Happy Hallowe'en!

Sorry I haven't been around much - but of course I've been carving... Hope yours was spooktacular!

Letterboxing in Boston, Massachusetts

So, after leaving L&B, Fiddleheads and I headed into Boston.  After the trip down and all my irritating singing in the van, FH finally snapped, slowed to 100 and shoved me out of her van.  Luckily, it was close to the "subway" and I was able to get downtown and rent a place for the night.  Jeez.  She's so touchy.

Anyways, I've been to Boston, Massachusetts, a number of times before, so I decided to spend my time focusing on two important things: letterboxing and shopping (big cross-border exemption applied).

Since the weather forecast called for thundershowers in the next couple days (hopefully to get rid of the stifling heat we had through the whole L&B event) I decided to get my letterboxing out of the way on my first day...

Beautiful!

 First I headed out to Harvard's Arboretum for a couple letterboxes. Man it was hot.  I seriously questioned the logic in letterboxing in the heat.  However, the Arboretum was fantastic and it was definitely worth the experience.

First box, Mad Chef dating back to 2002 had a massive logbook, but the box was full of water.  Very sad.

 I also found the Best Gift Ever - which was really cute :)  I planted one of my own, and I was off!

 Next, to the Coolidge for the Most Extreme Cool of All Cools and Only at the Coolidge.  The Coolidge is this gorgeous art deco theatre that still is showing movies.  I loves me some art deco, so I was really happy to trek out to see these two boxes :)

Heading back out on the "subway".  This is the "subway" which is almost identical to Toronto's older streetcars.  Very confusing.

Except that the "subway" does go below ground sometimes as well.  Jeez... And don't get me started about the Silver Line.

Anyways, I went out a little farther for Art Theif! which I think might be my favourite find in Boston.  Very cute stamp and a lovely location for stamping in.

The next day, I planned to do some serious shopping, but I got up before the stores were open to try and get another two boxes - I ♥ Old North Church and Sonnet.  I used the boxes as a reason to do some nice long walking tours of Boston.  Note to self: Boston is gorgeous, I need to go back.

Happy trails!

My newest logbook

So just before leaving for Live & Breathe, my then current log book was nearly filled.  I'm pretty set in my ways, logbook-wise, so I went out on a hunt for another 5x7 hard-covered spiral bound book.  There's lots of them around, my current one was by Eco-Jot, but I had a harder time finding one this time around.

I did find one with a beige cover.  Ugh.  So I bought it.  Ick.  And while driving home a nice thought occurred to me: because of the cover colour, I could cover it with stamps! And I was heading to L&B, so what better thing to do than to have people put their stamps all over it during exchanges! Whee!!

So, here it is in its current glory:

Front and back

Inside front...

... and inside back.

As a result of L&B, I actually filled this brand-new book almost 2/3 of the way, so I'm already having to look for another book.  Have to say though that this is just about my favourite book :)

Happy trails!

Remembering We Live & Breathe XV

It was an amazing trip.  It truly was.

The venue was great.  Okay, it was a little hot and stuffy (care of mother-nature), but perfect for our needs.  The trails were fantastic, the types/varieties of boxes were great, and I loved meeting so many other letterboxers from across the country.

Not sure what more I can say, other than to say that words wouldn't describe it properly.  So instead, here are some more pics from the event.  

Wassa was there, in spirit (or clue) of course...

When in doubt: be suspicious and investigate.

If I can't get to Dartmoor, this is the next best thing (for now!)

There wasn't a clean hand in the place...

Der Mad Stamper's amazing top hat...

... love.

Other boxers on the trail...

... and people were stamping in everywhere.

Magical and fantastical box.

Too bad you can't photograph heat...

... cuz it was wicked hot - high 40s with the humidex.

It's a dressy Fiddleheads!

Yarn-bombed trees... stamps were there...

I don't collect patches, but this makes me want to...

Ours should have won (on the right, but of course).

Obligatory boob shot, care of FH.

Oh Wassa, you're so handsome in that shower...

Beware of beavers!

Already looking forward to We Live & Breathe XX...

Happy trails!

We Live & Breathe XV – a who’s who of licence plates

One of the things I like about driving in the US is seeing all the different licence plates while driving down the road.  The states are so small that you inevitably see a large variety of plates.  On the other hand, Ontario is big.  Really big. Almost two times larger than Texas.  Go big or go home. So driving around here you rarely see other plates, and certainly few other provinces in your travels.

Fiddleheads and I stayed in the Adult Centre at L&B and had to walk through one of the big parking areas every time we went in and out of the building.  Now there was a crazy parking lot to see. Plates from far and wide.  

Interesting note: meeting people at L&B, many commented on “how far we’d come” for the event.  As in, “ooo, you’re from Canada, you came far!”.  Now, while we indeed took two leisurely days to get to the event, in reality, we could have made it there in 8 hours.  People from Michigan came farther. Those nutters who drove from California came farther.  Pretty much anyone who flew came farther.  Yes, we crossed a border, but it’s not that far.  Really.

For posterity, here are some of those plates (most blurred to protect the innocent):

So who came first?  New York...

... or Massachusetts?

I'm glad to finally find someone willing to take a position on things...

That's dedication.

BTW: Ontario's motto, which is covered here, is "Yours to Discover".  True words.

Never saw anyone getting in or out of this, but I love it.