Date: 2008-09-04
From: Rangeley, ME

To: Rangeley, Me
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Oh what a fun fun FUN day! Oh, and first thing¢s first, a huge thank you to all of you who wished well for me when I got that stomach virus. I do appreciate your kindness and positive thoughts so much.I found out this morning that kitty visitor is actually a boy named Roly Poly Oly, Roly for short. He sleeps on top of the big Coke machine all day in the office, and then whores himself out to all the motel tenants (like us) for attention and well¢¦I sort of got him some kitty treats today too. He¢s a great cat and has really made me miss my own boys so much.We got up and I did some chores. I called Suzi, the woman who runs a hiker motel in Stratton, ME and asked her some stuff about road conditions. Earl from The Cabin suggested we do this. She sounds great, and we¢ll be staying at her place in a few days.I was finished with all my stuff by noon, so we walked across the street to a new taco/ice cream place and got some lunch. And now it was time to go play on the water. We both grabbed our kayak of choice, mine was yellow, Karen¢s was green, and took off into the lake. Gosh, I love kayaking so much. You can explore nature in such an intimate way that canoes don¢t allow. We first paddled over to this little cove and I was messing around next to some lily pads when Karen pointed out there was this huge frog resting on one! Ok, so I¢ve always known cartoon to show frogs hanging out on lily pads, but I¢ve never seen one in person, so I grabbed my camera and got so close to her that my kayak was about to float over top of her. She didn¢t move at all and I got some incredible shots of this gorgeous frog sitting on this lily pad. So cool¢¦Then we paddled around the shoreline and we saw a tackle box up in this remote area, so I pulled up and climbed up some rocks and retrieved it. Nothing was in there, but I brought it back with me so maybe some kid around here can have it.There¢s an island in Rangeley Lake and I couldn¢t believe it when Karen told me she paddled out to it yesterday. She said it took about 1 hour one way. Today, it was windier though and the lake was rougher, so we opted not to go out that far, but instead went across the little bay. It was amazing, and you can see Saddleback Mountain (which I¢ll be hiking over soon) in the distance.On the way back to shore, I heard a Loon for the first time in my life. Wow, what an INCREDIBLE call they have!! It was a most amazing sound. It was surreal floating in this beautiful lake, sun peeking out behind big puffy clouds, clear cold water, ducks and loons around. Gosh Maine is beautiful, and I feel SO fortunate to be able to enjoy it even more because of having a partner who is so much fun and supportive.After kayaking, we went to the store and I got some Gatorade, and got my stuff ready for hiking tomorrow. I¢m on map #6 now! There¢s 7 maps total for Maine, and you start with #7. It¢s like a big countdown, and I¢m excited that tomorrow¢s 13.1 miles is actually looking to be quite easy (Daisy told me it was easy and flat) from Maine 17 to Maine 4. I¢m getting an early start so I can knock it out and get back onto an earlier schedule.We made some awesome salads and ate dinner outside of our room watching the lake and ducks. We had some stale bread, so we went down and fed 6 adorable ducks that would eat out of my hands. Suddenly, 3 of the ducks flew off and I turned around and it was none other than Roly, heading towards the birds. I turned around and called his name and he came running to me. He didn¢t know I had a surprise for him, so I took him into the room and gave him is snack. He¢s currently passed out at the foot of the bed. I wonder if he¢d like to hike the rest of the AT with me. I know Ziggy did it with Geek several years ago. Hmmm¢¦..I best go, I need to rescue Karen from watching one of those ¢How It¢s Made¢ shows about lasagna noodles, and these shows always have horrible music. Who chooses the music for technical documentaries¢¦..or better yet, who writes it?   When I was teaching automotive courses, I felt as if I was torturing myself and my students for making them listen to the music that accompanied the bland mono-toned guy reading from some script explaining how anti-lock brake systems worked.Getting closer tomorrow! Chris from MA signed my guestbook and said all of us reach a turning point where we are really enjoying it again. I¢m approaching this point, but I think it may be when Karen and I start the 100 mile wilderness. No more logistics or moving from town to town to worry about¢¦.not that I¢m worrying though, Karen is handling all of that for me. Again¢¦I¢m getting the award for most spoiled hiker of the year.   Oh, at this little market we went to, there was none other than a Strawberry Rhubarb pie!! You all don¢t get it, you can¢t find these things in southern areas of this country as often, and I sort of ate my last piece last nite, so luckily I¢m all stocked up again. Whew...was going to start going through withdrawals.~Certain