This board was requested by The Sprite & The Highlander. Don't know too much about the subject myself, but I'm sure they'll be happy to fill you in! =)

This is a hobby we really love...it's like letterboxing but with more uniform stamps. This is the explanation from http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/4434/passport.html

The Nation's natural treasures--our national parks--are all wrapped up for you in one handy package with the Passport To Your National Parks program. This 104-page travelogue includes color-coded maps, pre-visit information, illustrations and photographs. Designed in a 6" x 3" format that fits conveniently in a pocket or pack, this spiral-bound book makes it easy to explore both well-known parks like Grand Canyon and lesser-known areas like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The Passport also provides you with a unique and interesting way to record up to five years of park travels, with official park "cancellation" marks. These rubber stamp markings, similar to the ones international travelers receive in their passports, record your visit by noting the park name and date of your visit. Individualized with commemorative stamps and park cancellations, your Passport becomes a uniquely personal travel scrapbook.

Basically, you buy the logbook they're talking about for about $8. You can also buy little stamps that describe the parks to add to your book. The actual stamping park is the cancellation. When you go to the parks and they let you stamp in with a circular stamp that resembles a passport stamp (name of park around the outside, date you were there in the middle) It's just like finding a letterbox and in MANY cases, you can find LBs at the parks you're going to, anyway!

The two downsides are that the stamps are basically identical except for park name and date, plus you do have to pay for some parks to get in. However, we've found that investing in a National Parks Pass ($50 for a year, cheaper for seniors or folks with disabilities http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm) has been invaluable.

We know other people do this, too (and we've met many park stamp hunters who letterbox as well), so let's hear from you if it's something YOU do!

I know that Princess Lea has been doing The national park thing and also the light house stamps as well. There is a program for the light houses. Alot of them have stamps and you can get a booklet (passport) and collect them in it.

http://www.lilighthousesociety.org/passportprogram/default.htm

If you fill up your passport, you can get a embroidered patch that says "I've seen the Light!" ---considering that so many letterboxes are by lighthouses already...you could collect the stamp images as well! They are also very accomodating. If the lighthouse information area is closed and you have visited the lighthouse, you can take a picture and paste it in your booklet, or draw an image on your passport page and they will accept that as proof that you were there!
:-)
-Amanda from Seattle

There is a program for the light houses. A lot of them have stamps and you can get a booklet (passport) and collect them in it.

That sounds cool, too? Is there a site where you can see other lighthouses in the program? The link you have only gives the Long Island ones, but I know there's a TON along Lake Ontario...even been to one and have the pic, so if it qualifies, guess what WE'RE gonna start doing! ;-)

The S & H

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and lesser-known areas like Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

One of my favorite memories of family vacations is from our visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes. I was probably 8 yrs old. My dad and I decided to walk down to the shoreline, which appeared deceptively near. Maybe halfway down we gave up, then had to climb back to the car. The sand was so loose that for every step you take, you slide back half a step. Very slow, hard work that had my little legs feeling rubbery for hours! Ah, good times.

-Red

Here is another website that lets you order sticker of lighthouses if you visited them and forgot to get your stamp image!! They show a typical passport page with the stamps from some of the lighthouses:


http://www.lighthousestickers.com/uslhs_passport.htm

-Amanda from Seattle

Finally found it! I think this is the official website for the lighthouse passport program!

http://uslhs.org/inner/passport.html

-Amanda from Seattle

I just realized how totally absorbed we are in this stamping thing! I got that gleam in my eye that the Highlander dreads and he immediately said "We are NOT adding another stamp book to our collection until we FINISH one!" :-)

Are you aware of what kind of HAVOC you could wreak by just offering a rubber stamp to folks like us??? I can see the papers now "Local Business Closes After Stamp Stampede Destroys Building". Or "Postal Worker Attacked--Rubber Cancellation Stamp Stolen". Or "Man On Death Row Acquitted--Jury Decides Stamp Withholding Is Only Legal Reason For Murder"!

I have only a handful of the National Park and Lighthouse stamps, but the program I have had fun with is the California Sesquicentennial series. They planted 150 (well, actually 154) stamps around California, mostly at state parks, to celebrate the state's 150th anniversary. Officially the program is over, but most places I've been to, they still have the stamp in the drawer (usually at the ranger station). As a bonus, several of the locations often have "other" stamps available - for example, at Hearst Castle there was some international program I'd never heard of, and at the Jack London State park, they had an image of his signature which I guess they put into people's actual books by Jack.

Miss Vickie who is also a LBer has put together a nice page about the program:

http://home.earthlink.net/~3vix/CA150/index.htm

-- Princess Lea

this is a great topic to have here! I was actually into NPS stamps before I discovered letterboxing. I claim it as one of my "yes, I am a geek and proud of it" hobbies. I started for the fun of it and before I knew it I was planning road trips all over and adding days to my family vacations to find extra areas. I now have the stamps from most of the spots in my region and some others.

I think the thing that drew me to it was the fact that I found myself going out of my way to check out places that I would have never gone to otherwise. For instance, the trip to my grandparent's home in Roswell, NM (no I didn't see aliens that time, but we did go to the museum and buy a T-shirt for someone) I took a long time driving back to ID rather than going straight through as I usually do. I ended up finding so many fun spots like El Moro NM, Petroglyph NM, El Malpais NM, Canyonlands NP, Arches NP, and 2 full days in Mesa Verde NP. I had been to the big parks, but still found new things and there were areas like the amazing historical spots at El Moro, that I would have never found. Basically I kept an atlas by me and just went where the wind blew in search of new stamps and adventures and loved every minute of it.

When I heard about letterboxing it had the same appeal for me. It felt like the adventures I loved in the NPS thing with a broader range of places and individual artwork. I loved that I got to build a whole new "passport" of symbols of fun adventures I had been on. I will admit, I don't do the NPS thing as much since finding letterboxing, but it is fun to have stamps that I know are "legal" :) for when I do go there.

Wow, this post is long, sorry.

Anyway, I thought I would also pass on info on a stamp in my neck of the woods you have to get (if you still can). This year is the 100th anniversary of the Yellowstone Inn and the cancelation stamp this year at Old Faithful is not the standard issue, but a fun larger one with a picture of the inn. It would be worth the trip to get it if you can make it out here. I'm not sure how long they will have it. I got it this summer and I believe it will stay out for 1 year, but I'm not sure when that year started.

-Cadenza

Your wanderings remind me of a trip I did once upon a time. We called it the USA Trip, short for Unplanned Spontaneous Adventure. Five of us got into a mini-van and started driving south on Highway 101--not really sure where we'd be heading or even spending that night. =) Just drive and see where it took us.

Somehow we ended up in Utah. Discovered some very fascinating places along the way that I didn't even know existed before then including the Valley of Fire SP in Nevada, Gerome and Sedona in Arizona, Monument Valley, etc, etc. It was a good trip! =)

Didn't know about letterboxing back in those days, though, and don't even think there were any in that part of the country when we did the trip anyhow. *shrug*

-- Ryan

I make a few posts and moments later there are responses to most of them! Man, you're quick! Thanks for the feedback.

I loved the thought of your USA trip. That's pretty much how I did Europe (with just a few planned stops). I love just getting out and seeing what I can find that I never knew about before. I tend to enjoy the off the beaten path trips the most. I once had a work companion of mine call me Curiosa Georgina (we are Spanish-speakers too). I don't think she meant it as a compliment, but I chose to take it as such. She joked about how we would be driving around and I would see a street I wasn't familiar with and shout, "hey, I haven't seen that one before! Let's go see where it goes!" and then I'd veer off of where she thought we were going. We always got where we needed to, but I found some fun spots on the way. I guess a little ADD-type behavior can make for some fun adventures! :)

-Cadenza

I have only a handful of the National Park and Lighthouse stamps, but the program I have had fun with is the California Sesquicentennial series.

This looked SOOO cool! We would have LOVED to do this, but the farthest either one of us has been in the US is Colorado. :-( Just wait 'til I retire, though...man, we'll be chasing Pete and Wanda all over the world! :-)

The (raring to go already) Sprite & the (wishing we were back in the shire already) Highlander

this is a great topic to have here! I was actually into NPS stamps before I discovered letterboxing. I claim it as one of my "yes, I am a geek and proud of it" hobbies. I started for the fun of it and before I knew it I was planning road trips all over and adding days to my family vacations to find extra areas. I now have the stamps from most of the spots in my region and some others.

That's how it started for us, too! We both used to plan all our trips around the parks, but now we try to do them around the LB's. We got addicted to it back when I was visiting my uncle in St. Louis and was trying to decide on something I could start collecting (since my mom was already doing magnets and my brother was doing shot glasses). I saw the passport and that pretty much did it for me!

Once we get back to traveling again, we want to go to DC for all the park stamps, then pick up the boxes on the way. It really is amazing how quickly you can get sucked into something as simple as a rubber stamp in a book!

I thought I hit the motherload when I went to DC. I was walking along the mall and made a casual stop at a little old house near the Washington Monument and found out it was NPS headquarters. I was in DC for a funeral and wasn't thinking about stamps, but I came home with about 10 stamps from just that one stop. (yes, I saw all of the spots too). It brightened a sombre day for me. There are quite a few other stamps in town too.

Now if I just knew about the passport when I was doing my internship near Hyde Park, NY. The area is dripping with stamps. Just the town I was in had about 4. I practically lived on the grounds of the Vanderbuilt Mansion and at Eleanor Roosevelt's home.

Forget wishing I knew about the passport. I wish I knew about letterboxing. If I had known I was a stone's throw away from the heart of what would become an addiction for me, I would have gone nuts!! Oh well. Asi es la vida!

Cadenza

Oh, see, we've already done Hyde Park, but we have to go back...Eleanor Roosevelt's placed was closed by the time we got there and I think we missed a double park stamp at FDR's...I hear there's one for the library AND the museum!

Martin Van Buren's place was closed, too, and Weir Farm was just over the border in CT, so we have some to go back for in that area.

I think there's MORE than 10 now in DC...have you been back?

The S & H

there are definitely more than that. I was pulling a number from memory for what I found in that one spot on the mall. There are plenty of other locations as well. I just love DC! The history buff/museum geek in me goes nuts each time I go there.

-Cadenza

Forgot to mention we (the Highlander & I) have our own passport site that we made as part of the webring they have. It's pretty silly, but we thought you guys might get a laugh out of it!

http://www.geocities.com/dasprite222/passport.htm

Oh my gosh, that picture of Highlander in the outhouse--that is SOOO funny! Takes a big man to pose for a picture like that! ;o)

I never knew there was such a thing as fear of life-sized statues. Is there a technical name for that, or are you a first? =)

-- Ryan

This is great! We seem to be attracted to the Griswold sites on our trips too. Since you lived in Texas for a time, perhaps you will appreciate my dh wanting to go to Luckenbach, to find Willie, Waylon and the boys. What a time! We visited Uptown Luckenbach, and Downtown Luckenbach during the day. Even have a couple of wacky pictures and stories of the place. Too bad I didn't know about the NP Passport program at the time. We were in San Antonio for six days and visited all the missions. I took my journal, against my dh's wishes, so we only letterboxed in Waco, where I found Don't Mess With Texas.

[quote}Oh my gosh, that picture of Highlander in the outhouse--that is SOOO funny! Takes a big man to pose for a picture like that! ;o)

I never knew there was such a thing as fear of life-sized statues. Is there a technical name for that, or are you a first? =)

Well, lucky for me the Highlander IS a big man...otherwise, I'dve had my instigating little butt in a sling AGES ago! ;-)

And I think the technical term is bigfraidycatobia...just hazarding a guess, there, though! :-D

The S & H

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Too bad I didn't know about the NP Passport program at the time. We were in San Antonio for six days and visited all the missions. I took my journal, against my dh's wishes, so we only letterboxed in Waco, where I found Don't Mess With Texas.

Our story's just the opposite...I wish we had known about letterboxing back then! I don't know how many boxes were around or came out after then, but since I'm pretty sure it'll be years before we're down there again...ah, hindsight!

The S & H

Something along the lines of this--we actually started our NPS passport during a limited offering venue. If you ever find yourselves in the White Sands, NM area either in Mar/Apr or Oct of each year--look for information about the tour of Ground Zero. They shut down White Sands Missile Range for two weekends each year and allow folks to tour the grounds on an 'escorted' basis. There's an old homestead on the grounds which was really interesting and you can actually see where they filmed all those movies of watching the blasts--typically a black & white movie of people sitting in bleachers near the buffer zone wearing nothing but 3D type glasses to protect their eyes. Little did they know the devastating effect all this radiation exposure would have on folks way down the line. Anyways, they have an NPS stamp available only twice a year at Ground Zero. That's when we purchased the passport back in 1999. Radiation exposure at the site is less than one would experience during routine dental x-rays.

dvn2r ckr

Ooh, I've heard about this one, but I haven't known someone who has the stamp. How cool! My grandparents used to live in Roswell, NM (yes, I said Roswell, and I have been to the UFO museum there. How can you not go? It would be a shame to go all the way and not join the zaniness at least once.)

Anyway, when we were kids we headed out to White Sands with them and it was a blast. They have one of those cool theaters that wraps around you and is really big, but not Imax big. I remember we also rented small waxed wooden boards and ski/sledded down the sand dunes. It was pretty fun. They are called White Sands for a reason--the sand is pure white. It was a fun day.

Now I want to go back for that stamp. When I first got into the NPS stamps, I went out to visit my grandparents and spent a long time driving home. I didn't have anyone with me so I was free to roam. I just threw an atlas in my car and went wherever the wind blew me. It was a blast! I got a bunch of stamps in NM and discovered many things I had no idea existed. I loved it! It was the same spirit that got me into letterboxing.

Cadenza

<<Ooh, I've heard about this one, but I haven't known someone who has the stamp. How cool! My grandparents used to live in Roswell, NM (yes, I said Roswell, and I have been to the UFO museum there. How can you not go? It would be a shame to go all the way and not join the zaniness at least once.)>>

During my pre-kids, pre-husband college life, my parents lived in Hobbs, NM for a couple of years (90-92). Can't get much closer to Roswell than that! We avoided Roswell the entire time then as 'free time' wasn't that common in our college or post-college life. It wasn't until we moved to El Paso for a couple of years (98-00) that we went out to tour Ground Zero. Then, we went camping in Cloudcroft and during a 'day trip' from camping we decided to venture over and explore Roswell--on a whim. Lo & behold, we drive into town and we're surrounded by a gazillion aliens and trekkie geeks-dressed up in all their garb IN JULY. Who knew that it was the annual UFO/Alien Festival in Roswell!!! So, we got caught up in their big 'alien' parade, got whisked away into Trekkie 'fan'dom (I'm not that into Star Trek but dh 'TRKEE' is a tad) and started bumping into all of these Star Trek actors along the way. Talk about interesting timing...Roswell during the Alien/UFO festival--who knew???

<<Anyway, when we were kids we headed out to White Sands with them and it was a blast. They have one of those cool theaters that wraps around you and is really big, but not Imax big. I remember we also rented small waxed wooden boards and ski/sledded down the sand dunes. It was pretty fun. They are called White Sands for a reason--the sand is pure white. It was a fun day.>>

We, too, went sliding down the sands between 98-00. RnrB had a blast as she was only about 8 months old when we first starting going there! It's incredible how much speed you can build up 'sledding' on sand!!! On a different note, TRKEE used to go through the military flight simulator (read ASTRONAUT vomit training simulator) there at White Sands every so often, so we got to return and play a few more times (while he 'tested his limits'). ;)

<<Now I want to go back for that stamp. When I first got into the NPS stamps, I went out to visit my grandparents and spent a long time driving home. I didn't have anyone with me so I was free to roam. I just threw an atlas in my car and went wherever the wind blew me. It was a blast! I got a bunch of stamps in NM and discovered many things I had no idea existed. I loved it! It was the same spirit that got me into letterboxing.

Cadenza >>

Sounds like we had a very similar trip as yours when we moved from El Paso to Tacoma. Pre-letterboxing, we carved out our route purely based on potential NPS Passport stamps along the way. TX, NM, AZ, UT, CO, WY, MT, OR & WA--we had fun exploring the region on our 'not so direct' route to WA. We took a 1,500 mile detour through Yellowstone & Grand Teton--just to do it!!! Even had a bull moose walk through our camp one morning--between our tent and our fire pit. TRKEE and I were making breakfast, rnrB (about 24 months old) was still asleep in the tent. Scary but exciting moments all at once!!! Great memories, nonetheless!!! Interesting to see the similarities...

dvn2r ckr

sounds like you've had some fun adventures in that area too. I have had to laugh because Roswell actually used to be a pretty quiet town. I hardly heard anything about us going there growing up. At the 50th anniversary of the possible crash though, every oddball in the universe descended on the city. It was hilarious. Then a bunch of new movies and TV shows popped up talking about Roswell. It's funny how much hype they get now.

One thing many don't know about the town is that is where Robert Goddard, the inventor of the rocket, came from. They have a nice art/history museum in town with several Georgia O'Keefes and the like, a lot of Native American stuff, and a recreation of the lab where the rocket was invented. It makes for a fun trip.

It was fun hearing about your NPS trip. I love those. I thought I was bad with that, but letterboxing has created a real bug. I just need to go on my own again. When I go with family, there's always some child (or adult) with low attention span that will only allow me to search for a few boxes.

Hello.....I have been letterboxing for a few years (not a serious boxer I guess, but still enjoy it) and came across this site.  This sounds like a lot of fun.  Any tid bits of info to pass along to someone interested in getting involved in this?  I like to travel during the Spring and Fall since those are my favorite seasons and when I have the time to have fun :-)  Traveled out to the Grand Canyon a couple of years ago (left a letterbox there....figure the rangers have found it by now) and wish that I knew about this back then.  My next vacation is to visit Washington, DC to do some letterboxing, can I incorporate this into it during my trip?

Karen

Be still my heart  ;-0  Looks like I'll be busy with this and lettreboxing in DC!!!!!!  And who says that vacations can't be fun..... 

Karen  ;-)

lol

I recently got back into the stamp collecting after finding my original passport up in the attic. I have a job with the NPS this summer, so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot more stamps while I'm working

:)