Springing In The Rain and A Hometown Return

Ok, so I left off with our adventures at Hubbard Park in Meriden, CT on Saturday, March 24th.  The next day, BB3 and I got up, a little later than the day before, and while I didn't get a great night's sleep, I did get more and somewhat better sleep than I did the night before.  My mom had to go into work from 6 - 8 that morning for a meeting, then come home, and THEN go back to work at noon - what a pain in the tookus!  But at least we got to spend a little more time with her before we left for the day.  Once she went to work, we finished loading the car, locked up the house, said good-bye to Jasmine and Lucky (mom's dogsters), and headed back to Hubbard Park.

We got back over there and started by finding a few of the nearby boxes that we missed the day before.  We found one in a section that had some storm damage, but the box was in sorry shape.  The other over in that small section we suspect was vandalized.  Then we crossed the bridge and headed up a steep winding section to get some of the boxes up by the radio towers.

The radio towers At Hubbard

Unbeknownst to us at the time, we passed by a set of two boxes on the way up - I mistakingly thought they were in a different section of the park, and we probably brushed right past them!  Dummy me!  Anyway, as you can see, the sky was pretty dark, and once we got to the top, it started sprinkling.  We found a few boxes, then the rain got a little heavier.  Gotta press on, though, and fortunately we had an umbrella.  A few more boxes, an attempt, and then we walked the road over to the side where the castle is.  Tigs has a pic of me up in the tower from the day before, that I keep meaning to ask her for a copy of.  (Hint, hint tigster!).  We found another box here, and then...

* Please note - This is the part where, after tigs reads this, she is gonna craft a voodoo doll of me and do unspeakable things, such as clip my nails way too short and color my teeth with permanent markers instead of Marvies.  *

We headed along a trail to find the elusive AMC box that was up here somewhere.  You see, we started to look for this box the day before because we were in the general area, but it was getting dark and people were getting tired, so we decided to make our way back down the slopes and return to Teek's.  Tigs had brought up this box several times that day, and wanted to find it, but we knew it would take a little time, and we were running out of it that day.

Anyway, BB3 and I headed down this trail, checking the picture, looking for the right spot, but it was a tricky one.  We kept on going and going, and all of a sudden BB3 stopped and was motioning in front of me.

Can you see her?

Maybe this one will help...

About 30 - 40 feet away from me was a large doe that I almost kept walking into.  Most deer I've come across take off in a heartbeat, but this one wasn't all that shy of us, though we kept some distance so as not to spook her.  And unfortunately, all I had this trip was my phone for a camera, so I couldn't get any close-ups of her, and she was much closer than it looks in the pic.  Oh, well.

So, we moved on, skirting the doe, but soon realized we had gone too far.  So, we started back-tracking, and carefully studying the area and the pic.  We almost started to give up hope, but then as I kept reading and re-reading, something clicked in my head, and I searched a little differently.  Then, after more moving and looking, I came to a spot, looked, and shouted, "I've got it!  Woo Hoo!!!!"  I have to say, that the thrill of the hunt for this one sure made it a special and memorable find!

After finding this treasure, we headed down the mountain, found a few more boxes, then made our way back to the car and started our long trek home.  We had spent longer there that day than we had originally planned, but it ended up being well worth it.  When we left that day, we left only two boxes unfound or attempted in the entire Hubbard Park.  Yup.  Those two.  Dummy me!  But, we'll be back some day for them, hopefully sometime in the not-so-distant future...

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Ok, now we're gonna fast-forward to the next week.  On April Fool's Day (how appropriate for me) we headed over to Pelham and Windham, NH to hunt for the boxes in that area.  But you see, I've been wanting to go there for some time now, because that area holds special significance for me.  My first home as a child was in Windham, in a house that my father built, and there's an entire story in this first sentance.  Also, my grandfather lived most of his life in Pelham, and he is now buried there as well.  So this trip held many memories for me, and it did not dissappoint.  All day as we moved around and visited places, I had vague and intriguing memories and familiarities come back to me, which was unlike any boxing experience to date.  You see, I haven't been back to Windham since childhood, and Pelham since my grandfather's funeral.  And he, I might add, is truly missed.

We had a really fun day - we took my truck and brought our bikes for part of the rail trails, got to visit some cool and memorable places, found a box thought to be lost, met up with Honig603 and family along the way, and also met a geocaching couple who were really nice - who knew?  (JK!)  I could ramble on and on, but instead, I'll give you a set of pics and leave it there.  But on a final note, thanks to everyone involved in bringing me back "home", and for making it a special day for me indeed!

A lovely and interesting view from a secluded spot in Pelham.

BB3 at the Windham town beach.

Hunting for a box at Searles Castle.

Just incase there are any doubts...

I'd never seen skunk cabbage flowers before, and I'm still fascinated by them...

Hey, doesn't this look similar to an event that happened down south, where a certain tragedy occurred?  ;)