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Vagabox LbNA #53937

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Jun 11, 2010
Location:
City:Lorton
County:Fairfax
State:Virginia
Boxes:1
Planted by:The Nac Mac Feegles
Found by: Eagle & Teapot
Last found:May 2, 2013
Status:FFFFFU
Last edited:Nov 10, 2015
An easy drive-by, appropriate for kids & the non-athletic. 15 minutes or less, from start to finish. Hitchhiker-friendly. Verse 11 of our SING ALOUD clues contains GPS coordinates, but those are optional. Park entrance is FREE for NoVa residents; others $7/vehicle (when gate manned). Roadside location, so be discreet! Hitchhikers welcome.

If desired, see NOTES below song.

Sing to the tune of "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island"
(the version that mentions The Professor & Mary Ann!)

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of the Vagabox trip
That started from Park Pohick Bay
Aboard a Champagne Hitch.

The Mate was a mighty trailer man
His Skipper defibrillature'd
With cousins they took a hike that day
For a three-minute tour, a three-minute tour!

To Wolf Trap they had to leave pronto,
So the letterbox we tossed.
If not for the notes of the fearless crew,
The Vagabox would be lost, the Vagabox would be lost!

The box we set in a stump on this
Uncharted forest strip.
With a blue ink pad . . . a pencil too . . .
A trailer stamp -- and my life!
Three OTHER stamps:
a campfire and wee suitcase,
plus a camping tableau!

The First Mate and his Skipper, too
Did their very best
To host their cousins comfortably
In their temperate RV nest.

Plush seats! Full lights! And wireless!
It's full of luxury
Like Enrique Caruso
Their RV's non-primitive as can be.

So from the park entrance, my friends
go just three-tenths of a mile.
Follow all the campsite signs
'til you see an upside-down smile.

50 paces short of Storage B for Boats
Rocks a shady slope outline.
The 20th rock from the entrance
stares across the road at a bloke.

He's standing tall: a big white oak!
To his left is a skinny red friend.
Further left see two rhododendron,
a pair of bifurcated beech at the end.

Behind that pair of beech, my friends
You're sure to get a smile
From a cleverly hidden letterbox
in a stump that's been there a while.

For those who appreciate coordinates
Here's N 38.6699
and her pal W 0.77.17065,
(for whom there is no rhyme).

Watch for the ravine left of the stump
The hill's a steep decline!
Discreetly mark in our log book
And stow for the next boxer in line.

So this is the tale of our Vagabox!
Hope it's here for a long, long time.
We had to hurry up these clues
To get the men to Wolf Trap on time,
to Wolf Trap on time!

THE IDEA: This is a family-project box, created and planted on a lovely June day in Pohick Bay Park, as we visited with "vagabond" relatives who RV across North America. The four stamps inside celebrate our family's love of travel.

LOCATION NOTES: The box is planted just a few feet off the park's internal road, 50 paces (100 steps) NW of Boat Storage B, on the same side of the road -- that's BEFORE you reach the boat lot, assuming you're approaching from the park entrance. Because there's generally very little internal park traffic, it's appropriate for kids, but do please watch for vehicles! There were no brambles or poison ivy surrounding the stump on the day we planted the box, but we did remove one over-friendly dog tick. Use your normal woods-sense.

PERMISSION NOTES: Although located within Fairfax County, which conveniently maintains a list of parks that allow you to place letterboxes/geocaches without special permission, THIS park is managed by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Happily, NVRPA actively promotes geocaching (http://www.nvrpa.org/press_releases/view/19). We could find no policy specific to letterboxing, but are confident this location shouldn't be a problem. Our request for discretion is for FUN, not to subvert park rules.

Finally . . . the ORIGINAL LYRICS (more or less) to Gilligan Island's theme.

Sherwood Schwartz and G. Wyle
The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship

/ C#m B / / / AB C#m / (/)

The Mate was a mighty sailor man
The Skipper brave and sure
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour

/ +1 /

The weather started getting rough
The tiny ship was tossed
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost

/ +1 /

The ship set ground on the shore of this
Uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan, the Skipper too
A millionaire, and his wife
A movie star
The Professor and Mary Ann
Here on Gilligan's Isle

/ Fm Eb / / Fm - Eb - / / Fm Eb / / Fm Eb Fm - /

So this is the tale of our castaways
They're here for a long, long time
They'll have to make the best of things
It's an uphill climb

/ [Back to C#m] /

The First Mate and his Skipper, too
Will do their very best
To make the others comfortable
In their tropic island nest

/ +1 /

No phones, no lights, no motor cars
Not a single luxury
Like Robinson Ca-rusoe
It's primitive as can be

/ +1 /

So join us here each week, my friends
You're sure to get a smile
From seven stranded castaways
Here on Gilligan's Isle