. . . And Now We Head Home

We had an extremely long day yesterday dealing with getting the car serviced. So we didn’t set an alarm this morning. We still were up at 7:00am. We got our things ready and I did a little research on the internet for a couple of things and then we set out for the day.

There were clues for a letterbox in downtown Borger so we decided to try and find that one but it ended up being a bust. We couldn’t find the box so we headed out to Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. We got to the lake and drove around and got some pictures. We also stopped and sat at a picnic area and enjoyed the view. Then we drove into Fritch and stopped at the Lake Meredith office and got my cancellation stamps and the ranger there gave me a magnet for Lake Meredith. I also picked up the Junior Ranger booklet. Then we left the office and made to drive to Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument. When we arrived we checked with the ranger and we were too late for the morning tour and way too early for the afternoon tour. So we will have to go back another time for the tours. I got my cancellation stamps, we watched their short film, talked to a ranger who was chipping flint into arrowheads, and I worked on my Junior Ranger booklet. During this time we also talked with the rangers (3 of them) who were all very nice and knowledgeable. When I had completed the booklet I turned it in and got my Junior Ranger badges (2 – one for Lake Meredith and one for Alibates Flint Quarries). Then it was time for us to leave and head for home.

On the way home we decided to look for a few letterboxes along the way. In Channing we stopped at the cemetery and found The Rolling Courthouse by jb kokopelli. Once I had stamped in and put the box back in place we were ready to continue our drive and get closer to home. Our next stop was in Nara Visa. Here we stopped at a historical marker and found Rapport by Wronghat. This was a quick and easy find and we had stamped in and replaced the box in no time and were back on the road. A little further down US54 we stopped in Logan at the cemetery to find a box planted just last week – Logan by Quiet Place. Found this on quickly and stamped in while sitting in the car. As we get closer to home it seems to be getting hotter. I replaced the box and then we continued on. We soon arrived in Tucumcari and made our way to Damon Kvols Park. Here we found another recently planted box – Parks and Rec’s by 66gypsies. I found the box quickly and we sat at a picnic table to stamp in. Just as we sat down a bunch of kids came out from the pool. And soon we were surrounded – we even had about five kids asked what we were doing. I didn’t explain letterboxing to them but I told them it was a treasure hunt and I found a rubber stamp that I could take home (hoping that they would not keep interest and try looking for something). But when I finished stamping in I couldn’t hide the box because they were still there. So I took it with me to the next box. For this next box we went to the Route 66 Musuem, followed the clues and found 66 by Wronghat. I sat in the car to stamp in and then replaced the box – this place was easier – there was no one around. So we drove back to the first park and the kids were all gone (they were back at the pool I figured since there was all kinds of noise coming from that direction) and I was able to put the first box back in place. Two more boxes to go. We made our way to Tucumcari Memorial Park (not Gardens). One we had to look for “Babyland” and the other for “The Lord’s Prayer”. Big cemetery, lots of markers – took us over 45 minutes to find the two boxes. We almost gave up trying to find these. It was the biggest waste of time trying to locate two landmarks out of everything in the cemetery. But we eventually found them. I have to say by the time I found the boxes I was deflated. All the excitement of looking for a box was gone, I was frustrated, I don’t get the purpose of writing clues to have someone drive around trying to find something in such a big area – almost like a needle in a haystack. So I quickly stamped in to the two boxes and put them back in place and we got the hell out of there. I guess we are ready to be home. We have been on this trip for 13 days now and this runaround in the cemetery just wasn’t fun. But it is done and we were on our way.

From Tucumcari we had nothing to do except drive home. The drive was uneventful and seemed to take forever. But it was a pleasure driving up to the house. All three of our dogs ran out to greet us. I love that they love us unconditionally and I love seeing how happy they are when they see us it just warms my heart. It is good to be home and I am thinking it will take us a couple of day to get back to our normal routine. We had a great trip and I loved every minute of it and we saw some amazing things and visited some great places. Stay tuned for some stats regarding our trip.