Last Minute Adventures, Direction, & Guidance

We were watching a TV show the other night that involved a "think tank". In a think tank, numerous minds and their thought processes can come together for a common cause. In less than 24 hours as of this writing, the Nomad heads South. The creative abilities of Dave & I are solving the impressive amount of curiosities happening in Camden. We've witnessed a helicopter conspiracy, a renegade troll, and a local seal.

It's funny - we've been waiting for two months for all the dust to settle with various aspects in our lives, so we can finally start traveling. First out west, which will be delayed until next year, then south. The past 60 days seemed to crawl at times... nothing happening. Nothing to write about - no pictures to take. Then, out of the blue, situations get resolved, events happen, and suddenly there doesn't seem to be enough time to wrap things up here in this neck of the woods. One case in point is the helicopter conspiracy.

We were soaking up some sun on yet another warmer than average October day. We noticed a small helicopter circling around Hosmer Pond for two days. Intrigued by this oddity, we saw it land and quickly drove over to check things out. Here's your chance to say, "You guys really need to start traveling... you have no life."

Sure enough, it had landed in a small clearing. The pilot was in the process of adding fuel while the craft was
still running, so asking the pilot what he was up to was extremely dangerous. Instead, we asked a few locals if they knew anything about why it was here. Rumors were abound like the hundreds of Canadian geese that have been in our area as of late.
 - "I think he's giving helicopter rides."
 - "He's gathering water samples from the pond."
 - "I've heard he's taking aerial photos for a real estate company."
We snapped a few photos and didn't ponder the occurrence any further as we focused our attention to tying up the last remaining minor loose ends. Errands took us into town, but an alternative route led us to Rockport Harbor. 

As we poked around, we found a stuffed animal with it's butt sticking up in the air. He was wearing corduroy pants, and sheepskin vest, and had a face only a mother could love... a troll mother at that. We arranged and put him into multiple poses around the harbor until we realized that he was in fact a dog's chew / play toy, based on the faint odor of pooch. By that time, Dave even named him Gomaz. We left him at the harbor in his natural habitat.

While playing around, we also spotted a display case featuring windjammer cruises destined for Bermuda that was leaving in 12 days as well as a news report about Andre the famous seal. He was found as a pup just off shore and cared for, until healthy, by the Harbor Master. We've seen the movie that was made back in the 90's about Andre, and noted there were quite a few differences between reality and film.

By the way - we didn't forget about the helicopter conspiracy. The day after trolling around Rockport Harbor, we heard what sounded like massive and loud gunshots in the hills around Hosmer Pond. Hunting? So soon? Later that day, the news broke about the noise. Apparently, the helicopter has "lost" its load of very large industrial batteries that it was transporting for a national utility company. A rigging broke and dropped at least a dozen batteries from a height of over 1000 feet. Only one battery survived the tumble. The remaining ones exploded on impact. At least no one was hurt, although the clean up was fairly extensive.

We realized that adventure can pop up at any time. As we head south - first Massachusetts, then Pennsylvania, and our final destination of Georgia - we are looking and hoping for sunny, warmer weather, fun and exciting times, meeting friendly new faces, and safe journeys. Good times, fellow Nomads!!

The Happy Campers,
Jill & Dave