LOL! I knew that box was going to be more trouble than it was
worth! I had that dilemma a while back...should I keep going for box
#2 or bag it! I went back up to the road. You are a braver one than
I Ryan!!


Amanda from Seattle
--- In letterbox-usa@y..., RiskyNil@h... wrote:
> Way back in July, I went hunting for these two boxes. No big deal,
> right? Cedar Hills Blvd, where the hunt begins, in a major road
with
> thousands of cars driving by it each day. Not exactly
> your "wilderness" adventure kind of thing.
>
> I had no problem finding the first box, but I'll be darned where
that
> second box sneaked off to. I finally gave up and called it quits.
>
> Fast forward to today:
>
> I returned to find that second box.
>
> From the street, I took 73 steps (or the best I could manage--it's
> not exactly easy terrain to step through) like the clue said, and
at
> around step 50 I darned near stepped on a snake. Scared the s***
out
> of me! I couldn't have been more than two feet away before it
> decided to show its presence (those things blend in SOOO well) by
> slithering in the opposite direction. It was a harmless little
> garter snake, but when things slither around you and you're not
> expecting it, the reaction was pretty much the same as if a full-
> grown grizzly bear suddenly jumped out from the trees above and
> tackeled you (as unlikely as that might be).
>
> After waiting for my heart rate to die down, I continued my hunt.
> While searching around a tree, I noticed this annoying black string
> tangled around my feet. Who the hell left this way out here? Dum
> asses. I managed to get one foot untangled, but the other one
> stubbernly stuck to my shoe. Finally I realized why. It was my
> shoelace. It seems one end of it got caught on something, and as I
> walked it slowly unraveled the shoelace into a very long, very
> useless piece of string.
>
> So I cut off the part that had been unraveled (gotta love those
handy
> pocket knives). Took off the rest of my shoelace to see what could
> be done with it since I didn't carry around an extra pair in my
back
> pocket, nor was I able to figure out how to use duct tape to help
the
> situation. (I thought duct tape was good for anything.) I laced
my
> shoe back up almost to the top, and it seemed to work pretty well.
> The shreaded part of my shoelaces I put in my pocket to carry back
> out.
>
> Now back to the hunt. I still couldn't find that darned box, and I
> KNEW it had to be around somewhere. Maybe by that tree over
there?
> It didn't really seem like the tree described in the clue, but it
> couldn't hurt to check--so I thought. I poked a stick around in
some
> leaves to see if the rock in the clue was hidden under them. I
> didn't find a letterbox nor a rock, but apparently I stirred up the
> perverbal hornet's nest because I got stung by something that
HURT!
> Definitely not the typical mosquito bite! The first sting I
thought
> must have been a thorn I sat on or something--there were plenty in
> the area--until I saw a whole SWAT team of those bugs attacking me,
> at which point I quickly dropped the stick I was using and ran back
> up to the street to regroup and send in reinforcements.
>
> The two places where the bugs managed to sting me were still pretty
> darn painful, and I had no idea what they were. Still don't for
that
> matter. They weren't bees, and I've never noticed such bugs
before.
> I certainly haven't been attacked by them before. So I headed back
> down the hill--steering well clear of where the bugs and snake were
> hiding out--to a remote place where I could pull down my pants to
> examine the damage. Didn't see anything, but darn it was painful
for
> such little bugs. I've donated blood with these very thick needles
> over 70 times and it never hurt that badly!
>
> At this point, I'm seriously contemplating to try looking for the
box
> again another day. Perhaps in the dead of winter when those damned
> bugs would be frozen solid and snakes aren't slithering about.
>
> But I can't give up--not yet. I go back down to hunt some more,
and
> continue to stear clear of the snake and bugs. Like I said before,
> that tree didn't really seem like the one mentioned in the clue,
and
> perhaps I can find a better one to investigate.
>
> And, at long last, I found the box. Hidden in the croch of two
> deciduous trees, under a rock, just like the clue described. I
> logged in, replaced the box, and then headed back to the street
> wondering if any of the cars driving by had any idea of the dangers
> that lurked just a few short feet away. =)
>
> This was the 78th box I found. I've hidden 36. They're located in
> all shorts of areas from fairly public areas to very remote areas,
> but I'll be darned if any of them were as much trouble as this one
> smack dab in the middle of civilization a stone's throw from a
major
> road!
>
> Which might explain why only two other people have found this box
> while many, many more than that found the first one. Speaking of
> which--the Drew clan, I believe, found this box last week and left
a
> note saying they believe the first box was missing. I went back to
> verify if it really was or not, and it's still there. I didn't
> bother to open the first box having already found it and signed in,
> but it appears to be in fine shape from the outside. You just have
> to root around the tree a bit more. (That's assuming you had the
> right tree in the first place--which I suspect you did considering
> how easy it was to identify.)
>
> So that's my story of the day. Miserable, stinking box, that it
> was. =)
>
> -- Ryan

Hi
You did better than I did. The first box was easy if you dug deep
enough,but I haven't been able to find the second. Any help you can
give will be appreciated.
Gary

RiskyNil@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> Way back in July, I went hunting for these two boxes. No big deal,
> right? Cedar Hills Blvd, where the hunt begins, in a major road with
> thousands of cars driving by it each day. Not exactly
> your "wilderness" adventure kind of thing.
>
> I had no problem finding the first box, but I'll be darned where that
> second box sneaked off to. I finally gave up and called it quits.
>
> Fast forward to today:
>
> I returned to find that second box.
>
> >From the street, I took 73 steps (or the best I could manage--it's
> not exactly easy terrain to step through) like the clue said, and at
> around step 50 I darned near stepped on a snake. Scared the s*** out
> of me! I couldn't have been more than two feet away before it
> decided to show its presence (those things blend in SOOO well) by
> slithering in the opposite direction. It was a harmless little
> garter snake, but when things slither around you and you're not
> expecting it, the reaction was pretty much the same as if a full-
> grown grizzly bear suddenly jumped out from the trees above and
> tackeled you (as unlikely as that might be).
>
> After waiting for my heart rate to die down, I continued my hunt.
> While searching around a tree, I noticed this annoying black string
> tangled around my feet. Who the hell left this way out here? Dum
> asses. I managed to get one foot untangled, but the other one
> stubbernly stuck to my shoe. Finally I realized why. It was my
> shoelace. It seems one end of it got caught on something, and as I
> walked it slowly unraveled the shoelace into a very long, very
> useless piece of string.
>
> So I cut off the part that had been unraveled (gotta love those handy
> pocket knives). Took off the rest of my shoelace to see what could
> be done with it since I didn't carry around an extra pair in my back
> pocket, nor was I able to figure out how to use duct tape to help the
> situation. (I thought duct tape was good for anything.) I laced my
> shoe back up almost to the top, and it seemed to work pretty well.
> The shreaded part of my shoelaces I put in my pocket to carry back
> out.
>
> Now back to the hunt. I still couldn't find that darned box, and I
> KNEW it had to be around somewhere. Maybe by that tree over there?
> It didn't really seem like the tree described in the clue, but it
> couldn't hurt to check--so I thought. I poked a stick around in some
> leaves to see if the rock in the clue was hidden under them. I
> didn't find a letterbox nor a rock, but apparently I stirred up the
> perverbal hornet's nest because I got stung by something that HURT!
> Definitely not the typical mosquito bite! The first sting I thought
> must have been a thorn I sat on or something--there were plenty in
> the area--until I saw a whole SWAT team of those bugs attacking me,
> at which point I quickly dropped the stick I was using and ran back
> up to the street to regroup and send in reinforcements.
>
> The two places where the bugs managed to sting me were still pretty
> darn painful, and I had no idea what they were. Still don't for that
> matter. They weren't bees, and I've never noticed such bugs before.
> I certainly haven't been attacked by them before. So I headed back
> down the hill--steering well clear of where the bugs and snake were
> hiding out--to a remote place where I could pull down my pants to
> examine the damage. Didn't see anything, but darn it was painful for
> such little bugs. I've donated blood with these very thick needles
> over 70 times and it never hurt that badly!
>
> At this point, I'm seriously contemplating to try looking for the box
> again another day. Perhaps in the dead of winter when those damned
> bugs would be frozen solid and snakes aren't slithering about.
>
> But I can't give up--not yet. I go back down to hunt some more, and
> continue to stear clear of the snake and bugs. Like I said before,
> that tree didn't really seem like the one mentioned in the clue, and
> perhaps I can find a better one to investigate.
>
> And, at long last, I found the box. Hidden in the croch of two
> deciduous trees, under a rock, just like the clue described. I
> logged in, replaced the box, and then headed back to the street
> wondering if any of the cars driving by had any idea of the dangers
> that lurked just a few short feet away. =)
>
> This was the 78th box I found. I've hidden 36. They're located in
> all shorts of areas from fairly public areas to very remote areas,
> but I'll be darned if any of them were as much trouble as this one
> smack dab in the middle of civilization a stone's throw from a major
> road!
>
> Which might explain why only two other people have found this box
> while many, many more than that found the first one. Speaking of
> which--the Drew clan, I believe, found this box last week and left a
> note saying they believe the first box was missing. I went back to
> verify if it really was or not, and it's still there. I didn't
> bother to open the first box having already found it and signed in,
> but it appears to be in fine shape from the outside. You just have
> to root around the tree a bit more. (That's assuming you had the
> right tree in the first place--which I suspect you did considering
> how easy it was to identify.)
>
> So that's my story of the day. Miserable, stinking box, that it
> was. =)
>
> -- Ryan
>
>
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>
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Hey! No whining. With a day as beautiful as today how bad could killer
bugs and deadly garter snakes really be? Funhog

He's just trying to beat my story of an alligator on the trail in
Florida! ;-)

Amanda from Seattle

--- In letterbox-usa@y..., funhog@p... wrote:
> Hey! No whining. With a day as beautiful as today how bad could
killer
> bugs and deadly garter snakes really be? Funhog

Gary: I'm not sure I could help beyond what the clue already states.
It's right where the clue says it's supposed to be. I probably took
more than 73 steps to reach the right point (something the other two
people who logged in also mentioned), but it's located right where
it's supposed to be. When you see the right tree, you think, "That's
GOT to be the tree!" It's quite obvious once you notice it. =)

Funhog: I'm not whinning--just sharing my adventures! If it wasn't
for moments like these, letterboxing would be a darned boring
sport! ;o)

Amanda (from Seattle!): My story did beat your alligator story. What
are you talking about "trying" to beat it? ;o)

-- Ryan

Delightful story, Ryan! Thanks so much for the entertainment! Now I
only WISH we Drewclan had been in Oregon, visiting my lovely sister
in Portland for instance, and searching out the many many intriguing
letterboxes there, but nooooooooo....we're here in fall's kingdom New
England. Someday we really mean to load up the wagon and head out, to
see what all this bruhaha about the Pacific Northwest is, to see
family and the homesteads of ancestors, and to look for a box or two.

LOL!!
Jay

>
> Which might explain why only two other people have found this box
> while many, many more than that found the first one. Speaking of
> which--the Drew clan, I believe, found this box last week and left
a
> note saying they believe the first box was missing. I went back to
> verify if it really was or not, and it's still there.