated a 10% off reduction that will occur once we have 10 rooms or more booked. The website states a $319 rate for the weekend but I'm awaiting clarification that this is a per couple rate and then the 10% reduction will be off of that. The rate will include 2 nights stay at one of the 3 inns, full breakfast daily and an afternoon snack daily.

Details are still being planned as you can see. Our thoughts are after a hearty New England breakfast, we'll depart for some boxing on Saturday, arrange for a dinner together apart from the inns and maybe fit in some more boxing on Sunday after breakfast and before we depart for home. Keep an eye here for further details once our Dartmoor trip is over.

UPDATE: The cost for the weekend for 2 people is between $250 and $350, depending on which of the 3 inns you choose. The 2 more upscale inns are $300 and $350 per couple. We'll be including links to the inns shortly.

If you think you are interested, drop us an email or better yet, sign up below!

Click here to see details for
Bed and Boxing

Our First Doggie Add-On!

2007-07-30T14:35:00.001-04:00

Good friend and uberhiker, Rubaduc, has just posted the very first add-on to our Dog Walk Series challenge. See story below.

Like the little guy on the left, it's called Wag It.

Now that the ice is broken, we hope to see more! If you don't feel comfortable carving a dog breed, do like the 'Duc and carve a dog-related box! If you let us know when you post a new add-on, we'll add it to the bottom of the page in the Add-on section of our Dog Walk clues.

Another Way to Walk Your Dog!

2007-07-28T13:35:00.000-04:00

We received a nice email this week from Hez, Grumpy & Mona. They had just completed our Dog Walk series. And, apparently Mona Dog, who has been trained to operate a computer keyboard, asked why her breed, Chihuahua, was not represented in our series!

That email got me to thinking that this might be a nice way to enhance this series. Why not develop your own dog breeds that are different from the ones we've added and plant them in the same area?

Now they would not be part of our series - but your own boxes with your own clues - you would just state that they are add-on boxes to the Dog Walk series. Let's see how many different breeds we can have walking their way around this park. Don't neglect the other trails that are located here as well.

Soon, we'll hear the barking of all different breeds from our front door since we live close by to this area. Who wants to play????

Ivy Weighs In . . .

2007-07-24T16:04:00.000-04:00

Friend and fellow blogger, Poison Ivy, has offered his take on the goings on with CT's missing boxes. It's interesting to read the opinions of one from afar - who has no emotional attachment to the situation. I have to say that I agree. Read Ivy's take here.

Wonder if a safer approach to letterboxing, I wrote to PI, might be to consider your box lost the day you plant it. Then, every day it survives is a bonus.

I really think a lesson should be learned from all of this. We placers have to plant more difficult boxes - mysteries, coded clues, picture clues and on longer hikes. This will keep the muggles away.

Why would they pilfer boxes that they cannot find?

It's a Black Day for Boxing in CT

2007-07-23T22:44:00.000-04:00

We've been following, with heavy hearts, the unfolding story about what has happened here in CT. Over the weekend, 3 well-known areas, chocked full of letterboxes, have slowly reported missing boxes. And it's not the ordinary one or two boxes that you hear about from time to time. About 150 boxes at this point have gone missing over this past weekend alone and the concern of the CT boxing community is where does this end? Who would do something like this? It takes on such a surreal dimension.

Part of me says that publishing this story only feeds the perpetrators who might be seeking publicity. But the other half of me says that the word must get out. Maybe by informing the local boxing community, we can save some of these targeted boxes.

In an effort to stop this crime, many have archived their clues on the LBNA. Some of us feel that it might be too late as these hoodlums have probably printed off clues for all the areas of their earmarked hits. While the CT boxing community explores every possible option to catch these thieves, we ask that those of you in CT to stay aware and be vigilant. Keep your eyes open for possible problems or anyone who might look suspicious.

We'll keep you informed of developments as they occur. This is a story that we never expected to write - a most horrible deed done to those creative, wonderful letterboxers who have worked so hard to make CT a great place to box. We keep hoping we'll wake up in the morning and discover this has just been a bad dream . . .

Still Time for Cruisin'

2007-07-19T08:43:00.000-04:00

Are you pondering whether you can make our First Ever Letterboxing Cruise next June?

There is still time to sign up if you are so inclined. With about 50 passengers signed up to date; there's always room for more letterboxers to join in the fun! There are plans for all kinds of mischief! You never know what will happen when boxing and water meet!

Visit our Cruise Page for further details and email me ASAP!

The News is Very Grave . . .

2007-07-17T10:39:00.000-04:00

Like in a cemetery, we mean!

Pictured at the right is a lunette, which is the center top, half moon-shaped part of a headstone. Those of you versed in French realize how this term came to be since lune is the French term for moon.

Where is this all going, you may wonder . . .

There's a new letterboxer in CT called Nomad Indian Saint, who just published a series of individual boxes highlighting various lunettes in ancient cemeteries around CT. So far, published boxes appear in Storrs, Canterbury, Tolland, Hampton, Pomfret, Coventry & Bozrah.

Might there be more lunettes in our future?
Only time and Nomad Indian Saint will tell.