Event #3726

It's About Time!

Lake Darling State Park - Day Use Lodge, 111 Lake Darling Road, Brighton, IA

Registered Boxes: All Traditional HH/Cootie/Flea Postal LTC Event Box Traveler Other

Starts	Sat July 29, 2017 8:30am
Ends	Sat July 29, 2017 9:00pm
Owner	Maude
Admins	Maude
Signups	39/∞
Location	Lake Darling State Park - Day Use Lodge, 111 Lake Darling Road, Brighton, IA View Map
Add to Calendar	Google calendar ICS file (e.g. Outlook, iCal, etc.)

Description

7/1/17 - Barely any event boxes? Say it ain't so! Please bring any you wish to share.

"I do not recall that conversation." "Me? I was nowhere near that cookie jar." "What bottle of wine?" "I don't know what you're talking about." That's right. Deny everything. OK, I may not come completely clean, but it's time to 'fess up about having birthdays. I've had several that went unmarked ~ at my request, and this event is not being held on my birthday, so don't get any ideas. I DO want to celebrate a milestone birthday by hosting a letterboxing event, and that's what this is. I have attended a lot of events in a bunch of other states, and I'm hoping some folks from my traveling past will consider joining us in Iowa.

9/2/16 - If anyone wants to help with carving duties, please email me. I'm just getting started with the thinking and planning stuff.

1/2/17 - Worth noting ~ I will include the WOM clues for the Crime Doesn't Pay series in the clue booklet. The rest of the clue is too long for a clue booklet, so bring a copy if you plan to get that series. There are other boxes in that park, and could be more ~ depending …

1/11/17 - Sorry, I have to add this. I'm proud of my town!

Location:
GPS address is 111 Lake Darling Road, Brighton Iowa. There’s no fee to enter this park, and there are no trash cans except at the beach and the lodge.
We will be at the Day Use Lodge. Check the map and watch the signs ~ it’s at the Beach.
Brighton is the nearest town, three miles east of the park entrance. It has a full service BP gas station with ice, snacks, and basic groceries, and CaMander’s Bar & Grill, located in downtown Brighton (deep fryer menu).

Lodging Options:
Washington - Hometown Inn, locally owned. I have stayed here and it’s OK, but nothing to rave about; 11 miles NE of the park; $72 for seniors; $80 for everyone else (as of Sept. 2016)
Washington - Dodici Night Suites - reasonable price, dependent on number staying there - very popular so book early.
Mt. Pleasant - several hotel options; 35 miles SE of the park
Fairfield - several hotel options; 18 miles SW of the park
Maharishi Vedic City - The Raj, $108 - $165, an Ayurveda health spa & hotel; 16 miles SW of the park

The park has a large campground and two kinds of cabins ~ Basic (5) and Ritzy (6). The campground has tent or electric sites, plus an RV area for large vehicles. You will need a reservation, which can be made through Reserve America. If you have problems with this site, which happens, call the park at (319)694-2323. It’s a popular park, so don’t wait until the last minute. *(Heard this at the First Day Hike yesterday - roughly half of their camp sites are occupied most of the time.)
What? You waited too long? There are other campgrounds at Marr Park (319) 657-2400, located 6 miles east of Washington, and Fairfield’s Jefferson County Park, just southwest of town, at (641) 472-4421. My yard has space for tents, if you want to go that route.

Other Stuff to do: free swimming, rental canoes and paddle boats, playgrounds at campground and beach, fishing, and yard games at the lodge.

Food:
There will be two meals, a potluck lunch at noon, and a light pick up supper whenever folks are ready to refuel. We’ll keep the lodge open until 9:30. We will provide tableware, grilled burgers, chicken, and hotdogs at noon; sandwich fillings at supper, and will need some buns and sliced bread for these, plus the usual picnic items. The lodge had two refrigerators for storing perishables between meals.
Adults: beer and wine are allowed at the lodge and on the lodge patio, and at cabin and campsites, but nowhere else in the park.

Music: There will be live music in the evening, provided by assorted friends and relatives.

Dogs are welcome if leashed, but are not allowed in the lodge. There is a large covered patio with picnic tables at the east end of the lodge.

The Return of Darling

May 20, 2017: 70 Days to Go!
or so says my event countdown clock.
Here's how the event is shaping up.
• There will be over 70 letterboxes on 4 themed trails in 2 parks ~ plenty of room to letterbox without having wait for others to move along (OK, that's my hope, not a promise ;~) The other park is just 5 minutes away from Lake Darling, and has the Crime Doesn't Pay series as well as some other single boxes. Please remember to print a copy of the Crime series at home before you come - it doesn't fit in the clue booklet (yes, I removed the restriction.) The bonus clues for that series will be in the clue booklet so you won't have to ask for them.
• Several new event stamps, including one whose clue can only be gotten by entering the guessing raffle.
• Ah, the raffle. It's not a raffle as much as a guessing game with three prize collections and a drawing to determine who choses first.
• There are a few night boxes for those who want that kind of experience; I will offer written clues at the sign in table for those who may be afraid of the dark (or have some other reason to need them).

Food Note: I have been to a lot of events and know how hard it is to bring food from afar. If you are staying in Washington or Mt. Pleasant, you will find a grocery store/deli near your hotel which should make it easier to contribute to the noon meal. The most common Iowa grocery chain is HyVee. Please sign up so others know what to expect.

Music Note: I have invited my local noxer friends for late afternoon and evening. They will be given a chance to try letterboxing, and are bringing pot luck food for the evening meal. Please plan to stay through the evening, either on the trails or at the lodge, or both. If you play an instrument, bring it! I already know a couple of folks will be providing music during the evening, and anyone is welcome to join in or take a solo turn. I know we will hear an assortment of jazz, 80s tunes, classical, blues, & perhaps some bluegrass.

Campers: that campground was pretty full last weekend, and there were no electric sites available at all. It's not too soon to make reservations.

Jun 23, 2017: Additional Information
List of Mystery and Encoded Boxes Near Washington, IA

Letterboxes are meant to be found, so I do give hints if asked. In some cases, the first hint is already part of the clue, but you can ask anyway. There are a few others within a one hour radius that are Mystery, but they aren’t mine to share. The list is in no particular order.

Maine Pine Cone Project: Iowa
The Union Maid
Home Sweet Home
1890 Decoration Day Greeting Card
Just Doing My Job (GAQLBE14
My Report (PAL 2013 and GAQLBE 2013
GAQLBE 11: Migrating Miracle
The Gardener

There. That should keep you entertained until the event ;~)
Maude

Jul 17, 2017: It's About Night Boxes
Night Boxes ~ a unique experience, but not for everybody. If they are for you, bring your night lights and plenty of insect repellent.

One trail, A Midsummer’s Odyssey, begins with daytime clues, and ends with several night boxes. Without the whole set of images, both day & night, the odyssey is incomplete.

This presents a couple of issues, but I think I have found solutions.

Issue 1: Night boxes are not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, but nobody wants to miss the end of the story.
Solution: Written clues to the night boxes will be offered on request at the Lodge, but there’s a catch ~ those who use the written clues will not find all the night boxes. Only folks who find them after sunset without the written clues will have a chance to get them all.

Issue 2: There may be too many people who do want to find them after sunset to work well. (like being part a Flash(light) Mob)
Solution: The entire clue for the Odyssey will go live Friday morning so you can print at home and find the whole series Friday afternoon/evening. Total distance out and back for the entire series is 2.7 miles. Night box distance is .7 miles. Distance back to the campground after the last box is .6 miles. The clue testers needed two hours to do the whole trail.

I hiked the trail on July 13, stopping briefly at each box, though probably not long enough for a group of 4 to stamp in. It took me about 35 minutes to walk the night box trail back to the campground. Sunset that night was 8:35. I started at the beginning of the night trail at 8:46 and arrived back at the campground at 9:13. Fire tacks begin to be visible just a little before sunset; I checked some on the way out to the beginning point. I did not need to use my flashlight to light the trail at any time on the hike back, but the sky was clear, not cloudy, that evening.

There is no logbook for the night boxes, nor are there any baggies in the containers. Open - ink up - stamp - snap shut - conceal - move on. The trail is wide and nearly level. The connector trail from the end of the letterboxes to the campground is equally wide, but has some gentle hills.

The night trail will remain, along with the rest of the Odyssey, after the event.

Jul 27, 2017: A Midsummer's Odyssey Is Active
Those who are signed up to attend It's About Time this coming weekend should be able to see the clue for A Midsummer's Odyssey. It has some night boxes, and those who are arriving on Friday may want to do that trail then, so I am posting that clue early. Sunset time and twilight time is linked in the clue, and my clue testers say it took them about 2 hours to do the whole trail.

Enjoy!
Maude

Oct 18, 2017: Late Winter Indoor Event?
Good Morning!

I am contacting folks who came to It's About Time last summer to see whether there would be interest in a late winter event, maybe late February or early March. Ideas are cookin' ~

Considerations ~ and the reason I am asking ~ most of you have to drive a fair distance and stay overnight to attend. The event I am thinking about would be a Saturday afternoon and early evening, with no access to the boxes the next day because the library is closed. There are other boxes in the area, and usually there is not a lot of snow at this time of year, though mud is readily available.

A positive reply is not a committment to attend ~ I just don't want to plan and carve for three or four people.

Thanks,
Maude

Signups

Total signups:39