The Adventure Ends

Astro D and I left Phoenix yesterday morning and headed for Santa Fe. We had a list of boxes that we wanted to look for along the way. After a quick breakfast we drove north to Pioneer, Arizona (A 19th century village) to look for Azroadie's Pioneer letterbox.The box was a quick drive-by and soon we were back on the road. Our next stop was another of Azroadie's boxes - Agua Fria. After a short walk and a little searching we found the box. We stamped in and rehid the box and headed for the third Azroadie box of the morning. We arrived at the Red Tank Draw area and took our short walk for the box. The views were terrific! After enjoying the views we found the box and stamped in. So far it had been a great morning and we were enjoying ourselves. The weather was nice, but was starting to get hot.

We were headed for Flagstaff at this point to look for artTrekker's Native Design boxes. I had found Box #1 last November but wasn't able to get Box #2 (later I found out it was missing). So Astro D searched and found Box #1 and once she was done stamping in we went to look for Box #2. The area where the box was hidden was pretty busy. There were two men sitting on a bench facing the area we needed to look for the box and and on the next bench over were two people having lunch and not too far from them was a group of people just watching the trains go by. We waited a few minutes before looking for the box, but no one was moving, so we casually started searching. We thought we were in the right spot but we weren't able to find the box. So we started searching all around and even went to a different area just in case we were at the wrong place. Finally we gave up and returned to the car. I took out my laptop and opened the clue on the internet just to see if maybe we had printed out the clue wrong. We had all the right info and I noticed that someone had found the box on June 28, 2007. So we decided to go and give it one more try. This time we weren't so worried - we really got to searching. We found a bunch of old socks but no box, we found empty liquor bottles but no box, we found the newspaper from two days before but no box, we found empty coke cans but no box, we found candy bar wrappers but no box - do you get the point. I really hope we just had trouble finding the box because I would hate it if this box was missing for a second time.

Now that we were sufficiently bummed we decided to fill the car with gas and get a bite to eat. Once all that was done we entered I-40 and headed east. We stopped in Winona and found our fourth Azroadie box of the day - Don't Forget Winona 66. Astro D had clues to a box in Winslow and I had never been there - so we decided that would be out next stop. We arrived at Renaissance Park and found the Winslow Train Park letterbox. We stamped in, took some pictures and then went to do some sightseeing. First, we stood on the corner in Winslow, AZ and took pictures and then bought some postcards in a little shop. We also wanted to visit La Posada Hotel. We walked around the hotel and sat in the gardens and just relaxed. Unfortunately that didn't last too long - we needed to get back on the road so we wouldn't get back too late.

One last Azroadie box - Navajo 66 and another box in Gallup, NM for Astro D and our letterboxing adventure came to an end. We decided to drive to Albuquerque and have a little dinner before driving the last little bit to Santa Fe. We arrived just a little after 9:00pm, I thought I would have the energy to unpack, log my finds and write a little blog, but after a quick shower I was exhausted. I climbed in bed and fell asleep almost immediately. So today was spent getting all those things done. Now I am pretty much caught up except for organizing my pictures. Once I have done that I will get a slide show posted.

It was a great letterboxing adventure and I really enjoyed my trip with Astro D. The event we attended was so much fun and we met some nice letterboxers. I am looking forward to the next adventure.