A-Letterboxing We Go - With Updates!

So, I had the boy ditch school on Tuesday, because it was supposed to rain for the next forty gagillion days and well, it's fun.

We spent the day, much like we did last June, letterboxing. I tell yeh, for basically the cost of gas and a blank notebook it's pretty damn good. Well, at least for us. My kids love trouncing through the woods and sometimes muck, which isn't necessary all the time but I don't live anywhere near a booming metropolis...lotsa leaves and birds and brooks and such.

Anyway, letterboxing. You grab a blank notebook, a rubber stamp (preferably homemade),inkpad & a pen. Locate your destination on the website, print a few clues and that's it, you're off. Oh, sometimes you might need a compass too, read your clue carefully before you head out. I generally pack everything into a little backpack with my camera, keys & cell phone.

In some cases the directions are purposely vague. Peh. I'm more of a direct route kind of girl and the kids have little patience for driving aimlessly while I figure out our destination based on compass points and riddles. I digress. Most clues are amazingly to the point and still provide enough of a search for the kids.

And what are we searching for? Sounds ridiculously ridiculous, but we're looking for a tupperware container that holds a rubber stamp, log book, etc (basically all of the things that you've brought with you). You use their stamp, usually handmade and sometimes pertaining to the location of the box, and inkpad in your log book and you stamp their logbook with your stamp. That's it.
We've only gone out and done this four or five times, a total of 13 boxes found, so I'm certainly no expert. Partly it's the thrill of the hunt, partly it's the fun in looking at everyone else's stamps and now we've done enough to recognize some of the stamps from other letterboxers from the area.

But I have to say, I've been living in this area for ten years and I can't believe the places I've driven by without noticing. Parks,

walking trails and

monuments.
The World's Best Italian Ices and

beachfront playgrounds we never knew existed.

All in all, a good day.

And now I'm going to press publish and cross my fingers because blogger is driving me batty.


UPDATE: Here are some pictures of my homemade stamp. I feel all exposed showing my true uncraftiness like this...
I used a white vinyl eraser and an Exacto knife. Sadly, this took me awhile to do. Just a note: Remember to carve the mirror image of the what you want the stamped image to look like...because carving it twice...not as much fun.