I'm baaaaack...

So, it's been a whirlwind three weeks for me. I have been going on a bunch of little trips for the company I work for and have not been able to do any boxing on these trips. That's sort of like going to a strip joint but having to clean out the stalls. Not any fun.

This combined with some other stuff I had to get done made me seriously late on some postals, which I have spent the past few days stamping in and getting the things out in the mail.

This blog will be like a little summary of the little bit of boxing I have been able to do on the weekends while I have been home.

About three weeks ago, we went to find the three boxes planted by some new boxers in our area. Were were pleased to find all three, first finders in two of them, and great carves. What a welcome addition to the area!

There first was a series of two that has you go across this really cool walking/suspension bridge. It seems that back in the day, the Army Corps of engineers had built two other normal bridges on this spot and had them destroyed by floodwaters. So, in true governmental fashion, they decided to screw it and just built a walking bridge.

But it is one DANDY of a walking bridge. It bounces and swings side-to-side whi;e you are on it, and it is LOOOONG. Here is the Pirate, logbook in hand, on the trail leading up to the bridge:


Here is the entrance to the bridge:



The bridge itself:


The former abutments (sp?) of the old Army Corps of Engineers bridges, long ago washed away:


Their third box took us to a park that made me sing a song repeatedly for about 30 minutes, much to the rest of Team KPI's dismay:

"Up on crooked creek, she..."

I don't know the words to this song so much, so I edited them for enjoyment:

"Up on crooked creek, she kissed me me
If I take a leak, she pissed me
I don't have to eat, she feeds me
a drunkard's dream if I ever did see one...."

While we were on the trail to the box, we spotted this cool tree fungus:







Finally, last Sunday and went to Cook's Forest and decided to float down the Clarion river on innertubes. The Pirate, Longstockings and I found it very relaxing, and we got to catch bullfrog tadpoles and crayfish at the end of the trip. While we were there, we found one box and searched for another mystery. Turned out, we were not only in the wrong park for that mystery, but also in the wrong section of PA! This didn't matter at all. The trail we were on to find the box had us awed at the breathtaking splendor of nature. It was in an old-growth forest and I took several pictures of towering hemlocks and their root systems, none of which came out. What a day!

On the way back home from Cook's Forest, we stopped in Punxsutawney to meetwith the Pirate's grandfather who wanted to watch him for a few days before the summer was over. We were a little early, so we walked around Punxsy lookin at the Groundhog statues a bunch of artsts did. VERY cool. Then, we wandered over to the little park they have in the center of town, which is adjacent to the library. In the library, is Punxsutawney Phil and his wife Phyllis.

I AM DEAD FREAKIN SERIOUS! In the outside wall of the library, there is a glass house. And in this glass house, which is called the "Groundhog Zoo," Punxsutawney Phil and his wife stay until they are needed to tell the weather. I have been to Punxsy SCADS of times and NEVER knew this. Here is the happy couple snuggling the night away:


So, if you're in a ring with me, they're in the mail. If you missed my meandering diatribes on the AQ boards, I'm back.

Mr. Yuk