The Moose Excuse

 Will no longer serve as a great reason to tour around the mountains taking in the scenery. Moose Quest has taken us from Maine to many lovely places in the Adirondack Mountains, as well as down many intriguing country roads looking for moose or chasing down moose reports.

We kept just missing them. When Alan and I went to Maine...my first visit there...it was the week after moose season. The closest we got was an antler poking up out of a ditch from an especially large bit of roadkill.

One was seen right across the river from here...but not by us.

It went on for years until even I was getting sick of staring into every pond and pool along the mountain roads hoping for a glimpse of an extra-large even-toed ungulate.

Then my cousin shared some photos of one on a road we like to travel. (Thanks, Roberta!) I passed the information along to a dear friend who lives up that way. I was chasing warblers in the lane at the boat launch when she texted me that it was sleeping in a pasture just below the road.

We headed that way, droving through verdant hillside pastures thronged with assorted cows of every color, enjoying fabulous views out over the valley with the river winding below.

When we rounded the corner in front of another good friend's farm there it was, still lying in the pasture. I snapped a few photos, sent gloating texts to other Moose Quest participants and felt a little let down.  I might just miss the anticipation of vying to be the first to find a moose in the wild.

But not too much.

**In the interest of full disclosure, Liz found a moose in Vermont not long ago, but she hadn't officially joined Moose Quest at the time, so we didn't let her claim victory.

*** Also, Alan and Amber won Gator Quest when they went to Florida not too long ago, so that trophy is off the table.

****I need a new excuse quest.