There are a few things I've been meaning to write about for a while. Thing the first:

The Ultimate Tempation to The Car-Free: A Free Car

A 1987 red Peugeot, to be exact. Our dear friends, Kelly and John, have their cars exactly the way they want them after finally purchasing that snazzy grey beetle in the driveway. Since three cars are too many for two, they wanted to say goodbye to Kelly's sweet little Peugeot, either to charity or to us. We thought about it for longer than you might expect. A car? Us? Would we betray all our principles? Become gas-guzzling Republicans? Well, when the car was couched as a belated wedding present, we pretty much melted on the spot. And no, we didn't betray anything yet. We are still taking the bus to work. But the car has made some good things possible, and for that we are very, very grateful.

Which leads me to...

You Probably Want to Do This

The car has allowed the Spousal Unit and I to begin hiking; something we dearly love. I was researching a trip to Elk Rock Island, and marked several links, perusing a few, leaving a few for later. The SU spotted one of those I'd left for later, and thought I should take a closer look. It was a kind of treasure map, and referred to something I'd never heard of before: letterboxing. Letterboxing combines hiking in beautiful places, the mystery of a treasure hunt, and the easy-to-learn craft of stamp carving. And for the frugalistas, this is a darned cheap hobby. I carved my first personal stamp on Friday, and we spent all day Saturday hunting for letterboxes. We even found one! I haven't had that much fun in ages, and we are utterly hooked. Now I hope to hook all my friends. I've been using Atlas Quest (built by a local guy!) to find active boxes and log my finds and attempts. Soon, we'll be planting! Stay tuned, as I'll no doubt post clues right here for my friends to find first.