The Danger Ranger

All is well in Maine. Routine is starting to settle in, but of course that means there need be a change. It turns out that a position opened up at the park. You may now all refer to me as Assistant Ranger Harper, saluting and courtesies are optional but encouraged. I start on the 6th and will no longer be a complete bum. Kelly will take over the volunteer duties and technically I'll be her boss... Mwahahaha! Below is an artist rendition of what my uniform will look like.

Well we have until the 6th of August or so to keep living it up so a plan to do as little as possible in the next couple weeks. The Grassy Knoll is where we tend to do that. Haul the pups, a bottle of wine, and some snacks and it gets real easy to lose your day there.

Here is a little video showing not only my stunningly white legs, but that we are in fact live and well. Hey Kel's even got her swimsuit on.

Ok, and just a quick note it was time to lose the mop.






Ah, last of the Mohicans. Lucas would be proud.

Furniture Dilemma

It should be known that Kel and I happen to have quite a bit of nice camp furniture. Even so far as to have a fold out camp love seat. Unfortunately during our trip a lot of things had to be left behind to make room for luxury items like Rocky, Gigi, toilet paper, etc. Kel and I sometimes chill out in the tent and watch a movie on the laptop before bed, but it gets uncomfortable sitting like that for an hour and half. Luckily the park had some left over wood from building a wood shed.






I wonder how the other half lives?





Who cares! Hahahahaha!!

Wolf's Neck State Park

Ah, the serendipity of not having a job. It leaves open a lot of time. Most of which has been spent reading and thinking of new combinations to eat out of the 5 to 6 ingredients on hand. The rest we try to spend exploring the coast nearby. We headed up to Freeport and checked out Wolf's Neck State Park.




Sure a little crooked, but I am still mastering the auto timer. Behind us is a small bay that leads out to the Atlantic. It was hard to get Kel to leave the water. You get a better idea if you click the pic below.





So, on one side you have the ocean and if you hike a few miles to the other side you come to a bluff that overlooks the Harraseeket River.





I saw this boulder in between, and the roots growing over it reminded me of Indiana Jones so I made Kel take a pic.





Also since I started this post off with a word like serendipity I might as well leave you with something poetic like purty flowers.




(Pink Lady Slippers)

Gigi vs. Hedgehog

It would be too easy if we only had one problem-dog. So we've got a second to spice things up a bit. The evening's last 'potty break' is usually a quick off-leash pee then straight back to the tent. However, a small rustle in the bushes seemed much more interesting to Gigi on one particular night. She discovered what we believe to be the elusive and cunning Hedgehog. More spike than bite. A quick and painless doggie quill removal operation is now in Matt's bag of tricks.




She didn't seem to mind them much and is ready for revenge. Ironically enough, the four of us conquered Hedgehog Mountain that same day. A small afternoon hike might not be what Gigi had in mind to overcome the enemy, so I'm sure more battles with ensue.




In between tent and hedgehog battles, Matt and I have been relishing in the simple life. We've enjoyed meeting several other campers trickling through the park, despite the chilly days recently. Several are living similar lifestyles, hopping from place to place, sightseeing, and living out of tents/trucks. One laid off, another tired of the corporate grind, etc etc.
I decided last night, while mesmerized by the fire's glow, that if I have at least the 5 Captain Planet elements wherever I go - earth, fire, wind, water, heart - that I'll be happy as a clam. 'Gooooo Planet!'

Speaking of fire, I've come to grips with realizing I've started to develop a slightly unhealthy obsession with fire-feeding. (You're not alone Jana.) While Matt, on the other hand, had the opportunity to assist with the extinguishing of an attempted forest fire. Someone thought it'd be neat to see what happens if you drop a cigarrette in a dead tree. Matt the Hero climbed another tree to control the fire with water until Fire dept arrived. Aaahhh... a volunteer's day is never over.

And although plenty of showers, soap, and laundry facilities are readily available, Matt and I have lovingly embraced the 'grunge lifestyle,' easily going a few days without showers, and have not yet made a laundry trip. Though we are being careful not to adopt 'smelly kid in class' status, we at least brush teeth daily! (Don't worry, Moms.)

And we have yet to master the art of campfire dutch oven cooking, though we are definitely getting closer each time! We've attempted a few breads, the most recent attempt was a two-fire system, one below and one literally on top of the oven lid. (It really just gives me an excuse to play with more fire.)

All else is well! Healthy, warm, full bellies, and very very happy. Stay tuned...

Rocky's Rage and the Exodus

Everyone loves Rocky. I love Rocky. You love Rocky. He is a big dopey lovey dog. But Rocky has issues. Separation issues that need to be tended to by a proper doggie therapist. Seeing as Kelly and I are no longer on the grid and lack full spectrum puppy insurance his therapy has had to be put to the wayside. While on our normal round of duties me and Kelly happened to both leave the campsite at the same time. Shame on us...





It wouldn't be a big deal, but it happens to be my house. Imagine if you came home and your dog ripped a gap you could walk through into your friggin' house. Yeah not so good. But there are trials and tribulations in life and that is why the good lord blessed us with...

DUCK TAPE!!




So thanks to Dad and his super gigantic tarp we were able to patch the bulk of the damage. The next day was to rain so then comes the Exodus. We took everything out, reorganized, and set up the back up tent that we got from Dad. (Thanks Dad!)

Harper Compound 2.0

Also everyone knows that we don't have any jobs right now so we thought of a pretty good way to make a few quick bucks. Up here we accept firewood, canned food, as well as the American and Canadian dollar.

Dog For Sale



Slightly used, bum knee, prone to eating tents, extreme puppy pound syndrome, to a good home if you dare



j/k Rocky gets to stay : )

Maineward, HO!!

Well in the land of no cell phones it can be hard to keep everyone up to date. Kel and I will try to get to the library when we head into town from camp. Been doing plenty of reading up here so we should be by whenever we're in town. That way it will be known that we haven't been eaten by bears or fallen into a hypothermic coma.

Hopefully most who attended the going away party still recall it. If not here are a few photo documents of the occasion.















So enough of that. Corrado has a creepy 80s music video glow about him, Shaggs is wearing a stolen jersey of a sport he never played, and Kara made it there just long enough to get in a picture. These are all things we knew before. From there was the packing and the trip up.



It didn't all fit. Some of the things that got left behind were the extra sleeping bag, unfolding love seat (yes we have one), tools and so on. Oh and hey we got to see Amy when we stopped in St. Louis.


We also stopped and stayed with Diltz. He has a pretty sweet hot tub and made me drink blackberry brandy. This was the only picture taken of Doobie on our visit. Now as he was both wrestling a black bear and arm wrestling Carl Weathers in the dark it made for a lousy shot.



Gigi getting comfortable.




After repositioning some baggage the pups had a pretty good setup in the back.


Continuing on in the morning after I was forced to drink expensive whiskey and sit in a hot tub all night, we headed over to our layover in Ohio. It was a long drive and as usual we got there late and had to set up in the dark. It was a pretty sweet spot though.



Don't forget the family photo!



In Ohio Rocky met who we have now learned is his new arch nemesis in Maine...



...the dreaded chipmunk. ( We've since lost 2 metal chain collars to his zeal to rid the NE of its chipmunk infestation)


On to Connecticut.



Never fall asleep first, you always get picked on.

We made a detour on the way to Brooklyn to see Justin, one of Kelly's friends from Columbia College. This was not easily accomplished and people in NY drive friggin' crazy. It's like having 5 million Corrado's on the road at the same time, and they all have to be somewhere. People in CT were slightly better or maybe it just felt like it being that there were nicer cars cutting you off instead. Once we made it we had a great time a Kel's Aunt Kelly and Uncle Bob's. We got to say hey to Molly and Robert and Kelly showed me some of that crazy East Coast driving first hand. Stayed there for the night and took off in the afternoon for Maine.



Of course we should have left earlier, but we were having a great time. Alas though it means that we had to set up our tent... in the dark... again. But once we woke up it wasn't so bad. We have nice warm showers,(We're in charge of cleaning them). We met the rest of the staff and everyone is super nice. We've had frequent goodies dropped off such as cookies and candy bars. Not to mention our work day is pretty relaxed.







We had to do a little sophisticated re-engineering so that our rain guard wouldn't condense on the ceiling.


So far it is holding up good plus we've the extra tent that we brought plus Wil a fellow volunteer down here has lended us another just in case.

I've also set up my own personal gym.



It should also be noted that Kel's survival skills are reaching new heights, as she has started fires from tinder and leaves as well as split an entire piece of wood after only a dozen swings.

There are also some pretty good meals happening. Homemade foccacia bread and pizza sauce for Italian Dunkers.




Looks pretty homey, right? We've got the electric blanket at night, it goes to 10 but so far we've found ourselves sweating at around 5 or 6.


So since setting up camp we've been getting settled and doing a lot of hiking. Here are the views from the cozy little top of Bradbury Mountain. Its a pretty easy trek to the top, but you still get a pretty good view. You can even see the coast on clear days.







Here's a couple pics from the terrace on the other side of the mountain.





Finally after about a week being here we made it to the coast, and Kel got to see some sand. Driving around we got semi lost a few times(Garmin saved us - Thanks Mom!), but found some cool hang out spots. One we've dubbed mini peninsula - mini penni. If only we had known how fast the tide can come in... it turned into an island while we were enjoying a couple beers. We drove down the big peninsula to Phippsburg to see Popham Beach.



It has this pretty sweet rock island that you can walk out to during low tide.






England is that way.






So for our first meal out since we've been here, you know it had to be lobster...




Well I think that wraps it up for now. If ever any other post is this long drive to Maine and shoot me because it would mean I have way too much time on my hands.