A visit to Plymouth Rock with Sparky*

Plymouth Rock isn't my favorite landmark that Camp Chaos has hit but a day with Sparky* makes it more then memorable and bumps the day way up on the list of favorites. We've been friends since the last century and have endured ups, downs and a lot of turns.

These days a visit with Sparky is filled with great conversations, a bit of history, silliness and a bit of yarn in some form.

LL Bean back in 2004

Sparky* bought me my first set of knitting needles and my first yarn (I still have both) and she attempted to teach me how to knit on her visit to Maine in 2004 but I wasn't quite ready. I eeked out 3" of a swiss cheese scarf and tucked it away. When I unearthed it in 2010 I was ready to learn, by that time I was in Colorado and she was in the Pacific Northwest so I resorted to youtube videos. She's always been my knitting mentor and I love being able to have that be a part of our friendship story. 

The original needles and yarn on my deck in Colorado in 2010. 

 A lot of knitter's have stashes of yarn- some of this is for yarn that's "next in the queue" but some of it's sentimental  I have small balls of yarn from my early projects, the first yarn I got from Sparky and now some yarn my uncle found from my grandmother's collection.

Canadian wool- it was the preferred yarn requested by her kids. I can see why- there's some balls of acrylic in there which are very scratchy! There was also a set of metal dps (double pointed needles) tucked away in the stash.

It was great to be able to add this to my stash of memories...

my uncle, Dave and Kendra all dressed up for a walk in the Maine woods 

Cider Mash 5k

About a month ago Dave learned of a 5k that was happening at the local apple orchard. Gary had been looking for a race and Dave jumped on board. They were joined by Marc and Dave began training. He picked out some new kicks at the running store which is no small feat as to find high performance trainers for his small feet.

Dave found the best Coach and motivator in Mayhem. The three year old golden spins circles whenever Dave touches his running shoes and the light up collar with the green light that keeps the pair safe on their nocturnal training runs. They started slowly and ran a few times that first week and built up stamina.

This wasn't your standard 5k road race... this Cider Mash was a cross country tour of the orchard including some deccent hills and terrain. Thankfully there were no apples for ankle rolling. The three started out together along with 300 of their closest friends as they ran along the road and turned into the apple trees.

There were no dogs allowed at the race so Coach stayed home with Chaos eating treats and napping anxiously awaiting to hear how Dave's run went.

Dave and Marc stuck together and Gary wasn't far behind as the runners came back into view.

Ok... so they weren't in the font of the pack but that's not the point. Dave didn't get into this to bring home medals or anything. It's more about finding an outlet for Mayhem's energy and a great way to stay in shape for when he's able to get back on the rock again.

Colby kept watch for his Dad's orange hat bobing through the trees as he hung out with his Dzia Dzia, plus he sported his 'loaf hat that he earned from his first turns at Sugarloaf last winter.

 As a post race bonus there were gluten filled apple cider donuts...

but mostly Dave was just happy to have a good day in the chilly sunshine with his brother and Gary.