This morning we were up for 6:00am and in the car for 6:45am. The drive was pretty uneventful except for some fog in a few places. There were times we couldn't see more than 50 feet in front of us. It made for a slow start. By the time we stopped for a little breakfast in Amarillo the fog had lifted and the rest of the trip was nothing but sunshine. We made a quick stop at the new Welcome Center as you cross into New Mexico from Texas. It is much nicer than what they had before. Anyway, we are happy to be home after a great trip. My dad seems happy and the wedding was wonderful and I was glad to spend some time with my siblings. All in all it was a very good trip. Here is a slide show from the visit - enjoy!
Driving down I10 from Baton Rouge to Lafayette you mostly drive over marsh, swamp land and water. The Atchafalaya Basin is spectacular - it is a beautiful natural habitat that is the essence of South Louisiana. It is one of my favorite places. Just before we got to Lafayette we were planning on exiting an finding letterboxes at the Atchafalaya Welcome Center. But due to the past cou///ple of hurricanes (mainly Gustav) the Center was closed. So we drove on past the exit and decided to head a little further west than Lafayette and ended up in Rayne, LA (the Frog Capital of the World). This small town is great - full of frog murals and frog statues. We found two letterboxes here - one at a small park and one at Depot Square thanks to gramatrick and jb kokopelli. Both stamps were great and I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Rayne. From here we took back roads in order to get back to Lafayette - it also enabled us to stop in Kaplan to pick up a box hidden by Wild Dreams. Another nice stamp added to my logbook. 
While driving through this area we noticed lots of trees down and lots of debris everywhere. There were also large piles of stuff in front of every house we passed. Sofas, chairs, tables, sheetrock, paneling, carpet - you get the picture. We later found out that this area got a huge storm surge from Gustav and the entire area flooded. The people in this area finally got power in the last week but are still cleaning up the damage. It is one thing to hear about this on the news but seeing it first hand really makes you feel lucky.
From here we headed to Acadian Village to check on the series of boxes I have planted there. These boxes have been through a lot. One of the boxes went missing twice, but then I found the original box in a completely different spot, Another one went missing and turned up in the director's office. It was suppose to be rehidden in the same spot but we couldn't find it and the director wasn't around. So anyway I rehid the Bienvenue box in a new location and rewrote the clues (I still need to update them), I need to call the director to find out about my other box and then either need her to write out the clues or make a new box and have my sister and her kids go out and hide it - this will have to wait until I arrive home. One of the boxes is in the exact same place I originally hid it and is doing well. There was a surprise box at Acadian Village - the staff started a quest - they planted a box on the grounds and had clues that sent you around to different buildings and you gathered information that eventually led you to a letterbox. It was a store bought stamp but I thought it was a nice effort and we will see what happens with that program. After getting all the boxes taken care of and taking some pictures we headed to another location. One of my first boxes that I planted was Mighty Oak and it was one of my most popular. It has gone missing twice and I had retired it. 
But I really wanted to try one more time - so I carved a new stamp (same image) and made a new box. I think this time it will last longer. I found a better location to hide it and I think the experience will be nice. We then took a walk through the St. John Cemetery and took some pictures of some of the statues. On our way back to the car we stopped and looked at the Oak. I was surprised to find that things aound the Oak Tree have changed dramtaically. For safety reasons (both for people and the tree) the Oak has been fenced off. You can walk around it but you can't walk under it anymore. They also took out the rectory that was behind the tree and added more parking. So viewing the Oak is actually better. With the box hidden and some pictures taken we drove one block up the road to find a letterbox. 
We had a little trouble at first because we were looking for an empty lot - there is now a building there and I wrote to the placer that the box may need to be moved since technically it could be trespassing. We found the box and stamped in and replaced it in the exact spot we found it. I'm glad no one caught us. Our next stop was the Masonic Cemetery to find LSS Wildflower - Louisiana Iris by jb kokopelli. It was an easy find in a beautiful cemetery. We enjoyed walking around and seeing all the tombstones. It was getting late and my brother and I needed to be at the church for the rehearsal for my dad's wedding. We dropped my sister off at her house and Thomas, Brent and I headed to the church. It was a simple rehearsal that only lasted 30 minutes. My dad opted not to have a rehearsal dinner so we just went back to Donna's house and she cooked. We just talked and talked and talked until almost midnight.
I come from a large family (my dad is one of eight and I am the oldest of 23 grandchildren) so I spent quite a bit of time visiting with aunts and uncles and cousins. There were also a few people from my grandmother's side of the family that I hadn't seen in well over 20 years. The reception turned out to be quite a bit of fun and I now have three step-brothers. They all seemed very nice and I feel that my Dad and Janel will be very happy together.
But when we got to Dallas we made a stop at White Rock Lake. My Lady of the Lake box had been muggled a while back - the logbook and box were gone but the stamp was found by another letterboxer and she had mailed it to me. Since it had been exposed to the elements it wasn't in that great of shape. So I had carved a new stamp (same image) and made a new box. We rehid the box in the same general area but in a slightly different spot. 
I hope it will be much safer now. My friend Eddie lives near the lake so we stopped by to visit for a little bit before heading to Fort Worth. In Fort Worth we met our friend Donna at the Kimbell Museum to see an exhibit of Impressionist. It took us about an hour and a half to go through the exhibit and it was worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed it. We then spent a little time outside on the lawn of the museum just talking. We then went for a little dinner and now we are back on the road. We are hoping to get at least to Wichita Falls, TX for the night and then finish the trip tomorrow. I will post a slide show of pictures from this trip once I arrive home.
On the way we had to pass Lee Circle and there was a box hidden there. So we found a parking spot and then crossed to the circle and quickly found the box. It was a nice carving of a Mardi Gras mask. Once the box was back in its hiding spot we made our way to Café du Monde (for me, a visit to New Orleans is not complete without eating here). We had the standard beignets and café au lait and once we were sufficiently covered in powdered sugar we began our search for boxes. Our search took us on a walk behind Café du Monde. We walked from Jackson Square down to Ursuline Street and we found Persistent Rumor - Carcharhinus leucus, Beignets at Café du Monde and Café au Lait at Café du Monde. From here we headed back to Jackson Square to find one of jackbear's Big Easy Blues boxes. This one turned out to be a fantastic carve (so I was disappointed the the other two in the series were missing). The next stop was Lafayette Cemetery to do some maintenance on my Six Feet Above box.
This box has seen some trouble. It disappeared from its original hiding spot and then was found by accident by a letterboxer in a completely different area of the cemetery and two of the latches to hold it closed were broken off. Thomas and I found another spot for the box and made sure it was covered well. I jotted down the new clues and will update those on the web. Feeling good about the box we took our time walking around the cemetery and looking at all the old gravestones. After about 30 minutes we left the cemetery and drove to Audubon Park. I had been asked to rehide some boxes that went missing in that park. The boxes had been sent to me before we left New Mexico. It was easy for me to rehide them since I had found them a little over a year ago and new the locations. Once those two boxes were in place we decided to grab some lunch and then head toward Baton Rouge.
We walked around, took some pictures and visited the Capitol. Then we walked over to Huey P. Long to begin our search for boxes. Following the clues for the first box took us to a row of boxwood hedges with an azalea bush behind them. Fifteen minutes of searching left us empty handed. We moved on to the other three boxes in the series and found all three in less than 20 minutes - so this lead us to believe that the first one was missing. Now we are at the Arsenal Building and we quickly find two more boxes, stamp in and rehide. Then we walked about 100 yards to find our last box of the day - another quick and easy find. As we made our way back to the car we searched again for that first box we couldn't find and still came up empty handed. Oh well, you can't say we give up easy.
I had clues for a box in a cemetery there and we thought we would look for it before the mini meet. We didn't find the box but we thoroughly enjoyed the cemetery, a beautiful old cemetery behind a church. I took lots of pictures and we talked to the grounds keeper. Throughout the entire area we saw downed trees and branches everywhere. We saw houses that had trees that had fallen on them and the damage was still visible. We learned how Hurricane Gustav moved into the area and sat for about seven hours with continuous wind and rain during that time. A few people are still without electricity in the area and the sides of the roads and yards and parks are still littered with downed trees and branches. A very BIG mess! We finally left the cemetery and headed to a place where I wanted to plant a box. Unfortunately it was closed - a victim of Gustav - the park still has downed power lines and it is unsafe to be open to the puble. I didn't have time to think about where to plant my box since we needed to meet the letterboxers in Jackson. We met them at Centenary State Historic Site. Introductions out of the way, we talked about letterboxing and then I headed out to find the one box hidden on the site. I found the landmarks and had to move tree limbs (about ten of them) to be able to check the base of the tree for the box - I found it, stamped in, rehid it and headed back to the picnic area for exchanges. We exchanged signature stamps and personal travelers, had a little picnic lunch and just talked. 
It was nice to meet Blackberry Patch and her son Big B and Mama Cache and her children (Cottontail, Ampersand Son, BaBadge and Chippy). After three hours I decided I wanted to head out to the Mary Ann Brown Nature Preserve and do some letterboxing before heading back to Baton Rouge. So we said our goodbyes and headed off. The nature preserve was very quiet. We were the only car and we didn't see anyone else the entire time we were out there boxing. There were seven boxes total hidden in the park and we came out of there with five. We missed two because we were looking for them coming from the opposite direction. It was confusing and I think we were both tired. After a half-hearted attempt to figure out where these boxes were we decided to give up. But before we left I found a spot to hide my box - I am hoping this is temporary and that either Mama Cache or Blackberry Patch will be kind enough to move it to the place I originally had in mind once it is open again. The Mary Ann Brown Preserve is incredible - we had a terrific time walking the trails. But the preserve didn't escape the wrath of Gustav - large parts of the trail were hard to manuever on and I think that is why we had some trouble finding those last two boxes. But we really enjoyed our day - visiting with Blackberry Patch and Mama Cache was wonderful and we thoroughly enjoyed our outing at the preserve.
After perusing the markers we found the box and stamped in, and after rehiding it we moved to another part of the cemetery to find our second box. Once the ritual of stamping in and rehiding that box was completed we walked the cemetery and read gravestones and took pictures. Almost an hour later we made our way back to downtown Canton. We walked around the downtown area, took pictures and relaxed. Thomas saw a building with a radio station - WMGO 1370 AM. So when we returned to the car we tuned into the station. This station falls under the Gospel genre and our first introduction to the station was a preacher telling a story of a car accident in which one young man was hurt. A woman goes to a house and the lady at the house tells her she can use the phone to call a doctor. The woman says she wants to use the closet and call her doctor. It turns out she goes in the closet and prays. It then goes to the woman singing (at this point I couldn't understand the woman - so I am not sure what she was singing about) and I could just picture the congregation at this church standing up with hands waving in the air and lots of hallelujahs being said. It was very captivating and Thomas and I listen to this during our 12 mile drive along Hwy 51 from Canton to Madison. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to this local station while we traveled the area.
There are the typical books on the shelf but there are also books stacked up in front of the shelves as well. I am sure there is a method to the madness but to me it seemed like a big bunch of hodge-podge. But if you are ever in Jackson, MS it is worth the stop. Leaving the bookstore we noticed a deli on the first floor of the building so we decided to have some lunch - I had a really good shrimp po-boy and talk about good (I can tell we are getting closer to Louisiana).
I stamped in quickly because we wanted to do one more thing and then try to head out of Jackson before rush hour. That one thing was to visit the Capitol. Another beautiful building (my favorite this trip is still Arkansas) that Thomas and I enjoyed visiting. We spent about 45 minutes in the Capitol and talked to three or four people and learned some things about their legislature and the history of the building. So with my geekness taken care of we left Jackson and headed to Louisiana.
We searched the area anyway and came up empty handed. We drove around the entire building looking for the missing landmark thinking we may have misunderstood the clues - we didn't find it so we left and drove to Burns Park. There were clues to a few letterboxes in the park but we wanted to do some sightseeing as well so we gave ourselves until noon in the park and then we had to go do other things. Our first stop was the Scouting Trails trail head. We followed clues and found three boxes - TAG Trip, Have a Nice Day and Go Razorbacks. We really enjoyed the trails and the park is beautiful but we were having trouble with the mosquitoes. We both thought that some OFF! would be nice, but we didn't have any. We headed back to the car and drove to the next location - the covered bridge. Absolutely wonderful - it just fits in with the park perfectly. We got our things and the clues and headed out. The first box we attempted left us confused. We started following the clues but ended up losing our bearings and nothing made sense - so we abandoned those and went in search of our second box which had simple and straight forward clues - we didn't find that one either. Oh well, what's next. After reading the next clue we headed down the trail and noticed the mosquitoes again - but we continued. We found that box and went to sit on some rocks to stamp in. 
As soon as we stopped moving we were covered in mosquitoes. Thomas would swat at them to keep them off both of us as I stamped into the box. We were moving at record pace here since we didn't want to remain still for too long. After rehiding the Tree Sprite box we headed to the Rock Gnome box. This place wasn't too bad with mosquitoes but it was that pleasant either. So we stamped in quickly and headed back to the parking area. Sitting in the car I read the clues for another box and realized it was just a short walk down a trail near where we were parked. So we braved the little blood suckers and went on the search - and found it. As soon as I sat down to stamp in we were swarmed. We decided to take the box back to the car and stamp in with losing blood. I finished my stamping and I hoofed it back down the trail and rehid it. I got back in the car and we decided we had enough - either we need some spray or something or we should just move on to something else. So at 11:00am we left Burns Park and headed to downtown.
This building is one of the most impressive capitols I have been in. I loved it. I took pictures and we walked around for over an hour. Once we left the Capitol we headed to a restaurant to have some lunch and while eating we decided it was time to head to Memphis. The drive is a little over two hours and I wanted to stop for two letterboxes at rest areas along the way. The drive was pleasant, not too much traffic and beautiful scenery. After only 30 or so miles of driving we stopped at the first rest area and easily found the box - Material Mover by Grumpy Grinch. The box has been in place for a little over three months but I was the first finder. A nice, very small carving of a truck. After rehiding the box we got back on the interstate and headed for the next rest area. Just before Forrest City we arrived at the rest area but we were unable to find the box - I did get some good pictues of a tree covered in mushrooms and another one with a huge growth on the side of it (I will post those pictures in a slide show at the end of the trip).
I had read about this on Roadside America and was happy to find clues to a box here. The clues were in Spanish in honor of the man that created the Shrine - Dionicio Rodriquez. I translated them and we started our search. Things were going well and we arrived at the place we thought was the hiding spot. Once there things fell apart. The clues didn't actually say where to look - they just kind of lead you to the area. We searched for about 30 minutes but came up empty handed. But the place was wonderful. We walked around, took pictures and relaxed by a fountain - the serenity of the place was overwhelming - I kind of wanted to just stay and hang out. But we needed to move on - we tried for another box and again came up empty handed. We decided to call it a day and wanted to get a little ways out of Memphis headed south on I55 to avoid traffic in the morning (we are headed to Jackson, MS and then New Orleans). So as we merge onto I55 we see the sign for Graceland - we took the detour and drove to Elvis' place. It was late in the day and it was closed but we parked and peeked over the wall and through the gate. Neither of us are big fans - don't get me wrong, I like some of his music but he was a little before our time, so we weren't too disappointed that it was closed. We stopped for a quick dinner and then headed out. Thomas decided to drive until he felt tired and then we would stop. After an hour or so we saw a billboard for a Hampton Inn (our favorite hotel) in Grenada, MS. So that is where we are at the present time. Today was a wonderful day - relaxing and entertaining. We drove another 237 miles today but it was well worth it - we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.
We found a hotel and checked in. A shower and straight to bed (that's another reason I didn't post yesterday - too tired).
We found the Chisholm Trail Park but unfortunately we didn't find the letterbox. We headed into OKC and turned off on a little gravel road to look for another box. Another empty handed trip. Then another little park and empty handed again. Are you getting the picture. Thomas decided to pull into a gas station and fill up the car and I read through the rest of the OKC clues. Almost all of the boxes in Oklahoma City were last found aound a year ago. There were only a few found in May, June or July of this year. None more recent than that. So we tried to be optimistic and went in search of another box - again empty handed. At this point we decided to abandon letterboxing and do some sightseeing. Oh and I forgot, can you guess what was happening in the car once we crossed over into OKLAHOMA. Imagine if you will two men tired from a late night of driving and getting little sleep the night before and frustrated from not finding letterboxes singing show tunes - how can you not sing 'OKLAHOMA'! 
At this point time was slipping away from us and I wanted to get one more box in Alma before heading to Little Rock. Alma, AR is the 'Spinach Capital of the World' or something like that. So NacTrailCat placed a box in the Alma Cemetery to honor our spinach loving hero - that's right -Popeye 
(one of my all time favorite cartoon characters). Alma must also love him because his image was on a lot of buildings and there is even a fountain with an eight foot statue of Popeye in downtown. We had a great time there and NacTrailCat did a great job with the stamp. So from here on out it was just continuous driving until we reached Little Rock and checked into the hotel. So we drove 370 miles yesterday and 503 miles today - we are both tired. Today was a hot and humid day and that really drained us and adding in all the miles we have covered - we are beat. Hopefully we can be fresh and rested for the next leg of our journey.
