This is Why I Letterbox - Patuxent River Park

It isn't often that I really WANT to post about a particular series of boxes so, believe me, I was totally happy that I was motivated two weekends in a row to write about "This is Why I Letterbox" experiences.  Sepia Slipper and I had headed to Upper Marlboro MD to find a new letterbox series planted by Super Rod and Night0wl in Patuxent River Park and Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.  It was a dreary, overcast morning when we arrived at the park but we were ok with this.  The 19 box series had been posted as mostly drivebys and short walks so we weren't too worried about rain.  It was nice to be greeted by this brightly colored bluebird who was watching for waterfowl in the river.

The clues led us to the Rural Life Museum and Sepia Slipper and I were absolutely fascinated with this 1923 Craftsman kit house.  

 We both quickly decided that we could easily live in this house with one exception...we needed a real bathroom.  The kit privy was not exactly to our liking.  Our mother had just been telling me stories last weekend about growing up with an outhouse and it isn't something that I would ever want to be forced to experience.  I do remember thinking it was neat to use the outhouse at my grandparents' when I was a kid but I was also happy to run into the real bathroom they had installed after my mother was grown.

 

 As we meandered around the museum area, this vulture who seemed to think he owned this fence rail on the farm museum watched every move we made.

 We moved onto other boxes and totally enjoyed the green that was popping up throughout the forest.

 The next village that we visited was a little more rustic, the American Indian Village.  I quickly decided that I would NOT want to live in this house.

 

 Luxury and comfort were not part of our country's native American's vocabulary. 

 Another part of this wonderful park included the first African American owned airport.  As we walked to the memorial, we marveled that the windsock was blowing straight out in spite of the rather calm day.

 Aha! It wasn't the wind which was assisting the windsock, it was the wire inside of it.

 

As I had mentioned, this was a 19 box series but three of the boxes were in a part of the park called the Critical Area Driving Tour.  The road was only open for a few hours each Sunday and since we were there on a Saturday and we wanted a complete set of the stamps, we decided to walk the three and a half miles to get those three stamps.

 There was a long boardwalk type bridge that crossed over the swampy area and, personally, I am glad that we walked it.  I am not sure I would have been comfortable driving across it and I know that we would have missed a lot of the sights that we saw if we had been driving.

 Sepia Slipper climbed up this observation deck in spite of a very badly aching knee.  I am not into heights so I stayed safely on the ground and took pictures.

 

Box #2 of the CADT boxes found and stamped into.

 The final CADT box was at this very tall observation tower which neither of us chose to climb.  Perhaps if the day had been a little clearer we would have considered it.....nah, we still wouldn't have.

 As we walked back across the wooden bridge, Mama and Papa osprey visited their nest.  We couldn't see if there were babies yet.

 It was now time to head to the southern part of this park, the Merkle Wildlife Sanctuary.  Since we had walked the CADT, we had to reverse engineer the clues a bit since the original clues continued on the CADT.

 

We passed the Visitor Center before we reached the next part of the clues so we decided to stop in.  We were kind of startled as we were greeted by a very young park ranger who asked us to step into a bucket of disinfectant prior to entering the center.  He explained that they have found that Avian flu viruses can be carried through droppings we might have stepped in so they ask everyone to disinfect the bottoms of their shoes before entering to protect the screech owl who resided there.  The ranger then personally conducted a tour of the various sections of the Visitors' Center and introduced us to the little owl who lived there after losing an eye.

 We headed to the spot where the original tour would have taken us and saw another little osprey head peaking out of another nest.

 What does one do when they are waiting for some strolling muggles to pass by the spot for the next box?  One takes pictures of the tree from every angle as though it is the most picturesque tree in the whole forest!

 Next on the list was a visit to the frog pond which proved to be very photo worthy.

 Sepia Slipper tried to sneak in on some frogs but wasn't successful.  We didn't see or hear any little critters in this pond.

 Next to the last stop of the day was to a "BIG.Huge tree and the clue was absolutely correct.  It WAS a tremendous tree and it hid a nice little surprise.

Due to the walk that we had taken on the CADT, we managed to log 6.5 miles this day and collected 19 exquisite stamps.  I had a lot of trouble staying alert as we made the 150 mile drive home and when I tried to crawl out of the car, I was stiff, stiff, stiff, but I have to say that this was one of the best series I have ever done in my 12 years of boxing.  Thank you, Super Rod and Night0wl!

This is Why I Letterbox - Pop's Eyes Were Blue and Big Sister

I was having a rough day.  My daughter was in the emergency room and we were keeping my grandchildren while anxiously awaiting word on Laura's condition so my emotions were rather fragile.  I quickly glanced at Atlas Quest and saw an email that there was a new Pennsylvania box.  When I looked at the clues, I immediately broke down crying.  The boxes called Pop's Eyes Were Blue were in memory of our father who passed away last July.  Sepia Slipper, aka Karen, my little sister, has just returned to letterboxing after a several year hiatus and she had been telling me that she had prepared some special boxes and needed a very special place to place them.  She didn't give me any other details.  So I tried to remember a very nice park in the vicinity of where Sepia Slipper lives and I told her about a wonderful boxing experience that I had a few years ago finding Silly Moosehead's Looney Tunes series in SGL 211.   Guess where Pop's boxes ended up!  Causing even more emotion for me was the email that I received a half hour later announcing yet another new PA series called Big Sister.  Guess who the Big Sister is!  I have to admit that giving this a "This is Why I Letterbox" designation is mostly emotional but the trail and the stamps are every bit as deserving.  Thank you so much, Karen, for the thought and work you put into these memory boxes.

I headed to the SGL early the following Saturday, a bit disappointed that I wouldn't be first finder which usually doesn't matter to me at all but these were special boxes to me.  Another boxer had visited already during the week when I was working.  Seven more months till my retirement and my ability to box during the week....but that is another story.  I headed for the first of the two Pop boxes and lost control of my emotions again.  Our dad loved to build birdhouses.  It was one of his only hobbies later in his life and Karen was able to find birdhouses with suitable hiding spots nearby for both of these series boxes. I could almost feel Dad smiling at the two of us for honoring him with our simple little scavenger hunts.  I proceeded on to the five box series that Karen carved and hid for me and I was so touched that she  pointed out things that she felt I should be thanked for when they are just things that I love being and doing.  So, thank you, Little Sister.  I don't want to give away too much about these two series so I decided that I would just show pictures of the beautiful trail that they are on.  

 As I logged in to the boxes, I was happy to note that our woods are finally greening up.   I had arrived to the trail in the middle of a rainstorm which did end about a half hour later but everything in the woods had that hazy damp feeling to it.  Still beautiful though.

 When I say that everything is greening up, I really meant everything...even the fungi on the trees.  The rhododendrons and mountain laurel looked ready to break open in flower.  As I started down the trail, the sound of spring peepers was almost loud enough to drown out the bird calls but as I was on my way back to the car, the Canadian geese honking took over as they headed toward the lake.

 

 There obviously was some type of civilization in these woods as detected with the various bits and pieces of ruins.

 When I saw this ruined tree from a distance, my first thought was that a Peter Toth Sleeping Giant had appeared out of nowhere.  Even though it wasn't a work of art, it was a tree worth photographing.

I had been introduced to "trail trees" by the Silvan Lady while finding some of her boxes in Nescopeck State Park.  When I had been on the SGL trail previously, I had no idea that the bent trees that I was passing were probably markers created by Indians to give directions to fellow travelers.

I can't end this blog segment without mentioning that my brother in law, John, is an excellent cairn builder!

Breaking Out of Cabin Fever

 It is February....in Pennsylvania....two weeks after a 30 inch  snow storm....gotta get out of the house!!!  OK, maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration considering we had 60 degree weather a week before the blizzard but I did really want to get out of the house and move around and the snow was still hanging around here.  So, my friend, Aunt Cake, who resides two and a half hours north of me informed me that they had had no snow and since I already know that the area between Scranton and Binghamton NY contains a plethora of boxes, I plotted a group of drivebys and short walks.  I started out my day by enjoying a beautiful winter sunrise while waiting for it to be light enough to begin my first search.

 

History, beauty and letterboxes, what a great combination as I learned about lenticular truss bridges..

 

  

From the bridge, I headed down the road a bit to the first of many cemeteries that I would visit this day.  I was saddened to see this little gravesite which was referenced in the clue by Banqchef.  The child who was buried here was the same age as my beautiful little Squeaks and I just couldn't imagine the pain that this little boy's family must have gone through.

 

As I pulled away from the cemetery, I caught sight of this interesting structure.  I am not sure what it is, perhaps a windmill of some sort, but it sure was eye catching.

Another graveyard that I visited was out in the middle of nowhere.  I searched for a series there by Aunt Cake who calmly stated in the clues that I was in black bear territory.  So besides being a bit spooked by thoughts of bears as I searched for the boxes, I then noticed this little girl's face in the tree keeping an eye on me.   I wonder what she was thinking!

   

Another cemetery, another interesting headstone.  I espcially liked this one because The Immobile One that I live with fancies himself a visitor from another planet.  The caption at the bottom of this stone reads "He sought the stars and found them."

From here I headed to the Starrucca Viaduct where I met up with Aunt Cake. 

 

We headed for this scary looking bridge to search for some of the boxes.  After taking two steps onto the bridge on the right, I knew that I couldn't go any further.  In fact, my fear of heights had me doubting I could even get back safely on land from where I stood.  The bridge was built of old railroad ties with several inches of empty air between them.  I could see the cold water moving below me and I literally froze. 

 

Aunt Cake to the rescue!!!  I was shamed as she bravely walked back and forth across the bridge to retrieve her letterbox for me and then returned it when I had stamped in.

 

As Aunt Cake took her walk, I took pictures of the nearby chickens and roosters.

 

I left Aunt Cake and traveled to yet another cemetery where I was amused to find this note in the logbook.

 

  My last stop for the day was next to a Mormon monument where I learned something new.  Did you know that Joseph Smith had lived in Pennsylvania for a time?  I always think of him as living in Utah and never knew he had spent time in our state.  I would have liked to visit the grounds and explore a bit but the road was blocked and by this time of the day, I was tired and ready to head for home.   I was happy to have gotten out a bit and to have seen things I had never seen before.  Isn't that the reason most of us letterbox?