Melted Cakes, Letterboxers, and Hitchhikers

Last week when I went after the six new "Making Baby Happy" letterboxes. I was onto them by noon, but even then two other boxers had been there ahead of me. As I was returning to the start point I saw a young women headed my way reading directions from a sheet of printer paper. As she came along side I saw a LBNA patch on her backpack. I informed her that she would be number four to finish the series - only the last box contained a logbook, so you don't know until you found the last box. We chatted a little about letterboxing then we went on our separate ways. This is the first time that I have knowingly come across another letterboxer while on the trail and she related the same experience. It was nice to have run into you "Buckeye Bulldog". It is common practice for letterboxers to exchange "Personal Tarveler Stamps" when they meet. I guess I better come up with one soon.

I also stopped off to get a nearby stamp this week as I drove past it's home while out running errands. I was lucky to locate a Hitchhiker waiting there also. Coincidentally this hitchhiker "Something Positive: Murr!" is the second one in a row that I have found which had been originated by Celtic Quinn.

Donna just took her birthday Ice cream cake out of the freezer to have a piece. It had melted badly and collapsed to half of it's original height when left in the fridge overnight. It looks a bit ugly but she still ate a piece saying that with the ice crystals that had formed it was more like homemade ice cream. She likes the coffee (Mocha) flavor so I think she will finish the whole thing. Oh well, If she likes it ....!

Ellisa had gotten her a fire pit for Mother's Day but it arrived very late. The kids set it up while they were here and we sat around the fire Saturday Night cooking and eating somemores until everyone had there fill. We haven't done anything like that for a long time. She really seemed to enjoy it. See Ellisa's Blog for Pics and more on the weekend.

Family Birthday - Chinese Dinner and Ice cream cake.

Well we had a great family time this last weekend. Donna had a birthday recently and No. 2 son, Jason, has one in about a week. Those who could converged on our abode for the weekend to celebrate these events. Three of our kids, and our two grandchildren, along with Donna's sister and her hubby arrived for a Chinese carry out dinner on Saturday. My daughter and her two boys were here most of the weekend. We also did Bob Evan's for brunch on Sunday morning.

It was very pleasant to be able to spend time with family. We did the usual cake and presents. Donna can't exist without her coffee and she is into Dairy Queen ice cream cakes so I ordered a mocha one. When Damon put it away he stuck it into the fridge instead of the freezer. We didn't discover it until the next day so the remains are a bit of a blob.

I didn't get much else memorable done this week just routine stuff. Ohio State won again at football and the Browns had the week off. Baseball season is over for Cleveland and I have no favorites for the World Series.

I did get in a little letterboxing, just picking up some loose odds and ends, along with a new series of 6 with a mystery bonus box, that was just planted last week. By reviewing clues and then refining maps I discovered that there are two more boxes that are very close to the new six. Too little too late, more loose ends.

Slider, Baskets, Roadrunner and Fall Weddings

I'm catching flack for not posting so here is an update:

Yesterday was Donna's Birthday. This week she had a girls night out there they gave her some gifts including a "Slider" cap. I took her out for her favorite meal i.e., all you can eat shrimp at Red Lobster. She went to a Longaberger basket party hosted by one of her retired teaching colleagues who presented her with a gift, and she got together with her sister for lunch and a chat. Next Saturday the kids, and her sister are getting together here for a Birthday dinner. Finally after months of hounding her, she gave me a couple of gift "suggestions" last night... a bit late but whatever. So I have been running around today to arrange for her desires. I figure she will also want Indians game tickets again this year.

Speaking of the Indians, they finally came alive after most of the season was over and played the spoiler role very well winning most of there last few games. The Browns actually beat Cincinnati. Ohio State won but not by enough to change there standing very much. All in all a very good week for Ohio sports fans. Pro basketball starts soon but we don't really follow the Cavaliers.

I spent a good bit of several days out letterboxing. The first day I found two in Brunswick that I had been unable to get to before as I ran out of time. The second outing I went for three boxes, two of them were missing and the 3rd I didn't figure out.

Saturday, after a doctor's appointment Donna went to lunch with her sister, Meanwhile I provided communications support for the Akron Roadrunner Marathon. After that I drove home and discovered that a series of 8 new boxes, "Fall Wedding at the Falls", had just been posted in Olmsted Falls which is no more that five miles from my home. They are in a city park along the river. I had been in a few small portions of this park in the past and decided to give it a try. As it turned out the search required navigating some stairs and a little rock climbing, but the return trip was a much more gentle slope. I came home satisfied but very tired.

So it has been a good week for family, sports, letterboxing, and a bit of civic action.

Indians and Rainbows

Yesterday was the end of a pretty satisfying week. As a result of missing games while recovering from her knee surgery Donna had several unused Indians tickets to exchange in addition to her regular tickets for Monday and Wednesday nights. I went with her Monday, but I am hard pressed to sit through more than one game a week. She ended up going with various friends on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. The Indians won each and every game, why didn’t they do that early in the season? The Ohio State Buckeyes also won yesterday, but not convincingly enough to keep them from dropping another point in the rankings to number 14. Of course the Browns continued with their routine string of losses.

I have felt pretty well recently and with Donna out at games I took advantage of unoccupied time on Friday and Saturday to again do some more boxing. Friday I was able to recover 3 of 6 boxes from the “Rainbow” series in Brunswick, plus an additional unrelated (W.W.J.D.) one.

Then on Saturday a new series of 3 boxes in Sheffield Village was announced. Saturday afternoon while Donna went to the Indians game I went after those boxes. I had hopes of being the first finder, even though it was unlikely after others had the opportunity all day on Saturday. I wasn’t but they are very pretty boxes.

I am now making plans for recovering those remaining in the “Rainbow” series plus several others in Brunswick. Perhaps I can do it later this week.

In preparation for the coming winter I am also beginning to make plans for boxes to plant near home and at the beach. Making a good group of boxes requires developing a general theme, selecting the subject of individual boxes, writing the description and general clues, selecting an image to use, carving and assembling the stamp, making a log book, preparing the complete box, locating a specific place to leave it, actually planting the box, then finally preparing and publishing the specific clues for other letterboxers to locate it. I am almost looking forward to the winter.

I was also very pleased to be able to re-establish contact this week with my one and only truly close friend from Junior High and High School. It is going to be difficult to get together with them as he and his family live a long way from here and neither of us has much extra money.

I have volunteered for another Ham Radio public service event (A Marathon) in Akron next Saturday. I need to get ready for that and I have to be there at 5:30 Saturday Morning… how is that for dedication to a cause.

Hercules, Fairy Tales, and Politics

The question of the day is: What do Greek/Roman Gods, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and Politicians have in common besides the rather obvious allusion to fables?

My last job before retiring was with the TSA - Homeland Security. For a period lasting about 6 month this included the duty of traveling to Youngstown Regional Airport several times a week. This is a rather large field used by an Air National Guard unit which operates C-130 Hercules aircraft. The C-130 has been the mainstay of Military air transportation for many years. There is a small private presence on the East side of the Field where "Winner Aviation" flies some ancient turbo props on charter junkets several times a week. A few executive jets are also housed there.

On Sunday I received a message offering me VIP tickets to a McCain rally that would be held in the Winner Hanger on Tuesday. If you have read my "Gods Janitor" blog and my profile you know that I tend to hold very conservative views. Over the years I have frequently not been enthralled with Sen. McCain's position. I am not a fan of his and he was not my pick for the nomination. On the other hand I am also skeptical of Sen. Obama's "Changes". So I took them up on the invite, got my ticket, and drove out to listen to McCain & Palin. I was able to get a first row location at the right front corner of the platform. I think that they have may have won me over. I did get Sarah's autograph.

Now I did not want to pass up a chance to letterbox so I ran a search for some in that area and found that a C-130 stamp rests in a Vienna, OH (Pronounced with a long I "V-eye-enna") cemetery just a few miles from the rally site. It is about a 75 minute trip one way, so I left home about 10:30 worked the letterbox, then arrived at the rally site a little before 1 p.m.

On Monday I had also been able to make my search for those mystery boxes I talked about earlier. I was able to locate 2 of the main boxes and all three bonus boxes. These are a series titled "Fairy Tale Trail" and they are very pretty stamps.

Memories and Mysteries

Yesterday was 9/11+7. For some unknown reason it was a hard day for me. I experienced feelings similar to those that I experience on Memorial day. As far as I know, Unlike with my military service, I did not have anyone that I was close to lost that day. Never-the-less I was preoccupied with it all day.

I have also been thinking about our vacation at the beach. It is hard to believe that it was only two months ago. I want to find ways to make it even more meaningful to me next year. In addition to letterboxing plans, I want to do more family things. I recently found a web cam which is located on the Surf City Pier. Also This on U-tube.

I Think back many years to when our eldest son spent a day (without our knowledge) slogging through the mud flats on the sound side of one of the islands collecting crabs. At times he sunk in up to his crotch and he lost his shoes in the muck, we are lucky that he made it back alive. Needless to say we did have crabs for dinner that night. Thank you Lord for bringing him home safely.

A couple of days ago I went shopping for a few items on the other side of town, I decided that I would check for letterboxes in the area I would be traveling in. Finding one that seemed to be convenient I looked for it. As it turned out there was an public event very close by which made it difficult to get close. I was finally able to zoom in on it and discovered it to be an easy find. Way too easy. Some critter had drug it several feet from it's hiding place and had chewed a hole in the baggy around it. This is the second time in the last few weeks that I have found a hole chewed in the baggy. Maybe it is just something that occurs in the fall when they are gathering for the winter.

I have identified the location of at least 3 and possible 6 mystery letterboxes. I had intended to look for them this morning but it is raining pretty hard, I don't think today will be the day for them. I will have to keep them for another day. Perhaps I will work on making boxes and stamps the rest of the day.


Tonight Donna wants to go to another Indians Game. The weather will be lousy... Oh well we will see what happens .

Drowning a Hitchhiker

Saturday my daughter drove down from North of Detroit just to spend a day shopping and getting a massage with her mother... Those ladies LOVE to do both!

That left me with little to do except run a few errands - which I did. Then I went out to find 4 nearby letterboxes (The Cleveland's Pride series) which I had been saving for a day with lots of time and good, mild weather as they are scattered over several miles of trail. I parked, got out my trusty scooter, and was off. It was a pretty trail which distracted me so much that due to inattentiveness I had a bit of trouble finding the first box. What I discovered was a pouch made from camouflage duct tape with a flap to cover the top. The flap was open and the pouch was standing upright in it's appointed place. The result was an uncalibrated rain gauge.

Upon removing the contents I discovered that it was not closed because someone had placed a hitchhiker (Sweet Treats: Candy Hearts) in the bottom of the pouch which did not leave enough room for it to seal properly. To make it worse the baggy containing the hitchhikers log book was also not sealed well resulting a a very damp logbook. I stamped the Hitchhiker into the box (It had not been done when it was left). I then put it in my bag to take it home and render first aid. After doing my own stamping, I was off to the the next box. This set of four boxes had very nice stamps, good clues, and the trail (actually a bridle path) was pleasant.

I have been able to dry out the hitchhikers logbook. Some of the stamps bled a little but all are still legible. The pages will always have a distinct curl to them. Fortunately we had not had much rain and the logbook pages are made from card stock. They were pretty easy to separate so they could be dried without sticking together. When I reassembled the book I found that whoever placed it had also not stamped the box into the log... It's too late for me to correct that omission. I will send this rehabilitated Hitchhiker on it's way soon.

I don't understand why anyone would leave this cute little HH where there was not room for it and to also not stamp it in properly. I suppose that, as with any other human endeavor, we will always have some who are slothful, careless, and inconsiderate. Fortunately I was able to save it's life. Soon I will find it a proper new home.

It was a very nice day for me, in addition to visiting briefly with my little girl as she came and went, I was able to acquire 5 new stamps in four great boxes.

Changes to our routine

The downstairs bathroom remodeling is completed. Although I did not want to have it done at this time, It is certainly an improvement. It is nice to have two baths again so that we do not have a morning free for all.

This has been a week of changes to our routine. Donna is now back to full time teaching at a nearby elementary school. She is a L D teacher and thrives on working with the kids and watching them develop skills, but age is catching up with her body. She has arthritis, two bad knees, and failing vision. I think this will be her last year.

We enjoyed the Labor Day weekend but did nothing really worth talking about except an Indians game Monday night. This week the weather started out too hot for me to want to be outside. Donna is trying to use up the last of her Indians ticket opportunities for the year and exchanged tickets for Tuesday night also. I did not want to go again so she went with a friend from school. We also had tickets for a day game last Wednesday but couldn't use them.

Wednesday was a nice day so I did get out and found 3 letterboxes. Thursday I was a bit under the weather. Yesterday it was cool but rainy, I did manage to find two boxes without getting totally soaked.

So it was not a bad week and we are getting settled into a new routine.

Week by Week

It's hard for me to believe that nearly a week has gone by since I posted here last. After Ellisa left we took a day to R&R then Sunday we were off to central Ohio where Donna's sister Carol lives. Carol and husband Jim were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Carol and Jim are fortunate to have two loving children that planned a big celebration for them on their 25th anniversary and again this year. The kids planned, and payed for, virtually everything. Everyone they could think of was invited - family, old co-workers, old neighbors, new neighbors, those who they had attended church with over that 50 year period and people with whom they had otherwise been acquainted. EVERYONE was invited.

Donna, being the younger sister, had interacted with many of these same folks growing up and as a young adult. I had also come to know many of them. This was the first we had seen of a large number of these people for many, many years. We were able to renew friendships going back longer than I care to remember. We stayed in town Sunday night then got together again on Monday for more fellowship. It was really a great celebration. Donna and I probably enjoyed it as much at Carol and Jim did. Perhaps Donna and I will also survive long enough to have a 50th anniversary.

Tuesday Donna started back to work and I hid in the house as the weather was cold and unpleasant. I did get out letterboxing one day and found two boxes. One of these was a strange one which is referred to as a "Treasurer Trove". Inside of this box is a collection of stamps which people keep adding onto. There are 22 of these in the box at the present time. That took a long time to get everything stamped and accounted for.

Slow pace and reflection

Since Payton has been returned to his parents it seems quiet and slow around here.

We really haven't done that much this week. We went to an Indians game Monday night, we both got haircuts on Tuesday, I made a stab at letterboxing without any new successes. Donna is working at getting ready for the new school year.

This weekend I will be out on the road most of the time as a volunteer in support of, "Pedal to the Point", a fund raising bike ride event for MS. I have done this several times in the past but not recently. As one of several ham radio operators I will be somewhere along the route, supplying communications support, for most of the weekend. So I have been going over my check list (I'm a bit OCD) and testing equipment in preparation.

My Daughter Ellisa, Payton's mother, has been reflecting a lot recently as a "Milestone Event" has been approaching. Today is her birthday, I won't say which one. Happy Birthday Dear!. Likewise during the last week or two I have been preoccupied by my own approaching "Milestone Event". In a few weeks my High School Class will be having a "Fifty Year" reunion. Now I don't have any plans to attend, but it does give me pause to think. Where am I and where could I have been if I had lived my life differently. How could I have done better at accomplishing those things we were put here to do? I don't like many of the answers that I get.

Looking back I can see that I made several poor decisions in critical areas. I am amazed at how easy it is to rationalize choices as being good or OK when in our heart we know better. But the really scarry thing is that even with hindsight I don't know if I would do any better today. In fact I still struggle with many issues today that led to those choices. Have I learned anything from my errors? Will I do better next time. I can only reflect, hope, and pray that I will... at least most of the time!

Welcoming the Wee One

Often things in life do not work out quite as we had imagined. With four children we had expected that we would have many Grandchildren to share our later years with. As it has turned out we were already in our sixties when our daughter produced the first one. She now has another, but her three brothers (two of them much older) still haven't figured it out. To make things worse she lives a distance away (it is about a three hour drive) so we don't see her family often.

Each summer we have been trying to get Payton, her 5 year old son, down to visit with us for as long as she will permit. So last Saturday Donna drove to Toledo, where our Son-in-law's parents live, and picked up the wee one. She wants him back by Sunday.

If you visit this blog often you might remember the "March Hare Syndrome" back in May. We have been Runnning!! Zoo, library kids stuff, church activities, fishing, letterboxing, etc. This morning we will be off to the Cuyahoga County Fair. What fun, but I am getting worn out.

Keeping the Home Fires Burning

42 years ago Donna and I were married overseas in the small African country of Eritrea (Then a province of Ethopia) where we met. Our official/legal marriage was conducted by the Asmara city mayor on July 14th. Although it would have no legal status we wanted to have a church wedding and did so about two weeks later on the 30th of July. We normally celebrate the 14th as our Anniversary. This year we were on our way down to the beach for vacation on the 14th so celebrated by having a nice dinner.

I enjoy trying to keep romance in our relationship, and so this year I decided to do an additional something special on the church wedding date which we normally pretty much ignore. I told Her only to keep her calender open for Tuesday and Wednesday in order for us to enjoy a mystery mini-vacation. Donna enjoys being pampered so I booked us into a nearby Bed and Breakfast, "The Emerald Necklace Inn", which includes a Tea Room and a Day Spa.

Tuesday morning we packed a bag, and departed the house. I drove a roundabout route through "The Emerald Necklace" Cleveland Metro Park and arrived at our destination just before noon. After checking in I relaxed while she was treated to a manicure with wax treatment and a pedicure, Followed by a light lunch for just the two of us. After lunch we had some quite time which she spent on the patio deck overlooking the park. Then She was given a full body message which lasted over a hour. The service and food were both excellent.

On our first anniversary I was in Vietnam, so 40 years ago, our second anniversary was the first that we enjoyed together. We had Chateaubriand for dinner that night at "The Old Anglers Inn", alongside the C&O canal just outside of Washington, DC. In keeping with my romantic theme I scheduled Tuesdays dinner at one of the areas nicer restaurants "Swingos on the Lake" where we once again enjoyed Chateaubriand.

A Cleveland tradition is that the desert of choice for special occasions is "Cassada Cake" (The spelling varies). This cake, often used local for weddings, is an adaptation of what was original a Sicilian treat. Similar to a Boston cream pie, It is a white or yellow layer cake with filling consisting of a generous layer of sliced strawberry and a pastry cream custard between each layer. It is usually frosted with whipped cream and topped with large whole strawberrys. On our way to Swingos I stopped at a branch of "Corbo's", the bakery most acclaimed for their cassada cake, and picked up a cake which I had ordered.

It was not quite dark as we headed back to the Inn after dinner. Donna suggested that we stop on the way to look for a letterbox that I had told her about which was only slightly off of our most direct route. We did that and found "The Cats out of the Bag".

Tuesday morning as I was blogging on my other site and checking my email very early in the morning I was notified that a new letterbox "Buffalo Sighting" had been planted near our home. As soon as it was daylight I drove over and stamped into it. I was the first finder and found that in addition to a "First Finder Certificate" the planters (Trailnames :The owner "Front Range Hiker" and helpers "Mini-Mickey" and "DreamSearcher") had left what is know as an Easter egg. An Easter egg , is a prize or trinket secretly left for the first finder. That was really neat and I was able to acquire two new letterboxes in addition to all the other great things for the Day.

The reason I had arranged for Tuesday night instead of Wednesday is that we already had tickets for an Indians Game on Wednesday night. I had arranged for Breakfast at 9:30 to allow Donna to sleep in, so I puttered around Wednesday morning, then we got up, packed up, ate a great breakfast, and began our journey home. It was nice to have an opportunity to express to her that even though several years have passed she is still my bride.

The drive home was only about half an hour, so she suggested that I might want to look for more letterboxes. I was aware of two in the Emerald Necklace Metro Park on the route home. The first one appeared to require a longer walk than I could be comfortable with on that humid morning. The second one "Cleveland Films - Spider Man 3" seemed less challenging so we looked for and found it so I now have 36 finds.

Not wanting the remains of dinner (especially the cake) to stay out of refrigeration for long we came on home after quick stops at the bank and at the local coffee bar, Ah-roma, for an Iced Mocha. Then I napped and kicked back until time to leave for the game.

All in all it was a really nice and romantic two days and dinner and it was a real delight to spend them with Her - I look forward to her retirement! - next year?

In the mean time I must do more things like this to keep the Home Fires Burning.

Meandering Link Trails, Letterboxing and Campmeeting

Yesterday I started my day in the usual manner. I got on the internet and began reading my email, checking my financial accounts, then checking my blog faves. It was my intent to go from that to posting here and on my other blog. Instead I allowed myself to get suckered into meandering down the link trails. I did read a lot of interesting healthy, inspirational, and educational articles but ran out of time. I really have to be more disciplined in my surfing.

Rather than food talk today I will return to letterboxing. While on vacation I did really enjoy planting a box along with my daughter and grandson. I have elaborate plans for planting several more boxes both here and at the beach. Here we have a photo of the six (The train is a series of three) boxes I located in in North Carolina.

Last week Donna and I spent a few days at our annual church district assembly and camp meeting. The government of our denomination, The Nazarene Church, is a representative democracy much like our National Government. There is an annual gathering attended by elected representatives of each local church to make decisions and conduct the business of the church at large and several departments within. Also an old fashioned "Camp Meeting", sort of a mini-revival, is held in conjunction with the assembly. Donna was a delegate to part of this, so we drove down and spent a night.

While there we did locate one letterbox on the Grounds of Mount Vernon Nazarene University where this years meeting took place. I now have over thirty finds which I am keeping track of here.

When our children were young they always looked forward to going to camp meeting where they would often spend a full week with there grandmother. She had a small cabin on the old Columbus Ohio, Morse Road, Central Ohio District campground in use at that time. They still have fond memories of those times.

Normal Life as we know it.

Well it seems that I left off over a week ago while on the way to a fun filled beach vacation. As I said, on Saturday morning we did the Farmers Market in New Bern NC, Then drove to Jacksonville where we shopped leisurely at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corp Base Exchange. Early in the afternoon the rest of the family caught up with us, we stocked up on groceries for the week at the commissary, and moved on to Topsail Island. There was still time after unpacking to take a dip in the water so off went our hoard. I was very hot and uncomfortable so I stayed back at the house. I really did not spend much time at the beach, instead catching up on rest, reading, and doing nothing in particular. I did go down to the shore on Tuesday, but it promptly rained.

Wednesday I drove up the coast with my Son-in-law Matt and Grandson Payton to meet my eldest Son Loren and his wife Jennifer. They had planned some adventures for Payton through a service in Beaufort NC. These included searching on a local island for sand dollars and a Pirates Treasure Hunt. While they were doing that I did some letterboxing, then we all returned to Topsail for dinner at a local Seafood House. After dinner we planted our own letterbox "The Gold Hole" on Topsail Island, you can read about letterboxing and our Gold Hole box on Atlas Quest. Payton seemed to have enjoyed his week at the beach almost as much as his Mommy. I think he will grow up to be a real beach bum.

The first few days were hot and sticky and I am no longer able to play in the waves so I stayed off of the beach most of the time. From Tuesday on, the temperature was milder and the humidity was pretty low.

Friday I ventured down to discover that it was really quite comfortable for me if I just sat in the sand at the waters edge and let the waves wash over my legs. I must try to spend more time in the water next year.

The week went too quickly. I really enjoyed, and now miss, having the family around. The trip home was long but uneventful. Now we are settling back into our normal mode for a few days, then off to our church's annual business and camp meetings.

I did not get many pictures, The two above were stolen from Ellisa's on line album. I am hoping that Loren and Ellisa have many more.

Topsail

On Thursday we had a leisurely breakfast, then drove to New Bern NC. Again our son Loren who has had frequent occasion to prowl the local coast had suggested that we try the fried chicken at "Kings Chicken" in Washington NC. He said that it was worth driving half an hour out of the way to get and that it was good hot or cold. So we did stop and got a couple of boxes to have for dinner that night. Then we went to New Bern, checked out the downtown, and found another letterbox at a coffee shop. The chicken was as good as he had suggested. New Bern turned out to be a very pleasant town which we meandered around both Thursday and Friday. Last night, the forth, we drove 40 miles to watch a baseball game by the Kinston Indians, a Cleveland farm team.
They won the game putting them in a tie for first in their division, and the fireworks display after the game was super. This morning we piddled around a bit, went to the Farmers Market for produce, drove to Jacksonville to shop at the base exchange and commassery, then on to the beach. We are looking forward to a fun week with the family

It is morning on our first vacation day of the year in NC. Tuesday we were out of the house about 10, stopped at the local coffee bar for breakfast, then hit the road shortly after 11. We took one short break after about 2-1/2 hours, then arrived at our first nights stop in Berkeley Springs, WV at about 3:00 pm. Berkeley Springs, also know as Bath, is the first Spa know to have been used by the European settlers to North America. It was surveyed by George Washington.

Of course we both had a soak in a hot springs bath, Donna also had a message. This was followed by dinner at the "Corner Land and Sea", a local place that has great Crab cakes. Then we went letterboxing. Yesterday morning We had breakfast at a nearby Coffee house "The Fairfax" which has a great private blend, then Donna repeated her Spa experience, while I checked out a few more letterboxes. The terrain around the boxes called for more endurance than I have so I ran to the Post Office then picked Her up. We were on our way here (Roanoke Rapids, NC) by 11:30 and arrived at 4:30. We wanted to eat at Ralph's, a local BBQ which was highly recommended by our son Loren, but found that it was closed this week for vacation. So it was Cracker Barrel for dinner, then back to the Hilton. We have a short drive to New Bern planned for today so we might get in some sightseeing and more boxing today. So far it has been a very good trip despite the small car.

18 Hours

I am shooting for getting out of here to head for vacation land by 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Granted we probably won't make it but my hope is that we can hit the road without undue delays. The trick is to motivate my chronologically challenged wife to stay on a realistic schedule without starting a war. I often fail to succeed at that.

I have been packing and organizing all week, still I feel that something has been overlooked. We are going ultralight this year so I have scrutinized everything three times and checked all of the packing lists over and over. Still I have that uneasy feeling that I have overlooked something. The two physically large items, The boogie board and a large plastic storage box containing all those little things needed for a week at the beach, are already in the car. My bag of car essentials is ready to go and my suitcase is packed except for my toothbrush. I can't pack the C-pap until tomorrow, and the laptop needs to be synced with this one before it is ready - in the morning after I negotiate through first of the month finances. The camera bag and my letterboxing pack are sitting ready by the stairs. Why am I so uncomfortable about leaving something behind??

I have checked the garden and picked up my license from the sheriff - It only took them a week to have it ready this time - they are supposed to have it within four weeks, but the original took them seven. Saturday I finished getting the radio in the car and ventured out with my wife to spend about an hour at a local field day site. I even packed things to make another letterbox as an activity to serve as a hedge for any rainy days. Still I can't shake that "Something is missing" voice.

Oh well regardless - tomorrow we go for almost two weeks away from home with some of those we care about the most. I wish that the others could be there also, but thats a story for another day.

Planting a Box

Ok! I think that I got a bit OCD over this one. I couldn't let go of the idea of planting a new letterbox on Topsail island. I had never put a box together before and just had to try everything. The results - A Plan to put a starter box out this year, and if all goes well to add several more in years to come, it is to be know as the "Topsail Treasures Series".

I have completed the first box - "The Gold Hole" named after a large scale treasure hunting project which took place on the island for several years, and then mysteriously, it suddenly ended leaving behind a gapping hole in the ground, a pile of rubble, and lots of questions. This box consists of:

1) A box with a snap on top which has been covered top and bottom with camouflage duct tape.

2) A hand carved rubber stamp of a treasure chest. It is mounted onto an acrylic block with a foam cushion inbetween.

3) A hand made log book created by folding 4x6 blank index cards in half and stitching them together. The cover is three pieces of artists mounting board with a glued on treasurer map.

It was a lot of fun.

Vacation is Soon!!

Our plan is that by this time next week we will be well on our way to enjoying our vacation. We expect to hit the road next Tuesday morning.

I still have somethings to complete getting the car ready and we have much sorting and packing yet to do. Everyone involved has had the opportunity to review the check lists. We seldom get many major changes to them any longer, but tend to forget things, so we review them and try to use them. Actually I keep three lists, Groceries, General Packing, and my personal items list.

The bunnies seem to be leaving my lettuce pretty much alone since the fence is back up to discourage them.

I managed to get my permit application completed satisfactorily. The application, Training Certificate, Passport photo, a