So this past week was a crazy one. My to do list wasn't getting any shorter and the holidays were fast approaching. One of the things on my list was to pull a seasonal box I planted so I could return it to Force of Five. I have been trying to pull this box since the end of October with no luck what so ever. Well on the way home last week, I hit the trifecta. Christopher was still awake, the sun was still out and it was reasonably warm for December and Christopher was wearing boots! Not wanting to pressure a four year old into going on a half mile walk if he didn't want to I asked him if he wanted to go on a walk with me to get a box. I'd have to say, his response didn't surprise me too much. "We have to go get Ambur (Teacup.)" Christopher was not overly impressed that she couldn't join us as she was still at work, but he still agreed to join me in order to keep me safe. We all know my batting average in the woods!
So off we went. The first part was easy enough. The ground was firm and mostly dry. Since the beginning is a tractor road, it does tend to have deep ruts for the tires, and they were full of water with a thick coating of ice over them that a 65 year old boy couldn't break. This only further proves winter is definitely settling in in Maine. Bummer. We made it to the first field and the grass was much taller there, but bent over heavily laden with frost. We crunched across the field to the entrance to the 'walking path.' I say this is a walking path, because it used to be. Last springs excessive amount of water pretty much destroyed what little path that had been there.
First hurdle to cross was a mini 'brook' which at this point was a mucky muddy pile of leaves, sticks, and tree roots with a big flat rock in the middle used as a stepping stone. It wobbles badly and the first time I stepped on it I almost ended up in the drink (back then there was actually water around it.) This time I was prepared for the wobble. Christopher not so much. He hot footed it off on the other side, stepping into the muck and the mire along the way. But being the little gentleman that he is, once on the other side, he turned to me and said "Jump Mumma, I'll catch you." While it warmed my heart that he offered, truth be told - that if I did need to jump - I'd more than squish him! LOL! Besides, all I really needed to do was take one step forward and I was across this massive stream!
So we walked the path as far as we could. When I had planted the box back in the summer they were in the process of cleaning up the water damage. Evidently they got abducted. They had managed to put 3 slabs of granite down to cross over the mucky mucks to get to the other side and they were still in need of about 15 more. I had only been out on this path one time before to pick up a micro series (which did not survive the flooding) and the damage from the water was amazing. You could still see the water line from the spring about 1 foot off the ground level, and all of the vegetation in this section still had a look like it was still trying to dry out - 6 months later.
So - not able to cross over the stone slab path - we had to bush whack about 50 feet higher. And even here the ground was still ucky and mucky. But Christopher seemed unphased as he trudged to the other side. Oh, did I fail to mention, that while my son had boots on - dumb Mom had on sneakers. But we were about 100 yards from the box, and I was not turning back without it! Did I also mention I'm afraid of falling? So traversing the mucky mucks while balancing on ruler thin tree roots encased in mud and leaves is WAY up on my list of favorite things to do... NOT! I managed to make it to the other side none the worse for wear and we made it to the box. Without missing a beat, once the box was in Christopher's hands, he looked up at me and said, "Mumma, can we stamp up in the car?" Yes, Christopher, we can stamp up in the car. You don't think he's been with Team MudCup a couple of times when we've been visiting drive-bys do you?
So he tucked the box under his arm and headed back the way we came. Now somehow we ended up higher than we were before - so the roots I had developed a relationship of trust with on the crossing over, I couldn't find on the way back, we were another 15 feet higher than before, but nothing looked right from this side and every thing looked very wet. We managed to make it back, bushwhacked our way back to the rock and jumped back over to the other side. By this time, the sun was getting low in the sky and it was beginning to get a little windy. This was also just about the time Christopher's energy started to dwindle. So the walk back to the car took a little longer, but we knew we were safe and sound because we had the moon watching over us. Once back at the car he had completely forgotten about stamping up... good thing to since my stamp was already in the logbook ; )
Later in the week I had a different kind of boxing experience. Teacup and I have been wanting to test out a local night boxing series. And what better time than on a crisp December evening on your way to a dinner party. The dinner party had us kind of at a loss to begin with. It was labeled as a non-stamping, non-boxing dinner party with only our letter boxing friends. What does one talk about at such a party? How are we even going to relate to these people if we don't talk about boxing? We don't even know their real names. Okay - so maybe we do, but do we ever use them? Now there is a quandary.
I had to work in the morning and the dinner party was for 6pm, leaving us just enough time to gather up this 3 box series. Teacup picked me up at work and we transferred all the required gear for the evening. Hostess gives, check. Swap gifts, check. Letterboxing gear, SHHHHHHHH!!!! Check and double checked! Change of shoes, check! Okay - so we were ready to pull off the illusion that we could make it a whole Saturday without boxing. Now the next problem, how to hide the inky fingers. Sometimes boxing in the cold is a good thing! Gloves, check!
A quick stop to get fueled up (Sweet Tea and wraps) and we were off to Kennebunkport. There was another series we thought we could pick up on our way to the night boxing, if we could find the right location. We drive down into Kennebunk, ooohhh, aaahhh. The lights are lovely. Teacup is twisting and turning looking for landmarks while I'm dazzled by the twinkle lights. And all of the Gothic mansions festooned for the holidays. A little further and we were knee deep, make that rim deep in shoppers bustling about with bags all trying to make progress on their shopping list while the weather was holding out. Now while Team MudCup has been known to get turned around every once in a while, we were pretty sure when we left Freeport, we were traveling south. But there, by the side of the road waving up a storm was Santa Claus.
Now I know the greeting for a boxer is "Which way is north?" but how on earth did we end up at the north pole? So we went a little further and ended up further south than we wanted to be. So in lieu of heading to Boston, we did a quick turn around (note, no u-turn this time) and headed back the way we came. Wait, I think we need this road. So off to the left we travel heading back towards the wedding cake house. While we wanted to do the night boxing in the dark. We wanted to get there before it was dark. We managed to do this and headed off for the flowers series. Teacup had heard that there might still be a couple viable boxes in the series, so we thought we'd attempt them while we still had some light left in the day.
Off to one side, the first spot we found easily enough. Not too sure why the wig was hiding out on a limb, but we were pretty sure the flock of geese that flew away were not having a costume party when we arrived. Well a few more stops along the trail and we were pretty sure the series had been pulled. Besides, it was getting dark and we needed to get closer to where the night boxing series was located. On we walked, following clues by flashlight. The lights were wonderful. And Teacup was making fast progress along the path while I dallied behind enjoying the lights when I hear "Watch for that rock." Yup - when your flashlight is reading clues, its not on the ground as you traipse over hill and boulder. One boulder, two, then three - yup, found them all! Continue on!
Teacup was deep in clue translation, and every once in a while she would stop and point her flashlight at something. This would momentarily catch my attention long enough to pay attention to what we were supposed to be doing. Well, we rambled on a little farther, we were on a time limit after all. We had dinner plans we needed to get to and we didn't want to show up late. We searched a little longer and finally found a landmark that seemed to ring true to what we were seeking. Off into the woods we rambled in the dark. In an area we were totally unfamiliar with. We were safe - if anything came at us - we'd swat them with our clue sheet - this would surely leave a killer paper cut!
Well, this set of clues left us stampless and quickly running out of time. But now that we had a sense of where we needed to be... we could come back and ramble around again without having to do the mile hike. We now had a sneaky peak on where we could park a bit closer and cut some of the travel time off our trip. Back out to the main trail and all of a sudden y side started to vibrate... my phone was trapped in a pocket under my coat. Managing to wiggle it out of the pocket it was trapped in - and who could be tracking us down? None other than Team Dazzling Koko. After a bit of harassment banter back and forth - they taunted us with a find we did not have. Coming up empty on this recent walk, it hit hard... oh wait - that was the branch I walked into!
We were a good forty minute walk back to the car so we told them if they made it to dinner before us... let Happydaze know we were on our way. The walk was longer than we had thought. Team DK were still shopping at the mall and now the race was on to see who would make it to Saco first! Tune in for the next episode to find out all the craziness that one gets caught up in over dinner and an evening of games.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
What's that Crunch?
So what do most folks do on a cold, crisp Sunday morning in November? Snuggle down deeper under the covers and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist for a little while longer? Maybe brew a pot of coffee and bake a pan of ooey gooey cinnamon buns to share with your family?
Pish posh... that's what you whimps do! Team MudCup packed up our letterboxing supplies and headed off to the booming metropolis of Gorham? Why Gorham you ask - well we only had 18 hours left to get the latest box at Chateau d'Koko... oops, wrong town. It was at the leir of Koko. So we travelled there admiring the frost that frosted the tops of the trees and everything below them.
The frost was definitely thick every direction we turned. But we would not be scared off by a little bit of frost... we had come properly dressed in... oops. We both forgot our boots and were dressed in sneakers. But Teacup had her mittens and scarf... and I had my clipboard to protect me from the morning bite in the air!
We pulled in and grabbed our bags of caned goods to trade for this seasonal box. I opened the cooler... but where's the box? Maybe its under the cooler? Nope - not there. Dang. I thought briefly about banging on Koko's front door - but out of respect for his guest, I opted to leave the front door unassaulted. Instead, within a fifty foot reach was another elusive box.
We tromped off down the hill, closer and closer to what we hoped would be a sure find. Yup - sure enough it was there. Safe and sound, sort of. It was frozen solid in a bucket of ice. So back up the hill we took the box and the bucket. One nice thing about Koko's house - he has a paved driveway! So we dropped the bucket on the driveway... it stayed put. One more drop to the pavement (with a little more gumption this time) and spew! Like Mt. Vesuvius it erupted from its icy capture. I grabbed the box... the Lock n Lock was encased in a tomb of ice. A few more strategically placed whaps to the pavement and I was able to release the lid!
One would have thought - with all the nice, laughter and racket we were making - someone would have woken up by now. It was 7:35am after all. Who sleeps this late on a Sunday? Why aren't they up and boxing? Surely they have boxes on THEIR lists to get off? I hear there's a new Lighthouse series without any finders... And a good CBB boxer should have been up serving us refills on our coffee and tea by now. But alas, we went away without the BOM... seems the Dazzler stamped up late and it didn't make it back outside. Next time - we're knocking on the door! So you are forewarned Koko! Team MudCup does their night boxing in the wee small hours of the MORNING, not the night!
So we mozied off to Dunkin Donuts for a refill on liquids and breakfast. It was 8 am. Time to use my phone a friend! Dang! Even at 8am Koko isn't awake! How on earth does he get any boxing done? Half the day is gone! So off to Portland to visit the Ninja Hideout by Genesha. Safe and sound and no one saw us at all. We we very stealthy! Okay - so no one else was even up, but that's besides the point. From there we strolled around the Eastern Prom. Poking around a tree or two, trying to get some bearings that would fit, but came up empty - so off towards home. This was a quick trip today, and we were down one from the start.
Time to pick up a sure thing, one nice thing about having a boxing buddy that has a list much SHORTER than your own, its a safe bet you'll pick up at least one sure bet : ) And a lovely box it was - too. We pulled into the parking lot... and my cell phone starts ringing. Tea - its our 'phone a friend' life line.
"So Koko, where's the box?" "Wait, I can't here....." dang, I lost him. I'll try that again. "Koko, sit still, I keep loosing you!" "You're where?" Dang... gone again! "Koko! Get out of bed! Every time you roll around I loose you!" Damn! Lost him again. Well he told me the box is outside again if we want to go get it! "Koko! We are heading into the woods... "
And the gauntlet is thrown! It would seem Team Dazzling Koko picked up the latest CBB box before us! We tried for it... but we were afraid the Portland Police were beginning to get suspicious about all our u-turns in parking lots : ) So we opted to park the car and head into the woods to pick up a Weathergleams instead. Fear not Jiffy! I now know where another of your boxes is... well get that this weekend : ) LOL!
So - this leads me wot wonder. If anyone else needs a phone a friend... do you also have bad reception as Koko rolls around trying to get a signal? And what time is a good time to pound on the front door to have the owner pony up the box? I wonder if Koko got the message we left on his car window etched into the frost? Or did it disappear in the morning sunlight?
Pish posh... that's what you whimps do! Team MudCup packed up our letterboxing supplies and headed off to the booming metropolis of Gorham? Why Gorham you ask - well we only had 18 hours left to get the latest box at Chateau d'Koko... oops, wrong town. It was at the leir of Koko. So we travelled there admiring the frost that frosted the tops of the trees and everything below them.
The frost was definitely thick every direction we turned. But we would not be scared off by a little bit of frost... we had come properly dressed in... oops. We both forgot our boots and were dressed in sneakers. But Teacup had her mittens and scarf... and I had my clipboard to protect me from the morning bite in the air!
We pulled in and grabbed our bags of caned goods to trade for this seasonal box. I opened the cooler... but where's the box? Maybe its under the cooler? Nope - not there. Dang. I thought briefly about banging on Koko's front door - but out of respect for his guest, I opted to leave the front door unassaulted. Instead, within a fifty foot reach was another elusive box.
We tromped off down the hill, closer and closer to what we hoped would be a sure find. Yup - sure enough it was there. Safe and sound, sort of. It was frozen solid in a bucket of ice. So back up the hill we took the box and the bucket. One nice thing about Koko's house - he has a paved driveway! So we dropped the bucket on the driveway... it stayed put. One more drop to the pavement (with a little more gumption this time) and spew! Like Mt. Vesuvius it erupted from its icy capture. I grabbed the box... the Lock n Lock was encased in a tomb of ice. A few more strategically placed whaps to the pavement and I was able to release the lid!
One would have thought - with all the nice, laughter and racket we were making - someone would have woken up by now. It was 7:35am after all. Who sleeps this late on a Sunday? Why aren't they up and boxing? Surely they have boxes on THEIR lists to get off? I hear there's a new Lighthouse series without any finders... And a good CBB boxer should have been up serving us refills on our coffee and tea by now. But alas, we went away without the BOM... seems the Dazzler stamped up late and it didn't make it back outside. Next time - we're knocking on the door! So you are forewarned Koko! Team MudCup does their night boxing in the wee small hours of the MORNING, not the night!
So we mozied off to Dunkin Donuts for a refill on liquids and breakfast. It was 8 am. Time to use my phone a friend! Dang! Even at 8am Koko isn't awake! How on earth does he get any boxing done? Half the day is gone! So off to Portland to visit the Ninja Hideout by Genesha. Safe and sound and no one saw us at all. We we very stealthy! Okay - so no one else was even up, but that's besides the point. From there we strolled around the Eastern Prom. Poking around a tree or two, trying to get some bearings that would fit, but came up empty - so off towards home. This was a quick trip today, and we were down one from the start.
Time to pick up a sure thing, one nice thing about having a boxing buddy that has a list much SHORTER than your own, its a safe bet you'll pick up at least one sure bet : ) And a lovely box it was - too. We pulled into the parking lot... and my cell phone starts ringing. Tea - its our 'phone a friend' life line.
"So Koko, where's the box?" "Wait, I can't here....." dang, I lost him. I'll try that again. "Koko, sit still, I keep loosing you!" "You're where?" Dang... gone again! "Koko! Get out of bed! Every time you roll around I loose you!" Damn! Lost him again. Well he told me the box is outside again if we want to go get it! "Koko! We are heading into the woods... "
And the gauntlet is thrown! It would seem Team Dazzling Koko picked up the latest CBB box before us! We tried for it... but we were afraid the Portland Police were beginning to get suspicious about all our u-turns in parking lots : ) So we opted to park the car and head into the woods to pick up a Weathergleams instead. Fear not Jiffy! I now know where another of your boxes is... well get that this weekend : ) LOL!
So - this leads me wot wonder. If anyone else needs a phone a friend... do you also have bad reception as Koko rolls around trying to get a signal? And what time is a good time to pound on the front door to have the owner pony up the box? I wonder if Koko got the message we left on his car window etched into the frost? Or did it disappear in the morning sunlight?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Team MudCup makes Plans
Well, we tried to. We thought in order to be good hostesses we ought to scope out a perspective location prior to sending our friends there. Kind of glad we did, kind of bummed about it too. Last year we had construction issues with our High Tea Mini Meet. This year the owner has decided to get married and is moving on. So Sweet Leaves Teahouse will be closing for good on Decemeber 31st. Now I'm all for folks getting married - but moving on? When we need to have an event there - now this just cramps my style!
So we sat and had our high tea, while the rain drizzled outside... and we were knocked for a loop. We had calendars and notebooks and all we could do was - well, nuthin. Team MudCup was at a loss. We did learn something... Tea likes lox more than she thought she did, we still haven't figured out why there was plain butter on the cucumber and watercress sandwiches and neither of us likes cocoa dusted on truffles. But honey is good in Raspberry Black Tea and Tea was able to bring ginger cookies to her grandmother.
But any planning for a midwinter high tea was firmly put on hold. So we opted to think briefly about a future series - knowing we would need to visit a few cemeteries in order to pull it off... before heading off to WalMart. I was in search of a Bumblebee for my grandson. Not really knowing what I was looking for, I strolled back and forth the toy aisles. Sadly - no bumblebees. So how on earth did I manage to spend $130? I did have 6 or 7 bags for my money - Tea spent the same and only had 2! LOL!
So here I sit, another weekend gone. I did pull together 5 hikers and I think I might replant a box from our summer pre-gather. I've tucked away the nine stamps for next Halloween - and am avoiding making 5 LTCs. Oh yeah - I did also pick up black paint and light tacks for our night boxing series next summer... so all wasn't lost. Now if the rain would go away...
Anyone wanna do my LTCs for me : )
So we sat and had our high tea, while the rain drizzled outside... and we were knocked for a loop. We had calendars and notebooks and all we could do was - well, nuthin. Team MudCup was at a loss. We did learn something... Tea likes lox more than she thought she did, we still haven't figured out why there was plain butter on the cucumber and watercress sandwiches and neither of us likes cocoa dusted on truffles. But honey is good in Raspberry Black Tea and Tea was able to bring ginger cookies to her grandmother.
But any planning for a midwinter high tea was firmly put on hold. So we opted to think briefly about a future series - knowing we would need to visit a few cemeteries in order to pull it off... before heading off to WalMart. I was in search of a Bumblebee for my grandson. Not really knowing what I was looking for, I strolled back and forth the toy aisles. Sadly - no bumblebees. So how on earth did I manage to spend $130? I did have 6 or 7 bags for my money - Tea spent the same and only had 2! LOL!
So here I sit, another weekend gone. I did pull together 5 hikers and I think I might replant a box from our summer pre-gather. I've tucked away the nine stamps for next Halloween - and am avoiding making 5 LTCs. Oh yeah - I did also pick up black paint and light tacks for our night boxing series next summer... so all wasn't lost. Now if the rain would go away...
Anyone wanna do my LTCs for me : )
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Team MudCup's Muses
Okay - so I've written numerous times that there are a few places Tea and I love to box. Highest on our list is probably cemeteries. So naturally - on more than once occasion - cemeteries have been a talking point for a series of our own. This past Saturday Tea and I headed out early. Tea keeps telling me she doesn't like night boxing, maybe we should quantify that statement.
Tea does not like night boxing at night... she does on the other hand like night boxing in the wee small hours of the morning. So to bend a couple rules in order to accomplish this... shhh - don't tell. We started out at 5:30, our normal launching time. But now that the time change has taken place - it's still darn dark at 5:30am! And still dark at 6:00am - and cemeteries don't open up until 7am. So many things wrong with this picture already. Its also a bit of a challenge to read headstones in the wee small hours of daybreak!
BUT we had an agenda to stick to - of which included a series of boxes we needed to finish. So off we went. Well - it so happens that there was more than one Jesus watching over nuns, and low and behold, it also seemed that More than once Michael married Bridget with the same last name... so we walked the perimeter until the light came up... and later on with us. After fifteen minutes - being POSITIVE we were in the right location, we opted to head to the next box. Having found that one without nearly as much trouble - we oriented ourselves and backtracked... yup - there was Michael and Bridget in the opposite direction as their counterparts.
Now getting this box required one to either carry a long stick, or you had to be partially made of rubber to twist in and around to grab it. And since I know I have more water and other minerals in my make-up and am sadly lacking rubber parts, we were in need of a long stick. Tea pops her trunk so I can grab her handy dandy walking stick when I look in the bushes, and there for our boxing convenience - a perfectly hidden stick! Some boxers are so considerate!
So Michael and Bridget can go back to watching over the box while Jesus watches over a second cluster of nuns. We continued past Norton's treasure and was looking for an area that we both agree twists us up a bit. Seeking out one of God's Littlest Angels was our next task. We did not find the Angel we were seeking, but did find a plot full of little Angels guarded by numerous Catholic Fathers. It would seem in 1933, some major epidemic befell Portland's tiniest population, and many were interned together. It shows the humanity that the Catholic church has even for its smallest parishioners (all the headstones had first names), while also providing a brief look into a low period in our medical past. In the not so distant past. Knowing I would be taking my 4 year-old for his flu shot had me reflecting what these tiny little souls had suffered from? Too often it was something like the flu. Today, commonly passed off as a mere annoyance, back then it it claimed so many little souls.
But anyways, that is a sidebar... so we made it out of one cemetery and headed off to a different one. While the first cemetery had elaborate headstone, this one had very conservative stones. But they still were holding a box and we wold seek it out early in the day. Luckily by now we had daylight, so it made it easier... even though it wasn't any drier. Did I mention that we had already changed from very wet sneakers to our Bean boots? Well, we picked up this cemetery box prior to this cemetery officially opening as well. So we scooted out quick and headed off to our next quarry. We visited college and pulled stones out of a stone wall looking for the correct 'loose' stone before we found our box.
By this time we had broken enough rules that we felt we needed a bit of redemption... so we followed our clues into a Library. We found two of the three boxes in the Children's section (where I picked up my 600th find.) And then had an interesting chat about some visitors they had had a couple weeks earlier. Some woman dressed with a bumpy, veiny costume had strolled in looking for "The Manor." I chuckled knowing they were trying to get to Frightnight and I then proceeded to explain Oread's costume to the librarian who had sadly never heard Seven of Nine or Star Trek. How that is possible - I'm still unclear.
But we needed to continue on. We were on a time limit and we still had to log a few more miles and a couple more boxes before heading home again. We drove a bit and I managed to get us completely off-track, but we finally found the correct road, after driving across a narrow well-marked road. (Well marked with ATV trail markers anyways.) Passed I don't know how many abandoned trucks, some with orange clad men touting shotguns into the woods.
We visited an absolutely gorgeous out of the way Rest Area that closes for the winter. It was lovely. On the edge of rushing waters and it had well groomed picnic areas and walking paths. We also visited a pond to pick up some skates. Way to warm to go skating - but we couldn't find the companion canoe. How does one ice skate while canoeing?
So on our way home we ventured back to the idea of a series of boxes in local cemeteries. Tea has a book on the subject, (I told you we like cemeteries) so we can tie in some local history as well. A short day of boxing for us for sure... but in the seven hours we had - I managed to pick up another 14 boxes, almost 2 an hour... and we managed to brainstorm about a series. So those planning on coming to play next summer.... maybe we WILL have some new boxes to add to the clues when you come!
Tea does not like night boxing at night... she does on the other hand like night boxing in the wee small hours of the morning. So to bend a couple rules in order to accomplish this... shhh - don't tell. We started out at 5:30, our normal launching time. But now that the time change has taken place - it's still darn dark at 5:30am! And still dark at 6:00am - and cemeteries don't open up until 7am. So many things wrong with this picture already. Its also a bit of a challenge to read headstones in the wee small hours of daybreak!
BUT we had an agenda to stick to - of which included a series of boxes we needed to finish. So off we went. Well - it so happens that there was more than one Jesus watching over nuns, and low and behold, it also seemed that More than once Michael married Bridget with the same last name... so we walked the perimeter until the light came up... and later on with us. After fifteen minutes - being POSITIVE we were in the right location, we opted to head to the next box. Having found that one without nearly as much trouble - we oriented ourselves and backtracked... yup - there was Michael and Bridget in the opposite direction as their counterparts.
Now getting this box required one to either carry a long stick, or you had to be partially made of rubber to twist in and around to grab it. And since I know I have more water and other minerals in my make-up and am sadly lacking rubber parts, we were in need of a long stick. Tea pops her trunk so I can grab her handy dandy walking stick when I look in the bushes, and there for our boxing convenience - a perfectly hidden stick! Some boxers are so considerate!
So Michael and Bridget can go back to watching over the box while Jesus watches over a second cluster of nuns. We continued past Norton's treasure and was looking for an area that we both agree twists us up a bit. Seeking out one of God's Littlest Angels was our next task. We did not find the Angel we were seeking, but did find a plot full of little Angels guarded by numerous Catholic Fathers. It would seem in 1933, some major epidemic befell Portland's tiniest population, and many were interned together. It shows the humanity that the Catholic church has even for its smallest parishioners (all the headstones had first names), while also providing a brief look into a low period in our medical past. In the not so distant past. Knowing I would be taking my 4 year-old for his flu shot had me reflecting what these tiny little souls had suffered from? Too often it was something like the flu. Today, commonly passed off as a mere annoyance, back then it it claimed so many little souls.
But anyways, that is a sidebar... so we made it out of one cemetery and headed off to a different one. While the first cemetery had elaborate headstone, this one had very conservative stones. But they still were holding a box and we wold seek it out early in the day. Luckily by now we had daylight, so it made it easier... even though it wasn't any drier. Did I mention that we had already changed from very wet sneakers to our Bean boots? Well, we picked up this cemetery box prior to this cemetery officially opening as well. So we scooted out quick and headed off to our next quarry. We visited college and pulled stones out of a stone wall looking for the correct 'loose' stone before we found our box.
By this time we had broken enough rules that we felt we needed a bit of redemption... so we followed our clues into a Library. We found two of the three boxes in the Children's section (where I picked up my 600th find.) And then had an interesting chat about some visitors they had had a couple weeks earlier. Some woman dressed with a bumpy, veiny costume had strolled in looking for "The Manor." I chuckled knowing they were trying to get to Frightnight and I then proceeded to explain Oread's costume to the librarian who had sadly never heard Seven of Nine or Star Trek. How that is possible - I'm still unclear.
But we needed to continue on. We were on a time limit and we still had to log a few more miles and a couple more boxes before heading home again. We drove a bit and I managed to get us completely off-track, but we finally found the correct road, after driving across a narrow well-marked road. (Well marked with ATV trail markers anyways.) Passed I don't know how many abandoned trucks, some with orange clad men touting shotguns into the woods.
We visited an absolutely gorgeous out of the way Rest Area that closes for the winter. It was lovely. On the edge of rushing waters and it had well groomed picnic areas and walking paths. We also visited a pond to pick up some skates. Way to warm to go skating - but we couldn't find the companion canoe. How does one ice skate while canoeing?
So on our way home we ventured back to the idea of a series of boxes in local cemeteries. Tea has a book on the subject, (I told you we like cemeteries) so we can tie in some local history as well. A short day of boxing for us for sure... but in the seven hours we had - I managed to pick up another 14 boxes, almost 2 an hour... and we managed to brainstorm about a series. So those planning on coming to play next summer.... maybe we WILL have some new boxes to add to the clues when you come!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Quest: Day Three
Okay - so we were fairly sure the quest had been accomplished. But really? Is 500 boxes enough for one person? There's 600, 700 and beyond. And we still had boxes and places to visit on our list yet to tackle. We had a couple that were those darling Blue Diamonds that we both wanted, and smartly decided against getting in the dark.
After our morning fuel up (And yes, this time we packed provisions in the form of a donut a piece.) of that incredibly sustaining Kashi oatmeal and juice we packed up our coffee and hot cocoa and headed off to our first box. Gathering up our stuff - which when carrying hot beverages really does require two trips to the car - frost scraped from the windshield - we checked out of the hotel and started on our daily voyage. First stop - all the way across the street!
Dang! I didn't even have a second sip of coffee and we were back out of the car! LOL! So off we went in search of our first morning box. And what do we come across - the trail has a river running through it! Granted the frost was tipping the edges of the grass on either side of the river, but we had gone almost ALL weekend without getting muddy or wet and we wanted to keep a clean record - and dry feet. So off we head on the round about loop to our destination. We were in search of 'The Queen's Throne.'
Its a very peaceful place at 7am on a Monday morning. A couple birds did voice a loud protesting call at us disturbing their early morning siesta, but other than that - there was not a lot of movement. We looked high and low and didn't see any sign of 'The Queen.' Granted I wasn't too sure if I was looking for a peacock or the Queen of Hearts, but no Queen showed her regal face that morning. (Probably way to early for royalty to be up and about.) But we did find what we were seeking in this location and headed off to "The Egg." It was then that I decided - if it was "The Queen" that layed this egg, it was probably a good thing we hadn't found her. There's absolutely NO WAY she could have ever been in a good mood after laying this egg!
Back at the car, we reached happily for our coffee and cocoa. Dang - it was cold! Almost as cold as we were. Our options, stop and turn around to get some coffee before heading on - or suck on our cold beverages and trek on. You guessed it - we trekked on! Our motto - so many bboxes, so little time. Besides, the faster we could get back to Ellsworth, the faster we could get some Sweet Tea! (You call it addiction, we call it required beverage material when boxing!) So off we went in search of our first Blue Diamond.
We headed back out towards Acadia and headed over to the trail we searched out the night before. The path was wide and clear and we hiked on. A time was given for the approximate amount of time it should take to complete the hike - we added 20 minutes : ) Pine needle laden and wide, the path quickly turned and became a bit more narrow. We were diligent in seeking out our needed markers - how many Senturies could possibly be in the woods of Maine??? After all, Maine only has 17 million acres of forests... so two trees should be a piece of cake to find!
You guessed it - a little bit of dumb luck and a little bit of walking backwards and we found our Blue Diamond! Woohoo! And with it was a hiker! Our first of the weekend! And other folks had actually been here and left it behind! They must have know we were coming! Yeah! Someone did read the messages I had written by those skywriters! Another one off the list! And another one's gone and another one's gone. Another one's off the list! Yes, we sing and dance when this happens. We have other songs and siren calls when we are out seeking other boxes... but that's a different story.
Back we walked to the car... the path seemed much longer on the return trip than on the one to the box. Kind of odd. But we were headed off to tackle the fine township of Lemoine. And in Lemoine was another Blue Diamond! We circled the booming town and visited the Lemoine State Park and the Lemoine Beach. We visited a cemetary and a church and a preserve! We rescued a lock and lock from sunburn as it had thrown itself out into the late mornings warming rays. After a quick chat with the lock and lock about providing proper protection of leaves, sticks and rocks we left it with only the hope it would heed our advise.
We headed back and realized that we were a touch off our time line again. Oh well. We did manage to conquer Lamoine in fine style! And only a couple people looked at us like we had lost our way. We didn't even manage to do too many u-turns. But then again the town does practically run its roads like a loop trail. we did have to pull over to snap a couple photos. One of a field of approximately 30 wild turkeys. I think Tea was a bit shocked when I started to 'call' to them in their 'native' tongue. But she was able to recover from laughing long enough to continue to drive.
We still had a couple cemetaries to conquer in Ellsworth and one was frighfully close to Tea's sister's house. Okay - so you couldn't see her house on the raods we were on, but Tea was convinced her sister would see her so we drove past her road and held our breath in case we got caught. We found our cemetary and our box. Add that to the checks in the found column! Woop! Woop!
Then it was off to a nursery. This would probably be the hardest dang box to get all weekend! we were told the long story of where the pair of geese spent their winter (New Hampshire) and that they would be getting crated in the next couple days or so to head south for the winter. Now call me crazy - but New Hampshire is not all that south from Maine! Even more perplexing was how one could possibly believe wintering in New Hampshire would give you better weather than wintering in Maine! We have almost the identical weather in the winter! But we listened. And listened. And then I went off in search of a pumpkin. Now normally we wouldn't knock the customer service. But we were the only ones there and they were insistent on helping us! We had no way to know if the owners knew about the box or not, so we didn't want to tip our hand. I left Tea high and dry with the goal of getting the box to her car. I thought if I bought the perfect pumpkin - maybe they would give Tea a wide enough berth to grab the box. we could see it... we just couldn't get anything to distract our two helpful men!
Well, pumpkin in hand and a slip to pay for it. I managed to distract one of them lon g enough for Tea to grab the box and stampus into it. Now the goal was to get the box back into play. More stories... "Did you know swans mate for life?" "No, really?" "What does it mean when one fluffs up their feathers?" "Oh, that's the male trying to attract the female." "Really? How interesting. I think I'll just get a couple more pictures, they are beautiful birds." Yadda, yadda, yadda... keep walking, keep walking. Just a bit further. Yup and the box is back out of sight and into play once again. With a thumbs up, Tea snapped the last couple of shots, we commented on some Oriental themed planters and high tailed it back to the car. (By the way - that ten dollar pumpkin is still on my propane tank - waiting to be carved for Halloween - do you think it will last until next year???)
Image and pumpkin in tow, we headed off to a train trestle. We parked and walked around to follow the clues. Of course its up. What else would I think? Tea headed up first and dislodged the box from its hiding spot. I followed using her backpack as a foil for the thistles and burdocks. He pack was covered with them. We stamped up and watch a few cars pass us by without even a glance up at us. Two women hanging over the top of a train trestle must be normal in Ellsworth. No worries. But we decided to just go back up the foot over the tracks and back to the car instead of tackling the fall flora.
We debunked ourselves of hikers before continuing south. Off we headed to Indian Point. Not back tracking to where we had been, Indian Point in Ellsworth. We were heading out onto a trail that was set up by a high school program. The trail system has two trails that merge on and off from one another. The mail trail has traditional markers, but the one we needed had rocks with blue blazes painted on them. We actually had to pick up a couple of them and place them back where they needed to be to be visiable. Many of the educational markers were gone, but we did manage to find two of the three boxes in one series and a lovely little troll under a bridge here. And the point had a lovely picnic type area. There were many benches that afforded a great view of downtown Ellsworth. I fear once the housing developement is completely, this spot will loose much of its tranquility. But we needed to get back. We had one more stop in Ellsworth before heading home.
While Tea and I love cemetaries, boxes in stonewalls - not so much. Especially when the stonewall is already in near disarray. Clues lead you to believe its in the lower section of the wall. But this wall was all lower section. It had been picked apart and tossed asunder. Sadly it was also riddled with broken glass. Every time I tried to shift a stone that tiny voice would climb up on my shoulder and give me a big slap. It just didn't seem right. There were other noticable places close by to plant a box. Why here? Well, needless to say - this box eluded us. And I fear it wasn't there anymore to begin with. But it was a great place to visit. We walked past two folks playing croquet and made our way back to the car.
Now on our way north we missed a couple boxes. It was our plan to pick them up one our return trip. One had a time limit on it as the gate closed at 5pm. We had also missed the Tour the Fort series at Fort Knox. But a couple of the locations had taken longer than planned so we knew both of these would elude us on the return trip as well. We did want The Masks by Jiffy and guess what - they were waiting for us in a cemetary! Now we needed to get to the road they were on. The 'offramp' we could see... but how on earth do you get to it? Well we fell onto a road and took a stab that this was where we needed to be. Yup - we were right on! Picking up these boxes and another hiker - we started for home. The sun was dipping faster than we were driving.
Somewhere along the way we did a uturn so i could take a photograph of those Easter Egg cabins. On the way north - they just struck me as funny. But by the total lack of reaction from the gentleman cutting wood nearby - me snapping photos was obviously not unusual. We drove on until we reached Camden. There had been a box at the ampetheater... so we thought we'd give it a quick run by. I almost scared 10 years off Tea when I went in behind her (I was the diversion taking photos of the evening sun reflecting on the harbor) to see how her luck was. Found the location - no box though.
Back into the car we continued closer to home. It was getting late, and we were both running low on steam. we decided to pass the last box on our list - which had started out as our first box only two days before. Back in Brunswick, we transferred my things to my waiting car and were both grateful we would be sleeping in our own beds tonight!
Final count... I picked up 80 boxes and 3 hikers. Tea added a little more than 40 to her count and we logged 350 plus miles on her car over the three day excursion. Did we get them all? Heck no - but that just gives us another reason to go back. July 2009 can't roll around fast enough! So start planting up there - we'll be back!
After our morning fuel up (And yes, this time we packed provisions in the form of a donut a piece.) of that incredibly sustaining Kashi oatmeal and juice we packed up our coffee and hot cocoa and headed off to our first box. Gathering up our stuff - which when carrying hot beverages really does require two trips to the car - frost scraped from the windshield - we checked out of the hotel and started on our daily voyage. First stop - all the way across the street!
Dang! I didn't even have a second sip of coffee and we were back out of the car! LOL! So off we went in search of our first morning box. And what do we come across - the trail has a river running through it! Granted the frost was tipping the edges of the grass on either side of the river, but we had gone almost ALL weekend without getting muddy or wet and we wanted to keep a clean record - and dry feet. So off we head on the round about loop to our destination. We were in search of 'The Queen's Throne.'
Its a very peaceful place at 7am on a Monday morning. A couple birds did voice a loud protesting call at us disturbing their early morning siesta, but other than that - there was not a lot of movement. We looked high and low and didn't see any sign of 'The Queen.' Granted I wasn't too sure if I was looking for a peacock or the Queen of Hearts, but no Queen showed her regal face that morning. (Probably way to early for royalty to be up and about.) But we did find what we were seeking in this location and headed off to "The Egg." It was then that I decided - if it was "The Queen" that layed this egg, it was probably a good thing we hadn't found her. There's absolutely NO WAY she could have ever been in a good mood after laying this egg!
Back at the car, we reached happily for our coffee and cocoa. Dang - it was cold! Almost as cold as we were. Our options, stop and turn around to get some coffee before heading on - or suck on our cold beverages and trek on. You guessed it - we trekked on! Our motto - so many bboxes, so little time. Besides, the faster we could get back to Ellsworth, the faster we could get some Sweet Tea! (You call it addiction, we call it required beverage material when boxing!) So off we went in search of our first Blue Diamond.
We headed back out towards Acadia and headed over to the trail we searched out the night before. The path was wide and clear and we hiked on. A time was given for the approximate amount of time it should take to complete the hike - we added 20 minutes : ) Pine needle laden and wide, the path quickly turned and became a bit more narrow. We were diligent in seeking out our needed markers - how many Senturies could possibly be in the woods of Maine??? After all, Maine only has 17 million acres of forests... so two trees should be a piece of cake to find!
You guessed it - a little bit of dumb luck and a little bit of walking backwards and we found our Blue Diamond! Woohoo! And with it was a hiker! Our first of the weekend! And other folks had actually been here and left it behind! They must have know we were coming! Yeah! Someone did read the messages I had written by those skywriters! Another one off the list! And another one's gone and another one's gone. Another one's off the list! Yes, we sing and dance when this happens. We have other songs and siren calls when we are out seeking other boxes... but that's a different story.
Back we walked to the car... the path seemed much longer on the return trip than on the one to the box. Kind of odd. But we were headed off to tackle the fine township of Lemoine. And in Lemoine was another Blue Diamond! We circled the booming town and visited the Lemoine State Park and the Lemoine Beach. We visited a cemetary and a church and a preserve! We rescued a lock and lock from sunburn as it had thrown itself out into the late mornings warming rays. After a quick chat with the lock and lock about providing proper protection of leaves, sticks and rocks we left it with only the hope it would heed our advise.
We headed back and realized that we were a touch off our time line again. Oh well. We did manage to conquer Lamoine in fine style! And only a couple people looked at us like we had lost our way. We didn't even manage to do too many u-turns. But then again the town does practically run its roads like a loop trail. we did have to pull over to snap a couple photos. One of a field of approximately 30 wild turkeys. I think Tea was a bit shocked when I started to 'call' to them in their 'native' tongue. But she was able to recover from laughing long enough to continue to drive.
We still had a couple cemetaries to conquer in Ellsworth and one was frighfully close to Tea's sister's house. Okay - so you couldn't see her house on the raods we were on, but Tea was convinced her sister would see her so we drove past her road and held our breath in case we got caught. We found our cemetary and our box. Add that to the checks in the found column! Woop! Woop!
Then it was off to a nursery. This would probably be the hardest dang box to get all weekend! we were told the long story of where the pair of geese spent their winter (New Hampshire) and that they would be getting crated in the next couple days or so to head south for the winter. Now call me crazy - but New Hampshire is not all that south from Maine! Even more perplexing was how one could possibly believe wintering in New Hampshire would give you better weather than wintering in Maine! We have almost the identical weather in the winter! But we listened. And listened. And then I went off in search of a pumpkin. Now normally we wouldn't knock the customer service. But we were the only ones there and they were insistent on helping us! We had no way to know if the owners knew about the box or not, so we didn't want to tip our hand. I left Tea high and dry with the goal of getting the box to her car. I thought if I bought the perfect pumpkin - maybe they would give Tea a wide enough berth to grab the box. we could see it... we just couldn't get anything to distract our two helpful men!
Well, pumpkin in hand and a slip to pay for it. I managed to distract one of them lon g enough for Tea to grab the box and stampus into it. Now the goal was to get the box back into play. More stories... "Did you know swans mate for life?" "No, really?" "What does it mean when one fluffs up their feathers?" "Oh, that's the male trying to attract the female." "Really? How interesting. I think I'll just get a couple more pictures, they are beautiful birds." Yadda, yadda, yadda... keep walking, keep walking. Just a bit further. Yup and the box is back out of sight and into play once again. With a thumbs up, Tea snapped the last couple of shots, we commented on some Oriental themed planters and high tailed it back to the car. (By the way - that ten dollar pumpkin is still on my propane tank - waiting to be carved for Halloween - do you think it will last until next year???)
Image and pumpkin in tow, we headed off to a train trestle. We parked and walked around to follow the clues. Of course its up. What else would I think? Tea headed up first and dislodged the box from its hiding spot. I followed using her backpack as a foil for the thistles and burdocks. He pack was covered with them. We stamped up and watch a few cars pass us by without even a glance up at us. Two women hanging over the top of a train trestle must be normal in Ellsworth. No worries. But we decided to just go back up the foot over the tracks and back to the car instead of tackling the fall flora.
We debunked ourselves of hikers before continuing south. Off we headed to Indian Point. Not back tracking to where we had been, Indian Point in Ellsworth. We were heading out onto a trail that was set up by a high school program. The trail system has two trails that merge on and off from one another. The mail trail has traditional markers, but the one we needed had rocks with blue blazes painted on them. We actually had to pick up a couple of them and place them back where they needed to be to be visiable. Many of the educational markers were gone, but we did manage to find two of the three boxes in one series and a lovely little troll under a bridge here. And the point had a lovely picnic type area. There were many benches that afforded a great view of downtown Ellsworth. I fear once the housing developement is completely, this spot will loose much of its tranquility. But we needed to get back. We had one more stop in Ellsworth before heading home.
While Tea and I love cemetaries, boxes in stonewalls - not so much. Especially when the stonewall is already in near disarray. Clues lead you to believe its in the lower section of the wall. But this wall was all lower section. It had been picked apart and tossed asunder. Sadly it was also riddled with broken glass. Every time I tried to shift a stone that tiny voice would climb up on my shoulder and give me a big slap. It just didn't seem right. There were other noticable places close by to plant a box. Why here? Well, needless to say - this box eluded us. And I fear it wasn't there anymore to begin with. But it was a great place to visit. We walked past two folks playing croquet and made our way back to the car.
Now on our way north we missed a couple boxes. It was our plan to pick them up one our return trip. One had a time limit on it as the gate closed at 5pm. We had also missed the Tour the Fort series at Fort Knox. But a couple of the locations had taken longer than planned so we knew both of these would elude us on the return trip as well. We did want The Masks by Jiffy and guess what - they were waiting for us in a cemetary! Now we needed to get to the road they were on. The 'offramp' we could see... but how on earth do you get to it? Well we fell onto a road and took a stab that this was where we needed to be. Yup - we were right on! Picking up these boxes and another hiker - we started for home. The sun was dipping faster than we were driving.
Somewhere along the way we did a uturn so i could take a photograph of those Easter Egg cabins. On the way north - they just struck me as funny. But by the total lack of reaction from the gentleman cutting wood nearby - me snapping photos was obviously not unusual. We drove on until we reached Camden. There had been a box at the ampetheater... so we thought we'd give it a quick run by. I almost scared 10 years off Tea when I went in behind her (I was the diversion taking photos of the evening sun reflecting on the harbor) to see how her luck was. Found the location - no box though.
Back into the car we continued closer to home. It was getting late, and we were both running low on steam. we decided to pass the last box on our list - which had started out as our first box only two days before. Back in Brunswick, we transferred my things to my waiting car and were both grateful we would be sleeping in our own beds tonight!
Final count... I picked up 80 boxes and 3 hikers. Tea added a little more than 40 to her count and we logged 350 plus miles on her car over the three day excursion. Did we get them all? Heck no - but that just gives us another reason to go back. July 2009 can't roll around fast enough! So start planting up there - we'll be back!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
The quest: Day Two
Okay, we have to admit... this is the day we have really plotted and planned for. Time to tackle Mount Desert Island. We slept in late for us and had a hearty breakfast of instant Kashi oatmeal, juice coffee and tea for breakfast. Packing up the car with all the gear we thought we'd need for the day, we headed off to tackle the island. It was cold, and a thick layer of frost was covering everything. But we were pumped and ready to take the tupperware on!
First stop? You guessed it, a favorite spot for us, a cemetary. We picked up Skeleton Trail and then travelled onto the island. (Later I would find out that this box was my 500th find! Thanks Queen Bee!)
Our first stop was going to be The Ovens. There was a hybrid here plus an earth cache nearby that we wanted to pick up. We had our tide chart and knew that the morning was the best chance topick it up. Along the way we picked up a quick LBNA box and headed on, thinking we were in the right direction. Before long we were in Bar Harbor. Along with a gaggle of runners! Yikes we hit road race weekend! They were running the 26 mile island loop... we were smart, we were driving it! But boy was Bar harbor hopping and bustling at 7:30 in the morning! I know I sent that messenger along to tell them Team MudCup would be in the area... so they planned a road race??? Who'da thunk we were that important! LOL!
We managed to weave our way through a maze of tour busses and people in shorts and wool hats. Did I mention it was cold? Yup - 38' balmy degrees in the harbor. Evidently this is perfect jogging weather. I personally wouldn't know - because unless my butt is on fire... I don't run. I wouldn't then either (remember - its stop, drop, and roll!) But that's besides the point.
We did have hopes that all the people loitering around would ramble off to the beginning of the road race (we have no idea where that was as we never saw it - or anyone actually running in the race) but a few decided they also needed to stroll along the Coveside walk. Well we headed to the gazebo first. A box is there. So pulling out the camera to act like a tourist... I set off taking photos of boats, vistas, cannons, gazebos and anything else in my line of site while Tea had her arm under the gazebo. The clue said it was an easy reach, but with so many folks walking around - we couldn't find it. We opted to head out the seaside walking path to the two at the end. An ominous site was dangerously close to where one was supposed to be. And alas, the hideyhole was gone. No tree to be had, but an orange barrier that said - walk closed for construction, no tresspassing. We pretended we had been walking along the beach and hadn't seen it so we could venture further down the path to the next box. Alas, this box was also missing its hiding spot. The retaining wall was being rebuilt, and with the missing old retaining wall and tree went another box. So sad. So early in the morning and we are striking out on 3 Bar Harbor boxes. A brisk return walk (which Tea did completely behind tear ridden glasses) to the gazebo for one last look. This time there were fewer folks afoot. I turned my back momentarily and there was Tea, laying flat on the ground - face pressed against the gazebo base up to her shoulder yelling "I can see it! But I can't reach it!" Up she got and headed off to her car for her walking stick. Our hopes were she could beat the thing within reaching distance. So she was laying on the ground on the side and I was laying on the ground in the front waiting to catch the box. She stretched, she twisted, but she was short. The box was another foot and a half out of reach! At this point Tea is cursing herself out for taking the hammer out of her car. She was ready to pull up the center of the gazebo to get the darn thing. I on the other hand thought there was some devine intervention at this point, because I really didn't want to spend the weekend visiting the Bar Harbor police department for destruction of public property in the retrieval of a Lock n Lock. So there the box stayed... and we trekked off to find the other Bar Harbor box... ironically which was behind the police station!
Not knowing the area, we of course walked PAST the box to get to the fountain mentioned in the clue and then proceeded to back track to where we had just been to get the box. This one was here! Yes! Finally one for the find column. So back to the car, stopping to pick up a couple Bar Harbor trinkets and a cup of coffee, we headed. We had boxes to find and so far we were falling short for the morning. For our next box we were off to find Blackbeard's Hidden Cove. We had a general idea where we were heading - but we pulled in and stopped to visit Thunder Hole and the ranger station first. The ranger was starting a fire in the stove and we picked up water and a t-shirt. Guess what - Thunder is VERY quiet at low tide! We weren't there very long before the busses rolled in. All of a sudden there was the rolling thunder of 50 tourists with cameras and numbers attached to the outside of their jackets! Time to get moving for sure!
Back in the car we headed off in search of a mystery box. We needed a perticular view, so we pulled off at one of the scenic overlooks. Someone needs to do some tree trimming! We couldn't see anything! LOL! But we knew we were not in the right spot so we headed on. Following the clues, we pulled into a parking area... it had a great view of a causeway and the cove. There was a monument but we didn't see it at first. We jumped back in the car and went a little further. Looking for a set of stairs near a bridge. We should have been able to find this... why couldn't we find it? So around the cove we continued. And low and behold - there was the set of stairs! On the first side of the cove. Darn! This is a one way road and we needed to be back on the otherside of the cove. Hmm... peaking in the rearview mirror, back we went. Tea doesn't really like reverse... but we managed to make it back to the other side. Still couldn't see the stairs.
Okay - we are missing something for sure. We parked the car in the overlook and headed back up the road and into the woods. Down over the side of the embankment Tea went. My whole fearfactor thing was in overdrive. So I sat on the side of the hill, looking at the view with enough of a distance between me and the drop off so I wouldn't pass out. Tea disappeared around the corner. I yelled a couple times and heard nothing. Before long she was back, no stairway to report, we must have gone too far. I reached down and managed to grab Teas backpack and started back up the hill (of course Tea passed me, LOL!) And we headed back to the car and the overlook... and there was the monument we missed the first go around!
Back to the causeway, we pulled off the side of the road and parked. Tea set off down the beach to find that set of stairs. Still favoring my injured foot from Rangeley I was a bit slower. But she set off and instead of staying along the seaweed covered rocks, she scaled the side of the hill. I'm pretty sure she has never seen Fear Factor, but I know my limits. I'll take the seaweed over the hill anytime! By the time I made it to the seaweed covered corner, she had finally found the stairs. And they were not all they were cracked up to be. Off I ambled across the seaweed to catch up with her. Alas, this was not adding up to the right location. But between us both we decided up the ladder was the best way back to the cove.
We turned while standing on an awesome flat rock - and low and behold - Tea had started something. When we parked the car, nothing. (While we were backing up about 10 cars passed us and the causeway by.) But along with Tea's car there were now a dozen more. She started something! LOL! The buses breezed past, but there were families down on the beach and more that a couple tripods set up. A family was having a family shot taken - no doubt their future Christmas card photo. So up we climbed. And let me tell you, there was a reason we couldn't find this staircase from the top - it was falling apart! Halfway up - I looked up and low and behold - we had an audience. Three bicyclists had stopped to enjoy the view. We chatted and laughed and I managed to make it to the top. They were impressed that I was laughing. I was impressed that I had survived! We parted ways and they passed us as we walked back down to the car parked at the causeway.
Deciding to put this clue aside and just head on - since we had spent almost an hour searching for a box - we drove along, passing our biking friends. we had to slow down briefly at another overlook. The cars were all slowing down so this photographer could capture a photo of a bird. The man was being slow and cautious. Getting closer and closer to the bird for a better shot. I asked Tea what he was taking a photo of - "The bird, don't you see it?" The bird was hidden from my angle until we moved a little further. This darn tourist from New Jersey was taking a photograph of a highly elusive SEAGULL! I thought Tea and I were going to bust a gut we were laughing so hard. The poor guy really thought he was pulling off the biggest feat of the season. We didn't have the heart to tll him - give the bird a french fry and you can take him home to Jersey with you!
So a little further along we drove and low and behold, the staircase. Damn. Looking prematurely again. We pulled off the road and there were our biking friends again. We tumbled down the staircase and tried to get the box before they all made it down. We managed to get the box, but they wanted to sit and chat a while. I went and stuck my hand in the water to see if that would help move them along. After about 15 minutes of chatting - they did decide to head off and Tea and I were able to get the box back in its location just as another muggle came down to the beach. The beach is a relative term as this one is covered with various sizes of well tumbled rocks. You cna pick up any of them and they are all smooth and soft to the touch. Tea found one and remarked "Look, a new resident to the beach."
Back on our journey, we decided we needed to find a place for lunch. It was almost noon and we continued on a bit farther. By now we were a bit distressed as we had lost a big chunk of time and we'd have to rework our plans. we knew there were a couple we could cut out of our plans. But there were others we just had to get. We were driving along a section of Acadia where the carriage bridges were, in places thick with tree cover and all of a sudden a buck jumped out in the middle of the road - giving Tea just enough time to stop the car. We watched it run down the side of the road in front of us as we watched in sheer amazement. The animal was beautiful. A car came up behind us and we pulled over to let it pass as we creeped a bit further to look at the buck. He stood approximately 20 paces in the tree line and watched us watching him. Absolutely amazing. We now understood. Sometimes we are giving a momentary sidetrack in order to see something much better. And who could possibly say we were off track when we sat a mere few feet away from a majestic 6 point buck! We took photos, but under the tree cover, they are very dark. So the best images are just inside our own memories. We took pause, and appreciated the moment. This was meant to help us put our quest in perspective, and it helped make everything seem doable. But first we needed food!
So on we went. Into Seal Cove. Oh yeah, a mystery lies here. But we'll come back after we find that restuarant. We never found the restaurant, but we did come in contact with more signs saying runners were in the area. Again - still hadn't seen any. How could they possibly out run us?? But they were well ahead of us, because road race workers were dumping cups of water and Gatorade as we drove past a water stop. Oh heck. We're here - no food, so lets just stop a minute and get this box. Some clues just love to lead you on a quick walk about before they get to the point. And that's what this one did. Bench? Which bench? There's one... down we go to the beach. This time we had gone too far! But we finally found this lovely box and ambled along. Needed to stop at Asticou Gardens to pick up a box. Dang - not there. And the face that's supposed to be a marker was missing. Which was was he looking anyays? Not knowing - we looked in every direction and came up short.
Still looking for food we drove on. We hooked up with three tour buses at the Somersville Bridge and once again had to act like tourists to wait out the box. Finally they all were back on their buses and we picked up this box. We found an Eternal Gate and drove around and around in circles in Northeast Harbor. For such a small town - how can they possibly have so many one way roads that lead to no where? Or was that just us? We picked up three boxes here, and attempted lunch... closed for the season : ( But everyone from the buses were in there eating! Dang tourists! We asked for the closest place to eat... "Bar Harbor." But we've already been there - and we are not going backwards.
Now working on 2pm, we pulled out our rations. A bag of almonds, the dregs of a cup of coffee, the end of a bottle of water, a banana, the end of a bag of Smartfood, and a package of granola bars. A letterboxer's survival lunch! These people have to eat somewhere! Don't they need pizza to watch football?? Onwards we travelled. We managed to figure out the Carvers Quest without being able to visit the museum or even by figuring out the whole answer to the clues. With 2 letters out of 13 to go by, we found this box. And a great image it was, hidden in a great location for sure!
We continued on heading for Bass Harbor Light to find a box hidden by 'One who must not be mentioned' and another in the area. Oh my - a quick pitstop - a 'grocery' store! Our intentions were to just get directions to the closest restaurant (Again it was Bar Harbor!) and we ended up grabbing yogurt, coffee, soda, crackers and cheese. We wolfed these down before takingon the lighthouse and another set of stairs. Well I took the stairs. Tea took the rocks less travelled and we decided this was not going to result in one for the find column so we headed out to get the other. The sun was beginning to get low on the horizon and we were at the bottom tip of the island. We needed to head north! Back we headed. Past the Somersville Bridge and there was an Irving. That had a Subway! Evidently this spot is a WELL hidden destination... even from the locals! But we were fueled up and now had new energy to get a couple more boxes.
On the way north we picked up a lovely blue diamond box, yup - it deserves it! It was now dark. Change of plans. We found the location of a box we wanted. But relative intelligence had us thinking we shouldn't attempt it in the dark. So we headed back to the hotel and formulated our plan for the morning. Still so many boxes and only one day left of our adventure. But that's for another day and another post. So for tonight we sleep and dream of lock and locks yet to be found.
First stop? You guessed it, a favorite spot for us, a cemetary. We picked up Skeleton Trail and then travelled onto the island. (Later I would find out that this box was my 500th find! Thanks Queen Bee!)
Our first stop was going to be The Ovens. There was a hybrid here plus an earth cache nearby that we wanted to pick up. We had our tide chart and knew that the morning was the best chance topick it up. Along the way we picked up a quick LBNA box and headed on, thinking we were in the right direction. Before long we were in Bar Harbor. Along with a gaggle of runners! Yikes we hit road race weekend! They were running the 26 mile island loop... we were smart, we were driving it! But boy was Bar harbor hopping and bustling at 7:30 in the morning! I know I sent that messenger along to tell them Team MudCup would be in the area... so they planned a road race??? Who'da thunk we were that important! LOL!
We managed to weave our way through a maze of tour busses and people in shorts and wool hats. Did I mention it was cold? Yup - 38' balmy degrees in the harbor. Evidently this is perfect jogging weather. I personally wouldn't know - because unless my butt is on fire... I don't run. I wouldn't then either (remember - its stop, drop, and roll!) But that's besides the point.
We did have hopes that all the people loitering around would ramble off to the beginning of the road race (we have no idea where that was as we never saw it - or anyone actually running in the race) but a few decided they also needed to stroll along the Coveside walk. Well we headed to the gazebo first. A box is there. So pulling out the camera to act like a tourist... I set off taking photos of boats, vistas, cannons, gazebos and anything else in my line of site while Tea had her arm under the gazebo. The clue said it was an easy reach, but with so many folks walking around - we couldn't find it. We opted to head out the seaside walking path to the two at the end. An ominous site was dangerously close to where one was supposed to be. And alas, the hideyhole was gone. No tree to be had, but an orange barrier that said - walk closed for construction, no tresspassing. We pretended we had been walking along the beach and hadn't seen it so we could venture further down the path to the next box. Alas, this box was also missing its hiding spot. The retaining wall was being rebuilt, and with the missing old retaining wall and tree went another box. So sad. So early in the morning and we are striking out on 3 Bar Harbor boxes. A brisk return walk (which Tea did completely behind tear ridden glasses) to the gazebo for one last look. This time there were fewer folks afoot. I turned my back momentarily and there was Tea, laying flat on the ground - face pressed against the gazebo base up to her shoulder yelling "I can see it! But I can't reach it!" Up she got and headed off to her car for her walking stick. Our hopes were she could beat the thing within reaching distance. So she was laying on the ground on the side and I was laying on the ground in the front waiting to catch the box. She stretched, she twisted, but she was short. The box was another foot and a half out of reach! At this point Tea is cursing herself out for taking the hammer out of her car. She was ready to pull up the center of the gazebo to get the darn thing. I on the other hand thought there was some devine intervention at this point, because I really didn't want to spend the weekend visiting the Bar Harbor police department for destruction of public property in the retrieval of a Lock n Lock. So there the box stayed... and we trekked off to find the other Bar Harbor box... ironically which was behind the police station!
Not knowing the area, we of course walked PAST the box to get to the fountain mentioned in the clue and then proceeded to back track to where we had just been to get the box. This one was here! Yes! Finally one for the find column. So back to the car, stopping to pick up a couple Bar Harbor trinkets and a cup of coffee, we headed. We had boxes to find and so far we were falling short for the morning. For our next box we were off to find Blackbeard's Hidden Cove. We had a general idea where we were heading - but we pulled in and stopped to visit Thunder Hole and the ranger station first. The ranger was starting a fire in the stove and we picked up water and a t-shirt. Guess what - Thunder is VERY quiet at low tide! We weren't there very long before the busses rolled in. All of a sudden there was the rolling thunder of 50 tourists with cameras and numbers attached to the outside of their jackets! Time to get moving for sure!
Back in the car we headed off in search of a mystery box. We needed a perticular view, so we pulled off at one of the scenic overlooks. Someone needs to do some tree trimming! We couldn't see anything! LOL! But we knew we were not in the right spot so we headed on. Following the clues, we pulled into a parking area... it had a great view of a causeway and the cove. There was a monument but we didn't see it at first. We jumped back in the car and went a little further. Looking for a set of stairs near a bridge. We should have been able to find this... why couldn't we find it? So around the cove we continued. And low and behold - there was the set of stairs! On the first side of the cove. Darn! This is a one way road and we needed to be back on the otherside of the cove. Hmm... peaking in the rearview mirror, back we went. Tea doesn't really like reverse... but we managed to make it back to the other side. Still couldn't see the stairs.
Okay - we are missing something for sure. We parked the car in the overlook and headed back up the road and into the woods. Down over the side of the embankment Tea went. My whole fearfactor thing was in overdrive. So I sat on the side of the hill, looking at the view with enough of a distance between me and the drop off so I wouldn't pass out. Tea disappeared around the corner. I yelled a couple times and heard nothing. Before long she was back, no stairway to report, we must have gone too far. I reached down and managed to grab Teas backpack and started back up the hill (of course Tea passed me, LOL!) And we headed back to the car and the overlook... and there was the monument we missed the first go around!
Back to the causeway, we pulled off the side of the road and parked. Tea set off down the beach to find that set of stairs. Still favoring my injured foot from Rangeley I was a bit slower. But she set off and instead of staying along the seaweed covered rocks, she scaled the side of the hill. I'm pretty sure she has never seen Fear Factor, but I know my limits. I'll take the seaweed over the hill anytime! By the time I made it to the seaweed covered corner, she had finally found the stairs. And they were not all they were cracked up to be. Off I ambled across the seaweed to catch up with her. Alas, this was not adding up to the right location. But between us both we decided up the ladder was the best way back to the cove.
We turned while standing on an awesome flat rock - and low and behold - Tea had started something. When we parked the car, nothing. (While we were backing up about 10 cars passed us and the causeway by.) But along with Tea's car there were now a dozen more. She started something! LOL! The buses breezed past, but there were families down on the beach and more that a couple tripods set up. A family was having a family shot taken - no doubt their future Christmas card photo. So up we climbed. And let me tell you, there was a reason we couldn't find this staircase from the top - it was falling apart! Halfway up - I looked up and low and behold - we had an audience. Three bicyclists had stopped to enjoy the view. We chatted and laughed and I managed to make it to the top. They were impressed that I was laughing. I was impressed that I had survived! We parted ways and they passed us as we walked back down to the car parked at the causeway.
Deciding to put this clue aside and just head on - since we had spent almost an hour searching for a box - we drove along, passing our biking friends. we had to slow down briefly at another overlook. The cars were all slowing down so this photographer could capture a photo of a bird. The man was being slow and cautious. Getting closer and closer to the bird for a better shot. I asked Tea what he was taking a photo of - "The bird, don't you see it?" The bird was hidden from my angle until we moved a little further. This darn tourist from New Jersey was taking a photograph of a highly elusive SEAGULL! I thought Tea and I were going to bust a gut we were laughing so hard. The poor guy really thought he was pulling off the biggest feat of the season. We didn't have the heart to tll him - give the bird a french fry and you can take him home to Jersey with you!
So a little further along we drove and low and behold, the staircase. Damn. Looking prematurely again. We pulled off the road and there were our biking friends again. We tumbled down the staircase and tried to get the box before they all made it down. We managed to get the box, but they wanted to sit and chat a while. I went and stuck my hand in the water to see if that would help move them along. After about 15 minutes of chatting - they did decide to head off and Tea and I were able to get the box back in its location just as another muggle came down to the beach. The beach is a relative term as this one is covered with various sizes of well tumbled rocks. You cna pick up any of them and they are all smooth and soft to the touch. Tea found one and remarked "Look, a new resident to the beach."
Back on our journey, we decided we needed to find a place for lunch. It was almost noon and we continued on a bit farther. By now we were a bit distressed as we had lost a big chunk of time and we'd have to rework our plans. we knew there were a couple we could cut out of our plans. But there were others we just had to get. We were driving along a section of Acadia where the carriage bridges were, in places thick with tree cover and all of a sudden a buck jumped out in the middle of the road - giving Tea just enough time to stop the car. We watched it run down the side of the road in front of us as we watched in sheer amazement. The animal was beautiful. A car came up behind us and we pulled over to let it pass as we creeped a bit further to look at the buck. He stood approximately 20 paces in the tree line and watched us watching him. Absolutely amazing. We now understood. Sometimes we are giving a momentary sidetrack in order to see something much better. And who could possibly say we were off track when we sat a mere few feet away from a majestic 6 point buck! We took photos, but under the tree cover, they are very dark. So the best images are just inside our own memories. We took pause, and appreciated the moment. This was meant to help us put our quest in perspective, and it helped make everything seem doable. But first we needed food!
So on we went. Into Seal Cove. Oh yeah, a mystery lies here. But we'll come back after we find that restuarant. We never found the restaurant, but we did come in contact with more signs saying runners were in the area. Again - still hadn't seen any. How could they possibly out run us?? But they were well ahead of us, because road race workers were dumping cups of water and Gatorade as we drove past a water stop. Oh heck. We're here - no food, so lets just stop a minute and get this box. Some clues just love to lead you on a quick walk about before they get to the point. And that's what this one did. Bench? Which bench? There's one... down we go to the beach. This time we had gone too far! But we finally found this lovely box and ambled along. Needed to stop at Asticou Gardens to pick up a box. Dang - not there. And the face that's supposed to be a marker was missing. Which was was he looking anyays? Not knowing - we looked in every direction and came up short.
Still looking for food we drove on. We hooked up with three tour buses at the Somersville Bridge and once again had to act like tourists to wait out the box. Finally they all were back on their buses and we picked up this box. We found an Eternal Gate and drove around and around in circles in Northeast Harbor. For such a small town - how can they possibly have so many one way roads that lead to no where? Or was that just us? We picked up three boxes here, and attempted lunch... closed for the season : ( But everyone from the buses were in there eating! Dang tourists! We asked for the closest place to eat... "Bar Harbor." But we've already been there - and we are not going backwards.
Now working on 2pm, we pulled out our rations. A bag of almonds, the dregs of a cup of coffee, the end of a bottle of water, a banana, the end of a bag of Smartfood, and a package of granola bars. A letterboxer's survival lunch! These people have to eat somewhere! Don't they need pizza to watch football?? Onwards we travelled. We managed to figure out the Carvers Quest without being able to visit the museum or even by figuring out the whole answer to the clues. With 2 letters out of 13 to go by, we found this box. And a great image it was, hidden in a great location for sure!
We continued on heading for Bass Harbor Light to find a box hidden by 'One who must not be mentioned' and another in the area. Oh my - a quick pitstop - a 'grocery' store! Our intentions were to just get directions to the closest restaurant (Again it was Bar Harbor!) and we ended up grabbing yogurt, coffee, soda, crackers and cheese. We wolfed these down before takingon the lighthouse and another set of stairs. Well I took the stairs. Tea took the rocks less travelled and we decided this was not going to result in one for the find column so we headed out to get the other. The sun was beginning to get low on the horizon and we were at the bottom tip of the island. We needed to head north! Back we headed. Past the Somersville Bridge and there was an Irving. That had a Subway! Evidently this spot is a WELL hidden destination... even from the locals! But we were fueled up and now had new energy to get a couple more boxes.
On the way north we picked up a lovely blue diamond box, yup - it deserves it! It was now dark. Change of plans. We found the location of a box we wanted. But relative intelligence had us thinking we shouldn't attempt it in the dark. So we headed back to the hotel and formulated our plan for the morning. Still so many boxes and only one day left of our adventure. But that's for another day and another post. So for tonight we sleep and dream of lock and locks yet to be found.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Quest: Day One
Okay, so we had set a goal of tracking down a potential 100 boxes over the course of 3 days. Knowing this, Teacup plotted and planned. Many hours were logged just getting ready for this trip. We set out in the wee small hours in the darkness. And at 5am on a Saturday in October in Maine, not only is it dark, but its a bit frosty to boot.
The first stop, a hybrid box that was a drive-by. And guess what - we did just that. Drove right by it. Didn't even realize it until we were sitting down to breakfast at Moody's diner. At hot spot on a cilly Saturday morning for sure. So knowing we were down by one already, we decided to add a bit more caffeine to our systems so we could wake up for the next one. The next one was a breeze, with me tobbling on an overturned urn to replace. Did you know I'm afraid of falling? Oh well... I digress. Visited a very lovely cemetary with a Finnish heritage before moving out to the seaside.
I honestly don't know how lighthouse keepers did it. we thought it was 'brisk' before. Well, trying to pick up two boxes at a lighthouse at 8am in October is downright bitingly COLD! And I grew up on the ocean! On the up side, the tide was out, so we didn't have waves crashing about our toes as we tossed around on the seaside. Once back inside the car, with the heat on full blast, we ventured further north to pick up a museum box. Surely this early, it would be quiet enough around a museum. Not! Where are all these people going on a cold Saturday morning? Shouldn't they be curled up with their coffee reading the papers? Dang fools.
Visited a breakwater, a seal, and some lime kilns and then decided we needed to able into a craft supply store. Because heaven knows when were on the hunt for 100 boxes we might just need new blades to whip out an image on the spur of the moment. Blades, carving medium, a couple stocking stuffers (oh yeah and the letterbox images) behind us we set off to tackle a mountain. So maybe you didn't know this about me - but I'm scared to death of heights. Even more so of falling. So when you literally have to walk off the top of the mountain to get a box... I'm in need of copious amounts of oxygen! Lucky for me, Teacup has NO fears when it comes to traversing the mountainside. So I'm watching her descend to the box as I get more and more lightheaded. Now is probably a good time to sit down, pull out the camera and play tourist.
A few minutes later, with this image safely logged we set off for the top again. Where on earth did all these kids come from? And why is one wanting to throw their walking stick over the edge of the tower they are at the top of? (Thanks, I'll pass this quantum height as well!) The lightheadedness is passing enough at this point that I can actually read the marker on the tower. Might as well learn something while here. Afterall this hobby is always educational for me. I learn more and more about myself with every box. But that's for another post.
With so many muggles about, we are running a touch behind, okay - so the muggles and the shopping probably slowed us down a bit. So we headed on. We had planned on touring a fort, but opted to make a slight adjustment to our plans. We were on the lookout for a pair of guns witha couple stacks of big balls. Eyes peeled to our right, we pulled in and conquered this box without incident. Okay - so we were laughing so hard we almost needed more oxygen... but we regained our composure to headed out once again. Looking for cemetaries, one of our all time favorite pasttimes!
Looking sharp to the right we found one that was on the wrong side of the road. Now how could that be? Maybe because we were so intent on finding the cannonballs that we blew past our first cemetary! Dang! I'm sensing a pattern here. No loss, we got our bearings straight and backtracked to where we were supposed to be. Had to stop and play ball along the way, but we eventually made our way back to the first cemetary we needed.
Now Team MudCup LOVES cemetaries. And trolling through a few of them to pick up a series of 15 boxes just about makes our day golden. But when the clues are spot on perfect and the images are awesome... we're on a roll to pick up a blue diamond series in our book. The only thing that bugged us was that someone decided to do the series before us all in black. In our logbooks (after some field TLC) this series is a colorful collection of a coat of arms. The images a clear and well done and ranked pretty high on our weekends quests. Jiffy's series deserves to have many visitors, but if you go get them, take an extra moment and add some color... it makes all the difference in the world! Great job Jiffy!
Time was slipping by, so we axed the fort for today and moved along to the Bucksport waterfront. They have built a wonderful walkway along the water's edge. The views of the harbor, the fort and the bridge are amazing. And to add to the whole ambience of the setting afternoon son, we had the rythemic cadence of approximately 10 or so guys marching across into Bucksport. Where to we wondered? We were guessing a local pub since they had yelled up a wicked thirst... wait that was me listening to them! LOL! Good thing I had picked up a cup of coffee for the evening walk along the water to help quench my thirst!
Once back at the car we traveled farther north. We thought we ought to find a place to bed down for the night before we sought out any more. But we did pick up one quick microbox before making it to the motel room. After we registered we had a bite to eat and then went off to search for a couple boxes by the light of the moon.
We forgot to call ahead and ask for a clear full moon to do some night boxing, so we had to make our way along the water's edge by the shadows cast from a very weak Maglight (make note to remember: need new batteries.) Had we not been laughing so hard, we might have been able to read the clues correctly , but we caught ourselves on the return trip to the car and found the microbox we were seeking. We did hear that a Moose was Loose in ellsworth, and knowing our love of large Maine animals, we just had to seek him out. Seems he prefers small unknown parks and microboxes. Two were a snap... the third one probably the easiest to find since it had fallen loose from its hidey hole. But when putting it back - I'm pretty sure I disturbed someones home. Probably the same somebody that kicked the box curbside to begin with. We opted not to tango in the dark with the unknown inhabitant and decided to go play with some intombed residents instead.
So here it is, 9pm we are stumbling around a cemetary almost behind town hall in Ellsworth in October. No one would even think that this might look slightly odd. It was a bit trickey trying to read those names on those old stones, but we found our last box and stamped in. we had to keep our eyes out for one particular ankle biter, but me managed to make it out without a visit from the Ellsworth police or needing to visit the local ER. We did attempt one more box, but quickly realized that we needed daylight to scale the side of a train trestle. But we had the general location, we'd be back.
Back to the hotel room for a shower and sleep. For the next day - we tackle Mount Desert Island! A quick tally... mud - 35, tea - 25. No hikers? How could that be possible! We always find hikers. Maybe tomorrow we'll have more luck!
The first stop, a hybrid box that was a drive-by. And guess what - we did just that. Drove right by it. Didn't even realize it until we were sitting down to breakfast at Moody's diner. At hot spot on a cilly Saturday morning for sure. So knowing we were down by one already, we decided to add a bit more caffeine to our systems so we could wake up for the next one. The next one was a breeze, with me tobbling on an overturned urn to replace. Did you know I'm afraid of falling? Oh well... I digress. Visited a very lovely cemetary with a Finnish heritage before moving out to the seaside.
I honestly don't know how lighthouse keepers did it. we thought it was 'brisk' before. Well, trying to pick up two boxes at a lighthouse at 8am in October is downright bitingly COLD! And I grew up on the ocean! On the up side, the tide was out, so we didn't have waves crashing about our toes as we tossed around on the seaside. Once back inside the car, with the heat on full blast, we ventured further north to pick up a museum box. Surely this early, it would be quiet enough around a museum. Not! Where are all these people going on a cold Saturday morning? Shouldn't they be curled up with their coffee reading the papers? Dang fools.
Visited a breakwater, a seal, and some lime kilns and then decided we needed to able into a craft supply store. Because heaven knows when were on the hunt for 100 boxes we might just need new blades to whip out an image on the spur of the moment. Blades, carving medium, a couple stocking stuffers (oh yeah and the letterbox images) behind us we set off to tackle a mountain. So maybe you didn't know this about me - but I'm scared to death of heights. Even more so of falling. So when you literally have to walk off the top of the mountain to get a box... I'm in need of copious amounts of oxygen! Lucky for me, Teacup has NO fears when it comes to traversing the mountainside. So I'm watching her descend to the box as I get more and more lightheaded. Now is probably a good time to sit down, pull out the camera and play tourist.
A few minutes later, with this image safely logged we set off for the top again. Where on earth did all these kids come from? And why is one wanting to throw their walking stick over the edge of the tower they are at the top of? (Thanks, I'll pass this quantum height as well!) The lightheadedness is passing enough at this point that I can actually read the marker on the tower. Might as well learn something while here. Afterall this hobby is always educational for me. I learn more and more about myself with every box. But that's for another post.
With so many muggles about, we are running a touch behind, okay - so the muggles and the shopping probably slowed us down a bit. So we headed on. We had planned on touring a fort, but opted to make a slight adjustment to our plans. We were on the lookout for a pair of guns witha couple stacks of big balls. Eyes peeled to our right, we pulled in and conquered this box without incident. Okay - so we were laughing so hard we almost needed more oxygen... but we regained our composure to headed out once again. Looking for cemetaries, one of our all time favorite pasttimes!
Looking sharp to the right we found one that was on the wrong side of the road. Now how could that be? Maybe because we were so intent on finding the cannonballs that we blew past our first cemetary! Dang! I'm sensing a pattern here. No loss, we got our bearings straight and backtracked to where we were supposed to be. Had to stop and play ball along the way, but we eventually made our way back to the first cemetary we needed.
Now Team MudCup LOVES cemetaries. And trolling through a few of them to pick up a series of 15 boxes just about makes our day golden. But when the clues are spot on perfect and the images are awesome... we're on a roll to pick up a blue diamond series in our book. The only thing that bugged us was that someone decided to do the series before us all in black. In our logbooks (after some field TLC) this series is a colorful collection of a coat of arms. The images a clear and well done and ranked pretty high on our weekends quests. Jiffy's series deserves to have many visitors, but if you go get them, take an extra moment and add some color... it makes all the difference in the world! Great job Jiffy!
Time was slipping by, so we axed the fort for today and moved along to the Bucksport waterfront. They have built a wonderful walkway along the water's edge. The views of the harbor, the fort and the bridge are amazing. And to add to the whole ambience of the setting afternoon son, we had the rythemic cadence of approximately 10 or so guys marching across into Bucksport. Where to we wondered? We were guessing a local pub since they had yelled up a wicked thirst... wait that was me listening to them! LOL! Good thing I had picked up a cup of coffee for the evening walk along the water to help quench my thirst!
Once back at the car we traveled farther north. We thought we ought to find a place to bed down for the night before we sought out any more. But we did pick up one quick microbox before making it to the motel room. After we registered we had a bite to eat and then went off to search for a couple boxes by the light of the moon.
We forgot to call ahead and ask for a clear full moon to do some night boxing, so we had to make our way along the water's edge by the shadows cast from a very weak Maglight (make note to remember: need new batteries.) Had we not been laughing so hard, we might have been able to read the clues correctly , but we caught ourselves on the return trip to the car and found the microbox we were seeking. We did hear that a Moose was Loose in ellsworth, and knowing our love of large Maine animals, we just had to seek him out. Seems he prefers small unknown parks and microboxes. Two were a snap... the third one probably the easiest to find since it had fallen loose from its hidey hole. But when putting it back - I'm pretty sure I disturbed someones home. Probably the same somebody that kicked the box curbside to begin with. We opted not to tango in the dark with the unknown inhabitant and decided to go play with some intombed residents instead.
So here it is, 9pm we are stumbling around a cemetary almost behind town hall in Ellsworth in October. No one would even think that this might look slightly odd. It was a bit trickey trying to read those names on those old stones, but we found our last box and stamped in. we had to keep our eyes out for one particular ankle biter, but me managed to make it out without a visit from the Ellsworth police or needing to visit the local ER. We did attempt one more box, but quickly realized that we needed daylight to scale the side of a train trestle. But we had the general location, we'd be back.
Back to the hotel room for a shower and sleep. For the next day - we tackle Mount Desert Island! A quick tally... mud - 35, tea - 25. No hikers? How could that be possible! We always find hikers. Maybe tomorrow we'll have more luck!
Friday, October 17, 2008
On your mark, get set....
Go! Well not just yet, but very soon. Team MudCup is setting out early on a new adventure. And we have a goal in mind. A slightly aggressive goal, but its important to set goals that stretch your limitations to the max. So if you hear of two crazy women getting trapped in the ovens or flinging tea and mud at the wildlife, rest assured - you'll know where we've been.
Earlier in the week I did send out Lucky, my friendly carrier pigeon with a message for the black bears in the area. As I have yet to hear from Lucky, I can only presume that either Lucky is drifting along, stuck in the jetstream enjoying the last warmth from the autumn sun. Or alas, poor Lucky has met up with the bear family from Franklin county and in his efforts to deliver our message of our impending arrival, came to a sad demise.
To which end might be to Team MudCup's advantage. Because if the later did happen, at least we'd know the bear has eaten recently and will not have to lunch on Team MudCup! This is one option I would appreciate avoiding whole heartidly!
We will try at all costs to avoid our favorite driving pasttime... for we hear the rode leads but in one direction, so u-turns are HIGHLY discouraged and confuses the locals! So if we do not return in time for Frightnight, please give Mrs. Cleaver our deepest appologies. And for heaven sakes - someone send bail money and tea!
mud
Earlier in the week I did send out Lucky, my friendly carrier pigeon with a message for the black bears in the area. As I have yet to hear from Lucky, I can only presume that either Lucky is drifting along, stuck in the jetstream enjoying the last warmth from the autumn sun. Or alas, poor Lucky has met up with the bear family from Franklin county and in his efforts to deliver our message of our impending arrival, came to a sad demise.
To which end might be to Team MudCup's advantage. Because if the later did happen, at least we'd know the bear has eaten recently and will not have to lunch on Team MudCup! This is one option I would appreciate avoiding whole heartidly!
We will try at all costs to avoid our favorite driving pasttime... for we hear the rode leads but in one direction, so u-turns are HIGHLY discouraged and confuses the locals! So if we do not return in time for Frightnight, please give Mrs. Cleaver our deepest appologies. And for heaven sakes - someone send bail money and tea!
mud
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Christmas in October - who says retail is slow?
I got a new toy! Woohoo! I purchased a Bind-It-All system. Consider it my Christmas present. I even told my husband - consider my shopping done. Needless to say - he was all for this idea. Less shopping for him is always a good thing - since he doesn't do any to begin with!
But now I want to play with it! Darn housework! And who decided a chat room was a good idea for AQ anyways??? Now I'm on there ALL the time... seeing who's playing online when I am. If only work didn't interfer in my day...
So I'm here to say... the ecomomy may be slow... but I'm doing my bit to support my addicition the best I can! Now - who stole my directions? I know - AQ has a tutorial on it! Yeah! AQ to my rescue!
But now I want to play with it! Darn housework! And who decided a chat room was a good idea for AQ anyways??? Now I'm on there ALL the time... seeing who's playing online when I am. If only work didn't interfer in my day...
So I'm here to say... the ecomomy may be slow... but I'm doing my bit to support my addicition the best I can! Now - who stole my directions? I know - AQ has a tutorial on it! Yeah! AQ to my rescue!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
I've got mail!
There is nothing more exciting than when you get mail you want to see. I've been expecting some mail - good mail, and was hopeful that it would be in my mailbox this afternoon. Yet, when we opened the door to the mailbox, it was sadly empty. So sad. I went next door to my parents in hopes that they had been kind and picked up my mail. No such luck.
Now there's a story to go with my mailbox. We live in a rural Maine town where most of the mail delivery people know the folks who live on their routes. Well, after a year of doing postals, my mail lady knows me as mudflinginfools. As a matter of fact, about six months ago I managed to get a postal delivered to me and all it said was "mudflinginfools... Bowdoinham, ME 04008. No street address at all! Recently, when a package came home to me because the person sending it forgot to apply postage - they said to me at the post office. "That's funny. How did we miss that one? We should have paid better attention." Since they were not the PO that missed it, they were very relieved. She said, "I would have called you at least." Sometimes being in a small town is a good thing.
They talk about me... how many postals will fit in my box? Hmmm... I have a normal sized box. And after numerous detours down our driveway to leave my mail inside my living room, on my back porch or in about a dozen other locations... my mother thought she'd be nice to our postal lady - she bought me the BIG mailbox. And where does it sit? On one end in my dining room, waiting to replace the smaller version.
So today - my mailbox was empty. In hopes it will arrive tomorrow, I'll just wait. Then my husband goes to one of his many cars in the driveway. "Look what I found on the front seat." YEAH!!! The box MIGHT have fit in the larger mailbox... but it DEFINATELY fit in my husband's car! So now what do you think I'm doing now? The PZCut dance! I'm so excited! It arrived prior to Frightnight! Stampeaz is my IDOL! Thanks Diana! You rock! And you gave me one MOST excellent postal day!
Now there's a story to go with my mailbox. We live in a rural Maine town where most of the mail delivery people know the folks who live on their routes. Well, after a year of doing postals, my mail lady knows me as mudflinginfools. As a matter of fact, about six months ago I managed to get a postal delivered to me and all it said was "mudflinginfools... Bowdoinham, ME 04008. No street address at all! Recently, when a package came home to me because the person sending it forgot to apply postage - they said to me at the post office. "That's funny. How did we miss that one? We should have paid better attention." Since they were not the PO that missed it, they were very relieved. She said, "I would have called you at least." Sometimes being in a small town is a good thing.
They talk about me... how many postals will fit in my box? Hmmm... I have a normal sized box. And after numerous detours down our driveway to leave my mail inside my living room, on my back porch or in about a dozen other locations... my mother thought she'd be nice to our postal lady - she bought me the BIG mailbox. And where does it sit? On one end in my dining room, waiting to replace the smaller version.
So today - my mailbox was empty. In hopes it will arrive tomorrow, I'll just wait. Then my husband goes to one of his many cars in the driveway. "Look what I found on the front seat." YEAH!!! The box MIGHT have fit in the larger mailbox... but it DEFINATELY fit in my husband's car! So now what do you think I'm doing now? The PZCut dance! I'm so excited! It arrived prior to Frightnight! Stampeaz is my IDOL! Thanks Diana! You rock! And you gave me one MOST excellent postal day!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Who rides shotgun?
Riding with Team MudCup can be a lesson in insanity at times. We have a serious plan of attack when we strike out. So serious we spend half the time laughing at the misdirection we end up following. Team MudCup's adventures are plotted and planned by Teacup. Its my job to navigate. Oh the places you'll go when you're flingin mud!
And once we've had our power surge of Cinnamelts and Sweet Tea... we can kick it into overdrive! At least until we mis the road, pass the cemetary or just plan slow down to read a sign. (You never know when you'll need that sign information.) I've heard said that in every conversation you'll have a lull every so often. Team MudCup waits for these pauses just so we can catch our breath! we spend lots of time laughing, backtracking and laughing some more.
Some of the simpliest things stike us the funniest. I mean really - do people really get excited when they see a turtle crossing the road. So much so - you decide to stop and help the poor fella cross the road (Of which we were the only car for MILES!) Did that sign really say "Wayward Traveler?" I've gotta carve that! Back we go to get the photo - so you might find it as a hiker near you.
The funniest thing is Teacups never ending growing stack of post-its. Why post-its? Tea and I also share a strange passion for Virtuals. I like to write them... Tea likes to solve them. And you'll never know when or where I'll come up with a new thought for a virtual. This promotes a steady stream of post-its. Who knows if they will ever come to fruition... but one we travel, and Tea's door is getting packed with tiny pieces of paper.
So who rides shotgun? Hmmm...
Another day in the car with Team MudCup!
And once we've had our power surge of Cinnamelts and Sweet Tea... we can kick it into overdrive! At least until we mis the road, pass the cemetary or just plan slow down to read a sign. (You never know when you'll need that sign information.) I've heard said that in every conversation you'll have a lull every so often. Team MudCup waits for these pauses just so we can catch our breath! we spend lots of time laughing, backtracking and laughing some more.
Some of the simpliest things stike us the funniest. I mean really - do people really get excited when they see a turtle crossing the road. So much so - you decide to stop and help the poor fella cross the road (Of which we were the only car for MILES!) Did that sign really say "Wayward Traveler?" I've gotta carve that! Back we go to get the photo - so you might find it as a hiker near you.
The funniest thing is Teacups never ending growing stack of post-its. Why post-its? Tea and I also share a strange passion for Virtuals. I like to write them... Tea likes to solve them. And you'll never know when or where I'll come up with a new thought for a virtual. This promotes a steady stream of post-its. Who knows if they will ever come to fruition... but one we travel, and Tea's door is getting packed with tiny pieces of paper.
So who rides shotgun? Hmmm...
Another day in the car with Team MudCup!
Rangeley or Bust
Well, the goal of 500 just got a little closer this evening. After a very eventful and slippery weekend spent in Rangeley, Team MudCup pushed mud to the 440. And I'll tell you what, I wish we had been doing a 440 relay... I easily could have held the first baton and passed it on to three other much more adventursome souls. I strongly believe everyone should know their own limits. I often think I know mine... but then.This time the but then was "Well we're almost to the top." "How can you tell?" The clues say its only a 45 minute hike to the top." 'Okay - well, we've been hiking for over an hour, so we must be close. Besides, we've made it this far we might as well go to the top."All things being equal, my idea of a 45 minute hike and that of this planters are more than slightly freakin' different. Can you scream out "Extremely different!!!" Our 45 minute stroll to the top of this little peak - which upon a cross check has geocaches saying its a 1000' climb to the top - and on topography maps the summit is at 2220' at the top. Who in their right mind can climb up the slippery, rock and root infested, slug squishing, scaling session to a 2220' peak in 45 minutes? I truely want to meet this boxer so I can check out their.... brain and brawn. But that's besides the point. Back to point, I thought I knew my limits - I was just oxygen deprived and caffeine deprived enough that I forgot how to VOICE my limits. Luckily - the 45 minute climb to the top of Purgetory Hill took slightly (1 hour longer) longer - long enough for the mornings fog to burn off enough to see the water from the top of the fire tower. The one hour+ descent was almost as bad as the climb... at least a quarter of which I did in reverse! I hugged many trees, squished many slugs (orange stained palms to prove it) and slipped and slided down, around, and through roots and puddles, taking at least 1 pound of mud along for the trip to the bottom. For this my washing machine truely hates me.Another point to remember - must bring water - especially on those short hikes that should only take 45 minutes. Must drink copious amounts of coffee so I'll be awake enough to find the slugs before my hand does, and must eat enough fuel factor food so my body doesn't quiver when I'm done : )So while we started out on a treacherously sttep climb to a beautiful view without a box... we ended our day in another location without a box, and firmly entrenched our feet in enough muck and mire that I've dubbed Rangeley as the town that boasts the most deceptive perceptions known to boxers. Along the way we did pick up some wonderful boxes, found two incredibly scenic overlooks (read clues as well as the maps before you zoom past the first box.) Did a meet and great at Height of the Land and cautioned a family to avoid a fruitless climb and directed them to a close location with 7 wonderful boxes and a beautiful rest area. The ATV riders were very friendly and cautious in the area. Picked up a little trinket to squirrel away for Christmas... oh yeah - picked up a squirrel too.While we didn't see any moose - the wildlife was around. We scared a flock of geese into the lake when we missed our turn. Startled some turkey's when we were sloshing to the end of the trail and closer to the car (You bet - I started to look for bear!) Visited with a couple treefrogs taking shelter in the base of one VERY large spruce tree and saw many a 'White-Butt-Bird' of which tea is seeking its proper name.We did visit a few cemetaries - a Team MudCup favorite location. One which easily deserves a most honorable mention - but alas - its a Mystery - we climbed into a most unusually large crack until we reached the second to find the box (for which we were properly poured upon.) Tea decided talking and navigating are not a good mixture as we missed more than a couple roads due to mud's lack of navigational timelyness. "By the way Tea - the road we needed was a ways back and now we are in Norridgewock." All in all - reaching 440 was a remarkable destination. But the Journey was more than half the fun. And a journey it was. By the way Tea, my health coach thanks you. : )Next big adventure is in the plans... and I'm hoping, that by the end of it - I will push closer to the 500 count, and Tea can scratch just a few more off her list. All I ask "Please, no more plants. I can't keep up with Tea as it is!"Time for bed!a less muddy mud
Off to Dover-Foxcroft
For those of you who think this team has been quiet lately - well, we are hoping to more than make up for that this October. Team MudCup is looking at some SERIOUS boxing time before the ghouls take to the streets on the 31st!This morning we set out at 6am heading due north. We're pretty sure that's the way we went - but with the amount of fog, at times it was hard to tell! Teacup plotted our days adventures and picked me up before either of our houses could realize our departure (they'd have kept us home to do laundry for sure!) Goal is to always have more clues than we can actually find... but we're gonna do our darn best to get them all before they turn the lights out for the day!So we stopped first to pay tribute to some local heros in Sydney and were met by an early morning slug... as cute as he was, Tea would not allow him in the car - so he was systamatically dumped outside... it was at this point, Tea realized the more horrible of information... she was packing very light this morning. Not only were all of her inky colors home on her kitchen table - but her signature teacup was there also!Luckily - I was ready with back-up colors, but did we really want EVERYTHING in mud brown today??? Well we said adieu to the FD and move along further down the road to find a very wet ripple... the effect was still effective, but the poor logbook looked like it had been swimming for a while in water. So much rain this past month... a little TLC was all we could do before we trudged ahead.Off to visit with Robin Nest's Yellowstone box... tried as we could - we couldn't scale the fence into the power plant and then we realized we were on the wrong side of the river... silly boxers : ) We blamed the tailgater that was coming down the hill at us... and where were they off to in such a rush at 7am on a Sunday morning? Well we picked this one up in short order and discussed the virtues of snow boxing (None we could come up with) and then thought some more about summer 2009 adventures. (So we like to plan ahead)Back to the car to head over to Fort Halifax. Well, we searched and paced and then were scared half to death by a man wearing waders sporting a huge smile and a great morning attitude to help two women who looked perplexed (Like that could happen!) No luck on the box, but he did flash Tea one VERY LONG eel! Tea felt the poor eel was down in the mouth for sure - but the angler was proud at what he was hopeful to catch with that poor dangling eel. Even shared his digital catches with Tea. After a brief discussion on why he wouldn't eat anything that swam, we decided to move along.Well after a slight strike out in our find column it was that time of the morning. Sweet Tea and Cinnamelts. Oh yeah and blue flying monkeys (which the manager was more than willing to send to Tea) but they weren't in yet. Cinnamelts and tea in hand - time to head a bit further north. On our last adventure we ended up in Norridgewock. we NEVER thought we'd be back there again - guess who was VERY wrong : ) So back we went. Found multiple circles and followed all the compass readings - : ( This was getting bummingly disappointing. And to make it worse - our socks were SOAKED!Time to hit the pavement due north again, but wait - a quick u-turn had us following a Tea memory of a previous visit. (The whole reason for the cinnamelts) and off to a cemetary (our favorite place to hang out on weekends!) Tea knew where this one was for sure... then after a quick cross-reference she realized her first visit had been an attempt - no find. But after a dog brought a curious owner past Tea - and we extolled the virtues of geocaching... she found it this time! Didn't even have any written clues. And its a lovely little image in a great corner of a cemetary. Well... off again due north. Didn't realize that there was so much to do heading off to Dover-Foxcroft, our final destination (Go look at a map - its up there) but we stopped for another one... had to pass a row of happy bikers. Before we made it to this latest one... we stopped in the Solon Superette for a quick Alice in Wonderland experience. At least for me. we needed to use a restroom... and the minute I stepped inside and sat down on the thrown - I suddenly felt one-foot tall. Everything seemed strangely out of proportion. But I survived and even remembered to prop open the door with the rustic looking doorstop (a piece of wood). I know the room was off slightly - because when I did stand up - I think the ceiling was 1/4" away from my head! Tea siad I was crazy - she was fine until bigfoot stood behind her in line while she was paying for her Pringles (which by the time she made it to the car turned into healthier peanut butter crackers.)So further on we went. Stopped briefly to play with trolls under a bridge and look for more anglers... found some Indian paintbrushes and picked up more than a few strange looks - it was rush hours after all - so when all 3 cars drove by - we were a sight to see! The leaves were spectacular up there by the way. We were headed off to Kelly Mountain, and when they say "You can't get there from here." Sometimes it REALLY is true : ) Over dirt rutted roads we travelled and crossed a very cool spot with powerline rolling across hills for miles between spectacular foilage. Yup - took the touristy photo - though NOONE would ever see us : ) we also stopped at the edge of someones farm and took photos of a pond FULL of geese! They were everywhere! And there were 100's of them! Totally cool until Tea almost lost her rear passengers door when a truck came around the corner!Well - we finally made it to the 'road' into Kelly Mountain... and after a near miss with a sawed off tree, and then reading on the map and the clues that it was 1700' to the top - after my foot recovery - and knowing our up-coming trip, we decided this was one hill we needed to wait on. We will be back - Maybe after the next iceage moves the fire tower closer to the base : ) Or next summer, which ever comes first.So at this point we decided we needed lunch... any old place would do... thank heavens for Subway! And then we were quickly off again... "Tea! Are we reading that right??? Gas for $3.29 a gallon?" You bet - another quick detour... Off to Sangerville (Isn't that just fun to say?) to find what we hoped would still be there. We were in search of "Field of Dreams, Forest of Enchantment" After a drive past its location, a stop in Dover-Foxcroft, a backtrack and another stop at a vegetable stand, we were greatly saddened to find this was no longer around. We did stop and walk around where it used to be. Does anyone remember this place? We were more devistated about not finding this than all of the unfound boxes of the day. It looked truely enchanting at one point, and we were saddened it was no longer available for folks to visit.Well, home we headed... stopped at a couple rest stops along the way and crawled around in some gravel to find a twain... lots of funny laughter. Our final destination was for a cemetary (gotta love those.) So back in Augusta we went in search of a MAC box. We found the road - but where did the dang cemetary go? A quick u-turn had us heading downhill... yup there it was, right where we drove past it! The Partiots had a touch down - and we found our box! Great ending to the day (well until the Patriots allowed SF to score - but that's another issue.) On the way home I commented that it didn't seem like we were in Augusta... felt for sure I was having a "Outer City Limits experience." But Tea assured me I'd survive it.So home I am - eye barely open - I think I got slugged in the night - and I know Tea is home scratching at least 3 bug bites - but another great boxing day under our belts - and 6 more boxes in my find column (which translates to getting off of Tea's list.) Time for bed! And time for dreams of our next outing....MDI - here we come!mud *who did bring some home with her*
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