Making Memories

Smudge's First Whimventure

So after buying a new car, after whining about having to say goodbye to my old car, what do I do? Go on a Whimventure and start making memories. I remember using that phrase when it came to my niece & nephew… I wanted to do new and cool things with them. Their parents wanted to go to places they frequented. We weren’t on the same page. I doubt they even remember my visit since it was pretty much just going to the aquarium, again. 🙄

So with Smudge after a week of daily driving to work and curling how do I start making memories and figuring out all the bells and whistles? We go on a Troll hunt! With Spring just starting Sue and I decided to head south to the nearest Troll in Huntsville, Alabama. Mama Zelda is at the Botanical Gardens.

So Friday we started our Whimventure. Now Huntsville is not unknown to me. I actually took a class at the University one of my first summers teaching which included Space Camp. I also used to lead school groups to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center for long weekends. This limited my scope to a building on campus, the Space & Rocket Center, and Marshall Space Flight Center. Not much else in Huntsville, this weekend was definitely a new experience. We only stopped at the Space & Rocket Center so Sue could get the geocaches there and I could finish off the ones I didn’t get when I was last there after I retired. We never left the parking lot.

It’s only around a 6 hour drive Indianapolis to Huntsville straight on I-65. We arrived in the early evening and after checking into our hotel and stopping to get the Space & Rocket Center caches we headed to dinner. Sue had found a cluster of microbreweries and restaurants in one place so we headed there. It seems that an old middle school had been converted into this amazing space. After a traditional meal of pizza and beer, we decided to call it a night, but figured we’d return Saturday to try out another place.

Mama Zelda’s Hair and a senior without much hair.

Priorities- first drop off travel bugs and find a few caches on campus. There is an amazing travel bug hotel which helped with this effort. Of course, being the master geocacher that I am I left the one bug I had at home!

After that we headed to the Botanical Garden Sue reminded me as we bought tickets that I am now considered by many a “Senior” which made me feel old. Then again I am old, but still… I don’t always feel old - Except when I bend down, or raise my arms, or walk after getting out of bed, or consider how many medications I take, or… We were at the garden to find Mama Zelda. If you don’t know about Thomas Dambo he’s the Danish sculptor who creates trolls from recycled and repurposed materials around the world. Sue and I discovered his work while Whimventuring in Denmark and have been hooked ever since. We assume Indiana will be the 50th state to get one right after Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Greenland, and Washington D.C. 🙄

Each troll is unique and has a story behind it. Mama Zelda has her hair. Her massive locks form a wonderful labyrinth with her in the center. It being just the start of Spring and Mama Zelda being fairly new the flora has not grown up as much, it will be even more amazing in the late Summer and in a few years.

We spent a bit of time just taking in the gardens outside of Mama Zelda and enjoyed the nice weather before moving on.

It’s Duck Season!

Stopping at the Alabama rest stop that used to have a Saturn IB on our way down we discovered that Huntsville had a duck hunt going on. Many cities have artists paint large fiberglass sculptures and place them throughout the city for tourists to take photos of, it’s not a new thing. Huntsville put a twist to it they made small bronze rubber duckies and hid them around prominent spots in the city. They then provided a map and app for people to find them. They could be in a windowsill, or by the entrance to a museum… a fun way to see the city sights. Of course, we got them all and ironically ended up with a rubber duckies in a space shuttle. Knowing my feelings about MINIs and ducks I had to shake my head and chuckle. Smudge ended up gathering two ducks during this trip… a very small one and this one. My only concern is if I display it, I’ll end up with more!

The Artsy Tourist

After picking up our ducks 🙄 we decided to check out an old shoe factory that has been converted into studio spaces. WOW! I know there are similar places in other towns (including Indianapolis) this one was amazing. Lowe Mill had a bit of everything and if I get back to Huntsville, I’m definitely going to return and take some time checking everything out. The hardest part (being an introvert) was entering the actual studios. If the door was open, sure! If I wanted to go in I could. If the door was closed… not so much. Since these are independent artists, some were there, and others had closed shop for the day. They did have a great art supply store where I picked up a few things. Like walking into a new comic shop, I always feel I should support stores that deal with things I like, I also get a chance to see stuff local stores, or even online sites might not have readily available.

We returned to campus and tried another microbrewery after stopping by a confectionery and a taproom with video games… I’m rustier than I thought on the arcade version of TETRIS and Pole Position. For the cost of a wristband it may not have been the best use of money, it also reminded me of my youth, when I wasn’t very good at video games, but back then they were only a quarter!

Heading home Smudge hit the 1,000 mile mark which again explains why I don’t lease a car. Afterwards Sue finally got behind the wheel. Her reaction? “It’s a MINI.” And while she could access a lot on the ginormous interred screen, she was still trying to drive while using her phone to find a nearby cache. Yes, the minute she took the wheel- it was time to go caching! I had figured she’d gotten most of the caches along this route since she had driven to a bunch of conventions in Nashville. All that said - we stopped by two really great caches. Both HUGE and perfect for dropping off travel bugs. We also got stopped by the police… he was the cache owner, and we chatted a bit. He suggested that we attend Cachefest which will be in Savannah, GA this year. Another trip added to the list.

All in all exactly what a Whimventure is supposed to be. Discovering a new place, or discovering new things about a place we’d already been. Smudge did a great job and I learned a lot about all the bells and whistles he has, plus a few bells and whistles he doesn’t have- and those not being included actually don’t bother me.