Central Pennsylvania Saturday

So now that I had settled the issue of how to spend my Black Friday, I had yet another day to plan. After looking at my little letterboxing map, I noticed that there seemed to be quite a few interesting sounding boxes springing up in the Williamsport area. I have to admit that I debated with myself for quite a while before deciding that a three hour one way drive was not going to tire me out too much to enjoy the day. I even tried to coax the Immobile One to drive with me since most of the boxes which I would be searching for that day were indeed drivebys. But he decided that sitting at home doing nothing was much more fun for him than letterboxing. So, about 3:30 on Saturday morning, I started out for central PA. Night time driving is not my most favorite thing to do but this drive was made a little more exciting by the patchy fog once I hit the higher elevations. Mountains and fogs and dark nights......what a fun combination. But I made it safely to my first destination, Squashed Banana well before the sun had risen. Trusty flashlight in hand, I managed to find this box in the dark. And I have to add, I found it in the cold. It was very cold. The temps had probably gone down a good ten degrees from the time I had left home till I reached this spot. And it was on an island in the river which contributed to the slippery, slightly icy walking that I did. But I was really glad to have found another Crayola Posse box. As usual, the carving was exquisite and the placement of the box was very clever. As I was walking back to my car, the sun was just starting to rise and I was a bit startled to see that other cars had pulled into the parking area while I was out searching. Must be those crazy fishermen who get up at all hours of the morning. What's wrong with them!

From the Squashed Banana, I headed for White Deer . It was absolutely killing me to not take a ton of pictures for my blog when I reached this spot but they would have only been spoilers for the clues that the Crayola Posse provided. So I found my box, drank in some of the good feelings in this location and moved on to the box which had clinched my decision to travel to this area, Tragedy on the Susquehanna . This box caught my eye as soon as it was posted and I truly enjoyed the research needed to find it and the history lesson provided with it. But, I had plotted the wrong spot on my little map. What to do? Well, I just started driving around along the river and eventually passed the landmark mentioned in the clues without even realizing it till I was down the road a few hundred feet. Turned around and found the box with an absolutely wonderful carving. If you are in this area, this is a must find box. There wasn't a thing that I didn't like about it.

From the Susquehanna box, I kept to my theme of finding 4Rhines boxes. Each of these next three boxes held stamps which were absolutely wonderful. My biggest heartbreak of the day was that almost all of these boxes had some mystery type reference in the clues and the pictures that I did take around them would spoil some of the fun for future searchers. This picture was taken from one of the next three 4Rhines boxes which I found - Woapalanee , Foul Ball , and Dip the Dip . I have to admit that actually reaching Dip the Dip provided some moments of concern to this almost 55 year old body but I overcame the physical dexterity needed and got my prize. Welcome to the letterboxing world, 4Rhines!

Now on to a box whose picture I can post. Little League Baseball 2 by the Crayola Posse was at the site of a statue that I just loved. When I looked at this, I could just see my Lil Milkmonster in future years. The clues state that this box is on Blaine St. at Memorial Ave - and it is exactly there. But a funny note in the logbook had one finder questioning "but where is Blaine St" as they were only a few feet away from the Blaine St sign post. They found the box but not the sign!

From the baseball box, I headed for two boxes by another new boxer, Ernieb. I loved the story behind the Tiaghadton Elm and I also really loved the clever method used to hide this box in an area which is difficult to be stealthy. What I didn't love was the man in the white van who sat there without moving the whole time I was there. To the left is the silver bridge mentioned in the clues and below is the memorial to the elm to whom this area is dedicated. Moving on to my next Ernieb box, Ravensburg , I arrived at one of the most beautiful places I have been in since the leaves started falling this autumn. Ravensburg State Park was another little park which I had never visited before. It was absolutely breathtaking as I pulled in and saw all of the green around me. The sun was shining brilliantly that day and this park is filled with evergreens. The sun dancing on the green was so beautiful that I had to just sit there for a while to enjoy it. As I pulled myself away from this enchanted area to locate the box, I was again pleasantly surprised to find this beautiful little stream and dam. There was one other car in the parking lot with its occupants elsewhere in the park and I got to enjoy finding this box all alone in one of the most lovely areas I have been in for a long time.

After I managed to drag myself away from the beauty of Ravensburg, it was time to head for home. But that didn't mean that I was finished boxing. There were two Flat Tire boxes along I80 to be captured yet, one on the eastbound side and one on fthe westbound side. The I80 Clinton County boxes were almost across the divided highway from each other and both stamps are needed to complete the stamp picture so I did what any respectable letterboxer would do. I first located the eastbound box and then went out onto the highway and took the little road which says "authorized vehicles only" to turn around and head west. This neat little carving was the landmark needed to locate the westbound box and the two stamps in this series made a really clever picture when completed. Nice job, Flat Tire!

And now it really was time to head for home. Three hours later, I made it safely and without incident and really, really happy that I had made this trip. After thinking about the boxes I had found and the stamps I now had in my collection, I realized that my friends, the Crayola Posse, seem to have positively influenced the new boxers. These boxes were so different from a lot of the new boxes that I have found in other areas. My thoughts are that these boxers have found the quality boxes put out by the Posse so that is the way they think boxes should be done - wonderful clues, exquisite stamps and artful hides. All I can say, is good job to all those in this area and thanks to Terri and Jim for their positive influence.