Team New Hampshire's Letterboxing Tales

Palm Springs CA, 2011 - Day 3 - Oh, This Can't Be Good!

2011-08-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Now that we have officially wasted 2 day of our vacation at airport of your pick, it was now time to do something to move past the horrible start. I woke up at 8:00am which was quite awesome. For months, I have had issues making it to the alarm, waking up before it goes off. Now keep it in mind, I woke up at 8:00am PST, which is 11:00am EST. Considering how I would always wake up prior to 6:00am, every single day, I was excited to have slept in so late. Original plans were to wake up early do to the time change screwing up my body, taking the children out to the desert, and leaving them there! No, I am kidding! We were gonna head out to the desert before it got to hot to check out the desert life. I had done this last year and I thought the children would love to see the native environment. We didn't end up doing this though because of the set back we suffered over the last few days, so instead, we were off to Sea World in San Diego.

The trip to San Diego started around 10:00am. Sarah and I had been to San Diego last year for the San Diego Zoo and a Padres game, so getting there wasn't hard. We had to take Route 74 through the mountains, which is an amazing road. it twists and turns through the mountains at speeds of 55mph. Seems a bit to fast but not for me! I love the speed around the corners. I would love those corners a bit more if we were driving my WRX instead of the Prius, but nonetheless, I enjoyed it either way. Can't say the same for Sarah. She used a few choice words as we cruised around some of those corners.

The trip to San Diego took about 2 hours. The parking lot was packed and the walk to the gate was long. Once we made it through the gate, we planned our route. The Shamu show had started already so we decided to come back to it a bit later. We saw plenty of fish, seals, whales, and sharks, on our way around the park. One place we stumbled on as we started around the park was an arena which hosted Cirque De La Mer. I had never seen one of these shows and it was gonna start in about 30 minutes so why not grab a seat before they all disappear.

We sat in the front row of this show and while we waited, two Cirque characters started a pre-show show. There was a platform out in the middle of the water where many more performers would do their thing in a little bit, but back to those two Cirque Characters. They would do a bit of a comedy act for the crowd and eventually make it to a platform which was right in front of everyone. This is where things got interesting. They started trying to impress each other by getting their respective half of the arena to cheer louder. What first started out as a hand raise quickly turned into arm flexing. What first started out as an act on this platform quickly turned into and act that went around the arena. The character on our side of the arena would stop at each row and do a bit of flexing and growling to get the crowd louder than his counter part. Row by row he would do this until he reached the last row. He would return back where he came repeating himself over and over again until....... he stopped in front of me. He flexed and gave a growl directed at me. I growled back and took a picture. It was at this point I knew I was in trouble. He pointed at me and called me "Paparazzi!" He grabbed my hand and brought me up to the platform in where we met his counterpart, whom had found someone himself. This was gonna get good!

We'll call my guy "Green," as he wore a green vest, and the other guy a "Blue," for the same reason. So Green indicated he wanted me to do what he does, so he flexed one arm, flexed the other, and did a jig. I can't say it did it exactly as he did, but I'd say it was rather close. I had almost fell over in laughter amaze by what I got myself into. Blue had done a few things and the person he found repeated. This would go back in forth for about 5 minutes, showing off my skills to the crowd, receiving applause for everything I did. Finally, they switched off, Blue indicating that I was not as good as I seemed. Blue had done a few karate chops which I did followed by the water sprinkler. I was having fun. Now Green showed the other guy a few things consisting of an arm flex, another arm flex, hand clap push ups, and a hand stand. Blue was flipping out as he felt his guy couldn't do it, but wouldn't you know, he attempted it anyway. I gave that guy such props for doing it all. in the end, Blue and his guy won the competition and I headed off to my seat. The guy that won had actually continued to be a part of the show. He ended up being bullied by Green and Blue during the whole show, getting stuck in a huge ball which floated in the water, hit from time to time by a jet ski during he show once it started. Even though it would have been awesome to be that guy, I had already done more than I thought I would have done all vacation. This totally made up for the beginning of my vacation.

Once the show ended, we continued around the park to a Sesame Street 4D show. It was cute and actually scary from time to time. Water would be shot at you from the back of the seat in front of you. Air would be shot from the same place as well as from under your seat. And once in a while, your seat would shake violently! Think about how crappy your cell phone vibrates and multiply that by a million! It was enough to scare anyone!

From there we ventured off to the seal lion show called "Sea Lion Live." It was kinda a knock off of Saturday Night Live, where they would do skits of different things. They did Sea Lion Idol, and Sea Lion S.I.. They had a seal dress up like Superman and an otter would show up from time to time and be a part of the act as well. A very cute way to do a show. A break from the norm.

Afterwards we headed off to the turtle reef. I guess this is a new exhibit in the park and the turtles they had came from all over the world. As we walked around this part of the park, we stumbled across a statue of a turtle on a fake sandy beach. I wanted to get picture of the children with the turtle but as we walked up to this statue, a small boy ran over to it and hope on. I have no idea what this kid was doing. It looked like he was trying to mate with it. Sarah and I watched, making comments about what the kid was doing. Eventually we started to grow frustrated with this child hoping he would stop humping it so we can get some pictures. I don't think he spoke any english as Sarah and I made comment indicating we want to get pictures when your done frisking it. A guy, whom I would assume was his father, finally came to get him, and we finally got to take pictures before someone else came by to hump the turtle.

After the turtle, went to get lunch. Food was outrageously expensive there but it wasn't half bad. It was a lot of food. So Sarah had 1 tray of food and I had another, hers seemed a bit heavier than mine. I placed my tray on the table we were to sit at outside, where all the tables were, and went back to help Sarah since she was lagging behind. As I started back to help her, a huge seagull which was walking in front of her, started to fly up and attack her, or at least that's what it looked like it was doing. I quickly grabbed the tray as Sarah started flipping out and brought it to the table. The bird flew away and Sarah calmed down and headed to our table. We discussed what had just happened and I noticed that some seagulls were hanging out around the tables looking for food. I put down a few fries and then started feeding them by hand. It was at that point when I started feeding them by hand that I had realized I was probably rewarding the bird that attacked Sarah, with fries. Oh well.

After we got done eating, we watch the most amazing animals on the planet. We saw the Blue Horizon show which took the grace and elegance of a dozen dolphins and some beautiful birds from all over the world and watched as they combined them both in a show. Dolphins jumped about 14 feet into the air, splashed some people, and danced atop the water with ease. I truly love dolphins as I think they are the smartest water animals. We had sat further back since Sarah didn't want to get wet, but even though we sat out of water range, I still enjoyed the show as the children did.

As the day turned to night, it was now time to head back. It was a long drive and I didn't want to be driving all night, and Sarah didn't either. So we left for Pines to Palms Highway. Now if you remember how I had mentioned Sarah's dislike of our drive earlier in the day, you can only imagine her dislike of the ride at night. Now last year when I took this route for the first time at night, I drove it rather slow. This time around, I was not taking any prisoners. I drove that road as if I owned it. Sarah had spit out more choice words this time around and it even got to a point where it seemed as though she started to cry. It was at this moment that I decided to slow down. Of course, it was at this point the highway was not so twisty and turny. Either way, she was not a happy camper and she was upset with me for the rest of the evening. Hey! We got back in record time, and I wanted to go to bed!

Palm Springs, CA 2011 - Day 2 - California Love

2011-08-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

Day 2 started right where day 1 left off, in Logan Airport. Things started off quite interesting. Not only did we have to sleep in the airport out side of the security checkpoint, but we had to sleep on the floor! Yes, I said the floor. All the chairs were hard as heck and not that there was a chair to be found anywhere. So we dropped our bags on the floor and tried to do our best to get some sleep.

Now I had set the alarm for 4:00am to make sure we get up nice and early to try and get on the flight plane out of Boston. Little did I know, we would not need an alarm. All 3 of us would have our issues trying to sleep. Between the guy who had to clean the floor with his big loud cleaning machine, and the people who were arriving at the airport from other places, that was enough to make for a long night. There was one point were I woke up needed to use the bathroom. I found out it was all the way down towards the end of a long hallway, way down there! Not far from where the children and I was camped out was an older couple. I bothered the gentlemen for a second asking if he wouldn't mind watching the children for a moment while I head off to the bathroom. e said that would not be a problem. Except it was! When I turned to show Michaela and Bailey were sleeping, Bailey was no where to be found. He was not sleeping where I last saw him or around the pillar where Michaela and I were sleeping! Where did he go? I looked up and Bailey was heading my way with a Logan Airport employee, face full of tears. It sounded as though he had wandered off in his sleep. When he came to he realized he had no idea where he was and freaked out. Luckily, someone saw him and they started walking the length of the hall, eventually finding me. The guy stated he called the State Police and someone will be by to check on Bailey and I in a minute or so. He did show up and all was well.

We did manage to get about and hour more of sleep until we gave up and started watching old episodes of The Simpsons on Hulu, about and hours worth. Then, we saw that Lindsy and Valina were heading to the security checkpoint to ensure they got good spots in line. We would soon join them. At 4:00am, the checkpoint opened and we started filing through, until a small set back! "Bag check on 3!" Yes that was my bag! Now, I had not put anything extra into may bag since first arriving at Logan Airport the morning prior. What could possibly be in my bag that set the alarm off? It was the laptop. Now let me go back for a second to yesterday when we first arrived. I had my laptop in my backpack and sent it through the scanner as everyone else did, no problems. So why this time. The guy told me that I had to take the laptop out of the bag when it goes through the scanner as you can not see through the laptop. It's a security thing. I told him about how I didn't do it last time and nobody said anything to me and he did not look happy! I know better next time!

So we finally get through the checkpoint and we head back to terminal 33B where the first flight heads out at 6:00am. When the flight showed up on the terminal screen, it showed we were people 5,6,7, on the standby list. We had lost a few spots on the list. So getting out on the first flight did not look good at all for us, or what it would seem for anyone else for that matter. This was going to be a long day. First slight came and went, with only a couple of standby folk getting on the plane. Second flight was scheduled for 7:00am, and again a couple standby made it on the plane. 8:00am flight showed some signs, but when our name was called, we were informed they only had 1 seat. I had to turn it down. Now, something very strange happened when the 11:00 flight to Dallas popped on the screen. We were no longer on the standby list. Oh no, this would not do. I headed to the counter to find out what the issue was and the teller had no idea why I was taking off the list, but assured me that things would be fine. Of course, I had no idea what that meant, but I hoped she knew what she was talking about. Now, something I failed to mention earlier in this post, we were guaranteed to leave Logan at 6:45pm tonight, a direct flight to LAX, told to us last night just after the last flight left for Dallas. When I approached the counter, I asked if that was the reason we were taken off the list. I explained that half of my family is already in California and I am growing ever increasingly frustrated that the reason we slip up was to make it easier to get to Cali, not make it just as hard. she again told me everything would be fine. We would see.

So the 11:00am flight to Dallas started boarding and in the end, again only 1 seat was available. No such luck. Once the flight had gone, Valina and Lindsy came over and started to hang out with us. They were by themselves on the other end of terminal 32B now and figured we can all pass the time together. I got to know them a little better and the children had someone else to help pass the time. We would find out shortly that we were going to be leaving our company for the friendly location of Dallas Forth-Worth.

The 12:45pm flight for Dallas was boarding and I could here the teller calling a party of 3 several times before they gave up and called us to the counter. I raised 3 fingers to check if indeed it was for 3 seats and she shook her head yes! YES! We were out of here! 30 hours at Logan and no more! We boarded the plane after saying or goodbyes to Lindsy and Valina, wishing them luck. I never thought I would say this, but the flight was the worst ever! Now, don't get me wrong, I was certainly glad to get the heck out of Boston, but try sitting down for 30 hours in crappy seats and then fit yourself into an airplane seat for 3 more hours! They were not to forgiving either. It wasn't until we reached Dallas that our rear quarters got some relief.

I can't ever say I have actually spent anytime at the Dallas Forth-Worth Airport. I have been there several times but never had a layover of any sort. It was always get off the plane and hurry your tush up to the next terminal, all the way on the other side of the airport. We had an hour to eat lunch and relax a little before heading off to Santa Ana for our final destination. The children got to charge there portable DVD players and I the laptop. Surprisingly, my cell phone was doing rather well, still half charged, being as the charger was in my luggage, in California. I did do a lot of Facebooking on my phone in Boston before I figured out how the free Wi-Fi worked there. Anyhow, at 5:00pm, the flight for Santa Ana started boarding and we were one of the first on the plane. Found our seats and we were well on our way to California now!

In the plane looking out, you could see some of the wild fires still burning in Texas, the dried up lake beds and rivers that were to have fed them if they could. You could see huge canyons where water once flowed and mountains waving at us was we flew by. And then there was California, the Golden State greeting us on the runway. It never felt sweeter.

Sarah and Levi were to meet us at the airport. How to find her would be the tricky part as she does not do cell phones. I don't want to get into it right now, so don't get me started. We stood out by the curb once we exited the airport and waited for her. Probably about 10 minutes worth of waiting which felt twice as long as everyone else outside was being picked up. And then my phone rang! Pretty weird since I am waiting for someone whom doesn't carry a cell phone, and she is calling me. Come to find out, she was waiting for us inside the airport. I told her where I was and she met us outside. It was a happy moment seeing her again. I thought we would never get to California and have our vacation as a whole. We headed to the car and the drive began to Palm Springs. That was the best hour and a half drive I ever made! When we arrived, we ate real quick and we were all out cold.

Palm Springs, CA 2011 - Day 1 - You F*ckin Kidding Me!

2011-08-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

The time is 3:ooam, when my alarm went off. It was important that we left on time to ensure we get to the airport on time. I took a shower and dressed and everyone was out the door, in the van, and on the road by 3:30am. Now the trip to Boston's Logan Airport is only an hour from our house. We stopped at the bank real quick as well as a gas station to grab some breakfast, which couldn't have taken any longer than 5 minutes at the most. traffic was light and the drive was rather smooth.

Now, here is where is gets real tricky. We arrive at the airport and had to find parking. I tried to get into the lot we parked in last year for this vacation, but it was not open. As I tried to circle the lot, but somehow I got on to Route 1A. I had to take the next exit and turn around. Easy! Went back to where we started and found the lot I needed to park in. Parked the van, grabbed our stuff and then boarded the shuttle bus. The bus took probably 5 minutes to get going and about another 5 minutes to get to our terminal. Got in the wrong line, was directed to the correct line, waited there for about 5 minutes, went to check in and found out we checked in a couple minutes to late. Now let me start by telling you that there were 5 of us. Sarah & I, Michaela, Bailey, & Levi. I kinda failed to inform you of this prior, but nonetheless, things were about to get interesting. I wanted to start crying. The women at the counter told us we needed to get in line over there and rebook our flight. I looked at that women and couldn't believe was she just said. She told us we were late and we needed to be here atleast 45 minutes before our flight. It was this moment I had realized we lost about an hour of time somewhere. Either way, I told her the ticket that was printed said 30 minutes, so take that one lady! Either way, it got us no where, we were late!

We got in the line she told us to get into and waited, and waited, and watched as our 6:00am flight to Chicago left the departure screen. The women that told us we were late came over to us originally and told us to stand in this line, was looking for people that were boarding at 7:00am, found a couple and seemed like she made a point to point out to us that we didn't fall into that category before we were late. Not a happy camper I was. She did this twice as if to continue to rub it in. We waited and waited and watched as the 7:00am flight boarded. We were in line for close to 45 minutes before we finally got to speak to someone. It was then we got some even more bad news. We were given the option to go home and come back with a rebooked flight which probably wouldn't happen until Wednesday at the earliest, or we could be put on standby and if seats open on any flight, we would be eligible for them. Problem was, we were not the only ones on that list. We had so much money invested on this trip to that we were not about to head home now. I wanted to cry some more! Ta hell with it! We were added to the list.

We made it through security with no problems. The only thing that didn't go wrong the first day, but wait until I write about day 2! But let me continue with day 1. After security, the first flight out was an 8:05 flight to Dallas. The standby list was crazy long, but we happened to be mid pack. There were about 5 or 6 people in front of the 5 of us. Not a good outlook for us. So we didn't get on the first flight at 8:05am, next flight at 9:10am, or the next flight out at 10:00am. The last 2 flights though, our names on the list jumped all the way up to 1-5 on the standby list, but with every flight, it would seem that several people would jump our names on the list. Didn't quite understand why, so I went up to the counter and asked if it would be easier if we separated and the women I asked said it would be. Good thing I asked because there were 2 seats available on the 11:30 am flight to Dallas. So Sarah and Levi took those seats. But after they boarded, I suffered from a brain crap! Minutes after Sarah and Levi boarded the plane, they said they found 2 more seats on the plane if we wanted them. I told them I didn't want Bailey and Micheala to be alone, forgetting Sarah had already got on the plane. So 2 other people got those seats. It wasn't until the plane left that I realized I screwed up! This would have left me left to catch a flight which I would have gotten by the end of the night. You'll know what I mean shortly.

So Sarah and Levi were on their way. We had an understanding that if she had the opportunity to continue to Santa Ana, CA, then she should do it. So they were on their way. The faces around us started to become very familiar as there were the same people that have been on the standby list as us. Flight after flight, very little of us made it on the plane. There was a kind women from Arkansas and another from Dallas, whom I never got their names, but they were a pleasure to talk to. There was a family of 4 whose little boy would run around the terminal like a mad man, and then crash for 3 hours, then run around like a mad man, then crash for another 3 hours! There was a guy from Texas somewhere whom had been in the airport for 3 days and still hadn't gotten on a flight. His clothes had already been sent home and he had been wearing the same clothes for those 3 days. He was a trooper though. There were also 2 girls that were from Oklahoma, Valina and Lindsy, who we got to know the second day in the airport, which even though they are sitting in front of me now as I write this post, I can't find it in me to ask their names again! Sorry ladies! But rest assure, I waited until they accepted my Facebook friend request before posting this so that I don't seem so ignorant. I mean come on, spending as much time as we already had in a airport can do a number to any ones mind! Anyhow, we all became family as the night went on and none of us were called to board a flight until it finally happened!

The final flight to Dallas was originally scheduled for 8:00pm but had been delayed 3 times, eventually landing it at a 11:00pm departure time. It was shortly before the plane started loading for take off, when the family formed in the airport. We all talked about how it seemed likely that some of us were heading out on this final flight. There were not a lot of people in the terminal for this flight, but things would begin to look rather ugly. As the time grew closer, more people showed up, and show up they did. One by one they filed in as they started being called on to the plane. Wait for it! Wait for it! "Baril!" What was that? "Baril!" Our name was called! Bailey was out cold and Michaela was half in the bag at this point. I had to wake both of them up and pack them up. I pretty much sprinted to the checkout counter, raised my hand, and what happened next was killer! "We have 2 seats on the plane, do you want them?" You f*ckin kidding me! They had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to send 2 of the 3 of us off to Dallas, where I have no way of getting a hold of anyone, where we might get stuck over night. Think about this. Eventually, I was to find out that Sarah and Levi had made it out to Santa Anna. If I had sent 2 of the 3 of us to Dallas on that last flight, that would leave 1 in Boston, 2 in Dallas, and 2 in Santa Ana! It was bad enough we split up earlier to make things easier for us to leave Boston, which failed horribly. But back to Logan Airport. I was pissed! I through a couple choice words into the air as I walked away from the checkout counter and to an area of the terminal to sit and shed a tear. I couldn't believe what had happened. This is not how I intended to spend the first day of our vacation. Now this wasn't the way how I intended on spending the first night.

The Protector of the Patch

2010-11-25T18:08:00.001-08:00

Usually I tell you the tall about our Turkeyboxing Day ventures on Thanksgiving, but today, I wanna tell you about a story behind a letterboxing I planted today. It is not a turkey related stamp, but still rather seasonal. It is the story of the Protector of the Patch.

The year was 1796. The town was Manchester, New Hampshire, where a fellow by the name of General John Stark lived with his wife, Molly, and 11 children. On the Stark plantation, they would grow their own pumpkins to carve and bake with. It was much cheaper to do this as the other local farmers charged to much for their produce. They actually had done this for about 20 years before they decided to get into the farming business and started growing a much larger pumpkin patch. The first year they did this, they first started giving them away to their friends and family. As the season grew late, they still had a rather large amount of pumpkins left and decided they should try to sell them before they spoil.

It wasn't until they tried to sell them, that one of the Stark children, started seeing a figure in the pumpkin patch. This was scary figure, made up of a skeleton body, with a large pumpkin head. He never said anything, but the look on it's face was enough to scary anyone away. The child ran into the house and found General Stark. They both went outside to find no one in the patch. The next day, one of the Stark daughters went outside to pick a pumpkin from the patch, not easily scared by the story told the night prior, only to find the same figure standing there once she began to bend over to pick a pumpkin. Not only did she see the figure, but everyone was watching from the windows of the house. The whole family now saw the figure, soon dubbed, the "Protector of the Patch."

Word quickly spread around Manchester about this "Protector." Folk from all over town would venture out to the Stark residence to see it for themselves. No one ever saw the figure in the patch. After awhile, the story of the "Protector" grew old. No one had ever seen this figure except the Stark family. The Stark family soon found the town staring at them where ever they went. Dirty looks and comments flew through the air as they would walk by.

The Stark family quickly abandoned the pumpkin patch and let the rest of the pumpkins spoil. Since that time when everyone of the Stark family saw the figure standing in the patch, they never saw it again. After all the pumpkins rotted to the ground, General John Stark went out to the patch and turned the soil. This would be the last year they would ever grow pumpkins. As a matter of fact, this would be the last year they would ever have pumpkins at the plantation, grown anywhere.

You can find the box I planted for this story I just made up, in Manchester, NH.
Protector of the Patch

John Hancook and His Mountains

2010-11-15T20:17:00.000-08:00

The man, the myth, the legend that is John Hancock, was born in 1736. He was most known for his rather large signature at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence, but did you know that John Hancock was born on 2 days! Back in the colonial times, they used a different calendar, now considered the "Old Style" calendar. This calendar would note that he was born on January 12th, in 1736. The calendar we all use today notes he was born over a year later, on January 23rd, in 1737. If you wanna learn more about these 2 calendars, check out this link "Old Style, New Style."

Sometime after his death in 1793, 2 mountains were named in his honor. They sat for years between the notches of Franconia and Crawford in the Pemigewasset Wilderness, rather untouched until the completion of the Kancamagus Highway in 1959. A 26.5 mile road that runs through the White Mountains from Lincoln to Conway. This past Sunday, I decided to find these mountains, Hancock Mountain and South Hancock.

My journey started about 4:30 in the morning. I had set my alarm for 5:00 but for some reason, my body decided that I should wake up a half hour early. I tried to go back to sleep for that extra half hour, and I did, but for only about 10 minutes. Not by choice of course. I went back to sleep again to again wake up 10 minutes later. I hadn't the slightest idea as to what was going on, but it was getting a bit frustrated. So after the second time waking up, I just got up and started getting ready for the hike. It was my plan to arrive at the trail head at 7:00 and as it would turn out, waking up that extra 10 minutes allowed me to get to the trail head on time.

When I arrived at the trail head, there was already 1 vehicle in the lot. It was a bit chilly at this time. I had dressed a little light but not light enough for the chilly air to bother me. The first stretch of my trek was on the Hancock Notch Trail. It was 1.8 miles of mostly straight and relatively flat trail. Honestly, the only time the trail turned was when it crossed over the stream. And it did this several times. Honestly, this was the first time I ever had to find ways across streams while hiking. As many times as I have hiked, I have never had to find ways to cross river. These streams weren't all that wide, but sometimes they were deep. There were plenty of rocks to cross on, but remember, it was cold out so I was worried about ice. I found some at one crossing, but I noticed it before stepping on it and falling in. The next .7 miles was spent on the Cedar Brook Trail. More water crossings here, sometimes not making any sense at all, as you would need to cross back over minutes later. But anyhow.

Now even thought I had just hiked 2.5 miles, the real hike didn't start until I reached the Hancock Loop Trail. a 4.8 mile loop that runs up one mountain, along a ridge, and down another. The one thing I had done the night before was do some research as to which mountain to climb and which to descend. As noted in my findings, it was said that I should climb Hancock and descend South Hancock. Considering it had been three months since I last hiked anything, it really didn't matter which mountain I hiked up, until I actually found the base of the mountain. 1.1 miles on the Loop Trail and it finally split. I had chosen to climb Hancock.

Now for a bit of history for you. I had hiked mountains such as Mt. Chocorua, Mt. Major, Mt. Kearsarge, and Mt. Moosilauke. All these mountains are very rocky and steep at times. All of which I found to be fairly easy to handle. I could tell you right now, I had my butt handed to me on a platter. I think that taking 3 months off of hiking probably had most to do with it. Hancock was very rocky and very steep. I had to stop many times on the way up the 0.7 mile climb. The worst part about it was, when I rested, there wasn't a view to enjoy as with most mountains with such accent. Rocks turned into boulders, boulders turned into steps. Steps finally welcomed me to the top where the wasn't much of a view, but there was an outlook were the picture posted on top of this post. I really didn't spend much time at the top since the view provided didn't allow me to sit and enjoy it. I had to stand for it.

From Hancock, I continued on the loop to South Hancock. The trail was covered in snow, packed buy those that hiked before me. The trail was 1.4 miles and a welcome sight after what I had just experiences climbing Hancock, but the fun wasn't over yet. First, before I had even reached the summit of South Hancock, I found an area of water that was iced over. For the most part, the ice was thick enough, except for the spot I stepped on. My foot fell through the ice and into 6 inches of mud which I tried to avoid by pulling my foot back up. The suction was so bad, I felt the muscles in the back of my leg feel like it was being pulled a part. Good thing I was hiking because I had to walk that off. I felt it for quite some time as I continued along. I reached South Hancock and there was an outlook, but nothing to brag about. I am now realizing, not every mountain will have a view from the top. What every 4,000 foot mountain needs though, is a summit sign. I could tell that I was at the summit since there was a cairn, so I rested there. After 15 minutes of rest and a picture or 2 of me at the top, I decided it was time to head down South Hancock and head home. Easier said than done. This part of the loop was 0.5 miles, and it had to have been the worst 0.5 miles I had ever hiked. The descent was steep and glare ice! I had never been so scared in my life! But I was determined to finished this hike instead of turning around and climbing down the way I came. I would have taken a picture of this trail, but please do understand, I probably would have lost my life doing so!

Once I made it down alive, I crossed over the river and through the woods to Grandma's house. No, I did cross back over those streams I crossed over before and walked through the woods I hiked before. When I arrived back at my car, I hiked a total of 9.8 miles. This is the longest I have hiked in New Hampshire, only second to my 11 mile hike up San Jacinto in California. Thinking back, I was rather satisfied with the hike. Even though the climb was hell and the descent was hell, I regret nothing. My knee we tested and it passed with flying colors. So in closing, John Hancock was known for being a pain in the side of the British Government. Today, he was a pain in my side, but nothing I couldn't over come!

What Has Team New Hampshire Been Up To?

2010-10-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

I guess the question would be, what have we not done. Unfortunately, letterboxing has been on the back burner recently. A few months ago, I had left my job of 7 years for another job. The whole pizza thing hadn't been cutting it for quite some time now. The down side, I work more hours, which tends to leave me with little time to do anything. As well as little energy to wanna do anything. So I went from working at Sal's Pizza full time to Rent-a-Center. I still work at Sal's Pizza Tuesdays, so if you wanna come by and visit me, or find the box I have panted there, please do! It is still there! And no, I have no intention of planting a box inside of Rent-a-Center. I had been asked already if I was gonna do it. The answer is always no!

Shortly however, the wife and I did go on vacation in California. NO CHILDREN! Oh, I never thought that would happen again. This vacation of ours had been planned for some time and with the new job, I thought we weren't gonna be able to go! My mother-in-law had also moved out. She found it very stressful to continue living at our house. THE CHILDREN! Now we needed to come up with more money. No vacation! But wait! My mother-in-law told us we were still going on vacation! AGAIN, NO CHILDREN! Closer, closer, closer it came! California, here we come.

Not to jump around, but Elijah (Spider Writer) and I had been climbing mountains. To be more specific, the 4,000 footers in New Hampshire. We had knocked off Mt. Tecumseh, which was the shortest of all 48 of them, and Mt. Moosilaukee. Moosilaukee had been a bit challenging. The hike up was fine, but my knee gave out on me while climbing back down. Not good.

Now to get back to California! I had been planning to climb a mountain out west and since we were staying in Palm Desert, the closest mountain worth climbing was San Jacinto. San Jacinto sat at a mere 10,000+ feet. Since my issue climbing down Moosilaukee, I had been icing the knee just about every night. I felt no pain while walking, walking up stairs, or during heavy lifting at work. The day came when I was to hike San Jacinto and this would be a day I would never forget. 11 miles round trip, meaning 5.5 miles one way! The 5.5 miles down were just like the climb down Moosilaukee. My knee gave out on me which made it the longest hike ever! Unfortunately, Elijah and I will be taking the rest of the fall and winter off. We might hike something small just to test it out, but we will see. Other than my mountain fiasco, California was relatively problem free. We had a great time. Weather couldn't have been any better! Not a drop of rain!

Back on the East Coast, we got back to reality! CHILDREN! School started, work was busy, time was rare! Letterboxing seemed to take a bigger back seat to everything else. Work on the house, homework, baths, yard, cars, animals! Where will I ever find the time to do anything worth talking about?

Got it! So here I am telling you about what we have been up to. I didn't even tell you about apple picking, LTC making, leaf peeping, Red Sox game, checking out the Pumpkin People in Jackson, NH, the book I am beginning to write, and last but not least, Hamlet! But I suppose I will have plenty of time to talk about that now! I will find time darn it! I miss writing!

Hiking Mt. Tecumseh, Twice

2010-06-20T19:36:00.000-07:00

One of the things that the great state of New Hampshire has been blessed with, are her mountains of plenty. While any given person can climb any of those mountains, there are a select few that are among some of the highest. These are New Hampshire's 48 4,000 footers. I started planning sometime last summer, setting a goal to hike all 48 mountains in 4-5 years. In my mind, it would seem rather doable, but with everything I find doable, it never turns out how it seems. Let me explain.

The first mountain on the list, which happened to be the smallest at 4,003 feet, was Mt. Tecumseh. I had planned on hiking this mountain for several months now. Sunday, June 13th, we set out for the mountain just south of Lincoln. We arrived later than I wanted but looked forward to climbing the mountain and knocking the first of the 48 mountains off the list. The temperature was rather comfortable, but it was a bit humid. As we started into the woods, we hopped over 2 streams and the trail started up. Then it went up and up and up. Now, we have hiked plenty of mountains, none 4,000 foot+, but plenty nonetheless. I really don't think the humidity helped as the mountain kept going up. It wasn't to rocky, the hike wasn't all the hard, but there really wasn't any flat areas to speak of. This has to be the first mountain were flat areas were slim and none. So we stopped plenty of times on the way to the top. At an hour and a forty-five minutes, we reached the top. I started searching for a sign or something to indicate we reached the top, but found nothing. There was a small trail off to the right which headed up a little farther, so I figured we were at the top. I searched the net on my phone to find out if in fact we reached the top but couldn't find anything that was helpful. So we continued on the trail a little way and it started heading down. Since we didn't want to hike down the other side of the mountain, we figured that that was the top of the mountain. What I had found on my phone was how people commented about the lack of view from the summit of Tecumseh. We were satisfied with our accomplishment, so we headed back down the mountain. When we got home, I did some more research and found we actually didn't reach the summit of Tecumseh. Not cool!

We could have waited until a few weeks went by when we could head back out and finish the hike, but I wanted to get it out of the way. The first chance we got to hike to the summit was the following Sunday, Father's Day. I didn't want to hike on this day to start. Originally, we were going to hike Tecumseh this day, but I pushed it up a week. So much for that! Not only did I hike it the weekend I wanted, but now we have to hike it again on the day I didn't. So we drove to the mountain trail head and started our trek up the mountain yet again. The temperature was a little cooler than last week, and it was a tad less humid. We reached what is now known to us as "fake top," in an hour and twenty minutes. A lot better time than last. We also knew what we were getting into as well. So now that we knew what needed to be done, we continued down the trail passed "fake top." The trail was fairly flat until it just started downward. It wasn't that steep but it just didn't seem right. Aren't we supposed to be heading up? Sure enough, in the distance we could see the "up" we were looking for. We could see the summit of Tecumseh. But getting there would be much harder than we expected. The trail did eventually start up after a brief hike on flat trail. When it was time to climb, you literally had to climb. But that summit was ours! We were the first on the mountain this day and I was not gonna let the steep climb get to me. I stopped and looked up the rocky climb and prepared myself for some fun. With a deep breathe, I started running up the rocky trail. I picked a spot to stop, and when we got to that point, it just kept going! There were more rocky on this steep climb. We stopped for a breather and continued on. At two hours and twenty minutes, we reached the summit of Tecumseh. Yes, this time we made it! The view from the top still wasn't all that great but it was better than I thought it would be. People can be so critical. I say they should be glad there was a view at all!

So after 10 minutes at the top, we headed down. We didn't have much time to spend at the top, since we had to make it home early. Sometime we hopped and ran down the mountain. It was quite fun until our feet started to hurt a little. But all and all, we both really enjoyed hiking Tecumseh, both times. We already have our second mountain picked out for next month.
Next-Mt. Moosilauke @ 4,802 feet

Merry Christmas from Team New Hampshire

2009-12-25T03:57:00.000-08:00

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As we spend the day with our friends and family, we would like to wish everyone the happiest of Christmas Day's.

For Those That Don't Know Him

2009-12-13T17:20:00.000-08:00

For quite some time now, I have been writing posts for this blog, but this blog isn't the only one I write for. For over a year, I have been writing Boxing Buddy stories for a Pig called Hamlet, and his cat Yorick. He has done some traveling with me but, for the most part, hasn't done much in the way of letterboxing. He is always in my car and if I find a spot that I think would fit well with a story, I will pull over and take a picture with Hamlet and Yorick. Now you might wonder why I even bother bring this up. You might not even give a darn about my other hobby which yes does include a Boxing Buddy. But as the winter sticks it's head out and dumps snow on the ground, my letterboxing ventures have come to a halt. I will not be planting anymore until the snow melts and we will be doing very little in the way of searching for letterboxing. I know, this post isn't up your alley, but I have a story to tell which includes Hamlet.

The other day, I headed up to Tilton, NH for some Christmas shopping. I still need to find something for a few more people. While I was up there, I thought it would be a cute idea to take a picture of Hamlet and Yorick at the outlet center. I didn't want to take a picture in the stores or along the walking path from store to store, in fear that people would stare and wonder. So after I bought a couple of items, I started to scout out a location to take a picture. It was in the middle of the parking lot where the outlet center could be seen in the background. I had purchased a small paper gift bag the looked like he got after shopping, wrapped it around his hand and set him on the ground. I put Yorick on the ground next to him with his front paws on Hamlets boot. It was quite breezy so I had to put my wallet in the bag so that it doesn't fly away. So now they were set for the picture. I turn the camera on and make sure the picture will come out good. Just as I take a picture, a car stops right where I was taking a picture. They were opposite the direction of the picture, but I knew they stopped. As I stood up, I turned and noticed the passenger window was rolling down. Two women were in the car and the one driving spoke to me. She said, "Now there has to be a story behind this!" I had told her about how I have been writing stories about the journeys of Hamelt and how I post them on the blog. She replied straight faced, "You are very creative! I give you kudos! Keep up the good work!" She then drove off and I packed up Hamlet and left for home. I couldn't help but keep thinking about what that women said. There really is nothing more that I would like, than to get more notice for Hamlet and the stories I write for him. So because of her words, I am here letting you know about this other venture I have going for me. This winter, I will probably be posting more for Hamlet, than for myself. So if you would like to check out Hamlet's blog, feel free to visit Having it with Hamlet. Enjoy.

Mt. K-K-Kearsarge was C-C-Cold

2009-11-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

So here it was, Sunday, when Spider Writer and I were gonna hike Mt. Kearsarge with a crew from Massachusetts. The Travelers 4, Choi, and the Woodland Wanderers. We had planned to meet at a park and ride in Concord at 9:30. Problem was, I was not gonna be there at that time. Don't get me wrong, I'm the one that asked them to meet me there at 9:30. I live just outside of Concord. The problem came when I started my car early so it can warm up, and I managed to lock my keys in the car. WHILE IT WAS RUNNING! So after about 15 minutes, I managed to get into my car with a butter knife and a long thin brass pipe. And now you know how to brake into my car!

I showed up at the park and ride about 15 minutes late. I get out of the car to greet everyone and thank them for coming and everyone immediately noticed I was the only one wearing shorts. Was I crazy? I was left with the impression that the day was gonna be beautiful, and for the most part it was. Anyway, we hoped into our cars and headed off to the mountain. About a half hour up I-89, we arrived. Hmmmm, the weather doesn't seem so beautiful, but I am one tough cookie. I can handle it. Right now anyway!

Now before we even start heading up the mountain, I think it is important that everyone know how prepared Rhonda of the Woodland Wanderers was. She had the biggest warmest hat, she had a layer under her pants, and she wore something like 10 shirts UNDER her coat, and gloves. Now she came prepared. Of course as we started up the mountain, those layers she was wearing started to come off.

The hike up the Winslow Trail which was Choi's idea, was beautiful. It started rough for some of us, but as we continued up the mountain, it became much easier per say. The rocks we had to climb over were still there and sometimes they did get bigger but our bodies were getting used to the climb. The air was nice and the french we all got to listen to was pretty cool too! French you ask? Ellen from The Travelers 4 and Steve from the Woodland Wanderers started conversing with each other in french. Sometimes throwing swears at each other. In fun of course. But I though it was rather cool of course. I am trying to learn some french myself, but they knew far more than I did. Well, while they weren't talking in french, we got to listen to some of the sounds, the mountain had to offer. The site if the mountain got us too! I was left with the impression that I was the only one to ever climb Mt. Kearsarge. So as everyone was viewing all the beautiful sites, we managed to wander off the trail and follow what looked like a trail. But it was not. We headed back up the trail and shortly there after, we found ice.

A couple of days ago, there was a pretty descent storm. It brought rain to most of the state but snow to the higher altitudes. Mt. Kearsarge sit at a height of 2,937 feet. So things got a little bit icy as we continued up the mountain. Then we began to see snow. The snow was a welcome site as it covered some of the ice and left it not as slippery. We soon stopped for a photo shoot at our first scenic vista. Everyone loved the view but nothing prepared them for what they would find at the top. An hour and a half after we left the parking lot, we arrived.

There was ice, snow, and lots of wind! This is were I could have used gloves. Of course, everyone was so nice to offer up there gloves so I could warm up my hands, but I stayed strong and kept them warm in my hoodie. Yes, I said hoodie. We grabbed a box by Uneksia called The Wanting, and I planted my box, Mt. Kearsarge. After some more pictures, we headed back down the mountain, down the Barlow Trail. Again Choi's idea. The top of this trail was quite slippery. I hit my can on the ice several times and I know others did too! The trail had quickly gotten much better and we just as quickly enjoyed the trek down. I can't say how long it took for us to get down, but once we got down, we were happy to be there. We rested a bit before getting into our cars and heading off. We did find a couple more boxes on the way back to Concord, but if there was one thing I learned, make sure you bring gloves. Even if you don't think you need them. I thank everyone for coming. Even those I didn't know were coming. It made a wonderful hike even more wonderful. I think they enjoyed the hike too!

It's Starting to Look Like Christmas....Kinda

2009-11-28T05:49:00.000-08:00

Now that Thanksgiving is over, up will pop the Christmas trees. Yes, there has been a tree up at someone else's house in town for about 2 weeks now. A bit early for me. Just before Thanksgiving, the children and I went to The 'Fez'tival of Trees, held by the Shriner's of New Hampshire in Concord.

At this 'Fes'tival of Trees, there are about 20 or so trees all decorated by business and organization from around the area with different themes. When you walk in, you are given a paper with a list of items that you need to find on the trees. Airplanes, feathers, whisks, etc. We were able to find all of the items on the list in great time this year. Last year it took us so long to find everything. So another thing we needed to do was vote for which tree we liked the best. Someone liked the TY tree and there was the Webkins tree that was a favorite, but I ended up picking a tree that was more traditional. After I picked that tree, Billy had mentioned he noticed it had a ribbon on it. I was told that the tee was in 2nd place so far. There were still a few more days for people to vote.

So I bring up the 'Fez'tival of Trees for a reason. There is no snow but as I said, the Christmas trees are going up. Including the Letterboxing tree in Bellingham, Ma. The Travelers 4, for yet another year, will be hosting the tree. She has opened her backyard for visitors from all over to come and collect some images of the season. This year, the theme is Christmas songs. Can't make it? She will be hosting a Letterboxing Tree event for those that wanna get together for some fun, snow, and stamps. January 2nd of 2010, O Letterboxing Tree 2009-2010. Come and collect some stamps! You might get lucky and meet The Travelers 4 and get some hot cocoa out of it!

Thanksgiving at Home

2009-11-28T05:26:00.000-08:00

So, usually, we head out to either my Mother's or my Father's house for Thanksgiving. This year, we decided that we were going to stay home. Which means we will need to cook all the food. Which means that we don't have to spend at least an hour in the car. Which also meant we would not be Turkeyboxing this year.

For the past 3 or 4 years, we had been what we call Turkeyboxing. We letterbox on the way to either my Mother's or Father's house and plant a letterbox that is Thanksgiving related. I had thought about carving a stamp this year and planting it around town and finding some boxes down in Manchester, but I have been so busy lately, that I welcomed the rest. None of the children mentioned anything about letterboxing so it seemed they welcomed the rest as well. I did however finish a stamp and you all will be able to look for it soon.

So Sarah cooked all the food. Turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes and so on and so on. I think this would have been the biggest meal she had eve cooked. And we are a family of 7! She did a wonderful job. After dinner we had some pie and then we all rested some more. Some of us even feel asleep. As I watch some football, I can't help but think about those that didn't have the meal we did. They didn't have turkey, stuffing, or mash potatoes. I wish there was some way that they all could have what we had this year. I was actually surprised we had all that food. Sarah had suggested we invite my Mother for dinner this year and I said I just wanted to make sure we had plenty of food to feed our family first. I think next year, we might do something in the community to feed those that don't have what we have.

So this Thanksgiving, I hope you all had a wonderful time with family and friends. I hope you ate lots of bird, and I hope that we at some point thought about someone we all know that would love to have what we had. It wouldn't take much for any one of us to be in that situation. Be thankful for that we are not.

What's Outside of Your Letterbox?

2009-11-23T06:37:00.000-08:00

So, letterboxers spend so much time talking about what others should put on the inside of your letterbox, that I thought it would be a great idea to discuss the outside. To some this might sound very simple. But there is actually a debate going on as to whether or not you should put a ziplock bag on the outside of the letterbox for extra protection. I will give you the pros and cons of doing such a thing, and ultimately tell you how I feel about the ziplock bags.

First, let me discuss the pros of ziplock bags as protection for your letterbox. (1) If you happen to use a not so good tupperware container for your letterbox, this could be of some help. Depending on where you put your box, you might set your box up flooding. The ziplock bag will help a little to protect your box from being water logged, but........ (2) A ziplock on the outside of your letterbox will help protect your box from ice in the winter. Now, if your box is planted in a location that will be prone to snow and ice, sometimes during the colder months, it does warm up, causing ice to form. If ice gets to your box, it could cause your box to crack and then water will get into your box causing the insides of your letterbox to become damaged.

Now, since I can't think of any other pros for ziplocks on the outside of your box, let me discuss the cons. (1) Ziplock bags attract animals. For what ever reason, they smell the bag and begin to chew on it. Once the animal realizes that plastic doesn't taste as good as it smelled, the damage has already been done and the bag is left with holes. Therefore leaving you with a ziplock bag that no long serves its purpose. (2) Letterboxers that tend to be careless, new and old, may not zip your ziplock back up well enough causing it to fill with water during rain periods. This will then test the durability of the tupperware container you choose. If the container you choose isn't that great, plan on replacing everything inside the box. (3) We take pride in leaving not a trace. If we are putting ziplock bags on the outside of our letterboxes, and they are being chewed, plastic pieces are being littered around the area where the letterbox is planted. We then are leaving a trace.

I am sure there are many other pros and cons, but these are just a few that I came up with. In my opinion, ziplock bags should be kept inside the letterbox. I used to use ziplock bags on the outside of my letterboxes when I started letterboxing 4 years ago, but it didn't take me long to realize that they did nothing. I would find that animals were chewing them apart and not actually doing any good.

In closing, I must also mention one more thing. DO NOT put a ziplock bag around someone elses letterbox, even if you think it needs one. If someone was to do this to one of my boxes, I would be rather upset. Contact the planter and let them know about the condition of their box and whether or not it needs tending to. Replacing a ziplock bag on the inside of the box is different than putting a ziplock bag on the outside.

Looking for The Beautiful Place

2009-11-18T04:43:00.000-08:00

One of the things I always tell people, I go letterboxing more for the places that I go, then for the images I collect. I think it is very important to always look at the places you've been because you never know when you'll be back. Monday, I went looking for a box called "The Beautiful Place" in Chichester, NH. I have been to Chichester and have a box planted there in Carpenter Park. This box was actually on a trail across from the park. I didn't know there was a trail across the street from the park! I think it was a snow mobile trail, but a trail is a trail.

Heading down this trail, I couldn't help but notice the trees. They are some of the most wonderful trees I had eve seen. They reminded me a lot of the trees in Carpenter Park! The area must be full of these kind of trees. Not that I am complaining of course! Anyhow, I follow the trail around when finally I made it the beautiful place, and that it was. The thing that amazes me more is that, all these places never look the same. You think that you might have seen a pond or a swamp before, but you haven't. Every place has something different about it that gives you that AHHH felling inside. Oh, the letterbox! It was planted by the Icecreamfamily. The box was huge and for a good reason. Inside the box was a giant plastic ice cream cone with the stamp inside. I now wanted ice cream! I stamped in the box and put it back, covering it up better than I found it, and started to head back to my car. I past a stream and an opening where you could see horses. They weren't very close and there were "No Trespassing" signs to make sure people don't walk through the field. Oh well, I had seen horses before. I got back to my car and drove off feeling, AHHH! Thank you Icecreamfamily for bring me to the beautiful place. After being so busy lately, I needed that today.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

2009-11-18T04:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, I though about doing something with the family that had nothing to do with house work or yard work or even letterboxing. Ya, I know! No letterboxing. I suppose I could have had included letterboxing somewhere in these plans, but I didn't wanna push it any.

A fellow co-worker was on a football team that was in the Division 5 Championship game which had been moved from Saturday to Sunday due to heavy rain fore casted. Now with the game scheduled for Sunday, this gave me a chance to see this kid play football. Sunday was a beautiful day for a football game! We got into the car and headed off for Manchester, to Gill Stadium, for the game. Bishop Brady vs. Trinity. LETS GO! GREEN AND GOLD!

The game began as we were trying to figure out which guy was the one I work with. And there he stood, #17. He was a tad bit tall and probably the skinniest kid on the team. He also was the kicker! His team was moving down the field, mixing it up with running plays and passing plays, when finally they landed into the end zone. They were up 7-0 after the extra point. Now it was Trinity's turn. They moved just as Brady did, down the field with a mixture of passing and running plays, finding themselves in the end zone too. Instead of an extra point, Trinity went for a 2 point conversion and made it. The score was 8-7, Trinity on top. Things slowly went down hill for Brady. That one touchdown would be the only score they would have for the rest of the game. Trinity would continue to pound the ball on the ground and throw the ball through the air scoring many more touchdowns. At the beginning of the 4th quarter, Trinity score again and we decided to leave with the score 35-7. We had seen enough.

We headed home kinda disappointed about the outcome of the game. None of us went to Bishop Brady so we weren't overly upset by the game, but it would have been nice to see a better game than that! So, back at home, we pulled out our own football and threw it around in the backyard thinking we could have played so much better then they did today. Passes were being thrown better, and caught better than than they did. But we were not on the team and there was nothing we could have done about the outcome of that game.

Even though the game didn't turn out to be what we hoped it would be, they still had some fun. Most of last week, they all had been sick and didn't do much in the way of activities. The fresh air, the warm sun, and a football game. Why not! What a beautiful day to just get out! The next day, I found out that the final score of the game was 41-7. Oh well!

Santa's Search for Solitude

2009-11-01T18:59:00.001-08:00

Now, I don't mean to scare you. It is not my intention to remind you that Christmas is less than 2 months away. What my intention is, to inform you that we are not the only ones going through hard times right now. The whole globe is suffering through the hard economic times and the North Pole is not oblivious to it. Now you might think that he is a bit different than the rest of us. He has a workshop full of elves making toys from all the little girls and boys. This is true, but Santa is going through a different type of economic frustration.

Ever since the globe has started on this downward spiral, Santa has been getting more letters sent to him. Problem with that is, they are not all from children. The parents have now started sending letters asking for Santa to send extra special gifts if not a second gift. This would make up for the lack of gifts under the tree this year. So with no sign of the letters slowing down, Santa decided to jump ship and leave the North Pole in search for solitude. He stopped in San Fransisco, Denver, Dallas, Memphis, New York City, and then Boston. Everywhere he went he was mobbed by people asking the same thing the letters asked for. He could not go anywhere without someone coming up to him. This is what happens when your one of the most recognizable people in the world.

So, more frustrated, he left Boston for New Hampshire. He had heard of a place called Lake Solitude in Newbury. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he would find solitude at the lake with the same name. So he drove up I-89 to Newbury early in the morning. He got to Lake Solitude and sat by the lake for many hours. Not a person showed up which meant not a person bothered him with needs. He thought about how he could manage to please everyone as well as himself. Night came and he set up a tent. The sun rose the next morning and he thought some more. Still not a person. Until around noon time, when a family of 3, Mother Father and little girl, showed up. This was a rather young family whom lived in nearby Bradford. The little girl approached Santa and asked him what was wrong. He had told her why he was sitting by the lake and she looking at him and gave him a hug. She had said that if her parents couldn't give her even a single gift, she would be happy. If she wasn't able to receive one gift from her parents, all she would care about was that she got to spend time with her loving parents. She had mentioned that there are children all over the world that don't get to spend Christmas with their parents and she felt bad for them. And then she said something that caught Santa of guard. The little girl asked Santa to give her gift to someone else that really deserves it. She could do without.

So Santa, was now ready to head home. He hadn't found the solitude he was looking for but was pleased by what that sweet little girl had said. So when he arrived back in the North Pole, he told everyone about the little girl and what she meant to him at that very moment. Even though there was so many letters coming in, Santa had realized that, that little girl wasn't the only one out there who felt that way. So with that in mind, Santa continued to read the letters from all those parents and children as he had done before his trip knowing he may never find solitude, but know that the true meaning of Christmas was till out there. The economy will get better some day. When that day comes, Santa will stop searching for the solitude at the lake with the same name.

-Santa's Search for Solitude

Old Center Cemetery

2009-10-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you can remember, I had mentioned a few posts ago about a small number of boxes that are planted for haunted locations in New England. After finding all but 1 box of the ones in New Hampshire, I decided I wanted to get my feet wet with a box of my own. After doing some research, I came up with a gentlemen named Ben Hargrove, from Andover, NH.

In colonial times, Ben Hargrove made a pact with the Devil, or so his neighbors said. Things came “too easy” to him, and while people wanted to like him, there was something about him that made them nervous. One night, a neighbor thought that he saw flames coming from Ben’s home. On closer inspection, the house wasn’t on fire, but a vivid red-orange light seemed to emanate from every window of the house. Peering through a window, the neighbor saw Ben signing a document while the Devil watched. Soon after this, Ben dressed in his best clothes and went to Boston to indulge in some backroom gambling. He returned within days, badly shaken and dangerously ill. One night about a week later, Ben appeared just as a town meeting was breaking up. He approached neighbor after neighbor, asking to take refuge in their homes.One after another, they refused. There was something especially odd about Ben Hargrove that night, and it chilled them. Suddenly, Ben looked up, just over the heads of his neighbors, with a look of unspeakable horror on his face. Ben turned on his heel and ran towards the church. But, as soon as he passed the gate and stepped onto the church’s property, he let out a terrible wail… and vanished. Some say that he turned instantly to ashes and that’s what they buried. Others say that his body was found in his home the next morning, but it was cold and rigid as if he’d been dead for several days. But, whatever was left of Ben Hargrove, he was buried outside the cemetery walls in an unmarked grave. His ghost appears regularly outside Old Center Cemetery, usually near the road. Sometimes he tries to flag down passing cars, but usually he simply cowers and quickly disappears. Most local residents insist that these kinds of stories are nonsense. And, they’re probably right. Even if the tales are entirely made-up, we can recommend only daytime visits to this eerie cemetery in rural New Hampshire.

So with box in hand called Haunted New England: A Deal with the Devil, I headed out to Andover to plant the box in Old Center Cemetery. I arrived at the cemetery to find that there was a house sitting in plain view and I had concerns that someone would say something to me or someone else when they went searching for the box. That and there was an older gentlemen out front racking his yard. So I headed to the Town Hall to speak to someone about planting in that cemetery. Come to find out, the person I needed to speak to lived in that house across the street. First I had to discuss what letterboxing was. Then I explained that the reason I approached them was because of an article written in a paper in New York that had given letterboxing in cemeteries, a bad name. Wanna know what I am talking about: Valley News Online. So I was talking to a women named Mrs. Cutter, head of the Cemetery Committee in town. She liked hearing everything I had to say and to my surprise, she gave me permission to plant the box in the cemetery wall. I couldn't have thanked her enough for allowing me to do that.

So I drove down the street back to the cemetery and walked to the back and planted the box. Now it is up to everyone else to make sure that I was not foolish to plant that box there. Be very respectful of the cemetery while you are there and remember what your parents told you. "Look with your eyes, not with your hands!" There are lots of old stones in that cemetery and they are definitely worth viewing. And while your there, make sure you say hello to Ben Hargrove, if your lucky enough to see him.

The Road to Dunbarton, NH

2009-10-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

This summer, The Dunbarton Town Hall turned 100 years old. Every year until the town of Dunbarton celebrated it's 250th birthday, the Dunbarton Garden Club will be planting and selling Daffodils. Of course, it wasn't until I ventured into Dunbarton, that I had known this.

On Monday, I planted a letterbox called Dunbarton in town at one of the beautiful forests it has called the Nat & Wilcox Brown Forest. It wasn't a very long walk to a pond, but it was still quite a site to see. I think that the trail would have gone further, but we had just had a full day of pouring rain, allowing the pond to swell some. So with a special box carved for the town of Dunbarton, I planted it there in the forest. This would the closest I wanted to get to the center of town without there being a chance of it going missing.

So after I planted the box, I started back to the car. While doing so, I happen to noticed that there were little things moving around in the pond. Upon further investigation, I had found that there were tons of newts swimming around along the ponds edge. I must have watched them for at least 15 minutes. With the cold weather approaching, these guys must be enjoying themselves. I couldn't help but wonder what they do when the water freezes over. And when I got home, I did no research on them to see what they do, so I guess I didn't wonder enough to care later. But what they did do, they allowed me to enjoy the town of Dunbarton even more and I look forward to my journey back in the near future.

I know that there will be people visiting my box, and when you do, I would suggest going around spring/summer time so you can see the daffodils.

4 Days in 4 Ways

2009-10-16T04:39:00.000-07:00

Sunday - T2's Birthday Extravaganza - This was our first letterboxing gathering we had been to since I hosted my event last January. With the family being so busy, it has been hard to get time off for any gathering. And being that most, if not all gatherings are on Saturdays, it is hard to get a Saturday off. But finally a gathering was on Sunday and we weren't gonna miss it. So we headed to Sutton Massachusetts to the Purgatory Chasms and this was gonna be a big day for the children. This was gonna be the day that everyone had their own personal stamps to carry around with them. They even had a log book. Now they had fun stamping in and we went searching for stamps with Rubabduc, Giz, Automan, Enjoiner, and TsukiAmes. We climbed rock faces and chatted some, and then I had to search for a missing stamp. For about a quarter of the time, I had to search for for Bailey's stamp that he had lost and not told me about. We had come across Maire's Facets and Tea-Bass on the trail and they had asked for an exchange. This was when I found out. I was not happy of course. And to top it off, I hadn't found the stamp. This stamp is called Cuddle Bear. This is Bailey's new trail name. It was in a tan Whitman's Sampler tin. So if anyone that reads this blog happens to venture there and finds the tin or stamp, please contact me.Monday - My Birthday - One of these days, I will have a birthday party for myself. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind not having a birthday party, but I haven't had one in some years now. While at Sundays gathering, they had sang happy birthday to myself too and we did have some cake, but I want my own party. Maybe next year. So I was now 31 years old. As the day grew closer, I couldn't help but think that soon I will be 40. As you grow up, there are certain years you just never think your gonna get to. For ever if felt to turn 21 or 30 even. Now that I am there, I now look at 40 and see if just around the corner. Of course, I shouldn't look that far and I should just enjoy where I am right now. They are right, but it still is coming! So for my birthday, I did nothing. What I wanted to do was go hiking, work in the yard, carve some stamps, play some games, but none of that happened. I really did nothing. Doesn't sound like much fun! Sorry!

Tuesday - AQ-Versary - Team New Hampshire has been boxing for4 years now, but we actually have been letterboxing since August 15th, 2005. An AQ-Versary is when you find the site itself and become a member. So, as of Tuesday, we were a part of Atlas Quest for 4 years. We have had our good times and our bad times. We have made tons of friends and made some enemies too, which of course was never my intention. Either way, we are here and we are looking forward to our 5 years with Atlas Quest.
Wednesday - Our Wedding Anniversary - 3 years ago, my Wife and I spent tons of money so that we can celebrate our love for each other. 3 years later, not much has changed in the love department, no matter how much we kid about it, but all the things around us have. No matter how hard things have gotten, we have managed to to stick it out for the better of our family. We are still strong and couldn't think of being with anyone else. Let us hope for many more years.

Climbing Mt. Chocorua

2009-10-05T05:44:00.001-07:00

The idea to hike Mt. Chocorua came to me sometime last week. I knew that with Sarah having the weekend off, I would be able to do something on Sunday. First and only problem was the weather. As of last week, the weather forecast was calling for 60% rain. I was not going to hike Chocorua if the rain chance was that high. But luck for us, as the day grew closer, the chance of rain grew smaller. 50%, then 40%, then Saturday, it called for 30% after 4pm on Sunday. I was a happy man at this point. Before heading to work on Saturday, I asked which of the 4 children capable of hiking Chocorua, wanted to go with me. Bailey, Michaela and Elijah, were wanting to join me for this hike.

Sunday morning, about 6:30 came, and I woke up the children. They all still wanted to go. The sky was overcast but this was expected and warned about as a forecast. The sky was to clear as the morning sun warmed the atmosphere. I can tell you that that hadn't happened but the time we reached Chocorua. We got out of the car and made one last stop in the bathroom before heading up the mountain.

I had told the children about the mountain. Mt. Chocorua had an elevation of 3,475 feet. The mountain was made up of erratics left by the glaciers that melted many many years ago. Also the legend behind the mountain. To shorten the story, an Indian named Chocorua had a confrontation with a village family. They chased him up the mountain, Chocorua yelled out a curse, and jumped off the top of the mountain to his death. There are 3 similar but different versions to this legend, but what I just told you is in each of the 3. As you can tell by the picture above, Mt. Chocorua is a very beautiful mountain. It is one of the most photographed mountains in the world.

Now, the climb to the top took longer that I had hoped. Bailey 6 and Michaela 7, had to ask for frequent stops as we climbed to the top. Elijah 12, didn't ever ask and actually was the leader most of the way. The trail at the bottom was quite easy, but once we got to the mountain itself, things started to get a little harder. The cloud cover had started to clear up a bit. We could see the sun peaking through from time to time. But with the clouds surrounding the mountain, this meant that the rocks we would need to climb would be wet. This did not make for easy climbing at times. Things were looking to be a better day than expected though. We stopped some and headed up, stopped some and headed up. The we got to a big rocky area and we stopped there for a longer rest. It was clear that we all needed it. From there you could see the top of the mountain as well as some of a couple of mountains that surrounded the east side of Chocorua. And if you had you back to the mountain, all you saw was the top of the clouds. The lower level clouds were low and there was barely a cloud in the sky above us. Jackpot!

The climb to the top still hadn't been much easier. At some point overnight, these rocks we were climbing on had gotten wet and there was water coming down the mountain from higher up making the rocks really slippery. But we were getting closer to the top. And then finally it happened. 3 hours it took us to climb to the top. I had been to the top only once before and that was about 10 years ago, but none of the children had ever been. This was now the highest peak they had ever climbed. I was very proud of them. Michaela and Bailey had climbed Mt. Cardigan which was 3,155 feet high and I don't know about Elijah. 3,475 feet was now the highest either way. To be honest, this was my highest too! But that all changes for me in January, but that story if for another day. We were at the top and loving every minute of it. The colors of the leaves were a nice red and orange. The clouds had broken up so we could see most of the mountains in the White Mountains, but Mt. Washington wasn't on that list of viewed. It was still in the clouds as it spends most of it's time this time of the year. Weather changes up there are to blame. After some pictures and more well needed rest, it was time to head back down.

The climb down was rather quiet. We really didn't do much talking to each other as we did on the way up. Heading down the mountain took some careful concentration for we were now heading onto those same slippery rocks at a bad angle. I made sure the children followed me so that if I slipped and fell, they would know not to follow my lead and find a different way. The few bright spots during the trip down though, a snake and a toad. I picked up the snake and let all the children touch the snake. I wanted this to be as awesome a trip as possible so I didn't mind picking the snake up. I am not afraid of snakes but I just don't feel like getting bitten, even if I wouldn't die from the bite. The only thing that stunk about the snake, was it stunk. It made my hands smell something gross. Later on, we found the sitting on top of a rock. It didn't move or anything so I have no idea how Elijah spotted it. I whipped out my camera and had to take some pictures. It gave me some good ones.

So, after 6 hours total, up and down the mountain, we had to head home. It seemed that we all had a good time although I think Bailey will not be hiking with again anytime soon. He didn't mind the hike, but it was the jumping down off the rocks and landing on his feet thing he didn't like. About half way down, he started complaining about his feet hurting. I told him he should stop jumping down off rocks, but he kept on doing it. Oh well. Michaela hadn't a thing to complain about, or at least she didn't want me to know about. Elijah had a blast and couldn't wait to tell Sarah and Billy about it when he got home. He is looking forward to our next hike next month which right now looks to be Mt. Sunapee.

While on top of the mountain, I did plant a box called "Chocorua." It is for the legend that the mountain is named after. Yes, you will need to climb all but .4 miles of the mountain to get it, but the reward is well worth it.

A Yankee Stadium Experience

2009-09-30T05:36:00.000-07:00

12:30pm - The day was Sunday, September 27th. The weather was wet and there was a chance the game would be delayed. Our seats were wet as well as the tarp that was over the infield. Fans were filing into the stadium not knowing what would happen today, no matter how confident they were their team would win. The stadium was a much newer version of the much older stadium across the street. The make-up of the park was almost the same as the old with exception, over the fence in center field, there was a much nicer big screen that would come in handy a bit later. The concession stand areas were much more open than before and the outside of the stadium was a much more modern older look, if that makes any sense!

1:05pm - The game was supposed to start but the tarp was still covering the infield. Half the seats in the stadium were empty and it didn't look good that the game would even start anytime soon. Minutes later, on the big screen over the center filed wall started showing the New York Giants football game. This went on for about a half hour. Our seats were dry by now but our clothes were still wet from sitting. We could have been wetter but we were just sitting under the over hang.

2:05pm - The game finally started. OK, it wasn't that long of a wait but when your wet.... Anyhow, the starter for the Red Sox was Paul Byrd, Andy Petite for the Yankees. The Red Sox scored first in the 1st inning with a base hit from Mike Lowell. He would also help score the second run in the 3rd inning. Things were looking pretty good until the bottom of the 3rd inning when Paul Byrd gave up a home run to Melky Cabrera. This was a 1 run homer, but it cut the lead to 1. The next 2 innings would go without a score, and the crowd was now getting restless. Chants of "Red Sox Sucks!" would fill the stadium, and a smile would show on my face. Now as I watch this game, I would be wearing a Red Sox cap, even though I don't like them. I was there to watch the Yankees lose and find out what it was like to be at a Red Sox Yankee game. So far everyone was very nice to me. I would however get some dirty looks when the Red Sox got base hits or score. From from this point on, there would be no more scoring from the Red Sox. In the 6th inning, with 2 on base, Hideki Matusi got a base hit scoring both runners, giving the Yankees the lead for the first time in the game. The crowd was electric. On the big screen was a picture of Godzilla holding a bat. Byrd would be pulled after that hit. Even though he would claim the lose that day, it seemed it was a quality pitching performance on this day. The Yankees would score an insurance run in the 8th with a Mark Teixeira home run. With 3 outs by the Red Sox in the 9th, the Yankees had won the Eastern Division in the American League.

5:00pm - The game had ended and the crowd was loud. Everyone was out of their seat cheering and giving high fives even the strangest of strangers. The Yankees were in the infield celebrating their win as well as the division. Singing and more chanting of "Red Sox Suck!" were filing the air, again as a smile appeared on my face. We sat in our seats until some of the other seats that surrounded us cleared out. Then we headed out to the main area which was a mad house. Even with the bigger walking area, there wasn't much space found. It took us about a half hour to make it outside the stadium.

All in all, my experience was a great one. This was the 3rd time I had been to a Yankee game, watching the first 2 against my team, the Baltimore Orioles, but first at the new park. I would say that the seats were perfect, even though I hadn't found a bad seat yet. The concession area was nice as well as everything I could possibly set my eyes on. Food was very pricey, but the hamburger and hot dog was pretty good though. Fans were very well behaved, which was actually a concern before arriving. Yankee fans and Red Sox fans don't do well in small places. It can be arguably, the biggest rivalry. in all of baseball. I would suggest everyone, Yankee fan or not, come to the park and enjoy a baseball game. I will certainly be doing it again.

Introducing Jason & Cori Baril

2009-09-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

I would like to take this moment and welcome the newest member to my family, Cori Ruedinger. On September 19th, this past Sunday, my brother and his girlfriend got married. It had seemed that this day would never ever come. He had been with some really nice girls, but they always managed to break his heart. Finally, he met a girl while living in Louisiana and they knew that they were meant for each other. Now, they hadn't been together long, but they knew from the start. Sometimes this happens. It doesn't happen often, but it really does happen.

Now for this special occasion, I had carved a stamp just for them and it is my hope that many people will visit the box and will leave well wishes for them to read on their first year anniversary. The box is called "The Big Day." I usually don't draw my images, grabbing them from the net, but since this was my Brother's big day, I had to do it. It is not the best image in the world, but they loved it when I told them and showed them the image. That was all that mattered. So come out and leave some well wishes for the new couple.

The Weekend That Was and Wasn't!

2009-09-11T05:51:00.001-07:00

Well, this weekend had certainly the most weird of things happen. Some of them good and some of them really not even close.

So I must start with Saturday. I had to work all day as I usually do. The day was running along with no issues, which is expected. At some point during the early evening, a gentleman came into the store and purchased a slice of pizza. This gentleman had come in many times before but this time he looked different. I had mentioned to him that he looked lighter. Every other time he came in he was carrying around a huge backpack on his back. Clearly he looked homeless. But that wasn't exactly the case. He had mentioned that he was living out of a shelter and finally started getting his life back in order. He had just paid off a second car, which he didn't have anymore, and finally found himself with a paycheck that he didn't need to spend on bills. He was starting to save for an apartment so he could get out of the shelter. I had offered him his slice on me that night. He was quite shocked with my decision and very grateful. He is a very nice guy. He left and it started to get busy. I had told the other 2 people what I had done and I was given weird looks. We typically frown upon buying anyone of that nature a slice. But we carried on. About a half hour later, a women came in with 2 children claiming she couldn't get her car started and needed a jump start if we had the cables. I did, so I headed outside and standing by her car was her husband. I grabbed my car and jumped their car and as I started packing up to head back inside, he handed me a $20 bill. I told him I didn't want to take it but he insisted. I took it even though I felt it was unnecessary. I went inside and the discussion turned to karma. Maybe things would keeping going, but by the title of this post, you get the idea!

Sunday came and I was hosting a mini-meet at my work, Sal's Pizza. Would you believe that everyone showed up. I got Rubaduc and Giz from Connecticut, Oldhounder and Siamese from Massachusetts, and tons more from New Hampshire. AND, to top it off, Lundy and Vickster showed up at the last minute which we didn't expect. There were some new letterboxers, the FlyingPigs, Canadian-American Girl, Tinabeana and local veterans, Skier4444, The Clue Crew, and the Silva Foot Family, as well as myself of course. We ate pizza and stamped in some boxes, carved a little and told some boxing stories. All in all, everyone had a wonderful time and really enjoyed hanging out. I think that hosting a mini-meet is so much less stressful than hosting a bigger event. I think I will do this again in the very near future.

So after the event, I was to head to Maine, to my Mother's house. By spending the night at my Mother's, this would save me from driving all the way to Rome to the P.I.E. event hosted by Robins Nest. What I didn't realize until I got to my Mother's house was that I had left my GPS on my computer desk and had no idea how to get to Robins Nest house now. The next morning, I was planning on searching my emails using my phone, but now realized that my phone was searching for a signal all night, which was killing the battery. If I had known that, I would have brought my charger. So the day was ruined. What could we do now? Since my Mother lived about 30 minutes or so from the ocean, I decided that we should head there. Wells and Ogunquit beaches were hard to find and once we found the Wells beach, we were unable to find any parking spots so we left. We have time share in Ogunquit and we stopped there to go swimming in the indoor pool. After we headed to York beach, which was almost as hard to find parking at, but we found some. All the children had fun playing in the water and even though that visit was short lived, they still had fun. We left Maine and visited Pierce Island in Portsmouth to check on one of my boxes that is there. The box was doing well and there was no sign that anything was wrong. Before we left, the tide was down so we collected some shells and rocks for me to do some crafty things with.

So all in all, the weekend was kinda a bust. We had been to P.I.E. last year and we were looking forward to going again this year.. Since that didn't happen, we made due with what we had and tried to have as much fun as we could. I think the children had more fun since we didn't do as much driving as planned. Hopefully next year, Robins Nest will again host another P.I.E., and we will be able to make it with very little issues. Thank you for hosting yet another successful event Robins Nest, even though we were unable to make it. We will surely make it up to Rome sometime in the near future.

A Haunted New England

2009-09-03T03:51:00.001-07:00

With my brother's wedding coming up in a few weeks, I needed to head down to Connecticut to make sure the tux I would be wearing would fit. So with that planned for about a week, Levi and I took a day trip this past Monday. Since this was going to be a short stay down there, I figured we would search for a few boxes on the way down.

In and around the Nashua area, there are 3 boxes planted in a series called "Haunted New England." There is also another planted in Concord, Massachusetts. But we were out to look for the 3 that were in New Hampshire this day. First up was The Country Tavern. This was a cute little place located on Amherst St. Originally built as a farmhouse in 1741,was once the house of Elizabeth Ford, the wife of a ship captain. After one of his long voyages, he returned to find his wife pregnant by another man. He waited until the baby was born and then killed them both, burying them somewhere on the property. Some say they were buried directly on the land below where the restaurant now stands. Other say he dumped them in a well on the property. Either way, Elizabeth has stayed on the property. Employees of the restaurant report items being moved and hearing footsteps late at night. Some say she would regularly cause things to fall and break. This seems to be the most malicious thing she desires to do, because most stories about her describe her actions as harmless and at times even pointless. There is no rhyme or reason to what she does. The sightings seem to be focuses more on women on the premises and her favorite activity used to be to play with women’s hair in the ladies room. We located the box and stamped in with no issues. It would seem that the tavern was closed and Elizabeth was asleep. Maybe we will come back next time and visit Elizabeth again.

The next box we searched for was Gilson Road Cemetery - A New Awakening. This box is planted in a small cemetery tucked away on a side road. The cemetery is well known for its haunted reputation and for the strange headstone of Walter Gilson that has a perfectly circular hole through it. The hole is not shot through as that would have shattered the slate... When we were searching for this box, in the clues, it states that our compass might not work very well. I guess people have had some issues using their own compasses, sending them in different directions while searching for this box. I became a victim on this day. I swear that my compass on more than 1 occasion, sent me in different direction. Once in one way and another in a totally different direction. Finally sending me in the direction I needed to go. I think in all, we spent about a half hour in this cemetery. This box is considered a drive by, but would understand why it shouldn't be called one. You never know how long you will be in that cemetery searching for that box.

The third box we went and found was Pine Hill Cemetery. This again was a small cemetery tucked away on a back road. Nestled beside a New England farm plot in Hollis, NH, this ancient cemetery is reportedly very haunted. Officially named Pine Hill Cemetery, it is commonly referred to as "Blood Cemetery" by the locals -- denoting the famous headstone marking Abel Blood's grave. Rumors indicate the hand pointing upwards on Blood's grave mysteriously points downward at night and numerous paranormal investigations have recorded strange voices, ghostly orbs have shown up in pictures, etc. Closed dusk to dawn and heavily patrolled by authorities around Halloween. We were not there during the night and I would probably never visit during the night to find out if this haunted tail is true. So we were in Pine Hill Cemetery searching for this box during the day. Unfortunately for us, on this day, we were unable to find the box. I searched and searched for this box but I think it is missing. But, I emailed the planter in hopes that they come back and find the box and I just merely missed it.

So with 2 of the 3 boxes found, it was now time to head to Connecticut. We made it to my brother's place at 11:00am. We sat around for a little bit and then headed out, but not to fit my tux. I guess he would have to make an appointment for that, which he hadn't done. Oh well. I got to see my brother which was better than not. So we went out to check on one of my boxes, Dying in the Shadow of a General, which had been reported as missing and when we got there, it was still tucked away right where is was last left. Plenty of people have found it since I had first planted it. The logbook had had to be replaced at one point due to water damage, but even the new logbook was filling up. After visiting the box, we headed to Mohegan Park. This is where my brother was to get married. It is a nice park that we both grew up down the road from and visited from time to time. He showed me the spot located by the water. It was nice grass and in the pond, there was a water spout shooting up. We had hoped that the park would still have it running on the day the wedding occurred. Levi was eating his lunch while we were there and when he finished, we headed back to his place.

All in all, we spent about 2 hours in Connecticut. Tons less time than I care to really. The gas spent to drive down and back was lots. Gas is more expensive in Connecticut than in New Hampshire. But to try and make the trip less bothersome, we searched for 1 more box. Located in the town I grew up in, Taftville, was a Great Atlas Quest box called Whodunit?. It was located in Raymond "Cit" Ouellet Park. This park was there when I lived here but nonetheless, we went to search for the box. Basically, this park if full of sports fields. It sits next to the Taftville Reservoir which was there when I lived in town. Anyhow, we found the box and the box, stamp and location was beautiful. A nice way to end our trip to Connecticut. It was now time to go home and pick up the children from daycare. A quiet day for Levi and I, ending with the noise of 6 kids all looking for attention. Now the trip to Connecticut and the money spent on gas seemed worth it.

A Wet Wet Weekend

2009-08-26T20:00:00.001-07:00

The last weekend before school starts here in town and I decided we would go camping. I thought it would be a nice thing to do with the children before the hustle and bustle of school begins. So since this was a last minute thing, we didn't exactly go camping, but it was the closest it came this year. All the camp sites at a White Lake State Park in Tamworth were taken but my Dad had offered to let us camp in his backyard. He lived in Tamworth as well and was more than happy to let us use his backyard. So we took him up on his offer.

The weekend came and things were not looking up for camping. First, Billy didn't want to go because he had wanted to go to a friends birthday party. Second, Elijah was just plain lazy and hadn't gotten his stuff ready to go. And three, there was a hurricane coming off the Atlantic Coast. So that left Michaela, Bailey and myself off to go camping.

About an hour after we showed up and my Dad's house, it started to rain. I hadn't even set up my tent yet and it was already raining. We gathered inside and talked a bit before we decided to head off to a local indoor pool. The kids had a wonderful time inside but we needed to get back so I can set up the tent. It had stopped raining by then, but not for long. Rain was coming again but not until we fell asleep.

The next morning we were going to head up to Great Hill and go hike to the top to a fire tower. We packed a lunch and headed on up the hill. It was about a 20 minute hike to the top, not very far, but it was a little muggy. At the top of Great Hill was a letterbox called Great Hill Tower. I grabbed the box and headed into the tower to start on our lunch. As I started in on my sandwich, I stood up and started looking around at beautiful view. Problem though. There was a rain shower on the way and it didn't look good. Probably about 10 minutes away, we packed up our lunches, I quickly stamped in the letterbox and took a peek around to see where the rain was now. It was actually moving away from where we were. False alarm! Until I looked a bit to the left and found another area of rain that was surely heading our way. I figured we had about 5 minutes before we had to leave. So we finished most of our lunches and then headed back for the car. It sprinkled a little on the way back but didn't really start raining until we got back to the car. We got inside the car and it poured. Just in time! About a half hour later, it stopped raining and we headed to a place called Monkey Trunks. This place was awesome. You climb as high as 65 feet up in the air play in a rope course not made for those with height issues. Did I mention I have a bit of a height issue? It usually takes me some time to get over this which I was doing, but again it started to rain. No sprinkles here, just down pours. This place doesn't shut down for rain, so we kept on going. by the time we left, we were soaked from head to toe.

So the next day was go home day. I had some clues to find boxes and as well as planting one. I had planted a box but the clues are not available as of the posting of this blog post. The trip home was quite dry. I don't recall it rain at all. Kinda figures, but today was going to be interesting! We first stopped in New Hampton for a box only for it to be missing. We then stopped in Sanbornton to find a box, but the church the box was behind was being repainted so we couldn't go for that box. Finally, we searched for a box in Franklin called Remembering Floyd. This box was located at the Franklin Falls Dam. It was so nice at this dam. I have seen many and they are not as open as this dam is. There are trails and picnic areas as well as a little play area. We had plans to find a 4th box but it was decided we should just be lucky we found 1 box and call it quits. So we did.

We had hoped for a much better weekend but Hurricane Bill did hamper our time a bit. Our tent problems are still an issue for that the leaks we encountered in Virginia continued back at home as well. Maybe this weekend wasn't meant to be, but either way, we still made due and had as much fun as we could of had. Michaela and Bailey didn't seem to mind the rain. They had fun and that really was all that mattered. Besides, this weekend was more for them than me.

Ants in Harold Parker State Park

2009-08-17T08:37:00.001-07:00

So bare with me! I am a week late in posting this since I have been really busy and had posted 3 large posts about our trip to Virginia. The day after we got back from Virginia, I had found out that my Mother-in-law was going to take the children to her Father's house for the day, which turned into 2 days. This was awesome news for me. Sarah had to work so that left me all alone! So I decided that I was going to head to Andover, MA and look for a bunch of letterboxes. These were all boxes that were planted for the Tune In & Toon Out event that was held back in June. I had already collected "Toon Out! First Edition" a few weeks ago, and now I was going to head out for "Toon Out! Second Edition." It was a beautiful day and the bugs were really not that bad. Well except for those pesky deer flies! They have been really bad this year! But they were no match for my bug spray! 10 boxes later and the bug spray was wearing off. I finished the series and headed back to my car for lunch. I was trying to figure out if I want to head back into the woods to find some more boxes. Let me finish my lunch first and I will figure that out.

So I finished my lunch and I thought, I drove all the way down here (45 minute drive) to search for some boxes. I am alone, which doesn't happen everyday, so why not. So I went off looking for "Tune In! First Set." The bugs were just good as the first time out, but there were no deer flies this time. Oh, there's one! So more bug spray was added to myself and I continued on my way. About half way through, I was debating with myself if I really wanted to find this series of boxes or if I should have just called it quits for the day. I mean the boxes aren't going anywhere. But, I was out in the woods half way through this series and I might as well finish it. I arrive at the location where "The Key of Imagination" should be. I find the box and I log in. I finished logging in and as I stand up, I notice I am being attacked by ants! They didn't bite me but they were certainly going to town on my shoes! I stomped on the ground to hopefully rid my shoes of the ants but they were holding on tight. Next step was to rid myself of the shoe before I got bit by them. Problem was, after I got my shoe off, where do I step with 1 shoe still one and another off. I didn't want those ants on my sock for sure! So I finally made my way back to the trail, about 20 feet from where the box was located and started working on clearing my shoe of the ants. It didn't really take to long. What took longer was inspecting my shoe to make sure there were no more hanging on to bite me later. There were a few hanging onto my backpack which I rid of, and soon found myself running through the woods to finish the series faster. I did slow up a little after it seemed I was never going to get out of the woods. But now I didn't want to put my hands anywhere I didn't want to. And of course, one of the next boxes was somewhere I didn't want to stick my hand. But I was a man and I did anyhow. After finding all 11 boxes, I did manage to make my way out of the woods and back to my car. I double checked my shoes and backpack and shorts too, to make sure I wasn't gonna bring anyone home with me. I think they were fire ants but I can not be completely sure. All I know was they certainly made my trip that day very interesting and a story I will not soon forget. In all I found 22 boxes which did include the first box to "Tune In! Second Set." Even though I was attacked by ants, it was still a good day.

Our Trip to Virginia - Part 3

2009-08-17T07:21:00.001-07:00

As we awake to the last day before heading home, the weather looks to be in our favor. We had only gotten rained on for that one night and things couldn't have been any more on our side today. We decided that since it was our last day in Virginia, that we would stay at camp and do things there. We packed tons of games which we really hadn't played much of up until this point. We did some more swimming down at the pool. The campground had a water slide which we were interested in, but for some reason, they wanted us to pay $9 for us to use it. Didn't make much sense to pay so much. They had a package where you could use the sprinkle park (which was stupid) and the mini golf course for $6. You could have added the water slide for $3 more dollars. So we were about to head down to the pool when we started to hear rumbles of thunder. Clouds started to roll in and the sky opened up. It poured and a river was formed through our camp site. You see, we hadn't seen this until now, but it made perfect sense now that all our stuff got so wet in the tent that first night we showed up. The road sat higher than the site and there was little to no drainage for the water, except into our camp site and others for that matter. So for about an hour it poured, and just as fast as it started, it stopped.

The sky cleared and rumbles could still be heard in the distance but we could tell they were from the storm that just passed. So we waited at least a half hour before finally heading down to the pool. We had talked about whether or not we would do the slide and/or the mini golf and not even consider the sprinkle park. We get to the pool and just past the pool, down a small hill was the mini golf course. 5 of the 18 holes were under water, so I thought that maybe the campground would maybe do something for us so we could do the sprinkle park and water slide for $6. Nope! They wouldn't even though the mini golf course was under water. So we swam for at least an hour and a half before calling it quits.

Later, we started to figure out what need to be packed up before heading to bed. We were planning on heading home around 8AM and I didn't want to be packing everything that early in the morning. So planning started and dinner was too. Boo Boo came around again and played with the children at the playground. Today, they were playing dodge ball and he joined them in the game. It was kinda funny until a scream was heard. It was one of my kids crying on the ground because someone hit him with the ball. I went and got him and as I turned to walk back to camp, a second kid was crying. Yup! One of mine again. SO we all went back to camp and settled down for dinner. Hot dogs and beans were on the fire tonight. Sarah and I loved it, but the children didn't as much. They are picky eaters. So as we ate, the sun started to set and the clouds started to come in as well. They didn't completely cover the sly but they didn't need to. Rumbles of thunder were coming again, but this time, we got no rain. With sky pitch black now, flashes of lightning in the distance lit the sky through the flickering flames of the fire. Hmmm! I like that line! I should write that one down! Anyhow, I was going to start packing but since I didn't know if it was going to rain, I held off until I felt it was safe to do so without that wet stuff falling from the sky. The rumbles stopped after awhile, the show was almost over, and we started to pack as much as we could. I was not looking forward to the ride in the morning.

So we woke up around 6AM and took our showers and I started taking down the tent and stuffing the rest of everything back into the van for our ride home. We actually left at 8AM like I had hoped. Before we left Natural Bridge though, I had to plant a letterbox. It wasn't the best carve in the world, but I guess if it goes missing, it won't be that hard to re carve. I somehow forgot to bring some of my transfer tools so the image I had was drawn on the rubber itself. Cave wall drawings it was. We drove up to Cave Mountain Lake which is in the Jefferson State Forest just down the road a bit. That didn't take long to plant. It was a drive by!We now were on our way home. Oh look a dinosaur! We stopped and took a picture of the children with the dinosaur. Oh look Stonehenge! We stopped and took a picture of Stonehenge. Now we were officially off.

The ride was perfect. I wasn't tired at all. We were planning on heading to Washington D.C. again so we can get some souvenirs for the children to take home. I wanted a Hard Rock pin since I collect them. We ate lunch in Washington D.C. and then headed off to Baltimore. I was in heaven! I am a huge Baltimore Orioles fan and they had just ended their game, which they won and I was in Baltimore. I did shed a tear. So we stopped here for more souvenirs and even though I already had a Hard Rock pin from Baltimore, I went and got another. After that we headed for Connecticut. My grandmother lived there and this was where we were going to be staying for the night. It was nice to see her, but we were all so tired. Good night Grandma.

The next morning we said our goodbyes to Grandma and visited my brother at Mohegan Sun Casino. We was surprised to see us there. We talked about his wedding next month and blah blah blah. We left and headed to Foxwoods. Guess what was there? Hard Rock! I collected another pin and now we were finally on our way home. A half hour on the highway and down came the rain. Hazards were put on and the speed limit dropped to 40mph. Nobody could really see anything. 30 minutes of that and it stopped raining all together. But now we had to deal with traffic and there was lots of it. Worcester and Lowell, MA, Nashua and Manchester, NH. A 3 hour drive took us about 4 and a half hours total. Either way, it was nice to finally be home. The van was parked in front of the house, and everyone went inside to bed. What a trip that was. I can't wait to never do it again!

Our Trip to Virginia - Part 2

2009-08-13T10:56:00.000-07:00

Monday was our first full day in Virginia. We all decided, well Sarah and I decided, we would stay at the campground and situate ourselves. After a night of rain, we now had the pleasure of having to dry out. Everything in our tent was soaked. Now we had 2 tents on the site. 1 tent had Levi and Elijah, while the other tent had the rest of us totaling 5. This was a big tent, but Sarah wanted to get an air mattress, which we found out didn't like to hold air. By the morning, every morning, we were both touching the ground. But getting back to everything being wet, there was to much going on in the tent to keep us all dry. So everything had been pulled out of the tent and a clothes line was set up to start the drying process. Sleeping bags were sent down to the dryers to ensure they were dry by bed time.

At some point, we wanted to get the night off our minds and do something besides wait for things to dry. So we headed to the pool. The pool is full of water! Something that shouldn't get your mind off of what just happened over night. Anyhow, it worked. We all enjoyed the pool before returning to reality at our campsite. It wasn't until later that we were visited by Boo Boo Bear. Did I mention camping at Jellystone? The children enjoyed playing with him, jumping on his back and getting piggy back rides from him. About 5 minutes of hanging out with us, he had to leave for bed time. Sounded good to me. There was a big day tomorrow. We were heading to West Virginia.

Michaela and Bailey have a brother and sister in West Virginia. They hadn't seen them since leaving their home with Mom to come and live with me. I don't wanna get to into it, but their brother and sister no longer live with Mom either. We left for West Virginia for a small town called Hinton. It sits in the southern part of the state. It took us just over 2 hours to arrive in Hinton and again, I thought we weren't going to make it. Since my long drive down to Virginia, even a half hour ride somewhere was to long. Anyhow, we made it. But before you even get into Hinton, you have to climb a mountain which I have been told, the road that you climb and ride down, you pass yourself 5 times. therefore, the road is so curvy, you literally pass yourself 5 times. This road it in the Genius Book of World Records for passing yourself 5 times. Once you climb and make your way down the other side of the mountain, you find yourself in Hinton. Hinton is in a valley within the mountains of West Virginia. The mountain sides are covered in sandstone and the rivers are layered with the very same rock. You can literally walk all the way across the river without tripping on anything but your own feet. The river bed is 1 large flat rock. It was very beautiful there. So were arrived and for the first time in almost a year. Michaela and Bailey got to see there brother and sister, Drew and Abbey. They played and played and had so much fun being with each other again. Later, the Grandparents, whom Drew and Abbey were living with, had a huge cookout. Other family members from New England and in town came for the special occasion. Steak, chicken, corn on the cob, hot dogs, hamburgs, you name it, it was probably there. Of course, this would set me up for a long ride home. But I don't wanna get ahead of myself.

Before leaving Hinton, I made it a point to find and plant a letterbox in West Virginia. Luckily, Hinton had a letterbox planted in town and it was littered with state parks. Walkabout had planted a box called Walkabout down around the trail depot. It was a nice area and sure enough, the box was there. Being the only clues I printed down for West Virginia, I would have been pretty upset if it wasn't there. But I didn't have to lean that way. I found a box in West Virginia. Now to plant a box. Just down the road from the Grandparent's house was Bluestone State Park. It was there I planted a box called Brothers & Sisters in honor of this special occasion. Mission accomplished. 1 planted and 1 found and 4 together again. But now it was getting late and it was time to head home.

The ride back to camp was a bad one. The speed limit was 70 mph and it was getting so bad for me that I was driving at about 50 mph. Everyone else in the car was sleeping and I was well on my way. So I decided to get off the highway and pull into a lot for a nap. Sarah had woken up an noticed what I had done. I guess at some point after I fell asleep, someone pulled in behind us and parked. They were there for awhile and then just left. Then another car came but left right away. This all happened while I was sleeping. Then out of no where, I freaked out and grabbed the steering wheel. Sarah started laughing hysterically ad I was now pissed. I had thought I was still driving and I jumped out of the car, heart pounding, even more pissed that she was laughing. What if we were driving still? She wouldn't be laughing then! About 12 or so years ago, I fell asleep at the wheel and got into an accident. I didn't ever want that to happen again. Once Sarah stopped laughing, she offered to drive and we switched seats. She drove for about an hour and once we got off the exit needed to get to camp, I started driving again. I had been taking naps while she was driving and felt rested enough to finish the 10 minutes left to camp. Good thing too! 2 deer and something big grey and fluffy ran across the road in front of us. We arrived back at camp about 11pm and we were all ready to head to sleep. If we were lucky, it wouldn't rain tonight. And we were! It didn't rain. To be continued......

Our Trip to Virginia - Part 1

2009-08-09T18:30:00.000-07:00

At some point I thought I should start a new blog. Something about this blog just didn't do it for me. I started a new blog called "Bearing with the News" and it really surrounded the life of a family of Boxing Buddies I picked up at Goodwill. They were all Build-a-Bears. But as I started posting on that site, I realized that I was basically starting all over. I know that there are people following this blog and they were reading it at one point before I skipped out in the winter. So here I am, back posting on this blog. I have cut my loses with that blog for now. I might try it again but it will be a project for the children. I of course will have some help, but for now, there really is not much time. School is about to start in about 3 weeks and there is much to do around the house. But I'm not going to bore you with talk about what has been happening around the house. I have some letterboxing talk to tell you about. This has always been what I do best. And I don't have to try to hard doing it!

Of course there is so much to talk about, but I can't post it all today! Then I would have nothing to talk about tomorrow! So let me start with our trip to Virginia. This trip happened a week ago. Ya, I am a little bit behind in posting about it, but better late then never! So we went on vacation in Virginia to see some family in West Virginia. We left at 10pm Saturday July 25th. Yes 10 at night. I stopped at a gas station and picked up tons of caffeine, because I would need it and started off to Virginia. We had planned on stopping in Washington D.C. and use that as a mid way point. Kinda more than mid way, but it was gonna have to do. My garmin said arrival time would be 6am Sunday morning. Fine. We were on the highway and our venture through Hartford, Connecticut was very uneventful. New York City, uneventful. The drive through New Jersey was actually kinda pretty. Now I know that New Jersey is such a blah state and there really isn't anything to brag about, but when you are from out of state and it is in the middle of the night and all you can see are lights, they were kinda pretty. OK, I was tired. About 4, 4:30 in the morning, the sun started to rise as we entered Delaware and then Maryland. Things started to appear around us and now we could actually look at something better than the lights we had seen all night. We drove around the out skirts of Baltimore so we didn't see much, and then there was Washington D.C. We arrived at about the time the garmin said. Sunday morning in Washington D.C. is very very quiet. We had all the parking we wanted. We parked somewhere in the view of the Washington Monument and the State House. I guess they call it the mall!? I gotta tell you, this was my first time in D.C. and I was not impressed at all. I would have thought that Washington D.C. would look much better than it did. I thought it was really dirty. drove around a little and went to check out the Lincoln Memorial. he was clean! They were cleaning him the whole time we were there! He was everything I expected. I was now impressed.

While we were visiting Lincoln, we decided that we will go get some breakfast. This was the death of me, and I thought, the death of Team New Hampshire. We found a Denny's and had our breakfast. What makes this the almost death of us, I had been driving all night and now I am relaxing. Not a good thing. After we ate, it was on our way to Virginia. Still another 5 hours to where we were going! But it seemed even longer when I started getting tired.

So I pulled off the highway in Front Royal in Virginia now. In Front Royal, you can find one of the 2 ends to Skyline Drive. Skyline Drive runs north and south through the Shenandoah National Park. I decided it would be a nice drive with plenty to see. Plenty that should keep me awake. But that was not the case. We were on Skyline Drive for about an hour and a half. For the first half hour, everything looks nice. The views were amazing! After the first half hour, everything starts looking the same. The mountains might not all be the same height, but they sure all look the same. As soon as we could, we got off of Skyline and made a B-line to Natural Bridge, to where our campground is.

We got to our camp around 3pm. This was 5 hours behind schedule. The total drive should have taken only 12 hours. 10pm to 10am. With the 2 hour stop in D.C. and the drive on Skyline, and then the many stops to stretch and clear my head the best I can, it took a total of 17 hours. A little to much driving for me. We set up camp while the children played at the playground and then cooked up some food on the fire. Hot dogs and beans. We played a bit of kickball which was put on by the campground and of course that wore me out a little more. Bedtime came and so did the rain. And man did it rain. And man did it keep me up all night. I was not a happy camper when morning came. To be continued..........

Remembering Pearl Harbor

2008-12-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And, while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory.
I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

When I woke up, this cold and snowy morning. I couldn't think of any better way to honor those who risked, and continue to risk there lifes for our freedom, than to spend it with my family. If it wasn't for those brave souls, I may not ever have had the oppurtunity to be able to sit down with my family, anywhere on earth. We remembered those by reading books, playing games, movies, letterboxing, just time together. We remembered those by not forgetting.

May God bless America and everyone else all over the world. And may we all head to bed, thanking those, for another beautiful free day, tomorrow.

Turkeyboxing Day 2008

2008-11-29T07:18:00.001-08:00

Turkeyboxing Day. For those that don't know what Turkeyboxing day is, it is a day when we combine letterboxing and Thanksgiving and make it one holiday. Every year, we have gone to either my Mother's house or my Dad's. Since both live at least an hour away, we have decided to find a few letterboxes on the way. This is the 4th year we have been doing this since starting letterboxing in 2005. This years venture, to my Mother's house in Maine.

First we needed to head to Tamworth, where my Dad lives, to drop off some tools he let me borrow. On the way, we stopped in Northfield to look for a box called "Mickey meets Titus" but couldn't find it. Then across the river to Tilton to look for "Tilton Island." We were able to find that box. Now we were to drop off the tools and attempt to find our 2nd of 3 boxes. On the way north, the ground started getting covered with snow. The snow was very little, but within 5 minutes of first spotting snow, it was everywhere. Barely a bare spot to be found. Once we got into Tamworth, there had to of been at least 4 inches of snow. Winter was surely coming if not considered here now.

After we dropped of the tools, we headed to find a box located in a cemetery in Tamworth called "Ordination Rock Cemetery." We found it with no problems, even though there was 4 inches of snow on the ground. Snow has never been an obstacle for us. We are used to searching for letterboxes in deep snow. New York in 2007, 4 feet of snow! Anyhow, now we were officially heading to my Mother's house.

A letterboxer in Connecticut, Maine-iac at Heart, had planted a letterbox in Effingham, NH and I had offered to watch over it for her. Of course in order for me to do that, I had to find it first. "Nutter Cemetery" was planted in a cemetery of that same name and is kinda hard to find. Very easily could be driven by if you weren't paying attention, but we found it. The boxes were in great shape and the stamp images were wonderful.

Finally making it to my Mother's House after a traveling the long way, dinner wasn't quite ready yet. Every year, we want to plant a letterbox on Turkeyboxing Day with a turkey theme. We have only done it once during our 3 years doing Turkeyboxing Day, but had a box to plant this year. So we headed out for a short drive to Sanford, ME to Gowen Memorial Park. There is a nice trail system the runs the woods and streets of Sanford. This time around, we will be sticking to the woods. While walking the woods, we found some wonderful areas including a long metal bridge crossing over a river. The walk was nice but a tad cold. There was no snow on the ground here but yes, winter was surely still coming.

Now it was dinner time. Oh man! The turkey was so good and stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, I could just keep going. Everything was great. My Mother did an awesome job. Then the pies were something too. Wish I had more space in my stomach to put more there but unfortunately, I didn't. We watched a movie called "Space Chimps", worst movie ever, but then again, I fell asleep for most of the movie. I wouldn't suggest renting the movie and if you did, ask for your money back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving as we did brace yourself! Christmas is coming! It only gets worse!

And the winner is........

2008-11-05T04:18:00.001-08:00

Well, even as the last of the votes are counted at this early hour of the morning, we already know whom this countries next President will be. Barack Obama. Now I will be honest with you and let you know I didn't vote for him. I'm not gonna get into why I didn't vote for Obama, because it wouldn't matter at this point. Yesterday has past and a new day has started. I just hope that others knew what they were doing when they voted for Obama. He had a very strong youth movement and I think a large portion of them didn't even know why they voted for him.

So last night after I got out of work, I decided to ask a few of those youth, whom they were voting for and why. This is what they said:
==============================
Elijah - I voted for McCain because he wants to bring home the troops in a timely fashion so that they can be with their families.
Billy - I voted for McCain because I like him and I think he will fix the economy.
Michaela - I voted for McCain because he seems like a nice guy.
Bailey - I voted for Obama because he has a funny name!
Levi - I voted for Obama because that's the one I pointed to.
David - I voted for McCain because I like what he had to offer and I think the Republican Party name has gotten a bad rap because of Bush. A party shouldn't be dragged down because of 1 man.
Sarah - I voted for Obama because we don't need at least 4 more years of Republican ways.
==============================
So in the end, I was right. The youth don't really know why they voted for Obama, but who is bragging! McCain got 4 votes out of those polled and Obama got 3 votes. McCain won New Hampshire 4 years ago, but Obama won New Hampshire this time around and New Hampshire will be a blue state for the next 4 years. Oh well.

With this election coming to an end, I now know whom the 44th President will be and the final stamp to carve for my gathering in January. Barack Obama. I may not of voted for the guy, but I will support him in what he needs to do as President. He has lots of guts to run for the highest office, which can't be easy right now. The economy is in the toilet right now and there are 2 wars still going on. The only bright side right now, gas prices are down and in a few months, an unpopular president will be leaving the oval office.

New to Team New Hampshire

2008-10-30T04:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been a long time coming, but the world is slowly getting to know the newest members of Team New Hampshire. We have done tons of stuff since they first moved in about a month ago. I got a lot of catching up to do. So here I go.

Their first chance to explore our world came way back on October 11th. We headed down to Bellingham MA to bring Ellen of The Travelers 4 a few stamps for T2's Birthday Bash which was the following day, which we couldn't make it. We watched T2 play some baseball and Ellen and I talked some and the kids were all hanging out on the playground when they weren't playing with Ellen's i-phone. Afterwards, we split and we headed to Franklin MA to plant a box called "My Other Addiction." Yes I have another addiction other than letterboxing! And it is family friendly box!

There was a few weeks now in between this trip and our next which came this past weekend. October 25th was Frightnight 4 in Gorham ME. We all dressed up as aliens. We looked like we were there for an invasion, but there was so much going on, there really wasn't any time for an invasion. Everyone got lucky this time, but next time, they won't get to be so lucky. Anyhow, there were lots of people for this years FN. The usual suspects were all there, as well as The Hashbrown Boxer from Idaho, Eidolon from Georgia, Bone Yard Recorder from Ohio and Geraldo Rivera from Iraq. OK so Geraldo wasn't actually there, but someone was dressed up like him (Jackbear from New York.) There was, like I said, so much going on between the massive search for 105 guest stamps on the "Unusual Celeb List," the talent contest, the best and worst costume contest, and of course, talking to everyone as much as you can. With the winter coming, I'm sure it was something we all had to do just in case we had another winter like last. We are all doomed! But the is hope! New Hampshire New Year 2009 is coming up in January!

The following day, we left for Connecticut to go visit some family members. Now I can't head down there without at least finding or planting 1 box. We tried to find 2 boxes, but were not able to find where to start. I think I found 1 spot, but the parking spot was in a bad location, therefore not finding this box to be very safe for others to find. Another box wasn't clear about where is was located. I know CT pretty good, but for some reason, there clues were not specific as to where to box was located. When I mapquested the location, all that was provided was the town it was in, not the actual location, but of course, I didn't realize this until later when I got to my Grandmothers house and started talking about it. realizing that when you mapquested the location, because all that was provided was the town name, it marked the center of town as the location, which again, wasn't the actual location of the box. So we were searching in the total wrong area and after a few times through that area, gave up and went on to bigger and better things. Like apples picking. We got together with my brother and his girlfriend for those apples. Michaela went a little crazy picking apples. She filled up half of a bag with 1 kind of apple. We had to slow her down. We ended up with tons of apples and believe it or not, the apples are almost gone! The kids like fruit! Sweet! We visited my grandmothers after that, which was very uneventful, and then left for home. The end of a weekend packed with drive time.

Can't say what we will be doing between now and the end of the year. There is our 3rd Annual TurkeyBoxing Day. This year we will be heading off to Maine to visit my mother. She just moved into a new home and is looking forward to showing it off to whom ever will come over to check it out. Anyhow, I will write from time to time, but I will not promise anything. Life is busy! Oh boy, is it busy!

The Fact of the Matter

2008-10-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

It would seem that yesterdays example of moving on, was a bit of a joke.

Mark posted:
"Now that yesterday's fiasco is behind us, and everyone has had a chance to calm down, I wonder what everyone thinks of what happened. Were multiple complaints enough to get Cyclonic banned? Did I act inhaste? It seems I've been accused of wanting people to box my way. I've always said this list is your list. Talk to me - do we invite Cyclonic back?"

Funny! It's a new day, but lets continue to talk about what happened. Doesn't sound like yesterday's fiasco is behind you Mark! Later, some posts describe Cyclonic (Nathan) as being rude, inconsiderate, disrespectful. These are suppose to be new boxers! Sounds like everyone is being themselves in a way that most of America judges people by a first impression. That if a fact. Maybe, instead of taking all those emails you "say" you got against Cyclonic, and email them all back explaining that letterboxing invites all types of people. Be a moderator, not someone who clearly dislikes Cyclonic. It is a fact you don't like him. What to say otherwise? You did call him and SOB! That's a fact too!

By the end of the day, people posted on the newboxers board, assuming that you didn't censor anyone, and some were heard. Did anyone invite Cyclonic to join the discussion? I would be interested to know being that everyone was talking about him. I was at work all day yesterday and while I would have loved to be a huge part of yesterdays event, a post I made to the newboxers this morning, at 7:53am, hasn't been posted yet.

Time stamped at 12:53am, Mark wrote :
"After discussing the past 2 days events and the posts for and against Cyclonic and his removal from this board, the moderators have decided that it is time for a truce of sorts. I have been informed that Cyclonic probably would not come back even if asked. But the overall majority of posts were to leave him banned and we will proceed from there. That being said the mods encourage everyone to get back to what the newboxers list is really about - asking questions and learning about this great hobby of ours while remembering one of the main tenets of this talk list, as detailed on the main page: "Answers to questions or concerns must be in a respectful andnon-threatening manner. "I expect this will be the end of this discussion. The moderators appreciate everyone's input and private emails. In alist of 4032 people registered, we have lost about 6 people."

Congratulations to you Mark! The fact is, 32 replies were posted amongst 21 people on the board. 6 by Mark, 4 by Sheba, and most everyone else posted once. 21 people out of 4032 people. From the replies, I was able to determine this. 6 replies were supporting Cyclonic, 4 against, and 3 neutral. The rest of the posts were not even any which way. So, I can only imagine what kind of emails you got! I bet they weren't all good ones! What are the numbers? I want the facts! Not your hidden blah blah, and you false assumption. The country doesn't support you. 4011 people didn't reply to your "It's a New Day" "let's move on" question. 6 left the newboxers board. Congrats to you!

In a snippet of a post, Mark wrote:
"My language in the post (that wasn't meant to be a post) was wrong. That bothered me very much as well. It takes a lot to get me mad and this latest outcry was the final straw. It bothered me so much so that, in discussions with the other moderators last night, I offered to turn the ownership of this list to one of them and bow out. Just up and leave and go away. (Some of you may not realize that I formed this list to avoid the very thing that was happening here on occasion.) I was voted down resoundingly and given reassurance that this happens to everyone at one time or another. I was still wrong and for that I apologize again."

So, I want to see what everyone voted. There are only 5 mods. Your vote surely was for you to stay, that's a fact! So, I can only wonder what everyone else voted! But for only such a few mods that this board holds, you couldn't possibly have a resounding vote your way. 5 MODS! Maybe instead of offering to turn over your dictatorship over the newboxers board, and knowing full well you would have been asked to stay, fact, you should have just handed over the reigns. It is clear that mistakes happen. We have seen this with interviews lately, but to have a private email, clearly stating your feelings towards another, a clear violation of the newboxer board, fact, posted on the board for everyone to see, there should be a consequence for your actions. Cyclonics responce was taken the wrong way and handled so poorly by yourself, that you have made enemies over this. The fact of the matter is, I dislike you more now than I did yesterday. The fact is, I respected you as a letterboxer until Tuesday. The fact is, your an Asshole! Show us how assholic your not and step down!

How to Put Your Foot in Your Mouth

2008-10-15T03:56:00.001-07:00

On a newboxers board used through yahoo, this question was posted:

Gwendontoo wrote:

"How many mystery boxes are listed, linked, or filed here?

Do not post where you have found them, only the number.
-Don"

This was a reply to this question

"Is that not something you should figure out for yourself?

-Nathan Brown"

Now, a result of this reply to the question, supposedly upset some people. Apparently, this reply somehow put Nathan on a blacklist and his posts would be monitored. But then sometime shortly after that, he got banned from ever posting on the newboxers board.

Then........ this was posted:

"Don,
I just put the SOB on moderation and sent him an email to that effect.

Why are some people so disagreeable.

Anyway - we'll comb over his posts with a fine tooth comb.

I'm hoping he'll get pissed enough to just go away.
Best to you on Gwen. I still have to get your Geo in the mail!!
-Mark Pepe"

Hmmmmm. Does anyone think that Mark will get banned?

He replied with this:

"Hi boxers,
I'm very sorry for the message that got through. I thought Don had emailed me privately.
Cyclonic has been banned from this list after repeated complaints from many of you today and other times.
Again, I'm sorry for my post - it wasn't intended for mass consumption.
-Mark Pepe"

I am sorry, but if he doesn't get banned, then there is a serious problem with the mods of the newboxers board. I am sure that I am not the only one, but I didn't see anything wrong with Nathan's post. the finger is being pointed at the wrong person here!

Here's my question. If Nathan apologized, would everything be alright? Thanks for showing us how to firmly put your foot in your mouth!

O.J. Was Framed!

2008-10-04T05:13:00.000-07:00

Ya, I know what your thinking! O.J. got what was coming to him! But I think you got it all wrong. Before making a final conclusion on what happened, I think you should hear him out. I mean, think about it. What if you were accused of doing something wrong and you weren't even there? I was able to sit down with O.J. last night after sentencing to ask a few questions. This is what he said:

Me: How do you feel right now?
O.J.: Considering what has happened today, hey, I'm just peachy! Come on man! I just was found guilty for something I didn't even do. I wasn't even there! Man, I'm gonna be beat to a pulp in there!

Me: What do you mean you weren't there? People saw you in Vegas last September! There were witnesses.
O.J.: You know, if someone smart would actually look at the facts, I may have been in Vegas on that date, but I was somewhere else. I'm O.J.. If you concentrate on what is in front of you, you could clearly tell that I couldn't possibly done all those things. I was chilling with some of my friends.

Me: Kidnapping, Assault, robbery! These are serious charges!
O.J.: Lets start with the kidnapping charge. I was sitting in a tree when someone came along and shook the dang tree until I fell down. Then I was grabbed and thrown in the back of a truck. If anything was kidnapped, It was me! Should we even get into assault! I didn't get this way over night! Squeezed and beaten. That's assault. And robbery! Me freedom was robbed!

Me: Well, it sounds like a pretty strong case. Where did you go wrong?
O.J.: I didn't go wrong at all. Years ago, a Mr. Orenthal James Simpson, decided to change his name to The Juice or O.J. Then he played football, did some horrible acting, killed his wife and friend. I would bet your bottom dollar that he was in Vegas that night in September. So to answer your question, where did I go wrong? I didn't. Everyone else just closed their eyes and chugged on some bad juice!

Me: Well, thank you for your time and I hope that everything comes out smooth.
O.J.: Thanks for coming and letting me speak some truth.

Trial #1 of Being a Dad : Hair

2008-09-30T03:39:00.001-07:00

As a new page in our life begins to grow, parts of our new life will always continue to surprise. Last night, something came up. But before I get that far, let me start from the beginning. Tuesday is there first day at their new school. We stopped by earlier in the day to finalize all the paper work so that they can go to school. Afterwards, we went to the daycare to drop Levi off and they got a chance to visit there the daycare they will be heading to after school gets out. But lets fast forward a little bit to why I am writing. Last night, both Michaela and Bailey had to take showers so they were nice and clean for their first day of school. I showed them how to work the shower and all was well. Bailey had to get his hair chopped off because he looked like the cat pictured above. He wanted it all off so his wish was granted. It did turn out a little shorter than I wanted it because the clippers couldn't handle his fine hair. But at least he doesn't look bad with such short hair. Now it was Michaela's turn to take a shower. She did and when she got out, she asked me to help dry her hair and I did. She then asked to comb her hair and........... This Dad can't comb long hair! I tried and tried and tried and gave up. Her hair looked so bad when I was finished. Sarah was at work last night and wouldn't be home until late. So I told her that Sarah would be more than glad to do her hair in the morning before school. Thank heaven for Sarah. She fixed all the issues that were Michaela's hair. Her hair looked like the cat's hair pictured above. I would have taken a picture, but it seemed like maybe in the future, if found, it would look like I was cruel to my daughter. Just kidding! She didn't want me to take a picture of how her hair looked. That's fine. But I still couldn't help writing about it.

Our First Weekend - Partly Cloudy

2008-09-29T04:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, I was scheduled to go out and get the children. Nerves were running high. I didn't wanna eat breakfast or drink anything for fear of it coming back up. The last time I got this nervous I vomited. Sorry for that , but ya! So breakfast was very nill. I drove out to Grafton, in which they lived, to the police department, to pick them up. They were there waiting for me. I was running a little late since Mapquest tried sending me down a road which was a dead end. Stupid Mapquest. Anyhow, I got to the police department and they were happy to see me. So far so good. We all got into the car and we started on our way home. Home! Just minutes ago, they were home, but are now heading to their new home with me.

I asked them if they knew what was going on and both of them stated they didn't. I figured that as far as they knew, they were coming over for a weekend visit like usual. We had been driving for about 45 minutes and pulled onto the highway. This is when things got uncomfortable. Michaela started crying, a little bit at first. Once I asked if she was OK and she started crying even more. She wanted Mommy. I figured this would happen at some point and it wasn't until this point that I realized they had known what was going on. I calmed her down, while I was driving, which seemed fairly easy, but something I had hoped I wouldn't have to deal with in the car. Bailey was fine, stating he wasn't crying.

We got home and we went to their bedroom and Michaela started unpacking her things. She unpacked some toys and then unpacked some cards her classmates made for her. At this point I started to cry. I started feeling as if I had done something wrong. I pulled her from her friends and felt like a monster. At that moment, a friend of mine called and I talked to her. I felt much better after we talked. She will make even more friends soon when she starts school on Tuesday. The rest of the day went as usual as it would during a weekend visit.

Sunday came and again, everything was fine. Things couldn't be any more wonderful. We all hung out, playing with toys and talking some about the new school they both will be in. We watched some TV and played some games. They only thing I could have asked for differently..... a sunny day. I would like for us to be able to go out and about, but there WILL be more days we can do this. For now, I will enjoy what I have because just 24 hours prior, I hadn't gotten the children yet. At bed time we talked a little about Mommy and how Michaela missed her. I told her that if she looked out the window and looked hard enough, she could see Mommy. I told her that I bet she is doing the same thing. They didn't quite get at what I was trying to get at, but they are 5 and 6. I figured they were to young to understand, but it was worth a shot anyhow. Anything to try and make things as easy as possible. They went to sleep and our first weekend together forever was over. After they fell asleep, I watched them for a few minutes. This was nice. Really nice.

Monday's forecast - Mostly Sunny

FINALLY!

2008-09-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

At some point in everybodys life, we leave footprints. For most, it is when we are children. We first start walking, being held by our parents, grabbing their fingers as they guide us across the floor, only to fall on our rears. We get up and try again and finally become pros, and leave our first prints in the ground. Thousands of footprints have been left by many others before us. Thousands of footprints will be left by others after. But even if you think we have been leaving footprints now, we are all truly mistaken. Footprints are left when we do something great. Do something right. Do something memorable.

Last Wednesday, I went to court to fight for custody for my children, from my prior marriage. Words were exchanged amongst the judge and I, the judge and our G.A.L, the judge and the ex. Lies were spoken, truths were told, and then the judge went on her way. For years, I have been fighting to clear my name of what is known to be wrong. Abusive I am told of being. Lacking of the ability to care for our children I am told of having. No right to be called their father I have earned. For years, I have been fighting to clear myself of all these injustices and it all came down to this last final day. I left court that day very unsatisfied. I failed. I could have done more to convince the judge that I was the better parent for our children. Damn it. But now it was a waiting game. For years, footprints have been left in my soul by my ex. She knew she was doing this to me. She knew she was doing this to our children. Why would she do this to us? And she was doing it some more while I sit at home, working our our children's bedroom, work for the money needed to care for my family, while I waited to hear back from the court.And finally I left my footprint, and I left it deep in the ground.

The papers came in and the truth had been heard. The judge found that my ex was no longer capable of caring for our 2 children. The judge had finally seen through her lies and noticed the truth hadn't actually been coming from her mouth after all. The judge claimed that my persistent calm presentation in court and the ex's at times, whoa is me, remarks, just were not cutting it. The ex cried in court stating " Nobody truly knows how hard it is for me to sit here feeling like I fighting this all on my own," while a supporting cast rallies behind me. I am no longer abusive to the courts eyes, claiming that there is no real evidence in past paper work that would ever suggest that I am abusive, also to never really ever have a real chance to defend myself when such untruths have been claimed. The judge claimed to consider myself to be the better parent, making sure I saw our children through the hardest of times during a period when I had to visit our children in a visitation center, an hour away for 2 hours at a time.The court noticed my footprint, and for that, I was rewarded with the custody of our 2 children.

No one can ever truly know how much I have worked to get to where I am today.But what I want everyone to know is, how grateful I am to have such a wonderful community of people to have standing by me through thick and thin, my good times and bad. I thank all of you for keeping me sane, keeping me grounded, and for allowing me to be the person I am, even if it pissed you off at times.

Goodbye Summer, Welcome Fall

2008-09-22T21:55:00.001-07:00

Well, just like that, summer is gone. I mean, where did it go? I have to be honest with you. This whole blog thing has been taking a wicked back seat to everything else that has been going on in my life. But with fall here, comes a time in my life that I have always loved. Now being in New England, the fall brings a different ring to the season that no other part of the country can match. Ya ya, I know the leaves change colors in other parts of the country, but this is New England. This is where our country was raised. Old Meetinghouses, covered bridges, and stonewalls that run for miles. Forest that has seen love and war. Mountains that can see sea to shining... Oh OK! So our mountains can't see both seas, but they do touch the sky, which in turn, allows us to see all the beautiful colors the fall can bring. Awwww what a wonderful time of year! With life being so busy, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to welcome in the fall.

And for those that have been following, I had originally planned on planting a series of boxes for the fall called "Falling into Madness." I have decided against them. They were supposed to be a part of the Madman series which I have an night event set for next summer called "The Search for the Madman's Treasure." These boxes have been in the works for some time now and after planting them and preparing them for today's release, I decided that they are so good, I wanted them to be saved for the event. Sorry folks, but sometimes, good things a worth waiting for. But since I have disappointed you royally, I will how ever be planting a box sometime between now and the end of October, somewhere between Concord, New Hampshire and Gorham, Maine, that is sure to make anyone mad! So if you were upset before, I hope I just made up for it.

Also coming October 1st, a big announcement for New Hampshire New Year 2009. Stay tuned.

The Longest Ride into Maine

2008-09-04T04:29:00.000-07:00

Maine! Neighboring state to New Hampshire, the Canadian border, and the Atlantic Ocean. LONG!

Lately, I had been spending way to much time working on letterboxing stuff. This time would end up dragging me into the early hours of the morning. And I'm talking about 2, sometimes 3am in the morning. From carving stamps to replant to working on Ultra Rare LTC's to send to people I don't even know. I was doing what I love to do. Monday, Labor Day, was when I realized it needed to stop. Letterboxing can be considered an addiction. Whether or not we are joking around about it, it is an addiction. We all need to figure out our boundaries and stick to them.

Monday, the boys and I were to head up into Maine for the Paddle In gather in Rome. I got up early, after a long night, and got the boys ready for the trip. We left and started on our way. For the first bit of the ride, I was fine, but shortly after we left, I was feeling really tired. I stopped to get something to wake me up. A little caffeine! It did the trick, for now. So we made it into Portsmouth, NH, and I had to replant a box that has gone missing. Portsmouth Alarm, if we all remember, has had it's share of issues on Pierce Island, as do most boxes there. For some reason or another, the boxes fall like flies. Something has to be done about that. But, I don't know what. So I found a much better place and painted up the box to make it harder for muggles to find, and went on my way. Now, off to Maine

BORING! This ride felt so long! Now clearly, we have driven all the way to Brewerton, NY and that was about 6 hours long, and to Elverson, PA, which was about 8 hours, but when you are really tired like I was, 3 hours seemed sooooooooooooooooo loooooooooonnnnnnnnggg. More caffeine! I brought back up! So, around noon, we made it into Rome and got to Robin's Nest's home where the gather was held. It was a small gather in which everyone except us, was from Maine. I knew Mudflinginfools and Teacup, at least talked with Sunnyside Seeker one or twice, but everyone else, I had never met. Being tired and not having met people, to me did, was a bad mix.

While at the gather, I felt that I was rude to certain people, if not everyone. There was just something about the way I was. I wouldn't let my kids do stuff, they were getting on my nerves, I didn't want to talk to anyone...... I think in all reality, I needed to just be home and sleeping. I tried to be as Team New Hampshire as possible, but I think I gave everyone the wrong impression of myself and my team. Now, I had heard otherwise from some, but I can't help but think everyone is being nice. We were at the gather for about 3-4 hours. I needed to leave. We had a long ride home and I didn't want to test myself.

On the way home, is when I realized that I needed to slow down. Letterboxing needed to take a back seat to me. I needed to get some rest and lots of it. But what about the kids! I'm not sure they had much fun today. They wanted to go out on the water but I wouldn't let them. SO, on the way home, we stopped at York Beach. We played in the water a little before it got to dark and headed home. They also had school in the morning. I think this was the rest/clearing my mind thing I needed right now. It also gave me some fresh air to wake me up for that stretch run home. It was only about 1.5 hours home from York. The air smelled awesome, the skyline was beautiful, and Levi had a starfish. We were all ready to go home now. And we did. And when we got home around 9, I went right to bed.

Oh So Many Roads in Andover

2008-09-03T05:45:00.001-07:00

A little behind, but I have had such a busy weekend. Sunday I spent the day in Andover searching for So Many Roads. This is a series of boxes planted from Grateful Letterboxers all over the states. It would seem that these stamps came from mostly New England, but you won't see me arguing.

So, I am getting ahead of myself. Lets back up a little. First I arrived in Andover to meet up with The Travelers 4. There were only 2 of them there though! Pete from The Merry Pranksters was there as well. I knew The Travelers 4 were going to be there, But Pete was a surprise. Very cool. We Started our search looking for Pepperland Series : HELP!. This was a Beatles box that I was unable to find during the gathering last month. I had made it most of the way only to have to turn back and go to work in the evening. But nonetheless, we found the boxes and all was good. After that, I was ready to search for So Many Roads, but couldn't find my clues. I figured I had left them home. Pete was willing to venture home and get a copy of the clues for me. This was really awesome of him to do this. So while he did that, The Travelers 4 and I went out to Build-a-Bear. This was another Grateful Letterboxer box. We walked around for awhile, collected the 3 stamps which put together, builds the bear, and then headed back to the car. Pete had by that time come back and was waiting for us. He had gotten the clues for me. How cool is he! And to top it off, he let me borrow his colored markers. I only have a black, green, and gold ink pad. Time to invest in some markers!

So at this point we split ways. I drove to the beginning of where So Many Roads begins, took my bike off the car, and headed on my way. At the beginning the trail wasn't so bad for my bike. I did at first have a little bit of a hard time jumping roots and rocks. I'm not used to all this trail clutter while riding in New Hampshire. But I wasn't in New Hampshire. So I find the first box, do my thing and I have to now put it back. Problem! Someone was coming and taking their sweet time! La la la. After a few minutes waiting like I was just taking a rest from riding, I was able to finally put the box back. The next couple of boxes were much easier to find and replace, but when I headed to the 5th box, that's when things got real interesting. The trail got horrible. I could no longer ride my bike. It was all foot walking from there on. That really stunk. So I get to where the last box was and people were coming with their dogs. They seemed to be lost. They asked me if I knew the way back to the parking lot. Now, are these people letterboxers, just trying to see how I would react? I didn't know what to do, so I told them I was pretty much lost as well, but I did come from that direction. They left and once they got out of view, someone on a bike came alone. This guy was riding the rocks. I hated him for being able to do that, but he asked me if I was OK. I told him I was just resting for a bit, and he continued on. Finally I was able to get the box. These are some wonderful stamps from some wonderful people who happened to have gotten them planted on a tough set of trails. But I can't blame them. I blame Pete!

So after I got off those trails and caught my breathe, I headed to Pete's house to return his markers. We talked for just a brief moment before I had to head home. What a day this was. I was actually supposed to go hike Blue Job and search for some owls, but I guess I will have to wait another time. Thanks a ton Pranksters. I had tons of fun. And thanks Travelers "2" for hanging out with me. We will definitely do it again soon.

Sunset Hill

2008-08-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

How many times can you say it was a beautiful New England day, and it didn't rain once? Well, lately, we really haven't been able to say that! We have had such bad luck this year with it raining just about everyday we had off, which meant, we couldn't go out and search for some boxes. Now this past weekend, we didn't exactly search for new boxes. One of the boxes was, but four others were not. When I searched a week ago for the Sunset Hill clues, I had found they were not there. Come to find out, there was some sort of change with AQ and it was fixed shortly there after. The clues were now available for everyone to see. Now there are 2 boxes in this series. I was able to find the 1st box over a year ago, but unable to find the 2nd box on more than one occasion since then. This past weekend was the last straw. I had all day to find the box and finally I did.

But I didn't spend all day searching for the 2nd box to Sunset Hill, I actually hiked to the top of Sunset Hill. Taking Kidder Tract to the Sunset Hill trail, I was able to locate previously found boxes Kidder Tract and Sunset Serenade when I reached the summit. Sunset Hill is about 1,831 feet and actually takes about 30-45 minutes to hike. It does get a bit rough at the top, as most hills/mountains do in New Hampshire, but once you reach the top, you forget how out of shape you might be. The view from the top is wonderful. You get a nice view of Lake Sunapee and the surrounding mountains. In the fall, the view is even better. I do plan on making a return trip to the top of Sunset Hill, but think I will head to the gym first. I was one of those people who was a bit out of shape.

3 Years in the Making

2008-08-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

It was August 15th, 2005. I remember it being a beautiful day. Typically, on such a day, we would head out into the woods for walking, for riding our bikes, for a breathe of fresh air. Today, we head out for a letterbox. What are we in for? What will we find? Will we be disappointed? The answer. Here we are, 3 years later!

What a ride it has been so far. We have been through hell and high water over the past 3 years, but this past, has been a year to remember. August 2007, the Alien Invasion hits Redding, CT during the Redding Barbecue. Many are abducted before finally, the invasion ends. After the event, a nice chat session with the host, Bandaid followed by a camp out in her backyard. The next day, we took New York City. September 2007, the Search for the Madman's Treasure. This was a night hike event full of thinking, hiking, and 5o lb raccoons. October 2007, a mystery guest arrives at Frightnight 3 in Gorham, ME. This mystery guest called himself, the Deadly Letterboxer. For an hour, he causes such a ruckus around the event floor. Other letterboxers ask questions. Other letterboxers make guesses. Other letterboxers are confused. The mystery went an hour before finally, the mystery guest called the Deadly Letterboxer, reveals his true identity. November 2007, 2nd Annual Turkeyboxing Day. This is when we letterbox on the way to my parents house on Thanksgiving of course. And then 2008 begins.

January 5th, 2008. In Hooksett, NH, I hosted my first, of what what I hope to be many, gatherings called New Hampshire New Year 2008. This was something. A new experience for me. Hard work, but tons of fun. February 2008, for the 3rd time, we head to NY for Desperately Seeking Sun. We stayed up late that night and had a bit of a debate with Cyclonic. Of course at the time, I was running for President, but since then, I have thrown in the white towel. And then life came calling. I had to take some time away from letterboxing to deal with some of my real world issues. Sometimes you just need to do so, but when May came, I was ready to return. I went to Kittery, ME, for an Ice Cream Social at Fort McClary. It was here that everyone was introduced to my other 2 children, Michaela and Bailey. Then, keeping busy, I ventured into another neighboring state, for A Greatful Tread, in Andover, MA. Lots of a good time there with your greatful host, The Merry Pransters. Last but not least, The Great Race of 2008. This is a race between the NH Hiker and the SC Hiker. Who will win? Well, right now it's all tied up.

We have planted 50 boxes over the past year. Some carved by some of the best carvers in the counrty. We have found countless boxes stretching all of New England.

But not everything has been positive highlights. Over this past year, we have lost one of our heros from our childhood in Bozo the Clown. New Hampshire has had a stormy summer which included a tornado the ripped through 11 towns, killing 1 and changing lives of many others.

Looking to the future, I have no idea what it holds. I have some ideas. But I guess you will have to wait to see what those ideas are. If you liked some of them so far this last year, you haven't seen anything yet. Let the madness begin all over agan!

TORNADO! In New Hampshire?

2008-07-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

Now, I was on vacation for a week, up in Lincoln, New Hampshire. It was July 24th, about 11:00am I was watching the weather and there was rain coming in, so I jumped at the chance to get some boxes before the rain arrived. So me and a couple of the boys got in the car and drove into Franconia Notch, then headed up to Sugar Hill for a box. I wanted to plant a box up there but couldn't find a location suitable for it, so we headed back. The rain started to pick up on the way back and then let up. It was clear the rain was here, but it was nothing compared to what another part of the state was getting. When we got back to our hotel, it was about 12:30pm. The news was on and a strong storm had hit the towns of Epsom, Pittsfield and Barnstead. Homes had been leveled and trees were knocked down. At this point, no one knew what had happened but rumor was a tornado had pasted through the area, but nothing could be confirmed until the National Weather Service could survey the damage. It was a few days before they confirmed an EF2 tornado hit several towns in New Hampshire. For those that don't know, EF stands for Enhanced Fujita and 2 is the rating of damage done by the tornado. A EF2 tornado consists of winds ranging from 113-157mph. To find out more about the Enhanced Fujita Scale and the categories, click on the link provided.

Today, a total of 11 towns are now on thew list of towns hit by the confirmed tornado, including Deerfield, Epsom, Barnstead, Alton, New Durham, Wolfeboro, Freedom, Effingham, Ossipee, Pittsfield and Northwood. The storm's path was estimated at about 40 miles long and about a third of a mile wide at spots. Damages range from houses being totally destroyed to houses missing only a few shingles. 1 women lost her life when her house collapsed with her husband and grandchild inside, the grandchild found floating in the flooded basement. The husband and grandchild have since gone to the hospital and been released. Many trees have been uprooted and lives been displaced. It will be months before things get back to normal, if possible.

I had planned on writing about my vacation in Lincoln, but it just didn't feel right. I felt that the story of what happened in our small state was more important to tell. I hope that anyone and everyone that reads this blog post, prays for those families that have been effected by this weeks unfortunate turn of events. For more information on this weeks storms, visit WMUR and/or also visit the New Hampshire Red Cross website to donate funds towards the disaster relief in all the effected areas across the state.

Boxes and Bridges.

2008-07-14T20:26:00.001-07:00

Today, we ventured to places we had never been and reacquainted our selves with places we had all in the name letterboxing. Now, I find myself traveling to White River Junction, VT twice in 2 days now, picking up kids and dropping them off, and I decided that I didn't want to just head home. I wanted to take a detour. What better detour than to visit the town where Vermont was born. Beautiful Windsor. If you ask a letterboxer, what they like most about letterboxing, most will say it's because they go to places they never knew existed. I never would have known that Windsor Vermont was the birthplace of Vermont. Born on July 8th, 1777, Vermont signed a constitution that made them the first state in the union to outlaw slavery, when they became the 14th state in 1791.
Now, Windsor wasn't just drawing my attention for it's letterboxes. Connecting Vermont to New Hampshire to the worlds longest two-span covered bridge, which one end of it happened to be in Windsor. This bridge drew my attention and why not! We'll do some letterboxing too! And why not make a day of it! 4 draw bridges in all! First was of course the Cornish-Windsor Bridge over the Connecticut River (#20). Also in Cornish was the Dingleton Hill Bridge (#22). After these 2 bridges, we headed to Claremont, NH to grabbed a box by Rubaduc called Thumbs Away. This would make box number 2 by her today, the other being All in a Row, back in Windsor. She has a few in this area of the Northeast. But anyhow, after the brief stop in Claremont, it was off to Newport for a few covered bridge boxes. How convenient! Pier Bridge (#57) came first. We were in and out at this bridge. It was 8:30pm at this point and daylight was a bit scarce. So we hurried off to Wright Bridge (#58). Just about dark and realizing my flashlights were at home, we used my cell phone to light up the stamping and logging process. So we got most of the stamps we were out to get, and saw all the covered bridges we wanted to see, but suddenly felt unfulfilled. We wanted to see more covered bridges and there were more to see on the way home, but we felt it wouldn't be the same if we couldn't see them. So, starting today, we plan on visting every covered bridge in New Hampshire. We have visited much more than we have today, but they won't count. The boys hadn't seen all the covered bridges I have seen, so why not see them again.

Escaped Gorilla Found!

2008-07-07T19:09:00.001-07:00

On July 5th, it had been reported that there was a gorilla running around Concord, New Hampshire somewhere. Escaping from the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, Mass sometime last week, the gorilla managed to make it up to Concord without being seen until a phone call had been made to the local police department in neighboring Pembroke. An officer says the call came in early July 4th claiming to have seen the gorilla, but after a sweep of the woods in Pembroke, the search was called off, claiming no evidence of the gorilla anywhere.

As a curious resident, I desided to head out and find out for myself if in fact the gorilla had made its way to New Hampshire. While walking the Karner Blue Butterfly Santuary in Concord, I had spotted the gorilla watching me in the woods. I called the local police and they responded quickly. After about an hour, the gorilla was caged and ready to head home. On July 6th, I was rewarded for finding the gorilla first. But then again, I couldn't help but find it first. I live right down the road.

To find the escaped gorilla, check out:
-Gorilla Escape! by The Travelers 4.

Remembering Bozo the Clown

2008-07-06T18:35:00.001-07:00

Less than a week ago, television lost an icon. Larry Harmon, who portrayed the wing-haired clown for more than half a century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure at the age of 83. Now Harmon was the first Bozo the Clown, but considerd to be the only.

Pinto Colvig, who provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, was the first Bozo the Clown, a character created by writer-producer Alan W. Livingston for a series of children's records in 1946. Livingston said he came up with the name Bozo after polling several people at Capitol Records. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records. He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.

Harmon was honored by the hall of fame in 1990. But the hall took down his plaque after a journalist pointed out that another man created the character. Hall of fame volunteer director Terri Hall says her more recent research revealed Harmon was not honored as the character Bozo but given a lifetime achievement award for popularizing the character and his work on television. It wasn't until after Harmon's passing, the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee has reinstated Larry Harmon, for popularizing Bozo.

So in honor of one of my most favorite childhood characters, which occupied my Saturday mornings, I have carved a stamp for Larry Harmon aka. Bozo the Clown. So come out and remember Bozo the Clown and never forget his work in television.

-Remembering Bozo the Clown

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-04T15:42:00.001-07:00

The very first celebration of Independence Day was in 1777, six years before Americans knew whether the new nation would survive the war. Now here we are, 232 years later, on our 233rd year of freedom, still celebrating the freedom we fought for then and the freedoms we continue to fight for now. As we spend time with our friends and families, having fun and eating, preparing to watch those fireworks as we did many years past, remember those who can not be here with us today. Those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedom. Those who have lost their lives to protect our freedoms that others have tried and continue to try and take from us. Remember who we are and remember why we continue to be the greatest country on this planet. We are free and we are independent. We are what everyone else wants. Tonight, as the rockets red glare, and bombs bursting in mid-air, remember, we are the land of the free. We are the home of the brave. God Bless America!

Sorry! It's Been Awhile!

2008-06-30T19:30:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooo ya! Here I am, not really knowing where to start! I haven't posted something since my return in May. WOW! What a slacker I am! But actually, I haven't been slacking. I have been very busy, both letterboxing related and not related. So let me enlighten you a bit.
Since returning to letterboxing, I have managed to plant a handful of boxes all over the state as well as some new personal traveler stamps. Making a new blog page for this blog for my clues, which you can find to the right of the main blog page. I went to Maine for a gathering in Kittery, and continued planning on a gathering I possibly may have in August. So, other than that, there is so much going on outside of letterboxing that I really don't wanna bore you with. With that, I shall leave you be. Oh wait! I have something else to post about!
-Driving Cross Country (Pembroke, NH)
-Can You See Me Now? (Franklin, NH)
-The Monkees - Last Train to Clarksville (Lincoln, NH)
-David Craig - Hot Stuff / Last Dance (Hopkington, NH)
-Popillon Noir (White River Junction, VT) clues coming soon
-Show Me Your Smile (Campton, NH)

Are you Ready for My Return?

2008-05-24T04:20:00.000-07:00

Well, after some long and patient waiting, I'm back! For sometime now, I have been busy doing the things I needed to do to return to the game I love. Not letterboxing has been one of the hardest things I have had to do in some time. If anyone ever says there is no addiction, they are full of it and need to seek help. So, with my return official, there is some news I need to tend to.
1st- A location has been chosen for next years New Hampshire New Year gathering. Everyone should sign up for it will no doubt be another year of a great time. Also, check back for details as they will surely update as the gathering draws closer.
2nd- The return of The Search for the Madman's Treasure. I have been brainstorming some ideas on how to make this better than last years search. I have been talking to several people and I look forward to everything coming together and giving some of you an experience you won't soon forget. The Search for the Madman's Treasure will be on August 2nd, again beginning at 10:30pm. Last year it took about 3 hours for everyone to complete the search and would expect it to be around the same time this year. An event listing will come soon and posted when it is up.
So now that I am back, there will be some changes. I will bring more to the letterboxing table. Some of you know what that is already, and some of you will have to wait and see. Are you ready?

The Return of Team New Hampshire!

2008-04-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

So with every sunset, comes a sunrise. As too is true about my departure from letterboxing and my return soon to come. Life has been quite busy for me outside of letterboxing. Most, if not all of you, don't know about my past. Everyday, it catches up with me and I have to work on making it a part of my future. Now before someone thinks that this is a bad thing, that isn't the case. As a matter of fact, this past is a welcome part to my future. It will bring positive things to my future, and will ultimately make me a better person. Some of you might not ever see this, but some of you that know me, will. So with that said, may everyone mark it on thier calender. May 24th Plant-A-Letterbox Day. Until then, may the sun set and the sun rise on a new day.

Gosh Darn it is Cold!

2008-02-11T05:29:00.000-08:00

So it has been about a month since I last posted anything on my blog. May I tell all my few readers that I am sorry. Life has been sucking me and the near future might not be any easier. But while I have a moment, I figured I would write about something very chilling. The wind.
When I woke this morning, the temperature was a brisk 8 degrees. The wind chill factor was below 0. For the past few years we have been rather lucky with the lack of snow on the ground, but this year, we have doubled last years total and will soon double the amount of snow we got in 2006. With all this snow and the cold temps, it brings me to a big question. Since becoming a letterboxer in 2005, snow has for the most part not kept me from letterboxing. Do you think the amount of snow over the past few years, has kept the art of letterboxing thriving through the winter and or do you think this winter may cause some of the new boxers to dissappear?
Last month I hosted a gather in Hooksett, NH and from most everyones mouth I had heard the likes of "Thank you for hosting this! We really needed to get out of the house." With that said, I would be left with the impression that there are few people letterboxing out in this stuff. So, what the are new letterboxers doing? If they started letterboxing in the early or late fall, they could easily fall victum to the letterboxing trash can. Most letterboxers I have met or follow online have mentioned an addiction. Starting in the fall doesn't really give you that time to get addicted. Unless you have tons of time on your hands and search for boxes everyday, day and night.
So with the spring time only getting closer by the day, I begin to wonder. Will there a handful of boxes that are planted in the Northeast abandoned by letterboxers that lost interest? I hope not, but maybe it is what letterboxing needs to stay small and quiet.

Oh deer!

2008-01-14T05:02:00.001-08:00

Well, I have to tell you that I have never seen so many deer in a 1 week span as I had this past week. It all started when I had to go out into the woods to collect all my event planted boxes. When I planted them, they were planted on top of 1.5 feet of snow. It had snowed after I planted, about another foot, but very shortly after the gather, the weather got warmer and there was rain in the forecast. With that in mind, I had to now find time to trudge through the snow and collect all 14 boxes.

Tuesday, Jan 8th, I had to work at 10. I woke up early that morning, which was really hard since I was still recovering from the gather, and headed out to start collecting. I had noticed tons of tracks but couldn't help but notice deer tracks following the tracks left by humans. I collected 6 boxes and had to go to work them. When work was over at 4, I went out and voted for the primary, and then went to grab the remaining boxes. I was going to collect first then vote, but something drew me to do the opposite. But either way, I was driving to where I needed to go when around a corner I went and 3 deer were in the road. I had plenty of time to slow down as then jumped into the woods, out of sight. Now I have seen deer before, but not that many at one time. It was pretty cool. I parked my car in the lot provided and began to search for my boxes. More deer tracks. If it wasn't clear earlier, it was clear now. With the warmer weather in place, the deer are now out and about. All 5 boxes were now collected in this location and the daylight was growing weak. I started driving back down the road, careful to drive slowly through the area where I had seen the 3 deer earlier. The end of the road was now in sight so I sped up a bit to shorten my drive time, but no sooner than did I speed up, a deer came running out of someones driveway and almost hit the side of my car before turning and jumping into the woods. Of course, I had slammed on the brakes and everything in the front seat went to the floor. Visions of an accident I had many years ago with a deer began to rush back into my head. I needed to go home after that, but not before collecting the rest of the boxes.

Sunday, Jan 13th, I head to Vermont every Sunday to see my 2 other kids, through a prior marriage. Long story which I might dwell on later. Anyhow, I was driving up through an area that I really like and dislike. I dislike the area, because I got a speeding ticket through this area a couple of years ago. Not really a good reason to dislike the area, but oh well. So this area has a rather large rock outcropping that I find rather cool. This is why I like this area, and now like it even more. While driving through this particular time, there was a buck standing on the outcropping. He stood there tall and strong, watching the cars drive by. I tried to point him out to Sarah, but she wasn't paying attention. I have this knack for noticing things that others might not. But there he was. It kinda worried me because he was on the inside of the highway. At some point he was going to have to cross the highway and go somewhere else. Not a good thought. Glad I'm not a deer. Let me skip ahead a few hours, when I am not driving home from Vermont. Of course, driving through this area again, which looks much different heading the other way and much less cooler, I began to worry about the buck. Would I see him again, this time watching me drive home? No I didn't see him, which could be a good thing, BUT a mile down the road, sure enough I saw 2 more deer gathered by the inside of the highway. Someone should tell the deer that inside is bad!

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration there are about 1.5 million car accidents with deer each year that result in $1 billion in vehicle damage, about 150 human fatalities, and over 10,000 personal injuries. In an insurance claims statistics study conducted in 2004-2005 the top ten states for deer accidents were listed. According to this study, Pennsylvania drivers experience more deer collisions than any other state. So to avoid accidents with deer, here are 4 tips you should keep in mind while driving.

1) Be attentive when driving! And Slow Down!

2) Use high-beam headlights when driving in deer territory to increase your vision and will increase your time to react to a deer hiding on the roadside who decides to jump in front of your car.

3) The use of car-mounted 'deer whistles,' do not seem to affect deer and may result in drivers being less aware. These devices don't work! Watch out!

4) If a collision with a deer is unavoidable, it is usually best not to swerve to avoid it, brake and hold the wheel straight. Turning the wheel to avoid the deer may result in a worse accident with another car, or cause the car to spin out of control resulting a in much more serious crash.

So with so many deer out there, hopefully using these tips, or staying home which makes it harder to letterbox, we can all be a little safer while driving. But then of course, there are tons of other things we should all be worried about while driving too! But that's another time. Drive safely!

Accident info and safe driving tips taken from

www.car-accident.com

New Hampshire New Year 2008!

2008-01-07T06:33:00.000-08:00

With a days full rest behind me, I have now decided to write about my experience as a first time host and the wonderful time I had. So, as a first time host, it started about a few months ago. STRESS! The stress started to kick in when I began to realize that the gather was coming so fast. Did I have everything ready? What is it that needs to be done? Am I worrying to much about nothing? Well, I might have been worrying much about nothing, but my body wasn't exactly giving me that impression. You see, the closer the gather got, my heart started to act a bit funny. It was beating weird. So much so, that one day at work, I had to get down on 1 knee because I thought I was going to pass out. Christmas coming and Sarah's birthday didn't help either. They were both in December. But no one worry, I am feeling so much better now.

I originally was going to plant all the boxes for the gather, the second week in December, which would give me more than enough time to write clues. I have to tell you, I am glad I waited to plant. It would turn out that New Hampshire would see its best winter in years, all in December! So I planted late and even doing so, the boxes were planted under 1.5 feet of snow. But even doing so, I don't think anyone went out to look for them at the gathering. Kinda bothersome.

2 days before the gather, I had the clues books made up. Problem was, I was waiting for an email from the Hooksett Library about planting a box there inside. I had to leave to head to the printers before work, and hadn't heard anything yet. Oh well right!? While at work, I checked my emails with my cell, to find that the director was thrilled to host a letterbox. Not that it was a bad thing, but the clue book was at the printer. Now the book would have to be changed. Thinking about what to do now, I figured the best way to solve the problem would be to print out 1 sheet of paper with the new updated clues on it. This way everyone can copy them if they pleased. After doing some math, it would have cost me $4.20 for more copies of updated clues. I had already spent $18.60. No thanks!

The night before came and I had gotten home from work and started to make sure everything was were I could get it the next morning. Problem was, I didn't wanna sleep and I had no microphone for Letterboxing Idol. I had emailed out and some others had emailed out to see if someone could bring a mic to use, but I never heard back from anyone. No mic, no Letterboxing Idol. Was this a sign?

So with 4 hours of sleep, the morning of the gather came. I had everything in the car and headed off to pick up some last minute items for the gather. Oh, did I always feel like I forgot something. One thing I thought I forgot was the event stamp. Now can anyone tell me how horrible that would be? I knew I had it in the car, so I fought with myself to not turn around. While at the store I did look in the car to find I did have it with me. I stopped to pick up Kreepy Kelli, who was in the area, gratefully able to come due to Team Duggan who unfortunately couldn't make it. We arrive at the location of the gather, to find the person in charge of the VFW wasn't there yet. It was 9:30! We needed in! He showed up shortly there after and we started setting up. A half hour later, the fun began.

One by one, letterboxers came. New faces and old, happy to be out after a month of being couped up in the house, snow bound. Everyone happy to be here. But, I still didn't have a mic! And wouldn't you know! The guy who runs the VFW had a mic! Letterboxing Idol was on! But who was going to walk up to the mic and give it a shot? A few hours went by and not one person walked up to the mic. There had to have been about 50 or so people now at the gather, all talking to old and new, exchanging with each other, stamping into boxes around the room. Everyone was happy with what they were doing. I didn't really have to do much at all. It would seem that I didn't have to plant any boxes in the snow at all! BUMMER! We had Alice of wildcats dancing with garland and kids planting cooties on everyone, Coon Stew being eaten and stories being shared. OK, so there wasn't Coon Stew, but there was a box for it!

About half way through the gather, I decided to take the mic around the floor with me and get people to sing. It was a bit harder than I thought. The children were more willing to sing in the mic than the adults, but it didn't take long for the adults to join in. Christmas and old songs, Kids songs and songs I never heard before, all sung to any ones capability. This wasn't a judging this, this was meant to have fun with. I couldn't let this stamp go untouched!
"There's nothing better than when Pete of The Merry Pranksters sings I'm a Little Teapot!"

So I know there is so much I might be missing. The New Hampshire New Year sign in tree. I didn't hear one bad thing about it! I was happy everyone loved that idea. But if I had known there was already a tree in the room before I took mine down, I would have left mine up! Oh well! But, it is now Monday. 2 days after my first gather. What did I learn? Letterboxers from every part of the country are awesome. I have never felt more welcome than I did this weekend. The support system that was in place. Tell me you guys were kidding! Tell me that it was a sub par gather! What am I kidding! Don't do that! Thank you all for coming out and I am glad you all had a wonderful time. I am sorry that not everyone won something for the raffle. I really felt bad afterwards. I think everyone should have gotten something. I will have plenty of time to think about it for the next time I host a gather. Thank you all who helped make this gather be such a success. Your donations and potluck items were very appreciated. Thank you all thank you all thank you all! Now it's time for me to get more rest! I am still pooped!