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Back to School House Rock LbNA #59294

Owner:Adoptable
Plant date:Aug 23, 2011
Location: Rivertrail
City:Portland
County:Ionia
State:Michigan
Boxes:1
Planted by:The River Rats
Found by: Arleth's Owl Post
Last found:Oct 6, 2013
Status:FFaF
Last edited:Aug 23, 2011
Terrain: Mostly asphalt bike path
Distance: About a mile. Should take about 30 minutes or less.
Please bring your own pen and ink pad. I would also recommend bug spray!

This is the first letterbox we have ever placed! Good luck! We hope you enjoy your adventure!

School will be starting very soon, so to help prepare everyone for it's beginning, we decided to put your brains to work for this letterboxing adventure!

Your walk will start at the Flats in Portland, Mi.
To get there from I-96 take the Portland Exit for Grand River Ave (exit 77). If you came from the direction of Lansing, turn right onto Grand River Ave. If you came from the direction of Grand Rapids, turn left. Go through three lights. Immediately after you cross the bridge over the river, you'll take a right at the Peppermint Twist/Frosty Boy on the corner on your right. This is Water Street. Go less than ¼ of a mile to the Red Mill (Portland Co-Op) on your right. Take a right immediately after the Red Mill. Take the first left (just before a huge boulder). Park by the ball diamond.

If you're facing the ball diamond, turn around 180 degrees. You'll be looking at a small brick building. If a stop sign is green, go left on the bike trail. If a stop sign is red, go right on the bike trail.

Continue down the path until you come to a large stone that says “The Leik Grove 1995”. Check out the plaques in the area and use them to finish this poem:
“Poems are made by folks like me,
But only God can make a _____.”
If your answer has 4 letters, continue down the bike path.
If your answer has 3 letters, take 10 steps toward the big tree behind Leik rock.

Find a place to sit on your left. If one of the names on the bench rhymes with “job”, go right at the ”T” in the road. If it rhymes with “mitt”, go left.

Now, after a few yards you'll have to decide to go “down” or “straight”. If “down” is the opposite of “up”, go down the “down” path. If it's not, go straight.

A couple of steps and you have yet another decision, left or right? You should try going to the left.

Are you getting tired? Why not rest on the next bench? Someone is “watching over you”. If his first name has less than 4 letters in it, go back and take the trail to the right. If his first name has more than 4 letters in it, continue along the path you've been on.

You've been walking a long time!! Keep your “chin up”. Art and Elaine Baker have been sitting a long time keeping theirs up. Add all the numbers under Art and Elaine together. If the answer you get is odd, take the dirt path to the pond. If the answer is an even number, continue down the asphalt path you're on.

The path will curve to the right and now you'll have a chain link fence on your left. Continue up the hill and you'll see the river on your left.

Keep an eye out for the David who likes to canoe, but don't sit on him! Instead, take the first date on his plaque and subtract the first number from the last. If the answer is “1”, continue down the path. If the answer is 20, turn left and jump in the river.

As you walk, watch for somewhere to “push up”. It will be the same color as a firetruck. When you get there, if 3 X 2 = 6, take the small deer path into the trees. If 3 X 2 = 9, continue down the path you've been on.

About 100 kid steps down the path, you'll come to a small clearing. Just before you enter the clearing, you'll see a small evergreen tree on the right, very close to the trail. Continue down the trail you're on, taking 23 steps from the small evergreen tree.

Turn to your left and take 13 steps into the grass and you should come to a large rock in the middle of the grass all by itself. Around the back of the rock you will find your “school house rock” surprise under some dirt and sticks.

You can go back the way you came, or continue to follow the deer path toward the power lines. You'll pick up a dirt path that leads straight or goes to the right. Follow it straight toward the ball diamond. Pass between two large stone planters and you should be right back where you started.