2nd MLK Jr. Letterboxing Day

Hal writes:

For the second year in a row, the RDs at UWP have gone on a letterboxing adventure on MLK Jr. Day. (I don't like to use "annual" with an event unless it happens at least three times. My pet peeve is "First Annual".) The purpose of letterboxing is to find a hidden box based on clues found on the internet. (For more on letterboxing, which is a low tech version of geocaching, visit www.letterbox.org.) I had a trip planned to three different Letterboxes in Wisconsin and Iowa, but we are having our first snow strom of the season and were not able to travel on county roads very well. We decided to go look for one relatively close, at The Worlds Largest "M", which is a few miles out of town but considered UWP property.

This letterboxing adventure began by climbing the M. You can see the snow that has fallen within the last 48 hours. Needless to say, the parking lot at the M was not plowed, so we had to leave our cars on the road side.

The clues led us through the woods, using various landmarks as guides. I have some more pictures of landmarks that go along with the clues but they are not as exciting. Below is a picture of Jen and I with the Letterbox journal. The box we found was a plastic, waterproof container. In the box is the journal that you see. We all left a message in the journal saying we had been there. This particular box was placed in the woods last December and one group found it before we did.

Stamping is a big part of letterboxing. We each bring a rubber stamp to leave our mark in the journal. Mine is an ichthus (Chritian fish symbol) and my letterboxing handle is "Gustie Hal". Also in the box is a rubber stamp that stays in the box. You then stamp your own journal with that stamp. (I just bring scraps of paper to stamp and then scrapbook the adventures later on.) Below are RDs Kelly and Kelly Jo stamping.
A view from the top of the hill, overlooking a snowy farm. When we drove past the farm, there were sheep-dog puppies, Collies, that were saying hello to us from their pen.
Jen liked the snow hanging on the berries, so I took this picture.
If you want to see more pictures from the Letterboxing adventure, they are posted on my Facebook account.

Also, this is our 100th post! Yea for us!