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