No Sun But Plenty of Fun

This morning we woke up to rain. It wasn't bad just a light drizzle but everything was very wet so I think it must have rained most of the night. We got ready and went to breakfast and while we ate we discussed what we wanted to do. In the end we decided to try a few boxes and if the rain got worse or if we weren't having any fun then we would find something else to do. We opted for the Hobbit Trail - who could resist - right. It has a cute name and the movies were good and the books are great so that is where we headed. We loved the trail, especially the tree tunnel! Anyway we headed down the trail and we found our first box - Treebeard on the Hobbit Trail. This was a great stamp and the first stamp in my new journal (I filled my other journal yesterday). We stamped in (which was awkward because everything was wet and there was a very fine drizzle) and got the box back into its hiding spot and continued on. We found our next box in the vicinity of the tree tunnel - it was pretty cool in there - this box was the first of the Hobbit Trilogy. While I stamped in Thomas headed for the beach. He has been on a quest to find a whole sand dollar. I finished stamping in and thankfully it was drier in the tunnel so it made it easier. After getting the box hidden again I headed to the beach for the second box in the series. I waved to Thomas and pointed to where I was going and head off. This box was easy to find but a little work to get to and it was pretty muddy around the area but I got it and found a log that I could use to stamp on. At first it wasn't raining but by the time I was stamping in to the box's journal it had started again. So I held my jacket up to protect the journal and did everything one handed. I also got my clue for the third box in this series. Once the box had been put back into place I walked over to Thomas and he had found seven whole sand dollars. He realized that you have to get up early to get them because he saw the seagulls pecking at them and that is why most are broken on the beach. We needed to go to another trail to find the third box of the Hobbit Trilogy so we headed back up the Hobbit Trail and found where we needed to be. This trail was very nice but a lot of uphill climbing. At a couple of spots you could see the ocean and the beach and the views were terrific making the climb worth it. We found all the landmarks and found the tree but had a little difficulty finding the box. Finally Thomas found it off to the side. We moved to a better spot to stamp in and have better views of the beach. We finished with this box and headed back down the trail and I realized we had forgotten one of the boxes on the Hobbit Trail (we also looked for another box on our first trip down that trail but came up empty handed). So we decided to go and get it since it wasn't that far down the trail. Did I mention that it was raining on and off and the trails were wet and muddy. Ok - I am about to share an embarrassing story. About half way back down the trail I put my foot down and it was very slippery. I started to lose balance and tried to correct myself but that made it worse. In a split second I was on my butt and slid five or six feet down the trail. Let me tell you, I was so upset, I had mud everywhere. Thomas was trying to be nice by not laughing and kept asking if I was okay. Then he took a bad step and landed on his butt, fortunately for him he didn't slide down the trail. After gaining composure and a little ways down the trail I started laughing - it all seemed surreal and very funny all of a sudden. We made it to the box we had forgot, found it, stamped in and decided to go back to the hotel and get cleaned up. We did a quick shower and change and threw all the muddy clothes in the trunk of the car so we could stop at a laundromat and clean them later.

It was still raining and we had some leftovers from dinner last night so we heated that up in the microwave and ate lunch before heading out again. After eating we headed north again back to Newport. We had seen a sign at a glass blowing place where you could blow your own glass float. So we drove to The Edge. They were really nice and accommodated us even though they weren't doing the class this afternoon. Our instructor was Jeff, pretty young (mid-twenties), very nice and a very good teacher. He went through all the basics and safety issues and then demonstrated a few things and then we started. I went first. Jeff got the first glob of glass from the furnace and then he gave me the tube to start shaping it. Then it had to be reheated and then small bits of colored glass were added. Jeff had spread out the colors I had chosen on a table and I just took the glob of glass and rolled it over the small bits. Then it had to be reheated again to melt those small bits and then more small bits were added. This was done about five times. Then I took it to the bench and used some scissors (very big metal ones) and stuck them in the glass and twisted it then the glass had to be reheated. This was done three times. Then Jeff blew the first bubble in the glass to get it started and then added more clear glass on top of the colors.
Then I rolled it on the table to shape it and then heated it again. Jeff then took the tube and I sat at the bench with this wooden form. Jeff turned the tube and glass while I held the wooden form. Then we switched places. I reheated the glass and then Jeff rolled the tube on this support while I blew the float to the size I wanted. He guided me through the whole process and let me know if I needed to blow harder or softer and he used the scissors to shape the top and make a spot where the float would be broken off from the tube. We took it over to this bowl filled with something soft and Jeff held the tube and float over this bowl and I tapped it with a wooden paddle and it seperated from the tube. We decided we wanted a loop on the top so we could hang them so Jeff did that part for us. Once I was done Thomas made his float the same way. We got to ask questions and Jeff really made us feel comfortable with handling hot glass. We had a really great time. We didn't get to see the floats in their finished colors because they had to be put into a special container so they will cool down slowly. We could pick them up tomorrow but we decided we didn't want to drive all the way back to Newport so they will ship them to us at home. Probably a safer option than trying to fly home with them.

We were ready to head back to Florence and call it a day - or so we thought. When we drove through Seal Rock Thomas saw a sign for fudge and pulled it. We each got a piece of fudge and hit the road again. It had started raining again. But I wanted to stop for one more letterbox. Juicy Sweet at Strawberry Hill. From the clues I knew it was a drive by and could probably find it quickly and then return to the car to stamp in. We pulled into Strawberry Hill Wayside and looked around - we figured out the hiding spot from in the car then Thomas ran over and grabbed the box (isn't he sweet). He read while I stamped in and I left a hitchhiker since I was stamping in the comfort of the dry car. Thomas replace the box and we returned to Florence, had a quick dinner (I had prawns and Thomas had steak), did the laundry and are now relaxing at the hotel. A very fun day!