Sometimes you beg for just a little more time. Sometimes you just want the day to be over. In many ways, that was how we felt about day three of our weekend. We started our day later than we normally would, but had success right out of the gate. Found a Jiffy box that looked like it had some visitors that didn't log their finds, but was getting more visitors that we would have thought it might have gotten. We mosied around coastal downeast Maine through waking fishing communities. One had trucks lining the road for what seemed like forever - yet not a boat was in the harbor. They had obviously gotten up much earlier than we had!
We ambled to the end of Maine - destination West Quoddy Lighthouse. We pulled into the parking area, and with mental clues ticking through Teacups head - we headed off in the direction of the letterbox. When one is close at hand - her homing devise kicks in - and 9 times out of 10, she finds me the box - without a cluesheet to guide her. We were also off in search of a box placed by 'the one never spoken of' but there was a Warden making his morning rounds. Not being put off by a Warden - I asked him where a certain marker was - and he directed us right to it! This saved us plenty of time we would have otherwise needed to rambled around seeking what we needed.
Now these boxes are generally on Teacup's list and I go along for the ride. She only asks for a few minutes to see if she can ferret out the elusive box, before moving along to one we know we will probably have more success with. I was content - out came my camera and I started taking shots of the lighthouse, the water - Canada! Teacup was making some grumbling noises - so I thought I'd give her a few minutes and climbed back where she was searching. She was rooting around one tree while I laid down on the ground under another - moved a couple pieces of bark - and found the box. Call it dumb luck on my part, but Teacup sometimes looks at me like I have a fourth head. But we were able to get this box off Teacup's list - at long last. The amazing thing about some of these boxes is that they have been around A LONG time. So some of the names in the logbook are as much a treasure to read through as finding the letterbox itself. And this was certainly true with this box. The sun was out and there was just a slight coastal breeze, so we pulled up a piece of mossy ledge and took a proper amount of time to truly appreciate this box, especially since there wasn't a soul around for miles!
Replacing the box - we started back for the one we didn't have clues for - but decided to forgo it since tourists were beginning to invade our seclusion, and we still had more than a few miles to put on the car to get home. Our next stop was along a trail for boxes planted by someone neither of us had images from. So these were high on our must have list. We should have known we were headed for trouble right out of the gate when we couldn't even locate the trail head. We ended up knocking on some one's back door for directions. Being so far out of nowhere - they were a little shocked to have someone knocking over their morning coffee. But when we need a trailhead - someone else's coffee just had to wait. We were in Edmunds looking for a Keltic Kara series that hadn't had a recorded finder in a while.
After getting properly turned around by the locals, we headed off on the hunt for this three box series. We mosied along trying to read the clues and trying to get the woods to fit the clues. Some weather damage had clearly changed many of the markers, but we finally thought we were in the right spot for the first box. Looking where we first thought the box might be - Teacup ended up injured. So a little trail first aid we took a second look around a realized that we were off a bit and adjusted out search. But the box was nowhere in the vicinity. Dang. Time to move along. We ambled along - bummed at not finding the first box amongst the considerable damage. But we ambled around, up, down, up, up, up again, slipped, slithered, crouched, and clambered over fallen trees on what we were convinced used to be a decent trail to the location of the neighborhood of the second box. It mentioned a 'great view' but the trees had obviously grown a touch since the planted had been to visit her boxes - cause we didn't see much of anything! But we DID find the second box. Off we trampled to try and locate box number three. Now we don't usually grumble about difficult trails or boxes that have been somewhat abandoned - but frankly, we were beginning to get a bit freaked out.
Teacup and I have a horrible habit of forgetting our water in the car. And we had been traversing this destructed trail for more than an hour, only to find one out of three boxes. We think we passed the third one, thought about going back down the hill to see if we did - for about a minute - and decided we really didn't give a rat's butt if we had passed 12 boxes - we wanted OUT of the woods and off this trail from hell. We kept hearing cars, but they sounded like they were on all sides of us. So we kept getting more and more disoriented. Between that and the horrible conditions of the trail, the lack of water and the fact that both of us were beginning to get more than a little skittish - we figured just heading in one direction was the smartest of all options. After more than 1 1/2 hours we made if off the trail and back onto the road. A short walk later we were back at our car and downed the cold coffee and warm water that was waiting for us. Just happy to have Keltic Kara behind us.
Looking at our next options for boxes - we opted to forgo the other Keltic Kara series for when Hell froze over, and headed off for Eastport. Shackford Head seemed lots less intimidating to us at this point. And time was seriously slipping away from us. Teacup had been to Shackford Head before and we wanted to pick up the Anniversary Box of Jiffy's along with another box planted by the woodland gnomes. So we happily left Edmunds and headed due east. Shackford Head was hopping just a bit, but we figured most folks were serious hikers and wouldn't be bothering us too much since they took the right side of the fork and we were heading out on the left. We walked across a planked boardwalk that was riddled with tiny ants. Reaching the end, Teacup and I reread the clues and thought we misread them so headed back to the fork. Nope - we were going in the right direction. Dang - back across the ant causeway. It was creepy - so we hot-footed it across the boards as quickly as possible to get to the other side. Once there we headed up Shackford Head for the first box.
The Anniversary box was in a location that afforded us an amazing view of Cobscook Bay and Canada. While looking for that box, we realized it was also in the same vicinity as one of the woodland gnomes boxes. So Teacup searched for Jiffy's box while I sought out the other. Both with boxes in our hands we made our way back to the bench at the lookout spot and started to crack open the boxes. Just as the wind picked up about 40 knots! We quickly tucked clue sheets under us, and gathered plastic baggies to keep them from flying off the edge. We stamped up as quickly as possible and replanted the two boxes so we could head off for box two of the series.
We continued along the trail and found the 'path' downhill that would lead us to the second box. I say path because it was more of a watershed than a trail. And had it been bad weather - we wouldn't have even attempted the journey. But down we slipped, scampered, death-gripped our way from tree to tree - while a local just sort of sashayed his way uphill past us. Tipping his head slightly, 'morning Ladies. And he was gone - like a gazelle up the hideous hill and we continued downward trying not to break our necks. We followed along the trail which snaked along the water's edge as the wind continued to pick up. We finally found the box and Teacup decided to try and reach her daughter for a quick phone call from the edge of the hill. The water was capping and the wind was getting stronger on this side of Shackford Head, so after wishing her daughter a happy birthday - we started back the way we had just come. The uphill climb didn't seem as bad as the downhill slide - but we were getting tired and worn out. This hike had turned into another that was harder than we had wanted it to be.
We made it back to the beginning of the trailhead and headed across the now completely cut down field of bamboo (when your trailhead goes through the center of it and you clear-cut the area, trailheads amazingly enough - change slightly!) Thankfully, a hearty local with a boat on her back - directed us in the correct direction to get to the water's edge. Okay - so maybe she didn't have a boat on her back - but I bet she could have carried one!
We made haste to get this last box as this area had more of those nasty ants and decided we deserved a brief respite before deciding our next set of boxes to go after. Teacup allowed me some 'touristy' time. Knowing I wouldn't likely be back this far east for a while - we traversed the rest of the roads until we made it to Eastport. Took photos of the official US/Canadian border from a very safe distance, pulled into a parking spot along the water to take some shots of a VERY large fisherman protecting the wharf and took a stroll through a giftshop to pick up some proper pirate gear. Who would have thought that Eastport Maine was the eastern pirate capital of the US? Unfortunately for us - we were about a week to early for the festival - but many locals were perusing the shelves looking for the perfect pirate gear for the following weekend's festivities. And we're guessing that the whole town gets involved since there were Jolly Roger flags hanging all over town!
Teacup picked up the first of a series written by an Eastport 'local.' I couldn't resist picking up some pirate tokens - took more than a few photos of the fisherman. And more photos of the local foundry - which was one of the original ones in New England before we headed off to seek out another local box. We headed off to school to check out a local historic spot that referenced a box, but alas - some of the recent restoration work had reclaimed the landscape and the box was sadly MIA. So here we were, in Eastport Maine... about as far away from home as we possibly could be and we had two choices. Start north and inland a bit and try for 6 more boxes or start to head south and try to make it to PIE before it was completely over.
We opted to head south. We were over 200 miles from home - and that was if we took the highway and didn't divert back along the coastal route to pick up the couple of boxes we missed on our way east. Chatting about it briefly - we made a cold hard decision. There was no way we were going to make it back in time to even remotely be able to participate in PIE. So I picked up the phone and called Robin's Nest to let her know we wouldn't make it. Robyn was clearly disappointed - but there was just no physical way to accomplish it unless we grew wings on the car and flew the rest of the way home.
We were tired and hungry and getting edgy about the drive home. We knew it would be a long one - but we needed a breather. So we stopped for lunch. After started to eat - we realized we were literally FAMISHED! We hadn't had any REAL food since that incredible lunch on our first day. No wonder we were edgy, tired and worn out. We didn't have ANY fuel in our bodies. So Teacup and I had a square meal - and felt WORLD's better. Our spirits rose, our energy seemed restored and we were back in the saddle once again. We continued south again - stopped to get one box that we missed along the Schoodic Peninsula and then made the choice to head towards Bangor and pick up the highway. we needed to get some miles under us so we could make it home before midnight.
We drove past Augusta at 7pm - and fleetingly thought about heading towards PIE - even though the event only had an hour left, but we just didn't have the energy to be friendly with each other - let alone with someone else. So paying the toll - we headed on home.
Now Teacup and I love our weekend jaunts. But sometimes we just plan a little more than is even humanly possible. We always have a great time - but we are both more than willing to admit - we were more than ready to be in our own beds. Our husbands even sounded more appealing than they had when we quickly bid them a fond adieu only three days earlier. But lets just say - Team MudCup was well road worn and ready to take a brief respite before hitting the roads once again.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Journey to the end of Maine - Day Two
Phew! What a day we already had. The box tally for me was 26. Very cool considering how much driving Teacup did to get me those! So on day two - our course was plotted. Well, to a point. We always leave room for side-trips and unplanned u-turns. Those are usually the most fun! After prying ourselves out of bed - we headed off to check out of the hotel, grab some breakfast and coffee and head to take on Bar Harbor once again.
Coffee (tea for Teacup) and donuts in hands - we head off to Acadia. The lights were in our favor, but the tides were not. So we passed once again on the Ovens. A quick side trip before Bar Harbor picked us up our first box of the day. Then we ventured into the harbor. Things were more the way we liked them. Most folks were still tucked snug as a bug in their beds. So we headed off to the gazebo to FINALLY snag a DeeBee box, The Maine Event. This box eluded us last October as it had been pushed far under the gazebo. But it had recently been recovered, so it was a must have for us. We followed the clues - bummer, not there. Teacup was not giving up that easily. It was still wet all around the gazebo - and we really didn't want to lay down to reach under the gazebo. But if we needed to - we were going to do it. Teacup was armed with her walking stick, a yard stick and duct tape! One way or another - we were getting that box. A quick scan to the opposite side of the gazebo had us dancing for joy! The Maine Event was ours! Yeah!!!
So off we went to our next stop in the harbor. We easily found the next box as it was sticking out for all to see. But we had our first sewsewbusy box. And ironically - our second lobster of the morning! We were getting our daily ration of seafood all before 8am! Our next stop was at the high school for two of Robin's Nest's boxes. We pulled into the driveway - and were instantly stopped! They were painting the parking lot! On a Sunday during Labor day weekend! What was wrong with them??? Didn't they know that they were blocking us from getting a box??? So we managed to get one of them, but not the other. Bummer.
Next we were heading off to pick some blueberries with Archimedes Screw... we had attempted last year - but missed the turn off and ended up forgoing the box. This year - it was a MUST on our list. We stopped for a refueling (for us that is.) Coffee and pastries later - we traveled on. The blueberries were another easy find - even though there were folks being walked by their herd of dogs that slowed us down a bit. So tucking the blueberries neatly away in our logbook - we journeyed off to Bass Harbor light. Now there is an elusive box there that we have tried to locate one time before. Teacup's mission was to ferret it out while I picked up a new three box series. The first box we picked up on our way towards the shore... muggles a plenty in the area, we tried to be stealthy. But really the only danger were the mosquitoes! And there were hundreds of those dang birds trying to carry us off!
At the second box Teacup headed one direction while I stamped us into box number two. It was impossible to be elusive - but the elderly gentleman I was talking to - was never going to climb over the stairs to wiggle up the ledge to where I was perched in order to get the box - so I felt I was safe. We chatted up a bit while he caught his breath and I steadily stamped up. He moved along and I returned the box to its hidey hole and climbed down just as two younger folks ran down the stairs towards me. Well - she did. Her male friend ambled much slower. She came up behind me quick footed and anxious - so I got out of her way so she could gallop across the ledges in her athletic gear. Her friend a good 200 paces behind her, and not nearly as sure-footed on the ledges edges! I scoped out the location of the next box. Could see it in front of me. The easiest thing to do would be to have Teacup venture over there - me with my camera ready for that 'perfect tourist photo' but where was Teacup? I looked out and around - nowhere to be seen. Hmm... I waited a few minutes and then thought - oh the heck with it.
Keeping the young'uns in my sights, I traversed off towards the box. Stamping up for me first, I wanted to color it all nice and pretty for Teacup - but a whole flock of senior ladies were converging on the lower steps towards the ledges. So a quick coloring of all green, I replaced the box and started teetering back towards the stairs. One of the ladies mentioned how agile I was climbing up and over the ledges. I laughed and said - "All in the name of a close up photo." And off I headed to the stair back upwards. After the first few steps I had to stop for a young family heading down. Their daughter stopped and screamed while pointing at my leg. Evidently I was being bitten by a mosquito. She was terrified! It was so cute. I swatted the bugger away and she continued down the stairs past me.
Once at the top - I ventured off the well worn path to the path less traveled in search of Teacup. I yelled once "Amber." No answer. (Because I'm sure that if I yelled Teacup in the woods - I'd get a bevy of elderly ladies looking for a spot of tea after their climb back up the stairs.) The second yell produced a face from the under side of the ledge. "You scared me half to death." Well at least she was still there. I was beginning to think she'd gone off and left me with the locals. Alas, the elusive box - remained elusive. Out of nowhere - one of the ladies from the group came up behind me. "So, what is out at the end of this path, dear?" "What? Oh nothing much, and you can't see the lighthouse from here at all." Teacup strolled up past me giving me a look like I picked up the weirdest things out on the trail. My new friend decided to point out all of the local flora along the way back to the car. I was fearing she was going to get into the backseat and go along with us... It took us a while to shake her loose... even getting in the car didn't stop her chattering away... luckily, they were heading south. They had already been to where we were headed! Woohoo.
Driving away from the lighthouse, all Teacup could say was "You pick up the oddest people. Why don't you just say hi and move on? Then they wouldn't stalk you back to the car!" Yeah - like that would ever happen : ) So along we went. Our next stop was a futile one. But without at least looking ourselves, we couldn't cross it off the list. So we found the spot - and followed the directions and started looking for a lock n lock in a pile of rocks! Okay - so they were more like a retaining wall of rocks... but there were LOTS of them! A whole hill of them. We just had to find the right one. After about 15 minutes we decided that yup - it was definitely missing. Another one off the list.
A quick look at the time and we decided we needed to get off the island and start heading east or we wouldn't get the boxes we had charted out for the rest of the day. So north we drove. Once off the island - we paid tribute to fallen heroes in Lamoine and then worked our way along the Schoodic Scenic Byway visiting some wonderful spots along the way. We found a REALLY large lobster that was home to a retired one - and our third lobster of the day. We then ambled further along route one visiting a tiny church, a prankster, and a humanitarian as we headed towards Perry Maine. The next goal for this part of the journey was to 1. reach the hotel to check in, and then to 2. get to Perry to plant a box for Kirbert. Well we made it to our motel. It was the cutest little motel in the middle of nowhere. The Blueberry Patch motel had a total of 7 rooms! We walked into a room all done in blue. With the prettiest patchwork quilts, blue towels in the bathroom and blue sheets! It was so cool. Of course - this was just sitting in the heart of blueberry country - so it made perfect sense. We still had daylight hours - so we decided to head further east. And Perry was only an hour past Jonesboro, where our hotel was, so it was very attainable. Of course the hour was traveling time without boxing your way to your destination! Who ever heard of such a thing?
So after dropping our stuff in the room we headed east. There were a few boxes along the way and we picked up a couple of them. But we really had our headings leading us to Perry. So with Maggie leading the charge - off we traveled. We were heading along when I pulled out a random clue sheet and punched in its address. In less that 10 minutes, Maggie had us heading down a road to our next box. Little did I know - but Teacup had been here previously, but it was not surprising since she has so many more boxes than I have. We pulled into the parking area and I felt like we were walking on private property. We looked at the two clue sheets and opted to go after the one Teacup didn't have first. Off we headed. Down a road to a field line with trees (no surprising since we were on a tree farm : ) We followed the clues across a bridge and started counting trails that lead off on the left. well, we thought we were counting them, but evidently we missed the one we actually needed. So across a long field we walked looking for the markers, but we couldn't find them. Since the last finder was at least two years previously - we were not surprised that some of the markers might have been overgrown. But we lingered onward. In search of lobster buoys! Out in the middle of a tree farm! Instead, we found water. With the trail continuing on the other side. No way to reach it unless we had a desire to get really wet, so we turned around. And there they were! Lobster buoys hanging from a tree! Can you say we literally fell into this box! Because ALL of the markers we were trying to follow were completely wrong. This we found out as we headed backwards on the trail! We ended up coming out a good 1000 feet closer to the parking lot than we entered. How on earth did we miss the trail?
We continued back to the parking area and were greeted by a very friendly dog. evidently he was visiting for the evening and had lost his brother. So two ladies were out in search of them. We chatted a bit and figured out that we were talking with woodland gnomes! Her and her husband were the owners of the property and had planted the boxes on their property. They were thrilled to have folks looking for their boxes. She asked if we had the labyrinth box yet. While Teacup had already found this box, I had not. So we walked over to get the box, promising to return to their house for a special stamp afterwards. We went to the location, and set up was a full sized labyrinth. Teacup went off to get the box, while I was supposed to walk the path to enlightenment. Okay - I managed to follow it to the end - in one direction. After that things got a bit muddy. Okay - so I stepped over the lines and out of the path. But I honestly didn't know you HAD to walk it backwards too! But I never have been able to follow the rules, especially since I wasn't told them all to begin with.
After stamping up - we banged the gong and left the area. Heading back to their house, we stopped in and chatted for a bit with Mrs. woodland gnomes. We managed to do half of an exchange as she gave us her leaf but proclaimed that 'the nut isn't home, so you can't get that.' It made me chuckle slightly. But she did offer us two bonus stamps for stopping by to chat with her. We stayed for about 15 minutes and decided we really needed to head to Perry to plant Kirbert's 45th parallel box. So heading back out the road - with a quick detour to a cemetery for another local box - we continued further east. We finally found the location of the actual marker and had to do a quick u-turn (during rush hour - all 4 cars!) to get to the site. Looking around it seemed rather boring. I thought there was supposed to be pomp and circumstance. I thought there was this big globe proclaiming to the world 'YOU ARE HERE!' But nope - a quiet marker with two picnic tables and a couple very short trails into the woods - which we think were used more by local scientists than anything else.
We scoped out a location, thought it over and didn't like the prospect of leaving it at this roadside pull-up. It was definitely a drive-by. And there really wasn't a great spot to hide it, unless we wanted to dig in the muck and myer. So sopping the immediate area - directly across the road mecca was calling to us! A quiet resting spot of a peaceful nature! We found a great spot and felt much more secure in leaving it behind, knowing the only maintenance it would get would be from finders and headed back south. On the way back to the motel, we stopped to find another cemetery box located next to a charming church painted in red and blue. we tried for one other box, but it was MIA. Teacup at this point was sure I had altered our destiny by stepping out of the labyrinth... but so far we had found almost every box we had tried for. I think it was just the time for a MIA box. The sun was setting quickly, and frankly we were getting tired. We mulled over options about stopping for dinner - but we decided we really just wanted to head back to the motel. And Teacup knew it was a good hour plus drive in the dark.
It had been a very long day, and we were both getting very weary. Teacup wanted to touch base with her NBS, so I dialed her house and she chatted as we drove along in the dark. We passed back through Machias and were almost back to the motel, passing through an area of empty blueberry fields when a moose crossed the road in front of us. It was a surreal experience. Amber had been driving cautiously, but the moose had seemed larger than life as it ambled back into the field. Had we hit it, it would have creamed us for sure. I think its antlers were over the roof of her car! Not really sure she had actually seen the moose, she was instantly pinged awake when a rock hit her windshield! Dang! Maybe I did screw up our cosmic destiny! Luckily, I carry a guardian angel or two around with me, just to be safe. So we made it back to the motel and collapsed on the beds. Both desperate for showers, we took those while we watched a little TV and stamped up a couple hikers we had gathered during our journey. Looking at the list of boxes we still needed to pick up - we plotted our final days path. We knew at this point that we might need to make some serious decisions, but we would try to get them all if we could. But for now, since we had forgotten to get the password to the internet access - we both read for a bit and then decided sleep was in order. For Monday was our final day and we still had lots of boxes to collect!
Coffee (tea for Teacup) and donuts in hands - we head off to Acadia. The lights were in our favor, but the tides were not. So we passed once again on the Ovens. A quick side trip before Bar Harbor picked us up our first box of the day. Then we ventured into the harbor. Things were more the way we liked them. Most folks were still tucked snug as a bug in their beds. So we headed off to the gazebo to FINALLY snag a DeeBee box, The Maine Event. This box eluded us last October as it had been pushed far under the gazebo. But it had recently been recovered, so it was a must have for us. We followed the clues - bummer, not there. Teacup was not giving up that easily. It was still wet all around the gazebo - and we really didn't want to lay down to reach under the gazebo. But if we needed to - we were going to do it. Teacup was armed with her walking stick, a yard stick and duct tape! One way or another - we were getting that box. A quick scan to the opposite side of the gazebo had us dancing for joy! The Maine Event was ours! Yeah!!!
So off we went to our next stop in the harbor. We easily found the next box as it was sticking out for all to see. But we had our first sewsewbusy box. And ironically - our second lobster of the morning! We were getting our daily ration of seafood all before 8am! Our next stop was at the high school for two of Robin's Nest's boxes. We pulled into the driveway - and were instantly stopped! They were painting the parking lot! On a Sunday during Labor day weekend! What was wrong with them??? Didn't they know that they were blocking us from getting a box??? So we managed to get one of them, but not the other. Bummer.
Next we were heading off to pick some blueberries with Archimedes Screw... we had attempted last year - but missed the turn off and ended up forgoing the box. This year - it was a MUST on our list. We stopped for a refueling (for us that is.) Coffee and pastries later - we traveled on. The blueberries were another easy find - even though there were folks being walked by their herd of dogs that slowed us down a bit. So tucking the blueberries neatly away in our logbook - we journeyed off to Bass Harbor light. Now there is an elusive box there that we have tried to locate one time before. Teacup's mission was to ferret it out while I picked up a new three box series. The first box we picked up on our way towards the shore... muggles a plenty in the area, we tried to be stealthy. But really the only danger were the mosquitoes! And there were hundreds of those dang birds trying to carry us off!
At the second box Teacup headed one direction while I stamped us into box number two. It was impossible to be elusive - but the elderly gentleman I was talking to - was never going to climb over the stairs to wiggle up the ledge to where I was perched in order to get the box - so I felt I was safe. We chatted up a bit while he caught his breath and I steadily stamped up. He moved along and I returned the box to its hidey hole and climbed down just as two younger folks ran down the stairs towards me. Well - she did. Her male friend ambled much slower. She came up behind me quick footed and anxious - so I got out of her way so she could gallop across the ledges in her athletic gear. Her friend a good 200 paces behind her, and not nearly as sure-footed on the ledges edges! I scoped out the location of the next box. Could see it in front of me. The easiest thing to do would be to have Teacup venture over there - me with my camera ready for that 'perfect tourist photo' but where was Teacup? I looked out and around - nowhere to be seen. Hmm... I waited a few minutes and then thought - oh the heck with it.
Keeping the young'uns in my sights, I traversed off towards the box. Stamping up for me first, I wanted to color it all nice and pretty for Teacup - but a whole flock of senior ladies were converging on the lower steps towards the ledges. So a quick coloring of all green, I replaced the box and started teetering back towards the stairs. One of the ladies mentioned how agile I was climbing up and over the ledges. I laughed and said - "All in the name of a close up photo." And off I headed to the stair back upwards. After the first few steps I had to stop for a young family heading down. Their daughter stopped and screamed while pointing at my leg. Evidently I was being bitten by a mosquito. She was terrified! It was so cute. I swatted the bugger away and she continued down the stairs past me.
Once at the top - I ventured off the well worn path to the path less traveled in search of Teacup. I yelled once "Amber." No answer. (Because I'm sure that if I yelled Teacup in the woods - I'd get a bevy of elderly ladies looking for a spot of tea after their climb back up the stairs.) The second yell produced a face from the under side of the ledge. "You scared me half to death." Well at least she was still there. I was beginning to think she'd gone off and left me with the locals. Alas, the elusive box - remained elusive. Out of nowhere - one of the ladies from the group came up behind me. "So, what is out at the end of this path, dear?" "What? Oh nothing much, and you can't see the lighthouse from here at all." Teacup strolled up past me giving me a look like I picked up the weirdest things out on the trail. My new friend decided to point out all of the local flora along the way back to the car. I was fearing she was going to get into the backseat and go along with us... It took us a while to shake her loose... even getting in the car didn't stop her chattering away... luckily, they were heading south. They had already been to where we were headed! Woohoo.
Driving away from the lighthouse, all Teacup could say was "You pick up the oddest people. Why don't you just say hi and move on? Then they wouldn't stalk you back to the car!" Yeah - like that would ever happen : ) So along we went. Our next stop was a futile one. But without at least looking ourselves, we couldn't cross it off the list. So we found the spot - and followed the directions and started looking for a lock n lock in a pile of rocks! Okay - so they were more like a retaining wall of rocks... but there were LOTS of them! A whole hill of them. We just had to find the right one. After about 15 minutes we decided that yup - it was definitely missing. Another one off the list.
A quick look at the time and we decided we needed to get off the island and start heading east or we wouldn't get the boxes we had charted out for the rest of the day. So north we drove. Once off the island - we paid tribute to fallen heroes in Lamoine and then worked our way along the Schoodic Scenic Byway visiting some wonderful spots along the way. We found a REALLY large lobster that was home to a retired one - and our third lobster of the day. We then ambled further along route one visiting a tiny church, a prankster, and a humanitarian as we headed towards Perry Maine. The next goal for this part of the journey was to 1. reach the hotel to check in, and then to 2. get to Perry to plant a box for Kirbert. Well we made it to our motel. It was the cutest little motel in the middle of nowhere. The Blueberry Patch motel had a total of 7 rooms! We walked into a room all done in blue. With the prettiest patchwork quilts, blue towels in the bathroom and blue sheets! It was so cool. Of course - this was just sitting in the heart of blueberry country - so it made perfect sense. We still had daylight hours - so we decided to head further east. And Perry was only an hour past Jonesboro, where our hotel was, so it was very attainable. Of course the hour was traveling time without boxing your way to your destination! Who ever heard of such a thing?
So after dropping our stuff in the room we headed east. There were a few boxes along the way and we picked up a couple of them. But we really had our headings leading us to Perry. So with Maggie leading the charge - off we traveled. We were heading along when I pulled out a random clue sheet and punched in its address. In less that 10 minutes, Maggie had us heading down a road to our next box. Little did I know - but Teacup had been here previously, but it was not surprising since she has so many more boxes than I have. We pulled into the parking area and I felt like we were walking on private property. We looked at the two clue sheets and opted to go after the one Teacup didn't have first. Off we headed. Down a road to a field line with trees (no surprising since we were on a tree farm : ) We followed the clues across a bridge and started counting trails that lead off on the left. well, we thought we were counting them, but evidently we missed the one we actually needed. So across a long field we walked looking for the markers, but we couldn't find them. Since the last finder was at least two years previously - we were not surprised that some of the markers might have been overgrown. But we lingered onward. In search of lobster buoys! Out in the middle of a tree farm! Instead, we found water. With the trail continuing on the other side. No way to reach it unless we had a desire to get really wet, so we turned around. And there they were! Lobster buoys hanging from a tree! Can you say we literally fell into this box! Because ALL of the markers we were trying to follow were completely wrong. This we found out as we headed backwards on the trail! We ended up coming out a good 1000 feet closer to the parking lot than we entered. How on earth did we miss the trail?
We continued back to the parking area and were greeted by a very friendly dog. evidently he was visiting for the evening and had lost his brother. So two ladies were out in search of them. We chatted a bit and figured out that we were talking with woodland gnomes! Her and her husband were the owners of the property and had planted the boxes on their property. They were thrilled to have folks looking for their boxes. She asked if we had the labyrinth box yet. While Teacup had already found this box, I had not. So we walked over to get the box, promising to return to their house for a special stamp afterwards. We went to the location, and set up was a full sized labyrinth. Teacup went off to get the box, while I was supposed to walk the path to enlightenment. Okay - I managed to follow it to the end - in one direction. After that things got a bit muddy. Okay - so I stepped over the lines and out of the path. But I honestly didn't know you HAD to walk it backwards too! But I never have been able to follow the rules, especially since I wasn't told them all to begin with.
After stamping up - we banged the gong and left the area. Heading back to their house, we stopped in and chatted for a bit with Mrs. woodland gnomes. We managed to do half of an exchange as she gave us her leaf but proclaimed that 'the nut isn't home, so you can't get that.' It made me chuckle slightly. But she did offer us two bonus stamps for stopping by to chat with her. We stayed for about 15 minutes and decided we really needed to head to Perry to plant Kirbert's 45th parallel box. So heading back out the road - with a quick detour to a cemetery for another local box - we continued further east. We finally found the location of the actual marker and had to do a quick u-turn (during rush hour - all 4 cars!) to get to the site. Looking around it seemed rather boring. I thought there was supposed to be pomp and circumstance. I thought there was this big globe proclaiming to the world 'YOU ARE HERE!' But nope - a quiet marker with two picnic tables and a couple very short trails into the woods - which we think were used more by local scientists than anything else.
We scoped out a location, thought it over and didn't like the prospect of leaving it at this roadside pull-up. It was definitely a drive-by. And there really wasn't a great spot to hide it, unless we wanted to dig in the muck and myer. So sopping the immediate area - directly across the road mecca was calling to us! A quiet resting spot of a peaceful nature! We found a great spot and felt much more secure in leaving it behind, knowing the only maintenance it would get would be from finders and headed back south. On the way back to the motel, we stopped to find another cemetery box located next to a charming church painted in red and blue. we tried for one other box, but it was MIA. Teacup at this point was sure I had altered our destiny by stepping out of the labyrinth... but so far we had found almost every box we had tried for. I think it was just the time for a MIA box. The sun was setting quickly, and frankly we were getting tired. We mulled over options about stopping for dinner - but we decided we really just wanted to head back to the motel. And Teacup knew it was a good hour plus drive in the dark.
It had been a very long day, and we were both getting very weary. Teacup wanted to touch base with her NBS, so I dialed her house and she chatted as we drove along in the dark. We passed back through Machias and were almost back to the motel, passing through an area of empty blueberry fields when a moose crossed the road in front of us. It was a surreal experience. Amber had been driving cautiously, but the moose had seemed larger than life as it ambled back into the field. Had we hit it, it would have creamed us for sure. I think its antlers were over the roof of her car! Not really sure she had actually seen the moose, she was instantly pinged awake when a rock hit her windshield! Dang! Maybe I did screw up our cosmic destiny! Luckily, I carry a guardian angel or two around with me, just to be safe. So we made it back to the motel and collapsed on the beds. Both desperate for showers, we took those while we watched a little TV and stamped up a couple hikers we had gathered during our journey. Looking at the list of boxes we still needed to pick up - we plotted our final days path. We knew at this point that we might need to make some serious decisions, but we would try to get them all if we could. But for now, since we had forgotten to get the password to the internet access - we both read for a bit and then decided sleep was in order. For Monday was our final day and we still had lots of boxes to collect!
Team mudcup's Journey to the end of Maine
So its been a while since I've posted a travel update. Lots have happened over the summer. And Team mudcup have been hot on the trails. We've covered lots of miles over the summer and even hosted an 'event-non-event' in August that turned out to be lots of fun with great friends! But our official weekend boxing trip was our trip over Labor Day weekend. When I showed our itinerary to folks at work - they looked at it and asked - where the heck is that? Well, that's what we were about to find out. We were packed and ready to head to the end of Maine and back in three days.
Like all our boxing excursions, we started out early. It was shortly after 6am when we left Teacup's driveway heading east. With a tank full of gas and a folder full of clue sheets, we hit the road. Our first stop was close to home. We picked up a quick box in Bath and then made our way further up route one. We stopped at Nequasset Park and saw our first wildlife of our trip. Crossing the road from the pond was a fox. So its official - we've now seen a fox. We had thought it was odd that we had not seen a fox to this point, but that is now resolved. We started off towards Damriscotta where we were going to pick up a few boxes from an event we couldn't make it to a few weeks ago, but Teacup's 'box sensory' kicked in and we did a quick side trip to a hybrid. Another one off the list... well my list at least, Teacup already had this one. One more mercy trip for mud!
We replanted one of Teacup's Pez plants (a good thing to, because evidently - this one was on someone else's list that was traveling behind us later that day!) Heading into Damriscotta, we wandered around in the early morning dew, getting our toes wet looking for the two boxes we knew we could pick up. The third in the series was inside the art store and it was not open at 7am on a Saturday. So a return trip will be in order to get the last of the series. But the sun was shining and the early morning walk through Damriscotta had us window shopping and enjoying the early morning sunshine. Two boxes later, we continued northeast along route one.
Teacup has a few boxes on her list that provide hours of headaches. One of Isosceles boxes has eluded her to the point of distraction. But since we were traveling thru the town where we are sure it should be - we took a few minutes to try and ferret this one out. Alas, this one continues to be elusive. With the development recently, it might be completely gone, but we are always willing to try for a few minutes every time we venture thru this town. Further still, we made our way into Camden. Even though it was just a bit after 9, the town was already bustling with traffic and people. The sun was glistening on the water in the harbor and the harbor was full of schooners loading up with tourists heading out off into the big blue sea's horizon.
We were in search of something less adventuresome... a series of three recently planted at the library. We thought we might have trouble parking, but we found a slot close by and slid into it and made our way across the amphitheater. Making our search difficult were the locals sitting and reading on the library lawn and a group taking part in a guided tour of the library. We didn't get close enough to hear any of the information, but tried to skirt around them to quickly and quietly grab the boxes so we could leave. It was trickier that we would have thought, as the muggles were persistent. But we finally managed to nab the last box and head on in our journey. Our next stop was at Camden Hills State Park. A state park pass is a must if you plan on hopping thru state facilities in a weekend - and mine provided us quick entry into the lower portion of the park.
And what a lovely view this part of the park had. Few folks were visiting and I was enthralled with the lovely gathering building looking thru the pines into the harbor beyond. Adirondack chairs were perfectly positioned to enjoy the view. Picture perfect for a sunset picnic! But what was I the most enthralled with? The bathrooms! They were beautiful! Okay - so the flush was a flush like most others, but the building was roomy and had beautifully honed wood ceilings and walls. It was lovely! And clean! I'll admit that it doesn't take much to make me happy... and at this point in my day - it was all it took! So after our bathroom visit we headed down the trail towards the water to pick up three more boxes. There were few mosquitoes and the temperature was perfect for hiking. The nice part was that there were few muggles to delay our quest. So we made quick time of these three boxes. Back in our car - we needed to cross the street to go up to the top of Camden Hills for the next three. It was crawling with muggles! And while we circled the area three times trying to get a feel for one of the three boxes, we didn't find any of them. We sadly gave these three up before folks decided to call the paddy wagon on us.
We needed to head off towards Hope to pick up a hostel box. The clues eluded to the local corner store. A location we needed to stop by and enjoy. But first we had to get there. To do that, we had to back-track towards Camden. The most direct route was leaving from the center of Camden, but you could get there by following a closer road and cutting across near Lake Megunticook, and while Maiden cliffs was close - the thought of traversing the edge of a cliff was not even remotely exciting for me. Besides, Teacup had already risked life and limb to get those boxes - and while they are absolutely lovely - anyone who risks their life to get them - wholeheartedly deserves them! So we ambled our way around the lake, nary a car heading towards us, but more than a few bicyclists were traversing their way around the twisting, turning up and down road! And just as we reached the end of this narrow road - we stopped just short of a guy up on a ladder fixing cable wires! The only thing protecting him from on-coming traffic? A single orange cone!
But we ventured on towards Hope, only getting slightly turned around. And we did indeed find the lovely little Hope General Store. As advised, we stopped in for a bite to eat and were charmed by the inside. They had an eclectic mixture found in a corner store. The cereal - 6 types, were arranged single boxes in a line like books on a shelf. They had organic food and a wide range of local wines and brews. They also had a deli and a listing of the most incredible sounding sandwiches! Teacup and I each had what was claimed as the local favorite - and while it took a bit longer to prepare, we sat and looked over the artwork on the walls. The sandwiches we took to go - a lovely concoction of Italian bread, smoked turkey, brie cheese and tart granny smith apples all toasted together. It was heavenly! We chomped away making our way towards the hostile - passing it once and needing to turn around to pick it up! (Mind you, u-turns are a well practiced occurrence for us! And this one ranked right up there on the 1-10 scale!)
So after the hostile - we needed to cut back towards route one. Cutting through Maine on route 52, we meandered through rolling hills and lovely picaresque landscapes. Many with views of the Camden Hills off in the distance. Rolling towards Belfast, we pulled into town knowing we needed to head further up route one for our next stop. Our next stop was a pick-up. Jiffy hosts Tour the Fort in the spring of the year. And we missed three of the boxes. When asking about them, Jiffy said they were at her parent's house. She said we could go in and pick them up. So we mosied along up the coast. While rambling through Belfast, we stopped into Perry's Nut House. After all - they had recently re-opened and had just brought back one of their lost treasures. The place is a wonderful stroll down memory lane! They have a wide variety of kitchy trinkets and toys from the past. But they also have FUDGE! We rambled around in the store - me taking photos of everything. Teacup wouldn't pose for me - so she shot a photo of me with a local bear and getting 'cracked!' I had to take photos of a local in the outhouse inside... afterall - the whole time we were shopping - he kept babbling about not having any privacy in the privy! It was a hoot! I picked up a t-shirt that turned into a life statement on my return to work Tuesday, and a couple ornaments for my two wee people at home. And of course - FUDGE! With the fudge safely tucked in the trunk for later - we journeyed up the road a piece.
Following Jiffy's directions, we tooled along, listening to Maggie chirp out that our destination was close at hand. We saw our destination, but it was on the wrong side of the road and traffic was heavy. Teacup, not being faint of heart, tooled across the road at the first break in traffic and immediately ran out of road, landing in someone else's yard! An attempt to back up was futile as she had gone down over the rise of the road. So we parked and strolled over to meet Jiffy's mom and sister. Teacup had met Jiffy's sister before, so she recognized us. We didn't stay long, just long enough to snatch up the boxes and move along with them. (We later found out that we were just supposed to stamp into them - not take them with us! I had mis-read the e-mail from Jiffy, oops!)
On our list it looked like we were heading to Fort Knox to pick up a couple boxes and some history! So we pulled in, flashed that fancy park pass and off we went in search of boxes. Jiffy had originally planted six, but the series now only has 4. We had been trying to get this series for two years - but every time we've driven past it - Fort Knox had been closed. Well it was open today and we tooled thru the park picking up the boxes easily even though there were folks everywhere! Leaving Fort Knox our next adventure was to find the ever elusive Pink Panther. We had found him twice before and knew his third location was close by. So off we went, ironically heading south once again to go inland. At first we drove past him. But we found the picture marker and turned ourselves around. He was laying out in the open, pink flashing anyone who wanted to see it! So we stamped him up and headed off again on our journey (his pink is no longer waving in the breeze, tail showing to everyone who's looking.)
Back out to route one once again, we continued into Ellsworth. Our first night's location was close by. We scooted quickly around Ellsworth and picked up a couple quick boxes, sadly found one was missing and then checked into our hotel. After settling our things in the room, and hooking up to the internet for a quick AQ fix, we decided to try and run out to Bar Harbor to pick up three boxes. From last October's visit - we had it in our heads that we could scoot into the harbor quickly, pick up the boxes and scoot out unnoticed. We couldn't have been more WRONG! Bar Harbor on a Saturday night over Labor Day weekend was a MAD HOUSE! There were people, cars, lights, and confusion everywhere! But none more so than in our car! Where was the quiet harbor we had visited last October? Where did all these people come from? Who turned on all the lights in these restaurants??? And who let all these cars onto Acadia???
After 45 minutes of trying to get out of the heart of the harbor, we reluctantly decided we needed to try this part of our trip the following morning. VERY EARLY! Before anyone woke up! So once we made it out of the melee, we stopped for dinner. Ice cream cones all around! Afterall - we were on vacation and we didn't have any kids around. So who would know besides us, right? Coming out of the harbor, the full moon was spectacular over the water. cars were pulling off the side to take photos. Teacup finally found an open spot and we attempted to take a photo. But my point-and-shot camera didn't do its beauty justice. It was a perfect ending to a perfect first day of boxing. We made our way back to the hotel, and after showers we planned the next days attack and hit the pillows, ready for an early start the next morning. Maybe a little later than 5... afterall, we had already done the majority of the driving to get to where we were and we only had a few miles more to travel the next day!
Like all our boxing excursions, we started out early. It was shortly after 6am when we left Teacup's driveway heading east. With a tank full of gas and a folder full of clue sheets, we hit the road. Our first stop was close to home. We picked up a quick box in Bath and then made our way further up route one. We stopped at Nequasset Park and saw our first wildlife of our trip. Crossing the road from the pond was a fox. So its official - we've now seen a fox. We had thought it was odd that we had not seen a fox to this point, but that is now resolved. We started off towards Damriscotta where we were going to pick up a few boxes from an event we couldn't make it to a few weeks ago, but Teacup's 'box sensory' kicked in and we did a quick side trip to a hybrid. Another one off the list... well my list at least, Teacup already had this one. One more mercy trip for mud!
We replanted one of Teacup's Pez plants (a good thing to, because evidently - this one was on someone else's list that was traveling behind us later that day!) Heading into Damriscotta, we wandered around in the early morning dew, getting our toes wet looking for the two boxes we knew we could pick up. The third in the series was inside the art store and it was not open at 7am on a Saturday. So a return trip will be in order to get the last of the series. But the sun was shining and the early morning walk through Damriscotta had us window shopping and enjoying the early morning sunshine. Two boxes later, we continued northeast along route one.
Teacup has a few boxes on her list that provide hours of headaches. One of Isosceles boxes has eluded her to the point of distraction. But since we were traveling thru the town where we are sure it should be - we took a few minutes to try and ferret this one out. Alas, this one continues to be elusive. With the development recently, it might be completely gone, but we are always willing to try for a few minutes every time we venture thru this town. Further still, we made our way into Camden. Even though it was just a bit after 9, the town was already bustling with traffic and people. The sun was glistening on the water in the harbor and the harbor was full of schooners loading up with tourists heading out off into the big blue sea's horizon.
We were in search of something less adventuresome... a series of three recently planted at the library. We thought we might have trouble parking, but we found a slot close by and slid into it and made our way across the amphitheater. Making our search difficult were the locals sitting and reading on the library lawn and a group taking part in a guided tour of the library. We didn't get close enough to hear any of the information, but tried to skirt around them to quickly and quietly grab the boxes so we could leave. It was trickier that we would have thought, as the muggles were persistent. But we finally managed to nab the last box and head on in our journey. Our next stop was at Camden Hills State Park. A state park pass is a must if you plan on hopping thru state facilities in a weekend - and mine provided us quick entry into the lower portion of the park.
And what a lovely view this part of the park had. Few folks were visiting and I was enthralled with the lovely gathering building looking thru the pines into the harbor beyond. Adirondack chairs were perfectly positioned to enjoy the view. Picture perfect for a sunset picnic! But what was I the most enthralled with? The bathrooms! They were beautiful! Okay - so the flush was a flush like most others, but the building was roomy and had beautifully honed wood ceilings and walls. It was lovely! And clean! I'll admit that it doesn't take much to make me happy... and at this point in my day - it was all it took! So after our bathroom visit we headed down the trail towards the water to pick up three more boxes. There were few mosquitoes and the temperature was perfect for hiking. The nice part was that there were few muggles to delay our quest. So we made quick time of these three boxes. Back in our car - we needed to cross the street to go up to the top of Camden Hills for the next three. It was crawling with muggles! And while we circled the area three times trying to get a feel for one of the three boxes, we didn't find any of them. We sadly gave these three up before folks decided to call the paddy wagon on us.
We needed to head off towards Hope to pick up a hostel box. The clues eluded to the local corner store. A location we needed to stop by and enjoy. But first we had to get there. To do that, we had to back-track towards Camden. The most direct route was leaving from the center of Camden, but you could get there by following a closer road and cutting across near Lake Megunticook, and while Maiden cliffs was close - the thought of traversing the edge of a cliff was not even remotely exciting for me. Besides, Teacup had already risked life and limb to get those boxes - and while they are absolutely lovely - anyone who risks their life to get them - wholeheartedly deserves them! So we ambled our way around the lake, nary a car heading towards us, but more than a few bicyclists were traversing their way around the twisting, turning up and down road! And just as we reached the end of this narrow road - we stopped just short of a guy up on a ladder fixing cable wires! The only thing protecting him from on-coming traffic? A single orange cone!
But we ventured on towards Hope, only getting slightly turned around. And we did indeed find the lovely little Hope General Store. As advised, we stopped in for a bite to eat and were charmed by the inside. They had an eclectic mixture found in a corner store. The cereal - 6 types, were arranged single boxes in a line like books on a shelf. They had organic food and a wide range of local wines and brews. They also had a deli and a listing of the most incredible sounding sandwiches! Teacup and I each had what was claimed as the local favorite - and while it took a bit longer to prepare, we sat and looked over the artwork on the walls. The sandwiches we took to go - a lovely concoction of Italian bread, smoked turkey, brie cheese and tart granny smith apples all toasted together. It was heavenly! We chomped away making our way towards the hostile - passing it once and needing to turn around to pick it up! (Mind you, u-turns are a well practiced occurrence for us! And this one ranked right up there on the 1-10 scale!)
So after the hostile - we needed to cut back towards route one. Cutting through Maine on route 52, we meandered through rolling hills and lovely picaresque landscapes. Many with views of the Camden Hills off in the distance. Rolling towards Belfast, we pulled into town knowing we needed to head further up route one for our next stop. Our next stop was a pick-up. Jiffy hosts Tour the Fort in the spring of the year. And we missed three of the boxes. When asking about them, Jiffy said they were at her parent's house. She said we could go in and pick them up. So we mosied along up the coast. While rambling through Belfast, we stopped into Perry's Nut House. After all - they had recently re-opened and had just brought back one of their lost treasures. The place is a wonderful stroll down memory lane! They have a wide variety of kitchy trinkets and toys from the past. But they also have FUDGE! We rambled around in the store - me taking photos of everything. Teacup wouldn't pose for me - so she shot a photo of me with a local bear and getting 'cracked!' I had to take photos of a local in the outhouse inside... afterall - the whole time we were shopping - he kept babbling about not having any privacy in the privy! It was a hoot! I picked up a t-shirt that turned into a life statement on my return to work Tuesday, and a couple ornaments for my two wee people at home. And of course - FUDGE! With the fudge safely tucked in the trunk for later - we journeyed up the road a piece.
Following Jiffy's directions, we tooled along, listening to Maggie chirp out that our destination was close at hand. We saw our destination, but it was on the wrong side of the road and traffic was heavy. Teacup, not being faint of heart, tooled across the road at the first break in traffic and immediately ran out of road, landing in someone else's yard! An attempt to back up was futile as she had gone down over the rise of the road. So we parked and strolled over to meet Jiffy's mom and sister. Teacup had met Jiffy's sister before, so she recognized us. We didn't stay long, just long enough to snatch up the boxes and move along with them. (We later found out that we were just supposed to stamp into them - not take them with us! I had mis-read the e-mail from Jiffy, oops!)
On our list it looked like we were heading to Fort Knox to pick up a couple boxes and some history! So we pulled in, flashed that fancy park pass and off we went in search of boxes. Jiffy had originally planted six, but the series now only has 4. We had been trying to get this series for two years - but every time we've driven past it - Fort Knox had been closed. Well it was open today and we tooled thru the park picking up the boxes easily even though there were folks everywhere! Leaving Fort Knox our next adventure was to find the ever elusive Pink Panther. We had found him twice before and knew his third location was close by. So off we went, ironically heading south once again to go inland. At first we drove past him. But we found the picture marker and turned ourselves around. He was laying out in the open, pink flashing anyone who wanted to see it! So we stamped him up and headed off again on our journey (his pink is no longer waving in the breeze, tail showing to everyone who's looking.)
Back out to route one once again, we continued into Ellsworth. Our first night's location was close by. We scooted quickly around Ellsworth and picked up a couple quick boxes, sadly found one was missing and then checked into our hotel. After settling our things in the room, and hooking up to the internet for a quick AQ fix, we decided to try and run out to Bar Harbor to pick up three boxes. From last October's visit - we had it in our heads that we could scoot into the harbor quickly, pick up the boxes and scoot out unnoticed. We couldn't have been more WRONG! Bar Harbor on a Saturday night over Labor Day weekend was a MAD HOUSE! There were people, cars, lights, and confusion everywhere! But none more so than in our car! Where was the quiet harbor we had visited last October? Where did all these people come from? Who turned on all the lights in these restaurants??? And who let all these cars onto Acadia???
After 45 minutes of trying to get out of the heart of the harbor, we reluctantly decided we needed to try this part of our trip the following morning. VERY EARLY! Before anyone woke up! So once we made it out of the melee, we stopped for dinner. Ice cream cones all around! Afterall - we were on vacation and we didn't have any kids around. So who would know besides us, right? Coming out of the harbor, the full moon was spectacular over the water. cars were pulling off the side to take photos. Teacup finally found an open spot and we attempted to take a photo. But my point-and-shot camera didn't do its beauty justice. It was a perfect ending to a perfect first day of boxing. We made our way back to the hotel, and after showers we planned the next days attack and hit the pillows, ready for an early start the next morning. Maybe a little later than 5... afterall, we had already done the majority of the driving to get to where we were and we only had a few miles more to travel the next day!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
A little bit of trouble
No work and lots of time makes mud get into all sorts of trouble. Well sort of. It at least gets my brain spinning. But I think you'd probably all worry if I wasn't up to something. The question is most likely - what is the something THIS time? Hmmmm.... well it wouldn't be any fun if I told you, that would spoil the surprise. But I've been a wicked little mff.
Other than getting into trouble I've been to college, been to high school and am spending precious little time at work. The economy is killing me. Along with everyone else it seems - I'm at the end of the slow economy. So you'd think I'd have all sorts of time to create boxes, hike trails and just get out and do it. Unfortunately - all its really managed to do is put me in a mental tail spin. My daily timing is tragically off - I no longer know when to eat and I haven't had a dinner with my family during the week for months. Ugh - oh to work a 40 hour week. Which, with my luck will probably come just as summer arrives in Maine.
But all is not lost. Teacup is working on keeping me sane. She has a goal in sight for me - 1000 boxes by the end of the summer. She's on the heels of 1500 and by now has probably accomplished this already. We are merging brain activity to pull together new boxes for our event-non-event in August. And amazingly enough - already pulling ideas together for August 2010 (which is when I really wanted to do the next event.)
I've toyed with some ideas for boxes. Have a couple sitting on my table waiting for a sure sign of spring (green grass) to plant them. Pulled two boxes for exposure (also waiting for greens to grow) and went out today to do maintenance only to find a geo riding my boxes back! Since the geo was planted on April 4th of this year - I know they are jumping into my hidey hole. I wrote my name in the thing and tucked it back under with my box - hiding them so they couldn't be seen.
Still trying to get some energy to pull things together. But I did plant one box in honor of my soon-to-graduate high school senior. I need to do more box maintenance on my series - I'm sure they are hanging out in the open. But its either raining or so windy you can't see in front of your own hand. But school vacation is next week - so the high school will definitely get a visit from me next week!
But just in case you're wondering - I'm still up to no good - just laying in wait for the next big foolishness to take place ; )
Other than getting into trouble I've been to college, been to high school and am spending precious little time at work. The economy is killing me. Along with everyone else it seems - I'm at the end of the slow economy. So you'd think I'd have all sorts of time to create boxes, hike trails and just get out and do it. Unfortunately - all its really managed to do is put me in a mental tail spin. My daily timing is tragically off - I no longer know when to eat and I haven't had a dinner with my family during the week for months. Ugh - oh to work a 40 hour week. Which, with my luck will probably come just as summer arrives in Maine.
But all is not lost. Teacup is working on keeping me sane. She has a goal in sight for me - 1000 boxes by the end of the summer. She's on the heels of 1500 and by now has probably accomplished this already. We are merging brain activity to pull together new boxes for our event-non-event in August. And amazingly enough - already pulling ideas together for August 2010 (which is when I really wanted to do the next event.)
I've toyed with some ideas for boxes. Have a couple sitting on my table waiting for a sure sign of spring (green grass) to plant them. Pulled two boxes for exposure (also waiting for greens to grow) and went out today to do maintenance only to find a geo riding my boxes back! Since the geo was planted on April 4th of this year - I know they are jumping into my hidey hole. I wrote my name in the thing and tucked it back under with my box - hiding them so they couldn't be seen.
Still trying to get some energy to pull things together. But I did plant one box in honor of my soon-to-graduate high school senior. I need to do more box maintenance on my series - I'm sure they are hanging out in the open. But its either raining or so windy you can't see in front of your own hand. But school vacation is next week - so the high school will definitely get a visit from me next week!
But just in case you're wondering - I'm still up to no good - just laying in wait for the next big foolishness to take place ; )
Saturday, March 7, 2009
March Hare....
Just a little quick trip into Gorham on so far the most spectacular day of the year! Now if you think Team MudCup would actually leave the Lair of Koko unscathed... surely you jest! But he was kind enough to plant 3 stamps this month for our journey south. And then the added bonus of a newly posted Jiffy box. Yup - We pulled the checkered flag while Team Dazzling Koko was circling the yellow flag!
we quickly put a dent in the Lair and left our mark. I was a little puzzled as to why Tea was purposely driving INTO the snowbanks.... but once she did - I jumped out and signed her work! What a hoot! With Christopher in the back seat yelling "Do it again, Ambur!" So there she goes - heading off towards his lawn! Just a little spring fever creepin in!
Off to pick up the just released Jiffy box. A quick walk up a trail on a BEAUTIFUL 50' March day and we were hunkering down while Christopher inked us up. He is slow but thorough! And very thoughtful about completing the task properly as well! So another one bites the dust, and the proper raspberry notes were left for Team Dazzling Koko!
We did attempt to plant a couple of boxes for the March Koko event - but with rain heading our way - we were convinced the boxes would be floating around if we planted them today. So only one was tucked away - the rest were scoped out and will be planted closer to the event. I will tell you - if you are heading to the event... put on your thinking caps folks. My microseries is going to put your eagle eyes and brain power to the test. Good thing we love our lifelines!
So Hare's to a great start for March! May the weather continue to warm up and release those hidden gems that we drove past - but were still locked under 3' of snow! And not a gaiter in sight!
we quickly put a dent in the Lair and left our mark. I was a little puzzled as to why Tea was purposely driving INTO the snowbanks.... but once she did - I jumped out and signed her work! What a hoot! With Christopher in the back seat yelling "Do it again, Ambur!" So there she goes - heading off towards his lawn! Just a little spring fever creepin in!
Off to pick up the just released Jiffy box. A quick walk up a trail on a BEAUTIFUL 50' March day and we were hunkering down while Christopher inked us up. He is slow but thorough! And very thoughtful about completing the task properly as well! So another one bites the dust, and the proper raspberry notes were left for Team Dazzling Koko!
We did attempt to plant a couple of boxes for the March Koko event - but with rain heading our way - we were convinced the boxes would be floating around if we planted them today. So only one was tucked away - the rest were scoped out and will be planted closer to the event. I will tell you - if you are heading to the event... put on your thinking caps folks. My microseries is going to put your eagle eyes and brain power to the test. Good thing we love our lifelines!
So Hare's to a great start for March! May the weather continue to warm up and release those hidden gems that we drove past - but were still locked under 3' of snow! And not a gaiter in sight!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Dirty Little Secret
Okay - so maybe not so secret. And definitely not dirty, unless you are involved in the Adult rings. But my private addiction is POSTALS! Yup - that's right folks, I'm addicted to my mailbox. And I'm addicted to bubble mailers and clear packing tape and all of those wonderful rubber stamps that come to visit me while I'm stuck behind mountains of white stuff! I love getting them. I love making them. I love sending them off so someone else can get some good mail. No bills attached, just pure inky goodness.
What's my favorite part of a postal? Hmmm, every little inch of them. The stamps, the colors, the logbooks, the twisted containers, the twisted stories behind the images, the QUISPS, the whole darn thing! And the nice thing about them - they do not have to conform to a location other than what's in the creators mind. I've belonged to many. I've logged in many. I've sent out many. I've seen all forms. Yup - I love them all. Truly addicted to my mailbox. So much so - my parents got me a bigger mailbox as my Christmas present!
So what have I seen? My very first postal ring was SHH's snowflake ring. I had no carving capabilities, but I loved to scrapbook. So - with that ring, my logbook was definitely much better than my stamp! But everyone has to have a first. After that I quickly jumped on the postal bandwagon. I joined rings and jumped on any tracker single that was launched! And along the way what did I collect? Just images you might think. But there was oh, so much more. I collected friends. Priceless virtual relationships that blossomed and developed through my mailbox and my computer logbook.
Then not only did these relationships develope along with my carving abilities, but so did my friendships. Because of a mutual postal addiction, Teacup and I became much better friends. A postal friendship that started as a desire to cut out the postal middle man and save some money in just dropping and picking up postals at Teacup's house quickly turned into a partnership for an event and then a whole series of traditional postal adventures.
Postal letterboxing is definitely not for everyone. Some folks just do not get the addiction. That's fine. But for those of us that are terminally stuck behind an endless blanket of snow, yet we still seek the desire to get inky, postals ebb the drought just a bit. And like I said - I've gained so much insight through postals that I never would have by just boxing locally.
I learned and developed a new skill through postals. I can't even begin to tell you what those early ring players had to suffer through when getting one of my images! Horrible! But to make a little bit of amends, my logbooks always tried to pick up where the rubber fell short. Of course I look at some of those logbooks now and wonder what I was smoking! I've made a building, a jewelry box, a dish, and numerous other shapes. I've sent out logbooks that were in photo albums and in maps. I've sent out containers that were shoes, water bottles and a buoy. My images have improved slightly, and for the most part do not stretch the limits on size anymore. The Backyardigans ring by far was the largest image I ever sent out!
I've dabbled in other aspects of boxing. Traditional boxing is always wonderful, but I do not like going solo. And Teacup works alternate weekends. So I have to fill the voids somehow. I was saddened when many of my postal friends went off to play in the land of LTCs. So I thought - if they are all going over there, I guess I'll follow them. So I tried. Honest I did. I joined swaps. Hosted a few of my own. Jumped in and helped fill swaps that were lacking people. Thought I was being creative. When all I felt was I was being striped of my creativity en mass. I hereby admit - I do not like making LTCs. I do not like swaps. I do not like waiting for swaps to get sorted out and mailed back to me. And most of all - I HATE LOGGING LTCs. I have yet to log in the Periodic Table of Elements. I may never do it.
So I did my LTC time and then bailed out and am happily back in the land of postals. I miss many of those wonderful friends i used to banter with because of the numerous rings/singles we shared. SHH, Shoafsters, Sweet and Sassy, Sweet and Sour, Batty Girl, Castles16, Nitrocat and so many more. All of these incredible artists have abandoned me for the land of the LTCs. But in their void, I have added new friends. S and D, bridgetscouting, alittlebitoff, terrio, nannipapawto4, cookie cutter and many others have picked up and started to enjoy this hobby as much as I do.
And to make things balanced, I have those friends that bridge the worlds between postals and LTCs and let me peek into their work every now and then. Penguin Patrol, Little Monkey, Hales Angel and others. Little Monkey lets me mentor newbie rings, and its always nice when I see one of the old school jump back into the postal world to send off one of their treasures for this new flock of postal followers to enjoy.
But back to the postals, as of today I have launched over 200 postals and have over 1200 postal finds. I am currently hosting a Deepest Reflection ring and am a member of a Naked ring and the Urban Legends ring. The diversity of these boxes are incredible. In one day I can hear of my buoy washing up in someones mailbox, miles from the ocean. I can read of a boxer's incredible self discovery in another and in the third have an extra-terrestrial experience about Area 51. I've seen altered books that are totally pieces of art and happily include rubber stamps. I've seen movies and heard music from areas I never would have heard of because of rings. I have 2 3-ring binders full of colorful images. Some whimsical, some serious. Some black and white while others are splashed with a rainbow of colors.
People have shared secrets with me about themselves. Have shown me new ways to carve, new ways to make logbooks and new ways to transfer images into works of art. People in this community have given me a place to escape to. A place to share with others things even my own family doesn't know. A place to release a creative energy that can get trapped in the long winter months buried in the depths of winters snow. For me - postals is a year long event. While the height of the adventure for me is the darkest months of winter, I dally year round. My hopes is that any postal I send forward can be a cathartic exercise for those picking up their mail on the opposite end.
I'm getting ready to launch my 200th postal. One which will reflect, one that will share what I love most about postals. Trying to pare it down to bare bones will be hard. I want to put everything I love the most into it. But I don't think anyone would be able to pay the postage if I did that. So I'm still developing it. It will have an image. It will have a logbook. It will have music. And it will have snipets of me. So to my postal friends, I thank you. From the bottom of my soul I cannot even begin to let all of you know how you have helped to shape my life. Give me a center that helps to keep me balanced and sane.
So while postals may be my dirty little secret, they are one I'm happy to share with as many people who will let me into their mailboxes. Because one thing I know for sure, I love postals. And I will continue to make them. The silly ones, the serious ones, the naked ones and the ones that dig down into the inner depths of my soul! And I'm so happy to have old and new friends along for the ride. And just remember - if its heading my way, Teacup sits in the car with me. Because all aspects of boxing should be shared with a friend! And Teacup is a great one to share both postal boxing and traditional boxing. Because through both of these - I can managed to con her into helping out with events : )
What's my favorite part of a postal? Hmmm, every little inch of them. The stamps, the colors, the logbooks, the twisted containers, the twisted stories behind the images, the QUISPS, the whole darn thing! And the nice thing about them - they do not have to conform to a location other than what's in the creators mind. I've belonged to many. I've logged in many. I've sent out many. I've seen all forms. Yup - I love them all. Truly addicted to my mailbox. So much so - my parents got me a bigger mailbox as my Christmas present!
So what have I seen? My very first postal ring was SHH's snowflake ring. I had no carving capabilities, but I loved to scrapbook. So - with that ring, my logbook was definitely much better than my stamp! But everyone has to have a first. After that I quickly jumped on the postal bandwagon. I joined rings and jumped on any tracker single that was launched! And along the way what did I collect? Just images you might think. But there was oh, so much more. I collected friends. Priceless virtual relationships that blossomed and developed through my mailbox and my computer logbook.
Then not only did these relationships develope along with my carving abilities, but so did my friendships. Because of a mutual postal addiction, Teacup and I became much better friends. A postal friendship that started as a desire to cut out the postal middle man and save some money in just dropping and picking up postals at Teacup's house quickly turned into a partnership for an event and then a whole series of traditional postal adventures.
Postal letterboxing is definitely not for everyone. Some folks just do not get the addiction. That's fine. But for those of us that are terminally stuck behind an endless blanket of snow, yet we still seek the desire to get inky, postals ebb the drought just a bit. And like I said - I've gained so much insight through postals that I never would have by just boxing locally.
I learned and developed a new skill through postals. I can't even begin to tell you what those early ring players had to suffer through when getting one of my images! Horrible! But to make a little bit of amends, my logbooks always tried to pick up where the rubber fell short. Of course I look at some of those logbooks now and wonder what I was smoking! I've made a building, a jewelry box, a dish, and numerous other shapes. I've sent out logbooks that were in photo albums and in maps. I've sent out containers that were shoes, water bottles and a buoy. My images have improved slightly, and for the most part do not stretch the limits on size anymore. The Backyardigans ring by far was the largest image I ever sent out!
I've dabbled in other aspects of boxing. Traditional boxing is always wonderful, but I do not like going solo. And Teacup works alternate weekends. So I have to fill the voids somehow. I was saddened when many of my postal friends went off to play in the land of LTCs. So I thought - if they are all going over there, I guess I'll follow them. So I tried. Honest I did. I joined swaps. Hosted a few of my own. Jumped in and helped fill swaps that were lacking people. Thought I was being creative. When all I felt was I was being striped of my creativity en mass. I hereby admit - I do not like making LTCs. I do not like swaps. I do not like waiting for swaps to get sorted out and mailed back to me. And most of all - I HATE LOGGING LTCs. I have yet to log in the Periodic Table of Elements. I may never do it.
So I did my LTC time and then bailed out and am happily back in the land of postals. I miss many of those wonderful friends i used to banter with because of the numerous rings/singles we shared. SHH, Shoafsters, Sweet and Sassy, Sweet and Sour, Batty Girl, Castles16, Nitrocat and so many more. All of these incredible artists have abandoned me for the land of the LTCs. But in their void, I have added new friends. S and D, bridgetscouting, alittlebitoff, terrio, nannipapawto4, cookie cutter and many others have picked up and started to enjoy this hobby as much as I do.
And to make things balanced, I have those friends that bridge the worlds between postals and LTCs and let me peek into their work every now and then. Penguin Patrol, Little Monkey, Hales Angel and others. Little Monkey lets me mentor newbie rings, and its always nice when I see one of the old school jump back into the postal world to send off one of their treasures for this new flock of postal followers to enjoy.
But back to the postals, as of today I have launched over 200 postals and have over 1200 postal finds. I am currently hosting a Deepest Reflection ring and am a member of a Naked ring and the Urban Legends ring. The diversity of these boxes are incredible. In one day I can hear of my buoy washing up in someones mailbox, miles from the ocean. I can read of a boxer's incredible self discovery in another and in the third have an extra-terrestrial experience about Area 51. I've seen altered books that are totally pieces of art and happily include rubber stamps. I've seen movies and heard music from areas I never would have heard of because of rings. I have 2 3-ring binders full of colorful images. Some whimsical, some serious. Some black and white while others are splashed with a rainbow of colors.
People have shared secrets with me about themselves. Have shown me new ways to carve, new ways to make logbooks and new ways to transfer images into works of art. People in this community have given me a place to escape to. A place to share with others things even my own family doesn't know. A place to release a creative energy that can get trapped in the long winter months buried in the depths of winters snow. For me - postals is a year long event. While the height of the adventure for me is the darkest months of winter, I dally year round. My hopes is that any postal I send forward can be a cathartic exercise for those picking up their mail on the opposite end.
I'm getting ready to launch my 200th postal. One which will reflect, one that will share what I love most about postals. Trying to pare it down to bare bones will be hard. I want to put everything I love the most into it. But I don't think anyone would be able to pay the postage if I did that. So I'm still developing it. It will have an image. It will have a logbook. It will have music. And it will have snipets of me. So to my postal friends, I thank you. From the bottom of my soul I cannot even begin to let all of you know how you have helped to shape my life. Give me a center that helps to keep me balanced and sane.
So while postals may be my dirty little secret, they are one I'm happy to share with as many people who will let me into their mailboxes. Because one thing I know for sure, I love postals. And I will continue to make them. The silly ones, the serious ones, the naked ones and the ones that dig down into the inner depths of my soul! And I'm so happy to have old and new friends along for the ride. And just remember - if its heading my way, Teacup sits in the car with me. Because all aspects of boxing should be shared with a friend! And Teacup is a great one to share both postal boxing and traditional boxing. Because through both of these - I can managed to con her into helping out with events : )
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Biggest Loser
Winter in Maine makes folks stir crazy. So what do we do? Get together for a game night and torment each other to tears. Happy, laughing tears. But it makes me wonder how some relationships survive family game nights every week. Game Night Revisited was held at HappyDaze's house once again. Mainly because its certainly centrally located to Mass, NH and Maine. Cause I'm sure I'd still be sitting here playing Solataire by myself if I held it here in Bowdoinham! LOL!
Gracious hosts for sure, they open their home to an evening of winter foolishness and laughter. But before I even set foot in thier house, I had an afternoon of misadventures. And Teacup wasn't even with me! For this days misadventures I had my teenager, Ashley along for the ride. I've often joked with her that I'd dub her my Ashley, Ashley but her internal navigation system is chronically broken. Well, it would seem so is her internal clock. She's a senior this year and everything is being accomplished at the very last minute. Luckily, we've been fortunate enough in most cases that we've been able to squeek by. But I just shake my head and remind her that if she told me earlier, we wouldn't be scrambling like we were. She just smiles that impish teenager smile and asks for money.
So on this particular Saturday she decided we should drive to New Hampshire to pick up her prom dress. Okay - I can deal with that, we'll be half way there. Might as well just go another hour and pick up a dress. Knowing that we had to be at Happydaze's house at 6pm, we decided to leave at 2pm so we wouldn't have lots of lag time between picking up the dress and the party. We get in the car, program Maggie and head south. We are about 30 minutes away from home and she decides to tell me the store closes at 4pm instead of 5pm. I look at her as if she has two heads. She couldn't have told me this at 10 that morning? Okay Ashley. Here's the deal. We will not make it to New Hampshire before the store closes and we are already 30 minutes away from home. So what do you want to do?
Being a boxer with a mini meet fast approaching I was ready to pull the car over in a parking lot for a couple hours and prep images for stamps I need to carve. She on the other hand had $150 dollars in cash in her wallet earmarked for her dress but it was quickly setting fire to it! She wanted to go walk around the Old Port, which in teenspeak meant, spend money. Not that? How about the mall? Teenspeak translation: spend money. I wanted to go sit in a Dunkin Donuts with a cup of coffee and prep images. This was not even remotely interesting to her.
So where did we end up? In the art store in Portland. We walked around for about 30 minutes and the only one who ended up buying anything was me! I picked up 4 sheets of textured paper to make logbooks and a green container for an event box or a naked postal. Haven't decided which yet, and an inkpad. You can just guess the color! But the teenager, who is art addicted, picked up paintbrushes and put them down again. Picked up mural canvases and put it down again. Pointed out the canvas she wants for her birthday (which will NOT fit in my car! Its 6'x10') Picked out colors for her wedding invitations (five years from now) and pointed out the big honking containers of glitter. But we did kill some time.
From there we went off in the direction of the mall and reflected that TGIFridays had closed. A victim of the economy for sure. We decided to go in and have appetizers at Pizzeria UNO, home to the Chicago style pizza. Trying to pick out something that wouldn't kill our appetite for dinner, I perused the cocktail menu. A whole list of yummy sounding Margaritas, all with jalapeno peppers! Since when did Chicago take over the Mexican connection?? And do we REALLY need peppers in our cocktails? Well close on the heels of Mardis Gras I opted to have a Hurricane. While the drink was yummy - I think the only Hurricane that ran through the restaurant was through my wallet. Oh yeah, now I remember why I don't drink out - so darn expensive. It was $8 and I could have made a whole lot more and had a whole lot more fun drinking them if I had just picked up a bottle and took it to HappyDaze's house for the evening! After all - I did bring Ashley along so she could be the designated driver. I probably should have designated her to drive BEFORE we parked in their parking lot. I attempted to navigate around a manhole cover and managed to drop into the edge of my frame. Yup - hit it with both wheels! At least I was consistent!
When we left, they had placed a barrier over it.... hey I already turned over the keys to the minor! I'm not driving anymore! We had turned off Maggie after we turned into Portland and headed for the art store. Do you have any idea how irritated those navigational devices get if you actually know where you are going? "Please make next availability legal U-Turn." I then kindly tell Maggie to get a grip - I know where I'm going here, I need you later. So just hold onto the dashboard and enjoy the ride. The view is lovely, take a break and enjoy it. "Please make next available legal U-Turn." I need coffee, after that I'll turn any direction you want me to!
So we had shut it off, which may or may not have been a good idea. I knew we were heading south. And in Maine today, all roads heading south led to Saco. One way or another, I was sure of it. What I didn't think was that my darling daughter would turn into a rogue operative for the competition! I guess part of the blame is my own, but I wouldn't have thought she could turn so quickly on her mother. As we were at the mall, we opted to just avoid the highway and head south on Payne Rd. Well eventually, on this road is one of Bean's competitors. Since it opened, I have avoided at all costs driving in front of it, turning into the driveway, steering anywhere near its general direction. Which up until this point had been easy. When I'm with Teacup, we usually take the highway!
But we drove past it and Ashley says, "I want to go in and look around." Immediately my heart quickened, I could heart the blood pounding in the veins in my head. The voices in my head were screaming at me "That's the competition, what could you be thinking???" And what came out of my mouth? "Okay, if you want to - but we only have a little bit of time." And ZAP! Just like that, I was blind! Okay - so maybe I just was snow blind for a moment or two as the sun reflected off the stark white snow. But she pulled us into the parking lot and I managed to get out of the car without incident.
They have about 100 kayaks hanging out in the front of their store. And one very big honking moose standing watch. Not unusual, we are in Maine. Moose tend to stand watch over lots of stores, though I will have to say that the one at the Farmington Candy store is more impressive. But alas, I digress. We entered the store so Ashley could see the "Big Game display" and I'll have to admit, it was definitely a BIG display. The store was alas, a store. Didn't see anything in it that hit my WOW trigger. Ashley did inform me that she liked some of their women's clothes better than Beans, but she's 17. What does she know about brand loyalty? But back to the display. We walked around this big honking mountain in the middle of the store. Yup - it was definitely big. And all I kept thinking was, that's a lot of stuffing in those animals!
Saw the bear that we saw in the woods, from about the same distance! But I'm thinking this one was way past thinking I would be a good dinner entree. We moved past the Maine Moose standing at the front of the display up to his shins in water. Hmmm.... made me wonder, 'Wouldn't that rot his hoofs after a while?' and continued around the display. They had a wide range of animals from all over the country. And at the back of the display was a Canadian Moose. It looked like a Maine moose on steroids! The thing was ginormous! We glanced around the store and saw zebras (are they indigenous to North America?) and some other continental big game animals. But the thing that impressed me the most was the jeep on the top of the Customer Service area. Now that's some Extreme Driving! I don't remember them asking anyone I know to drive it up there - but I bet it was fun watching them!
Well, we made it around the display that is ironically labelled everywhere "Do not throw coins at the mountain," and headed back for the front door. I was almost home free! And without incident. We quickly looked at a couple things and then beat feet out the front door where WHAP! I managed to smack my hand on the front door! It was a cosmic slap for even entering the store! We hustled to the car before any other calamity could befall me and quickly drove out of the parking lot! Ahhh! I survived stepping into the competition void and came back to tell about it. Reflecting with Ashley in the car, we both felt like the store itself felt like the Wal-Mart of sporting stores with a big honkin wild game display in the middle. High ceilings with skylights like Cosco. It definitely lacked the cozy atmosphere that Bean's Fish & Hunt store had. It even has shopping carts so you can load up on all the carting filling items as you wander the store. Ho hum. I'll stick with filling boat and totes : )
Further south! We still had a timeline to follow and we still had to pick up veggies and dip. Since I thought we were heading to New Hampshire first, we had to stop at Hannaford to pick up kibbles. I thought this would be a fairly simple task. Silly Kathleen. Nothing is that easy with a teen in tow. I managed to get the veggies and dip, and then thought I'd add some Hummus. Alas, I picked the wrong one and she put it back to get the 'right' one. Now to pick up pita chips for the hummus... again, not such a simple task. We had to find the organic section and pick up the perfect chips. Okay - so once we were eating them, they did taste remarkably good together. But I'm pretty sure I would have NEVER found them on my own! Then the daunting task of picking out beverages.
If any of you have ever gone out with my daughter you would quickly figure out that she has champagne tastes on a ginger ale budget. Not only that, but she prefers to 'try' things when mom is footing the bill. So along the way we also had to pick up a star fruit to satisfy her fruit quota for the day (because the banana in the car wasn't good enough) and then we had to find the right drinks. She must have a homing device for them in our local grocery store, but her beacon was off in Saco. She couldn't find what she wanted and tried to get me to buy Blueberry soda. I knew she wouldn't drink 4 bottles, and managed to get her to let me get Cream Soda instead. And even that, I knew we would only drink a tiny bit of it. I should have picked up the bag of ice like I had been thinking about, because I'm a chronic ice chewer, but I thought I could last the night.
So we piled the provisions on the counter and headed back to the car. Happydaze's house was literally just around the corner so I took the wheel and drove the mile to their house. By this time the Hurricane buzz was pretty much over and I didn't want to end up in Biddeford because Ashley was in the wrong lane. Cause Lord knows Biddeford and any part of Team MudCup does NOT bode well together! So we turned towards their house and I took the first road I thought was close to their house. I told Ashley to look for the house with all the cars in the driveway. But that wasn't going to help - we were first on scene! Should have guessed since the others coming tonight were rarely on time for anything. LOL!
But it gave us prime parking, once I turned around and made 40 attempts to back into their driveway. I know the Hurricane buzz was gone, but I suddenly was driving like I was 90! We grabbed our stuff and in we went. With just enough of a head start to cut up the veggies and 'settle' in logistically before the troops started to arrive.
I'm not sure why, but like all the times before - we all gathered around the butcher block table in the kitchen. There were lots of chairs for folks to sit at, but that's where we always start out! Mrs. Happydaze dug out the very dusty bottle of rum and the strawberry daiquiri mix. I think she was hoping to finally get it off her counter : ) Takers? Anyone? Littlmoon was willing, for the cause of course to help Mrs. HD out of her conundrum. Then Mrs. HD tasted her concoction and decided it wasn't half bad. Then there was a great flurry of eating activity. Jiffy brought a pasta dish that had 9 pounds - wait, that's supposed to be 9 types of cheese in it! Everyone hold onto your cholesterol counter - cause dang its tasty! Vicki brought some mighty tasty chicken wings that managed to get tucked behind so folks had to go back for seconds to get them. We were also munching on veggies, chips and dip. Seems sometimes we can pretend to like healthy food! Littlmoon brought a spinach, artichoke dip that I regret I did not get to try. And since Mrs. Gollygee was in the house - there was also whoopie pies!
I abstained on the whoopie pies but did snag a chocolate chip cookie that HD had sitting out for us, cause really, desert should have been first Once everyone had managed to get a first round of food under their belts, Jiffy brought out the first game of the evening. We should have guessed what kind of foolishness we were in for when she couldn't even get it out of the box! Then we had the job of finding 12 game pieces. Game pieces on a board is a usual happening for any board game - but when there are 12 very loud and boisterous folks playing, it takes a while to get back to your turn. And by that time - you've forgotten what color your piece was! Did this happen? Only to everyone! So all of a sudden we were writing our game piece color on our paper so we could remember which one was ours. Let's see, there was Susan - clear yellow. Ray was white, Naughty Scottie started out as brown but quickly switched to a beer bottle cap.... and the colors continued until it reached me. I was purple, which just felt odd as I'm almost always green. I think Vicki was green. At least Ashley was orange - so that seemed about as normal as normal could be tonight!
Okay - so the game we were playing was called LOSER! and the object was to be the last one to collect the letters making you the big winner! Letters were picked up by getting the information on the cards that were read either right or wrong. And they were based on your life's experiences. So if you ever bounced a check, you picked up a letter that matched the space you were sitting on. To up the ante, if you landed on one space - everyone had to answer the question - lots of letters were gained this way. You could challenge someone, it helped if you knew your audience. And sometimes it helped to NOT know your audience! Then there were gimme guesses just based on the audiences ages. But by far the funniest spot to land on was the "Service" square. For this - you had to provide services for everyone else playing the game. People were serving up water, beer, cookies, and veggies and dip. And when we ran out of food and beverages to be delivered - we upped the ante. Time to empty everyone's bladder with one bathroom service call! Albeit, that didn't seem to work all that well for most of the folks on the receiving end - but it sure was funny!
Quickly folks became big LOSERS! and started dropping by the wayside. And as each person fell, they had their honorary photo taken. These are now proudly plastered all over Facebook! Some folks were so proud of their LOSER status that they made the images their profile photo! I'm working on raising the 10K required to pull my photo OFF Facebook ; ) Anyone need any shoveling done??? But it would seem we ended up down to the wire. Neck and neck to find out who the best model citizen was within our small group. Because let's face it, if you we not deemed one of the LOSERS! you really had led a 'sheltered and proper' life. The final two were Vicki and Heather. Gollygee and Littlmoon pulled out a stack of questions and started firing away questions like it was the speed round! Both ladies needed two more letters. The nodding of heads continued. I mean these ladies are downright upstanding citizens! But all of a sudden things changed - they each had to take a letter! The battle was tight! The sweat was beading up on the backs of everyone's neck as we listened and watched. Who would it be? Who was the next to fall off of society's straight and narrow and who would be left holding the silk ribbon of perfection? Well it was....
So after we found our winner and the two photos we taken, we shuffled up the deck and hauled out the game of all games. The Newlywed Game. Now in December, this almost brought the marriage of Wildcats to the brink of diaster. Would the same happen with any of the grouping here tonight? Lets see? I must have a wicked twisted sense of humor. Because as I had left Ron at home, my game partner for the evenings foolishness was my poor teenager. This would turn either very embarassing or extremely funny. Time would tell. So the usual questions started to float around the room. And as was with poor Wildcats, those that had been married the longest, struggled the most with this game. Some had no idea how to answer questions for fear of the doghouse, while others couldn't answer the questions because it had been so long. Which room was first, again? Hmmm... bedroom to bedroom was deemed boring. Park to Corvette probably raised eyes, but trying to figure out which room had the most storage space was by far the funniest!
Now is the garage a room in the house or not? And what do we call the second bedroom/office/playroom? What would you consider embarrasing in your bedside table? Or would it be more embarrasing if you never opened the drawers so you were completely clueless that they even opened let alone hold things! And let me tell you - many of those drawers hold lots of the same things! The real fun was in how the wording would match up. Was it the pink one? Maybe the other one? But honestly, do we remember the color - because surely color is not important in the dark! But again, one couple fell to the Wildcat phenenomen. Why? Hmmm... I think I'll have to plead the fifth. Because he couldn't remember because it had been so long.
Another truely hysterical evening spent in Saco. Now if we can have this much fun while stuck inside on a cold February evening, with most of us not drinking - just imagine the foolishness we get into when its outside and we are truely running amuck! But for now, another game night over. And the final count on the Newlywed Game - Ashley and I won. Now consider that for a minute and I think everyone knows WAY to much about mud!
Gracious hosts for sure, they open their home to an evening of winter foolishness and laughter. But before I even set foot in thier house, I had an afternoon of misadventures. And Teacup wasn't even with me! For this days misadventures I had my teenager, Ashley along for the ride. I've often joked with her that I'd dub her my Ashley, Ashley but her internal navigation system is chronically broken. Well, it would seem so is her internal clock. She's a senior this year and everything is being accomplished at the very last minute. Luckily, we've been fortunate enough in most cases that we've been able to squeek by. But I just shake my head and remind her that if she told me earlier, we wouldn't be scrambling like we were. She just smiles that impish teenager smile and asks for money.
So on this particular Saturday she decided we should drive to New Hampshire to pick up her prom dress. Okay - I can deal with that, we'll be half way there. Might as well just go another hour and pick up a dress. Knowing that we had to be at Happydaze's house at 6pm, we decided to leave at 2pm so we wouldn't have lots of lag time between picking up the dress and the party. We get in the car, program Maggie and head south. We are about 30 minutes away from home and she decides to tell me the store closes at 4pm instead of 5pm. I look at her as if she has two heads. She couldn't have told me this at 10 that morning? Okay Ashley. Here's the deal. We will not make it to New Hampshire before the store closes and we are already 30 minutes away from home. So what do you want to do?
Being a boxer with a mini meet fast approaching I was ready to pull the car over in a parking lot for a couple hours and prep images for stamps I need to carve. She on the other hand had $150 dollars in cash in her wallet earmarked for her dress but it was quickly setting fire to it! She wanted to go walk around the Old Port, which in teenspeak meant, spend money. Not that? How about the mall? Teenspeak translation: spend money. I wanted to go sit in a Dunkin Donuts with a cup of coffee and prep images. This was not even remotely interesting to her.
So where did we end up? In the art store in Portland. We walked around for about 30 minutes and the only one who ended up buying anything was me! I picked up 4 sheets of textured paper to make logbooks and a green container for an event box or a naked postal. Haven't decided which yet, and an inkpad. You can just guess the color! But the teenager, who is art addicted, picked up paintbrushes and put them down again. Picked up mural canvases and put it down again. Pointed out the canvas she wants for her birthday (which will NOT fit in my car! Its 6'x10') Picked out colors for her wedding invitations (five years from now) and pointed out the big honking containers of glitter. But we did kill some time.
From there we went off in the direction of the mall and reflected that TGIFridays had closed. A victim of the economy for sure. We decided to go in and have appetizers at Pizzeria UNO, home to the Chicago style pizza. Trying to pick out something that wouldn't kill our appetite for dinner, I perused the cocktail menu. A whole list of yummy sounding Margaritas, all with jalapeno peppers! Since when did Chicago take over the Mexican connection?? And do we REALLY need peppers in our cocktails? Well close on the heels of Mardis Gras I opted to have a Hurricane. While the drink was yummy - I think the only Hurricane that ran through the restaurant was through my wallet. Oh yeah, now I remember why I don't drink out - so darn expensive. It was $8 and I could have made a whole lot more and had a whole lot more fun drinking them if I had just picked up a bottle and took it to HappyDaze's house for the evening! After all - I did bring Ashley along so she could be the designated driver. I probably should have designated her to drive BEFORE we parked in their parking lot. I attempted to navigate around a manhole cover and managed to drop into the edge of my frame. Yup - hit it with both wheels! At least I was consistent!
When we left, they had placed a barrier over it.... hey I already turned over the keys to the minor! I'm not driving anymore! We had turned off Maggie after we turned into Portland and headed for the art store. Do you have any idea how irritated those navigational devices get if you actually know where you are going? "Please make next availability legal U-Turn." I then kindly tell Maggie to get a grip - I know where I'm going here, I need you later. So just hold onto the dashboard and enjoy the ride. The view is lovely, take a break and enjoy it. "Please make next available legal U-Turn." I need coffee, after that I'll turn any direction you want me to!
So we had shut it off, which may or may not have been a good idea. I knew we were heading south. And in Maine today, all roads heading south led to Saco. One way or another, I was sure of it. What I didn't think was that my darling daughter would turn into a rogue operative for the competition! I guess part of the blame is my own, but I wouldn't have thought she could turn so quickly on her mother. As we were at the mall, we opted to just avoid the highway and head south on Payne Rd. Well eventually, on this road is one of Bean's competitors. Since it opened, I have avoided at all costs driving in front of it, turning into the driveway, steering anywhere near its general direction. Which up until this point had been easy. When I'm with Teacup, we usually take the highway!
But we drove past it and Ashley says, "I want to go in and look around." Immediately my heart quickened, I could heart the blood pounding in the veins in my head. The voices in my head were screaming at me "That's the competition, what could you be thinking???" And what came out of my mouth? "Okay, if you want to - but we only have a little bit of time." And ZAP! Just like that, I was blind! Okay - so maybe I just was snow blind for a moment or two as the sun reflected off the stark white snow. But she pulled us into the parking lot and I managed to get out of the car without incident.
They have about 100 kayaks hanging out in the front of their store. And one very big honking moose standing watch. Not unusual, we are in Maine. Moose tend to stand watch over lots of stores, though I will have to say that the one at the Farmington Candy store is more impressive. But alas, I digress. We entered the store so Ashley could see the "Big Game display" and I'll have to admit, it was definitely a BIG display. The store was alas, a store. Didn't see anything in it that hit my WOW trigger. Ashley did inform me that she liked some of their women's clothes better than Beans, but she's 17. What does she know about brand loyalty? But back to the display. We walked around this big honking mountain in the middle of the store. Yup - it was definitely big. And all I kept thinking was, that's a lot of stuffing in those animals!
Saw the bear that we saw in the woods, from about the same distance! But I'm thinking this one was way past thinking I would be a good dinner entree. We moved past the Maine Moose standing at the front of the display up to his shins in water. Hmmm.... made me wonder, 'Wouldn't that rot his hoofs after a while?' and continued around the display. They had a wide range of animals from all over the country. And at the back of the display was a Canadian Moose. It looked like a Maine moose on steroids! The thing was ginormous! We glanced around the store and saw zebras (are they indigenous to North America?) and some other continental big game animals. But the thing that impressed me the most was the jeep on the top of the Customer Service area. Now that's some Extreme Driving! I don't remember them asking anyone I know to drive it up there - but I bet it was fun watching them!
Well, we made it around the display that is ironically labelled everywhere "Do not throw coins at the mountain," and headed back for the front door. I was almost home free! And without incident. We quickly looked at a couple things and then beat feet out the front door where WHAP! I managed to smack my hand on the front door! It was a cosmic slap for even entering the store! We hustled to the car before any other calamity could befall me and quickly drove out of the parking lot! Ahhh! I survived stepping into the competition void and came back to tell about it. Reflecting with Ashley in the car, we both felt like the store itself felt like the Wal-Mart of sporting stores with a big honkin wild game display in the middle. High ceilings with skylights like Cosco. It definitely lacked the cozy atmosphere that Bean's Fish & Hunt store had. It even has shopping carts so you can load up on all the carting filling items as you wander the store. Ho hum. I'll stick with filling boat and totes : )
Further south! We still had a timeline to follow and we still had to pick up veggies and dip. Since I thought we were heading to New Hampshire first, we had to stop at Hannaford to pick up kibbles. I thought this would be a fairly simple task. Silly Kathleen. Nothing is that easy with a teen in tow. I managed to get the veggies and dip, and then thought I'd add some Hummus. Alas, I picked the wrong one and she put it back to get the 'right' one. Now to pick up pita chips for the hummus... again, not such a simple task. We had to find the organic section and pick up the perfect chips. Okay - so once we were eating them, they did taste remarkably good together. But I'm pretty sure I would have NEVER found them on my own! Then the daunting task of picking out beverages.
If any of you have ever gone out with my daughter you would quickly figure out that she has champagne tastes on a ginger ale budget. Not only that, but she prefers to 'try' things when mom is footing the bill. So along the way we also had to pick up a star fruit to satisfy her fruit quota for the day (because the banana in the car wasn't good enough) and then we had to find the right drinks. She must have a homing device for them in our local grocery store, but her beacon was off in Saco. She couldn't find what she wanted and tried to get me to buy Blueberry soda. I knew she wouldn't drink 4 bottles, and managed to get her to let me get Cream Soda instead. And even that, I knew we would only drink a tiny bit of it. I should have picked up the bag of ice like I had been thinking about, because I'm a chronic ice chewer, but I thought I could last the night.
So we piled the provisions on the counter and headed back to the car. Happydaze's house was literally just around the corner so I took the wheel and drove the mile to their house. By this time the Hurricane buzz was pretty much over and I didn't want to end up in Biddeford because Ashley was in the wrong lane. Cause Lord knows Biddeford and any part of Team MudCup does NOT bode well together! So we turned towards their house and I took the first road I thought was close to their house. I told Ashley to look for the house with all the cars in the driveway. But that wasn't going to help - we were first on scene! Should have guessed since the others coming tonight were rarely on time for anything. LOL!
But it gave us prime parking, once I turned around and made 40 attempts to back into their driveway. I know the Hurricane buzz was gone, but I suddenly was driving like I was 90! We grabbed our stuff and in we went. With just enough of a head start to cut up the veggies and 'settle' in logistically before the troops started to arrive.
I'm not sure why, but like all the times before - we all gathered around the butcher block table in the kitchen. There were lots of chairs for folks to sit at, but that's where we always start out! Mrs. Happydaze dug out the very dusty bottle of rum and the strawberry daiquiri mix. I think she was hoping to finally get it off her counter : ) Takers? Anyone? Littlmoon was willing, for the cause of course to help Mrs. HD out of her conundrum. Then Mrs. HD tasted her concoction and decided it wasn't half bad. Then there was a great flurry of eating activity. Jiffy brought a pasta dish that had 9 pounds - wait, that's supposed to be 9 types of cheese in it! Everyone hold onto your cholesterol counter - cause dang its tasty! Vicki brought some mighty tasty chicken wings that managed to get tucked behind so folks had to go back for seconds to get them. We were also munching on veggies, chips and dip. Seems sometimes we can pretend to like healthy food! Littlmoon brought a spinach, artichoke dip that I regret I did not get to try. And since Mrs. Gollygee was in the house - there was also whoopie pies!
I abstained on the whoopie pies but did snag a chocolate chip cookie that HD had sitting out for us, cause really, desert should have been first Once everyone had managed to get a first round of food under their belts, Jiffy brought out the first game of the evening. We should have guessed what kind of foolishness we were in for when she couldn't even get it out of the box! Then we had the job of finding 12 game pieces. Game pieces on a board is a usual happening for any board game - but when there are 12 very loud and boisterous folks playing, it takes a while to get back to your turn. And by that time - you've forgotten what color your piece was! Did this happen? Only to everyone! So all of a sudden we were writing our game piece color on our paper so we could remember which one was ours. Let's see, there was Susan - clear yellow. Ray was white, Naughty Scottie started out as brown but quickly switched to a beer bottle cap.... and the colors continued until it reached me. I was purple, which just felt odd as I'm almost always green. I think Vicki was green. At least Ashley was orange - so that seemed about as normal as normal could be tonight!
Okay - so the game we were playing was called LOSER! and the object was to be the last one to collect the letters making you the big winner! Letters were picked up by getting the information on the cards that were read either right or wrong. And they were based on your life's experiences. So if you ever bounced a check, you picked up a letter that matched the space you were sitting on. To up the ante, if you landed on one space - everyone had to answer the question - lots of letters were gained this way. You could challenge someone, it helped if you knew your audience. And sometimes it helped to NOT know your audience! Then there were gimme guesses just based on the audiences ages. But by far the funniest spot to land on was the "Service" square. For this - you had to provide services for everyone else playing the game. People were serving up water, beer, cookies, and veggies and dip. And when we ran out of food and beverages to be delivered - we upped the ante. Time to empty everyone's bladder with one bathroom service call! Albeit, that didn't seem to work all that well for most of the folks on the receiving end - but it sure was funny!
Quickly folks became big LOSERS! and started dropping by the wayside. And as each person fell, they had their honorary photo taken. These are now proudly plastered all over Facebook! Some folks were so proud of their LOSER status that they made the images their profile photo! I'm working on raising the 10K required to pull my photo OFF Facebook ; ) Anyone need any shoveling done??? But it would seem we ended up down to the wire. Neck and neck to find out who the best model citizen was within our small group. Because let's face it, if you we not deemed one of the LOSERS! you really had led a 'sheltered and proper' life. The final two were Vicki and Heather. Gollygee and Littlmoon pulled out a stack of questions and started firing away questions like it was the speed round! Both ladies needed two more letters. The nodding of heads continued. I mean these ladies are downright upstanding citizens! But all of a sudden things changed - they each had to take a letter! The battle was tight! The sweat was beading up on the backs of everyone's neck as we listened and watched. Who would it be? Who was the next to fall off of society's straight and narrow and who would be left holding the silk ribbon of perfection? Well it was....
So after we found our winner and the two photos we taken, we shuffled up the deck and hauled out the game of all games. The Newlywed Game. Now in December, this almost brought the marriage of Wildcats to the brink of diaster. Would the same happen with any of the grouping here tonight? Lets see? I must have a wicked twisted sense of humor. Because as I had left Ron at home, my game partner for the evenings foolishness was my poor teenager. This would turn either very embarassing or extremely funny. Time would tell. So the usual questions started to float around the room. And as was with poor Wildcats, those that had been married the longest, struggled the most with this game. Some had no idea how to answer questions for fear of the doghouse, while others couldn't answer the questions because it had been so long. Which room was first, again? Hmmm... bedroom to bedroom was deemed boring. Park to Corvette probably raised eyes, but trying to figure out which room had the most storage space was by far the funniest!
Now is the garage a room in the house or not? And what do we call the second bedroom/office/playroom? What would you consider embarrasing in your bedside table? Or would it be more embarrasing if you never opened the drawers so you were completely clueless that they even opened let alone hold things! And let me tell you - many of those drawers hold lots of the same things! The real fun was in how the wording would match up. Was it the pink one? Maybe the other one? But honestly, do we remember the color - because surely color is not important in the dark! But again, one couple fell to the Wildcat phenenomen. Why? Hmmm... I think I'll have to plead the fifth. Because he couldn't remember because it had been so long.
Another truely hysterical evening spent in Saco. Now if we can have this much fun while stuck inside on a cold February evening, with most of us not drinking - just imagine the foolishness we get into when its outside and we are truely running amuck! But for now, another game night over. And the final count on the Newlywed Game - Ashley and I won. Now consider that for a minute and I think everyone knows WAY to much about mud!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Simple Joys in life
So after an evening of melancholy, its time to turn the page. Life marches on and Terri would want that as well. So this morning, after not much sleep... I rolled out of bed at 5:30am. This is normally very late for me - but on a Sunday morning, its definitely sleeping in (okay it would have been if I had slept.) But my brain was moving - so my body had to follow.
Like almost everyone I know - I have a routine in the morning. And when its altered, I quickly turn into a fledgling fool. This morning Ron got up with me. Now during the week, I'm up at 4:30 and out of the house 2 hours before he even puts his feet on the floor. So when he gets up with me on a Sunday morning - I wonder what's up? cause its usually just me. Evidently the excitement wasn't - he just wanted to get up. Now I'm wondering why? You finally came to bed last night at midnight after talking to the guy who lives across the street who was shoveling his roof at 11:30 at night (this is normal, right?)
So he got up. said three words to me and then disappeared outside. Hmmm... okay - I'm already off my tracks. What am I supposed to be doing? Oh yeah, check AQ. Quiet this early in the morning, joined all the postals listed, no messages in my inbox, and nothing I need to look at. Let's jump over to Facebook. Have to park my cars, look through the Scavenger Hunt pages, send gifts to Ashley so her numbers can be higher than Sean's (LOL), Escape from whatever twisted form of capture I've been thrown into, search for tiles for my words and out of nowhere... ping. I have a message. Now who on earth is chatting with me at this hour? LOL! Seems The Dazzler was also up and restless. Chatted for a bit, signed off to get dressed, jumped in the car and headed off to meet up with Teacup. Said a quick goodbye to Ron who was now sleeping on the couch, and told him I'd be home by 10am.
Half way to Teacup's house my stomach started grumbling bad! I started to reflect. When was the last time I ate? Damn. Not only did I not have my coffee cup with me - but I didn't eat anything since yesterday at 3:30 when Ron cooked scallops. No wonder my stomach was protesting. But no time to stop - I had to be at Tea's house by 7. And the sun was well up in the sky already. Daylight was slipping by and we still were not inky! I was going to drive, but damn. The other thing I forgot - my coolant light had been coming on and off for 4 days. Not feeling overly lucky, I thought Tea should drive. So a quick switch of vehicles we were off.
Now in case you haven't been following this - there is a small rat race going on between Team MudCup and Team Jiffyracer... why, frankly we do not know. Because our only true goal is to get it off Tea's list. Do we have to be first, not really. It just needs to get crossed off at some point. Team Jiffyracer has decided they need to up the ante and get there before us - so they can leave us notes. This has also happened on occasion with The DazzlingKoko team as well. Team MudCup is not what you would classify as competitive. Evidently this is a bad boxing trait. I think somewhere on the AQ site in teeny tiny letters it must say in a subordinate clause "You must get there first or you will be perpetually slammed in logbooks lingering in waiting Lock and Locks all over the country." I will say I've looked for this clause on AQ numerous times. Actually thought I found it once or twice, but would always disappear like a pile of ashes when I clicked on the link.
But as we headed off to Gorham yet once again, (Koko is in desperate need of company) to pick up the ever elusive BOM, we knew before getting there that Team Jiffyracer had beaten us to the punch. Now we have a two for two average of pulling up to this location, and needing to trudge through snow. I was ready - I had on my Bean boots and if I needed to I could probably toss a rope down to the box and drag it across the frozen tundra. But first we had to get there. And our first obstacle was the south bound toll plaza! Damn toll is now a buck! Tea threw the change back into her console and we fished out the credit card! We paid our blood money and continued south. We pulled into the location... and alas - there was a well beaten path to the location!
A quick grab and I had the box in hand and headed back to the car. So it was 7:30, the sun was up - and for the fourth month in a row, Koko did not meet us with coffee and tea. A quick thought of pounding on the front door ran through my head, but I went back to the car instead. Now this was a twofer month. Love was tickling Phil the groundhog. Evidently Team Jiffyracer thought poor Phil should have been red... but we opted to color him in brown. Trying to be careful, we replaced the stamps and read the note left us. We logged in and sealed everything back up. Koko also felt he needed to downsize the location's holding vessel. The smaller cooler was precariously perched on the open end of a bucket.
Now the logical side of me was thinking, why didn't he flip the bucket over so it would sit flat? And tried as I might, I could not get it to sit flat. It kept flipping off the edge of the bucket. Oh to hell with it. I tipped it sideways into the bucket and was done with it, until next month! The return home had us making a quick u-turn to look in a fruitless location for Koko's latest mind annoyance. But we could cross that off as a possibility. Heading north is now 2 bucks! UGH! 3 dollars for 4 images! We were thinking Koko really needed to provide 3 images for the rest of the months to make it worth while. Either that or start planting in Gorham so we have other boxes to look for while we are in the area!
Now in case you haven't heard - Koko and I are co-hosting a small little meeting in March in Freeport. What does this mean on a Sunday morning? A quick car ride through town looking for potential hidey holes for boxes. And oh the places we found! Of course we also tried to do some box maintenance on one of Tea's boxes. For the next few weeks it is an extreme box! And anyone who can dig this box out and bring it to the gather - Tea says she'll have a bonus stamp for you!
We tooled around town and clicked off possible locations in our heads. Found maps to help with the planting a seeking and contemplated possibilities for newer locations, both temporary and permanent.
So I made it home by 10am and no one was there. My family had ditched me! But that didn't last long. Before long I was scrapbooking with Veronica, helping Ashley with her homework poster collage and watching Christopher sing and dance to Mama Mia, again! I carved a little, made a batch of chili for dinner with cornbread. Knocked the ice off my parent's roof right above their back door and shoveled the back walk between our houses. Ron filled my radiator and fixed the flat tire on Christopher's tricycle.
So much to do, so many things happening and so many things to come. No more time spent on being melancholy. While memories will stay with me, its time to start making even more of them! And just when you think its safe... you'll find out that Team MudCup has done something you weren't expecting. So much more to come in the next few months!
Like almost everyone I know - I have a routine in the morning. And when its altered, I quickly turn into a fledgling fool. This morning Ron got up with me. Now during the week, I'm up at 4:30 and out of the house 2 hours before he even puts his feet on the floor. So when he gets up with me on a Sunday morning - I wonder what's up? cause its usually just me. Evidently the excitement wasn't - he just wanted to get up. Now I'm wondering why? You finally came to bed last night at midnight after talking to the guy who lives across the street who was shoveling his roof at 11:30 at night (this is normal, right?)
So he got up. said three words to me and then disappeared outside. Hmmm... okay - I'm already off my tracks. What am I supposed to be doing? Oh yeah, check AQ. Quiet this early in the morning, joined all the postals listed, no messages in my inbox, and nothing I need to look at. Let's jump over to Facebook. Have to park my cars, look through the Scavenger Hunt pages, send gifts to Ashley so her numbers can be higher than Sean's (LOL), Escape from whatever twisted form of capture I've been thrown into, search for tiles for my words and out of nowhere... ping. I have a message. Now who on earth is chatting with me at this hour? LOL! Seems The Dazzler was also up and restless. Chatted for a bit, signed off to get dressed, jumped in the car and headed off to meet up with Teacup. Said a quick goodbye to Ron who was now sleeping on the couch, and told him I'd be home by 10am.
Half way to Teacup's house my stomach started grumbling bad! I started to reflect. When was the last time I ate? Damn. Not only did I not have my coffee cup with me - but I didn't eat anything since yesterday at 3:30 when Ron cooked scallops. No wonder my stomach was protesting. But no time to stop - I had to be at Tea's house by 7. And the sun was well up in the sky already. Daylight was slipping by and we still were not inky! I was going to drive, but damn. The other thing I forgot - my coolant light had been coming on and off for 4 days. Not feeling overly lucky, I thought Tea should drive. So a quick switch of vehicles we were off.
Now in case you haven't been following this - there is a small rat race going on between Team MudCup and Team Jiffyracer... why, frankly we do not know. Because our only true goal is to get it off Tea's list. Do we have to be first, not really. It just needs to get crossed off at some point. Team Jiffyracer has decided they need to up the ante and get there before us - so they can leave us notes. This has also happened on occasion with The DazzlingKoko team as well. Team MudCup is not what you would classify as competitive. Evidently this is a bad boxing trait. I think somewhere on the AQ site in teeny tiny letters it must say in a subordinate clause "You must get there first or you will be perpetually slammed in logbooks lingering in waiting Lock and Locks all over the country." I will say I've looked for this clause on AQ numerous times. Actually thought I found it once or twice, but would always disappear like a pile of ashes when I clicked on the link.
But as we headed off to Gorham yet once again, (Koko is in desperate need of company) to pick up the ever elusive BOM, we knew before getting there that Team Jiffyracer had beaten us to the punch. Now we have a two for two average of pulling up to this location, and needing to trudge through snow. I was ready - I had on my Bean boots and if I needed to I could probably toss a rope down to the box and drag it across the frozen tundra. But first we had to get there. And our first obstacle was the south bound toll plaza! Damn toll is now a buck! Tea threw the change back into her console and we fished out the credit card! We paid our blood money and continued south. We pulled into the location... and alas - there was a well beaten path to the location!
A quick grab and I had the box in hand and headed back to the car. So it was 7:30, the sun was up - and for the fourth month in a row, Koko did not meet us with coffee and tea. A quick thought of pounding on the front door ran through my head, but I went back to the car instead. Now this was a twofer month. Love was tickling Phil the groundhog. Evidently Team Jiffyracer thought poor Phil should have been red... but we opted to color him in brown. Trying to be careful, we replaced the stamps and read the note left us. We logged in and sealed everything back up. Koko also felt he needed to downsize the location's holding vessel. The smaller cooler was precariously perched on the open end of a bucket.
Now the logical side of me was thinking, why didn't he flip the bucket over so it would sit flat? And tried as I might, I could not get it to sit flat. It kept flipping off the edge of the bucket. Oh to hell with it. I tipped it sideways into the bucket and was done with it, until next month! The return home had us making a quick u-turn to look in a fruitless location for Koko's latest mind annoyance. But we could cross that off as a possibility. Heading north is now 2 bucks! UGH! 3 dollars for 4 images! We were thinking Koko really needed to provide 3 images for the rest of the months to make it worth while. Either that or start planting in Gorham so we have other boxes to look for while we are in the area!
Now in case you haven't heard - Koko and I are co-hosting a small little meeting in March in Freeport. What does this mean on a Sunday morning? A quick car ride through town looking for potential hidey holes for boxes. And oh the places we found! Of course we also tried to do some box maintenance on one of Tea's boxes. For the next few weeks it is an extreme box! And anyone who can dig this box out and bring it to the gather - Tea says she'll have a bonus stamp for you!
We tooled around town and clicked off possible locations in our heads. Found maps to help with the planting a seeking and contemplated possibilities for newer locations, both temporary and permanent.
So I made it home by 10am and no one was there. My family had ditched me! But that didn't last long. Before long I was scrapbooking with Veronica, helping Ashley with her homework poster collage and watching Christopher sing and dance to Mama Mia, again! I carved a little, made a batch of chili for dinner with cornbread. Knocked the ice off my parent's roof right above their back door and shoveled the back walk between our houses. Ron filled my radiator and fixed the flat tire on Christopher's tricycle.
So much to do, so many things happening and so many things to come. No more time spent on being melancholy. While memories will stay with me, its time to start making even more of them! And just when you think its safe... you'll find out that Team MudCup has done something you weren't expecting. So much more to come in the next few months!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
All Things Equal
I know folks were waiting to read my 'witty' summary of the mini meet at the Maine Bean, but to all I should apologize up front. I wasn't in the mood to feel witty and still find it hard to pull the lighter side out of this day for me. I started the day by attending the memorial service for a friend. It was harder than I would have thought, but I was thankful that I had attended. My seventeen year old daughter, Ashley went with me. And together we quickly went through the pack of tissues I had stashed in my bag.
So many memories about Terri were shared by her mother, father, sister, son and her best friend. I looked around and felt like I should have gotten up and said something in her honor. I was one of only two who attended from LL Bean, where Terri and I had met and she had worked for over seven years. So many tales I could have shared with her family. Memories of how she lifted me up when I was going through one of the worst times of my life and how we celebrated the end of my divorce, which ironically landed on her birthday. How we ran off to Rangeley for the weekend to have a girls weekend away after a stressful event at work - only to have one of the guys show up because his marriage was falling apart and he needed shoulders to cry on.
How she decided we should go out and celebrate for my 30th birthday. Old Orchard Beach listening to a live band and walking on the beach barefoot. But I'm still not sure how I ended up the designated driver home, only to get pulled over by the Scarborough police, have my car searched and be told by them that I needed to pick my friends better while she giggled standing at the front of my car as she was being searched for illegal stuff.
Terri would show up at Ashley's performances at school, and when she left Beans we drifted apart. Partially because we lost a common bond, mostly because neither of us took the time to keep the friendship together. Before Christmas I saw her son at work. That's when I learned that she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and only had a couple of weeks to live. This spun my past fast and furiously in front of me. Bring old memories to the forefront of my mind. A week later I attended the funeral of my 28 year old niece who died unexpectedly when she was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and died while she was being prepped in the ER.
Two deaths in a month can rattle anyone's cage. I was with Terri two days before she died. I held her hand and she tried to tell me something. I thought for sure because of the medication she was on that she was confused. But she held fast and held on tight. She knew something was wrong with her. She begged me to help her fix it. I was with her when she had a brain tumor operated on a few years ago. The doctors were able to fix that. I was heart broken when I had to tell her we couldn't fix it this time. The desperation in her eyes was crushing. I asked her mother, who had been staying with Terri in the hospice if she had been told that the cancer she had was fatal and she nodded.
Somewhere inside of me, it felt like Terri was holding out hope that if I had been there the last time and managed to help make the tumor go away - seeing me would bring the same ray of hope. To be the one to take that ray of hope away from someone, watch the light drain out of her eyes as understanding sunk in, was devastating to me. Its not like I hadn't seen death before, because I have had more around me die than most. I think I can handle the idea of it, but deep down - every time someone dies, they take a piece of me with them. A piece of light that we shared together forever extinguished.
So sitting there as her family shared their memories, I tucked the memories we had shared deeper inside. Feeling selfish that I wasn't strong enough to share them with those that were there to remember her. So once we met up with Teacup, needless to say, my light was slightly dimmer and I didn't really have the energy to put on a truly happy face for everyone. While I enjoyed the company, it was overshadowed by remorse. I came home very inky, carted away 3 of the coveted eclairs, a whoppie pie and 2 cupcakes for my family and pretended everything was happy in my world.
So for those of you looking for the thrills and adventures of what happened at the Maine Bean, I again apologize. While I was there in body, I was not there in heart and soul. Jiffy arranged for a great meet and it was attended by a couple newbies and a few regulars. The stamps were wonderful and I'm thankful I attended because it did bring some light into the shadows of my heart. But a witty summary will have to be handled by others that were there. Because for me, my light was still greatly hiding in the shadows of the passing of a good friend, and the sorrow of a friendship lost.
So many memories about Terri were shared by her mother, father, sister, son and her best friend. I looked around and felt like I should have gotten up and said something in her honor. I was one of only two who attended from LL Bean, where Terri and I had met and she had worked for over seven years. So many tales I could have shared with her family. Memories of how she lifted me up when I was going through one of the worst times of my life and how we celebrated the end of my divorce, which ironically landed on her birthday. How we ran off to Rangeley for the weekend to have a girls weekend away after a stressful event at work - only to have one of the guys show up because his marriage was falling apart and he needed shoulders to cry on.
How she decided we should go out and celebrate for my 30th birthday. Old Orchard Beach listening to a live band and walking on the beach barefoot. But I'm still not sure how I ended up the designated driver home, only to get pulled over by the Scarborough police, have my car searched and be told by them that I needed to pick my friends better while she giggled standing at the front of my car as she was being searched for illegal stuff.
Terri would show up at Ashley's performances at school, and when she left Beans we drifted apart. Partially because we lost a common bond, mostly because neither of us took the time to keep the friendship together. Before Christmas I saw her son at work. That's when I learned that she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and only had a couple of weeks to live. This spun my past fast and furiously in front of me. Bring old memories to the forefront of my mind. A week later I attended the funeral of my 28 year old niece who died unexpectedly when she was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery and died while she was being prepped in the ER.
Two deaths in a month can rattle anyone's cage. I was with Terri two days before she died. I held her hand and she tried to tell me something. I thought for sure because of the medication she was on that she was confused. But she held fast and held on tight. She knew something was wrong with her. She begged me to help her fix it. I was with her when she had a brain tumor operated on a few years ago. The doctors were able to fix that. I was heart broken when I had to tell her we couldn't fix it this time. The desperation in her eyes was crushing. I asked her mother, who had been staying with Terri in the hospice if she had been told that the cancer she had was fatal and she nodded.
Somewhere inside of me, it felt like Terri was holding out hope that if I had been there the last time and managed to help make the tumor go away - seeing me would bring the same ray of hope. To be the one to take that ray of hope away from someone, watch the light drain out of her eyes as understanding sunk in, was devastating to me. Its not like I hadn't seen death before, because I have had more around me die than most. I think I can handle the idea of it, but deep down - every time someone dies, they take a piece of me with them. A piece of light that we shared together forever extinguished.
So sitting there as her family shared their memories, I tucked the memories we had shared deeper inside. Feeling selfish that I wasn't strong enough to share them with those that were there to remember her. So once we met up with Teacup, needless to say, my light was slightly dimmer and I didn't really have the energy to put on a truly happy face for everyone. While I enjoyed the company, it was overshadowed by remorse. I came home very inky, carted away 3 of the coveted eclairs, a whoppie pie and 2 cupcakes for my family and pretended everything was happy in my world.
So for those of you looking for the thrills and adventures of what happened at the Maine Bean, I again apologize. While I was there in body, I was not there in heart and soul. Jiffy arranged for a great meet and it was attended by a couple newbies and a few regulars. The stamps were wonderful and I'm thankful I attended because it did bring some light into the shadows of my heart. But a witty summary will have to be handled by others that were there. Because for me, my light was still greatly hiding in the shadows of the passing of a good friend, and the sorrow of a friendship lost.
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