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I still struggle with that one, but I can assure you that it was not something that my folks did or even could have done.

Back it up a little, then. Was it inevitable that you would take up smoking? Or could you have gone another way?

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I don't think the kids that acted on the letterbox the way they did made the decision to do so on their own. Their part in it was their decision, but I am almost certain it was a group effort. It almost always is.

I'll agree with that. I find it difficult to imagine a person, all by himself, writing such things in a log book. It almost certainly was a group thing. And just as certainly, all the parents involved had failed their children.

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Perhaps a resolution to make better decisions is in order for all of us.

Perhaps a resolution to do better by our children would be more apropos.

-- Kirbert

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i thought about having a hybrid Geocaching Event / Letterboxing Gathering where people from both sides could educate each other about the two hobbies.

I brought a bunch of stamps to a geocaching event once and nearly turned it into a hybrid gathering.

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And vice versa for the letterboxers, although there it would probably be more about a stamp-carving tutorial than anything to do with clue-following.

I agree. The geocachers aren't that unfamiliar with finding hidden things by following clues, because some percentage of geocaches actually do that -- the GPS just gets you to a starting point. But carving a rubber stamp is completely alien to a geocacher. Whether or not he "gets it" from a quick display at a gathering is iffy, but it's the best you can do. Let's face it, while we all enjoy carving, it's not everybody's cup of tea, some people will never see the point.

-- Kirbert

Thank you! This is the perfect beginning to a new year: I've filled up my first logbook, and am starting on myh second hundred finds. Woo-hoo!

I owe it all to Tuppence, whose boxes WERE my 99th and 100th. If it weren't for those flying squirrels, where would I be?

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any help in how to do this? We have about 5 pictures for the clues.

I ran into the same problem. My solution was to forget about hosting that clue on AQ and instead host it on my own web site with a link from AQ. That way I could put the clues and pictures together any way I pleased:

http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=22612

It does seem kinda odd that you can post one pic per clue on AQ but no more. It's almost like we just can't figure out how to do it.

-- Kirbert

Go Mountaineers! (Long distance fan who went to school with 'the' coach!)
stormcrow

Gonzaga may be a bit down this year but how about those resurgent COUGS!!!
Exciting brand of basketball with amazing defense. Rookie coach Tony Bennett has them singing a different kind of tune! Hopefully they can continue to do some damage in the Pac-10.
Calvin Sampson may wish he had stayed @ WSU instead leaving for OK and IN! Just kidding : )

stormcrow
Spokane

If you would like to do this and have it all hosted on AQ, I could put them together for you into one file. Just write my AQ email address and I'll give you my personal email so that you can send the images over the Internet. I can have the pictures put together for you in a jiffy (or should that be GIFfy?) with PhotoShop.

Pied Piper (a.k.a. Computer Geek)

In the last three months or so, I have read about Camo tape, pens, log books, tape, paper, LnL and various containers. But what I haven't seen yet is what is your favorite tackle box? What do you carry your pens, ink pads, sig stamp, and whatever else with you while your out letterboxing. What works for you? I know there will be lots of answers, but I'm trying to find a suitable tackle box to carry everything. Must have a shoulder strap, compartments to keep my ink/pens seperated, etc.

Thanks. I have the F-100 badge shown from this site.

Good topic! I have a favorite lumbar back by SwissGear that holds quite a bit of stuff, but I have accumulated too many supplies. It was fine until I added a LnL of CatsEyes. It has to be dumped out to find everything at each letterbox. Santa brought me a new backpack and I am looking forward to using it at the Winter BBQ. Has several separated compartments and a spot for a hydration pack. I think it's actually a snowboarding backpack. The waist strap helps support the pack and my arms swing freely. There is a strap that crosses my chest so the back will not wiggle off.

Depending how you like to carry your supplies, I found a very nice tool caddy at Sears the other day. It was at the checkout counter. Blue CRAFTSMAN canvas tote/caddy? It is zippered. I plan to use it to carry my travellers and supplies to events and gatherings, but not on the trail. It was $5.99. If you want the Sears number I will have to hunt for the tag.

speedsquare

I did this using the album feature on AQ, but it was an all picture clue, no text.
http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=22494
But the merging them into one picture is an idea that hadn't occured to me.... hmmm.

P. Banks

I've been pencilling in bookclub meeting, staff meeting, birthday party etc. for Jan. and am really struck by Deb Bee's photo. There must be a story behind it. I'd love to know how you got that shot. We
recently had seals on our local sandbar, but nothing as dramatic as January AQ.

Most of the time I am a minimalist. A small leather shoulder bag holds my logbook, signature stamp inside a soft leather pouch with my preferred ink( Brillance's Lightning Black) my PT's ( both of mine do not have logbooks and fit together inside an altoids tin), a small lock in lock which holds 6 of those 1" square Versa Color inks, a pen, my cell phone, my carkeys with tiny flashlight, emergency whistle, compass and medical info ( rolled up into a tiny tube and fits inside the whistle). A couple of wet paper towels in a ziplock( and a separate pouch of dry ones) and a couple extra as a fix it kit for boxes I find. Also a small length of duct tape for the same reason and a couple tiny bungees. It's very light and has gotten me through many harrowing situations. The strap is long enough to go across my chest to so it doesn't dangle and leaves my hands free. The strap is wide and soft so comfortable on the body and the shoulder. The stuff I use at every letterbox ( my stamp, my pen, my inks, my logbook) are in the outer zipper pouch and are easy to get to and pack up. Everything else is in the bigger main section, and most of the supplies do double duty. ( papertowels as stamp cleaners, wet box-dryers, something dry to sit on, bleeding cut cleaners, toilet paper in a pinch)

All the rest of my supplies like ( bug stuff, first aid kit, extra socks, my gps, food stuffs, bottled water, extra clothes, a blanket, maps, more inks,a walking stick, a pad to sit on, etc. are in my hiker's backpack which stays in the car and only comes out for the longer hikes and/or unfamiliar territory. Same rule though..easy to get to stuff in the outside pouch..everything else in the main compartment. I don't like to carry more than I have to.

LW PhD
"Nice Counts"

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and am really struck by Deb Bee's photo.

Aw, thanks. I was going to remind everyone to get out their AQ calendars today! (I'm so tickled that Ryan chose my photo for January!)

Anyway, it's not a terribly exciting story, though it was a VERY exciting vacation when I got that picture. We were on a cruise in Alaska. After the cruise, we took a glacier tour on a smaller boat, and on the way to the glacier, we passed these two harbor seals (the naturalist on the ship called them"Twinkies," because everything in the wild eats them) on a chunk of ice. They're very shy (I would be, too, if everything in my world wanted to eat me!) so I just started snapping away when we saw them, hoping they'd let us get close enough to get a decent shot. I'd have preferred it if they'd been facing the camera, but I couldn't exactly call out instructions to them!

DebBee

I found a scrapbook holder that works great. It's shape is like a pic nik basket that has no top on it. The bag has 15 pockets each divided so there is space for cell phone, inks, logbook, clue, stamps, first aid, car keys, and all the extras we take. It has everything in order right up front without the hassel of unzipping 42 zippers.....lol.

I carry an Eddie Bauer backpack with three main compartments and two netting-style bottle holders, one on each side. Sometimes it is a little heavy, as on long jaunts I need two bottles of water and may also bring a picnic lunch. On quick jaunts, it is much lighter. It even has a CD/MP3 holder in the large compartment at the top with a slit in it to allow for the use of headphones. In the winter, using this backpack is great, because it actually helps my back to stay warmer than it would otherwise.

I'm very much about compartmentalizing these days. So I have everything separated in various sizes of cosmetic bags. My logbook, compass, brush markers, pen, box with cat's eye ink pads, and personal stamp are in a single clear cosmetic bag so that I can grab them all at once when I get to a box. Other cosmetic bags hold things like sugar and Splenda packets and a travel-size Republic of Tea tin, one contains a first-aid kit, another serves as my wallet, and so forth. The nice thing about all of these separate bags is that it is very easy to transfer things from backpack to shoulder bag after boxing, and it also means I spend less time looking for small items at the bottom of either bag. Need a bandaid? I just pull out the little blue zippered pouch.

All of this compartmentalizing originates from my sister, fat lady, who a couple of years ago gave me a Nancy Drew get-away bag (a really nice soft-sided Samsonite overnight bag) with much of this stuff in it. Whenever we read the stories as young girls, we loved the fact that Ms. Drew carried a packed bag with one change of clothes in it so that if a mystery required an overnight stay, it didn't matter, and resolved that someday we would do that, too. So now, at a moment's notice, if we want to do an overnight letterboxing trip, it's easy as pie.

One other idea stolen from fat lady is the use of Levenger boxes as ink pad and personal stamp container. Levenger (levenger.com on the web), if you haven't encountered it before, is this wonderful--if pricey--company that caters to readers with just about every kind of accesory you can imagine. Everything you order from them comes in these little olive green boxes with lids and an elastic strap attached to the outside of the box. The smaller flat ones are great for keeping everything very easy to find.

The Levenger box I'm using right now is the one that came with their "pocket briefcase," but my great-nephew is using my older inkpad/stamp carrier which originally held the 50-card-capacity leather business card holder, and is therefore smaller. (We use small blank business cards on which to write notes, in addition to the index cards which fit into the pocket briefcase.) Personally, I like these boxes so much, I would be tempted to order something of a particular size just to get the box. ;-)

Pied Piper

just make sure that pump house is not still a active one. we made that mistake of not reading the last part of the clue.

katwrangler :)

I am retired from the Post Office after 34 years. If the recipient was out of town and did not pick the package up, it is returned to the sender after 14 days. If you sent it parcel post it would be postage due. If you sent it Priority it should come back for free. Usually they will not resend it for free if it was Parcel Post. If you get a really nice clerk, they will fix it up and resend it for you, but it is against regulations, so don't expect them to do it. Go in being nice and friendly, it will get you a lot farther than being upset and nasty with them. If you insured the package for $100. I think it would be worth paying the postage to get it back, but that is up to you. If you don't claim it, it will be sent to dead letter where they will open it and sell the goods at auction. I know this doesn't help the fact that you already spent money to mail it and then have to pay again to get it back. Sorry, but I hope the info will help. Hales Angels

Mooky wrote:
How did you get the name Mookie?



When I was in high school (over 20 years ago!), my best friend and I made up the word Mookie, roughly meaning a craving for something that you couldn't quite identify, or maybe didn't even exist. ("I could really go for a chocolate mookie.") It was a word that has always stuck. Since I've never really understood why I like letterboxing so much, especailly when everyone I know doesn't get it either, it seemed like a great trail name. I simply crave letterboxing even though I never know what I'll get!

How did you come up with Mooky?

I had a friend in college we used to call stickboy, since he was so skinny. He would call me Mookoobah, because I have big ears. I really have no idea what a Mookoobah is, or why it would have big ears, but none the less, Mookoobah I was. The name evolved to Mooky over the years

I have a little pack from EMS. It has two compartments, a large compartment for my wallet, snack and logbook, and a smaller compartment with my ink markers and stamps. On the outside, it has a pouch for my cell phone and a water bottle. It has a shoulder strap which I use diagonally around my torso when I box. It's much lighter than a backpack and holds everything together.

Unfortunately, it's so small that I accidentally left it in my mother in law's car in PA last week! Thankfully, she is shipping it home UPS!

Music Woman

Happy New Year, S&H!! Do y'all still have any room left in your D&D ring? My son, chaosflame, has been steadily building himself a character,yet has no one to play the game with him. If you have room left, I will ask him if he wants to join when he gets back from visiting his brother in TX (1/5). I don't know that he has created a monster, however, if not, I think he would have fun doing so. I am a bit worried about carving though, my skills are not near as good as my son's artistry! I am not sure I could do his work justice! ;) Are there any specific "rules" I/he should know about regarding the characters themselves and/or the game at large? Thanks! TexasRaggedy

For my letterboxing adventures, I use a "Forward Observer," or F.O. bag that I had in the Army. You can likely find one at an Army-Navy store for roughly $10-20. I prefer the older ones that have metal fasteners, and are likely less expensive than new ones with plastic parts.

I like it because:

1. It's Army green and doesn't show dirt.
2. It's very very durable
3. It has a shoulder strap
4. Under the flap, there are several loops for pens and pencils.

This bag is made to carry all the supplies of a Forward Observer, a person on the battlefield that spots enemy targets and directs artillery (indirect) fire. That position requires map reading and computations and this bag was designed to accomdate these.

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I did this using the album feature on AQ, but it was an all picture clue, no text.
http://www.atlasquest.com/lboxes/showboxinfo.html?gBoxId=22494

That works when there's no text. Could you have skipped the stop at the clue listing by simply entering the URL for the album as the primary hosting location for the clue?

-- Kirbert

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Happy New Year, S&H!! Do y'all still have any room left in your D&D ring? My son, chaosflame, has been steadily building himself a character,yet has no one to play the game with him. If you have room left, I will ask him if he wants to join when he gets back from visiting his brother in TX (1/5). I don't know that he has created a monster, however, if not, I think he would have fun doing so. I am a bit worried about carving though, my skills are not near as good as my son's artistry! I am not sure I could do his work justice! ;) Are there any specific "rules" I/he should know about regarding the characters themselves and/or the game at large? Thanks! TexasRaggedy

Happy New Year to you, too! We definitely have room in the ring...we're just half full right now! And don't worry, he won't need to create a monster of the top of his head. He'll need to find one in the Monster Manual that's between 1st-4th level and carve that. I've been posting the info on this over at the D & D board, so check out the rest of the rules and other info there.

Also, be sure to sign him up on the track right now so you'll get any extra e-mails regarding the rules and all that.

The S & H

yay thats exciting. welcome.
falling leaves and myself are both newbies and are still getting to find all the quick loop holes to doing things (such as find/record find instead of basic search) and now that we know what we've been doing wrong...we have actually got two new letterboxers joining as well- wandering star and another friend who we're sitting down with to explain everything soon.
i just love it when new people come, our influence is spreading- soon we will take over the world!

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i just love it when new people come, our influence is spreading- soon we will take over the world!

(scoffing in your general direction) Yeah, take a number and get in line, honey. We're ALL taking over the world this week!

~~"i just love it when new people come, our influence is spreading- soon we will take over the world"

was that an evil laugh I heard in the background?

Are there any boxers in NYC that would be available for a quick meet/mentoring of my SIL & BIL? I am sure that they will like this as soon as they understand it. I mailed them a sig stamp and some 'getting started' stuff. (but the PO mailed it back to me - boo hoo) So they will not be starting this winter (maybe in the spring, but they will need a boost (maybe me going there again just to do such!) but I thought is there were a bunch of active folks (a mini gathering?) in the NYC area, since they are true city folks with no car! they might get a jump start.
Just let me know if there is any city stuff going on and maybe I'll try to get my family from NH down to the city to get them motivated! (one of the factors stopping that from happening is that my DH has absolutely no interest in LBing- so to get him to include boxing into a trip has not worked thus far)
Thanks again,
Six Stars

For my Bloodroot letterbox, I used multiple pictures as well as text; it is hosted on a page on my own website and linked to AQ. http://www.nrcengineering.com/bloodroot.htm