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!