East Texas Here We Come

This morning after a quick breakfast Astro D and I headed out to find boxes all over Waco while Bell Motel concentrated her efforts on the Baylor campus. We had plans to meet Travelin' T's for lunch but didn't have a time or place yet - we would call him later. So we set out on our quests. Astro D and I decided to start with the letterbox that was out the furthest. So we headed to Mountainview Park and found The Giving Tree - we loved this box - and had a great time stamping in. After rehiding the box and returning to the car we both were complaining that it was a little chilly and hoped that the sun would come out soon. But it wasn't that cold so we continued on. The next stop was at a cemetery in Bosqueville just outside of Waco. We had some difficulty following the clues and finding landmarks but eventually made sense of things and found the tree we needed. Unfortunately there wasn't any box. So after doing a thorough search we headed to the Hike and Bike Trail to find Wild and Crazy Guy - he was pretty easy to find and I enjoyed the stamp. Astro D contacted Travelin' T's to see when and where we were getting together and after the arrangements were made we then continued on our systematic search of boxes working our way back to downtown Waco and made our next stop at the Art Center of Waco. It took us a while just to find a parking spot - the lot was packed and we were one of several cars looking for a spot. Eventually I just parked on the edge of the parking lot along the road. We went in search of the box and after checking behind several loose stones we found it, stamped in and then returned it to the hiding spot. Now we headed to Cameron Park. We were going to visit Miss Nellie and the Zoo. We made our way to Miss Nellie's Pretty Place and found her Hidden Picnic and then drove to Lawson's Point and found the Zoo boxes (#1 & #2). We had a nice time in Cameron Park. We continued moving closer to downtown and next stopped on the Baylor Campus to find A Stranger in This Town. There are four boxes hidden at the Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village near the Mayborn Museum. We enjoyed the village and the four boxes hidden here. We still had a little time before lunch so we headed to the Texas Ranger Museum to find Tiny Texas Ranger. We made our way to David Adickes 70 foot tall Texas Ranger and quickly found the box. We thought it was a great hide and a nice little stamp.

Now it was time to meet Travelin' T's for lunch. We met at Cafe Cappucino and we arrived at the same time as Sha. We got a table and visited for a little while and waited for Bell Motel to join us. The lunch was really good and it was nice to sit and relax and visit with friends. Sha had a surprise for us and had hidden a box at the restaurant. This box - Letterbox Latte - turned out to be Astro D's 6ooth find - Woohoo! So we had a nice lunch, a great visit and a wonderful letterbox - who could ask for more. Sha had to return to work and we wanted to find a couple more boxes before heading east. Our destination for tonight was Rusk. So one more stop at Holy Cross Cemetery to find Tempus Fugit and Will the Circle Be Unbroken. The clues to both of these were very clever and took you on a mini tour of the cemetery - I really enjoyed it. It was time now to drive east, I really wanted to make it to Palestine and do some hiking and letterboxing at Davey Dogwood Park. So Astro D and Bell Motel took off in one car and I left in my car. We ended up taking different routes - they headed down Hwy 84 to Hwy 79 and I took Hwy 164 to Hwy 79 - but we both ended up at the same place - the Woodhouse School (or should I saw the remains of the school). We read the plaque and the found Message in a Bottle . . . In a Shark. Now I enjoyed the story behind this stamp but I am a little skeptical since I know you Texans like your tall tales. But if this story is true then that is incredible but if it isn't then shame on you for pulling my leg. No matter what I did love the stamp(s). We were now ready to go to Davey Dogwood Park. We decided to try to find the Dreamin' series of boxes. After parking we made our way to the trail and began our search. We found 4 of 5 Dreamin' to Revist boxes, 4 of 5 Dreamin' Around the World boxes and 5 of 5 Dreamin' Around the USA boxes. By the time we rehid the last box it was getting pretty dark and by the time we reached the cars it was dark. We enjoyed our time in the park and were amazed and saddened with all the downed trees.

We were all hungry and decided to stop in Palestine for dinner before heading to Rusk. We had Mexican food which was really good and then headed out. About 10 miles outside of Rusk Bell Motel had some car trouble (the trouble actually started a little earlier in the day but now it was worse). Her car overheated and we all thought it best to leave it and have it towed. So we got her things into my car and headed for the hotel. Once checked in she arranged to have the car towed and she will deal with it in the morning. Hopefully everything will be okay.

Now that I am in my room and showered I realize that I am very tired so I hope this blog sounds okay and makes sense. All in all it was a really good day.