A Sunday Walk

Strolling by a sunny lake.

We saw a Brown Thrasher.

Two Northern Water Snakes.

A geocache from 2002.

We added our mark to the inside.

Robin's Eggs!

On the western side of our apartment building.

Exploring Gotham

I finally took the non-stop bus into Gotham City. RGBisMe had a few things to do this week but was driving into the city to meet me on May Day - yay! Before he joined me I had a few interesting experiences and did quite a bit of exploring. I have had little time nor reason to be in the city on my own before and this was my chance to check out personal points of interest and be a tourist. Not everything I was most interested in is in any tour book but in the future I do plan on taking a walking tour to check out Gargoyles sometime. I might not buy into a package deal but probably seek them out on my own.

I wanted to start to explore the moment the bus let out in Chinatown so I decided to pack light, micro-light. I paired down my luggage to stuffing my purse full. Granted I planned on staying with with Asrai and Ravenboy so I could count on them for a few things but I could have stayed in The Pod and been just as fine with what I had packed. This included a change of clothing for 2 days, toiletries, money and letterboxing supplies. It was supposed to rain on and off for the whole time I was going to be in the city so I also wore a rain coat.

I did a little exploring around Chinatown right off. I didn't have time to go to the arcade to play any DDR but did find a letterbox and also hid one in that general area of the city. I don't think the one I hid will stay for very long but stranger things have happened.

I started navigating the city in the MTA. I got pretty good at knowing where to get on, transferring and navigating the underground pilgrimages from stop to stop. My first of many trips last week was to get myself to Union Square by 2pm to meet Asrai at nearby 890 Broadway. I made it by 1:30 and had time to take in the Farmer's Market. Just as I was grabbing an organic vegan carrot raisin cookie, Asrai appeared. We took advantage of the extra half hour to shop in a couple of nearby stores. She bought a back brace for teaching in her circus arts classes and I looked at the cool catware at Fishs Eddy. We soon met Ravenboy and had some lunch at Whole Foods.

Every moment I spent with Ravenboy and Asrai reminded me of how lucky I was to know them. Generous in every with kind spirits, they loved sharing stories, ideas and opened their home and lives to me completely. Being with them makes the time without them around feel very superficial and without depth. I actually have to forget just how special they are until I am with them again or I would be very lonely most of the year. I know I can speak for RGBisMe as well, we love them very much.

We spent Ravenboy's break exploring from Union Square to Washington Square and back. They showed me where they went to go hear Dieselboy spin at club Love. Like many clubs in Gotham, there is no indicator or sign of the nightclub inside, you have to know the address and boldly venture into the unmarked door. They were given the wrong address and went to the wrong location. By the time they realized and corrected their error, they were too tired to go to the performance.

There are so many cool nooks and crannies around Greenwich Village. Washington Mews, MacDougal Alley, Patchin Place, Cherry Alley, Fat Cat jazz club, and many other locations make this area a must to explore. Ravenboy once cut through the local pizza/pita place about 1AM on his way to Fat Cat and saw the late Heath Ledger grabbing a slice there. Greenwich Village, a very cool area.

After spending a completely chill evening with my family and resting well, I started out the next morning experiencing Ravenboy's typical morning commute. I promised not to slow him down and road the express subway down to Union Square with him. I bid him a good day of rehearsals and about 9:45 AM set off on my own to board the N train to Coney Island. The ride ended up taking close to 40 minutes and I was glad to have taken a book to read. The last 20 minutes were in Brooklyn. The train came above ground as it left Manhattan and I was able to enjoy looking out and around. I could see the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance as we crossed the East River and about 10 minutes later I was able to smell the sea in the air each time the train cars opened.

Not many people will understand my wanting to visit a place like Coney Island when it is not open. I think there is an amazingly spooky charm to amusement parks when there is no one around. I am am also quite intimidated by large crowds of people so this allowed me to enjoy a few attractions without the added stress of so many people being around. The boardwalk had very few people on it except for around the entrance to the New York Aquarium where bus loads of children lined the path the entire way to the board walk. Their excited chatter filled the area as I walked the boardwalk and enjoyed the view of the Atlantic Ocean before finding my way back to the Metro stop.

I transferred to the 2 train in the middle of Brooklyn so that I could get to a station where I could catch a train to Battery Park. It was a number of times this week which I traveled through the area where the World Trade Center stops used to be open on the red line. I am sure it is not my imagination that everyone on the cars seem a bit more subdued as we travel under that area where the two towers used to stand. Almost a decade has passed but few who live in Gotham, or care about the city, have forgotten that day.

The day never produced any rain and by the time I reached Battery Park it was quite nice. I was back to dodging camera wielding tourists again. Every one's focus was either the ferry, Lady Liberty or some of the memorial sculptures in the park. I pulled my camera out a few time but my focus at one point seemed to be of little interest to anyone else. It turns out that I was able to photograph Zelda the wild turkey!

I was able to find a letterbox in Battery Park before getting back onto the metro to go uptown again. I made a few stops, here and there and planted another letterbox before making my way upper east side. Partway along this commute I decided that I wanted to transfer to the local train and jumped off at the next stop. Unlike the express stop before, I realized the local platform was two flights upstairs! I ran up a flight and then ran up a flight that was also an escalator that brought me out near the platform. I heard to departure announcement being made on the local train that stood on the tracks just a few steps down. On fatigued ankles I sprinted down the steps and through the doors of the subway car just before they closed. I was able to understand and share that smug little smile of satisfaction I had seen on the faces of other breathless commuters. This was a genuine NYC moment for me.

The next morning, RGBisMe was able to join us. We wandered around Central Park for a while. We passed where the Red Tailed Hawk, Pale Male, regularly nests and walked by the boat pond. We played on the Alice in Wonderland sculpture and marveled at the many tulips that were at their peak around the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After successfully finding a letterbox in Central Park, we met Asrai after her art class and she showed us a spectacular piece of work she had modeled for. Also an avid knitter, Asrai showed us a colorful wall of yarns in a local shop.

We spent the afternoon exploring different areas of the city. We checked out Grand Central Station during rush hour and I finally had a chance to take RGBisMe into the Chrysler Building to show off it's amazing deco style and architecture. We looked at the ceiling painting and all of the chrome stairway fixtures and even wandered into an area where we shouldn't have been. It was all very beautiful.

Across the street from Grand Central Station was the old Bowery Savings Bank that had loads of imagery on it. The typical beehive image was repeated a few times but what surprised us was how many times squirrels were represented. They always had acorns and in one image a man was pulling a squirrel's tail as it was running away with an acorn. I took so many photos of that bank it's ridiculous. I have at least 5 different squirrel images. Now, with Tracdc in mind, I am wondering just how many images of squirrels are in the city! I want to do a NYC squirrel tour just for her!

The day I rushed from the express train to the local train was so that I could make reservations in person at the Candle Cafe. I think I got it mixed up with Candle 79 which is also nearby and both are vegetarian restaurants. No regrets because the four of us had a very nice meal that night.

On our last day in the city, RGBisMe and I rose early and prepared to depart to find some letterboxes and get out of the way. Although Ravenboy had to work it was Asrai's day off and we wanted her to be able to sleep in. She got up early and asked if she could tag along with us. We were thrilled!

That morning we wandered through a completely different part of Central Park and failed at finding the two letterboxes we sought upper west side. After washing off our grubby hands, Asrai treated us to lunch at the famous Pomodoro Rosso. Everything at this quaint little restaurant was delicious. We can't wait to return for some pasta some evening.

We all caught the subway to look for one of the best letterboxes in the city, A Lovely Light. I had failed to find it TWICE before in the same number of days because my research was faulty. Never mind I walked past the exact location probably 10 times, I groped all of the wrong final locations. I was glad to have Asrai and RGBisMe along for the final attempt. I refused to look for it because I thought I had jinxed every other location. Asrai was quite clever in pretending to get into her back pack and quickly made the successful grab! We walked down a block, well away from the location to stamp into the little letterbox. Awesome carving! As we were logging in, a tour formed right around us and the guide started spouting off information that RGBisMe had successfully researched just that morning. It was hard not to crack up as they walked by us and we followed them to listen a bit. They walked right past the hiding place, totally distracted with their tour, as Asrai slipped the letterbox back into place.

We met Ravenboy on his break one last time before we set out for home. The time together was all too brief but they assured us that they would be coming to visit in August. They are more than welcome and I can never thank them enough for such a great time in their city.

The Scarlet D

We finally decided to check out The Scarlet D in Mifflinburg tonight and were not impressed. Half of the vegetarian menu items were not available and the service was terrible. We should have known better since there online menu was all blocked out in greeking as opposed to real text. Oh well, the drive up the valley was nice and we got a fun photo of RGBisMe by the one end of The Scarlet D/ Mifflinburg Hotel. It's THERE!

Heat Shield Sculpture Garden 2009

Thanks to friends and family the old "Heat Shield Graveyard" has had new life breathed into it and is now known at the Heat Shield Sculpture Garden.

Nom Nom Nom

Southerly Wind

This past weekend was a real pleasure spent with my dearest RGBisMe. My week had been filled with early mornings spent volunteering at WPSU radio pledge drive. The fund raising was going really well but the early hours, 6 AM until noon, were starting to wear me down.

The week prior, Maga11 had alerted me to the fact that our South of the Border letterbox seemed to be missing so a run down to Juniata County to replace it would make a nice drive. I had carved up a new image and with a a replacement log book we could make sure everything was in order for future seeker.

We decided to add a few detours and extend our trip to make a day of it. RGBisMe really wanted to find the Lewsitown Narrows Canal Park letterbox that I had hidden with the help of Maga11 and Toolman Luke the past summer. That would be our first stop.

The walk along the Juniata would have been very lovely with all of the early spring flowers except a fierce wind blew steadily. We saw some low lying lightly colored Dutchman's Breaches here an there along the trail as we started out. The trail had some other visitors and we got to meet the president of some Juniata trails society who told us that this was set to be the day of their annual walk on the trail.

RGBisMe found the letterbox without any problem and he picked up a really cool hitch hiker there. We were able to move it, as well as 3 others, along that day. We walked out the canal trail the way we had come in, packing out two huge bags of trash but barely making a dent in all of the river and highway litter.

We maintained a mystery box of ours that was in good shape but quite lonely and went on to replace South of the Border. RGBisMe determined that rock was still in place and went to find another one or two. As I brushed some debris aside to seat the replacement letterbox I touched what felt like another rock. It turned out to be the original letterbox! No one had logged in since 2007 but it was in great shape. This was a terrific surprise and now we have a replacement for it... just in case.

We then stopped for lunch in Newport in a cute coffee shop Toolman Luke had told us had vegetarian menu items. Although Espresso Yourself Cafe is not entirely a vegetarian restaurant it has an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu. RGBisme and I both opted for the 1/2 sandwich and cup of soup. He got a Santa Fe wrap and I got a vegan Reuben. They were both amazing! Along with the Potato Rivel soup we were stuffed with some of the best vegetarian food we had from a restaurant in a long time.

We drove on to check on Torchlight. The 4Rhines (now Loyalsock Skippers) had a report that it might be missing since Monday. Because we had been with Mososo Kruppe who had found it just a week prior we really thought it should be in place. We told them we would take a replacement log since the old log book was quite full. It was as secure as when Mososo Kruppe found it and we swapped out the log.

We toyed with hiking up to check on our Uncle Wiggily letterbox but opted to press on to Harrisburg and plant our new Miss Penn urban microbox. On the way to plant it we checked on one of Silent Doug's Capitol Tiles boxes because we wanted to hide a hitch hiker in it but that box seems to have gone missing. Natty Bummpo's 4th @ 3rd is still in place though.

After planting Miss Penn we drove on to Hummelstown to enjoy letterboxing in Shank Park, Gelder Park and on the Hummel Nature Trail. We sadly were again unable to leave the hitch hiker because the Hitch Hiker Hostel we went to seems to be missing. It was our second visit to it so we are pretty sure it was gone.

Some ticks made themselves known in Shank Park and we checked over our pants as we exited. The wind still was pretty strong and we were getting hungry by the end of the day. We weren't as familiar with the roads we were on as we left Hummelstown but had two restaurants in mind as we drove through the Harrisburg area. The one that we ended up stopping at was the Macaroni Grill.

After a huge supper and carrying away many left overs, we started for home. It was about 10 PM and we phoned DaBraLady as we were passing through her area. She insisted that we get together and we picked her up. We started at J. P. Edward's and ended dancing to Johnny Unit at our old haunt, The Bierhaus. I pulled out my cards and read for a bunch of kids before we left town.

We didn't make it home until after 1 AM and that is when I found a tick deeply embedded into my thigh. Much fun and jumping around to the music at The Birehaus had caused it to dig in pretty far. It was not fun getting it out but RGBisMe got it head and all. It was a very full day and a real change from sitting and answering a phone for hours.

Sunday was a sunny day but quite honestly we just recovered from the day before. Laundry, gardening and yard work was the theme after a morning of answering emails and trying to get the Miss Penn clue to work. I am still having some problems with links but decided to blog our weekend before I went back to that frustration. The day ended with a happy text that Ravenboy is back in the country. Welcome back and I am looking forward to a new week of adventures after helping WPSU meet their goal of $85,000.

MK weekend

We spent a good part of the weekend with Mososo Kruppe. We were off to find some letterboxes but this was all on the way to Harrisburg's Melting Pot Restaurant. Mososo Kruppe were treating us to a meal in celebration of finally selling their house in Georgia.

On of the first stops had a terrific view of the Susquehanna River but we forgot our cameras in the car. There was no way were were going to make the climb twice so we all just enjoyed the view of the river and then the man in the green velor pants with the George Hamilton tan.

Another stop was to find Fox Run Skunk Cabbage letterbox. It was the perfect time because the spring peepers had started to sing and the skunk cabbage was just popping it's purple spike like noses out of the ground.

The meal at Melting Pot was a lot of fun. We started with cheesy fondue that the waitress blended and melted right on the table in front of us. There was no doubt this was that what they brought out was quality ingredients and not some velveeta with pepper shaken into it.

Next we had our different salads and then the big production was cooking our entrees in a Mojo cooking style right on the table. Mososo Kruppe were good sports and let us throw our veggies in to cook up before their different meats went into the broth. Everything came out just right and tasted terrific.

The meal ended with a chocolate fondue that came with loads of fun dippers. The style of the fondue was Yin Yang with dark and white chocolate and we all shared a similar frozen drink. They looked really cool on the table together.

It ended up being quite late as they drove us home and the top of the seven mountain was terribly foggy. We were all glad to arrive home safely just after midnight. Mososo Kruppe had dog training and we thought maybe some more fun with an "MK" twist could be explored.

This morning, we printed out some clues to a Mososo Kruppe letterbox in Gallitzin. It is based on the 1947 train wreck of the Red Arrow. The history is really amazing. MK had wanted to come along to see how we interpreted the clues but we were impatient and decided to go find it while they had dog training. It was too late when we realized that they were less interested in seeing how we did but rather were concerned with protecting us from the spooky things on the trail.

We brashly decided to try to cut to the chase and walk a short .2 mile to the letterbox, cutting off a couple of miles we thought. Sugar Run Rd tried to elude us with no sign to direct our turn but we were too smart for that and passed the suggested road to grab what we thought was a closer parking space. Bad idea, it was littered with many animal sacrifices. Even avoiding those, we then saw we would have to cross a rushing creek and would have to face a muddy and thorny .2 mile bushwhack. We turned back and went to the suggested parking.

After the first parking area, I was all jumpy about what we would see in this area. I glanced around and was sure I saw a dead skunk so bloated that it's intestinal walls were about to burst. I had to avert my gaze and RGBisMe looked over at it after I warmed him. He was really perplexed and even more grossed out than I was with what it actually was. The toy it turned out to be really spooked us both but we continued onward to find the ghosts from the derailed train.

RGBisMe and I went to check out the tunnels next and a low rumble immediately came from behind us, the direction in which we knew the wreck had occurred. My skin started to crawl and I wish we had waited for Mososo Kruppe to come along with us. I had real regrets at that point because I was sure a ghost train was going to come zipping around the bend. The photo I took of RGBisMe he is looking warily at it and I look so creeped out in the photo he took that I am not printing it.

I was done with the tunnels and wanted to get out of there. We started walking along the suggested road and it started to really rain. We knew we were on the right track as it were because of the crazy weird furnaces that we saw. They were so amazingly spooky and wonderful. I pulled my camera out on the pouring rain because I had to shoot some photos of them.

We did calm down as the walk progressed and there was never a moment that we felt confused about being at the right place. MK's clues were paced in just the right way to keep us going and not wondering if we had missed something or made a wrong turn. It was not a cute little trail in the woods but the history of what happened made it so worth being able to stand where we did.

More trains sounded from the distance just as we were ready to leave the final location. Yes, my skin prickled and I did indeed want to crawl under the boulders because I was again unsure if I was going to see a Norfolk Southern or the ghost of the Red Arrow coming around the curve.

Photo Satire

I took a similar photo of Ravenboy years ago and took a break yesterday to satirize the shot.