The Pepe's & Davidow's Letterboxing Site

SPECIAL NOTICE: The Prince of Naples limited edition, 2 hour letterbox will take place on its appointed date and time regardless of the weather - our prince waits for no one and will be on his throne for all of his loyal and hearty subjects!!!

Our Prince of Naples clues to the special 2 hour letterbox are posted in our Photo Album. Click the Prince of Naples Clues folder in the photo album and you will see a postage stamp sized photo, click again for a medium sized image and click a second time for a full sized, legible clue. Read and print off this largest clue. Good luck!

Don't forget to sign our Guest Map in the lower portion of this column if you haven't yet done so. Thanks!

Our Website of the Week is Azroadie's web site. Check out the link located in the right column. Our Poll of the Week is up and ready for your vote. It relates to teenage children and their posts on the talklists. Our Box of the Week honors go to our friend, Amymisha, of Boothbay, ME for her Mr. or Ms. Potato Head. You start with a potato head body, then choose from eyes, mouths, noses and accessories. In each category there are several choices from which to choose so no Potato Head will be the same! Great job, Amy - now we just have to find the time to get up there and get this box!

Looked at the next person on the list for Beating a Dead Horse postal box and noticed it was CT Ferret from Wethersfield. After a quick email to her, we made plans and met today to transfer ownership of the Dead Horse, along with a new HH we are releasing called Dead Duck - you know, birds of a feather - yada, yada? We also had a chance for 2 quick exchanges with CT Ferret and her son Liam, who seems to be the letterboxing enthusiast in the family.

Sue and I received Bindle Babe's Beating a Dead Horse Postal Letterbox in today's mail. We will get it on it's way on Monday. Can't wait to get rid of it - ever smell a dead horse?

We have been very busy today between following the NCAA tournament [GO UCONN!] and getting our Prince of Naples 2 hour letterbox ready. Have to keep this short. Stop back on Monday for the clues to Prince of Naples!

The first 24 states have been posted on our First State Letterboxes page. Please check it out and let us know if there are any errors, additions or corrections that can be made. This is our effort to once again preserve this valuable part of letterboxing history. It would be wonderful if we could receive reports on these boxes as to their status. Each box represents an important part of the past that we hope can be preserved for the future!

Our new Poll of the Week is ready for your vote. Phyto - I'm watching you!! ;-)

Work has begun on our special, limited edition, 2 hour letterbox. The stamp has been already been carved. Sue and I will take a trip Saturday to find a location and prepare our clues. We are calling this letterbox The Prince of Naples. We will not plant this box earlier than it will be available. You have just a 2 hour window in which to find this box. Stay tuned for clues to be announced here next Monday, March 29th.

In keeping with the Maine motif of today's posts, we have chosen Nautilus' and Culex's Transportation Hitchhiker Hostel as our Box of the Week. This is probably the first time Sue and I have done a Box of the Week before it has been chosen. See our story below related to our experiences at this box!
Our Website of the Week honors goes to CodeBCleo. See the link below in the right column.

Where do I begin? What a weekend! It started at 10:15 am Saturday at the State of Maine box, where we met TeamGreenDragon, RustyPuff & CSCM and CameraObscura, then went on to meet Amymisha in Portland at the Ihop for breakfast. From there, we headed to Portland, where we did 3 of Casco Bay Painter's boxes, and phyto's Munjoy Hill Observatory and Trolley Park boxes. We ran into the Weathergleams at the Trolley Park as they were just finishing the boxes. Ended the day with 6 finds - Maine is certainly not like CT!!!

From Portland, we headed to our hotel to clean up [some of us napped!] and got ready for the pre-gathering meal at Federal Jack's. Sue and I had a great time there. How could you not - with a table of 25 letterboxers eating great food, swapping stories from the trails and gossip, teasing and educating new letterboxers and handing out secret clues? We enjoyed our time talking to Tony and Veronica from Waterford, CT. We left the restaurant in a mini blizzard which never really amounted to much.

Sunday morning saw us getting up a little later than planned so we missed the TeamGreenDragon group as they were heading out. Sue and I decided to find Isoceles' Higher Education in Biddeford. As we pulled into the parking lot, we saw Tony walking across the parking lot, box in hand. After stamping in, Tony and Veronica joined us as we made a trip to Nautilus and Culex's Home, Sweet, Home Mystery box. With only an hour before the start of the gathering, we hit every slow Maine driver on the road, but managed to make it to the gathering before Deb Blanchard's Dartmoor presentation. Inside the mystery box, we found Butterfly's Early Bird's Catch HH! Then we knew why Sadie and Russ encouraged us to get to that mystery box; they must have transported this Butterfly creation from CT! Since it was Tony and Veronica's second HH, we let them take it with them.

The gathering itself was so much fun. Sue and I managed to get 19 new exchanges as well as some great event-only letterboxes. The gathering started with Deb Blanchard's presentation on Dartmoor Letterboxing. Deb chose to take a walking trail that wound it's way through a picturesque village in the eastern part of Devon. This walk had it's own boxes with poems that told of the locations. On display were many of her trip rememberances: her walking stick that she purchased in Dartmoor with many medallions from England, a lot of Dartmoor literature, a few souvenirs and a whole collection of pictures from her trip to both Dartmoor and London. During Deb's presentation, we witnessed a momentous occasion: Wanda hit her F4000! Quite a thing to see. There is only one Wanda and we salute her on her herculean accomplishment!

After the presentation, we all went to the porch of the education center for a group photo [or six!] As we gathered back into the building, we were handed the clues for the special one day boxes hidden on the grounds. After a quick bite to eat at the potluck luncheon and much talking, exchanging and gossipping, Sue and I headed out with Wanda & Pete and TeamGreenDragon to get those special event-only letterboxes.

The gathering ended with a champagne toast offered by CameraObscura as Amymisha hit her F100! Congrats Amy! What a contrast in one afternoon: Amy hits her F100 and Wanda breaks F4000. This was surely a diverse group.


On our way home, Sue & I stopped at Nautilus' and Culex's new HH Hostel. After I found the hostel box, I heard a car horn sound and saw Tony & Veronica getting out of their car. They told us this was their second attempt at looking for the hostel as their first search was interrupted by a local policeman, who thought they were involved in an arguement. After questioning Veronica to be that she was alright, taking down their car's license plate number and Tony's driver's license number, the cop left the area and so did Tony and Veronica! They saw us on their second attempt to find the hostel! What we letterboxers will do to get a box! Tony is now wanted in the state of Maine! ;-)

Our weekend ended with a stop at Amymisha & CameraObscura's new box, Love Buzz. They both carved this stamp. This clue was handed to us by Amy at the Ihop as we began our weekend. Sue & I were so tired, we almost passed this up but decided to stop last minute and we were glad we did. What a great box it was! I don't want to spoil it for anyone but you must get this one and read the story within. This is a perfect example of the creativity we found throughout the weekend on all of the Maine boxes. Sue and I were first finders on this one - a great ending to a fantastic, boxalicious weekend!

Watch for our new First Letterboxes page that will list the earliest known letterbox planted in each of the 50 states. The list will be based on Mapsurfer's original achived page, which will be updated to include the links, if known, from the new letterboxing.org website. If you see an error, please let us know. If we cannot find a current link, the letterbox will be listed anyway. Again, it's another way to link our letterboxing past to the present! Thanks for your help!

Well - it's almost here! Letterboxing at Laudholm is only 2 days away - Sunday, March 21 in Wells, Maine. Deb Blanchard wil give a slide presentation and discussion of her Dartmoor letterboxing trip. Also scheduled are various demos on felt stamp holders, matchbook-style logbooks, group photo, potluck luncheon, hitchhiker hostel, special letterboxes - how can you stay at home??
Be sure to keep an eye on the talk list and the new letterboxes as they seem to be coming fast and furious for this gathering!

In preparation for our early departure Saturday morning, this will most likely be our last post until Monday, when we hope to have a complete report on the weekend's activities. Boxing up the Maine coast and the pre-event dinner on Saturday, the gathering on Sunday - it's like a mini boxing vacation! Hope to see you all there!

I want to take a moment to thank all of you for the wonderful support given me for our Interview Series. The emails are still arriving. It looks like Funhog, and the series as a whole, were well-received. Thanks for your continued support for our Interview Series and this webpage in general.

Received a great package from England today. Check out our Dartmoor Trip page for details!

A new weekly feature will be our Website of the Week. This week I have chosen SpringChick's Stamp-in-the-Box site. The link will be located in the right column under our PFX's. Every Monday we will randomly choose another letterboxer's website, in an effort to get exposure to all of those great sites out there.

Our new Poll of the Week is up and ready for your vote!

Anyone interested in joining us for a day of wild letterboxing in Maine on Saturday, March 20; meet us at the State of Maine letterbox parking lot at 10 am. TeamGreenDragon, Solar & Binx, Rustypuff & CSCM and others will be there! The plan is to head to Portland and get all of those great, new boxes there and box south, following the coast until we get to our hotel at 5pm to get ready for the 6pm dinner at Federal Jack's.
See our New England Gatherings page for more info on Federal Jack's and Letterboxing at Laudholm.

Back from a great, almost snowless! weekend in VT. Did find time for a long walk on the Deerfield Valley Trail, home of our Symbols of Freedom series.

Last month, I went off with a diatribe about trying to include more innovation and different ways to plant boxes and write clues. Today I found some great, new and innovative boxes planted by the WeatherGleams, Teach & Preach, Waterfalls, and Sadie and Russ along with Butterfly. I think this is one of the ways we take this pastime to the next level. Look at HOW prized those Legerdemaine boxes are. Who knows how many others like Legerdemaine are out there. Looks like the list is ever-growing. Thanks to the above, along with TeamGreenDragon, Phyto and Isoceles, Amymisha, Casco Bay Painter and others, who continue this great tradition! You all make this pastime a little better with these creative letterboxes. Thanks so much!!!

Added a new link to an up-and-coming letterboxing website by MandM. Check it out.

CW Sunseeker, from Salt Lake City, Utah, sent us our second letterbox to take to Dartmoor this fall. It's called the Travel Bug HH, which will also make a brief appearance at Letterboxing at Laudholm. She is very excited to get stamps from all over and has given me permission to bring it to any events prior to our trip. It's a great stamp and we hope to fill up the logbook with stamps from around New and Old England!!

Sue & I are headed to VT tonight after work for the weekend. We plan to snowshoe and I plan to carve my special 2 hour stamp for my limited edition letterbox.
Clues and date to be announced. Watch this page for more details!

More so than in the states, UK letterboxers rely on WoM [Word of Mouth] clues. I have been in touch with several and have a few of these for our trip to Dartmoor. One of the Brit letterboxers emailed me a link for the fairly new Yahoo England Letterboxing Group.

I highly encourage you all to take a look, and join, especially if you are coming on our trip. What we learn here may prove invaluable!

It's official - our plans have been finalized for our Dartmoor trip this September. There are now 14 of us going. Check out our Dartmoor Trip page for more info.

Things are heating up with the advent of Letterboxing at Laudholm! Sold out hotels, 25 already joining us for dinner Saturday night before the event, special boxes for the gathering, Dartmoor slide presentation, demos on felt stamp holders and matchbook-style logbooks, surprises here, travelers there! Don't miss out on this one!

Nautilus & Phyto have been working hard on the upcoming Letterboxing at Laudholm gathering to take place on March 21 in Wells, ME at the Wells National Estuarine Reserve. For further details, see our New England Gatherings page and look under March 21. If you click on the gathering name, the link will take you to a specially prepared page done by Isoceles that not only has the schedule and times, but also has listed a few of the area letterboxes with links to those clues. Could they make it any easier? Let Amymisha or myself know via email if you are interested in the Pre-gathering meal, Saturday nite, March 20, 6pm at Federal Jack's Brew Pub in Kennebunk.

Our new Box of the Week is by Jay, from New Hampshire, who has just planted the Greyhound Letterbox. This box is planted for Rocky, his retired greyhound, who loves to box! If while letterboxing a rabbit crosses the trail, I wonder what happens???

Our new Poll of the Week will continue the talk list discussion about placing letterboxes in cemeteries. Opinions have been wide-ranging and we expect the same results from this poll.

Don't forget to sign in on our Guest Map located in the lower right column of this page. Thanks, we enjoy seeing from what part of the world are readers live!

Can't answer anymore email tonight as I will be busy! The much-awaited new season premiere of The Soprano's airs tonight. It will be good to see Tony and the guys back in action!
Yo - what? You talkin' ta me????

Sue and I headed out right after church this morning and got home at 5:30. It was a very fruitful day - 1 Legerdemaine box and 12 others - who said 13 is an unlucky number? Check our Finds Page 3 for our conquests de jour.

I can't believe the furor this 2 hour special letterbox is causing. Posts on the talklist and my email has been going nuts! Boy - you letterboxing people are crazy! It's only a stamp . . . albeit a once in a lifetime, extra special, supercalifragilistic stamp! ;-) Things have been very busy at work, plus the Dartmoor trip arrangements, plus Funhog's interview - you get the picture. I haven't even carved the stamp yet! The clues will happen when they happen - but don't worry, I will give you plenty of notice! Thanks for all of your interest in this limited edition letterbox.

I couldn't wait until Monday! Have to share the Funhog interview with you today! Have fun and enjoy!

The fourth installment of our Interview Series should be ready for Monday. Funhog is our subject and the interview should give you an insight into the life and world of this most interesting individual. Stay tuned for letteboxing and life according to the Hog!

In case you hadn't noticed, there's a new CT letterboxer named Waterfalls [or a veteran trying a new twist!] They have approached this game in a novel way - you have to email them, by hitting the "contact placer" button on the clue page, and include the name of your favorite letterbox. After you do that, you will receive the clues to this first letterbox, Waterfalls One, via email. Your entry for favorite box is then added at the bottom of this clue page. I imagine the list will be updated regularly. Is it my imagination, or have we become more innovative and clever with our clues and the ways in which we distribute them? That's a good thing and something I totally advocate!
By the way, that Hawk Watch entry in Putney, VT belongs to Sue & I.

Update! Waterfalls has introduced a second box, Waterfalls Two. To get the clues to this one, you must email your favorite mystery letterbox! Where will it all end?! That's our Gang of 8 by Mapsurfer entry!

OK - here's the scoop. I will be announcing a new, special letterbox of mine that will be around for one day only! That's right, 1 day only between the hours of 2 to 4pm, somewhere in CT. Clues and date will be forthcoming in the next 4 days or so. Let me just assure you that this box will be well worth your visiting - even if you have to travel a distance. That's all I can say for now! Don't you just love a good mystery? Gather around and stay tuned - things are about to heat up!

Brian, from TeamGreenDragon, posted on the NE talklist his method of carving stamps. I thought this would serve as a great teaching tool, so I have added a page. If you want to begin to carve a stamp, this process may work for you. After all, there is no one better from which to learn!

I just received an email from Turtle McQ. She told me that her Rockport, MA letterbox, Bull Frog Pond, has a hole in the lid of the box and water is getting into the box. She asked if I [or anyone else] planning to go to the Maine gathering on March 14 via Boston, would do her a favor and either replace the box with a new tupperware container or at least drop the old box into a new ziplock bag. You could also visit her nearby Shooting Star box. Maybe we should start a new page on the website for those boxes that need maintenance and the owner may be out of the area!

Sadie & Russ handed off their contribution to the letterboxes that we are taking to England this September. It's a great HH called Window on New England. Russ has become an accomplished carver and this is a great stamp. And what about those X-Y Twister clues?! Leaves my head spinning. Thanks both of you for this contribution. We'll return it after we get back.

Check out our New England Gatherings page for a hotel suggestion in the Wells, Maine area for the upcoming Maine gathering in Wells.

In an effort to head my own words of an earlier post about bringing more innovation and creativity to clues and boxes that we all plant, I have been playing around with a software program to create acrostic-style puzzles, that once completed will reveal the clues to a particular letterbox. My upcoming Mountain View Letterbox will be created in that style.

Our new Poll of the Week relates to the proliferation of personal travelers at the past POE gathering and most likely, future gatherings. Please vote your feelings. Also, check out our Finds Page 2 and new Finds Page 3 for details of those travelers, boxes and HH picked up at POE.