Memorial Park and Driving Around Houston

Getting an early start was important – I had a long drive from Tomball to Houston and wanted to avoid as much of Rush Hour as possible. Well, it didn’t work – It still took me well over an hour to get to the Arboretum. And . . . the morning was overcast and a little chilly. I was hoping for a little sunshine, please! I started by getting a map and talking to someone about the Arboretum – just to get a feel for the trails. I then gathered information to solve one of the clues and also looked at the map and planned my attack. A Box of LEGOS became the first victim and the placer got the last laugh – very cute Mother of Five – I liked the little trick. The letterboxing started out well – only thing though – Houston has had a lot of rain in the last week and everything was wet and muddy. Made it hard to stamp in. I had to be careful not to get the logbooks messed up. I very quickly found Alien Logic, Alien Logic Bonus Box, No Problem Houston HH Hostel and Gibberish. By this time my pants, shirt and backpack are wet and muddy – you can’t take me anywhere in public.

I spent the rest of the morning exploring all the trails in the Arboretum and when I left I also had the stamps for Koaly-ty Time Together, Memorial Park Box and Trivial Box Pursuit – Sports & Leisure. There was also sunshine!

I then drove over to the picnic areas and read clues so I could decide where to head next. Cambodia won! Well, the Green Trail. I read all the clues for this trail and tried to make a little sense of where on the trail I might find them. I was ready. I walked the entire trail and felt good about the exercise I received. I was also rewarded with four boxes. The rest I just missed the landmarks and didn’t want to go back. By this time it was 2:30 pm and I had enough of muddy trails. I decided to venture out onto the streets of Houston.

Driving in Houston wasn’t too bad. Now trying to navigate for boxes and drive in Houston is a nightmare. I can’t tell you how many parking lots I pulled into to check my maps. I visited one park, three cemeteries, a bat bridge, a printing museum, a pizza place (oh, and what good pizza there was) and a radio station. Nine boxes later it was 6:30 pm. I was tired, my feet were wet and my clothes & backpack were filthy – it was time to call it a day – I headed back to the hotel for a hot shower and some sleep.

This morning I decided I didn’t want to drive all the way back to Houston so I opted to brave the Terrors of Telge. This was an event held last year in Cypress, TX in Telge Park. Most of the boxes are still in place. I also decided to take my time so I didn’t leave as early. The first box I looked for I couldn’t find, not sure what I did wrong?!?! I then went to a different trail and found a Creature from the Black Lagoon. After stamping in I headed down the trail when all of a sudden there wasn’t a trail, there was a lake. I was ready to find another place to go. But there were boxes back there! I circumvented the flooded trail by cutting through the woods. I am glad I did – I found some nice stamps. My favorite today had to be The Haunted House by Mother of Five – what a clever hide and a great stamp. Thanks so much! After finishing that trail I headed back to the playground area – I had enough of the water, my feet were wet. I noticed there were some boxes in another area so I decided to walk over and check it out. This trail was drier and I quickly found three boxes. I was satisfied with my day and I decided I wanted to get back to the hotel early so I could rest for the big day tomorrow. I’m having a great time in Houston but I have to tell you I miss the dry, cool Santa Fe days.