Well, Im finally getting this done! IÂve been working on the lists and plants all day.

Here again is the basic information in case anybody still has any questions!

The swap is the day after tomorrow, Sunday, May 23rd starting at 11:00!

~~ Please be sure to thoroughly water the plants youÂre bringing sometime on Saturday so theyÂll have time to drain enough to be easy to transport, yet be wet enough to not be wilting at the swap or while people are taking them home! ItÂs supposed to be around 80 degrees, so small pots or plugs could dry out quickly if theyÂre not wet to start with, and youÂre not going to have time toÂor want toÂbe running around trying to water them during the swap to keep them from wilting!

~~ HEREÂS ALL THE BASIC SWAP INFORMATION ONE MORE TIME ~~~

~~ As you arrive there will be a table with a sign in sheet, so please be sure you sign in and have your guests sign in too so we can see how many people were actually there! There will also be name tags on the sign in tableÂplease make a name tag for yourself (and your guests) which includes your RMG screen nameÂso we know who you are! [Put YOUR screen name on your guestÂs tags tooÂso we know who they "belong to!"]

~~ There will be an area designated to put the plants youÂve brought, with a separate place to put the plants you have earmarked for someoneÂand for the food weÂll try to keep the sweets on one table, beverages on another, and everything else on a third!

~~ For those of you who have plants earmarked for other people, please be sure theyÂre clearly marked with the name of the person whoÂs getting them.

~~ As people are arriving, we generally walk around talking and looking at what people are bringing, and if you find some plants that have been earmarked for you, find somewhere to "stash" them! All the RMG people know well enough to leave the plants they find in little batches here and there aloneÂbut since this is a public park we should probably keep them all close enough to keep an eye on them if there are other people around!

~~ When most people seem to have arrived, we eat!

Again, please bring a serving spoon if it will be needed for your dish, and also please make some provision for it to be coveredÂa lid if itÂs that type of dish, or plastic wrap, or whateverÂenough to keep the flies off and to keep it from shriveling up in the heat. And as I mentioned on the food thread, if your dish is something that canÂt be easily "named," please mark it with some sort of a label to let everybody know what it is! With this many people, and this much food, thatÂll just make it easier for people to get the things they like the best!

~~ After eating and talking for a while weÂll get down to the serious business of swapping! First weÂll have everybody who has plants earmarked for others make sure their plants get to the right people if they havenÂt already.

~~ Then weÂll have everybody who brought plants briefly point out their plants and tell what they brought so everyone knows whatÂs available to help them decide what theyÂd like to have.

~~ Then everyone draws a number for the first two rounds of picking plantsÂthat way everyone has a pretty good chance to get the one or two things they want the most.

~~ Then we get to the free-for-all part, and everybody can just walk around and pick out whatever they want from whatÂs left!

~~ Please be sure all the plants you bring are labeled one way or another with at least the plant nameÂand more info if you know it! ~~ ItÂs a really good idea to bring a box or tray or something to carry your booty back home in! If the plants youÂre bringing are in something, donÂt let anybody else snag it, and you can use that to refill with the new goodies! EverybodyÂplease donÂt use somebody elseÂs box or tray without asking first if itÂs an extra one! ~~ And Bexay and Laura have said theyÂd take pics along with me, but it would be nice if a few more people would bring their camerasÂfor different perspectives!

ItÂs supposed to be around 80 degrees, so dress appropriately for a warm dayÂbut, itÂs Colorado, so be prepared just in case we get one of our afternoon stormsÂrain, wind, cold, hail! You guys have all lived it!

And I know IÂve met a lot of you before, so I apologize in advance for not being able to put your face together with your name! I am infamously terrible at putting names and faces together, so remind me (screen name!) who you are when we see each other! I really feel like I know you all hereÂ(facelessly) online!

I had looked up some basic directions to AngelÂs house that I was gonna post to "get you close" without giving the actual address to help anybody who might not be sure which way to goÂespecially those coming from a distance, but IÂm not sure how much I can help with the park. I have a good paper map of Boulder and Longmont, and the parkÂs not on it, so it must be a pretty new park. I checked google Earth too, and itÂs not on there either! Assuming IÂm looking at the right place on my paper mapÂwhich is what I use so I can keep it in the car with meÂlet me try with some basic ideas here! (If you have GPS, IÂm assuming directions wonÂt be a problem! I donÂt like machines telling me things, so I donÂt have a GPS!) Since this is on the far west side of Longmont, for those of you coming from the south on I25 IÂve tried to find a way that you can cut over to the west without going all the way straight north to Longmont, but I canÂt find anything that works without going all the way into BoulderÂwhich is too far westÂand then coming back east on 119 toward Longmont, so I guess straight north on I25 is the only thing that makes sense! So...... I25 to CO 119 west (Exit 240)Âwhich is also called, at various places, Ken Pratt Blvd. and Nelson Road! 119 turns south somewhere past Main Street (at the train tracks), so be sure you keep going straight ahead and youÂll be on county 20Âor one of those two street names! Stay on that all the way past Longmont to 75th Street  also called county 31 (or 33  not sure where it changes!) Turn left/south on 75th and then IÂm not sure how youÂll find Mountain Drive because it doesnÂt look like it goes thru to 75th on my map, so I guess youÂll need to just turn in one of the streets (Mountain Sanitas Avenue is the only one on my map that goes thru to 75th) and look for Mountain Drive! But since the park isnÂt on my map, maybe Mountain Drive does go thru to 75th by now! On Earth it was just a big construction field with no houses or anything! From the north on I25 thatÂs probably the best way too, unless you want to cross over something youÂre familiar with north of Longmont and then go all the way to the far south end of Longmont. (I take CO 66 west from I25 when I visit a friend on the north end of Longmont, and it looks to me like 119 will be faster driving that 66, which isnÂt very fast at all!) From Boulder the obvious way is the Diagonal/119 up to Niwot Road, west to 73rd (county 33) which becomes 75th. And, Bonnie, IÂm not sure! Both yourÂs and AngelÂs links were for the same directions. Do you have a GPS? That route would work, but would be a lot easier if you had a machine talking to you! If you go that way, once you exit I70 to CO 93 it will not be fast driving from there on! But the only real alternative would be to go all the way in to I25 and then follow the directions from the south that I gave above! Check it out and email me if you want to discuss the possibilities! I hope that helps some of youÂand I hope IÂm not leading you on a wild goose chase to the wrong place! But thatÂs where IÂllÂhopefullyÂwind up, so I guess as long as we all get to the "same place" itÂll be ok! If anybody can help with better directions, please do!

If you have any questions I can try to help with, post here sometime tomorrow/Saturday and IÂll try to check the computer every time I run by it and I'll give it the old college try! It is extremely unlikely that IÂll be checking RMG before I leave for the swap on Sunday! I donÂt have a clue how IÂm gonna get everything done that I need to before then, and itÂs gonna be chaos before I leave here on Sunday!

Hope to see you all on Sunday at 11,

Skybird

P.S. I don't really have a clue what we'll need in the line of tables and chairs anymore, so if you posted you were bringing some, please do! I'm sure we'll need the chairs, and if we don't need all the tables, you can leave them in the car---but at least they'll be there if they're needed! And if anybody else can bring chairs, please do!