A friend of mine said to me when I started this blog, "it’s hard to find time and stay committed, think about it before you start." I was my usual, it won’t be a problem self. But it actually is really hard. I want to finish the Pines Resort story because I said I would.  But work is so busy—too busy—I’m not even getting my photo galleries done. If I have to choose between blogging and photos—photos win. But I do want to at least complete the Pines day of our trip. 

If you’re a reader of this blog you’ll know I like the funny moments stuff. I occasionally digress, but not often.

The residential and recreation areas of the Pines are joined by very long, very wide walkways, bordered on either side by large windows. We were photographing one of these walkways when we encountered our first visitors of the day.

The grounds surrounding the resort were a mix of sheer ice and snow. I heard the spinning of tire upon ice, not the usual inner city, “I have to concentrate and get out” spinning. But very aggressive “I’m gonna burn my clutch/transmission out” spinning. It was very loud and very desperate. Next came the clanging and banging of metal falling. I immediately went into my 007 mode—get down, hide now! I am so ridiculously not spy material I make my self laugh. But I read too much Nancy Drew as a kid, and I’m having so much fun doing this I might as well be ridiculous.

So, as we nervously peeped out from the walkway—our noses barely above the windowsill—we encountered our first scrappers of the trip. Their truck had a trailer attached and it was full of their acquired stash: copper pipes, stainless steel, maybe some porcelain, anything worth stealing /selling. And they were stuck and losing their loot. They eventually became unstuck and floored it out of the place. We were relieved to see them leave.

We didn’t, however, hear or see them return. But while we were photographing the outdoor pool complex we became aware of the sound of hammer pounding steel, or crow bar or whatever it is these pathetic scavengers use to desecrate other people’s property, begin to taunt us. We watched from the outdoor pool complex as they completed another load and left. We wondered if they would return. The grounds became silent once again.

I don’t think we were the only ones who heard the constant noise throughout the day, as our next visitors were the police. Maybe neighbors called them, who knows? I doubt they do a regular drive through of a deserted complex. But trust me, on a scale of one to ten, the thought of talking my way out of what I’m doing with police versus scrappers, well the scrappers win hands down. I probably wouldn’t even talk to scrappers— I’d just run like hell. 

We had made our way into what was once the entertainment complex when I spotted them. I was up on the stage area, drooling over the sunlight beaming in, when I saw red and blue flashing lights. You guessed it—007 mode. Get down, NOW, it’s cops. This is all yelled in a whisper (I know I can’t yell in a whisper, but I try) combined with exaggerated hand gesturing to my exploring partner. I swear she would not make it a minute doing this on her own. She’s totally oblivious. I admit to being preoccupied when I’m taking photos, but I have explored and photographed alone so often I have learned to become acutely aware of every sound and shadow. She is so blissfully unaware I could kill her sometimes. Thank goodness she responds well to my 007 antics.

We hid. The police continued their search for the scrappers. I lost concentration for 30 mins and missed out on some great light. But at the end of the day we waltzed right out of the Pines—just like we had Middletown Hospital and Wheatsworth Mill—three down, two to go, and my lucky exploring charm seemed to be still in place. Ya gotta love it!