Saturday seemed like a good day to be out. No rain, occasional blue sky...
I loaded up 2 likely accomplices and we headed out. First stop was the
Nature Park to confirm our April 28th gig. We checked box #1 to see if the
park staff had replaced it. They had & Amanda had been by to stamp up. We
quickly checked box#4 and also found it in good condition and with a new
stamp! Hiking back out along the trail we noticed someone carrying what
looked suspiciously like a clue sheet...... We said hello in passing &
kept on.
Other activities infringed on our letterboxing time, but as soon as the
basketball game was over, we were back out... With clues in hand, we headed
to Forest Park in the West Hills above Portland. With a scant hour before
dark and the wind rising and threatening rain, all at once, we sprinted up
the trail. I told the boys that we would try for all 4 if the light held.
Box #1 (Skip) came up pretty fast and is beautifully located. We stamped up
and rushed on... box 2 was a little further out and each succeeding box
that much more. The wind howling & fingers getting cold by the time we
located #4 (Spot... a humble fellow in a grand location with great view).
We finished up and headed back to the truck for hot chocolate. Finished the
day with a quick trip to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary to see Syd, the Red
Tailed Hawk and their newest addition, a Peregrine Falcon with a deformed
foot.
Thanks Amanda!!! A great series in a great spot! We notice that you may
have been there earlier in the day.... did we pass you on the trail at the
Nature Park?
TC
The dogs are out.....
3 messages in this thread |
Started on 2001-02-19
The dogs are out.....
From: Thom Cheney (tcgrafx@imagina.com) |
Date: 2001-02-19 08:41:36 UTC-08:00
Re: [LbNA] The dogs are out.....
From: (paisleyorca@webtv.net) |
Date: 2001-02-19 10:54:05 UTC-08:00
Yowza!
It was a full weekend of Letterboxing, all right! Saturday I was in
charge of my 7-year-old nephew, Travis, and his dad (my bro) had told
him about letterboxing so he was pumped and ready to go. Ken couldn't
find his name stamp, so I quickly carved out a snake stamp (his current
favorite critter) and put his name on it, as well. He liked the stamp
and we headed out.
He wanted to find the mutts and I wanted to see if my clues were
child-worthy, so we headed for Forest Park. Thom, you are right. It was
a nippy, windy day out there, but that sure didn't hinder the boy I was
with. I thought the first box would be the most exciting for him, but
that was kind of the "learning" box because he wasn't sure what all was
involved.
Once Skip was stamped in, his enthusiasm mounted and he was excited
about finding Rover and the others! It was so cool to see this being
introduced to young eyes. We got a great hike out of it and we learned a
lot from each other. I discovered his love for school and reading and
he learned new words he didn't know before like snag, culvert and
serpentine. I also learned that 53 adult steps are about 106 kid steps,
but changing the clues probably aren't warranted since a kid this small
will probably be with an adult that can pace out the clues for them.
After we got back to the White Stallion (my terribly abused, beat up
ancient 4-Runner), we gobbled down some lunch that grandma had packed up
for us, and, yes! We headed straight for Tualatin Hills. TravisI
wanted more and I wanted him to see other people's fine carved work and
since we were on that side of town we headed for Thom Territory! We
even saw a newt this time. Not only that, but we saw a friend of ours,
Michelle, on the trail looking around for the same thing at the farthest
boardwalk! She didn't have a stamp or pad, so we whisked her off to
Peddler's Pack and got her the necessities!
So...chances are, Thom, you either saw Michelle or Travis and me, or all
three of us on the trail at some point! Michelle kind of has longish
dishwater blonde hair and glasses. I have short dark hair and glasses,
I was wearing a dorky hat no doubt, and my companion was the most
adorable little boy in a baseball cap. Are you kind of a tall guy with
a beard? I did say hi to people on the trail so one of them and their
kids may have been YOU! How exciting.
Yesterday John and I went up to PCC Sylvania for the sake of finding
Mitch's collection up there and to further confirm my disdain for
compass clues. If it weren't for John, I'd still be up there swearing
and cursing and wandering off miles from where I was supposed to be. We
got the first one, but it got cold and I was not a happy camper because
of my own personal ineptitude with a compass, so we'll have to bag the
others later.
Yes, indeed...Letterboxing is alive and well in Portland!
Best regards,
Amanda Briles
aka The Paisley Orca
It was a full weekend of Letterboxing, all right! Saturday I was in
charge of my 7-year-old nephew, Travis, and his dad (my bro) had told
him about letterboxing so he was pumped and ready to go. Ken couldn't
find his name stamp, so I quickly carved out a snake stamp (his current
favorite critter) and put his name on it, as well. He liked the stamp
and we headed out.
He wanted to find the mutts and I wanted to see if my clues were
child-worthy, so we headed for Forest Park. Thom, you are right. It was
a nippy, windy day out there, but that sure didn't hinder the boy I was
with. I thought the first box would be the most exciting for him, but
that was kind of the "learning" box because he wasn't sure what all was
involved.
Once Skip was stamped in, his enthusiasm mounted and he was excited
about finding Rover and the others! It was so cool to see this being
introduced to young eyes. We got a great hike out of it and we learned a
lot from each other. I discovered his love for school and reading and
he learned new words he didn't know before like snag, culvert and
serpentine. I also learned that 53 adult steps are about 106 kid steps,
but changing the clues probably aren't warranted since a kid this small
will probably be with an adult that can pace out the clues for them.
After we got back to the White Stallion (my terribly abused, beat up
ancient 4-Runner), we gobbled down some lunch that grandma had packed up
for us, and, yes! We headed straight for Tualatin Hills. TravisI
wanted more and I wanted him to see other people's fine carved work and
since we were on that side of town we headed for Thom Territory! We
even saw a newt this time. Not only that, but we saw a friend of ours,
Michelle, on the trail looking around for the same thing at the farthest
boardwalk! She didn't have a stamp or pad, so we whisked her off to
Peddler's Pack and got her the necessities!
So...chances are, Thom, you either saw Michelle or Travis and me, or all
three of us on the trail at some point! Michelle kind of has longish
dishwater blonde hair and glasses. I have short dark hair and glasses,
I was wearing a dorky hat no doubt, and my companion was the most
adorable little boy in a baseball cap. Are you kind of a tall guy with
a beard? I did say hi to people on the trail so one of them and their
kids may have been YOU! How exciting.
Yesterday John and I went up to PCC Sylvania for the sake of finding
Mitch's collection up there and to further confirm my disdain for
compass clues. If it weren't for John, I'd still be up there swearing
and cursing and wandering off miles from where I was supposed to be. We
got the first one, but it got cold and I was not a happy camper because
of my own personal ineptitude with a compass, so we'll have to bag the
others later.
Yes, indeed...Letterboxing is alive and well in Portland!
Best regards,
Amanda Briles
aka The Paisley Orca
Re: [LbNA] The dogs are out.....
From: Thom Cheney (tcgrafx@imagina.com) |
Date: 2001-02-19 12:35:02 UTC-08:00
on 2/19/01 10:54 AM, paisleyorca@webtv.net at paisleyorca@webtv.net wrote:
>
> Are you kind of a tall guy with
> a beard? I did say hi to people on the trail so one of them and their
> kids may have been YOU! How exciting.
Yup.... that was me. I was with 2 rambling 8 yr old boys, anxious to stamp
up and get to the next box. I saw Travis with trail map and a clue-like
page at the Nat. Park and wondered... then when I saw his snake stamp & the
same date at your pack-o-dog series, I put 2+2 together.
Near miss!
Mitch has planted a stand-in for Rock Creek #1 & I have finally gotten a
replacement log book to put it back for real. I believe the entire Rock
Creek series will be back up and running within the week!
TC
>
> Are you kind of a tall guy with
> a beard? I did say hi to people on the trail so one of them and their
> kids may have been YOU! How exciting.
Yup.... that was me. I was with 2 rambling 8 yr old boys, anxious to stamp
up and get to the next box. I saw Travis with trail map and a clue-like
page at the Nat. Park and wondered... then when I saw his snake stamp & the
same date at your pack-o-dog series, I put 2+2 together.
Near miss!
Mitch has planted a stand-in for Rock Creek #1 & I have finally gotten a
replacement log book to put it back for real. I believe the entire Rock
Creek series will be back up and running within the week!
TC