more boxes missing

I just received an email from Buckeye5 that, thanks to Hurricane Ike, our two Galveston boxes "The Great Storm" and "Just Off the Strand" are gone, as well as our "Jolly Roger" contribution to Hoppers' "Long Lost Treasure of the Pirate Jean LaFitte." I'm not surprised, but still sad about. I figured the one right on the seawall was doomed, but had hoped that the magnet box farther away from the water might still have a chance. I'm really bummed about Hopper's "Long Lost Treasure." That was such a great treasure trove of really nice stamps contributed by a lot of folks. That was the first time we'd encountered a jackpot of community effort or a lock n' lock box that big or one that was camo painted! I think you could have put a loaf of bread in it! I don't know if other boxers do this, but I think I might scan the images of the stamps of our boxes that have gone missing and add them to our website.

visiting letterboxers

I got a phone call from Bell Motel saying that she and fellow Austinite letterboxers (Can Can and AnnaBee) were coming to Waco as part of their Saturday boxathon.  The advanced warning was wonderful because I'd been meaning to check on in some of our boxes and this gave me a good excuse! 

I Checked several on the Baylor that were doing fine, though somebody thought it would be a good idea to take one of our boxes (Zuni Bear) and deposit it inside a nearby hitchhiker hostel of ours (Just Passing Through). That one I pulled and will replant in a new location. Behold the Power of B's, Baylor History Walking Tour, and Ducky Duckles were exactly where and how they should have been. Sadly, Sailor Bear has disappeared as has Quiet Angel. Trying to decide if we should recreate those or let them be. Any advice from you veteran's who've lost boxes is greatly appreciated.  Another one that I was really sad to discover had gone missing was Pilgrimage, a photo clue box in a great cemetery. I've marked these as "retired" rather than deleting them so we can remember what we've planted and what the clues were.  I was relieved to find that three other cemetery boxes of ours were still there: The Draped Urn, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, and Tempus Fugit.  Two boxes were clearly not where they were supposed to be. Will the Circle was laying out on the ground in plain sight (I think it fell victim to groundskeeper weed wacking...though still perfectly intact). Tiny Texas Ranger was still there and doing ok, though it was also out in the open. Uggh! is it THAT hard to put stuff back where you found it?  

I was pleased to learn that the Austin group found a number of boxes in Mother Neff Park. I was afraid many if not all of these had gone missing in the massive flooding experienced by the park this last year.

I need to get back in the letterboxing swing of things. 4Armstrongs and us need to get cracking on this big series we starting working on last summer for Cameron Park, a series for which several of you guest carvers have already submitted stamps!  

hurricane ike

in light of the hurricane that hit the texas coast early this morning, the letterboxes are probably the least important concern in galveston (and the houston area), but we've still wondered how they've faired.

our five year old son was watching some of the footage from galveston and we saw very close to where our two recently planted boxes were. one area was under several feet of water and one was right next to a seawall pier building that was demolished! both were magnetic boxes, so i don't think they'd float away, but i wouldn't bet money they stayed attached during all that craziness. when we noted that the images we were seeing were right by where we planted the boxes, our five year old said, "darnit! i guess we're going to have to plant some more...but that's ok." :-)

hoping all the boxers are safe and dry (and if any boxes are also, that's ok too!)

travelin ts
waco

warm fuzzies

i really love that you can leave comments now on AQ. just had a couple really nice notes from a recent finder that made me smile. also, very very excited about a recent plant in galveston that we thought had already gone missing, but as it turned out, it's been found! yay!

NPR and letterboxing

audio of Linda Wertheimer's story on letterboxing on Weekend Edition Saturday, April 10, 2004

Third Time's a Charm?

Yesterday we looked for "Harry Potter #2"(that's listed on LBNA). it's really close to our house. We attempted it last year, but the area had been significantly flooded so we were unable to get to it. a few month's ago, Carter and I looked for it again after seeing that a couple people had found it since the flood, but we had no luck. Yesterday, we took Ann with us (since she's the best looker in the family!), but we still couldn't find it, so we're calling it quits on this one.

waco treasure chest

Dear Texas Letterboxers and lurking friends far and wide:

4Armstrongs and Travelin' Ts are excited to announce a letterbox series planned for Waco's Cameron Park . Texas' largest municipal park (and one of the largest in the United States) sprawls over 400 acres and includes nearly 20 miles of trails for hiking and biking. The series will include six separate boxes throughout various parts of the park. Together the stamps of the six boxes will form a seventh clue, leading to the final box, containing a treasure trove of stamps. We would like to invite anyone interested in participating in this adventure to contribute stamps for the treasure chest. Please contact us at: travelintsoftexas@gmail.com if you would be interested in being a part of this exciting addition to the central Texas letterboxing experience.

We're also considering a waco event to launch the series if that helps entice your participation! :-)

happy trails,

4Armstrongs and Travelin' Ts
travelintsoftexas@gmail.com