Our Trip Begins With a Long Day

Astro D and I left Santa Fe this morning at 7:00am. The beginning of the trip was uneventful as we made our way from Santa Fe to Clines Corners to Santa Rosa and Fort Sumner. After a few hours we arrived in Clovis, NM. We had clues for two boxes and were eager to start letterboxing. So we drove to Hillcrest Park and attempted to find When Two Roses Came Together. The clues were very weird and confusing. We were not to go to the zoo but to the sunken garden. We found the garden but it was locked and a sign said that you needed reservations to enter. We stood in front of the locked gate and contemplated the clues. None of them made any sense. If the box is in the garden then it isn't accessible unless you make reservations and you don't know you need reservations until you are standing in front of the garden - really a waste of time. But if the box isn't in the garden then we were completely baffled. So we left empty handed and feeling discouraged about not finding the box. But we were not to be defeated. We made out way to Joe's Boot Shop to find a letterbox placed by Mama Cache. The box is inside the store and you asked for it at the counter. Alas, we found our first box of the day and we were the first finders as well. Yeah! for us. This was an excellent carve but we had a suggestion for Mama Cache - since it is an indoor box instead of using a lock & lock it would have enhanced our experience if the logbook and stamp had been placed in a child's boot. Imagine the person handing you a tiny little cowboy boot filled with a stamp and logbook - that would have been incredible. We really enjoyed our stop here but we needed to move on. It was about lunchtime so we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then we filled the car with gas and continued on our trip.

A few weeks ago we read on the Texas Talk List about Silver Eagle and Baby Bear's trip to south Texas to plant boxes in barren counties. Astro D and I talked and decided that we could help their cause. The Texas panhandle and parts of east Texas have plenty of counties without letterboxes and since we were passing through eight of those empty counties we planned to place boxes as we made our way to T.A.L.E. 6. So we stopped in Farwell, TX and I placed Martin Parmer near the Parmer County Courthouse (one county down). Just a few miles down US 84 we arrived in Muleshoe, TX. I placed Muleshoe at the Mule Memorial and now Bailey County has a letterbox. And another few miles down US 84 we stopped in Anton and placed AT&SF at the Anton Community Museum (so chalk a box up for Hockley County). I had planned these boxes without the benefit of knowing whether or not I could actually find a place to hide them. At the Parmer County Courthouse we had problems because there weren't any bushes or hiding spots. It was pretty bare and we didn't know what to do. Eventually we noticed a spot across the street and although it isn't an ideal spot - it worked. In Muleshoe it was easier since there were plenty of trees to hide the box in and it was a pretty quick stop. In Anton we had difficulty finding the Museum and when we finally stopped and asked directions we realized we had already driven by it and totally missed it (and with its bright yellow paint and "Anton Community Museum" in black letters at the top - it really isn't hard to miss) so imagine our embarrassment when we realized how unobservant we were. But we found it and that was the important thing.

Our next destination was Lubbock. We had clues to four letterboxes. We easily found Lubbock Letterboxing 101 and we felt like the day was getting better but that feeling didn't last long. Our next stop was a very open park with very few trees. It was also a very busy place. The box was supposedly hidden on a street corner where the sign for the park was located. The sign was surround by these low bushes. The clue stated to look at the end of the sign facing southeast in the bushes. Well we tried but the bushes had these horrible stickers and it really hurt trying to move the bushes to see if the box was under them. Also the bushes seemed to have been trampled on and were dying back at this spot - we didn't find the box. So a little disappointed we decided to try for the next two boxes. These boxes were at two different wineries. The first one we went to was closed and we couldn't get in to look for the box so we drove to the next one. We could get in to this one but when we looked for the box we couldn't find it. So we left Lubbock with only one find. The next box on our list was in (or near) Post, TX. We were suppose to travel west on Hwy 36 to a picnic area on the west side of Post. We never found Hwy 36, but we did stop at a picnic area on US 84 and it actually fit the clue description. There was an historical marker and four trees near a barbed wire fence but we never found a letterbox. So we left there not sure if we were in the right place or not.

It was now late in the day and the sun was getting lower and we still had one box to plant, one box to look for and get something to eat for dinner and hopefully get to the hotel in Abilene at a decent hour. I had my last box to plant today and that was planned for Snyder, TX. I had researched where I wanted to plant White Buffalo and had found three possible areas that had white buffalo statues. The first place looked promising - it was a little north of town and I thought it probably didn't have high traffic but there really wasn't a good hiding spot. So we headed into Snyder and looked for the Scurry County Museum. By this time it was dark and we never found it. So our last option was The Scurry County Courthouse. I hoped that there would be a nice spot to hide the box and luckily we found a spot and placed White Buffalo in the dark. Now I was happy that I had gotten all the boxes placed and Scurry County now has a letterbox.

We left Snyder and made our way to Sweetwater. We made a quick stop to fine I CAN letterbox. This was a drive-by near a fast food restaurant and wasn't my most favorite find. So I stamped in quickly and then we went to find a place for dinner. We had trouble finding an open restaurant and eventually stopped at a Pizza Hut. When we walked in we saw they had a buffet and a salad bar. That would work great - we could grab a slice of pizza or two and a salad and then head to Abilene. There was quite a bit of pizza on the buffet but we couldn't have the buffet because it closed at 8:30 and it was now 8:40 (we were ten minutes too late) - it astounded me that they weren't willing to let us eat from the buffet with all the pizza that was left - I imagine it just got thrown out - it was kind of surreal to me that we had to order a pizza from the menu just because we were ten minutes too late and they hadn't even picked up the pizza from the buffet. So anyway, we ordered, ate and then hit the road again.

We finally arrived at our hotel in Abilene and it was now 11:00pm. What a long day - 15 hours of driving, letterboxing and sightseeing. Surprisingly, I am not that tired and I was able to log in all my plants and finds and write this blog. Our trip continues tomorrow when we make our way to Waco.