Our first letterboxing excursion as a family took place along the Gandy Dancer Trail in Danbury, Wisconsin, but we were unsuccessful in finding the letterbox (although the fun afternoon with buddies was still well-worth the attempt!)
But in Mankato, Minnesota, we found two great letter boxes, using the letterboxing tips I shared last month. One was in a small park in a residential area, and the other was at the end of a very long walk along the bike paths and boardwalks that meander the Mankato area.
The kids used the letterbox stamps to mark their own notebooks, and stamped the notebooks in the letterboxes with the custom stamps they’d made.
And although I could barely force myself to peer into the viewfinder using my telephoto lens, I managed this shot of a four-foot-long snake that was sunning himself beside the boardwalk.
EEEEK!
Visit letterboxing.org to find directions to thousands of letterboxes hidden worldwide.
Southern Minnesota series:
Letterboxing in Mankato
Jeffers Petroglyphs
Sod House
Prairie Wildflowers
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1:04 pm
Sweet shot of that snake!!! But I agree, it would be hard to take a picture of that. I’d be scared it would slither over to me. The letterboxing looks soo cool. I hope I have a chance to try this with my son!
You are the coolest Mom ever Kelly!
3:30 pm
Very interesting about the letterboxes. The snake looks very sweet. I love snakes.
7:34 pm
Stumbled across you from blogher. Such a wealth of information you are.
Take care,
Heather
11:40 pm
that sounds like so much fun! i’m going to have to spend some time tomorrow looking into letter boxing. i have a few weeks left before school starts again so we just might be able to give this a try. thanks for sharing!
2:39 pm
I’d never heard of letterboxing until you started posting about it. You all go on so many cool adventures–may I join your family?
BTW, please stop by to see me sometime–Uncle Lynn is up to some more Giveaway Mischief!
3:32 pm
None of the letterboxes around here are available anymore, it’s kind of a bummer to me! A couple of weeks ago, while on vacation to the Oregon Coast, we bought a book called “Oregon Coast Quests” which are letterboxing type hunts. We absolutely had the biggest blast doing them, and we learned so much about the area, as well as getting out and checking out nature.
We are considering developing a few for our local area because the ones we did just whetted our appetites!
5:29 pm
Oh, I hope the pretty little snake didn’t decide to go letterboxing, too! This sounds like a neat kind of quest–I’m going to try it when the cousins come to visit. BTW, I’m doing something this week that might tickle your funnybone. Please drop by when you have the time. I’ve got an Asbury Park contest going, which is kinda fun! Bruce Springsteen, and good prizes, too!
5:39 pm
Ack I don’t do snakes! LOL The activity looks like a resounding success though!
Hugs,
Holly
11:47 pm
What fun, great shots!
I am off to learn a bit more about the letterboxing. 
12:05 am
That is so neat!
12:16 am
Sounds like a lot of fun! Great pic of the snake…yikes!
Happy WW!
3:26 am
Oh my a snake…
11:57 am
I have never heard of this before. But it sounds like fun!
11:41 pm
Thank goodness for telephoto! You wouldn’t want to get too close to that snake!
9:44 am
I’ve often wondered if the finds are ever vandalized?
Seems like a wonderful pastime for kids.
So, the snake even smiled. How’d you do that. ha ha ha ha ha ha
4:01 pm
Although I’ve heard about geo cacheing (sp?) I’ve never heard of letterboxing before. Thanks for the heads up!