Letterboxing

We started letterboxing last summer, as a way to get out and explore our area as a family.  I discovered letterboxing while reading about it on a coupon blog {I can't remember which} which prompted a google search that landed me at Atlas Quest, and Letterboxing North America, two online letterboxing communities. It is a great way to have some frugal, family oriented, fun!

What is letterboxing? My girls used to call it stampin'. Letterboxing is similar to geocaching, but way cheaper {you don't need a GPS to find a letterbox}. You follow clues, some of which are posted online at one of the sites mentioned above, to find a box. The box you find will hold a {usually} hand-carved rubber stamp and also a log book. When you find the box, you are supposed to stamp an image of the stamp you find in your log book, and an image of your stamp in the log book of the letterbox you find.

What do you need to get started? You will need a trail name. We are the 4snipes because there are 4 of us in our family, and  because Addy was obsessed with really liked the movie UP last year and thought I told her we were looking for a "snipe" when I said "stamp". You also need a log book, which can be any book with paper in it {thicker paper helps, a watercolor book is nice}, a pen or pencil, an ink pad {or something similar to ink your stamp, markers work as well}, and a stamp {can be hand-carved, ours is not... one day it will be}. For some, you will even need a compass {we have not made that investment yet, though I may be able to download one on my smart phone. I should check.}

We decided to go letterboxing at Lynden City Park the other day {blog post to come in the near future about the playground there}, without daddy. I figured the park would be a good place to go, since we really needed to get out of the house, and I already knew the girls loved the playground {double bonus}.

We started by logging onto Atlas Quest and typing Lynden, WA under Location-Based Search. I printed all of the posts for Lynden City Park before we headed out the door. The one we ultimately ended up finding was titled "Summer Memories". When we got to the park, we took our letterboxing bag {a reusable tote} filled with our supplies, and began our hunt!

We saw lots of trees on our adventure!

One of the clues led us here.

Yay, we found it!

This is what was inside.

Next, we stamped each book. I like to write the name of the box, who hid/carved the stamp, location and date. I also wrote our trail name and date in their book, as well as our location. It's neat to look through the log book to see the different stamps! I am leaving room in my book to add pictures, so it will be more like a scrapbook of our adventures.

Then, place everything back, seal and re-hide the letterbox.

Make sure to cover it well! Now we are ready to go home {OK, not really, but hypothetically} and log back on to Atlas Quest to record our find. When we record our find, we also have an opportunity to rate the box and leave a comment. 

We have found about 3/4 of the boxes we have hunted for, so I tend to always print out two or three sets of clues. We hunted for three at Lynden City Park, and only found one. Some of the clues had been removed {the box was planted in 2009, and the park has undergone construction since then} and we found where the other one was supposed to be, but it appeared to have been taken {above picture is taken in front of where we should have been able to find a letterbox}. The girls told me we didn't find it because they were too loud so someone took it. I won't argue with that! It is still fun to hunt, even if we don't find the "treasure".


Also, we are always careful not to go off paths, or to sketchy areas. We make sure to leave everything as we find it, and not trample the area. It is important that letterboxing does not become destructive {to us, or the areas where the boxes are hidden!}

Want to know more? Letterboxing began in the mid 1800's in Dartmoor, England {check out Atlas Quest for more history, it is really interesting}. Today, there are over 100,000 letterboxes planted all over the world. We love the idea of being able to go letterboxing while on vacation, camping, a day trip, or even as a pit stop along our way. There are letterboxes that are easier to find {those are the ones we tend to hunt for right now while the girls are young} and some that can only be reached by hikers, etc.

If you haven't already, give it a try. Let me know what you think :) Also, leave a comment if you know of a box that we need to hunt for!

:) Jen

Industrial Credit Union's Family Pass

I have been a member of Industrial Credit Union for over 10 years and recently learned of their free Family Pass program through some friends {I'm really not sure why I hadn't heard of it before}.  The Family Pass consists of a free checking account, special offers each month (a meal, deal, adventure & freebie), prizes and financial tools. Anyone can sign up for free! To sign up, you can go online, or into any ICU branch {make sure to tell them who sent you... more about that later}. Once you sign up online, you still need to go in to an ICU branch to finalize your membership. My husband went in on a day that he was already in town {thank you honey} and he said it was quick and painless. He also came home with some {cute} little Family Pass stickers to put on our debit cards until we receive the official Family Pass debit cards in the mail.  To redeem an offer, all we need to do is flash our debit card.

Here are the deals for July 2011:

Once you sign up, you start receiving Family Pass emails on the first of each month that will clarify the deals. Usually there are day and/or time restrictions for the offers. You are also entered into a drawing for a prize each month! The prizes are nothing to sneeze at either. This month's prize is a video camera and a previous prize was a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge! {I would LOVE the video camera to preserve some of my girls' shenanigans!}

Family Pass members can also earn extra entries for the prize drawing! If your friends sign up and tell ICU that you referred them, BOTH you and your friend will earn 2 extra entries {my name is Jennifer Landreth if I referred you, hint, hint} :) For extra entries, members can also tweet a photo or message (up to 5 extra entries per month) about their family enjoying one of the activities, or share it on the Family Pass facebook page.  {Trust me, you want to "like" the facebook page} There may be a few surprises throughout the month, for instance free NW WA fair family packs were recently given out to all Family Pass members who completed all of the other deals on the same day and posted pictures on the Family Pass facebook page of them enjoying said deals! Industrial Credit Union is also interested in receiving input and asks that members send them suggestions for deals. {Chocolate Necessities, anyone???}

There are also a few financial benefits and tools worth mentioning. According to the website, you can get up to $100 back by refinancing an auto loan through Industrial CU, a $250 emergency line of credit, and use of FinanceWorks (a budgeting tool). Of course, all loans are subject to approval, and other restrictions may apply {blah, blah, blah}.

I am very excited about this program and hope others will take advantage of it, as well! It definitely sounds Frugal, Family oriented, and Fun. Do you know of any other local businesses that have similar programs?

The 3 F's

So, I've been wanting to blog for a while. I started this one over a year ago & quickly realized that I don't have the energy to blog to try to earn extra cash. I'd rather blog for fun! I also want to post about FRUGAL, FAMILY oriented, FUN things to do in my area, Whatcom County, Washington. That should be easy, right?