Bangor Shopping Trip

After an early start and a few “just one more minute of sleep” requests, we left the Warnica marina, with me being the last to be ready. I soon learned from Bruce that you are to never be the 'first to be ready or the last'. This was a lesson that Gordon seemed to have difficulty with the whole trip.

Our first stop was the McDonalds in Sussex and I soon realized that this trip would be dictated by the meals and restaurants. After arriving in Bangor, the paddlers decided to go to Six Mile Falls and that left Ross and I moving cars. I kept wondering 'when am I going to the mall?'.

The paddlers made it through Six Mile Falls and rested. It was then that I saw some pasty white skin... right Alan and Trevor?. What a treat! From there, a few paddled Thunderhole and then it was time to go back to the hotel and shower.

Luckily, it was finally time for me to hit the mall. Andrew came with me but was not really much into the shopping ® where are the other spouses of these paddlers anyway? We then went to the Ground Round and met up with the group. It was then an early night to bed. 'Wheels on the pavement' at 6:30 the next morning and while we were waiting for Gordon I saw a very intense team of Bernie, Darren, Stephan and Pat coming out of the elevator. My first thought 'their outfits-so matchy, matchy poo-poo', just like women who buy new outfits for the gym. I wondered if they would like to go shopping with me, but they looked way to focused and intense that I figured they would not.

We headed off to the church for breakfast and were greeted by a cute old lady that everyone told me died years ago. I kept wondering 'why are we here an hour before the race, eating breakfast consisting of pancakes, beans, sausage, English muffins and homefries that were burned yet, undercooked, when we could have been sleeping a little longer?'

One of the main rules that was announced was 'You can not leave your partner, not only will you lose your partner but you will probably lose a friend' Duh! After most of the boats started, Ross and I moved the cars to the finish line. I was thinking, it was time to shop but not quite.

We stood around and watched Trevor cross the finish line. 'Media Man' was then interviewed by local radio. The Levy group then came in and then all the men vanished, leaving me watching the finish. 'Where did they go?' I later found out they were changing into warmer clothes and chose not to do it in front of me. Bruce is not that shy though and chose to change in the back seat of my car-with me sitting in the front.

The good news? I did not see a thing!!! I guess the water was cold. Soon after, Andrew and a soaking wet Greg came to the car. They did not dunk but Greg slipped while bringing the canoe to shore. Likely story!

-It was then time to go to the mall and to Target.
-The boys went to the awards ceremony and won all kinds of wood but I found some great bargains. The boys in my car where comparing the size of their wood with the size of the wood from the other categories-they thought their wood was bigger. Bruce was not bragging ...but I mentioned why earlier. Go figure, boys do like to exaggerate that one!

After a few hours shopping, we went back to the hotel and got ready to go the Chinese buffet. BOYS LOVE TO EAT!!! The buffet did not make any money off our table, of that I am sure. After dinner, it was another early night to bed.

'Wheels on the pavement' early again, this time it was 6:00. While waiting for Gordon again, Andrew and I packed the car with all of my great purchases. It was then time to leave our little Econo Lodge. After making a few short stops, we made it home. It was a pretty successful shopping trip overall. I got 3 pairs of shoes, some clothes and new bed linen. A big thank you to everyone who helped me bring it across the border!

Stacy

================================================== You've read the story from the Shopping Bag Lady, now the real story.

Actually she may be pretty close, just leaving out a few relevent facts:

-The trip's does center around food, paddle, and sleep, --on the road at 5:00am, Mickie Dees in Moncton, Timmies at St. Stephen, lunch downtown Bangor, practice run on the rive, shower, out to eat, bed, wheels on the road at 6:30am, breakfast at the Grange Hall in Kenduskeag, paddle the race, hang out for awards, motel, shower, rest, Buffet supper, bed, wheels on the road at 6:00am, breakfast at Big Stop in Calais, coffee at Timmies, lunch in Sackville NB, home, supper, shower, and bed.

But there was a race, the water was low, but not near as low as they were telling us. Actually makes it tougher with more rocks expossed, but still some good drops--note pictures in last email.

And it was cold and rainy.

The highlight of the group results, and weekend, was Greg and Andrew placing 1st, out of around 25, in their division of C2 Short Beginner.

(Without official results the numbers in each division are a guess, on past years. Entries were down a bit this year because of 'predicted' low water---total around 325 craft)

Everyone else did well, probably placing around where expected, with no tragedies.

-Warnica and Billard were 3rd (10 entries?) in the Century Class--100 years old, eh!
-Scarola, McGrath, Gray, and Levy were again 3rd (30 entries?) in the Open Class.
-Duffy was 4th (25 entries?) in the K1 Short Class.
-McLean again won the K1 Long--4th consecutive year? and was 2nd overall in the race--beaten by the winner of the open class, a K2 kayak, a team he had beaten last year.

So, the paddling season has officially started, the paddles have been dipped in the water, and a summer of fun is anticipated

Cheers

PS--It should be duly recognized that this is the first year, since 1996, that there has not bee a dump within the entire Gonzo team--good show.