Could this be the beginning of a new hobby?
I've been curious about this for some time and after checking the Atlas Quest wesite and finding some hidden boxes close to us, I thought we might give it a try.
Who wouldn't want to go in search of hidden "treasure"? Well it's not really a treasure, it's just a rubber stamp that you stamp your book with to record that you found it. The stamps are usually unique and hand-made.
We went out last night as TeamRose to our first "easy" find. Upon further checking, this one has not been found since September of last year and the bushes and weeds have taken over. We abandoned our search and went home to regroup.
Today, we set out again. This time with the new-found knowledge that you only go in search of boxes that have recent finds logged. This one was at a local park, too, where they probably don't let the weed get so overgrown.
This one was called The Girl Scout Law Series - Part 1 and had five boxes to find.
Our first box was a bit tricky to find and at first we thought it was missing, but then . . . AHA! We found it. But there was a problem. Park employees were preparing for a 4th of July celebration and kept coming nearby. One thing about letterboxing is that you just can't go pulling boxes out of hidden places with people watching. That would look kind of suspicious. So we went to our next box, so this will be a little out of order.
Number 2 was found by Hannah and she excitedly pulled out the contents and began stamping away.
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| #2 Friendly and Helpful |
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| Hannah stamping our "clip book" |
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| Putting her stamps away after stamping the logbook |
We place the box back in it's spot. Now the coast is clear to go back to number 1. So we return and quickly remove the box before someone sees us.
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| Nimble fingers |
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| #1 Honest and Fair (upside down) |
After replacing that one, ( By the way that's very important to remember. You want the next person to be able to find it like you did.) we move on to box number 3.
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| Hannah looking at logbook #3 |
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| #3 Considerate and Caring |
We are starting to really feel the heat of this July 1st day, but we only have two more stamps to find. We move on down the Greenway Trail and find number 4 and 5. We saw some walkers, runners, and bikers go by. I wonder if they ever saw anyone else stop on the edge of the trail to do rubber stamping.
Yeah, it's a nice break from your walk.
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| stamping along the trail |
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| Josiah looking exhausted |
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| Hannah looking exhausted |
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| Josiah looking for something |
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| Josiah being a bit crazy |
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| #4 Courageous and Strong, #5 Responsible For What I Do and Say |
A word of warning. To find the hidden boxes, you do have to leave the paved trail sometimes. Look out for poison ivy and other various dangers. I only encountered the one I mention and I hope I don't break out from my brief brush with the itch of death.
I'll be washing with Octogon soap for the next few days.
4 comments:
How fun!!
How does letterboxing differ from Geocaching? I've always wanted to do Geocaching with the boys but don't have a GPS... letterboxing doesn't need one, though, does it?
How fun! We found one at WP Jones park years ago and it was neat, you have inspired us to try again.
Erin, You are right. Letterboxing does not need a GPS. You just follow written instructions and landmarks. Also with Geocaching, which my kids would love to do, you find something in the box and your can trade something you have for what's in the box. With letterboxing you just leave a stamped picture and write a message if you wish.
Oh and you find a stamp that you can imprint onto your own paper, too, and return to the box for the next person who finds it.
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