Geocaching

We are active letterboxers so we’re looking forward to one day trying out Geocaching, which is letterboxing’s high tech cousin.  I saw that Family Circle magazine had a great article on Geocaching and thought I’d share it…would be a great summer hobby!  You can read the article online here.

If your family does geocaching, let me know and share some tips!

Great Leaf Peeping Drive!

While searching for things to do on our camping trip to Tamworth, New Hampshire, I came across this road trip article for Mt. Chocorua. What a great trip it was! We headed out on a Friday morning, so we didn't run into much traffic. The trip is so "back woods", I don't think you'd run into much traffic anyways!We left midmorning, so we didn't stop at the first ice cream place...just headed straight for the Mt. Chocorua view. I printed some letterboxes beforehand and was excited to find a letterbox at the same place (Mt. Chocorua View). Got some great foliage pictures as well as family & kid pictures here too!After that, we went and got some pics of the mountain over the pond. So pretty!

Now it's totally back woods time....unpaved roads, barely any houses and lots of foliage! When we saw signs for Liberty Trail, I remembered another letterbox (Liberty Trail) was there so we headed off to find that.
We continued on the drive until we came to Great Hill Road and then stopped to do another letterbox (Great Hill Tower). This hike is a must do! I'd say it's probably about a half mile into the woods. Once you reach the tower, you can climb up and look at all the mountains and foliage around you. Totally worth it!
Once you start the drive again and get on Cleveland Hill Road, stop to check out Ordinance Rock on the right. There's yet another letterbox (Ordinance Rock Cemetery) right across the street. The kids loved looking at all the very old gravestones in the cemetery.Hollow Hill Farm is right beside the cemetery and we did some apple picking there on another day (because it was raining on our first trip by). The owners are very nice people!
We saw the coolest rainbow on the way to the next stop...just beautiful!One of the best stops on the trip was at the Sandwich Creamery. It's way in the middle of nowhere. They sell homemade ice cream and cheese there. It's all done on the honor system by sticking your money through a little slot to pay for what you're buying. And the the ice cream is delicious! The kids liked seeing all the animals there too.After our ice cream, we just headed back to our campground although the trip continues a little longer. We highly recommend doing this road trip if you're going to be in the area....and I'd try to go during the fall to see all the amazing colors!

Letterboxing 101

There's an event out in Worcester this weekend where you can learn all about Letterboxing. From the site:

Saturday, April 25, 2009
10:00 AM-12:00 PM

Mass Audubon: Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center and Wildlife Sanctuary
414 Massasoit Avenue
Worcester, MA 01604

Letterboxing is an exciting family-friendly hobby that involves hiking, puzzle solving, treasure hunting, and rubber stamp artistry,topped off with the thrill of discovery. Join us for a morning of creating your own stamp, hiding a letterbox, hiking, and hunting for clues on the beautiful trails of Broad Meadow Brook. Bring your own logbook/notebook if you have one or create one during the program. Wear shoes appropriate for trail walking. For more information and to register, call 508.753.6087.

Cost: $6 Mass Audubon Members, $8 Non-members, $4 Child Members, $5 Child Non-members. . Family maximum price: $20 Members, $26 Non-member

My family loves to letterbox! You get to explore new places that you probably don't even know are there and spend quality time together. We did our first box of the year this week over school vacation and also planted a box here in Carver.

If you're new to letterboxing or want to find out more, check out the letterboxing website.

Letterboxing is fun!

Looking for something fun and FREE for the kids to do this summer? Try Letterboxing! We're big letterboxing fans here although we don't do it nearly enough! What is letterboxing you ask? It's like a treasure hunt....there's boxes hidden all around you and you can see the clues to find them at websites like Atlas Quest and Letterboxing NA. The kids have a blast hunting for them and now that my oldest can read, he usually reads the clues to us. All you need to start is a stamp (can be store bought, carved yourself or custom made), a log book, an inkpad, a pen and it's usually a good idea to have bug spray and sunscreen. Print out the clues to some local boxes and off you go! We have a small backpack that we keep in the car with all our supplies and some local boxes we haven't found printed out and ready to go. You can also download all the clues in a spreadsheet for a certain region and save them to your laptop before you head on a trip if you won't have internet access. I just had custom stamps made for the kids through Happie Stamps' etsy store....check her out! We're going to go back to try and find some boxes in Plymouth we couldn't find the first time around and there's a box planted at an Alpaca farm in Middleboro we'll attempt this week! Happy hunting!