A Day in Rusk

Today started out a little slow. The hotel didn't have breakfast and coffee until 7:00am so I stayed in the room and did some things on the internet. I finally met Astro D and Bell Motel for breakfast and then we had to be at the mechanics around 8:00am so Bell Motel could deal with her car. There seemed to be a little problem getting information about the problem with the car and with where she might be able to get the car fixed. Finally it was determined that getting the car to Tyler (where Bell Motel's brother lives) would probably be the best thing. So after a few calls by Bell Motel and Astro D it was arranged so that Bell Motel's brother would get a trailer and come pick up the car and bring it up to Tyler.

So with that out of the way we were able to get out and find some letterboxes. We found the James Brothers out on Loop 343 and then stopped to get Bonner Bank which we realized was right next to the hotel. After a pit stop at the hotel we decided to head out to Jim Hogg Historic Site. We made our way to the Short Trail and found October Holiday Series: The Haunted Trail Box 2 and Native Born, Texas Governor Series. With these stamps Bell Motel reached her 500th find. We got back to the parking area and then got our clues arranged and started out on the Mountain Home Trail. The first box we looked for we couldn't find and then the next couple of boxes involved a sign post which we finally found on the ground in pieces. At this point there were two boxes to look for. We each took a clue and found Hogg and November Holiday Series: Veteran's Day. A little ways up the trail we again came to a spot where there were two boxes. These were literally just a few steps from each other. We stamped in to November Holiday Series: Take a Hike and Scout Series: Oh, To Be A Tiger. Now it was my turn to reach a milestone - this box turned out to be my 1200th find. We then continued along the trail stopping to find two more November Holiday Series boxes. We then looked for one of the Scout Series but didn't find it but then later realized we were at the wrong curve in the trail but further along we found a different Scout Series box. Around the time we were finding this box Bell Motel received a call that her brother was at the mechanics getting her car. So we left Jim Hogg and made our way back to town so that Bell Motel could deal with her car (it sounds like the car is a goner). So her brother left for Tyler with the car and we decided we needed some lunch.

After a quick and delicious bite at All Star Barbeque we headed out for more letterboxing. Our first stop was Footbridge Park where we quickly found our second October Holiday Series box. After walking along the bridge we continued to our next spot - Butler Park. We had clues for three boxes here. Astro D opted to sit at the bottom and wait for us since her knee can't take walking up and down all the stairs that were here. So Bell Motel and I climbed the stairs and looked for the boxes. We had a little difficulty understanding the clues and we ended up only finding one box but it was all okay when we saw the stamp in that box. Shenandoah Shadow has the most wonderfully carved stamp. So after stamping in and rehiding the box we drove to Rusk State Park which is no longer a state park and I think is called Texas State Railrad Park or something to that effect. We parked and made our way to the Nature Trail. We had a nice walk along the trail and found all the boxes we were looking for except one - we even found a box we weren't looking for but unfortunately only the logbook was there - the stamp was gone. And we don't think it was in the right spot since it was so close to where another stamp was. They were literally hidden on opposite sides of the same tree. As we were leaving we made a quick stop at the entrance to the park and found Railway to Heaven and took some pictures of the tracks going up to the sky.

It was beginning to get late in the day but we wanted to try for a few more boxes. We tried to find three boxes at an historic marker off Hwy 69 but ended up only finding the bottom of one box and two baggies. There were quite a few downed trees and one of the landmarks for one of the boxes was a large double trunked tree or two trees growing close together and it had been uprooted. So we left that area and headed a little further south and found Murder of a Dentist. We then returned to town and went to Cedar Hill Cemetery where we found two more boxes. The sun was now getting lower but we wanted to try two more boxes before calling it a day. We drove to TX768. We found The Haunted Cemetery of RSH and The Butterfly almost in complete dark. These stamps were at the site of the Rusk State Hospital. We stamped in and rehid both boxes and closed the book on another letterboxing day.

We ended up having dinner at the TJ Rusk Cafe which turned out to be a great spot and a nice way to end the day. After we finished eating we returned to the hotel to get ready for the big event tomorrow.