(Jesus, that’s one hell of a landmark)

Brosie and I were finally able to make it to a letterboxing event. We've been wanting to go to an event, but when we initially looked there weren't any around us. We kept looking and found one that was relatively close by in Burke Virginia: Mice in the Library. It was a little bit of a drive, which gave us an opportunity to hit up some boxes on the way there and back. It was a really fun time and we finally got to meet some other letterboxers! We got our first event stamp, a bunch of personal travelers and exchanges, and the whole series that was at the event.

A big thank you to Paper Trails for setting up the event, the stamps were amazing and the clues were a lot of fun to figure out. We'll be seeing you again soon!

We'd also like to thank everyone we exchanged signature stamps with and/or personal travelers:

Paper Trail

Una Marlee Sue

Penguin_Girl22

Traks15

Chili Pepper

Rebiccola

Janila

AdventurousAcorn

AandP

Tree Knocker

RosieRevere

SuperRod

We'll make sure to have a personal traveler or two for future events.

We've been keeping pretty busy, so we've been neglecting the blog a little bit. I figured it was time to give a little update.

Back in July, we went on a vacation to South Carolina and were finally able to hit up some out-of-state boxes. Once the route was figured out, Brosie (with her amazing google maps skills) plotted out some boxes that we could find along the way and even more once we got to our destination.

We encountered our very first hitchhiker hostel at a rest area and we came prepared. Before we left on the trip we created three hitchhikers to place in the box to make sure that we had enough to keep the box at three. As of this writing, all three have been found and are on to their next stop. I love the idea of a HHH, maybe that's something that we can do in the future.

The great thing about letterboxing, besides the adventure of the hunt and ecstasy of the find, is all the incredible places that it takes you. While on our trip we went to a whirligig park in Wilson, NC, had some incredible food at Page's Okra Grill, went to some amazing parks and explored parts of downtown Charleston that we may have never gone to without letterboxing. We're already planning another trip down there, too many boxes to get in just one week.

We still plan on planting some boxes in the area, but we've but that one the back burner for now. We've carved the stamps and made some of the logbooks, but we want to get some more experience first to make sure we do a good job. If anyone has some tips that they'd like to share, we're all ears! Feel free to send us some AQmail (thanks for the message PlumCrazy!) or leave a comment on the blog.

More updates to follow...

For those who don’t know what it is, in this post I will try to explain to the best of my abilities. (Or atlasquest’s abilities anyway)

According to atlasquest.com (the letterboxers favorite website), “ Letterboxing is an intriguing pastime combining artistic ability with "treasure-hunts" in parks, forests, and cities around the world. Participants seek out hidden letterboxes by cracking codes and following clues. Small boxes are hidden in various locations--usually outdoors, though many are planted indoors as well--and the creator of the box will release clues so others can go out and find them later. The box is expected to have a logbook that finders can log into and a unique stamp, usually hand-carved, that the finder can stamp into their own personal logbook as a record of all the letterboxes they've found. Most letterboxers have a unique stamp to represent themselves, called a signature stamp, that they stamp into the logbooks found inside letterboxes so others who find the letterbox later know they found it.”

The way that a lot of people remember it is that it’s like geocashing... but better in my opinion. Letterboxing gives people a chance to express themselves by carving their own stamps, and it allows people to go to places they never would before.

I started this blog to share photos of the wonderful places I find while letterboxing, and the stamps that I hope to eventually carve.