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!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
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!
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