Connecticut Connections

Danbury, CT to Manchester, CT 
     
As we hoped, we enjoyed a slow and relaxing day today, traveling only 70 miles across Connecticut, which amounts to two-thirds of the width of the state.  At Maggie McFly's, a wonderful local restaurant in Middlebury, we took a long pause for a three-hour lunch with Ken's cousin Linda and her partner Barb, who graciously accepted our last-minute invitation for lunch. 
     
These two ladies are such a delight to visit with, always bubbling with enthusiasm about their latest entrepreneurial projects and their passion to live ever more healthy lives.  Barb, whose energy level would make Tigger look lethargic, was steadily fielding a stream of calls regarding her current mission to save a local no-kill animal shelter, which has been threatened with closing.  Meanwhile, Linda, the consummate multi-tasker who juggles a plethora of responsibilities in several ventures, enthused about an online life-coaching curriculum she has been developing, lining up experts in various fields to contribute their know-how.
     
Spending time with Linda and Barb is always a rush, leaving us feeling a bit lazy when we hear about all the plates they have spinning.  The three hours flew by and we parted company reluctantly, looking forward to the next time we can visit with them.
     
As one of the early adopters of letterboxing when the game was in its American infancy, Connecticut is replete with opportunities for tupperware seeking.  The more than 7,000 letterboxes hidden in this tiny state give Connecticut a letterbox density rating of 1.2 boxes per square mile, by far the highest in the U.S.  In comparison, Georgia has a density of one box per 20 square miles (unless you're talking about Stone Mountain Park, which has about 60 boxes per square mile).
     
While this plenitude of letterboxes in Connecticut is most welcome when we're searching, it presented a bit of a challenge to our goal of planting a letterbox in each state we visit.  We had the box ready, but where in the heck were we going to put the darn thing with every park and cemetery already hosting one or more boxes?
     

Already occupied

Finally we settled on a small cemetery where we had found only one letterbox.  Ken was wandering around looking for a suitable hiding place.  Thinking he had found the ideal location, he peered in to spot a box whose clue we had missed.  So we kept looking and eventually settled on another little cranny.  Now, we can get away from hiding and back to seeking.
     
Tomorrow, we're off to Rhode Island with a stop in the legendary Mystic seaport on the Connecticut coast.