i'd certainly be interested. i know nothing about geocaching. i'm not too far off from u as well & would be willing to help on the LB end of things if you need me. :)

Here is the link to the clues for Ray Quest:

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+and+Rec/Greenways/RayQuest.htm

I think it's great when boxers take time to email about a box. Just yesterday I sent an email about a HH that came from Indiana to South Carolina....it was sent out originally in Pa and was carried from Wisconsin to Illinois (I think). Just remember to put that info in the HH book..... With this one there is a gap...don't know how it got to Indiana.
zoemomma

Look up HOGWEED..no s..........and there are photos. Sort of pretty and it does sort of resemble Queen Anne's Lace.....but it is wayyyyyy big and causes the dermatitis stuff.
Haven't seen it here in SC, but then we have enough kudzu to cover the country.
Folks need to not bring in plants from other countries!!!!!!
zoemomma

Quote

Uh,Moonduck, are you talking about those tiny little white erasures? How the heck do you carve that?

Very very carefully, lol!!!! Small solid image to limit detail and cutting into the image itself and then very slowly... very slowly and carefully.

They're a little smaller than a pink pearl and they have a piece of thin cardboard around them when you take them out of the package. I forgot to find out what they were when I went home last night.

Moonduck

Just hit "thread" to the right of the message and it will bring up all the previous posts about Giant Hogweed..including my links.

As for kudzu..I remember watching a fascinating document about it when I was in college. I was amazed at how fast the stuff grew and covered everything. I believe it was brought in from Japan to combat erosion. Sure worked! lol

LW

Ah..I stand corrected. It WAS brought from Japan and it WAS eventually used in the 30's to combat erosion, but it was brought here first in the 1800's as an ornamental plant. Just like the Giant Hogweed was!!!

http://www.alabamatv.org/kudzu/

LW

so has anyone boxed in little rock lately? i panted a HH there and was wondering if it made it out alive. i'm up in new hampshire and have no way to know because no one has emailed me about it's location, so i am hoping it is still fine. thanks.

david (team new hampshire)
http://teamnewhampshire.blogspot.com

This site has better photos of kudzu:

http://www.yahoolavista.com/kudzu/

yesterday, at superwalmart, i found these cute little "spiral bound notebooks" they are 3 1/2"x5" & there are no lines in them. kinda strange to me to call it a notebook w/o lines. anywho, they have 4 different covers & the best part is they were only 75 cents! not sure on the number of pages, but it looks like there is right many. :)

I thought it a great idea too-I saw your apology and recognized your frustration of so few San Jose boxes. I have introduced mySan Jose sister to letterboxing and she even carved a stamp. But then when she went to find any they were all missing or really inconvenient to bring her children too. I told her I would see what I could do about it (not much living in GA). But I have been sending her info about all the new San Jose boxes I have seen posted.

Thanks so much for encouraging the idea, despite any naysayers,
spring and snake

Kudzu is everywhere down here in the Atlanta area. There is even a letterbox called Kudzu Crazy in which you have to hike through narrow trails worn within a kudzu field. It is pretty and a little creepy. After living here for almost 30 years I had never hiked through kudzu and it was an experience! I'm thankful that it's not hazardous to skin!

Amyrica

I am looking for some Southern California boxers-my aunt is really interested in starting it too, but can't find any boxes in her area at all.


spring and snake

When I first moved to SC from the Midwest I was convinced the stuff MUST be possessed to grow like it does! Kudzu in the right conditions can grow up to * 18 inches a day * !!!

Creeeeeeepy, weird stuff. LOL

GreyCrazy

OO OO!! Where did you find them in WalMart? I've got to go there today and would love to check this out!

it was at our SUPERWALMART, i "think" it was in their clearance aisle, sorta near housewares. i "think" the snow cone machines were on the other side of this aisle. does that help?

I found some here in the craft section, with the scrapbooking supplies. I bought some awhile back that were a buck apiece, then bought some on clearance for half price. They have thick pages, so you could use front and back, but mine only have about 15 pages.
castles16

Thanks for the info and welcome to letterboxing! I am not sure what route we'll be taking yet, but I don't think we'll be coming up the coast. Our first stop is Mt. Katahdin so I am guessing that my husband (the family navigator) will be taking a direct approach to that region. I believe we will be near Bangor though so, should we experience inclement weather, I will be keeping the children's museum in mind!

Happy boxing,
Padfoot Treehuggers :)

I've lived in GA for about 15 years now and only just realized last year what a pretty flower kudzu has. When I first moved here I remember driving along interstates, the landscape one of giant green hills and mounds, kudzu-covered trees and billboards making creepy-looking shapes. It's sort of bizarrely pretty to me, but then it's not in my yard, and I understand it's nearly impossible to get rid of.

I'll have to go find that Kudzu Crazy box! I've never hiked through kudzu before either.

MoonBunny

Quote

They're a little smaller than a pink pearl and they have a piece of thin cardboard around them when you take them out of the package. I forgot to find out what they were when I went home last night.

Those could be a bunch of things...
Staedler makes small erasers like those, with the cardboard box around most of it....and a couple of other brands, too.

I usually pick up one and cut it in thirds, or even sixths (three stamps to a side, cut lengthwise for six) and make HH's out of them.

Who says you have to limit detail, though? :D

-CQ

Yea, we joke here in Atlanta, "If you stand still long enough, the Kudzu will grow right over you"... funny, but true!!

CR

Quote

I'll have to go find that Kudzu Crazy box!

When you go, the ink pad accidently left in the box is mine (assuming no one else has been there in the last year). You can have it. *grin*

You are right. It looks EXACTLY like Queen Anne's Lace only on steriods. It is really freaky to see one up close. And unless the law has changed very recently it was still legal to grow in PA. Yikes!

I've seen it in Orange County NY.

Cleverpig

Just looking at the photos is kind of creepy. It reminds me of some old B movie where something is taking over the world...be it tarantulas, a blob, kudzu....

Definitely a "wow" thing though.

JoAnn

I've posted a photo from the Kudzu Crazy letterbox vicinity to give you an idea of the walls of kudzu.

http://www.atlasquest.com/gallery/viewphoto.html?gPhotoId=3130&gReturnUrl=%2Fgallery%2Fviewalbum.html%3FgAlbumId%3D35

WOW...
I have never won anything really
(except that ZZTop album back in high school) so when it was announced that I had won the NC Planting Day contest thingey...I REALLY was surprised. I gave the contest some brief thought in the beginning but then I just swept that thought away. Afterall, I planned about 3 or 4 boxes. I didn't much figure that would win any contests. Then I didn't think of it. Heck, I guess I didn't have time to think of it. :-) Between planting and making more trips back to locations to get my notes to write my clues and all the other real life stuff...WHEW! I'm beat.

I used to draw Cherokee themed stuff...plus I did my biggest History project on the Cherokee...the Cherokee Syllabry, Trail of Tears, etc was all part of the project. Heck, I grew up in Cherokee with all the tourism and the entertainment, busy streets, tiny amusement parks, the ceremonies, the pow wows and the commercialism...but at any time you could travel 5 minutes in almost either direction and be in some of the most tranquil and beautiful places imagineable.

Ok...back on track Dixie...
Oh yeah, anyway...once I started carving Cherokee themed images...it was like being bombarded by all these ideas in my head. I had more ideas than I had places to plant. So...I had to just stop carving...after 18 stamps had been carved before I even knew it. Can you believe that?? I planted the majority on the 24th. Whew...was that ever an ordeal. I couldn't hardly move the next morning.

oops...there I go again. Focus Dixie...
Yeah, Uh sorry bout that. i am just soooooo excited.
Anyway....I got this awesome package yesterday.
I didn't get to open it up until last night
(wow have I been running like crazy for little league etc)
This year...Christmas has come on May 31st.

The Wolf Family sent me (as part of the prize for winning)...
Fun Foam, cute little logbooks for boxes, one wonderful hardbound sketch book for a personal log book, silica packets, bonus clues, a pad of scrapbooking papers, a hunk of mastercarve and a sheet of PZcut...the list goes on. Can you believe I got Lock n Locks??? Oh, and those other cute little mini containers with the little logs that fit nicely inside...WOW, you have really got my mind wondering where I can put those. Then all this stuff was package in a wonderful, decorative box that is a treasure in itself.

*giggles*
I feel like a kid again.

THANK YOU

What an incredible gift box...
just when I needed it too.
with all that carving I was scrapping the bottom of my barrel of carving erasers etc.

DixieKin

This past 2 weeks have been crazy.
I had that flurry of carving Cherokee images I told you guys about...then I had to plant them. I really did want to get them out on THAT day (planting day). Only a couple was planted earlier that week. The majority was put out on planting day so...that meant I had to do my clues after getting the boxes out and listing boxes.

By the way...I was up listing boxes at midnight and afterward. All I can say is...thank goodness AQ was on Pacific time or about a quarter of the new boxes would have been listed the 25th.

This all was happening at the same time I have had my "on call" duties for Little league. I had to do concessions etc. since last Thursday. I even have it to do again the next two days and nights. *wiping sweat from brow* Makes me tired thinking about it. :-)

anyway...I have been having to make return trips to some of my box locations to get better notes to make my clues with...and this is taking along time. Then I encountered a problem.

I got an email yesterday saying that I should call such and such number to discuss a letterbox placed on tribal property. "Uh Oh" "Yikes".
Ok...I do and what I get is this guy telling me that a groundskeeper doing maintenance before the busy season accidently encountered one of my boxes. He continues to tell me that it is a "7 clans" box. He wants to know if the other 6 clans have a box representing them and if so are they near this one and on the same property. I couldn't lie. "Yes" I said. "Thing is," he said, "he thought this was a neat thing I was doing and that if he understood the hobby then it meant that this letterbox would be educating folks about the cherokee culture and bringing them to visit Cherokee...BUT..." (isn't there always a BUT?) he really didn't like the idea of 7 boxes being there. He asked I move them elsewhere or combine them all into one bigger box.

I had to go get my box, which they said was hidden well enough if the groundskeeper had done his duties on time a week earlier. It would have never been found. Dang it...I had just spent an hour or so down there getting clue notes.

Now what???
Can I do that?
Can I combine all 7 into one? I don't see why not but that is 6 little logs that will not be needed or a full 7 logs in one box?? I don't think the later is an option.

If I move them...I can not for the life of me figure out where i could put 7 more boxes in Cherokee (in a series).

HELP!!!!!!!!!

dixiekin

Oh, I feel for you. But there really is no arguing with the tribal authority.

Perhaps you can think along the lines of urban letterboxers, and try to locate some letterboxes in businesses that you have realationships with. Or you could go small and magnetic (if your stamps and books are small enough). Is there a vistor center for Cherokee? Could you place your letterboxes there. Or at the local library? Try to think of businesses that would appreciate educating people about the seven clans, and see if you could team up with them.

Good luck, and do let us know how this turns out!

Lisa

I actually have a lot of these on VHS. I taped them from Showtime 20 years ago for my oldest son.

Hmm. maybe I could get someone to put them on DVD, or digitize them somehow...

Diana

I was so dismayed when Aahz came under attack for his attemps at increasing the number of letterboxes in his region. I had a letterbox planned for San Jose anyway, and made certain that I got it in place in time for our Big Day of Letterboxing.

And do you know what? This has been my single most visited letterbox, ever. It has been in place for less than two weeks, and has seen more traffic than I ever would have imagined.

I'm pleased that Aahz encouraged us to add letterboxes to his area. And doubly pleased that the local letterboxes came out to find the newer boxes.

In Alameda County, we've got so many wonderful letterboxes that it is hard to find time to scoop them all up, so as a result my boxes don't see anything like the traffic that this one San Jose letterbox does.

Hurray (or is that "huzzah?") for Santa Clara County letterboxers!

Lisascenic