In-laws letterboxing

B's parents were visiting from South Carolina over the weekend. After a busy day on Saturday, we were left without anything really "planned" for Sunday.... and then we happened to notice that there were three new letterboxes in the Ann Arbor area that we hadn't done yet! We had introduced his parents to 'boxing last summer (when we did "Mystery Cabin" right after a large thunderstorm and got a little wet) so they were game.

So off we went to get Caramel Delites. B's mom loved that this was planted by a Girl Scout troop and J loved that it honored her favorite Girl Scout cookie! We didn't have any problems with finding the box... except that it was so hot and humid that we were all miserable. Being optimistic sorts, we decided to head over to Lillie Park #1. Again, a problem-free find (in a park that we have visited before for other boxes) but the combination of heat, humidity, and giant horrible horseflies had us heading to the car after the find instead of to the third box, Lillie Park #2. J and B will get it after work some time when it is not a million and two degrees out!

In other exciting letterboxing news (well, at least to us), J and B are planning on meeting up with their South Bend boxing buddies in Kalamazoo for a day of 'boxing and biking. The tentative date chosen is August 19th, when we'll be heading west to pick up some great Kzoo boxes.... stay tuned!

The Moose Capital of Michigan

...also known as Newberry, in the Upper Peninsula, is where J&BBooks spent their Independence Day. The trip was mainly about seeing some old friends that we don't see very often and we were only in the area from Sunday to Tuesday, so letterboxing was not the focus of the trip. But being the addicts that we are, we did drag one of our friends along to two drive-by boxes... because even if letterboxing wasn't the focus of the trip, it would be a shame to be in a brand new area and not get the local letterboxes!

So we visited the Tahquamenon Logging Museum box at the Logging Muesum (where we saw displays on chainsaws and axes). It was a quick little stamp, nicely carved. As we were wrapping up, two more letterboxers came down the trail and introduced themselves. Their trail names were Froggy and Toadie and they were visiting from Battle Creek. It sounded like they had been bitten by the 'boxing box about 6 months ago and were unable to stop.... just what we like to hear! :-) As usual, we forgot to do an exchange with them, though. J is also wondering if Wisconsin Hiker and Martini Man were in the area that day, too, because she saw on LBNA when she logged the find that Martini Man was the last person to find the box... on the same day we were there! Pretty amazing, considering nobody had visited it since 2005!

We headed over to Ursus Americanus next and were not surprised when we couldn't find it. Froggy and Toadie had mentioned that they were unable to find it, too. Having just paid to enter the Logging Museum, we decided to skip seeing the bears, so that whole portion was a bust. Oh well.

It looks like there are some great hikes and stamps in the area, but they will have to wait for another trip to the land of the Yooper....