Letterboxing - Our First Experiences!

See? TOLD you I'd do it on Friday.

I was at WalMart this morning (shudder) buying school supplies for the kids (I live for the 20 cent glue special, the 10 cent notebooks special, etc....)---and while I was there, picked up a smallish spiral notebook to log any stamps we might find whilst letterboxing.

Later this afternoon, armed with a printout of directions to several boxes hidden around the Puyallup area, the notebook, my multi-colored inkpad from Stampin' Up!, and a stamp of a cat playing the piano--- we set out.

First on the list: Bubble Tea! I've never had it before. So downtown we went, purchased a Bubble Tea (it's a smoothie with tapioca in it. Go figure.), and retrieved our first letterbox! oooh, am I telling too much?? There's rules about being discreet. ANYWAY. Inside a ziploc bag was their small notebook, a hand carved stamp (that seems to be The Thing That Letterboxers DO To Be Cool; make their OWN STAMPS), and a pen. I stamped Pianokat in their log, along with today's date and who we were-- and recorded their hand-carved stamp in my log. Mission accomplished!

Off to Bradley Lake Park for letterboxes 2 and 3. We found them without much difficulty. The problem was trying to be discreet so people wouldn't know what we were doing. One of the "boxes" used was a small, cylindrical container with a screw-on cap about the size of a container of face cream. Again, hand-carved stamps ruled the day.

So the kids, at the time, were all, "so NOW what? is this IT??" My hopes for a fun, family hobby began to evaporate. Oh well.

But later on this evening, when I discovered that there was one at our own, walking-distance Clarks Creek Park, they wanted to go RIGHT THEN. So we headed out, trying to find the box titled "Everything the Light Touches." I know we found the right log, but we didn't find the box. I gingerly put my hand inside the hollow log (eeeewwwww, what's IN THERE?? I was scared of something with 8 legs, or something slimy...) finally rummaging around, carefully, up to my shoulder in rotting hollow log. Never found it. It was dusk by this time, and I was wanting a flashlight. So we gave it up, for the time being.... and we'll try it again later when there's more light. And A. there to stick his arm in there instead of me. He has more courage!!

so the tally is: 3 finds, 1 not found. Very cool! Note to self: must carve own stamp to get "cool points!" :)