back to the real world!

Well, it's good to be back. We had a wonderful vacation, even though the weather wasn't stellar, it was just good enough to let us do everything we wanted to do. On our last day at the lake, the sun broke out and it was perfect for laying on the beach, getting sweaty playing tennis and then jumping in the lake again! The rain held out long enough for us to have a very relaxing 3-hour campfire before the heavens opened and didn't stop until we reached NJ the next day!

Letterboxing was great - we had a wonderful group hike to Tenant Creek Falls with friends, where we introduced a bunch of newbies to letterboxing. Everyone was very excited when mom and I emerged from the hiding spot with the box. Later in the week, we went to Sinclair Point on the Great Sacandaga Lake. That was an interesting box to find. There were literally thousands of spiders on the beach there! They had the smartest camouflage, so you couldn't see them until they moved! I'll be posting a picture of one of the little beauties soon to gross you all out.

The big news is that we planted our first letterbox! After a pretty strenous hike (for me!), we made it to the summit of Hadley Mountain to plant the Hadley Mountain Fire Tower Letterbox. Luckily, it was a beautiful day, so we had incredible views of the Great Sacandaga Lake and many nearby and faraway mountains. Eric designed an excellent stamp, and I carved it in the morning before we set out. We're so pleased with the way the stamp came out. I have to say it was really exciting to leave a little something of ourselves on the top of a mountain for others to find. I can't wait to hear from a finder! I hope they won't be daunted by the climb - it's totally worth it!