Yubotu (aka Battleship)

One of my favorite games when I was younger (hmmm, maybe a candidate for my contribution to the Childhood Games Series the Monkey Mama’s are doing in West Michigan) was Battleship. Remember the colored little boards that opened and closed like little laptop computers — although at the time we had no idea what a laptop was or what one would look like? Each player positioned their fleet of little plastic destroyers, cruisers and submarines onto their grid and then proceeded to try and sink the opponent’s ships by guessing the correct coordinates. My brother was good, very good, and he beat me more than the other way around — which is probably why I kept playing… the challenge of trying to beat him.

So, this isn’t exactly letterboxing related, but it kind of is since I came upon the site a few months ago while doing research for a letterbox I was creating… I think my search terms were ship and logic and maybe game or puzzle. Anyway, it doesn’t matter how I ended up there, just that Google took me to the DKM Software site, which has several online games you can play for free. They have a great online version of Sudoku, but the most exciting offering is a game called Yubotu, which is basically a computerized version of the old Battleship game in which you use logic to try and deduce the location of the ships the computer has randomly placed in the grid.

As if I didn’t already have enough online diversions, what with Flickr and Etsy and last.fm and all of the websites and blogs I read and my recent addiction to Facebook Scrabulous (shout out to Stargirl here) and assorted other time-sapping amusements, now I am addicted to Yubotu. There are 6 new puzzles each day, ranging from Beginner to Advanced, none of which are really all that difficult, but are fun all the same.

At the moment, I have no idea how I could ever work this into a letterbox clue, but believe me, I am working on the possibilities.

Vote for Grand Traverse LH!

You can help the Grand Traverse Lighthouse get new windows and doors by voting at the Jeld-Wen website! The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is one of the 12 finalists for 2008 and if selected, would be the 4th lighthouse to benefit from the Jeld-Wen Reliable Lighthouse Restoration Initiative. The Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located north of Traverse City, MI in Leelanau State Park near Northport. The lighthouse was originally built in 1852 and was for many years maintained and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard. In 1972 when the tower light was replaced by an automated beacon, the USCG vacated the premises. The buildings stood vacant for several years, and in 1985 a local group, known as the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Federation, took on the project of restoring the buildings and grounds for the purpose creating a “living lighthouse” for public enjoyment. The lighthouse, including the tower, is open to the public, and houses a museum which is open during the summer months. The lighthouse grounds are also home to the Grand Traverse Lighthouse LB.

Grand Traverse Lighthouse
Leelanlau State Park ~ Northport, MI

Leelanau State Park is a wild and scenic area, located at the tip of the Leelanau peninsula on a narrow finger of land that juts out into Lake Michigan between Grand Traverse Bay and Cat’s Head Bay. There are miles of secluded beaches and an extensive network of hiking trails along which you will find the Cathead Bay Letterbox.

4th Annual MI Fall Gathering

The date is set for the 4th annual Michigan Fall LB Gathering, so mark your calendars for Saturday, October 18, 2008 and get ready for a fun-filled day of letterboxing and socializing. The MI Fall Gathering, hosted by Azobox and SpringChick, has become “the” annual get-together for letterboxers in Michigan and this year’s event promises to be another spectacular gathering. If you’ve joined us in previous years, we’re looking forward to catching up with you again, and if you are new to the area or will be visiting, we would love to meet you and welcome you to the Michigan letterboxing family.

MI Fall Gathering is Just Around the Corner!

We are still finalizing plans for the perfect location, but the general area will be South/West/Southwest Michigan. Further details will be announced within the coming weeks so stay tuned!

This event is listed at AtlasQuest so hurry on over and get yourself signed up!

Traverse City Boxes Added

Clues for my active Grand Traverse and Leelanau County boxes are the latest additions to the new site. Unfortunately neither of the lighthouse boxes are active — the box at Grand Traverse Light is missing again and the Old Mission Light box was vandalized and needs to be replaced. I doubt I will be able to replace them before fall, but there are still several other fun northern Michigan letterboxes waiting for you in the Leelanau/Traverse City/Old Mission area.

If you like word puzzle clues, try the 2-box Wine Country Series for a little brain teasing and some breathtaking views in the Traverse City area — there are even several wineries along the way that offer tasting rooms. If you’re a history buff or intrigued by lore of the world beyond, you’ll no doubt enjoy the spine-tingling legend of the Ghost at Bower’s Harbor. If you are turned on by a great hike and awesome scenery, Whaleback, Cathead Bay and The Wegaus offer a workout and some of the best scenery the region has to offer. Enjoy!

Going Live!

I’ve finally had some time to get this site up and running. There is still a lot to be added over the coming weeks. I’m concentrating on letterbox clues right now since that is primarily what people are coming here for. I apologize for going live while things are still coming together, but due to circumstances beyond my control with my previous web host, the old site went offline much sooner than I had anticipated and people have been e-mailing me like crazy looking for my letterbox clues. So I figured it was best to bring up the site at least with clues and add the rest as time allows.

As you navigate the clues at this site, a couple of new features are printer friendly versions of clues (the link is found at the bottom of the clue) and the ability to leave comments on specific letterboxes. The site looks and works best in Firefox, but also is fully functional in Internet Explorer, although some of the fonts and spacing may be a little off.

The old site address (http://www.stampinthebox.com/) should resolve to this site within a day or two. I’m in the process of porting over clues, beginning with lower peninsula clues that have been the most requested, and am hoping to have all of my active letterbox clues available here within a week or so. If you stumble across anything at this site that isn’t working right, please let me know as I’m still ironing out some of the kinks and am sure I have not tested every possible scenario — and of course, comments are always welcome! Thanks for your patience and I hope you will stop by again!