Columbus Weekend Adventures

Team MudCup's final big boxing weekend of the year had finally arrived. Shrouded in mystery and misdirection as we didn't want to let the cat out of the bag. We were heading over the border. And further than just feet over the border - we were taking the big step and heading across two borders into MA. Teacup had been planning the trip for weeks. Clue sheets perused and proof read prior to printing. Countless e-mails back and forth over which boxes we wanted to tackle the most. We were heading into the belly of the beast and wanted to make the most of it.



Like always - we had a few criteria before printing things off. We wanted to get images from as many different carvers to us as possible. We wanted some interesting looking series - planter's choices usually out weigh blue diamonds for us - but if they are both they hold the most weight. We needed to hit at least a couple of cemeteries and if we could hit a couple series when we stopped at once - that was always another plus. By the time Teacup had finished printing - she had filled a 1" binder full of clues and maps. She went and took the BIG step and purchased a MA gazetteer. This meant true commitment to the adventure. Cause frankly - once you drop $20 on a map - you really do need to use it! She even did a few cold calls to get even more information. She managed to get this HONKING huge map that we thought we were going to have to trade the car in for a bigger one just to use it. Andover was almost life sized! And then she managed to get an elusive out-of-print trail guide from a local sporting shop. We even had trip guides from AAA. We were armed with all sorts of paperwork - ready to take on the northeast area of MA in two short days.



But we had a slight quandary - Andover has hundreds of boxes to pick from - and so many diamonds they make every girls eyes spin from excitement. Somehow Teacup managed to filter through all of the clues and pick a few she thought we'd both enjoy. And to make sure we would be kept busy, she printed a few more of just in case we had a little extra time on our hands! What a lark. A few days prior to launch - I get this e-mail. Are there any boxes you want to go after in Andover? Are you kidding? I looked up Andover about a month ago and quickly left. One person plotting a trip is good - two hands in the pot make for a very murky and messy trip. So I closed that search down and headed back home to Maine, by way of NH. But that's another trip entirely! So I e-mailed Teacup back and told her she was on her own. Whatever she picked - was a good list for me. She always picks a great variety and tries to pick assorted levels of hikes/drive-bys and brain bashers to get us into enough trouble that we end up doubled over holding our stomachs laughing. I had no fears of her choices.

To make sure I would be completely satisfied with her choices - I was sent the itinerary three days before we were to leave. I quickly looked at the list - a mere 68 listing to take a gander at. Hmmm... 68 to choose from. I wonder if that will be enough? 68??!! Man, we'll have to start in the wee small hours of the morning and pray for a full moon to guide us through the night! Its besides the point that you are generally chased out of state parks by bullwhips at dusk... there's always cemeteries to crawl around, right? So I printed off the list and tucked it into my bag. Come to find out - those clues, plus directions filled and 1" binder to the point of explosion... yup - we were packed to rumble in the jungle. Or forest in our case.

Last year our Columbus weekend was a three day event. We scaled back by one day as Teacup had to work the Saturday of the weekend. So while she was toiling away the hours - I started my day with a quick morning meeting at work (gotta love a working vacation.) The fact that it started at 4:30am was nothing to crow about... yawning the whole way - by the time the meeting was over - my coffee was gone and I was just beginning to wake up! Headed home to make a quiche - or two. Packed up stuff and headed south to a stamping party for the OMG planning committee. I arrived earlier than I had intended, but gollygee was hospitable and let me in even though she was going to bed when I was waking up for my meting... Six hours later and with very inky hands, I headed back north.

Now my darling husband has but a few wishes in life. One one of them is... if I'm traveling the turnpike and happen to go by Popeyes - can I please bring him home biscuits and gravy. Only now he has upgraded to wanting shrimp - damn commercials! I attempted to procure these elusive creatures for my husband a couple weekends ago with Teacup only to find out that they shut their fryers off at 7:30pm and we were too late. So leaving gollygees house at 6pm... I should have had plenty of time to get them this time. I pulled into the parking lot and walked into the rest area. The freaks of the nation had all been dumped by alien spaceship in front of Popeyes! They had to have known I was coming - and sold EVERYTHING before I got there. By the time I had killed 15 minutes in line and was close enough to the front to hear that they were out of shrimp and rolls and that the biscuits would be another 10 minutes - I threw my hands up in the air and walked out. This was beginning to turn into Mission Impossible!

Back in my car - and once again heading north - I sped along towards Freeport so I could meet up with Ashley, Veronica and Patty. Now after my morning meeting I swung into the Hunt Fish to pick up camo duct tape. While there I enjoyed a wonderful power outage. So now, 13 hours later - what could I possibly look forward to? Well thankfully - things went smoother than my two previous shopping experiences of the day and we got what we came for and headed home so I could pack for my trip with Teacup. I quickly gathered all my stuff and piled it in the living room - because Ashley took my car to a party at a friends house. She promised she'd be home before I needed to leave at 4:30am. (Home by 4:30am???? Oh to be a college student again, not!)

Well just as promised, she walked into the house as I came out of the bathroom. Scared the daylights out of me - but she was home in time. She was going to drive me to Teacups house and then use my car over the weekend. At 4:30 - she opted out of that plan and went to bed instead. So I loaded my car with clothes, laptop, boxing supplies and my mittens. Since I had managed to miss the weather reports - I wanted to be prepared. I left my house at 4:40am and pulled into Teacup's driveway at 4:50 ready to transfer to her car. Darn - I forgot all my NH stuff. So much for picking up a couple drive-bys along the way!

I rapped lightly on her door - because I'm pretty sure everyone else in her house didn't really want to get up at the crack of dawn. Nothing. I rapped a little harder. Still nothing. Hmmm. In a brief phone call the night before I did mention that I'd arrive between 5 and 6. Teacup must have figured I'd never crawl out of bed in order to be at her house by 5. Okay - so I decided to go get a cup of coffee. Too early for Dunkin Donuts - I had to suffer with Tim Hortons. And boy are they a jovial bunch early in the morning! Coffee and donut in hand - back to Teacup's house where now she was moving about. Seems she was in the shower while I was a knocking on her window. So after fixing my coffee to something a little more palatable - we loaded up the car and headed south.

I was immediately handed the binder, atlas, tripticket, and gazetteer. Time to navigate! Luckily for us - we did know the way to the border. It was after we crossed over that things started to get sticky. We paid our exit toll in Maine and prayed they let us back in after our weekend of disloyalty to our beloved Maine. Just bout the time we paid the toll in New Hampshire, Teacup started to get a little quiet. By the time we hit the MA border - she stopped breathing. We followed the navigational markers towards our first stop in Rowley. Just stepping into a cemetery helped Teacup to start breathing once again. We inked up our first image - and Teacup was fully restored! Ready to tackle the unknown and almost ready to tackle MA. But first we needed food.

Another lesson learned from last year - food is a requirement when boxing or your brain starts to shut down. Navigational thoughts turn to jelly without food and water. Who knew? So we pulled into this charming little diner and had breakfast. It was one of the smallest diners I've ever been in. And frankly - I'm surprised its managed to maintain its name. Named after a Native American tribe and all. In Maine - everything referencing Indian tribes had to be changed a while ago - so this was a very cool surprise. Hopped up on hash and french toast - we headed off in the direction of our next location. The only clue I suggested to add was one in Salem. So we thought we would swing into Salem and beat feet out before anyone caught us there.

Now I have pretty good navigational skills. And I'm usually pretty good at multi-tasking. But we were chatting and looking at the architecture and some of the unique locations and before we knew it we were almost in Boston! By the time we saw the exit sign for the Tobin bridge - Teacup was ready to turn the car around and head north - back to Maine. There was no way she was driving in Boston. So we navigated around a bit. Literally fell into the center of Lynn and opted to skip Salem since we were already at the third location on our itinerary.

So we pulled into the location of Lynn, Lynn the City of... series by Lundy and Vickster. Pulling into the park, it was relatively quiet. But I was in need of a bathroom before attempting the series. Noticing the port-o-potties I headed off only to find that they were locked! Dang. After finding the park range - he unlocked them and gave me some interesting information. It seems we were there the same day that 1600 people were expected in the park for the Pirate's Day event! 1600 people? How the heck are you supposed to be stealthy around 1600 pirates??? Damn. But we were there 2 hours before they were supposed to arrive - so off we went. The only advice we were given was to stay clear of Dungeon Rock. Not a problem I thought - we weren't going after that box. Or so I thought!

We found our first few boxes without issue. The local cross country team was also out on the trails. In the beginning I thought this was a cool place to run cross country. Then we started to climb - and I thought all of them running were absolutely nuts! The acorns alone would have me tissle end up in a heart beat! But we navigated around for about an hour or so without to much of a problem - well other than when we did get to Dungeon Rock. We found the location of the box we were looking for - sort of. It was shifted off to the side a bit and more in the open than it was supposed to be. As soon as we started to uncover it - I knew we had the wrong box. Opening it up - I realized we had the Dungeon box that we didn't have the clues for. Dang! It seems somehow someone had managed to switch the locations.

A quick phone call home to get the clues read to us for the other box - we started to try and do a rescue. Out of nowhere a truck arrived with one pirate who started to unload all sorts of paraphernalia. Dang... the pirates were early! So we had to abandon our rescue mission and move along. We really wanted to get out of the park before it was filled with people. We continued along reaching a couple of the other boxes without too much of a problem. Almost run over by a couple of joggers. Mind you we did step off the trail to let them pass - how were we supposed to know we stepped directly into the path that they were taking? As we stamped up another image just off the trail - two truckload of pirates drove past us. Seemed sort of odd - as we thought they arrived by ship not in the back of a pickup, but what the heck?

But again I digress. So we headed off for the clue to Shoe City. And low and behold there was a pink pirate flag in the path. Stepping into the woods as quietly as we could so as not to arise the suspicions of the pirates guarding the trail ahead - we stamped up quickly behind a tree. By the time we made it back to the trail - they had moved their flag to higher ground and had laid claim to the hillside on the far side of the trail. We just continued along. The next to last box we quickly found and stamped up. It now seemed like we were hearing voices at every turn. Pirates were starting to take over. We quickly moved along to the final box. The roar of the pirates was much louder now. Oh wait! That's a DJ not a bunch of pirates! So we stepped into the rose garden with music thumping loudly below us! Truly an odd hiking/boxing experience!

We lingered just a bit to enjoy the last location which we presume is spectacular in the summer during the peak of flower season. But even in the morning of a warm fall day - it was a lovely place to enjoy a wonderful find. Box stamped up with a hiker included - we set off back to the car. Not a moment to soon as the parking lot was filling to capacity. Parking on the lawn and along the roads leading up to the park entrance. We avoided having to walk the plank and escaped the holds of the pirates! Without a moment to loose - we aimed the car towards Andover! For we still had many more boxes on the list and some of them had to be completed before daylight left us.