Letterboxing on the Cornell Univ campus... The Book of Amun-Ra

Sunday and Monday were especially fun because PJ and I went Letterboxing on the Cornell University campus. We did The Book of Anum-Ra . This one was especially difficult because you really had to THINK with every clue. At one point, we even asked a student if we could borrow some of her brains to help us figure out the one clue (of many) that we were stuck on. We started our quest by walking up the hill by the clock tower.

Find the statue of Ezra Cornell in the Arts Quad. Look around the statue for the year in which the statue was cast. Remember this.

1917 is the answer.

Next, follow the eyes of Ezra to his co-founder. Andrew Dickson

Look for a date on his statue...
1915

Follow the pointing toe of A.D.White to your next destination ...

and distinguished landmark on the Cornell University Campus…if the time is right you may be able to hear as well as see it.

At the base of this structure you will find a memorial built for those who have “given generously to build and strengthen Cornell.”

On the blocks of stone used to construct this site are carved the names of these individuals. Subtract the years from the two founders’ statues and multiply this number by 2.

On the top row of stones, count this number from the left, and you will find the name of a Sphinx Head member (and his wife) inscribed the second name from the top.

Continue to the building of which he is the namesake.

Well, we got to Willard Straight Hall only to find that it was closed!!! Boo Hoo! The man inside said that they will open at 7 AM tomorrow. We decided that we will pack up the tent early, go to Wegman's for breakfast and then head over to Cornell to finish our quest.
We went around the side of Willard Straight Hall and went down the stairs to get to the parking lot. PJ told me that the garden that's to the left was one that he and his Hort. class repaired when he went to school there in '75-'76.

The next morning we went in Willard Straight Hall from the parking lot instead of walking up the hill. As we were going up the stairs inside, PJ showed me his favorite picture. It was there when he was a student there and after all these years, it's still a favorite!
Upon entering this building look up to find a mythological creature.

Upon entering this building look up to find a mythological creature. Below this being you will find a plaque. The inscription emphasizes the attribute of courage, but more pertinent to the purposes of Sphinx Head, helpfulness. Use the main text of this plaque to spell out your next destination using the corresponding word and letter within the word:

6-4, 10-1, 33-3, 44-8, 3-5, 47-1

As PJ was figuring that our, I took pics of the beautiful ceiling, painted in the early 1900's.

The words and numbers clue turned out to be Barnes Hall...

In front of this building is a stone bench commemorating 100 years of a group on Cornell’s campus that also uses artifacts from Ancient Egypt for representation. Sit on the spot of the bench right on top of the plaque. Look to your left and take note of the inscription reading “servants of all.” You are almost to your final destination.

Walk straight, in the exact direction that the plaque is pointing.
Continue down the stairs and make your first left.

OMG! This was the garden that PJ helped repair!!!
Walk along the path to your left until you reach another plaque beneath the shade of a tree.
Read the plaque to note the contribution of Sphinx Head to the location in which you are standing.
Regardless of whether or not you attended the university; sit in the seat of a loyal Cornellian.
Under this spot on the left you will find the hidden Book of Amun-Ra.

and so we solved another one. WHEW! That was tough. I forgot to take pics of us stamping our books etc. Oh, the 'hitch hiker' that I found in Valley Stream Park, I replanted in this box!!! Mumms the word!!!

This little garden can use some repairs again but for us, it's special the way it is!!!

Good times!

August 19th

I went Letterboxing today with Judy. It was her first time so we decided to start with an easy find right here in town at Twin Lakes. It was a lot of fun prancing through the woods looking for clues to find a box. We found the first one and as we're opening it up and giggling like little girls, we heard a noise. All of a sudden we look up an a guy flies by us on his bike and Judy said "Oh SH*T". I said "who was that"? because he looked so familiar. It was Hope's husband! What must he think of 2 women, in the woods, giggling, holding a box, a rubber stamp and ink? It was really funny. Maybe he didn't recognize us!
Next we went to Valley Stream State Park for a set of 12 letterboxes. We started wrong because we came in the wrong entrance. We couldn't find the Yellow Trail. After we found that, an hour later, we couldn't find trail # 2 within the yellow trail. I think the only one that we found was the 9th one. That was an interesting one though. It had a 'hitchhiker' in it! That was pretty exciting because now I get to place that hitchhiker in someone else's letterbox. This way the hitchhiker gets to travel all over the world! We read the log book noting that the hitchhiker has been to quite a few states already. We took the stamp and packed up everything else and hid the box for the next person. After I got home I realized that I was supposed to take that log book to be with the hitchhiker stamp. The letterbox didn't have it's own logbook. So that meant that I had to drive all the way back there again! This time I took Scott with me. We got the log book and found another letterbox that we had missed.
On our way out I pointed across the street to show Scott another park, Hendrickson Park. It looked really pretty. We decided to go for a walk.
There's a jogging/bike path that goes around the park on each side of the water.
At the far end there's a tennis court, handball courts, mini golf and a HUGE pool complex. This picture is only a very small part of it. There was a kids pool, a middle size pool, a HUGE other pool, a water park type of area etc. It was sooo nice. You have to be a resident to the Village of V.S to be able to use it though. We were so impressed.
Looking up the water feature, it reminded us of looking at the Washington Monument in Washington, DC.

While we were walking PJ called Scott's cell phone to find out what he's supposed to start for dinner. I didn't realize the time... it was already almost 6:00. Now it was time to battle L.I. traffic! What a fun, exhausting day!

What a Father's Day Alyssa and I had!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

PJ had to work today so Alyssa and I decided to enjoy Father's Day by ourselves. We headed to Amityville to an 'Ecuadorian' Garage Sale. I must have misunderstood the nuns from Saturday's sale that told me about this sale. When we got there we realized that there was no sale! Oh well. There was a park a few blocks away that I had wanted to check out so we headed there. This is a very cute small park. It would be the perfect place for a picnic or to read a book. There are benches to sit in and also a gazebo.

There is a Memorial wall and 2 benches dedicated to Peter O'Neil. He was killed on 9/11 and his friends built this memorial in memory of him.


I'm glad that we checked out that park. It's one of those 'gems' that are often missed!
NEXT we headed to Tackapausha Museum. We weren't going in the museum but were going on a hike in the woods. We were on our first LETTERBOXING adventure!! I wanted to try this for years! I printed out our clues from http://www.atlasquest.com/ . I found this one and the box was hidden by Vera, one of our St Williams scrapbooking buddies!
We entered the trail.....
... you will see a tree that fell over with the most unusual root system...
... keep heading North.....
.... continue walking until you see a large wooden bridge on your left.... Is this the large wooden bridge?
NOPE! This is the large wooden bridge!
... cross the bridge....
... and in the NW side of the bridge, you will find the Spider under the bridge!!
We found it! The box was about 6" down under the bridge. It had a spider stamp in it. That was so much fun! I can't wait for the next one. There's a few in my town so I will have to check them out!
Next, Alyssa and I headed to a craft fair at the Seaford Train Station. She saw a sign for pickles and just had to get one!
Then we went to 3 stores looking for Lobsters. Alyssa was buying one for PJ for Father's Day and cooking dinner. When we got home she put one on the floor to see Huckleberry's reaction. If there was a fight, I think the lobster would have won. Huck was a little afraid of the lobster.
Then we went to visit my father for a little while.
PJ digging in!
We had a very adventurous day today.