From the category archives:

Out and About

Night O’ Letterboxing

September 16, 2006

Tonight I ditched studying so I could hunt out a few more local letterboxes and Kevin happily joined me. He says he doesn’t need (or wouldn’t personally enjoy) the stamping part, but that he enjoys the hunt & puzzle aspects and likes that I like the stamping part. Plus, he enjoys taking photos of wherever we are while I’m busy cross-stamping the log books.

I felt even more sleuth-like than normal hunting for these because it was so dark and I had to keep an ultra-low profile, so I didn’t seem suspicious searching the bushes with my flashlight. :lol: I’ve decided if ever questioned, my excuse will be that I am doing a scavenger hunt. I really do try to grab the box as quickly as possible and move away from the hiding spot so as to not draw too much attention.

Anyway, my first find was the "Marina Pacifica Plumbing Problem" (or "The Legend of Nineteen Hundred and Fifty-Eight") Letterbox. How’s that for a mouthful? It was located just beneath the Marina Pacifica Mall and right where it was supposed to be. Even though it was 9:00 PM, the foot traffic was fairly busy and I had to wait several minutes until no one was around when I retrieved the letterbox. I love reading through the letterbox log book first, to see who was last there and look at where all the other letterboxers came from. There was someone from Iowa and several other people from neighboring cities (Glendale, etc.).

Marina Pacifica Plumbing Problem Letterbox

I got several strange looks with all the stuff spread out, but no one questioned me. I forgot to bring my "flower stamp pad", so only had my black rubber stamp inking pen (what I use to partially color in my personal stamp) to color the letterbox stamp with. Some letterboxes don’t contain their own stamp pad (like this one), so it’s always good to bring what I call a "flower stamp pad" and decide which color looks best for that stamp – in this case I wish I had blue. Oh well, the stamp is very well carved, so looks great with just the plain black. :-)

Marina Pacifica Plumbing Problem

Again, I had to wait for another lull in the foot traffic to replace it.

After replacing it, we took a short detour to Peet’s Coffee & Tea, to relax and sip our lattes :yum:, before heading towards Naples for the "Naples Canal Conundrum" Letterbox. This one was a little tougher because we were surrounded by a residential neighborhood and I definitely didn’t want to seem suspicious, walking around with my flashlight. We followed the clues and I spotted it, right where it should be. Surprisingly, again, this was a fairly busy area. Cars were driving by, parking/leaving and several people were out walking their dogs or rollerblading (!). As soon as it was clear, I grabbed the letterbox and spread out everything on a nearby bench.

Naples Canal Conundrum

While I was looking through the letterbox log book, a couple came by on rollerblades (it was 10:00 PM by this time) and sorta hung around for a little bit. They kept looking over, but didn’t really say anything. I just did my thing and cross-stamped the logbooks, packed everything up and sat on the bench to enjoy the nearby fountain until they left.

Naples Canal Conundrum

After they were far from view I tucked the letterbox back in its hiding place and we headed home. Both of these were placed by Chowder the dog, by the way, and considering he has no opposable thumbs, he’s awfully good at carving stamps. ;-)

Tomorrow, Kev and I plan to go hunting for two more local letterboxes before we both have to hunker down and study (and I have to prepare for the debut show of Digital Tapas!). This Letterboxing thing is just so fun – it’s shocking it’s such a simple concept. Just a warning that I’ll probably bore you with a post about those, too. :-P

Photos: K. Sigmund

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My First Letterbox Find

September 6, 2006

Most of you (I’d bet about 99%) are scratching your head and wondering what the heck a "letterbox" is and why would I need to find it. So, before I bask in my find, let me explain what, exactly, Letterboxing is. On second thought, seeing as I’ll botch up explaining it (I already have once), I’ll just copy what the Letterboxing North America website has to say about it.

"Letterboxing is an intriguing mix of treasure hunting, art, navigation, and exploring interesting, scenic, and sometimes remote places. It takes the ancient custom of placing a rock on a cairn upon reaching the summit of a mountain to an artform. It started when a gentleman simply left his calling card in a bottle by a remote pool on the moors of Dartmoor, in England.

Here’s the basic idea: Someone hides a waterproof box somewhere (in a beautiful, interesting, or remote location) containing at least a logbook and a carved rubber stamp, and perhaps other goodies. The hider then usually writes directions to the box (called “clues” or “the map”), which can be straightforward, cryptic, or any degree in between. Often the clues involve map coordinates or compass bearings from landmarks, but they don’t have to. Selecting a location and writing the clues is one aspect of the art.

Once the clues are written, hunters in possession of the clues attempt to find the box. In addition to the clue and any maps or tools needed to solve it, the hunter should carry at least a pencil, his personal rubber stamp, an inkpad, and his personal logbook. When the hunter successfully deciphers the clue and finds the box, he stamps the logbook in the box with his personal stamp, and stamps his personal logbook with the box’s stamp. The box’s logbook keeps a record of all its visitors, and the hunters keep a record of all the boxes they have found, in their personal logbooks."

Sounds like a perfect geek hobby, right? I thought so, too. But, seeing as I was in a rush, I decided to go the lazy route and have a custom stamp made for me, instead of carving it myself. So, last week sometime, I took a custom image I made in Adobe Photoshop and uploaded it to Simon Stamp, a store that makes personalized stamps. A few days later, I received my personalized stamp in the mail. I’d show you what it looks like, but then I’d have to kill you. :-P

On Labor Day, with clues in hand, I convinced Kevin to come with me for my first letterbox find. So, after making a pit-stop at Michael’s for ink pads, Kev and I went to find the "Lost Luggage" box. After following the clues left by the hider (or placer) on Letterboxing North America, I found the box right where it should be!

"Lost Luggage" Letterbox

After I stamped the box’s logbook and my logbook, I replaced it back where I found it, where it will wait until the next person who follows the clues can find it. Even though the letterbox is located in the city we live in, neither of us had been to this location before, so we enjoyed walking around for a bit before heading off to dinner.

So, now that I have my first find, I’m eager to go looking for more. They’re all over Southern California and several are located in other cities Kevin and I visit every year (like San Luis Obispo and Carmel-by-the-Sea). Letterboxing is a pretty much perfect hobby for me. All the things that it involves, I love – especially the nature and hiking aspects of it. Plus, it’s one of the cheapest hobbies I know of!

Several years back I was intrigued with the hobby of Geocaching. It’s very similar to Letterboxing, but involves buying a GPS unit, among other supplies. Even though I am a gear-head and would love to buy all sorts of hiking/camping gear, it’s not really a hobby I would want to spend that much money on. With Letterboxing, I get all the fun things that intrigued me about Geocaching, without all the financial burden. :-)

Is it obvious I’m completely hooked?

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