Like the weather – gray and a little chilly – we stumbled into our second 3 Musketeers Day of 2013 in funky moods and hesitant tones.

We visited Young’s restaurant on Main Street to kick off our day (in usual fashion) with a nice breakfast… but no one waited on us and it seemed better suited for an old crowd… it was boring and quiet.  Definitely not for kids.  We climbed back into the Youk and headed to a favorite old haunt from my college days, the UNH Dairy Barn. I showed you around the old train station and you looked at the old photos.

When I went to school there, a building across the street featured a big collection of insects.  We checked it out, but the entomology department is no longer there. I felt like a silenced cricket.  We crawled away like centipeds as we headed to the Field House where  I was hoping to show you the indoor pool and track.  Ugh. The former was locked and the track was occupied.  We were able to walk through the basketball gym which looks big when the bleachers aren’t down. They weren’t….so at least that worked out!

Onto Cowell Stadium where the Wildcats play football.  We looked down at the field then walked down the steps to the field.  I wanted to run with you on the track that surrounds the field, but we found out this isn’t permitted anymore!  Geez… I used to run on that track several times a week.  Well at least Emma thought the stadium was cool.  Ben, you were dragging your heels – I asked what was wrong and you said:

I’m bored

I brought you through the tunnel connecting the Field House with Lot A and yelled what I yelled everytime I went through it as a nineteen and twenty year old:

hell-low BAY-BEEEE, dis is da Big Bopper speakin!

My booming voice echoed like the old days; I don’t think you were very impressed.  But you had fun when we all yelled together to make our own echoes!  Next up… something that would hopefully BE THERE… the Wildcat statue.  It was!

Across the street was the Memorial Union Building (also known as the “MUB”).  This was my number one hangout from college days.  My plan was to bring you bowling and play video games.  Ugh, the bowling alley isn’t there anymore and the video games are now private seating areas that require reservations.

Onto the bookstore… where I wanted to buy new UNH hockey sticks for the rec room. You guys love playing hockey.  Good news?  The bookstore was OPEN.  Hooray!  The bad news? No more hockey sticks like we wanted.  Ben, you couldn’t find any kids books and couldn’t understand why…

it’s a bookstore but it doesn’t have any kids books!

What could I say…  I bought you notepads and pens instead. You seemed a little excited, especially Emma.

Our typical 3M Karma (good vibes, good luck, happy moods) still wasn’t kicking into gear.  Where was it? Why wouldn’t it show up?

Before leaving the MUB, I showed you where I used to spend a lot of time: WUNH Radio.  Ben took a picture of me in front of the neon side.  I used to have a radio show called “Yes We Can” and was News Director there.  Lots of fun memories!  When I worked there we played “albums” and the CD and MP3 digital music hadn’t been invented!

Everyone still felt like the weather… gray and dreary.  It was time to kick things into a higher gear. Maybe a hike at the Great Bay Discovery Center in Stratham would do the trick.  We’ve been there before, but it’s been awhile.  We entered the main building expecting to get the usual “hunt and find” maps. and pencils.  The woman behind the desk said:

Hello. We’re not officially open yet… it’s still early in the season.  You can walk the trail but this building is closed except for reserved groups.

We were on a bad streak, unable to find our groove.  Our karma was still cold.

“Let’s go outside and hike the trail,” I said in an overly enthusiastic voice.  We headed for the beach first, in search of their famous horseshoe crabs.  Should have known… there weren’t any.   You climbed on the rocks, threw some sticks and rocks into Great Bay, then we headed over to the boats.  “Come on karma,” I said to myself, “descend upon us.”

As you played on, underneath and on top of the boats, our moods loosened up.  Ben, you started messing around.  Emma, you captained a boat.  Camden… you insisted on posing with your head in your fist.  Even though it was still gray outside, we were finding – or was it creating? – our own sunshine.    3M Karma was shifting fast as we headed onto the trail.

We checked out the Native American village, visited the railroad tracks (with lots of explanation and caution from Papa), looked at animal pelts, balanced on logs, climbed tree ladders, stopped for a snack, took photos in the marsh with the fake bird silhouette and ran back to the “Youk” with renewed energy and no sweatshirts.

As we headed north for lunch at Strafford Farms, our Karma shifted another 180 degrees as the sun came out bright and hot.  Refreshed and ready to go, we headed to Hilltop Fun Center for an afternoon of miniature golf and arcade games that spit out lots of tickets.

Success!  Together we had turned our day from gray to sunny and our moods from downbeat to upbeat.   It just goes to show what can happen when you stick with it, never give up and remember to laugh along the way.