Bang a Gong

This was one of our day-trip letterboxing excursions. I loved that we found all of these cool little places we would have otherwise bypassed or missed altogether. Stop#1 was to the Bamboo Gardens in Los Altos. We picked up a map at the front to guide us and teach us about the different types of bamboo. They sell the bamboo, but also cater to visitors and have a nice little picnic area, bathrooms, and gazebo.

These were the wierdest fungus I have ever seen. The woman at the front desk said they came uninvited with some Bamboo from Canada. She also said they smell like rotting meat in the summertime. YUCKY!

This turtle really has it made!

P and G checkin' out the turtles.

Letterboxing

I became fanatical about Geocaching a few years ago and it kept us busy for quite some time, until I learned about Letterboxing. I learned about it on a blog post over at My Paper Crane. Letterboxing is like geocaching in that you are on a treasure hunt, but rather than using a GPS, you use clues. Clues can be found at atlasquest.com or letterboxing.org. After the box is located it will include a logbook and a rubber stamp (usually handmade). You bring your own signature stamp and your own logbook. I think I have totally fallen for letterboxing because of the creativity involved. I now have about 50 unique stamps in my book and each reminds me of the little journey we went on to find it. The stamps above are my first attempts at carving my own rubber stamp.