My Fellow Letterboxers,

"The Italian" credits were still rolling on the screen when I jumped into the Ford Taurus and zipped down to Trappist, Kentucky. Trappist is not your everyday tourist spot, but it is worth the visit. The Abbey of Gethsemani is in Trappist; in fact it is Trappist. The monastery is the oldest in the United States and thrives off the sale of bourbon fudge. Now, while bourbon fudge may be good, the bourbon fruitcake is excellent. Remember that when it comes to your Christmas shopping.

Can you even imagine Sadie Hawkins day in Kentucky? I can't either. Enjoying my life, as a confirmed bachelor, I opted to stay holed up in the local Holiday Inn watching reruns and enjoying cold English Ale and bourbon fruitcake.

Corvette, America's only true sports car. I will not discuss the Billy Bob. Bowling Green is home to the "National Corvette Museum." This is not your ordinary museum; the displays are by the average man-on-the-street corvette owner. Want the world to see your Vette? Loan it to the museum for a year. While here you can also tour the plant where the beauties are made. They don't give out free samples.

I drove around Kentucky, taking in the sites, until the debut of Matthew Fogle's "Laundry Mat Tour." Matthew Fogle is a musician. Matthew Fogle is also a nice guy. Matt came up with the tour idea after noticing that people at laundry mats were bored while waiting for their dirty socks to get clean. Well, the patrons certainly were not bored this day. As I pulled up to the curb, a crowd of angry women were escorting Gallant Rouge out of the Mr. Tubs. Gallant Rouge, I understand the importance of washing all those dirty socks you have been collecting (imagine some of them were quite ripe); however you can't use every washing machine. As for the remote, I am sure that they appreciated you polishing the buttons. Can you bring it back? But, I did not come here to talk about bourbon fruitcake, reruns, corvettes, or dirty socks; I came to talk letterboxing.

Kentucky must have taken lessons from West Virginia. Low on the mystery letterboxes, only 13; growing on the traditionals, around 160. Strong on enthusiasm. Good waterproof containers are a must. Kentucky tends to be wet; the average rainfall is 51.3 inches. That is a lot of water. While hiking watch out for snakes, Kentucky has a lot of them. Four of them are venomous, so know which ones they are. Kentucky highways are more dangerous than the trails, so be careful out there.

Sincerely,

Investigator Francis Bacon