18apr2020 Don't know what's left of these boxes after all these years, but you're certainly welcome to look for them whenever you might get a chance to get back over to RI. I think Pete will be transferring other clues to AQ whenever he can, too! 452. Wanda & Pete's Holiday Treats

Yeah, we know - we're supposedly "retired" from our most active letterboxing days, but we were just realizing how long it's been since we planted a Christmas Holiday series! Our first would have been our "Favorite Ornament Series" planted way back in 2001, back when almost all letterboxes were single-box hikes, so planting a dozen boxes on a mile-or-two loop was considered quite "outrageous"! (I think it was the biggest numbered series around for quite a while, and one of the first ever to have "add-on" contributions from other folks, too, so that's how much things have changed! ;-) We followed up with several other winter holiday-theme series, including a multi-box X-C skiing adventure and a "fill-your-plate/ blue-plate special" called "Holiday Leftovers", but most of those we retired years ago...

So then, other than some of the boxes on the Burlingame "Favorite Ornaments" loop (still follow-able by the "trail savvy", but rather dramatically changed over the years due to downed trees from the red-pine bark beetle, critter-chewed boxes and such), and "One Last Ornament" added more recently in a different location, we really didn't have much left out there in the woods in the way of boxes that were mostly designed with the Christmas spirit in mind...

And then at the last minute last weekend, we quite unexpectedly found ourselves being transported to Guzzelin' Gal's Christmas Cookie Swap in Fitchburg, MA (12/10/11), where we became magically "holiday-stamp re-inspired" (or perhaps it was "punch-happy" full of cookies! ;-) At any rate, we suddenly got the urge to carve up a batch of Christmas cookies ourselves to plant out in the piney woods of RI! And what better place to plant them than in the "heart" of RI boxing: the home of RI's very first letterbox ever ("Breaking Hearts at Breakheart"), the site of RI's first letterbox series ("Feathers in Your Cap"), and - all within about a 25-mile radius of our house - home to perhaps nearly half of the 500+ letterboxes that we've planted over the years, many still active and some listed only on our own personal letterboxing website, from the many years before AQ ever came into existence!

Anyway, if anyone would like to come down our way to sample some of our old favorite Christmas cookies (or perhaps add some of their own, since we got quite a few wonderful new "favorite recipes" at the Cookie Swap in MA, and we would love to see more RI area boxers taking an active interest in planting, too - even just some simple Christmas cookie cutter shapes would do (hint,hint;-), here's how to get to the starting point: Take exit 5 off route 95, and head southeast briefly on Victory Highway(route 102). Then head south a bit on Nooseneck Hill Road(route 3). Turn west on Ten Rod Road (route 165), and drive until you get to the white church at "Appie Crossing". (If coming from CT, you could also take route 395, and then head east on route 138 and 165 until you reach this point.) Proceed 3/4 mile north from the church on dirt Frosty Hollow Road and park near the Frosty Hollow Fishing Pond. (Note: This area could become hard to access in case of heavy snow, but we have never had a problem getting in here yet - although we have occasionally had to ski in!)

From this point, continue on foot across the bridge on the dirt road over Breakheart Brook and follow the white blazes west into the woods. The brook and a stone wall will be on your left. Soon an old fallen tree protrudes from the left into the trail. At this point, to the right there is a mossy-based tree with a (barely visible as of 2020) white blaze on itt, and behind that tree under a stick is a microbox with an old-time standby favorite: Peanut Butter Blossoms!

Turn north with the white-blazed trail and shortly, just past a faint trail coming in from the right , find the remains of a 1-foot mossy green stump on the right. The second microbox had been hidden behind that stump under a small stone, but it got so buried in the hole that formed as the stump rotted that we almost gave up on finding it ourselves! For now, just sit on the rock behind the stump and reach under the sticks on its east side for long-standing favorite #2: Walnut Cheesecake Raspberry Jam Gems!

Very soon ahead the trail dips through a wet area and turns abruptly left around a fallen tree. Uphill to the right is a white pine with a small nose bump about 3 feet up its trunk. Behind it under a small square mossy stone sniff out our seasonal favorite #3: Anise Drops (and don't forget to color the sprinkles!)

Now back on the trail, head gradually halfway up the hill until you might see the tiny remains of an old "star- root" fallen tree on your left. Three steps behind it is a beech tree with a low pucker lip and another tree nearby. The fourth microbox used to be behind the next tree further west, but that tree fell over on the box, necessitating a major search and rescue operation. We almost gave up on finding this one, too, but Pete somehow managed to locate and extricate it, so now, just look behind the pucker-lip beech for #4: Amaretto Coconut Fudge Drops!

Continue the short distance to the top of the little hill, and as the trail levels out, look right for the remnants of a beech tree surrounded by saplings. Within the stump on a shelf about one foot up and hidden under a few stones and leaves rests ever-popular #5: Magic Bars!

Now face back north and you will find yourself entering a more open area with some blow-downs from recent storms (mostly removed as of 2020). Stand with a three-trunk tree on your right and then take about 10 steps left. Beneath the left side of a fat, slightly curved tree root and behind a small stone, seek out our #6 pink and white twisted delights: Candy Cane Cookies (and a little sprig of holly just to liven up the coloring!)

And now, after not even a quarter of a mile from your starting point, here you are at our "secret place" to shelter you from the gathering winter storms! Granted you won't find too much shelter here if bitter winter winds are howling, but it's a nice place to stop on a sunny winter afternoon, sip a cup of hot cocoa on the south-facing deck, and then sneak a peak under the southeastern corner of the foundation, behind a brick on the lip, to see if there are any more cookies hiding there in the cookie jar! Yup, there you should find a stamp of the actual cookie jar that generally sits on our kitchen table during the Christmas season, and there aren't usually any cookies left in our jar either, because the bear has eaten them all before we can manage to save any! However, if you'd care to leave any more cookies for our hungry little bear, please feel free to leave him a clue as to where to find them anywhere within these woods! And thanks for coming to sample a few of our favorite Holiday treats!!!

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