Happy Halloween
So Wednesday was Halloween, and although I had to work there was a new special series by NattyBumppo that I had to get! Celtic Cat and I planned on meeting up after work and attempting to find the Trick or Treat boxes placed in Montgomery County. The boxes were hidden in "real" haunted places and the idea of hunting them on Halloween night made the idea even scarier!!
The clues were posted at midnight on Halloween and I spent 3 hours figuring them out with the help of Cyclonic. It really was a great help to have someone to bounce clue ideas off of, thanks ;)
After work, I met up with Celtic Cat around 5pm and we were off to the first location! I had reverse engineered the order of the boxes, to try to get to difficult boxes before darkness would interfere. So our first box was actually the "trick" box. No box to be found, although we looked and looked before finally giving up.
The next box took us to a location that was really scary especially since darkness was descending upon us!! We just couldn't get the clues to work, we wandered outside of the fence for a while retracing our steps and finally I was about ready to give up. Celtic Cat on the other hand was just starting! I decided to make an emergency phone call to Sheba the only person I knew would be out finding the same boxes. I ended up calling three times before the clues actually clicked! We needed to be inside the gate, not outside like we were. We moved the car inside the gate and began hunting around Building 17. Well after 15 minutes and still no box, we were accosted by the night security guard. He was a little bit perturbed that we were poking around a restricted area asking us what were doing on the grounds. I lied and said I lost my keys earlier in the day and we were just looking for them. I doubt he believed me and we reluctantly left the grounds without finding the box.
Just a side note, it is funny how the letterboxers mind works. Everything and anything could be a clue. We passed some people putting out a jack-o-lantern near the grounds of Building 17 and we were convinced that it had to be a clue. It's just funny that I see things differently now, that's all.
On to the third box location!! We didn't park under the basketball net as advised but had trouble finding the actual trail. It was really dark and I had brought a little wind-up flashlight. It was barely enough light to see let alone find the trail. We eventually found the trail and our first box- "Sucker" I felt like a sucker, wandering around in the 'woods' at night looking for pieces of tupperware but honestly I was having a great time!
The next box was hidden in an old cemetery. There was no one around and it was very dark. I had a sudden feeling of creepiness, I don't know if it was the thought of Halloween ghosts and goblins or the actual perception of other worldliness- but the hair was standing up on the back of my neck. Seriously, what was I doing here? We found the "Where-wolf" box and quickly replaced it.
The last box was also hidden in a cemetery, but this one was actually creepier than the first! It was located in an abandoned section of a state park. The cemetery itself was enclosed by a nice stone wall, but finding it was a challenge. The clues said to take 50 paces west and look for the trail into the woods. Pull out my trusty compass only to find it missing!! I had lost my compass somewhere along the way! Oh no, well we tried to figure out which way was west and eventually found the trail. Celtic Cat pushed on~ must find box. After we found the box, we sat outside the cemetery wall and stamped up. It was a beautiful night, a bit the moon shining through the trees- gave the area an eerie glow. The "Frankensteen" box was safely rehidden and we were off to try to find the non-event stamp.
Our idea was that the box was located on Wolf lane, because of the "where-wolf" box. We found Wolf Lane in Ambler, PA and drove up and down the street looking for Nattybumppo's house. After several attempts, we called it a night and headed home.
The next day, Celtic Cat went back to Building 17 and found the box! Seriously, she's got some spunk- I gave up but she kept on trying. Leafcutters and I also went out again on Thursday. He wasn't able to find the boxes on Halloween night and since Nattybumppo wouldn't be retrieving them until later- we went out together to find the boxes all over again. But this time it was daylight and not so scary! We also had the clues for the final box, the non-event stamp. Which was located on Natty's front porch :) The stamp was great and I had a fun time talking with his son Walker and his wife.
All in all, it was a fantastic letterboxing adventure. A big thank you to Natty for the great boxes and locations! And to Celtic Cat for her driving force behind our Halloween hunt. Maybe next year, I'll have a Halloween hunt of my own :)
Thanks for reading,
Lotus
(( Just a sidebar-- I know it's been a while since I posted a blog. Life has been a bit hectic over the past year. It was through the urgings of PhillyFanatic that I decided to update my blog. Hopefully, I will be able to continue updating in the future!))
The clues were posted at midnight on Halloween and I spent 3 hours figuring them out with the help of Cyclonic. It really was a great help to have someone to bounce clue ideas off of, thanks ;)
After work, I met up with Celtic Cat around 5pm and we were off to the first location! I had reverse engineered the order of the boxes, to try to get to difficult boxes before darkness would interfere. So our first box was actually the "trick" box. No box to be found, although we looked and looked before finally giving up.
The next box took us to a location that was really scary especially since darkness was descending upon us!! We just couldn't get the clues to work, we wandered outside of the fence for a while retracing our steps and finally I was about ready to give up. Celtic Cat on the other hand was just starting! I decided to make an emergency phone call to Sheba the only person I knew would be out finding the same boxes. I ended up calling three times before the clues actually clicked! We needed to be inside the gate, not outside like we were. We moved the car inside the gate and began hunting around Building 17. Well after 15 minutes and still no box, we were accosted by the night security guard. He was a little bit perturbed that we were poking around a restricted area asking us what were doing on the grounds. I lied and said I lost my keys earlier in the day and we were just looking for them. I doubt he believed me and we reluctantly left the grounds without finding the box.
Just a side note, it is funny how the letterboxers mind works. Everything and anything could be a clue. We passed some people putting out a jack-o-lantern near the grounds of Building 17 and we were convinced that it had to be a clue. It's just funny that I see things differently now, that's all.
On to the third box location!! We didn't park under the basketball net as advised but had trouble finding the actual trail. It was really dark and I had brought a little wind-up flashlight. It was barely enough light to see let alone find the trail. We eventually found the trail and our first box- "Sucker" I felt like a sucker, wandering around in the 'woods' at night looking for pieces of tupperware but honestly I was having a great time!
The next box was hidden in an old cemetery. There was no one around and it was very dark. I had a sudden feeling of creepiness, I don't know if it was the thought of Halloween ghosts and goblins or the actual perception of other worldliness- but the hair was standing up on the back of my neck. Seriously, what was I doing here? We found the "Where-wolf" box and quickly replaced it.
The last box was also hidden in a cemetery, but this one was actually creepier than the first! It was located in an abandoned section of a state park. The cemetery itself was enclosed by a nice stone wall, but finding it was a challenge. The clues said to take 50 paces west and look for the trail into the woods. Pull out my trusty compass only to find it missing!! I had lost my compass somewhere along the way! Oh no, well we tried to figure out which way was west and eventually found the trail. Celtic Cat pushed on~ must find box. After we found the box, we sat outside the cemetery wall and stamped up. It was a beautiful night, a bit the moon shining through the trees- gave the area an eerie glow. The "Frankensteen" box was safely rehidden and we were off to try to find the non-event stamp.
Our idea was that the box was located on Wolf lane, because of the "where-wolf" box. We found Wolf Lane in Ambler, PA and drove up and down the street looking for Nattybumppo's house. After several attempts, we called it a night and headed home.
The next day, Celtic Cat went back to Building 17 and found the box! Seriously, she's got some spunk- I gave up but she kept on trying. Leafcutters and I also went out again on Thursday. He wasn't able to find the boxes on Halloween night and since Nattybumppo wouldn't be retrieving them until later- we went out together to find the boxes all over again. But this time it was daylight and not so scary! We also had the clues for the final box, the non-event stamp. Which was located on Natty's front porch :) The stamp was great and I had a fun time talking with his son Walker and his wife.
All in all, it was a fantastic letterboxing adventure. A big thank you to Natty for the great boxes and locations! And to Celtic Cat for her driving force behind our Halloween hunt. Maybe next year, I'll have a Halloween hunt of my own :)
Thanks for reading,
Lotus
(( Just a sidebar-- I know it's been a while since I posted a blog. Life has been a bit hectic over the past year. It was through the urgings of PhillyFanatic that I decided to update my blog. Hopefully, I will be able to continue updating in the future!))
posted by lotus & leafcutters @ 3:32 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Good to see you blogging!
I did the Halloween boxes today and started in the graveyard with the stone wall. Was there at 5:30 this morning and it was a bit on the spooky side. However, it wasn't nearly as spooky as Building 17 was in the broad daylight! Fortunately, I was able to zone in on the box location almost immediately and was only in the area for about 10 minutes but it was about 9 minutes too long. But the series was a lot of fun and I am so happy that Natty decided to extend the dates since I was a little tied up on Halloween night with my little pirate, aka Milkmonster.
Jan
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