My Bit of Earth

Wamego Letterboxing

Spent the weekend up the road in the small town of Wamego meeting a new arrival and visiting Nice Grandma and Dad. 

Yesterday afternoon Nice Dad, the pups, and I slipped out for some letterboxing in the area.  We started with the Bison Bison box, which was hidden in a pretty little rock wall near Tuttle Creek.  (The "bison" in this picture were crafty pointers to the box!)  It was a nice little walk for this time of year, but I wouldn't want to do it in the summer--lots of thorns and I picked up a tick, as well! 

Then we drove out to Pillsbury Crossing--a little stream with a shallow place that cars can ford into and a waterfall--and found Grandma's Think Tank.  I won't spoil the surprise, of course, but the stamp made me giggle.

(Letterboxing: P4 F7 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

Hello March! Hello Mud! Hello Outside Fun!

It was gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous here today--sunny, seventy, breezy--so this afternoon we took the dogs to the dog park and planted a letterbox I've been hoarding for awhile.  But before I get to the box, I have to share this picture.

This lovely pup is a Golden named Ella.  While Sweet Husband and I--and Ella's horrified owners--looked on, Ella did a perfect circle, sniffed once, and joyfully flopped down right in the middle of the gooshiest mud puddle in the park.  Some days I'm very grateful that my dogs are just a little prissy, or, at least, prissier than Ella!

But on to our letterboxing....

Lovely Lawrence #2: Dog Friendly Town

This box is planted at "Mutt Run" a dog park near Clinton Lake in Lawrence, Kansas.  (Directions.)  Your dog can be off-leash for this entire walk, and you'll probably meet some new doggie pals.  However, I wouldn't recommend looking for this box after a strong rain unless you have proper mud gear!  (See above picture.)

When you get to the park, you'll see a red gate at the end of the parking area.  Go past the gate, across the small bridge, and continue to follow the path--you should be walking east, generally.  Before long the path will turn to the right.  Continue following the path.  Just a bit further the path will turn again, this time to the left.  There the path basically ends in a large field.  Just as you come out of the trees, you'll see this mound to your right.  The box is underneath a large rock next to the tree that's basically in the center of the mound. 

If you go hunting, leave a comment and let me know how you find it!

See also: Lovely Lawrence #1:  Rock Chalk Jayhawk!; Lovely Lawrence #3:  The Kaw.

(Letterboxing: P4 F5 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

Letterboxing on the Kaw

Don't ask what happened to #2--I numbered the boxes so that they'll make the most sense when they're all laid out, not in the order I'm placing them--but yesterday Sweet Husband, the dogs, and I placed Lovely Lawrence #3:  The Kaw.  Here's how to get to it:

From downtown Lawrence, Kansas, take Massachusetts Street north until you get to the bridge that crosses the Kansas River (a.k.a. the Kaw).  Cross the bridge.  As you cross the bridge, if you look to your right you'll see the pictured large mural made of rocks in the north side of the river bank.  Make the first right turn after the bridge, and park your car near the park benches.

Climb up the hill to get to the trail that runs along the river.  Follow the trail east until you get to the mural.  Walk down the path on the eastern side of the mural until you get to the place where the edge of the mural comes to a point. 

From the lowest of the bricks that outline the edge of the mural, face directly away from the mural.  About 20 feet out into the rocks, you'll see an almost perfectly square hole.  (Here's an extra hint.)  Reach down into the hole to find the letterbox.  Be careful to watch for snakes!

See also:  Lovely Lawrence #1:  Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

(Letterboxing: P3 F5 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

Snow, Trio

Went for another snowy walk today; this time on the trails near the Kansas River and with dogs in tow.  We've had the greatest winter weather these past few weeks.  It seems like as soon as the snow starts to melt we get another two or three inches to top it off and keep everything white and beautiful. 

However, today I discovered that while snow is lovely for walking it isn't very good for letterboxing.  The dogs and I walked for a full hour along the river trail and couldn't find a satisfactory place to put my new "Kaw River" letterbox.  There were a few hopeful spots, but in the end it was just too hard to tell how well camouflaged the box would be once the snow melts. 

Eh, it's a good excuse to go back another day....

Boxing in Gorilla-Land

Sweet Sister and I planted a letterbox today in my old college stomping ground.  As far as I can tell--although there are zillions of geocaches--it's the only letterbox within the town proper.  If you want to hunt, here's the clue:

Bananas For Gorillas

In southeast Kansas, there's a lovely little college with a gorilla of a mascot.  Find the campus, then find the football stadium.  Behind the stadium you'll find a lake and the gazebo pictured.  Cross the bridge that's near the gazebo to get to the island in the center of the lake.  Once on the island, follow the path to the beginning of the other bridge.  Just before you step onto the second bridge, there will be a tree to your left with a hole near the bottom.  If you poke around there, you'll find a stamp any gorilla would love.

(Letterboxing: P2 F5 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

We Planted Our First Letterbox!

Moe and I planted our first letterbox today!  Here's the clue if you feel like going hunting:

Lovely Lawrence #1: Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

To find this letterbox, you need to enter the building pictured, which is on the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, Kansas.  (Hint:  You can see this building from the football field, and sometimes you can hear it even further away than that.)

Walk into the building.  It doesn't matter which door you go in, but to find the letterbox you must exit the door with the words, "in the vanguard" carved above it.  Directly in front of you, there will be a cement bench.  Facing the football field from the bench, look to your left.  You will see a wooden barrier that conceals a light.  Walk around behind the barrier.  Facing back towards the building, look under left corner of the barrier.  The letterbox is wedged between the ground and the bottom of the barrier, covered with leaves.

If you find the box, drop me a line and let me know what your think!

And I almost forgot--I left the Quasimodo Hitchhiker here for the first finder!

(Letterboxing: P1 F5 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

1/6/08 UPDATE:  This box has been ever-so-temporarily removed for repairs.  I hope to have it back out shortly!

1/12/08 UPDATE:  The box is repaired and back in place!

4/23/08 UPDATE:  This box has sadly disappeared.  :(  I suspect it was removed by the University landscaping crew.  I will replace it eventually, but for now there's nothing there but a great view.

One Out of Four Wasn't Bad

Saturday was a perfect Fall day--a little gray (the better to offset the glorious leaves), cool (but not cold), and just a bit breezy.  Sweet Husband was away, Porter was sleeping, so Moe and I decided to head out to find some area letterboxes.

We set out to find four, but things didn't quite turn out that way.

First, I thought we'd try to drop off our hitchhiker at the I-70 Joyrider Hitchhiker Hostel.  For this letterbox we were required to figure out several "license plate number" clues to find the correct location.  I was able to figure out the general area, but I couldn't figure out the exact location.  I'm not good at word puzzles to begin with, and Moe--who was not happy to be in the car when he had been promised a walk--did not help my thinking process.  Eventually I had to vow to try again another day.

I Picked Up a Hitchhiker

Don't worry Mom and Dad, it wasn't a real one--I picked up a letterboxing hitchhiker.

Much like the little geocaching "travel bug" I found yesterday, a hitchhiker is a mini-letterbox that people carry from letterbox to letterbox.  The one I found (pictured at right) was just a tiny stamp and logbook inside a very small plastic bag. 

The first time we found the He Said, She Said box, I wasn't prepared with a logbook and stamp.  So this morning--since it was gorgeous out--I wandered back and found the box again so that I could properly stamp in.  The hitchhiker had evidently been placed there yesterday.

I looked it up and discovered it was part of a series of "Hunchback of Notre Dame" stamps that the placer had liberated from a thrift store in Ohio.  This particular stamp was Quasimodo, and he traveled from Ohio to Illinois to Indiana to Tennessee and then mysteriously popped up in my neck of the woods. 

I'm thinking of making a few boxes of my own in the next few weeks--if I can figure out the stamp carving thing--so I may save him to stash with one of them...if I don't get the urge to get out and find more boxes before then!

(Letterboxing: P0 F4 X0 / Geocaching: P0 F2)

...But a Good Day Letterboxing

Over the past few weeks I've been learning about a new hobby called letterboxing. 

It's a pretty simple game.  Someone hides a container (usually Tupperware) with a small notebook and stamp inside.  Part of the idea is to hide the box someplace pretty or off the beaten path--some place special that people might otherwise miss. Also, although it's not required, people often carve their own stamps, so each one is unique. 

Once the box is hidden, the person who placed it then posts clues on the internet about the box's location (see LbNA and Atlas Quest).  Others read the clue and use it to find the box.  When you find a box you stamp the box stamp in a notebook that you carry.  Then you stamp your own stamp, your "trail name", and the date into the notebook in the box.  People keep track of how many boxes they've found, and how many boxes they've placed.  (This is known as a PFX count, for "Placed, Found, Exchanged.")

Letterboxing is similar to geocaching, except that geocaches are found through GPS coordinates and geocachers trade stuff (small trinkets, coins, etc.) instead of stamps.  Although they're separate things, it seems that a lot of people hide hybrid letterbox/geocaches.