Letterboxing/Storm Chasing Adventure

ABS Family

Though we have only been letterboxing a short time, we have already had some different experiences. I will tell you about one of our adventures. On March 11, 2006, we decided we would take the children and go LBing. We had an appointment that morning to go look at a piano, so we wanted to make a day out of it. We had a gameplan of trying to get as many letterboxes as we could that day. It did not work out that way. The day started out perfect. It was sunny and though there was a chance of rain, we were not going to let that stop us. After lunch, our first stop was "The Higbee Country Challenge". This is a great location and a letterbox someone will not just stumble upon. It has been there for a year and has had two visitors. I would encourage anyone to go get this one. It would be a rare addition to your log book. The weather is still nice and clear at this point. Next stop, "Grindstone". There is something about this LB that just causes it to rain. We tried this one once before and we no sooner stepped out of the van and it started to pour. This day was different, right?? We took the short strole out to the LB, found the LB and started to head back when it started to sprinkle. Now you must remember, we LB with a 7 year old, a 4 year old and an 18 month old so there is no hurry back to the van with this entrouge. Luckily it held off the REAL rain until after we were back to the bridge. We made it. We were a little wet but who cares. It rained hard for about ten minutes and then it brightened back up. That was our "chance of rain" right? In the mean time, we headed to "Capen" where we were planning to take another hike. Well without giving up to much info, I went and found the "Capen" LB and brought it back to the van. Noone was around so the plan was to stamp the book, look it over and put it back. Yuh Plan B!!!! It started raining so hard, I thought we were in the carwash. The wipers could not keep up with the amount of rain that was falling. Of course this brought everyone back to their cars in a hurry. When it started hailing (pea size) we thought maybe letterboxing was not such a wise chioce today. We moved to where we had some cover from the elements and waited. After thirty minutes, everyone had left except for one car. My wife and daughter had to use the restroom so we left with the LB with us and headed to the service station. We then went back to Capen and HEY the car had left, BUT was replaced by a Columbia Patrol Car. OH the luck! We drove around for another 20 minutes and then returned to the scene of the crime. "Grand Theft Letterbox". The parking lot was empty!!! It was still raining some, but I jumped out and replaced the LB to it's home. So did I actually steal it or just borrow it? Let the courts decide! You would have thought after all of this we would give up and call it a day, but we figured after what had happened it could not get any worse. Famous Last Words! We headed to "Higher Eduction". Now without giving anything away about C2B2's letterbox, there is a shelter near where the letterbox was hidden. We retrieved the letterbox, snapped a couple of photos, stamped the log books and replaced it. Remember earlier when I said it rained hard while we were at Capen. I lied because if the first rain strom was hard then this was a monsoon. And alot more hail (Quarter size). If you have been to "Higher Ed" you know of the protection that I am speaking of. We sat there for another 30 minutes or so. The children were having a great time by this point. They had watched an entire DVD and were starting on another. Thank You Lord for DVD players. They thought the hail was cool. The van did not! Once the rain had slowed and the weather man said the worst was past us, we headed to Cici's for supper before heading north towards home. All in all, we stamped four letterboxes and chased three storms all over Columbia. Amazingly enough, we had the greatest time because it got to be funny all the different situations we had ourselves in that day. See you at the LB Gathering and until then, don't let your inkpad dry up.

ABS Family