'Letter-boxing' with the girls

We set out a bit past noon, the four of us, Ann, the two daughters and me, in search of concealed tokens, with a map of cryptic instructions on how to locate them. Kelly tells me this is an activity called "Letter-boxing", for which one downloads a set of instructions describing how to locate the cached token.

Meg carried the instructions, which for us entailed a walk several blocks across uptown to the childrens' library/theatre/museum facility called Imaginon. There, it was necessary to visit the facility (which was free) culling clues from signage and displays, until we had extracted sufficient details which, re-arranged, told us precisely where to look for the hidden token.

The token is typically a small, concealed rubber-stamp, which one then inks, and imprints in a journal brought along for the purpose. There's a real feeling of triumph and accomplishment when one finally locates the token, and ceremoniously inks and imprints it in the record-book.

It's necessary to conduct oneself with quiet discretion while hunting for the cached token. It takes quite a bit of reserve to resist shouting with glee when the darned thing is found.  After recording the event, one subtly replaces the token-stamp in it cache, for others to enjoy the game.

Our girls found five such caches on a two hour walk today, and came home very satisfied. For my part, I delighted in seeing them have this kind of fun, although I did my best to stay out of the way, and let them conduct the search. I was only there to report.

To learn more about 'Letter-boxing', visit http://letterboxing.org, or http://www.atlasquest.com  .