A Little More Information

Information regarding the trip continues to trickle in and planning also continues. Mark P. reminded us of the Yahoo Talk List and wanted us to make sure to sign up so that we could get all the information as it becomes available and be able to respond to any questions he would ask us.

Mark P. gave us a little more information about the airfare and let us know that sometime soon we will need to provide an $80 deposit per person to the air consolidator. We still don't have the actual flights or price but that shouldn't be long in coming. He also mentioned that we will need deposits for the cottage and vans sometime in March. I still haven't done anything about connecting flights because I need to find out the actual times of the flight from New York to London.

We have also had a change in who is going to make the trip. Grumpy Grinch and Talking Turtle & Hugh have decided not to take the trip and Lisa (from the HowD Girls) has joined the group. So we went from 19 to 15 to 16 in the matter of a month. Since the trip isn't until this coming August I guess we are in for more changes - oh well, it will all work out. I am sure there will be more planning during the new year.

More Information and Who's Making the Trip

Well, we have received some information regarding airfare, cottages, vans and estimated costs for the trip. We got approximate costs for the cottage (which includes some meals) and comes to about $750 each. For the vans, it looks like it will be about $134 each and the airfare is going to cost somewhere around $1200 each - that only includes the flight from New York to London. We will still need to look into airfare from Albuquerque to New York. 

The dates for the trip have also been established and it looks like we will be gone from Thursday, August 28th to Saturday, September 6th. That's the trip to Dartmoor, they will change if we decide to stay a little longer and visit our friends. Mark P. also gave us information and reminders regarding electrical converters, passports, luggage, laundry facilities, having some local currency, logbooks, putting money into a kitty for gas and such, and also to remember to let our credit card companies know we are going to be out of the country.

We also have a list of who's going to be traveling to Dartmoor . . .

Grumpy Grinch
Mark & Sue Pepe
Doublesaj & Old Blue
ggghiker & Irish Marine
TsukiAmes & Jei
lionsmane & Highwayman
bookworm
Shorty
Talking Turtle & Hugh
moonstone
Bell Motel
roadrunner

Thomas and I have had the pleasure of traveling with most of these people and we are looking forward to seeing them again and meeting the ones we have met yet. I feel that this will be a great bunch.

On a more fun note Mark P. has asked for everyone to suggest a name for the group. Grumpy Grinch came up with a really great one right off the bat. He suggested The Hounds of Boxerville. This is a play on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story of The Hound of the Baskervilles which is set in Dartmoor. It seems most people like this so I am guessing that is the name we will use for the trip. And it was noted that Amy (TsukiAmes) will carve the group stamp for the trip.

I also bought a couple of more books . . . Dartmoor Letterboxing: A Guide for Beginners and Dartmoor Quiz Book. There has been a lot of information exchanged this month and a lot of plans are in the making. I am looking forward to this trip and I am really excited - but there is so much to do and it is still quite a ways away.

Continued Reading and Planning

So here is an update on the trip to Dartmoor. Mark P. has set up a Yahoo Talk List for this trip so that everyone going on the trip can communicate with each other in one place. So far on the Talk List there has only been a welcome note from Mark P. and a couple of polls to see if we would be interested in a visit to a castle and a river boat ride. It seems that Mark P. is very much into the planning stages.

Also I ordered a few more books . . . About Dartmoor, Dartmoor (Collins Rambler's Guide), and The Magic of Dartmoor. I've spent some time reading some of the books that I have received and I am enjoying learning about Dartmoor. Hopefully I can remember some of the stuff I have read. Maybe I need to start taking notes so I have that information for the trip.

Thomas and I have been discussing if we want to add some days to the trip and visit friends that we have in Brighton and also take a few days to visit London (one of our favorite cities). We still haven't made any decisions but I feel that since we are there we should take the time to do it. Anyway, that's all that happened in the past month regarding the trip. I will post again next month with updates.

An Invitation to Attend a Letterboxing Trip to Dartmoor

Thomas and I have gone on two Pinecone Adventures with Mark and Sue Pepe and we have really enjoyed those trips. During the Pincone Adventures' Letterboxing Cruise to Alaska!!! and the Viva Italia Letterboxing Tour!!! I talked with Mark about including us if they ever planned another trip to Dartmoor. So when I received an email from Mark earlier this month inviting us on a trip they were planning for next year I didn't hesitate making a commitment - even without talking to Thomas first. So in August 2014 we are traveling with Pinecone Adventures for the Pinecone Adventures Returns to the Moor.

After signing up on the event listing on Atlas Quest I immediately started planning (not that there is that much to do - since Mark is actually making all the arrangements) by reading different websites and blogs (which I will list in the sidebar). I also ordered some books and travel information. I ordered a Dartmoor patch and postcard and I also got the Dartmoor OS Explorer Map OL28. In addition to these things I ordered the following books . . . 101 Dartmoor Letterboxes: But Not How to Find Them, Dartmoor National Park Guide, Cranmere Pool, Dartmoor Letterboxes, More Dartmoor Letterboxes, Dartmoor National Park: A Pictorial Souvenir, and The Great Little Dartmoor Book. Next I got a year subscription to Dartmoor Magazine (4 issues). And I don't know if I had a feeling this trip was coming or not but back in August I ordered Let's Go Letterboxing: A Beginner's Guide - wasn't that a happy coincidence. I will occasionally write posts during the coming year as we make plans and arrangements and I will post each day of our trip. This will give me a good record of the trip and something I can go back and read when I am missing the Moors. Besides the sidebar links to information about Dartmoor and letterboxing you can click on the book in the sidebar and go to a complete bibliography of the books and other items I am using for this trip.

So far Mark has just extended the invitations and let us know he will be communicating more information soon. I am really excited about this trip and it is something I have dreamed about since I started letterboxing back in 2006. Before long the dream will be a reality - I can't wait! Oh, and Bell Motel emailed me to let me know she was going on the trip as well - WooHoo!!!