Blogs from Maine, United States, North America - page 44

So, I am now home. On Monday we went to New Bosaga school. I gave them a soccer ball. I loved it. It a fairly small school. Very poor. Its in old Kampala. We were touring the schools and I was talking with the children. I was bent over speaking with them, and when I stood back up, I heard a crack and a pop in my ankle. Unfortunately, it was raining in the morning so I choose not to were my air cast. I looked at Mary and told her “I think I have a problem”, I took another step and I heard another crack. It didn't hurt. So we got in the vehicle to leave. In the next hour or so, my leg swelled up to twice the size it was suppose to be. ... read more

So after resting in Monson for a few days I'm feeling quite a bit better. Not exactly 100% but getting there. I was able to take off and hike the next 30 or so miles to Caratunk. I've met so many more wonderful people and I seem to be meeting more almost every day! Shawn and Charlene cought up to me and I've been hiking with them again for a few days ( they started on Katahdin the same day as me). Here in Caratunk there is a place called Northern Outdoors Resort. They will rent a beautiful cabin to Thru-Hikers for a little over $60 a night and you can fit 6 people in there. I joined up with five others and got the price down to about 10 or 12. With the cabin came ... read more

So I've made it to Monson! Woooo Hooo. The 100 mile wilderness is complete and I'm well on my way. It's been a hard trip so far and I hope it gets easier from here. I wore my Asolo Fugitive GTX hiking boots for the first 80 or so miles and I think that they may have lead to the severe knee pain I've been experiencing. I was so glad to have Dave Ort with me for the first leg of the trip and I wish I could have convinced him to carry on with me. We parked his car about a week away from the start and that is now to longest distance we've hiked together. The views from the top pf the mountains here have been breathtaking! I can't wait to show you pictures! ... read more

July Third A glance at the schedules showed that I only had to be in the computer room for two of five possible periods in the day. Excellent! The only snag was that I was required to supervise campers at other activities for two of the remaining three. Given a free choice, I went to archery where the campers grew bored after half an hour, leaving me and a few more dedicated ones free reign of the targets and bows for the remaining half hour. I was appalling – until we realised I was standing too close to the targets to be able to aim properly from my height. Then I improved. In the evening I got my cake. Having had the 'tune' of happy birthday irreparably etch itself into my ears, I went to cut ... read more

The kids have arrived. At 2pm the speakers boomed into life. 'All counsellors to the lodge, campers incoming!”. Twenty minutes later, three buses pulled up, unleashed a squirming mass of energetic children, and pulled out again into tranquility. Choas ensued. Campers with bags twice as big as them stumbled towards the sign we had drawn up to welcome our group of campers. Staff yelled, campers yelled; the tannoy crackled. Slowly the bags piled up, and the chattering campers converged into their groups. We went down to the cabins, and met the campers we'd be assigned to. They rushed in, and within seconds our beautifully swept and unpacked oasis of calm was turned into a battlefield, with the sort of destruction only possible by a ten year old boy who has been trapped on a bus for ... read more