We had a great time this morning with six total attendees. Only two had ever been to a letterboxing event (though I’ve been to numerous geocaching events). We enjoyed telling stories, exchanging stamps and apologizing for the quality of our newbie carves. 😆 Many thanks to all who attended. I’ll schedule another one after TALE.

It’s just one book, not a series.

Hurray - thanks for hosting this event! The more newbie Texas boxers we can get excited, the better!

Take a road trip down to Austin some time! There are SO many boxes here!!! :)

For hiking or camping, I have often needed more fuel than expected. Both the small butane mix camp stove canisters and the 1lb propane. I expect a full 20lb propane refill station is a bit much, but would be useful!

Towels! I always seem to want "one more dry towel", or they are completely forgotten at home.
Maybe basic clothes? A rainy week in the wilderness and there would be very little I wouldn't do for a dry pair of socks and a sweatshirt!

I seem to remember a letterbox that was planted in Antarctica.
It was called Chilly Willy. And I think it was left at a canteen on one of the bases.
I was telling my husband about it. But I can’t find the listing.
Did I imagine it?

S~N~K

AQ#28197.... Planted in 2006 and never found. If your heading there good luck and safe travels.

Growing up I remember my mother sharing stories about Dick and Jerry Van Dyke. They were born and raised in Danville, IL. (Quite a few letterboxers have attended events we have held in this area or passed thru the area on Interstate 74.)

For a month now, Dick Van Dyke has been having fund raisers and meet n greets to raise money to restore the house he grew up in. He has spent some time at Danville High School with the drama and music departments. The students were thrilled that he visited and shared time with them. He is still the 'heart' of Danville, IL.

Today is his 100th birthday! Happy Birthday, Dick Van Dyke!

We had a great time!!! It was just the right size for a first time get together! My buddy is working on his profile, he’s super excited to get into boxing!

I watched an interview with him yesterday. He seemed to be pretty with it for 100. He believes positive thoughts and lack of hate is the key to long life.

Happy birthday DVD!

I have spent a ton of time in the wilderness hiking and solo backpackers and I have some thoughts on this. Teach REAL survival.

Some people have romanticized backwoods survival. Bushcraft is rarely needed. If fact, I’m strongly against it. In today’s modern world, if you hike smart, you should be found long before you need food or need to be chopping down trees or vegetation.

The first and main key to survival is hiking and camping smart. That starts at the trailhead. Make sure responsible people know where you are going and when you will be back. That includes family and rangers. Check in, sign visitors logs, get permits. If you do that, and then get lost, help should find you soon.

You also don’t need to learn how to start a fire by rubbing sticks together, or any of the usual “survival skills” methods. Just toss a couple of Bic lighters in your pack. They are cheap, light and reliable.

You don’t need to learn to build survival shelters from trees and vegetation. There are several survival tents on the market. They are light and don’t take up much room in a pack. Same for emergency ponchos.

If you take a few protein bars you should be good for the duration of your lost time. Learning how to build traps, snares and the like is not needed for short term survival.

Always carry a map and a compass. A modern gps is highly recommended but even so, should something go wrong, a compass might save you - know how to use it.

The absolute best ways to avoid not getting found is to always carry a personal survival locator beacon. These are pricey but will guarantee you will be found should you get lost.

I admit I have a few survival books in my library. And there’s nothing wrong wrong with learning to start a fire with a bow drill - it’s satisfying - but don’t trust your life to these things. They are always MUCH easier to do under controlled conditions when you are warm, dry and fed.

Your sig stamp is very cute ! :^)

Stickers. I know you asked for useful stuff but I collect stickers when I’m traveling.

I’ve found some non-heat clothing and gear patches that are washer and dryer safe are handy to have.

I have a virtual one that I intended to place at the Port Lockroy base, but our ship couldn't go there because of bad weather. If you go anywhere in Antarctica you qualify to download the image from the link in the clues located on LbNA.

Penguin Post Office

No, I asked you if you were recognizing something I said. One does wonder.

It was rude. Sorry.

You came here unarmed, with platitudes and blanket statements, and when you were asked to justify your position, instead of doing that, you just doubled down on your quaint little taunts. You have said not one thing of any merit that would give pause to the other side.

You better hope there isn't a god because when y'all get to the Pearly Gates and are asked how you made the world a better place and what you did to serve humankind and how you treated "the least of my brothers," how you sheltered and cared for them, well, you are seriously screwed.

Alas, accepting you does not get you out of being held accountable and being expected to pull your weight, logic-wise, which you have failed to do. You make glittering generalities sound like truth and then failed to back up a single thing you said. You have yet to make a single cogent claim that you can back with anything other than "I'm here; you have to like me." Do you really want that kind of pity, or can you stand up and justify what you say? In what way is Trump the greatest president? STILL waiting for those answers, which is what I was implying when I accused you of not having given this much thought, because the answer is JUST THIS SIDE of obvious!

}}

We like to leave them with a little hope. And maybe an apple.

I always had to come back to aq to do that. Are you saying we can do that in the app now?

I found my grandfather's old letterhead -- on onionskin!-- from back when he had his own painting business. It looked great next to the old typewriter clack clack CHING zzzzzzzzttttt

or 11. . . So the 11 districts that had the integrity to challenge the Ten Commandments mandate won at the Texas Supreme Court, but every other district is technically still required to keep them up until it inevitably winds its way higher up the chain. That means me. Just thought you might be interested in an update.

Our posters have been delivered to our district, so it’s inevitable that I’ll have to put it up after winter break.

My elected whackjob is Mayes Middleton. Who's yours? A POLITICIAN "donated" ours. Wonder if this came out of taxpayer money.

We've done a lot of canoe camping up in the BWCA. Things we bring along include detailed maps, binoculars, good flashlights, butane lighters, fire starters, (we make our own from egg cartons, dryer lint and melted wax), rain gear, waterproof bags, lots of rope, first aid supplies, and lightweight backpacking hammocks.
A must-have luxury item for me would be my Aero Press coffee maker - it's lightweight, simple to use, and is very easy to clean.

Yup! Same guy donated ours because he didn’t believe any politicians in our area would! (He’s not wrong).

That just took me back to typing class in high school.

I watched the PBS special about him this weekend. I really enjoyed it.

You must have been away for a while because you posted a flurry of replies.

Wry Me wrote:

So, let's go back to what you wrote on Nov 18:

And here is the definition of arbitrator:


I did not represent myself as chosen by anyone to decide any dispute. I suggested (or insisted) that two people come up with a consistent view on something which has already become OBE. You have probably already read that resolution, or OBE result.

Well, part of this is true. You were merely self-chosen. And "some kind of" is a qualifier. I know how you love semantics more than actual argument.

Exactly. Like someone assigning tasks and limiting the parameters of the conversation.

If you are refering to the colored backgrounds on the clue lists for found, attempted, and planted then yes, it is still there. I was not logged in the AQ thru the app at the time. As soon as I logged back in the colors were there.

So, pretty much par for discussions on this forum.