Frigid Saturday in Delaware

Saturday morning, Mary (Pink Panther) and I met nice and early in Morgantown to begin a day of boxing in the frigid mid-Atlantic area. Our plan had been to start at the Challenge of the Sprite box in Elverson but the planter pulled that box for unknown reasons. So being the versatile and adaptable duo that we are, we moved a bit further south to search for the Bikini Bottom Hitchhiker Hostel . After heading in the wrong direction because of some erroneous info given to me by my son in law, the state trooper who patrols the area, we made an adjustment and headed correctly for this box in a section of a park that neither Mary nor I ever had walked before. We were a little surprised to pull out this wonderfully decorated box, very appropriate for the theme and type of box that it is. However, when we opened the box, we were shocked to see that there was not one single hitchhiker in it to exchange. The last person who logged in, OtisFriends, had left two there just a few weeks ago but for some reason, they had mysteriously disappeared. While we were disappointed (I had come armed with four hitchhikers to exchange) we did enjoy the box itself and the stamp. Thanks, Hikerdad!

From the tropical Bikini Bottom, we headed further south and were first finders at one of Cyclonic's newer boxes, The Whip . I am not sure how much smaller Nathan is going to begin to make his boxes but he has certainly become the master of small stamps. It was too early for us to partake of the Whip's menu but it looked like a good place to return at a later date. Next stop was a visit to Hockessin and Tweed's Tavern. This historic building is surrounded by new development. A small fortune was spent to restore the tavern and it is my hope that it doesn't get lost in all of the modern growth around it.

We continued to head south, our destination - White Clay Creek State Park in Delaware. We had sectioned the park off to systematically try to find all of the boxes located there and began with the northern section. Strategic parking allowed us to quickly find The Hummer and Spell Check . Then we did some posing with the Arc monument which is posted at the corner where Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania meet. Mary decided to visit Delaware (and you say no one ever comes to Delaware, Sheba!) while I remained in Pennsylvania. And we both visited Maryland to take the pictures!
Both of us were intrigued with the piles of pennies on top of the monument, assuming that they were placed there as an "I was here" statement. Any one else have any ideas? As we were just leaving the area, a group of young boys came barreling down the hill to the monument. When Pink Panther and Black Swan made a return visit to the monument the next day, the pennies were gone. Hmmm, wonder where they went? From here we headed for a mystery box which was also in the area. Let me tell you, it is a bit different hiking with an extra ten pounds of clothing on. I was toasty warm the whole day because of them so they served their purpose but it was difficult to move. And when we reached a stream that we had to cross and Mary did her usual hop, skip and a jump to get over it - I just stood there and looked with dismay at it. Even sans winter attire, I can't hop, skip and jump. So I just stood on a higher bank and closed my eyes and jumped and fortunately, landed on the other side. I have to admit that the thought of going back across the stream on the return trip occupied my mind more than a few times as we searched and found the mystery box. But all went better than I expected on the trek back to the car and we soon moved to the south side of the park where we began a loop in search of The Outdoor Fun series, a three box series on a hilly but beautiful trail. The Wolfbox was next on our list . The fact that this box is still in existence defies reasoning. It contains a store bought stamp in a really obvious location very close to a trail which appears to get a lot of traffic in good weather. With that being said, it has been there since 2003 and contains two full logbooks. Tis a mystery how some well hidden boxes disappear and some seemingly doomed boxes remain! We were also able to find another delightful box by Sheba, Alexander the Gander. After looking through this logbook and marveling that there were finders from Oregon and North Carolina and Maine and Ohio, it finally hit us that this had been a postal letterbox prior to its life as a planted box. Duh!

Along the way, Mary stopped to marvel at my technique for retrieving a frozen box from under a rock. As I worked away at it, Mary was laughing hysterically at me and snapped my picture. Hey, it worked! We got the box!

At this time, we decided to call it a day even though we had about 20 more boxes on our list (I always overplan!). Although I made it home safe and sound, I almost didn't make it up the steps to my room. The cold air and the exercise with the extra weight I had been carrying almost did me in. I lay down to just rest my poor aching body and the next thing I knew, it was after midnight and time to plan my next day's adventures.