I sat in the car to stamp in and while I was doing that the people returned to the truck and left. When I got out of the car to replace the box I saw two men talking by truck that wasn't pulling anything. They were facing the opposite direction from me so I took the opportunity to replace the box. Then I grabbed my camera and went to take a few pictures. By the time I returned to the car to head back to I40 there were six more vehicles in the pullout. I am glad I got there when I did or I may not of gotten Wronghat's great stamp. Once back on I40 I made my way to Grants and more specifically the NW New Mexico Visitors Center. There were about eight cars in the parking area but none near the box I was going to find. So I parked right next to the spot, looked around and saw no one and then easily found the box. Again I sat in the car to stamp in. This box was Alien Friends from Exeter by MO UR4Me. The stamp is great - I really loved it. After stamping in and rehiding the box I decided since I was here I better make a pit stop just in case. So after using the restroom I was ready to continue on my journey.The next scheduled stop was Red Rock Park in Gallup. I had clues for two series of boxes. One series is called Route 66: Gallup NM and has four boxes - this is by BirchMoon. The other series is called Red Rock Park Series and has three boxes - this is by CoVicars. So I pulled into the park and pulled off on the side of the road to consult the clues and a map to see where I needed to be. The first box from the Red Rock Park Series was marked as unavailable and I had read a comment about the box being found in pieces so I skipped that one but the rest of the boxes were marked active so I made my way to that area of the park.
I looked for the other two box in the Red Rock Park Series and came up empty handed. So I started thinking I wasn't reading the clues right - so I read them again and kept ending up in the same spot and no box - not sure what I was doing wrong or if the boxes are missing. Anyway I decided to look for the Route 66: NM series boxes. These are on a trail and all are in close proximity to each other. So I parked and headed to the trailhead. I have to say that I was skeptical about finding the boxes because another boxer had marked attempts on all four boxes just recently. But I thought I would try anyway. I did not find any of the boxes, but the views from here were great. I returned to my car and decided to get on Box Radar Plus and check to see if the clues had changed since I had printed them out - but there was no difference from what I had printed and the clues on AQ. So I started thinking why would all these boxes be missing. I could understand if one or two from each series was gone but all of them seems a little weird. My theories - 1) someone found one of the boxes and got on AQ and got the clues and took all of them (far fetched?!?); 2) the park administration learned of them and decided they didn't want them there and decided to remove them (has happened at other parks); or 3) I just was having a bad clue day. I hope the placers check into the boxes and I hope the mystery is solved - even if the boxes are really there and I just missed them. At this point I was feeling a little down thinking that all these boxes were gone and because I missed out on all of them. But I had to continue on. Next I made my way to S. Chino Loop and the trail head for the High Desert Trail System. Here I had a much easier time with box finding. I found A New Mexican on the Road by RNR. The hiding spot provided a suitable place to sit and stamp in so I took advantage of it and the best thing was that I saw absolutely no one. There was one other car in the lot but I guess they were out hiking or biking because I didn't see any people. After stamp in (a beautiful stamp by the way) and putting the box back in its hiding spot I returned to the car to continue on. The area I was leaving was one end of the trail system and now I was going to the opposite end (or close to the opposite end) of the trail system. I parked in the lot for the High Desert Trail System's West Trail Head. The clue states for you to look at the top of the ridge for the mountain lion that is to be your destination. It seems pretty far away but in reality it only took me about 12 minutes to get there. 
The clues also state that at some point you can go off trail and make a beeline for the lion. When I started my climb I was about to attempt to just climb straight up but it was a little steep and had lots of loose dirt and rock. So I decided to stay on the trail which makes a gradual ascent. The clues state that if you follow the trail it is a much longer hike - it didn't seem to take me too long and I felt safer on the trail - I was out there by myself and again I didn't see another person so I didn't want to take the chance of slipping and breaking something and the being stuck out there. For me the trail worked out wonderfully. I got to the statue, read the clue and in no time had Pinnacle Puma by CoVicars in my hand. I found a flat-ish rock to sit on and stamp in and then I replaced the box. With that done, I decided to look around - the views from up there were amazing. So I took some pictures and sat on a rock to enjoy the views - but unfortunately I couldn't stay too long. The winds up there were ferocious and they were beginning to get to me, so I made my descent and returned to the car. Once back on I40 and heading west I made my last letterboxing stop of the day at Exit 8 to find Baqash's Baqash was in NM I-40 Exit 8. 
I took the exit and followed the clues to the first road on the right. At this point I felt like the clues were a bit cryptic but it was only six words out of the entire clue that seemed that way. Everything else was straight forward. Here are the words . . . 'find the wages of sin proclaimed'. Driving down the road I only saw two signs - one was a 35mph sign and the other was Cattle Crossing. I had driven maybe a hundred yard and decided to turn around. As I got near the beginning of the road the six words made sense - spray painted on a rock was this . . . "The Wages of Sin is Death". So I parked here and everything else made sense. In no time I had the box and was stamping in. I then replaced the box and headed for Arizona.It never fails, I always forget that Arizona doesn't follow daylight savings time. So about five minutes after crossing the border the clock on my phone changed and I had miraculously gained an hour. Tonight I am staying in Chambers at a Days Inn pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I took the exit and crossed over the interstate and made my way to the motel. My first impression was 'I must be crazy, I can't believe I made a reservation to stay here.' and then I saw a sign on the door that said the door was locked and if you were checking in to go ahead and ring the doorbell. So I freaked a little and thought that this must be some kind of high crime area. Anyway, I rang the bell and a young woman opened the door and I was able to check in. By the time I had my room key I was feeling better. The woman was extremely nice and I figured she was in the office alone so it seemed appropriate to lock the door. So I went to my room and was happy to see it was very clean and looked comfortable. And I noticed that even though we face the interstate there isn't any noise. Now all this is happening around 3:30pm. Pretty early to stop letterboxing but unfortunately there aren't any boxes near here. So I turned on the TV and relaxed for an hour or so. At around 5:15pm I walked over the to the attached restaurant (called Chieftain Restaurant). There was a waitress, a cook and me - felt a little weird. I ordered a BLT with fries and a root beer and while waiting I played on my iPad. The meal turned out to be good - crispy bacon, nice tomatoes and lettuce with a touch of mayo on toasted white bread and the fries were really good. After eating I returned to the room, took a shower and logged in my finds for the day and now that this is done I think it is time for some sleep. Tomorrow I make my way to Flagstaff and I have lots of things planned. It should be a fun and interesting day.
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