Just back recently from another trip up to northern New England
with another whole bunch of stamps to show for my letterboxing
efforts! I know, I'd said earlier that once I reached F5000 I'd try
to cut back and only do those hikes and climbs that really appealed
to me, but with all the boxes cropping up along the way nowadays,
what's a gal to do? Too hard not to stop as I'm driving by, right?

Anyway, I passed the F100 mark for both Vermont and New Hampshire a
while back, but picked up a few more boxes this trip with a day in
the Northeast Kingdom, a day in the Whites, and a weekend with Pete
on Mount Monadnock, recreating one of our earliest dates! Then I
headed back north to plant a couple of the Dawnlanders' "CT Symbols"
boxes in an area that I'd been wanting to get to for the longest
time. It was well worth the trip, and at the time there probably
wasn't another letterbox around for 100 miles using paved roads,
although there may now be some closer if you go as the crow flies!

After a quick drive through Canada, I headed back to Maine for the
National Folk Festival in Bangor. What fun! - 3 days of music to
which I did authentic Gypsy, Romanian, Hungarian, African, Armenian,
and other types of dancing, and nearly passed out in the 90* heat!

Rain cooled things off by the end of the weekend, so I took one day
to do the drive-ups in Aroostook County, one day for the Katahdin
area, one day for MDI, and one day for the Midcoast on my way home.
I ended up with a grand total of 349 boxes for Maine, which has now
ousted Ohio from 4th position in our personal state-by-state counts!
(And that certainly doesn't include any WOM's either, because the
only WOM's WE've ever gotten were for a couple of series in CT!!)
Who would have guessed there were so many boxes up in Maine? It
really is a treasure trove if you just get out there and search! I
couldn't possibly list all the boxes I found without annoying
someone, I'm sure, so I'll just name a few of my favorites for this
trip: Mepanj's "Muhammad Ali Series" for one of the best
collections of mushrooms that I've ever seen in a small area -
especially between boxes 2 and 3; Ben and Lora's "Great Pond
Mountain" for a nice climb; Hockamock's "Brady Gang" for a bit more
adventure than I had originally anticipated; Amymisha's "Mr/Ms
Potato Head for pure whimsy; and the big surprise, "Just Opus" for
just cracking me up! Wonderful job up there, all you planters both
old and new! Thanks for a terrific vacation!

Wanda from RI
P101 F5395 X608