27 September 2013 Eartha
Our day included a stop at DeLorme Headquarters to see Eartha, the world's largest globe. DeLorme is an iconic brand to many geocachers, but our ties to the company's product go back to many years before the satellites were turned on. When we first got together, we spent days and days exploring back roads and new places with the DeLorme map books. Since I am terrible with maps, Ali usually managed the DeLorme while I made the turns. We had great days then just exploring roads and places where the DeLorme took us. Eartha was amazing, and we found the caches hidden on the grounds.
So, the weird guy in Indiana was right. Someone can manipulate the earth's axis rotation. ;-)
Ah, those wonderful maps... and memories...
While we were hunting the caches on the grounds, Ali threw me over for this big, quiet guy. I thought he was a little wooden. My image of them together made the
Geocaching blog, and Ali did eventually agree he was too quiet.
Our next visit was the Bayview Estuary Preserve which protects a salt marsh on the Royal River. We enjoyed a walk in the woods and along the river and were treated to different ducks, and some long-distance egrets.
I was surprised to realize I took no pictures in Freeport when we stopped at the L.L. Bean complex. I'm certain I left the large camera in the geomobile so I didn't look too much like a geek. It was a warmer day so I probably had no place to put the small Fuji which left me with the Iphone. The Iphone is great if you have no other choice, but the picture quality on phones is always disappointing. Too bad, because the ginormous boot is a site to see.
We had fun in Freeport. It was relaxed and a very different contrast to the clogged, unhappy mess of Manchester, Vermont. Ali's a big Bean fan. I found a hoodie, but not in my size. I was very happy to find a new, unboxed Garmin Vista HCx for $60. I no longer cache with my existing one, but it is my routing gps when I travel. My current one is wearing out after six years of heavy use so I'll be happy to the new one for my future travels.
Our last big stop was at Wolfe's Neck Woods State Park. It's a very attractive park with trails running through the woods and along the shore line of Casco Bay. It features a small island just off shore which is an osprey sanctuary. We could spot a few now-unused nests, but it was the wrong season for osprey viewing. We were treated to a mass of fish jumping along the shoreline. The water looked like boiling bubbles with all the activity.
A view of the osprey sanctuary from the shore
There's something about a sailboat that makes a place more tranquil. Maybe it's the lack of a loud engine or the graceful lines. This one was just off the shore in Casco Bay.
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