This Little Pigggy just returned from a week on the road.
Knowing full well what they mean when they say, "all work and
no play...," I naturally included letterboxing as part of the itinerary.
The first night out, I pulled into the infamous Applegate Rest Area
in Southern Oregon to look for the box there. It was getting dark
and I had only completed the umpteenth compass heading in a
list as long as Michael Jackson's plastic surgeon's bill when I
realized that taking bearings in total darkness is pretty much a
waste of time. So, I headed back to my room for the night where I
attempted to communicate with the ghost of Clark Gable.

Since Clark was not being particularly talkative, I studied my map
instead and made an unfortunate discovery. Earlier in the day, I
had stamped the first of the three part Southern OR Covered
Bridges series into my book. The clues to these boxes are not in
a North/South sequence and the Interstate is. The stamps need
to be printed one above the other. I had the top one and was
now closest to the bottom one and many miles from the center
section. I could leave a blank in the center and try for the nearby
box. Hmmm...Having no idea if all three stamps were the same
dimensions, I decided that I would have to skip the closest box
and go for the center of the three. I would have had to drive 30 or
so miles back to snag the bottom... So my picture is incomplete
until the next road trip.

A few days later, I had actual work to do in Mt. Shasta, CA. Here it
was December but the termperature was in the 50s with a lapis
sky overhead. Finished with the money making portion of my day,
I headed for the Source of the Sacramento letterbox. Being so
close to the freeway and an easy walk, it has had quite a few
visitors. My own local contribution to letterboxing, the Mountain
View box, hasn't been nearly so lucky. It has had but one visitor!
Part of the problem may be that some bonehead decided to cut
down the "baby cedar" which was an important landmark in the
clue. Little did I know that this forest is open to Christmas tree
cutting. Joy to the world... The clue has been revised and has
been posted to the Talk List.

Not being one to let the carving tools sit idle for too long, I left a
little mustelid in my wake for travelers along CA Highway 101.
Thanks to a those who did the same for me on my most recent
journey. Funhog