Sunday, September 19, 2010

Letter Boxing

Mike took me letterboxing today. Isn't he thoughtful? We headed off to Marshall, Mi without, leaving the children at home. The first letter box that we searched for was in a park that holds renaissance festivals for several weekends during the summer. The park was nicer than I expected and had a wonderful disk golf course. I made a mental note to return next summer with the kids for a game. We were unable to locate the box. The clues and location were easy to follow, so I know that we found the right place. Oh well, off to the next location.

The next box was located in a public-school nature preserve. The walk through the wooded trails was beautiful. The temperature was cool enough, so that the mosquitoes weren't bothering us. The trail led past several ponds and low-lying areas. When we reached the final clue, a snake crawled in front of us. I was terrified! Mike wasn't too thrilled either. He bravely held my hand as we continued to walk along between two ponds. Another snake in the water!
At this point, I was done having fun. All I wanted to do was run to the car away from all the creepy critters. My brave husband wanted to continue the search. He dug through some underbrush and wanted to walk further along the pond's edge. By this time all of the jumping frogs were setting my nerves on edge. I was sweating (and not from exertion.) After a few minutes of pleading to fore-go the box, Mike agreed to let me by-pass this box. Maybe when the ground is frozen and the snakes are not around.

Our next two boxes were located inside of a cemetery. They were easily discovered and didn't have any surprises for us. One of the boxes contained a biography of a man buried in the cemetery. He was a fascinating person. I plan to use the information about him when the children and I cover The Civil Was for history next year.

Our last box was fun and easy. We were able to quickly locate the box and loved the location. The park where it was located was manicured and beautifully landscaped.

I'm glad that we didn't take the kids with us today. The snakes would have been off-putting for most of my children. The long drive to reach the locations would have been boring and I'm hoping to take them letterboxing again this fall.

3 comments:

Melinda said...

Oh my goodness I am surprised we didn't see you guys. We did all of the same locations you did today. BTW saw no snakes at the nature preserve but we did find the box :) pick pick pick. Only a good friend can get away with picking on you right? It was a great time we both enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your hobby with me!

Karen said...

Which Nature Preserve? We were at Greve's

Melinda said...

We were at Greve's also. Didn't see you guys but can't remember what you car looks like.