wolfcation 2010

[wolf]

So, day after tomorrow, I leave for Maine, with a stop on the way up in Salem, Mass, and Mystic, Conn. on the return.

I wasn't planning to go anywhere this year, probably shouldn't have, just spent the two weeks at home doing the things that I've been ignoring and/or putting off for the past nearly a year.

Silly me for thinking such a thing.

I was at this party my friend threw to celebrate putting solar panels on her house. We sat around and watched the PECO meter not turn and her get "free" A/C.

We have this other friend who LOVES Maine. And hasn't been in a couple years. And she pouts soooo much when anyone mentions Maine, where SolarHippy goes yearly, and owns land up there, although since she bought solar, she can't afford to put in the driveway to her land (which may be straight up a cliff, not necessarily the most friendly acreage for a house, but she loves it). So anyway, the teasing is commencing, and JeepGirl is pouting really hard, and I unexpectedly blurt out, "What are you doing the last week of August?"

When she said, "What?" I should have just let it go. But I pressed it. "What are you doing the last week of August, do you want to go to Maine?"

Two days later she texts me and asks if I were serious.

Yep. Wouldn't have mentioned it otherwise.

So, she starts calling B&Bs and friends, and all of a sudden, it's actually a real trip.

I'm having a hell of a time packing. She keeps calling and saying, "It's going to be really cold."

I like cold.

"No, really cold. Bring your winter coat."

I don't care if it's Maine, it's fucking August.

I will make a concession here and there, and have agreed to bring a fleece vest, and may stow a full fleece in the trunk of a car.

Which is another adventure. I had to clean out the trunk of the car. I haven't done so since 2002 when I bought the car.

I found:

A sword (which I knew was in there)
A case of Russian Ammo (which I didn't)
A 56k modem (left on free to a good home table in apt mailroom)
A coffee maker (ditto)
An assortment of books, including a Hoyle's Rules of Card Games which is going back in the car along with a deck of cards in case of entertainment emergencies
A CD Case I thought I lost with my A-Bomb and Crazy mix CDs
A Black & Decker Jumpstarter AND the power cords for it. It is currently (haha) charging on my kitchen counter
About 10 towels that the hospital used to own
One crazy guy blanket
Two rain ponchos
Two emergency kits in a bottle that include rain ponchos
Three umbrellas of varying sizes and styles
Four coffee mugs
Three hats
Three unused notebooks
Rope
Five Bic Lighters
An 8-pack of AA batteries
Six ice scrapers, two with brushes, one with a mitt to keep your hand warm while you scrape
A recorder (not a "good" recorder. It's a $1 plastic one from IKEA, but serves in the event of a musical emergency)

I may have a line on the last known whereabouts of Jimmy Hoffa, but I can't do anything about that until I figure out how many pairs of socks and of what color I need.

Back to packing.