I do research of the area before I go. For example, I'm big on lighthouses
so I found a few lighthouses in the MD/DC area (two of which I had
previously visited) to plant boxes. I made most of the boxes micros, just
in case there weren't big enough hiding places for the boxes.

Music Woman


>From: "quarksmom"
>Reply-To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
>To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [LbNA] placing boxes when traveling
>Date: Tue, 02 Mar 2004 01:31:46 -0000
>
>I'm a new letterboxer have yet to place my first boxes though I have
>three ready to go just waiting on the weather. But thinking ahead
>I'll be making a fairly lengthy car journey in a couple months & it
>would be fun to plant some boxes along the way. So how do you
>approach that? Do you do some on-line research of the areas you'll
>be visiting & make up the boxes except for clues ahead of time or do
>you wait until you're there & then do it all once you've scouted the
>area?
>
>I'd be interested to hear how different people approach this.
>
>Thanks!
>
>mt-walker
>
>

_________________________________________________________________
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Hi MT-Walker,

> So how do you
> approach that? Do you do some on-line research of the areas
you'll
> be visiting & make up the boxes except for clues ahead of time or
do
> you wait until you're there & then do it all once you've scouted
the
> area?

Both ways can be used. In the case of the Lewis and Clark Caverns
that I think you found (if you are THAT MT-Walker) I carved it
before the trip as it would be too difficult to carve that one on
the road. The Boulder river Secret also in Montana was done on the
location while sitting at a picnic table. The others on our Mt., Wy.
Idaho trip last summer were combinations of precarved and carved on
the spot.Either method works. I normally like to precarve but
sometimes the location just cries out for a letterbox and you just
have to sit down and carve a stamp.
Don

Hi MT-Walker,

> So how do you
> approach that? Do you do some on-line research of the areas
you'll
> be visiting & make up the boxes except for clues ahead of time or
do
> you wait until you're there & then do it all once you've scouted
the
> area?

Both ways can be used. In the case of the Lewis and Clark Caverns
that I think you found (if you are THAT MT-Walker) I carved it
before the trip as it would be too difficult to carve that one on
the road. The Boulder river Secret also in Montana was done on the
location while sitting at a picnic table. The others on our Mt., Wy.
Idaho trip last summer were combinations of precarved and carved on
the spot.Either method works. I normally like to precarve but
sometimes the location just cries out for a letterbox and you just
have to sit down and carve a stamp.
Don

> I'd be interested to hear how different people approach this.

Different people approach it--well, differently. Sometimes they do
the research ahead of time. Sometimes they don't. *shrug*

Just do whatever feels right for you. =) There's no "right way" to
hide a letterbox. Although, I would argue that there ARE wrong ways
to hide a box! (i.e. edges of cliffs, off-trail in an
environmentally sensive area, among poison oak, etc.)

Carpe diem!

-- Ryan

Quark's Mom wrote:

>I'm a new letterboxer have yet to place my first boxes though I have
>three ready to go just waiting on the weather. But thinking ahead
>I'll be making a fairly lengthy car journey in a couple months & it
>would be fun to plant some boxes along the way. So how do you
>approach that? Do you do some on-line research of the areas you'll
>be visiting & make up the boxes except for clues ahead of time or do
>you wait until you're there & then do it all once you've scouted the
>area?

I do a little of both. I try to research as much as I can before I go and make up the boxes so they all I have to do is pull it out of the back of the car, drop it in place and jot down the clues. However, if a target of opportunity comes up along the way, I will carve a stamp for that target.

One hint I have for writing the clues, especially if you are on a long trip and won't be entering them into the LBNA site for a while: Re-write the clues in a more complete format each night. That jotted note about 10 paces past the scraggly tree might make sense when it was noted but when you get home, all the boxes might run together in your mind and you may not be able to picture that tree as clearly as when you made the note. Instead of turning on the tube when you get to the hotel/motel/sleeping place, spend some time re-writing the clues as you would like to see them if you weren't the placer and found them on the LBNA site. When you get home, you can just copy your completed clues straight onto the site without worrying about whether you remembered correctly.

I got a taste of how useful this was on may last vacation. I had lost one of my completed clue sheets so I entered the clues using my field notes. I was left scratching my head about what I meant about some of the things I wrote. Fortunately, I found the completed clues I had written the night I planted the box and was able to make updates that made much more sense than the chicken scratch I was using before.

--
___________________________________
California Bear