Letterboxing Staycation

This week 3 of my 4 kids are out of town.  So the baby and I have been letterboxing like it is 1999.  Well, letterboxing didn't hit my area until 2006 but you know what I mean.  On Monday we went around to several cities around Evansville; we looked for 6 boxes in 6 different cities.  We found 3 and 2 hitchhikers.

Cemetery in Patoka

The first box we looked for was in Princeton.  We had looked for this box before but come to find out we were looking in the wrong cemetery.  But we easily found it this time.

Our second box of the day was in Patoka.  It was supposed to be in a tree on the edge of a cemetery but we couldn't find it.  That was frustrating because someone had just found it in April.  I guess I will have to try again another day.

Covered bridge in Wheeling

The third box was at a covered bridge in Wheeling.  It was up high and hard to get to but I got it.  This box is part of a series of old bridges in our area.  We have looked for 3 of them and found 2 of the boxes.  I plan to try that one we couldn't find again.

For box four, we left Wheeling and got a little lost.  I missed one of our turns and it took us a little longer to get to Petersburgh.  We took the scenic route ;)  The box in Petersburgh was also in a cemetery.  This box was easy to find in a large stump at the back.  But the box was sharing the stump with a geocache and the stamp was missing from the letterbox.  The logbook for the letterbox was clearly marked but the box was not.  By looking at the logbook we could see that it was a beautiful stamp.  We sent a message to the geochachers but I doubt that we will hear back from them :(

Cemetery in Petersburgh

(Now, we were supposed to get another box in Petersburgh but my clues were jumbled and we missed it.  So we went back on Tuesday.  It was also in a cemetery on the way out of town.  It had been there for a few years but only had 2 previous finders.  I was excited to find this one even thought we went out of our way to get it.)   

10 Commandments at St Peters Church in Stendal

The fifth box on Monday was at a church in Stendal.  This box was planted in 2008 and was attempted in 2010.  I didn't plan on finding it but since we were out that way we stopped.  We couldn't find the box but the church was nice to look at.  

Box six was a brand new box planted in Birdseye.  The planter had 3 other boxes here but 2 went missing.  We were lucky and got them last year.  This one had a similar theme as the others.  It was planted inside the local general store and the guy actually knew what we wanted when we asked him for it.  That doesn't usually happen.  The last time we had to ask for a box we were at a restaurant and they looked for 15 minutes before they found it.

When we were done there we stopped at Ferdinand State Forrest.  We planted a 4 part series here for PAL Day.  The first finders sent me a message that one of the trees referenced in the clue had been cut down.  So we went to check it out and ended up moving the box and changing the clue.

Finally we came back to Evansville.  I had planned on plating 2 boxes at our county fair grounds.  We hid the first one with no issues.  This was a stamp that we has gotten thru the GAQLBE2013 (Letterbox Exchange).  Then I wanted to plant the stamp of my niece with the pig at the picnic area near the playground.  But there was guy mowing the grass there.  To pass the time we used the restroom and played for a little bit.  It goes down hill from here!  The guy cutting the grass runs out of gas and another guy brings him more.  And they sit around and talk for what feels like forever.  So we pack up and go home.  

New Harmony, In

Tuesday was a wet day but I was determined to get out and letterbox.  We searched for a box in New Harmony for the 4th time!  I can't find the blooming thing.  I give up, you can't pay me to walk back there again.

Next stop is a rest stop.  I have told you before that someone posted on AQ that they would be traveling around and wanted to plant boxes as they went.  I sent them a stamp and they planted it close to me.  I recently got a message that it was missing.  I went to check and it is really gone. 

Then we went to Petersburgh and got the box that we missed and came back home to plant our fair grounds box in the rain.  Nice thing about planting in the rain is that you don't have to worry about other people being around :)

PAL Day 2013

This is my second year to participate in Plant A Letterbox Day.  Last year Indiana had 2 boxes on PAL Day, they were both here in Evansville, and I planted one of them.  This year Indiana had 10 and I planted 6.  I planted one the day before and listed it on the actual day but the others I waited until the day to plant.

The box I planted the day before PAL Day was at a local library.  They are celebrating their 100th birthday this year and planted a box in every branch.  We have a letterbox at one of the other libraries in town that looks just like this one.  So we had to plant one here too.  It is in the park outside the library.  My kids really enjoyed playing on the playground here.

This creek bed is at Ferdinand State Forest.  We camped here for Spring Break and decided then that we would plant some boxes here for PAL Day. I planted a 4 part series from stamps that we carved last year for a Phineas and Ferb LTC swap.  I hope people enjoy the trail and our stamps.

These photos were taken at Hemlock Cliffs in Crawford Co, Indiana.  We drive by a sign for the cliffs several times a year while visiting family in the area but I had never stopped to check them out.  It was beautiful and I will have to bring my husband and kids back to see it sometime.

Spring Break 2013

Lego Clone Trooper, Lil Ewok & R2-D2 waiting for breakfast 

Exploring the trails at Ferdinand State Forest, In 

For about a year my husband has been saying that we should go camping for a whole week.  So for Spring Break we camped for 4 days/3 nights at Ferdinand State Forest.  I have been thinking about planting a series here for PAL Day so it was a good opportunity to check out the trails and look for hiding spots.  We hiked a 3 mile loop but once we were done I decided that for the series it would be better to do the trail backward.

Since we were away from home we did some letterboxing too.  We got two boxes in Jasper, one in Ireland, and one in Holland.  We also picked up a HH that is trying to get back to California.

Schnitzelbank Restaurant in Jasper, In

This is a cemetery in Ireland, In.  We got the box in the Pet Cemetery across the road. 

Lego Clone Trooper & Daddy's Favorite Princess in Holland, In

Stressful Day

Ferdinand State Forrest 

I had nothing to do today and the weather was supposed to be in the 50's and I decided to go letterboxing.  It started off to be a bad day.  I went to check on a box and as I was leaving the park I realized that I needed gas.  At the gas station I went to grab my purse and noticed that I did not get my letterboxing bag.  I had spent a lot of time printing clues and maps and totally forgot my bag.

I went home to get the bag and on the way out again I stop to do maintenance on two more boxes.  I get to the next town and I was going to look at my clues at a stop light and I realize that part of the clues were missing.  Now I have to go home again!

I finally have all the clues and my bag and head off.  We get to the first box in Troy and we had no problems finding it.  It was planted earlier this week and we were first finders.  I let the baby crawl around in the car while I did the stamping since it was a drive by.  We loaded up and headed down the road again.  The baby starts screaming so we stop for lunch and he settles down.

The next box we stopped for was actually at the Sandstones of Time event in Cannelton that we went to back in October but couldn't find it.  The event host planted it permanently and we first finders at the new location.  This place already has a box and we found it after the event.

Huffman Covered Bridge 

Then we went to the Huffman Bridge and we could not find the box.  You were supposed to rummage thru a pile of rip rap looking for a rock with a stripe on it.  I didn't see any such rocks and turned over several but found nothing.  

Next we went to Ferdinand to a local park.  There was supposed to be a box but we could not find it.  The clues were very vague, like they forgot to type something.  It was a very nice little park.

The last box we looked for was at Ferdinand State Forrest.  We found this one easily and took a potty break.  I plan on planting a series here for PAL Day.  It is a set of stamps that we used for LTCs that need to be out in the wild.

I had more clues printed off but with the late start we only got 3 of the 5 that we looked for.  I guess that means we have more to look for on another day.