It’s not very often my boyfriend Troy and I get the same weekday off from our respective jobs unless we plan for quite some time in advance. While I’m usually a strict Monday through Friday girl with my weekends off for me to make plans and arrangements, his schedule rotates and evolves, so we usually have to check-in a couple of times to make sure any proposed date nights or afternoon adventures are do-able.
So when we both had this past Monday off – definitively! – we wanted to make it special and memorable, and we set off bright and early to Rhode Island to go on a bit of a “Troll Hunting” expedition to find all of the Thomas Dambo sculptures hidden around the state. Troy is a huge fan of his work, and I’ve always felt a bit guilty that I’d been able to see two of the Rhode Island-based sculptures back in 2024 before he got a chance to.
I’d mapped out our route carefully leading up to the excursion so that we’d see all five trolls while traveling in a loop, with a stop in-between for lunch and/or coffee, and while some trolls were quite easy to find since they were settled right off of busy walking/bike paths or had designated signage to locate them along trails – others were tucked away and required a little more hiking and searching. We’d found them all over the span of a beautiful, sunny afternoon, however – and snapped so many photos and selfies together!
We’d also run into quite a few people who had the same idea, and would routinely bump into them throughout the day and along the pathways as they were going from troll to troll, too. We got to talking to a few of them and heard so many great stories about where they were from and some of the other 170+ Dambo Trolls located around the globe (and how far people had traveled to find them. I think that’s our new goal now, too – to see them all!)
My favorite Troll during this most recent adventure was “Young Boulder,” who was hidden off the beaten path and perched along the waterfront. his location was one of the most peaceful and picturesque ones.
After successfully finding all of the trolls in Rhode Island, Troy and I began mapping out the next state we were going to go looking (I think Maine is next!) and grabbed some ice cream before heading back home since I had to return to work on Tuesday morning. It was such a perfect day and I’m so happy and grateful we got to spend it together doing something so completely whimsical and unique while out in nature!
Next week, I’ll be winding down the month of July (already?!) with a look at some of my favorite things from this past month and a recap of these past few weeks in their entirety – among other things!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
xo
Coffee & Chiffon 