Jennifer Foster

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, who ditched his security detail for several days and may or may not have informed even his family of his destination last week, has apparently been found, hiking somewhere along the Appalachian Trail.

I feel like Chandler in that episode of “Friends” when Joey walks in wearing an elf suit: “Too ... many ... jokes ... Must ... mock ... Joey!“

The governor ... took a hike. He was going to write, or work on projects he had neglected while fighting the federal stimulus, so he went to a remote region where, presumably, he could be more ... productive?

How about the potential tie-in with the “Where’s Waldo?“ franchise? That could really open up a new audience to politics.

Or, how about this one: He was going to take a break from the kids ... on Father’s Day.

Wow.

Some pundits and other politicos took their shots at the governor, too, offering their possible explanations for his sudden disappearance underground. My favorite: He wanted some privacy in which to write the new articles of secession. Come on; now that’s funny.

Anyway, the governor is coming back to work tomorrow, and according to his spokesman, he just can’t figure out why anyone would notice, or care, that their governor was AWOL for several days in a row. From the RCP blog:

“Governor Sanford called to check in with his Chief of Staff this morning. It would be fair to say the governor was somewhat taken aback by all of the interest this trip has gotten,“ spokesperson Joel Sawyer said in an e-mail to reporters. “Given the circumstances and the attention this has garnered, the governor communicated to us that he plans on returning to the office tomorrow.“

I am somewhat taken aback that the governor is somewhat taken aback. Come on, governor. Is this really the kind of judgment you want to be displaying as you get ready to run a big-time campaign in 2012?

Because, you know, if you were to win, people would like, notice that you were missing and stuff.

How about you guys? Any bright ideas, or funny suppositions, about where Mark Sanford has been for the last several days? Let’s hear them.