A Week with Grandma

We are having quite the time this week with Adelaide's Grandma Mary.My mom has been in town for 4 days, and we've already gone to the zoo, a letterboxing event, the mall, downtown to the Pearl, the plant nursery, and to a few other letterboxing locations, which are a secret and I have been told that I will be disliked by many if I squeal on those locations.

It's been busy but fun.

The letterboxing event was called the Ides Of March, and it was an experience for all of us. As the Event name suggests, it was based around the Romans and Ceasar. Sunday morning, we went to the Oracle (the host lady's house) and were dispensed wisdom (letterboxing clues) and fortified ourselves with coffee cake and coffee. Then commenced the Spoils of War (letterboxing: 4 hours to find over 20 letterboxes). We located one box and then went home to tend the baby.

The event concluded with the Roman Triumph (dinner) at DiNicola's, so we went, donning togas and our carrying letterboxing gear. We talked with other letterboxers and watched a game of Clue, Roman style play out, and traded stamps (which you can only get if you have solved a clue shared online by each letterboxer). They seemed like very nice, pretty normal people, but there was some weirdness.

In no particular order...

1. Everyone was wearing TOGAS and didn't seem to mind. Thespians, perhaps?

2. Everyone referred to themselves by their "Trail Name." So I would say, "Hi, I'm Annie Walnuts," when introduced to someone.

3. A Boxing Buddy won a prize at the prize drawing. When his name was called, the owner carried his buddy, a pocket-sized stuffed monkey, to the prize tray where the monkey proceeded to sniff out his prize, take a nap on the tray, and then jump back into his owner's pocket with the prize.

4. Serious letterboxers carry tool boxes containing a colorful array of stamp pads, markers, stamps, and other secret letterboxing stuff.

Wow, only four. That wasn't so bad.