Indianapolis Letterboxing Trip

Thomas is attending a conference for work for three weeks - I took a long weekend to visit him.
April 19 - 23, 2007

Indianapolis Photos!

I made it back to Santa Fe from Indianapolis. I had a great trip! And it was good to see Thomas. I went through all my photos and picked the ones I really liked and arranged them into a slide show. In order to view the slide show you have to click on the picture. I hope you enjoy!

Letterboxing Outside of Indianapolis

Today Thomas and I got to spend the entire day together. He didn't have any commitments for his leadership training today. So we headed north and did some letterboxing and hiking in Anderson, Westfield, Noblesville and Carmel. We had a grea time! We visited Mounds State Park, Anderson Memorial Gardens, Pleasant Walk Cemetery, Carmel Cemetery, Carmel Clay Public Library, the World's Smallest Children's Art Gallery (according to the Guiness Book of World Records), Potter's Bridge and Cool Creek Park. We found 13 boxes and 1 hitchhiker. More importantly we explored an area of the country that we had never seen.
All in all it was a perfect day. Nothing really excited happened but we enjoyed relaxing, finding nice boxes and just spending time together and being outside. The weather was perfect.
Well, I head home tomorrow and it is back to work. Thomas will not get back to Santa Fe until Saturday. Here is to another unforgettable trip!

Exploring a Little More of Indy

This morning started early - I had to be out of the Downtown area by 7:00am since they started closing streets at that time. They kept them closed until about noon. Why? The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Race for the Cure. I heard they were expecting thousands of people to converge on Downtown.

My first stop was Riverside Park. I started from there and walked along the Greenway and found my first box. From here I headed to my next stop - I can't tell you the place or the boxes - the boxes are mysteries and you have to solve them to find them. All I can say is I stayed there about an hour and a half just enjoying the peacefulness of the area.My next stop was the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I didn't actually go into the museum but I had a great time exploring all the outdoor art and gardens. I found a box and then spent about an hour just walking around. After leaving the museum I stopped at a library and found The Hat Without the Cat hiding under a shelf. I loved "sneaking" around the library trying to grab the box without getting caught. And I was the first finder, there was a nice little certificate waiting for me - Thanks! FlyGirl409. Once leaving the library I went for my second walk along the Greenway to find Quack is Back. Nice walk with lots of ducks and geese. My last stop of the day was the Indianapolis At Center. This is a great place! There were actually four boxes planted here but two are gone per the planter. I did find the other two. One hidden inside on a book shelf and the other behind a mosaic off of a walking trail.

After the last two days of long hours and lots of walking and hiking I decided to make this an early day. I returned to the hotel with a Starbucks Iced Mocha and did a little reading. I read for about an hour and then started logging my finds for the day. I also wanted to get this blog written before Thomas got back from his day of class. Not sure what we are doing tonight but I think we will head Downtown and find something.

Southwest Indy Letterboxing

What a day! I spent the day in the Southwest part of Indianapolis. I visited parks and cemeteries and a Starbucks - to meet an local Indy letterboxer (JBBK2006) and her children and do an exchange. I had a great day - it started out kind of chilly and then warmed up nicely - making it a perfect day to be out hunting letterboxes.

I visited quite a few cemeteries looking for stamps that had meaningful symbols relating to cemeteries. And I visited three parks to find a variety of letterboxes, a couple that were carved by a 7 year old. You can never start to early to become a great letterboxer.

The one complaint I have about the day was trying to drive and navigate in a city I had never visited. Fortunately, I was in a confined area today and it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

After a full day of letterboxing I arrived at the Starbucks and met JBBK2006 and her two children. Really nice family - we talked about Indy boxes, about events and just things in general. We exchanged signature stamps and personal travelers. She also returned my box that I had sent for the Hoosier Heart Gathering they had in March. Well it was getting to be dinner time and I was to meet Thomas at the hotel - so off I went.

Thomas and I headed out to Downtown. We went to the World War Memorial - what a beautiful area. Huge buildings, obelisk in a fountain, another fountain with children dancing around it (you may have seen it - it is the April??? picture in your AQ calendar), columns with golden eagle atop, bronze urns, marble - quite the attraction! After walking around Downtown for about an hour we found a quiet little restaurant and had a relaxing dinner and then it was back to the hotel to rest.

Tomorrow promises to be another busy day. Thomas has class all day and I will head out to see the northern part of the city and to do some letterboxing. I have to be up and out of the hotel early. Tomorrow is the Race for the Cure and they will close streets around 7:00am in the area where we are staying. So I have to leave early to get to a place where I won't be locked in. I will post again tomorrow night. Sorry there are no pictures - I don't have the cable to download from the camera it will have to wait until I arrive home.

Getting There is Half the Fun

Another early day - my flight was at 6:00am and I had an hour to drive to the airport, so needless to say it was still dark as I began my trip. All is all the flight to Indianapolis was uneventful. Things went smoothly and quickly on both legs of the trip and I arrived on time. I took a taxi to the hotel and was able to see Thomas for about 15 minutes before he had to get back to class.
Once he returned to class I headed out for a walk and to find some letterboxes. The hotel we are staying in is close to Downtown and to White River State Park. I headed to the park first. Clues in hand I began my search. I found my first Indiana letterbox at 2:45pm under a very cloudy sky. For a little while I thought my first day of letterboxing in Indianapolis was going to get rained out. But after about 45 minutes the skies cleared and the sun was out. After finding 7 letterboxes in and around the park (there was also one I couldn't find, I am meeting with the placer tomorrow for coffee, I'll see if it is missing or not) I headed back to the hotel to meet Thomas for dinner.

We found a great little salad place (When Eddie Met Salad) and had a good dinner and talked for about an hour - then Thomas had to return to class.

I decided to head Downtown to look for a few more letterboxes. I walked and walked and walked - I saw the State Capitol, the War Memorial Mall, Massachusetts Ave., the USS Indianapolis Memorial and the Indiana State Library. I found three more boxes and I realized after I returned to the hotel that I was near one that I had forgotten to bring the clues for. There is always tomorrow.

I am very tired - so it is off to get some sleep. Tomorrow I will be letterboxing in the southern part of the city and I have plans to meet a local letterboxer for an exchange tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned!