Saturday, May 23, 2009

Plant a Letterbox Day is Around the Corner!

Sunday, yes, tomorrow, is Plant a Letterbox Day. A mere 83,470 seconds before it begins as of this writing. Are you READY?!

I've been planning a few boxes for over a month now. Sunday itself isn't an especially convenient day for me to plant boxes--I was planning to help my mom out with some wedding shenanigans that day. Friend of the family.

So I hoofed out to Poly Canyon here in San Luis where I found a letterbox, two geocaches, and planted two boxes. (I didn't go to look for geocaches--I found them while looking for places to hide my own boxes!) I had three boxes to plant, so I'm still walking around with one. I'll see about finding a good place for that a little more into town Saturday afternoon. I'd really like to plant one out near Stenner Bridge--an impressive railroad bridge just out beyond Cal Poly and near the California Men's Colony (CMC). The stamp has a criminal holding a gun to someone's head, and I thought it would be fun to make into a story about an escaped convict on the run from the CMC. I don't really feel like hoofing it all the way out there a second time, though, so I might find a place closer in town to hide him.

But Poly Canyon is such the perfect place for it since that's where *I* was once mistaken for an escaped convict. =) The criminal mastermind had escaped the CMC while I was out hiking in Poly Canyon, and an airplane searching for the convict spotted me instead. According to the cops, the clothes I was wearing matched the description of the escaped con, so they sent a platoon of cops out trying to track me down where the airplane spotted me.

Ah, good times.... =)

I might hang onto this stamp until I can make it out to Poly Canyon again. It really needs to be in Poly Canyon. Hmm....

The particular boxes I'm planting are rather elaborate by my usual standards. (My usual standards are "quick and easy," however, so that's not saying much.) Very unique clues, cute little logbooks, and a really neat place that always gets overlooked in all the local guidebooks. I doubt there will be a whole of finders (not a whole lot of letterboxers in these parts), but those that do should certainly find it enjoyable! These are probably the best boxes I've planted in YEARS!

In other news.... I've been playing with the street-level views on Google Maps, and I just know I can make that into a clue somehow. I haven't figured out how--not yet--but the idea intrigues me.... Apparently the Google folks drove by my mom's house last December since I can see all the Christmas decorations up on the house, including the new decorations from last year so I know it was last December and not some other December. (Actually, it could have been the first couple of weeks of Janaury. My mom isn't always fast about taking down Christmas decorations, but I did notice them on several other houses as well which makes me think December is more likely.)

Alas, I couldn't find any pictures of me walking around anywhere. Not in San Luis or in Seattle.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

LoL they might have had it right... you convict you! I have been carving a few stamps, making logbooks and planting a few boxes this week also for the "Plant a letterbox Day". I rather find than plant... so this "PAL" day is a great excuse for me to get out there and Just Do It!
I love google maps and the street view. I love to move the litte man around and look at all those different views... way too neat! And very helpful in the letterbox world.
oceanwinds

Anonymous said...

While strolling through the woods untamed
My path was crossed by thirty cops
With weapons loaded, drawn, and aimed.
Turns out my stature and my clothes
When spotted from the sky
Resembled escaped prisoners
Who from their jail did fly.
The cop's approach was calm, but wary;
Convincing them no guns I carry.
An ID check and closer look
My gulitiness refutes.
No self-respecting crook would wear
My mangey hat or worn-out boots.

Grumpy

Anonymous said...

Yes, I would definitely call your Poly Canyon clue unique, having just read the intro. Verrrrry In-ter-esting, quick who said that line uniquely? You, Ryan, may be too young to know the answer to that question. Laugh In, hint.
OD

Anonymous said...

The google map folks went by my son's house in Ohio and caught a neighbor gardening... major plumber's crack. I would rather see your Mom's Christmas decorations!