On the Road

Good Evening from Smyrna, Georgia

Before I write about our travels today, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the horrible  event that occurred  in Moore, Oklahoma this afternoon. Our hearts go out to the people affected by the tornado especially the families of the children lost in the destroyed school. Please take a minute to say a prayer for these people.

Doug and I had every intention of leaving early this morning, but that didn't happen! Of course we had to pack up the truck, do several last minute things, and say goodbye to our neighbors. Then after all was said and done, we finally got on the road about 10 this morning. And really, what's the rush? We're on vacation, right?

Several years ago, our friend Mary from Colorado, told me about this fun hobby called letterboxing. Letterboxing is where people from all over the country and the world have carved some amazing stamps then place them along with a logbook in a container and hide them in different places. I go to a website, www.atlasquest.com, and put in where it is I'm traveling then I get a page or several pages listing stamps in or around the area.  Once I pick the stamp I want to find, I look up the clues provided. Once I find the stamp, I stamp their logbook with my personal stamp then I stamp my logbook with their stamp. After I've finished, I put the stamp back in it's hiding spot making sure nobody sees me so that people don't steal the stamps or just throw them away. It's lots of fun looking for letterboxes as I've learned about many areas, certain places or people I would have otherwise never known about.

So today we made three stops looking for letterboxes-two were located in rest areas and the third one was in a Georgia town. The first one was fairly easy to find in a Florida rest stop, but the second one in the Georgia welcome center had terrible clues so we never found it. Plus we were getting swarmed by little bugs. The third one was in Jonesboro, Georgia which became famous when part of the movie Smokey and the Bandit was filmed there and I would have never known about the town had it not been for the letterbox. Two out of three boxes today was a great accomplishment!  But let me just say that Doug likes the hunt for the boxes and I'm the one who does all the stamping. Also Doug is much better at finding the boxes than me, but I am getting better. So if you get a chance, take a peek at the website to get more information on letterboxing. Doug and I have a great time plus it gives us a chance to take breaks throughout the day.

We made it to Smyrna, Georgia  a little bit after 8 this evening. We're visiting with Doug's brother Dale and his wife Angie for the next two nights. Tomorrow Doug and Dale are playing golf together, but because Angie has to go to the dentist, I'm tagging along with the guys for the day. It's supposed to be a gorgeous day tomorrow so I'm looking forward to being outside.

Well, it's the end of our first day of traveling with many more exciting days ahead. Thank you for joining us on this incredible adventure as we're excited to share it with you. Don't forget that you can always leave us comments.

Good night from Georgia where they're glad they're on your mind!!! And once again, please keep the people of Moore, Oklahoma in your thoughts and prayers-they have a long road ahead of them.