SF Mini-Meet

Bandaid and lil Bandaid were out from Connecticut this weekend and a mini-meet was arranged in San Francisco w/ them, LisaScenic & Robb, Doublesaj & Old Blue, Princess Lea & Sleepy Cat, and Zairabear & myself. 

Z and I headed up around 9 am and spent some time looking for Alpha Bravo One's Edgewood Park, but we were at the wrong starting point for the directions, so had no luck.  We even found a small power plant, but it was apparently the wrong one as well!  We also got our first Anna and the Kids box - Siempre Adelante at a rest stop on 280.  It's been in an Altoids tin and exposed to direct rain for just over a year now and the box was badly rusted.  Also, the logbook had obviously gotten wet at some point as some of the stamps had washed away.  It's seriously making me rethink Altoids tins for outdoors placements.  Hmmm...

We then headed up to San Francisco itself to search for Princess Lea's The Message in the Haunted Mansion.  We're pretty sure we found the location of the first box, but it was not there.  This box has gone missing at least three times prior, so it wasn't too surprising.  It's pretty close to the main trail and in the middle of a "play" field, so I'm sure it was removed as an "act of kindness" by a noxer.

Box two was really easy to find and is in a fairly secure spot IMO.  Which is funny because later that evening Lea was saying that she thinks this is the least secure spot.  In fact Z found it and told me that it wasn't even IN its hiding place anymore, but rather right next to it proving my favorite Ryan quote: "The biggest danger to letterboxes is letterboxers."   I have a feeling this is another of those class experience differentials.  Lea sees the graffiti near the spot and assumes that kids and "hoodlums" will be in the area and would love to destroy her box.  Whereas I realize that most of the people who are in the park will never journey near this box's location and those that do already have something in mind that doesn't involve playing with tupperware!

No luck on Box Three.  Lea thinks this is the most difficult box to get to, but I just think it's gone missing.  We checked both sides of the trail pretty thoroughly and found several locations that matched the description, yet no box was to be found.  Box four has a similar tale, with us believing we located the correct spot but it was sans box.  On the trail for box five we got distracted by the great graffiti offered up on the old Presidio hospital and had more fun looking at and photographing it than looking for the box.  It may or may not be where its supposed to be, but we were having other fun.

A bit tired we headed towards the hotel.  I managed to find parking for only $10 under a giant mural of a sign that looked like a STOP sign, but said STAY instead (it was on a hotel).  We located the hotel and I told Z to remember her surroundings as we headed towards the mall.  Luckily we were right in time to see a cable car turn around!  Z's never been on a cable car, so that's now been added to our list of required activities.

The San Francisco Shopping Centre is a 9-story mall with the world's only curved escalators.  Prety cool visual (Z snapped a couple of pics).  We planted Mallrats - Haagen-Dazs inside Haagen-Dazs as there were almost no public benches or tables.  After I placed it the first time Z said it stood out like a sore thumb, so I colored it with one of my stamp markers right there at the table.  Unfortunately these are very slow to dry on masking tape so my fingers ended up looking like I'd been squishing smurfs.  We think one of the employees may have spotted it but we won't know for sure until someone goes looking for it.  Either way this was definitely one of my tougher hides.

We met up with the crew back at the hotel and chowed at the Thai restaurant there.  Z finally got to meet Sleepy Cat, I finally got to meet Lea and Lisa.  Much merriment and exchange of personal stamps and travelers was enjoyed by all.  After dinner the waiters brought out three special desert trays.  When the covers were lifted they exposed postal letterboxes.  Lea showed us a slideshow of her Dartmoor trip, Bandaid passed out Nutmeg Graters to remind us all of Connecticut, and an all around good time was had.  At the end Diane (Doublesaj) pulled me aside to commend me on reinvigorating the South Bay boxing community.  It felt great!

Another great boxing day, though it will have to be the last for a while as our recent exploits have completely drained my savings and no income is forthcoming :(  Still worth it though :)

Tags: mini-meet, San Francisco, plant, Xchanges

Mallrats - Haagen Dazs (P27)

This one's tough. In the "food court" (the lower floor) of the San Francisco Shopping Centre is a Haagen Dazs. On either side of the door, on the inside, is a small round table. Take the table on the right and sit with the window on your left. Reach below the table and find the Altoids tin magnetted to the bottom of the table.

If you order some ice cream first and are there with ANY traffic whatsoever, you should be able to stamp in right there at your table and replace the box without ever moving.

Good Luck and Thanks For Playing!

Tags: clue, Mallrats, Haagen Dazs, urban, San Francisco, San Francisco Shopping Centre

Street Art Series #1 - OBEY HH (P26)

This is the first in an ongoing series of stamps I'm carving to commemorate famous (or is that infamous?) Street Art campaigns.

It turns out this image was still beyond my carving means and I'm not really satisfied enough with it to make it a permanent installation. Therefore the series will start with a hitchhiker.

Shepard Fairey

"Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience."
— Thomas C. Halibuton

Artist Shepard Fairey is truly the anti-authoritarian poster child. The international notoriety achieved by his Andre the Giant paper campaign offers us, if nothing else, gloriously ironic proof of the power of advertising. For over a decade, from Tokyo to London to Philadelphia to San Francisco, posters of the deceased, larger-than-life WWF star have proliferated like goofy Orwellian/Constructivist icons, issuing vague threats like BUY, SUBMIT, OBEY.

Buy what? Obey whom? The question answers itself: nothing, and no one. The Giant is an empty signifier, and when a viewer begins to question the meaning behind Fairey's propaganda, they begin to question the meaning behind all the rest.

From http://www.e-underground-art-gallery.com

For more on Shepard Fairey please visit http://www.obeygiant.com

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, Street Art, OBEY, Shepard Fairey, Andre The Giant Has A Posse

Common Cold Cootie (Zairabear Plant)

If you don't want to be sick in bed all week blowing your nose I suggest you pass this germ on to someone else!

Tags: clue, cootie, common cold, Zairabear

Team Aahz on National Planting Day 2006

I decided to kick off the first ever orgainzed National Letterbox Planting Day right.  I left the house around 5 minutes after midnight to go hide 3 boxes :D  I then promptly returned home and posted clues to four boxes (one preplanted) before crashing out.

Woke up early (for me) to finish some small touches on other boxes to plant and went to Gilroy to pick the kids up from school.  While Liderbox Kid and Zairabear did their homework I posted Zairabear's Fairytale Town clues to Atlas Quest.  Then Z and I headed out to Dinosaur Point to find a spot for the wonderful Silverback box that Lock Wench had sent out as a sign of support after the drama I went through with Don over my SCC Challenge.

This was the first time we'd been to Dinosaur Point (we chose it for the name, not the location) and I wanted to find a more "natural" location for our Silverback than we had previously used for our plants.  Alas, the Point is primarily a boat launching area and there weren't many trails to choose from.  Z and I spent a couple of hours wandering in the wilderness though and despite our 2 miles or so walked we ended up hiding the box within a couple hundred yards of the parking lot.  ::sigh::  The best laid plans and all that...  We also got to jump start the car again.  Arrgghhh!  Though Z's getting to be an old pro at popping the clutch ;-)

Once rolling we did quick plants of three other boxes in the Gilroy area.  One, Woodsman Of The World, was Z's first box that she did completely on her own.  Well, the container was donated to us by Da Kool Kats over the weekend, but everything else was Z!  We're both pretty proud of it.

By the time we got home it was nearing 8 o'clock, so we quickly posted clues while Z did some chores, finished her homework, and watched the American Idol season finale.  Then I headed home to watch the final AQ numbers come in at midnight.

I even managed a quick stop to pick up LisaScenic's contribution to my SCC Challenge and managed to find her Get Out Of Jail Free box from memory (I'd briefly read the clues that afternoon).

Although this post seems a bit dry I can't explain how great it felt to be a part of this bit of letterboxig history.  I think I'm just tired of typing at this point.  Still, one more bit of excitement was waiting for me when I got home...

I had several new AQ mails and one was from Mathhead!!  He(?) is one of those I consider an "old time" SJ boxer and I had been thinking about him on my way home.  Well, it seems he had seen the clues to Lisa's new box posted on LbNA and followed her reference to my challenge to AQ where he not only registered for the first time, but planted a new box of his own!!  Reactivating an experienced boxer in SCC was more than I could have hoped for!!

Of course, I sent him a longwinded reply to his message which has probably scared him back into seclusion, but maybe he'll be further infected by my excitement and continue to be more active!

No matter what we call it or what date we settle on for perpetuity (two topics of great debate today on the AQ boards) I can hardly wait for next year's event!  I'm so glad I was able to help spur it on and that Team Aahz was able to participate!

Tags: National Planting Day, planting, Dinosaur Point, Zairabear, Lisascenic, Mathhead

First National Day of Letterbox Planting A Success!!

Woohoo!!

Here's some official numbers from Ryan:

As I start this message, it is precisely 16 seconds after midnight. (It'll be a few minutes to type up this message, however.)

Total boxes listed: 613
Total traditional boxes listed: 571
Total non-traditional boxes listed: 42

Total number of planters: 132
Total for traditional planters: 123
Total for non-traditional planters: 24
(There is overlap between traditional and non-traditional planters, which is why 123+24 do not add up to 132)

For who planted the most--Wanda and Pete stole the show, but they listed ALL of their 155 boxes they've ever planted which kind of skews those results! =) Those who planted boxes specifically for this day: Celtic Quinn (24), DixieKin (19), Cherokee Rose (18), and The Wolf Family (17) make up the top four planters.

Honorable mention to everyone with at least ten plants include: cuddlebug, lionsmane63, Aahz, Choi, 3Ms, Wendy and Andrew, and Moon Seeker.

Did I miss anything? =)

-- Ryan

And my LbNCA post regarding Santa Clara County Activity-

Wow, what a great day!!!!

I had SOOO much fun with National Planting Day!  But I'll detail all of that in my blog.  Here's the Santa Clara County recap of new boxes.  If I missed anyone (or any boxes) PLEASE let me know:

Team Aahz-

 Charles Martinet - SJ, CA

 Gilroy's Old City Hall - Gilroy, CA

 Jack and the Beanstalk - SJ, CA

 Thomas The Tank Engine - Gilroy, CA

 Woodsman of the World - Gilroy, CA (Zairabear's first solo box)

 Fairytale Town (series of 3) - Sacramento, CA (Ok, not SCC, but this seemed like a good place to let y'all know!)

 The Cursed Park - Mystery, Mystery (SCC?)

 Prairie Schooner - Mystery, CA (SCC?)  (clues to be posted to my blog shortly)

Lock Wench - (she mailed a box out from NY!)

 Silverback - Dinosaur Point, CA

LisaScenic -

 Get Out of Jail Free - SJ, CA

Dem XX Men -

 Walden West - Cupertino, CA

Mathhead - (yes, he's back!  Brought back into the fold via Lisa's box and my SCC Challenge)

 Mary Mary #1 - Saratoga, CA

And I managed a quick find of Lisa's new box on the way home as well  :-D

Thanks to all who participated and feel free to email me (or AQMail me) about getting your SCC event stamp.  It ain't pretty, but it's a fairly select group ;)

-Aahz

Tags: National Day of Letterbox Planting, Atlas Quest, official numbers, results

A Short Note For Regular Readers

First: Thanx for reading my ramblings!

Second, you really should subscribed to my blog either via your RSS reader or via email using the buttons on the right side (the orange Feedblitz button will send my posts via email). Why? Because I often post stuff well after the fact and then backdate it meaning it won't necessarily appear at the top of the page. By subscribing you're sure to receive all my random letterboxing thoughts! For example, by the time I posted about last weekend's Road Trip, all of the boxes planted since then knocked the reports right off both the front page and the "recent posts" list. You'll need to check the May archives to find them if you're interested.

Woodsman Of The World (Zairabear Plant)

Go to Gavilan Hills Memorial Park.
Park by the Pereria mausoleum.
Face it and go down the walkway on the right.
Sit on the stump that looks like a chair.
When you're no longer tired continue on the path.
Turn left when you get to the house.
Find the stump that's not a stump.
Across the street from the stump (that's not a stump) is a bigger stump.
Go to the bigger stump and put your back towards the fence.
On the right side of the stump under rocks is your prize.

Make sure to check out all the interesting grave stones.

Tags: clue, Woodsman of the World, Gilroy, Zairabear

Holiday Hitchhiker July #7 4th of July (Zairabear Plant)

Light my fireworks and add more stamps!

RECENT ACTIVITY -

05/24/06 - Launched in ???

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, Holiday Series, #7 4th of July, Zairabear

2006 National Planting Day - Santa Clara County (Event Stamp) (P25)

This event stamp will only be given to those who participate in the National Day Of Letterbox Planting event by planting (or posting clues to) a letterbox located in Santa Clara County on May 24, 2006.

Tags: clue, event stamp, National Planting Day, Santa Clara County

Hot Potato (P24)

This is a cootie. It is meant to be surreptitiously transferred from letterboxer to letterboxer. Much in the way a hitchhiker is meant to be transferred from letterbox to letterbox.

Quick, Pass it on!

RECENT ACTIVITY-

05/24/06 - Launched on ???

Tags: clue, cootie, Hot Potato, hitchhiker

Thomas The Tank Engine (P23)

Barnes and Noble Bookstore
6825 Camino Arroyo
Gilroy, CA

Go into the bookstore and find the wooden model train setup.
Go to the corner with the windmill on it.
Underneath that corner hides the engine. TOOT! TOOT!

If you have time play with the train set. It's very fun in my opinion!

Tags: clue, Barnes & Noble, Gilroy, Thomas The Tank Engine

Gilroy's Old City Hall (P22)

Originally built in 1905 the Gilroy City Hall is architecturally unique. It has been described as "marvelously baroque" or "Flemish baroque". Today, it is Old City Hall.



The 1906 earthquake damaged the new building but it was quickly repaired and reopened. Originally, it housed various city functions, a judge and his court, the police department and the volunteer fire associations. The local volunteer fire groups used the first floor but quickly out grew the space and moved to the "new" firehouse on Fifth Street in 1916. In 1958, the city functions relocated. The police department moved out in 1965.

The clock, a gift of local philanthropist Mrs. Caroline Hoxett, was dedicated in 1913. The clock itself is a Seth Thomas Tower Clock with four dials. The bell was added later. The clock was restored in the 1980's and is currently operating.

Between 1965 and 1983, the building had minimal use. In 1983 after a major restoration, it opened as a restaurant. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake severely damaged the structure. Major grants and City support lead to its next restoration. Gavilan Community College took over for a few years until 2003 when the current owners Glen Gurries and Daniel Barduzzi reopened it. The building now hosts two restaurants, The Courtyard Grill and the Clocktower, fine dinning. It will soon be home to the Central Coast Restaurant Academy, a restaurant and culinary school. A bakery and wine center are also in the plans.

The Gilroy Old City Hall is on the National Register of Historical Places as "one of the only public buildings remaining as an example of Victorian architecture in Central California".

CLUES:

Park (or walk) behind the Old City Hall Building. On the North end of the lot are some trees and the enclosure for the dumpster. The West side of this enclosure has a low planter (empty at the time of the box planting). The box is under the North corner of this planter.

Thanks for playing!

Tags: clue, Gilroy, Old City Hall

Silverback (P21)

{NOTE: This box was conceived and execute by Lock Wench. She also carved the stamp. I simply had the honor of placing it in Santa Clara County}

I've met quite a few silverbacks since I started letterboxing. Some friendlier than others! Here is a tribute box to them and their accumulated wisdom....

Take Dinosaur Point Rd off of Hwy 152 in Santa Clara County. Don't miss the turn off as its more than a mile before the next turnaround (in either direction). Follow the road all the way to the end. When you reach the boat launch parking area you can park.

There is a trail at the Western end of the lot (farthest from the water) currently next to the port-a-potties.

Follow this trail a short way until you come to a burned out trunk leaning against a flourishing tree. The ape is hiding below some loose bark and large stones at the base of the fallen tree.

Tags: clue, Silverback, Dinosaur Point, Lock Wench

Charles Martinet (P20)

Location: Chuck E. Cheese, 2445 Fontaine Rd
Carved by Umatima

Charles Martinet was born in San Jose, CA and lived here until he was 12 years old. Alas, he moved away in 1968, thus missing the video game revolution. However, had he still been in the area in 1977 he would have witnessed the birth of a whole new kids entertainment venue: Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. Although the original Chuck E. Cheese location closedmany years ago, the largest Sann Jose arcade is still located in a Chuck E. Cheese.

Why is it sad that Charles Martinet wasn't able to visit Chuck E. Cheese's as a kid? Well, because Charles Martinet went on to play the role (voice) of Mario (of Mario Bros fame) not only in various television cartoons, but also in every Mario game created by Nintendo.

We've brought Charles to Chuck E. Cheese at long last and encourage you to join him for goofy music, mediocre pizza, and the largest collection of video games in Santa Clara County.

Clues:

Once you arrive at Chuck E. Cheese go around back and visit the 2-story tall Chuck in his glass cage. He used to have a friend to either side (always reminded me of a crucifixion scene when I was a child), but they're now gone. The tribute to Mr. Martinet is in the cage to Mr. Cheese's left.

Tags: clue, Charles Martinet, Chuck E. Cheese, San Jose

Jack and the Beanstalk (P19)

On our recent trip to Fairytale Town we took along four boxes to plant. Unfortunately, one of them didn't find an appropriate home, so came back to San Jose with me. The closest thing we have to Fairytale Town is Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in Kelley Park. Luckily for you, Happy Hollow was closed when I was planting this box, so it ended up in Kelley Park itself. Although this is an easy driveby, take the time to explore this little slice of wilderness in the heart of the 11th largest city in the US.

Clues:

Find the Kelley Park Ranger Station. Read the announcements sign (you may even find a new job!). Then move to your left and look for the drainpipe on the corner of the building. The box is attatched to the bottom by magnets.

Tags: clue, San Jose, Jack and Beanstalk, Happy Hollow, Kelley Park

Prairie Schooner (P18)

This is, essentially, a Word Of Mouth clue as this is the only place to get the clues to the Prairie Schooner Mystery Letterbox (unless you happen to have more than 1000 finds logged at Atlasquest.com ;) The box is listed on AQ for purposes of logging when found.

Location: New Helvetia (aka Somewhere in CA)

In the middle of the 19th Century hundreds of families started to head West in order to settle the newly acquired land there. Most traveled in a covered wagon that came to be known as a prairie schooner. The journey was incredibly difficult and many perished along the way. Of those that survived the Sierra Nevada mountains, hundreds headed towards New Helvetia having heard that the man who owned the place would give aid and comfort.

All that's left of New Helvetia is a fort bearing that man's name. Should you find yourself visiting this fort you will find a full size replica of a prairie schooner on its grounds. If you carefully examine the window at the bottom of the stairs that is located closest to the wagon, you may even take home your very own prairie schooner.

Tags: clue, mystery, New Helvetia, prairie schooner

The Cursed Park Mystery Box (P17)

The Cursed Park was originally layed out in 1848, though it wasn't until 20 years later that it received any foliage and became an actual "park". For many years the centerpiece of this park was a beautiful fountain. Alas, in 1955 the locals wanted streets more than fountains and the park was cut in half - directly through the fountain's location. The locals may have had reason to fear the park even then, however....

In the earliest part of the 20th Century a Great Man gave a speech in The Cursed Park. He was assasinated four months later. A memorial was built to this Great Man within The Cursed Park. But it seems this memorial was to be cursed as well!

For 17 years later a man was tarred & feathered than chained to the Cannon at the base of this Great Man's memorial. His crime? Being "pro-german".

A mere five years after that, on All Hallows Eve, the very same Cannon inexplicably fired, shattering the windows of the nearby Courthouse.

Eleven years after that, two men were dragged from their cells in that very same Courthouse and lynched in The Cursed Park. It seems the locals had little concern for the welfare of kidnappers given the recent celebrated case.

The park lay largely dormant after that. Perhaps its bloodlust had been sated at last.

Unfortunately, history often repeats itself and in the middle of the 20th century another Great Man gave a speech in The Cursed Park. Three months later he, too, was assasinated.

That was 38 years ago. Today The Cursed Park is home to a senior center, a playground, a replica of the original fountain, numerous homeless souls, and more monuments than you can shake a stick at.

It also still houses four active battlefields. Your prize lies beneath the North West most of these, near the forces of light.

Good luck exploring The Cursed Park!

Fairytale Town (P14, 15 & 16)

Location: Sacramento, CA

Warning: you must have a child to enter this park! The addmission is $3.75 each on weekdays and $4.00 on weekends.It is open every day From 9:00 to 4:00 In March - October and 10:00 to 4:00 Thursday-Sunday in November - Febuary.
You may pick up a map of Fairytale Town when you get there. You don't need it but it's useful!


One day we went to Fairytale Town.

After we entered I made a trip to the Little Old Lady Who Lived In A Shoe. She let me slide down her shoe. I went fast.

Then I saw Mary and her little lambs. Mary was busy writing "I will not bring my lamb to school" on the chalk board so I talked to the lambs. They led me to a red bench that was in memory of someone named Franco J. Bilotta. Mary's little lamb didn't want to get her into trouble again, so is hiding under the bench. Look under the second slat, between the metal supports to find her.

After lunch at the Dish and Spoon Cafe (good food). We found the Three Billy Goats Gruff. They were very tricky!

Right next to them were the Three Little Pigs! They were all in the brick house because the sneaky wolf was near by. Then we went next door to Sherwood Forest. While we were reading the sign a pig ran up to us yelling "The wolf is coming! The wolf is coming!" The pig hid on the bottom right side where the wood sticks out. Find him and tell him the wolf is gone!

We ran away as fast as we could until we got to the giant cheese. It was standing alone so we kept it company for a while. Then we saw Cinderella arriving and told the cheese goodbye.

We sat on a bench facing the Cinderella's Coach. Cinderella came up and said hello to us. Then I took a picture of her. I think I dropped it when she invited me to sit in her coach. I was sitting on the left side of the bench facing the coach. My hands were between my legs on the second slat.

Please find my picture of Cinderella along with Mary's Lamb and one of the Three Little Pigs!

2nd Letterboxing Road Trip (Day Two)

Since we'd had such a long day on Friday I told Z to give me an extra half-hour whenever I "hit the snooze button". With four attempts she finally got me to wake up around 9:30am. She had spent a couple hours that morning finishing up some of the boxes we would be planting that day. I helped with the final touches there and we somehow managed to not leave the motel until Noon. So, with a late start I nixed my Arden Fair mall plant (the second lost plant of the trip as I realized we wouldn't be passing the Nut Tree on the way home). Instead we headed straight to FairyTale Town.

This place was definetly meant for kids younger than Z. They must of had 20 birthday parties going on and only 2 were for 8yr olds (none older) while the majority were for 3 & 4 year olds. Nevertheless, Zairabear had fun playing around and I had fun watching her :-) We even managed to hide 3 of the 4 boxes we had planned. I let Z actually plant the 4th and she got the angle wrong, exposing the box. When I tried to replant it the stickiness of the Velcro had been compromised and I didn't have any spare on me :(

After a little freeway confusion we took Hwy 99 down to Lodi. Our first stop was Grumpy Grinch's "Lodi Libation". Z had a little trouble reading the map to determine that this box had its own exit, but we managed to find our way there all the same. This is a wonderful spot and the stamp was well worth it! Once we'd made use of the facilities the car wouldn't start, AARRRGGHHHH!!! But Z was in the spirit of adventure and agreed to learn how to pop a clutch. She got it on the first try! That's my girl.

We were running pretty late at this point, so had to skip out on LisaScenic's nearby "Astonishing Creatures" plant and I also nixed all of the Stockton area boxes we had on our list. We did manage to pick up a very refreshing mystery box along the way however.

I decided we'd cut over from 99 to I-5 on Lathrop Rd so we could try to stop the alien threat to our junkfood and we were rewarded with one of the coolest pieces of "Roadside America" I've seen in quite some time! It seems a spaceship crashed right into a building and the aliens were running all around it trying to repair the damage while dodging weary drivers! A big thanks to Mtnbikemanns for leading us here with his "Alien Smorgasbord"!

That was it, time was running out. So we highballed it back towards Gilroy, stopping in Santa Nella long enough for me to introduce Z to the road trip tradition of eating at Pea Soup Andersen's. I'd left the headlights on when we arrived so when we finished eating the battery was dead. ::sigh:: Instead of asking someone for a jump like a normal person I insisted on having Z pop the clutch again. This time it took about 20 tries (half my fault, half Z's). While I was resting from all that pushing Zairabear informed me that popping the clutch wasn't as fun as she'd first thought ;-)

Still, we made it home on time, exhausted of course. Another road trip successful and many more memories (letterboxing and otherwise) added to our collection!

Tags: road trip, Sacramento, plants, popping the clutch, Pea Soup Andersen's, alien junk food

2nd Letterboxing Road Trip - First mini-meet (Day One)

Zairabear had told me about 6 weeks ago that she had a field trip to Sacramento. I volunteered to Chaperone and we planned to spend the weekend in Sac hunting letterboxes. Well, life went on (as it always does) and with me being between jobs and in the process of moving (sort of), I decided to trim the trip back to just one overnight stay.

While researching Sac area clues I came across Black Cavalier's listing for his Fanny Ann's box which is officially retired as two of the clues have gone missing. He stated in the listing, however, that if he could meet people there he'd bring the box and they could complete it. A brilliant idea was born! I contacted Nils and he agreed to try to meet us there Friday night. Posted to the LbNCA list and a mini-meet was in the works!

Thursday night I went down to Gilroy and spent the night so I could be up bright and early at 5am (an hour I'm more used to climbing IN bed rather than OUT of bed). Awoke excited and we headed to the school where Z piled on the bus with the rest of the kids and I (and 2 other parents) followed behind. The field trip was full of non-lb drama which I'll relate elsewhere (time permitting), but I did manage to tuck one box away for future visitors :D

The fireld trip ended at the Golden State History Museum around 3pm and Z and I went back in to explore it a little more. Then we headed down to Old Sacramento to find boxes before the dinner meeting. We picked up our first one, NancyAnne & Doug's "Old Sac" and while stamping in I asked Z if she wanted to leisurely look for boxes (as we usually do) or go for as many as possible. She chose the latter. This is a mistake that will not be repeated again. I get too easily frustrated with little things when I'm in a rush, so we're gonna stick to our normal slower pace from now on.

Our next stop was one of Da Kool Kat's "Old Sac Landmark Series", but the store housing the box was closed for a family funeral. We then went after another in the series, but the store was PACKED with kids and I empathised with the busy retail employees so we moved on. We did go back and get this one later, though!

We went looking for Black Cavalier's "Eureka Letterbox" but there was a guy leaning against the rail looking right at the box's hiding spot. So we moved on to ArtTrekker's "Four In Old Sac: Stagecoach", but it turns out it's in the same "garden" and the guy was still there. Was he stalking us?

We checked for the third in the "Old Sac" series, but had no luck finding the right street, then checked for Da Kool Kat's "U-Neak Pig", but totally had the wrong store. Back to the "garden" and we managed to grab "Stagecoach" just before our stalker appeared again. We'd have to rehide this one later.

Next up was Sierra Sally's "Gold Rush Romp Series - Wells Fargo Stage and I Hit The Motherlode!" Alas, there was a vendor handing out fliers in front of the WF Stage. But we did manage to grab the Motherlode. By the time we stamped in there were folks waiting for their bus to load in that very spot, so we hung onto that box as well. It also needd a new logbook, so we added that as well.

Heading back to the "garden" we had just enough time to rehide ArtTrekker's box before our stalker arrived and we headed for dinner. We got to Fanny Ann's and quickly found the first clue, which led us to the 2nd, which led us to ... a blank space where the clue should have been. Ack! We headed back downstairs to double check and ran into none other than the Black Cavalier himself and his adorable little daughter (whose name I've forgotten because I'm horrible with names. She sure was cute though!).

We grabbed a table by the door and were soon joined by Da Kool Kats and Old Blue. Much yabbering took place and we were all having a great time when another young couple approached our table: Dem XX Men!! They had sent me an email saying they were coming, but I was already on the road, so this was a huge surprise! More merriment ensued as logbooks were passed around for eXchanges, tales were told, hints were given, etc. It was a blast!

As Z and I finally headed for our motel room we actually passed DXM on the street looking for one of the Old Sac boxes! What a cool feeling! Back at the motel we crashed hard, so there was no time to finish the boxes we'd intended on prepping for the next day. Getting up early and having so much fun has a way of doing that :D

Tags: Sacramento, field trip, mini-meet, eXchange, speed boxing

Holiday Hitchhiker December #12 Christmas (Zairabear Plant)

Decorate my tree's logbook with ornaments! (stamps)

RECENT ACTIVITY -

05/18/06 - Launched in ???

Tags: clue, Holiday Series, #12 Christmas, hitchiker, Zairabear

Holiday Hitchhiker May #5 Mother's Day (Zairabear Plant)

Hope you water my mother's day flowers!

RECENT ACTIVITY

05/14/06 - Launched in ???

Tags: clue, #5 Mothers Day, hitchhiker, zairabear

Remember ( Zairabear Personal Traveler)

A Personal Traveler

In order to get my letterbox you must say,
"Hi Zairabear, My name is_________ and my favorite childhood memory is _________________ ."

Tags: clue, Remember, Personal Traveler, Zairabear

Beamie (P13)

My Second Personal Traveler

Clue:
1LMB859, under AQ

NOTE: Bring blue ink or, better yet, purple

Tags: clue, personal traveler, Beamie, mystery

The Gilroy Vampire (P12)

What's Gilroy famous for? ... Garlic!

Who hates garlic? ... Vampires!

But there's one brave enough: The Gilroy Vampire! Bum-bum-buumm!

Stand facing The Gilroy Vampire. (If you don't know where he is, ask anyone in Gilroy.)
Head west, crossing the street.
Turn left on Gourmet Alley.
Go to the fourth tree.
The base of the tree has shrubs on one side and is bare on the other.
Face the bare side.
On the left side of the tree, in the bushes, under a chunk of wood you will find the Vampire's tomb.

When done stamping in, let the Vampire rest in peace - please rehide well and cover his tomb with the wood.

Thank's for playing!

Tags: clue, Gilroy Vampire, Gilroy

Who Killed JFK? (P11)

My first Personal Traveler

Just ask or answer the question to discover the truth!

Tags: clue, personal traveler, JFK

An Apology

(Crossposted to the LbNCA List and AQ's California Board)

I've deleted the event listing for the Santa Clara County Letterbox Planting Contest. I had no idea it would ruffle so many feathers, or that I was doing anything wrong. I apologize.

I was simply trying to motivate more people to plant more boxes in my neck of the woods. Apparently I went about it in entirely the wrong manner. I guess I just got a little carried away in my newfound enthusiasm for planting boxes. I thought it would be a fun way for Bay Area boxers to "come together" in a joint project that all could enjoy.

But just to clarify...

I wasn't hoping for people to avoid planting until that date. Several members of Team Aahz have boxes in the works that were scheduled to be planted as soon as they are ready. I assume others will plant when they are ready as well. This was simply an attempt to motivate.

I also was not hoping to have random boxes tossed wherever possible in order to earn a prize. I assumed the planters would have enough integrity to think through their boxes and put some genuine effort into the plants that would bear their name. I guess I just have too high an estimation of boxers motivations. I didn't think the prize was really that big of a deal. It's not like I was offering a new car, and I never considered that people would plant "crap" just to get some free boxing supplies.

More than a third of the boxes currently listed in SCC have gone missing. Half of Team Aahz is ready to quit boxing as they've only found one out of seven boxes they've hunted. This contest helped motivate them to continue boxing. The influx of new (read guranteed not missing) boxes would also have helped boost their spirits as well.

Just chalk this whole incident up to another newbie not understanding his place in the letterboxing hierarchy. Again I apologize. I'll try to run any innovations by those more experienced than I before implementing them in the future.

Tags: contest, apology, Santa Clara County

Santa Clara County Day Of Letterbox Planting Contest

Mn8X came up with the idea of having a National Day Of Letterbox Planting and Ryan challenged us to try and crash the server by adding too many boxes to AQ in one day. Several people came up with a date to do the challenge: 5/24 (which is National Scavenger Hunt Day). The Wolf Family then decided to make it into a contest to get more boxes in their home state of North Carolina. I am now shamelessly jumping on this bandwagon to promote Santa Clara County (SCC) boxes. (SF and Oakland each have 89 boxes listed within 25 miles. San Jose has less than 30!) The record number of added traditional boxes on a single day is 142 (wouldn't it be cool to beat this). The record number of allegedly planted boxes on a given day is 95.

Thanks to all who contributed ideas to get this started (see the Atlas Quest board starting with the "Do you plant boxes" thread).

THERE WILL BE A PRIZE FOR THE MOST SCC BOXES ADDED TO AQ ON 5/24, A PRIZE FOR THE MOST SCC BOXES ACTUALLY PLANTED ON 5/24, AND AN EVENT STAMP (VIA MAIL) FOR ALL WHO PARTICIPATE.

Here is how it works:

1. Plant a traditional box in Santa Clara County (SCC) between now and 5/24 but don't post the clues until 5/24 on Atlas Quest.

2. Sign up for this event.

It's fun to see who you are competing against and I'll also need a way to keep track of the contestants to see who the winner is and who I need to send the event stamp to.

3. What are you waiting for? There isn't much time! Get carving and planting!

RULES:
1. Clues must be posted on 5/24/06.
On 5/25 I will look at the logbooks of all who are signed up for the event and determine the winner that way.

2. Plants must be in Santa Clara County.
You do not need to be from SCC-- just come here and plant a box.

What if you can't get here in time?
Well, if you can find someone to plant for you in time and load it to AQ on the 5/24 deadline you will at least get carving credit and I'll send you the event stamp for participating. The planter will get planting credit which qualifies you for the event stamp as well as a point toward winning the contest (I'll only be counting plant numbers in logs).

3. The boxes must not have been found yet (so if you have a bunch that are just on LbNA and are thinking of adding them to AQ on that day-- that's a great thing to do-- and I would encourage it for purposes of seeing if AQ will crash, but I won't count them as part of the contest results. They may count toward beating that 142 number, though!).

4. The plants must be traditional boxes.

PRIZE FOR MOST SCC BOXES ADDED TO AQ ON 5/24:
*** If you want to make a donation send me an e-mail-- any donations would be greatly appreciated.***

The prizes may consist of
carving materials, logbooks, lock-n-lock box, markers, and anything else I can think up or anyone donates.

NOW GET OUT THERE AND PLANT! :)

PS- I'm REALLY new to carving, so if one of our more experienced artists would like to volunteer to design and carve the event stamp, that would be MUCH appreciated!

-Aahz

Tags: Atlas Quest, contest, National Day Of Letterbox Planting, May 24, Scavenger Hunt Day, Santa Clara County

Scooby Doo Hitchhiker Series: #3 Velma (P10)

When I was a young child and was asked the traditional question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would answer: "Scooby Doo!"

Well, it hasn't happened yet, but I'm still hoping to grow up before Zairabear does ;-)

Travels Thus Far:

05/05/06 - Launched in ???

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, Scooby Doo, Velma

Parasitic Kiss (P9)

A parasite is a special kind of letterbox, much like a hitchhiker, except that it travels from hitchhiker to hitchhiker rather than directly from letterbox to letterbox. A parasite can't exist without a hitchhiker to attach itself to. If you don't have another HH to move the parasite to, just leave it with the one you found it in.

In addition to ‘hitching’ a ride on Hitchhikers, it also ‘infects’ (stamps into) the HH, the boxes they’re put into, personal logbooks…And basically every logbook it goes near. So, if a HH with a parasite is placed into a letterbox that already contains another HH (such as a HH Hostel), the parasite ‘infects’ both the other HH as well as the letterbox itself. This can be pretty confusing, but it basically means the parasite stamps into EVERYTHING. When in doubt, stamp it in!

Then, the parasite should be swapped into the other HH.

I hope you enjoy this special box as much as I do!

Thanks for playing.

RECENT ACTIVITY-

05/07/06 - Launched in ???

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, parasite, Parasitic Kiss

Mall Plants

While in the mall last week looking for some letterboxing supplies I noticed they had two H3 Hummers on display.  Considering this is an outlet mall, gas is at $3.35/gallon, and these things get 19MPG on the freeway, I was pretty disgusted.  But it did give a brilliant (I think) idea....

I'd plant a special Limited Time Only letterbox called Gas Guzzler ON one of the Hummers!  Plus, I already had the perfect stamp image download to my desktop. (It's not family friendly, so I won't describe it here, but it shows what happens to people who buy gas guzzlers like these). 

Well, I did it today and you can find the clues on Atlas Quest.  This box will be retired on May 30, 2006 as the mall clerk I spoke with couldn't be sure the Hummers would be there past Memorial Day.

While I was there I also planted ANOTHER mall box called Cop Shop.  Clues for that one are also on AQ.

Planting Cop Shop was tough due to lunchtime traffic (bad timing on my part), but planting Gas Guzzler was even harder as it turns out these big "tough" vehicles have almost zero exposed steel!  Almost every part of the reachable undercarriage (bumpers, wheel wells, etc) is PLASTIC!!

Mallrats - Gas Guzzler (Limited) (P8)

The only thing stranger than an outlet mall housing two H3 Hummers when local gas is going for $3.35/gallon is the fact that these "he-man macho tough" vehicles have almost no exposed metal! It took me forever to find a spot I could tuck away the hide-a-key box. This gas guzzler gets 19MPG on the freeway. Ridiculous! When logging in please include the most recent price you paid for gas along with the date.

This box is limited time only as I don't know how long this Hummer is going to remain in the mall. A customer service rep assured me it would be there through Memorial Day, so I will be retiring this box on May 30, 2006.

There are currently two H3 Hummers inside the mall. The one you seek is the Blue one (#60317) currently parked in front of Burlington Coat Factory. The letterbox is a small black "hide-a-key" held under the driver's side front recovery hook by a small magnet.

Cautions:

1) Remember, this box will be retired May 30, 2006!

2) The Gas Guzzler stamp is NOT family friendly. (AQ mail me for details if concerned)

3) The logbook is a tiny 1" square, so bring your smallest personal stamp.

4) When replacing the box make sure the magnet is connected to the metal. The magnet is weak and (as mentioned) there is very little exposed metal.

Thanks for playing!

Tags: clue, Gas Guzzler, Milpitas, great mall, H3, Hummer, limited

Mallrats - Cop Shop (P7)

The Great Mall of Milpitas has 1.6 million square feet of retail space, 6,300 parking spaces, more than 180 outlet stores, 40 restaurants, 20 movie screens, 18 (mini) golf holes, and one police station. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "cop shop".

Clue:

There are also more than 100 benches in the Great Mall, but there are only 10 curved double benches and it is one of these that you seek. Benches do sometimes get moved around in malls, but your prize currently resides under the leftmost corner of the leftmost bench as you sit facing the Milpitas Police Substation. You should be able to sit in this spot, reach down between your legs and retrieve the box which has been velcroed here.

Remember, you are visible from and traffic is travelling in all four directions. So don't get too caught up keeping an eye on the policemen in front of you. After replacing the box peek down through the slats in the bench. Only a small edge of the box should be visible.

Thanks for playing!

Please record all finds at Atlas Quest.

Tags: clue, cop shop, great mall, milpitas

Bip Bip Hitchhiker (P6)

After carving the Cop Shop stamp I ended up with a small piece of pink stuff. One side was covered with the bar code. Since I'd been working my way through the second season of Dark Angel the bar code brought the show to mind. I didn't feel I was up to carving a manticore image, so instead I did the Jam Pony Messenger Service logo.

"Bip Bip" is the infamous quote repeatedly uttered by Normal in order to speed up the messengers in his employ. Here's hoping Bip Bip speeds on its way as well!

Travels Thus Far:

05/03/06 - Launched in Cop Shop

Tags: clue, bip bip, dark angel, hitchhiker

First Virtual Gathering Letterbox

Last week the first ever Virtual letterbox gathering was held in the AQ chatroom.  I missed it by a scant few hours :-(

But, Celtic Quinn was not only kind enough to edit and post the transcript of the chat, he also created a virtual letterbox based on it.  I'm dreadfully sorry I missed the "gathering", it sounds like they had a lot of fun.

If you want to read the transcript, but not do the virtual box, just follow this link.

Tags: atlas quest, virtual gathering, virtual letterbox

More Firsts for Team Aahz

Zairabear and I had an amazing letterboxing day on Sunday!

First up was a new Mystery box.  Ironically, Z and I had just been to this location about a month ago, so we both figured out the spot within the first few sentences.  The clues were great though and the location is wonderful.  Z checked for the box first, but couldn't find it, so I put her on lookout duty and found it right away.  Turns out she was thinking too sneaky and missed the well hidden but obvious when you know what you're looking for spot.  We were the first finders and Z got a nice FF prize as well.  We were also the FFs of the Emma HH which is wandering out in the wild since its feline namesake isn't allowed out of the house.

Next up was Princess Lea's 2 box The Egypt Game series.  These were some of the first clues that I had checked out, but my printer couldn't handle the color hieroglyphics so we weren't able to go after them.  We translated most of the hieroglyphics online the night before, but weren't able to get one word.  The first box required the finding of a pyramid, and as soon as we walked onto the Rosicrucian Museum's ground, Zaira found one.  I was looking at a map and she kept saying, "the pyramid's right there", but I couldn't see it until she pulled my away from the map to show me that it was right behind the map I'd been studying!  In fact, if I'd just raised my vision an inch from the top of the map I would have seen it myself.  A good lesson in focusing too hard on the wrong spot :-)  We quickly found Box #1 - Walk Like An Egyptian and while Z was logging in I retrieved Box #2 - Horus from the it's spot.  Reading through the logbooks it seems more people were able to find Box 2 than Box 1 because they never found the pyramids.  Kinda funny that Z found 'em straightaway.  Both logbooks were full, so we replaced them.

There's a new lb crew in San Jose calling themselves Dem XX Men and they sure are prolific.  They planted a half dozen boxes in just their first week and found even more!  Our next stop was their Bear Am I? box.  The clues start at "San Jose's only bear".  Of course, San Jose has many bears, but I was pretty sure i knew which one this was based on the rest of the clues, so we headed that way.  As we drove by looking for parking we were able to locate where the box was placed, so once we parked it was only a matter of moments to retrieve the box.  A couple and their son were eating lunch about 10 yards from the hiding spot, but Z managed to get it without being seen.  She was rewarded with a FF certificate which now proudly hangs on her wall!  The stamp in this box is absolutely adorable, so I hope others manage to locate it as well.

Our final hunt of the day wouldn't count as a find for me.  After all, I had placed Burgers earlier in the week, but Z was excited about it.  We managed to find a parking spot right in front of Burgers and I loitered while Z followed the clues to the box and retrieved it no problem.  While were were waiting for our food Z stamped into Burgers and I stamped in to Emma, the HH we'd found ealier in the day.  This couple came in and the following dialog occured between them:

Her (looking at our table):  They've got it.

Him (looking at menu): Huh?

Her: Right there. They have it.

Him: What?

Her: It's not missing, they've got it!

Him: What are you talking...  ooh!

Me (holding up box): You mean this?

Ya know, when I planted the box I kinda fantasized about people hunting the box going to Burgers even though they couldn't find it and stumbling across other boxers stamping in.  I never even considered I would be involved in such a scene!  So this is how Zairabear and I met Liz Neely and lx (or ix, we're not sure).  We had a great chat while we ate, they logged into the box and we all eXchanged personal stamps as well.  This was the first trail eXchange for either Z or I so the day was simply full of firsts!  They had considered going after Bear Am I? but didn't know which bear to start at.  Since we'd just come from there I confirmed the start point for them and we gave them our clue sheet.  In return, Liz passed us our first WOM clue!  It's in SLO, but we intend to make another trip down there this summer, so we'll check it out then.

After a long lunch and plenty of great conversation we headed back down to Gilroy.  We had two more stops to make before we could return home and log our finds.  Princess Lea had asked us to replace the logbook in her Nancy Drew Notebooks: The Ice Cream Scoop which was a quick and easy job followed by some leisurely ice cream scoops of our own across the street.  Last stop of the day was You Got Memories where we planted the Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel, along with the four hitchhikers we had made, and Emma.

Tags: first finder, mystery, hitchhiker, eXchange

Holiday HH Series: #8 August B-Day (Zairabear Plant)

This is my first box planted. Although it's a hitchhiker and it's going in the Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel that we planted, it's still really cool.I hope it travels well. Please help my baloon see the world!

Travels Thus Far:

04/30/06 - Launched in Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel

Tags: clue, zairabear, hitchhiker, holiday series, B-Day

Pecquiology (P5)

pecquiology (peh kwee AH luh jee) - n. The practice of tracking money on the Internet. [Latin pecunia, money + sequi, follow + -logia, science, theory, or doctrine.]

I've been a practicing pecquiologist for over a year now, and I'm having a blast. In fact, I'd like you to become a pecquiologist as well. All you have to do is enter the series and serial number of the bills in this hitchhiker at www.wheresgeorge.com and you can not only see where these exact bills have been before but also where they end up in the future! If you decide to make an account there (before entering the bills) you'll also receive an email from the site whenever one of your bill receives a hit!

The pecquiology hitchhiker includes two US bills along with the usual stamp and logbook. If you're not interested in becoming a pecquiologist, that's fine and feel free to ignore the bills and pass them on with the hitchhiker.

The first bill is a Series 2001 $5.00 bill. This bill should be returned to the hitchhiker after you have entered it and remain with the HH throughout it's journey. The current status (and travel history) of this bill can be seen at http://www.wheresgeorge.com/report.php?key=6d1c94bf44ebdfef3a2438d52926f92f5fd840eccc5b19c4

The second bill is there to be traded out with another bill that you have entered into Wheres George? and marked somehow with the web address (www.wheresgeorge.com)

Feel free to email me with any questions, concerns or comments!

Thanks for playing!

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, pecquiology, Where's George?

Scooby Doo Hitchhiker Series: #2 Shaggy and Scooby (P4)

When I was a young child and was asked the traditional question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would answer: "Scooby Doo!"

Well, it hasn't happened yet, but I'm still hoping to grow up before Zairabear does ;-)

Travels Thus Far:

04/30/06 - Launched in Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, Scooby Doo Series

Scooby Doo Hitchhiker Series: #1 Zoinks! (P3)

When I was a young child and was asked the traditional question of "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I would answer: "Scooby Doo!"

Well, it hasn't happened yet, but I'm still hoping to grow up before Zairabear does ;-)

Travels Thus Far:

04/30/06 - Launched in Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel

Tags: clue, hitchhiker, Scooby Doo Series

Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel (P2)

The Gilroy Hitchhiker Hostel is located in our favorite scrapbooking store: You Got Memories.

The store is located just off the junction of Highways 101 and 152 in Gilroy: 280 E 10th St (408-842-7003 for hours).

Just go in and ask any employee for the letterbox and they'll be happy to hand it over. There are even plenty of tables available for stamping in!


1) The store staff is VERY friendly. However, they are not letterboxers (yet) so cannot help with the hostel. Please browse around the store, they're sure to have something you can use!

2) Please be sure to leave the GHHH logbook and the GHHH stamp in the box. THESE DO NOT TRAVEL!

3) Be sure to stamp any hitchhikers you leave into the GHHH logbook along with your personal stamp.

4) Please only stamp into hitchhikers you take with you. Hitchhikers are meant to TRAVEL, not sit in one location gathering stamps.

5) Feel free to leave as many HHs as you like and/or take as many as you think you can place in a reasonable amount of time. Remember to always leave at least one hitchhiker in the hostel for the next visitor!

6) If you like, in addition to the normal stamping in, you are welcome to stamp on the GHHH box as well: personal stamps, hitchhiker stamps, random stamps in your pocket, whatever. Basically, we were to lazy to decorate the hostel ourselves, so we're counting on our visitors to do it for us :-)

7) Please log your GHHH visit at Atlasquest.com and/or email mraahz@gmail.com

Tags: clue, hitchhiker hostel, Gilroy, You Got Memories