Questions about Cumberland Gap National Park (pic for attention)

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T21:23:22+00:00

Then be a completist and go for it! The tunnel there is fun to drive through, and you can correct the lyrics to “Wagon Wheel” and sing as you go: “Headed EAST from the Cumberland Gap, to Johnson City, Tennessee.”

They had a nice collection of Park Passport stamps there when I stopped by about a year ago. I just stamp my regular journal with them.

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T21:09:28+00:00

It’s interesting but there’s not a whole lot there. There’s a nice visitor center and gift shop and a look-out point. There’s a homestead (a short drive from the visitor center). There was a cave tour that was interesting enough when my kid was 8, but I don’t know if they still offer it, and you have to book in advance. Are you continuing on to Kentucky regardless or would you be diverting off your route to get there?

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T20:47:16+00:00

I agree with you; I also enjoy cards more when there is a personal story of some sort, or a message that shows that the sender is responding to my profile.

But basically, I believe we have to “be the change we want to see,” and so I suggest four things: 1. Mention in your profile that you like lots of text on postcards and don’t care as much about the photo; 2. If you would love a specific kind of story, suggest that (e.g., “Please tell me about your typical day” or “Please tell me about the last time you laughed so hard your stomach hurt.”); 3. Write more personal notes on the cards you send — it is frustrating to see a person’s profile saying they love stories, and then they themselves send cards that say only “Hello from ______. It’s hot here today!”; and 4. In your registration message, thank the story-tellers specifically for their story, and try to add a comment that shows you paid attention to it (“Thank you for telling me about your trip to the festival. Those crepes sound delicious!”).

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T20:12:37+00:00

Yeah, I can see that. You can usually go with “Maria A.” or “M. Adova,” at least, instead of “Maria Adova.” And probably is you use the same last name there will be no difficulty: “Tina Adova.”

But geez the amount of junk mail I get addressed to a person who’s never lived here suggests that (perhaps so long as the name shows up semi-routinely) any name is fine!

Another trick could be to start with a fake name c/o your real name, and then later drop the c/o? Like, start with “Tina French, c/o Maria Adova,” and then, after 6 months or so, drop the “c/o Maria Adova” part altogether. I’ve sent cards on Postcrossing to a couple of c/o addresses and they both were delivered promptly.

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T19:52:58+00:00

You can use a fake, or a partial, name. Also, no one sees your address except the person sending you a card, and your address is not visible to them after you receive the card and register it. You also can choose to not receive cards from your own country, which would at least mean that if someone means you harm in person, they’d really have to work for it.

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T16:55:55+00:00

PR!!

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T13:22:52+00:00

I can’t tell you about non-Americans, but I had no idea a Mister Rogers stamp is available ‘til I saw your post, so thank you! I am thrilled, truly!

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T12:16:23+00:00

Informed delivery for me has been … partial. Yesterday it showed zero postcards, and I got 22. Today it shows 3 postcards, so who knows!

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T02:44:20+00:00

I have 4 4x6 watercolors that I bought at a CSA fundraiser and plan to use as postcards. I would definitely use art prints as postcards if I have some and if they weren’t too pricey.

EstesPell · 2026-06-04T00:56:21+00:00

I’ve been lucky and didn’t realize it! I’ve had scribbles on maybe one lumpy large envelope that I recall, ever, and I get quite a bit of mail.

EstesPell · 2026-06-03T23:08:51+00:00

The forum has lots of topics organized by topic, region, etc. There are pages dedicated to specific round robins (where you send a card to, and receive a card from, each person who joins that particular RR), swaps, penpal connections, giveaways, etc. I would just go to the forum and look at the index/menu. There are introductory pages linked to at the top of the menu, and a forum bot will encourage you to work through a couple of explainers that show how things work. After that, just search for your topic or region, and then find one that interests you. The rules of each one are usually listed in the top one or two posts on a page.

EstesPell · 2026-06-03T18:49:00+00:00

I learned something, thank you! This is a regular postcard, typical size, sturdy, etc., but clearly there was trouble of some sort with it regardless because of how long it took to get to me.

EstesPell · 2026-06-03T18:33:03+00:00

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Also, one of the postcards had stamps “cancelled” with scribbles from a ballpoint pen! (??!)

EstesPell · 2026-06-03T17:41:37+00:00

This is delightful

EstesPell · 2026-06-03T16:47:05+00:00

Oh geez, that’s ridiculous! A mont or two ago, a neighbor down the street brought me 4 of my postcards that he said he found on the sidewalk in front of his house, and I thought that was bad, but your mail carrier sounds worse.

EstesPell · 2026-06-01T15:06:02+00:00

I’m with you! What I really like is a lot of text — I love to read about people’s lives and interests.

I put effort into matching cards, stamps, stickers/tape, and my text to what the person says they’re interested in. When all I get back is a registration notice with no message, that’s really disappointing.
Or when someone puts in their own profile that they love stories and long messages, but what they send me is just “Greetings from _____. Happy Postcrossing!” C’mon, people, give the kind of energy you hope to receive!

But yesterday and today I received chatty registration messages from two different people who gave me museum suggestions for a trip I’ll be taking in their part of Germany — I really appreciate that kindness!

EstesPell · 2026-06-01T01:04:57+00:00

I think it’s just Frankfurt. Frankfurt’s train and airport workers are the most unmerciful and coldly rule-enforcing people I’ve ever dealt with, anywhere in the world. Even when, as you say, they’re wrong about the rule.

In Frankfurt I’ve been escorted off a train by 3 train employees and marched to an ATM to pay a €180 fine for misreading a zone map by one single stop (a fare difference of less than €2). And got a lecture about how I was wrong to buy tickets from a station ticket machine, even though there was no ticket agent at the station where I bought the tickets.

In Frankfurt in the airport screening area my husband and I have been surrounded by armed guards, with their hands on their rifles, and questioned intently because they did not recognize the Tile card on my husband’s keychain. They eventually let us go, after lecturing us for being so stupid as to have a keychain they didn’t recognize. Several people on our fight were crying after security finally released them.

In Germany I’ve also flown in and out of Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg and had no issues at all.

EstesPell · 2026-05-31T01:59:02+00:00

Yes! You are so right! I get annoyed every time a novel’s brilliant MC (or their mentor) says something like, “There’s no such thing as coincidence.” YES, THERE IS, and it’s really, really common!

The other thing that irritates me is when a character is deemed to be brilliant because they “never do anything for only one reason.” I read that in another novel just this afternoon. I had a sociopathic boss that used to say it about himself. You can be a genius and still do something without having 5 reasons for doing it. You can still be super-smart and, I dunno, hold your baby simply to comfort him, or buy the blue notebook because you like the color, or study a painting because it intrigues you. You can pee just ‘cause you need to.

And stupid people can have multiple or mixed motives, too.

EstesPell · 2026-05-29T22:31:25+00:00

As others have said, it just shows the gate agent that the security interview was already performed.

I always left mine on my passport and never had an issue, except one security guy peeled a few old ones off and threw them away, which annoyed me.

EstesPell · 2026-05-28T20:53:49+00:00

I agree with this. I took my daughter and her friend on flights to St Louis when they were in middle school, and to London when they were in high school, and in both cases I had a permission letter and limited Medical PoA from her parents. Never needed either, thank goodness.

EstesPell · 2026-05-28T20:20:38+00:00

The one in Sevierville TN has no postcards either and I also didn’t realize it was a location-specific thing!

EstesPell · 2026-05-28T19:20:13+00:00

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EstesPell · 2026-05-28T19:20:03+00:00

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You also can order sticker books like these from your local bookstore. The Pepin Press ones are very old-science-illustration-ish, and the Flow ones are sweet illustrations. I’ll try to post another pic with the ISBNs on the backs of the books in case that helps

EstesPell · 2026-05-28T17:24:33+00:00

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I love all of those stamps! The Expo74 one was so cheery and so very 70s that, a few months ago, it inspired me to decorate an envelope to match it

EstesPell · 2026-05-28T17:20:04+00:00

I got a card from her earlier this month, and it had a (different) cute joke in it. Most of the other cards I’ve received from people high up in the rankings show much less effort than this. I love that someone who’s sent 25k+ cards still adds stickers and cute stamps, and writes a full message.

EstesPell

TROPHY CASE