A Day & A Life by SusanNeedleHands

The Search for Mail Boxes Etc.

Today's mission was to get Linda's water bottle carrier

(like it? You can get one like it at my shop) shipped

off to England. Linda is one of the leaders of the

Collaborators in Cahoots team I belong to on Etsy,

who makes lovely greeting cards and other interesting

art items. You can check out her card shop here and

her art shop here.

According to Google Maps, I had the choice of

walking to the post office downtown, or 2.2

miles to the Mail Boxes, Etc. in a part of town

I had not visited yet. I chose to visit the unvisited.

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First, the directions had me go uphill, only to then go

downhill, over dirt and gravel roads and that was just

the first part. Upon arriving (probably 45 minutes later)

at the street, I realized I hadn't written down the

address or phone number of the shop, and it was

nowhere to be found.

I walked up the street and started asking. First, a guy

who worked at the sporting goods shop who was

setting up a camp tent display outdoors on the grass:

"I just moved back here after being away for three

years, but I think it used to be across the

street by that blue roof over there..."

Next, a girl pushing carts at the Safeway (yup,

that's inside the Safeway--you know you're on

the road to Mt. Bachelor when there's a ski

lift inside the grocery store): "Sorry, I just moved

here a month ago. Let's go inside and ask the

manager."

The manager: "Nope, never heard of a Mail

Boxes, Etc. around here."

Finally, having resigned myself to the fact that

my quest for postal services would have to be

put off until tomorrow when I am back downtown

for my yoga class, I decided to stop in at

Baldy's BBQ for lunch (having read online that they

have the best ribs in town), even though it was

only 11:20.

Lunch was goood, but even better was the

fact that the waitress knew where the

Mail Boxes, Etc. was!

After my yummy lunch of ribs, garlic mashers,

and coleslaw, I was ready to reembark on my

original mission. I followed the waitress's

directions, and sure enough, there it was,

hiding behind the U.S. Bank being newly

constructed in front of it, the Mail Boxes, Etc.

The very friendly staff got my package marked for

customs and posted for me. Mission accomplished!