Slow Days are Not Always Bad

I took advantage of my day off on Thursday to do some letterboxing. I had a stamp I wanted to plant in Fremont and a seminar to attend in Maumee, so I figured it'd be a good day to get it all in.

Things didn't turn out quite how I would have liked them to, and the box finding part was not as productive.

Trying to figure out which route to take up to Fremont was my first delima. There were plenty of boxes that I needed to find spread out north of me. I had decided to try to get a few that were a little out of the direct route...bad plan.

One of the first ones I went after was in a small camping/fishing place near a lake. The place was not crowded this time of year...the weather has gotten too cold, I suspect. However, parked right next to the tree where I needed to look was a vehicle. Someone that had just parked there to sit. Maybe they were on a lunch break, I don't know, but they did not get out, they just sat there. So I waited a little bit, got out of my car and walked around a bit. I took a picture.

It was cold, and so I got back in my vehicle. That other person still just sat there. I got tired of waiting, I felt like my time was being wasted, and so I left...no box today. Oh well, there were more to be found. I went on my way.

Well, I didn't have any more luck at the next two places I stopped at for boxes. The first place, a cemetery, the grounds crew was at work, there truck was right next to the tree where I needed to search. The next place, another cemetery. I thought I would be fine at this one, it was way out of the way, and an older cemetery. There were three of them there, I was excited to get them. However, I was foiled again, when I drove up to the place I saw a truck parked right next to the tree I needed to look in. The place was pretty small, and there was no way I could go after the other boxes there without being seen.

I moved on, and drove further north, and made it to Clyde, were I finally was able to find a box! I then headed to Fremont, clues in hand to hopefully find some there. The day was slipping past me, though, and I still needed to plant my box and make it to Maumee for that seminar.

So I went to plant first. I found a wonderful old cemetery (at the suggestion of my friend, Bone Yard Recorder) and started to walk around and scout it out. It one area, there is a pile of old stones. I found it sad that these stones were no longer where they were meant to be. There are a lot of old military stones in this cemetery, some people probably long forgotten. I paused a moment to honor them.

Along the tree line, I found something very strange. Probably the weirdest thing I have ever found while letterboxing...a gas mask. I don't even know what to say about that.


I had just a little time left after planting my box before I had to head out of town...so I decided I would get a couple more boxes. And I'm glad I did, I ended up with two wonderful carvings, and one of them took me a short ways down the Buckeye Trail. Someday I would love to hike the entire Buckeye Trail, but at least today I was able to hike a little of it.