Ahhh...but what if the goose chase is part of the plan? Once you box a little more you will see there are all kinds of placers with their own styles. Some placers are very specific with their clues and others deliberately vague. Some are conscientous about keeping their clues up to date and others get around to it eventually...or not. That's the beauty of this hobby. We are all different and I say Vive le differance! Also, while it's great that you box with your kids and we have many, many families who do, lot's of boxes are not necessarily planted with younger kids in mind. This may have been one of those as well. So I would suggest, before you chide the placers again, you get a little more experience and you will see the vast array of styles that are out there. Then you'll get comfortable with the differences in placers and maybe just want to pick those that, from ypur experience, you feel are best suited to you and your kids. Me, I am grateful for ALL of the boxes out
there, even the ones that are not my style. And there are a lot of those in my area. I am just thankful that people took the time and effort to plant. If thier style is too difficult for me or I learn from experience that thier hikes are too long for me (read letterboxing weenie here) then I just appreciate their efforts and hunt something else, somewhere else. But it would never occur to me to tell them they must do something a certain way, and boy do I get cranky when people do it to me!

Welcome to the hobby and hopefully you guys will figure out what sort of boxes work best for you. But as you said, you stillhad fun. And in my opinion, that's what's most important.

cc_clubbs wrote:
I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for people
who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer exists
and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been developed
recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went back
to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder we
couldnt find the boxes! We did have fun though.






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--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "cc_clubbs" wrote:
>
> I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for people
> who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer exists
> and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been developed
> recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went back
> to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder we
> couldnt find the boxes! We did have fun though.
>
Just becauce a box was planted in 2002 doesn't mean it was missing. I have found a box
planted in1999, what a thrill. as a placer I depend on reports from finders, some of my boxes
are pretty far flung.
It's always a wild goose chase we never know if the box is going to be there or if the clues
will allude us.

The age of the listing is no indication of whether a box will be
there. Boxes have been known to vanish the day after they are placed.
However, if the area was bulldozed and a housing development placed
there in the interim, the box is probably gone.

If the placer has been maintaining their boxes, they would know this.
Some placers though put them out there and don't go back. That's their
way of playing and that's OK too.

The uncertainty of whether you'll find the box is part of the deal in
letterboxing. If you find it, great; if not, at least you got out of
the house for a while.

Knit Wit



--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "cc_clubbs"
wrote:
>
> I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for
people
> who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer
exists
> and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been developed
> recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went
back
> to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder we
> couldnt find the boxes! We did have fun though.
>

> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "cc_clubbs" wrote:
> >
> > I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for people
> > who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer exists
> > and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been developed
> > recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went back
> > to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder we
> > couldnt find the boxes!

I just had a first finder report on a box that I hid 4 years ago. It
sat for 4 years with no one finding it. Clues still worked after 4
years as well.

-amanda from seattle

I drove an hour from home this summer to search for two letterboxes -
one had just been planted within the last 30 days or so; the other was
3 or 4 years old. I never did find the new one, but the older one was
right where it was supposed to be!

And yes - I notified the placer of the "missing" box that I did not
find it. She emailed me back a few weeks later to say she finally had
a first finder, so that box isn't gone - I just missed it! (I'll be
heading back there in a couple of weeks - wish me better luck this
time!)

~ rozebud

--- samanark wrote:

>
> > --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "cc_clubbs"
> wrote:
> > >
> > > I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for
> people
> > > who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer
> exists
> > > and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been
> developed
> > > recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went
> back
> > > to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder
> we
> > > couldnt find the boxes!
>
> I just had a first finder report on a box that I hid 4 years ago. It
> sat for 4 years with no one finding it. Clues still worked after 4
> years as well.
>
> -amanda from seattle
>
>
>
>


"Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain



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I just have to chime in that we were the first finders of that box. It was the first one we found on our trip to Ireland and gave us the confidence to try all of the others we had planned while trekking from the west coast to the east coast and into Wales and England. Of the six we only missed one!!! And my mother kept asking me if there were more letterboxes in each city we stopped in. Now I have her working on a personal stamp because she wants to find some around her house in IL.

Remember the fun is experiencing new places you wouldn't have gotten your couch-comfy tush to. Thanks all!!

Chirodoc and CampLady

samanark wrote:

> --- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, "cc_clubbs" wrote:
> >
> > I just started letterboxing with my kids. My suggestion is for people
> > who plant the letterboxes. Update posting if the box no longer exists
> > and check frequently to make sure that the area hasnt been developed
> > recently. My kids and I went on quite a wild goose chase. I went back
> > to the postings and realized that they were dated 2002. No wonder we
> > couldnt find the boxes!

I just had a first finder report on a box that I hid 4 years ago. It
sat for 4 years with no one finding it. Clues still worked after 4
years as well.

-amanda from seattle






The difference between nothing and something is one.


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