My college roommate and her husband have been in town for a weekend of fair-going, sight-seeing, speed-scrabble-playing & lots of junk food eating. After spending all day yesterday at Luckett's Fair (where it was hot enough that even I didn't want funnel cake), we spent today introducing them to the hobby of letterboxing.
Our day started out at two of the letterboxes we had previously visited -- Hubby and I loved them enough to return & bring our friends along.
I'm really looking forward to teaching my Letterboxing 101 class on September 29th. Watching people find their first letterbox is a blast!
After a return home so that the cranky baby could take a nap (and I could beat everyone soundly in speed Scrabble), we left for Harper's Ferry, WV. We had the clues for three different letterboxes in the historic area of Harper's Ferry. Our first letterbox took us some time to find (click here for the clues). When we found it, we were surprised to see just how small the box was!
Our next letterbox, Jedi #1, (click here for the clue) was in the same general vicinity, but involved quite a hike!! We finally reached the top near Jefferson's Rock. This was, by far,the hardest letterbox we've ever done. A true hike up a mountainside, using 200 year-old rocky shale steps. But the view was spectacular! Thomas Jefferson once said that this area was one of the most spectacular in nature. He wasn't kidding.
My 2 year-old daughter was a super trooper and did most of the hiking herself. As a reward, she got to use the stamp when we finally found the box:
By the time we reached our FIFTH letterbox of the day, Screaming Jenny (click here for the clue), we were pretty exhausted. This was probably my favorite box. We had to walk across a bridge where a train was stopped, waiting for another train to come by. We were able to walk up to the conductor to say hi & wave as he waved back to us. My hubby summed it up when he asked, "When was the last time you waved at a train. This is a great day!" The train slowly chugged off as we found our letterbox in an abandoned canal lock.
5 letterboxes in one day. I'm off to bed now, I'm just beat!
My September letterboxing class is sold out, but I'm thinking of holding another one in October. I already have two on the wait list. I need a few more & I'll put it on the calendar. E-mail me if you're interested!
Oh Boy! I just spent the last hour, intrigued by this hobby of yours, following clues that you used to discover Letterboxes and researching even more on-line--the Smithsonian article, the "official" letterboxes website. This sounds SO cool! I've never heard of the term, and wasn't familiar with the hobby, but I've already scoped out some boxes in San Jose (where this Chicago Girl has resided for the last 30 years!) and will be discussing our first venture when my daughter gets home from school today. Thank you for such an interesting article today!
Posted by: ChicagoGirl | Monday, August 27, 2007 at 01:28 PM