2007
The Big Blue Team consists of Grandpa, Grandma (me), and our three grandsons (now ages 10, 8, 4). We live in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Our very first letterboxing trek was July 23, 2007. We started out with a shopping trip to collect supplies -- for letterboxing and for eating. A store-bought clown stamp and blue ink were selected for our team stamp. We named our team The Big Blue Team for a very important reason -- we couldn't agree to anything else -- and we were all dressed in blue. Our first find in St. Thomas was Jumbo. Our first find in London was London Calling. Our first plant in St. Thomas was The Onion in the Sky. This box went missing Winter 07-08 when someone (the city perhaps) cleaned up the area. The letterboxer who came the furthest to find our box was a little girl form England.
Our second trek was during a buying trip to Mississauga. We stopped to try and find Blair's Sheaves Tower. The location was fabulous but we never did find the box. A little disappointed but not too much. We took tons of beautiful photos. This location is so picturesque.
That same summer we also made a day trip to Mitchell's Bay and found Marine Park Series #2.
2008
Our team stamp is now a store-bought train engine stamp which we ink blue to represent our team name and our home town.
June 3, 2008: We had the boys for the evening so we headed out to plant some new boxes since there were so few in our area. They are My Dam Letterbox, Ready, Aim . . . Letterbox, and New Onion in the Sky.
It was July 6 before we were able to head out on another trek. We started off by checking up on all our plants. It was so much fun reading the notes and stamps from letterboxers as far away as Buffalo, New York. We decided to check up on London Calling and Jumbo while we were out. We did a little first aid on Jumbo and when we returned home we contacted the planter to let her know we had done so and that she'd had lots of people find her box.
The second last week of July we went on a travel and camping trip with our grandsons and niece in a motor home. We had a marvellous time and even managed to find a few great spots to plant some letterboxes. We checked on Marine Park Series #2 and found it missing. We planted one of our own boxes as a temporary measure and when we were back home we contacted the planter about the first aid we'd done. We planted three letterboxes on this trip. In Dresden, ON we planted Freedom in Canada. Near Port Alma, ON we planted Windy North Shore. And near Dutton, ON we planted The Economist's Inuksuk.
We attended our first event September 20, 2008 -- Box ON! in Guelph, ON. What a great day. All the kids keep talking about now is when can we get back to Guelph and find more boxes. So many to find. So little time. The event was amazing and eye opening for us. And Taylor won the door prize!! Here is a list of our finds:
Traditional: We found all six boxes in the Box ON 2008 Parkside Series, and King of Town's Ham,
Traveler: Alma Mater , The Travelin' Canuck, Order, Order, Order, Read This, What Nation is my Trail Name from? , Trailfeathers' trail stamp of a bird, Jiggs' trail stamp, and Jiggs with Attitude
Cooties: Loose Tooth, Leave No Trace, and Got Ya
Event Stamp: A Loon for a Loonie, Royal Flush, and we found three of the Lord of the Rings stamps, Dora - Best Friends - The Big Humbo Jumbo, we found three of the Royal Choir stamps, Box ON Guelph, 2008, and Italian Renaissance Mask,
Other: Royal Coat of Arms of the UK, cupcake, and Canada Flag
One fine fall day we went to Pinafore Park to do some carving and make a plant. We now all have personal travelers: Superman, It's a Nut, Evergreen, Bessie and Hidden Gem. We also planted our very first hand carved stamp in The Hand Reaching Out.
On Thanksgiving Day (October 13) we went to London and found Old Oakie. It took us 3 hours because there weren't as many helpful people on the trail as we could have hoped for . . . lol . . . but we are so glad we found it. We had a great afternoon. When we came out of the woods, my oldest grandson looked at Grandpa hopefully and asked if we could "Call a cab back to our van" . . . lol.
I really miss not letterboxing in the winter so I've discovered virtual letterboxes and solved quite a few of them (27 actually): My Favorite Icarts 1 Box #1 and 2, Zoey 101, Simpsons 13, Finish This, What Bible Character am I? #12, Being Sonic with Wolves Part 5, Extinct, A Monumental Occasion, A Redneck Christmas Box #1 - 12, Staring Contest, I Got Your Nose, Do You Fight for Justice?, Wanna Waltz? Wanna Arm Wrestle?, Poor Kitty!!!!!!!!!!.
I also discovered LTC's this past winter. For my first LTC swap I carved Candy Cane on a white eraser. Simple . . . but then so am I. I received my own card back and 10 others which I really enjoyed. I have a few Candy Cane LTCs still available for trade.
I have participated in one postal so far: Peter Pan. A quick funny story to share about this one. My house and store keys went missing around the time I was participating in this postal. Imagine my surprize when I received AQMail from Mudflinginfools asking if I would like my keys mailed back!!!!!!
Well that's it for our history. We've already made one trek out in 2009 and can't wait to go out again.
See ya on the trail
Grandma
Big Blue Team
St. Thomas, ON
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