| A mystery letterbox is a great activity that is done | | | | find the box. For instance, the clue might say "Take the |
| outside and is fun for all ages. This makes it a great | | | | skyline trail, at the first fork go left, in 10 steps look |
| family fun activity. Not only does it let you be out in the | | | | behind the 3-trunked tree on your right." |
| fresh air, but it also exercises your mind by trying to | | | | But a mystery box requires more of you in order to |
| solve a puzzle. | | | | find it. These boxes are little puzzles that have to be |
| If you aren't familiar with letterboxing, it's a hobby of | | | | figured out. So for this reason, they are great if you |
| sorts. It started on the moors of England and now has | | | | want to give your kids a challenge. And there's nothing |
| spread to the U.S. and other parts of the world. | | | | more satisfying than finding a letterbox you had to |
| Basically, a letterbox is a container you find outside | | | | solve a clue for. |
| somewhere. A common place to hide them is in parks | | | | Here's an example. My husband and I are big Harry |
| on trails. | | | | Potter fans. One letterbox on Cape Cod was hidden |
| What's inside this mysterious container? Simply this: a | | | | the day one of the Harry books came out. The clue |
| log book, a rubber stamp, and usually an ink pad. Yup, | | | | consisted of instructions based on something from the |
| that's it. | | | | series. |
| What you're really doing is collecting stamps. The | | | | One step said to find the pond named after Colin |
| stamp in the box usually represents it. So a box along | | | | Creevy's brother. Then count the number of words |
| the trail to Mt. Washington would probably be a picture | | | | into the first book when it first mentioned where Mr. |
| of Mt. Washington. Most of these stamps are | | | | Dursley works and do certain calculations on that |
| hand-carved by whomever hid the box, so they are | | | | number, etc. |
| pretty intricate and unusual. | | | | When we found the box, the stamp inside was a |
| When you're ready to set out to find one of these | | | | hand-carved image of Hagrid with Hedwig sitting on his |
| boxes, the first thing you do is lookup and print out | | | | shoulder. |
| clues that can be found on a website. Then off you | | | | So as you can see, finding a mystery letterbox can be |
| go. You bring with you your own logbook and your | | | | lots of fun for the entire family. To locate mystery |
| own "signature stamp" that represents you. This stamp | | | | letterboxes, go to one of the following |
| can also be hand-carved. | | | | websites:letterboxing.org: |
| When the box is located, you take the stamp from the | | | | - Click on Search for Boxes. |
| box and stamp it into your personal logbook. Over time | | | | - Select your state. |
| you collect hundreds and even thousands of stamps. | | | | - For the city, put a question mark. |
| But you also stamp your personal signature stamp into | | | | - Click on Search boxes.atlasquest.com: |
| the book that lives in the box. This shows that you've | | | | - Under Letterboxes in the top menu, select Simple |
| been there. It's lots of fun to look over the comments | | | | Search. |
| from all the people who have found that particular box. | | | | - In the box titled Area Search, check "Include only |
| So what makes a mystery letterbox different from a | | | | mysteries." |
| regular one? Well, for ordinary boxes, the "clues" are | | | | - Select your state. |
| really directions. They tell you exactly where to go to | | | | - Click on Search. |