Spokane Trip: Caching with Brenda and Ray and Dinner with Fitzy

After a miserable night sleeping on the floor and getting up in the middle of the night with a throat/sinus thing, we got up around 8:30, got ready, ate yogurt and toast, Ben managed to get up and also got ready. He was sore and I had to rub that icky Tiger Balm all over him. It sure does open your sinuses in that unpleasent way! 

He made a fried egg and had some toast with it. We cleaned up after ourselves and texted Brenda and Ray that we were on our way.

We left North Spokane around 10:30 and drove to the South Hill to pick up Brenda and Ray, they were staying at Brenda's mom and dad's house. We pulled up and Ray came out saying that we were still waiting for Brenda. She and her sister went and had a coffee date that morning. We visited with Ray until Brenda rolled up. They both hopped in and we started our geocaching adventure for the day.

They've been waiting a while to update their dog park Adventure Lab since one of the waypoints changed and they had to update it.  They gave us directions on how to get to that dog park. The park was busy, but we stayed in the Escape while Ray got out to get what he needed to update their Adventure Lab.

On the way back down from the top of South Hill, we saw a cache we didn't have and were driving right past it. Brenda and Ray already nabbed Crestline Rock Garden (GC9JDKB), but they told us we could stop really quick and get it. Everyone stayed in the Escape while I went out, found it, got our names on it and quickly walked back. It was a fake rock hidden around rocks. Luckily, it was easy to spot once I saw it.

We searched the geocaching app for an Adventure Lab to do and that took us to a five waypoint one in Polly Judd Park. It was a smaller park with a tiny parking lot. We did manage to find a parking spot with Ray's handicapped pass. There were some people having a kid's birthday party underneath one of the covered areas. This Adventure Lab took way too long because one of the waypoints took us forever to figure it out. It was poorly worded, but we finally managed to figure it out. We walked back to the Escape and went to the next closest cache.

Downtown Abbey (GC4658D) was in an old South Hill neighborhood covered in trees, one-way narrow roads and strange confusing intersections. We managed to find a place to pull out of the road and Ray and I got out and walked the rest of the way to the guard rail. We found it quickly, got our names on it right away and put it back before cars drove by wondering what we were doing. We got back to the Escape and decided to drive further down the hill near the hospital.

We were on the backside of MultiCare Deaconess Hospital. Luckily, the street wasn't busy. We found a place to pull over so Ray and I could get out and search. The High Road (GC2HD3E) took us a few minutes to find. It was hidden well but missing a lid. We got our names on it and on our way back to the Escape, we saw a wild turkey waddle by.

We wanted to wander around Riverside Park to do some of the virtuals and the 12 waypoint Adventure Lab. Of course, parking was insane, so we found a place to park at a nearby store and hoped that we wouldn't get in trouble or have the Escape towed. We went inside the store to make it look like we belonged there. I made sure to grab my phone charging battery because something was seriously eating up my battery. It never really has done that before. Hmmm.

We walked into the park from the west and found where the 12 waypoint Adventure Lab, Art in Riverfront Park began. This one took us a while to do but we set aside the time to do it. We figured we would do it in a reverse clockwise rotation and take pictures of the art we needed and number each of them. The park was super busy and even the events center was showing a play that afternoon. We had to duck and dodge around everyone.

Ben and I did the Meet Me at the Clocktower (GC7B9R1) virtual cache, but I didn't read it entirely and had to do the rest of it online. I was super lucky there were photos online that depicted the answer I needed. I got a phone call from my non-Spokane friend Megan asking me a couple questions. I was on the phone with her for a few minutes. Ray, Brenda and I convinced Ben to slide down the giant Radio Flyer wagon because you just HAD to if you were at the park and he's never done it before.

We continued gathering waypoints as we wandered around the park and the finally, my phone died. I let it charge up with the portable charger I brought along. Ray and Ben would have to do read the info and take pictures. We all walked over to the pavilion to do the Pavilion in the Park (GC9P54V) virtual cache. We had to find a quote on the wall; find out how far away the ice-skating park was to the pavilion and take a picture of yourself or your group inside the pavilion giving a thumbs up or a peace sign.

We continued around the park and finally got all the pieces we needed to finish the 12 waypoint Adventure Lab. We did have a hard time trying to get the answer at the totem pole. We still aren't sure, to this day, if we did it right or not. We did have some great laughs though. We walked back to the Escape, and it was still there! Yay! 

We piled in and drove out to the Valley to the Azteca for a light lunch. I messaged Fitzy to let her know where we are in our day. She was in Post Falls with Chaise's family hanging out after the wedding the previous night. She said she could leave whenever we wanted to meet up with her. She said we could hang out whenever and that there is no hurry. We told her that we were almost done and that Brenda and Ray had to be back soon to do some family stuff.

We got back onto the freeway and drove back to the South Hill. Along the way, we chatted about the good times we had in Portugal and the next time they would be in the States, they said probably in about a year when they come over to visit Brenda's son, who is stationed in Hawaii with his family. They were excited about visiting Hawaii. They thanked us for taking them around Spokane and hanging out. We gave out hugs and told us to make sure we kept in touch. It would be nice to go visit them in Portugal again someday.

We let Fitzy know we were done and could meet her wherever she wanted to go. She suggested the Iron Goat because they had some gluten free options. We told her we would be there soon and just leaving the South Hill area. The Iron Goat was on the west side of downtown Spokane. Luckily, there was some available parking nearby. We got there sooner than she did and hung out inside the car until she got closer. There were some homeless people around and just kept our distance for safety. She said she was almost there, so we walked the block into the restaurant and found a table.

She joined us, Fitzy and I grabbed a beer and Ben got a cider. 

We chatted for a while on what has been happening in our lives, Fitzy told us about the wedding and some of the stuff she and Chaise were doing and thanked us profusely for being in Spokane to let the dogs out the other night. She appreciated that we were able to help her out with them and that they behaved for us. We also ended up sharing a pizza a little while later. It was great that we got to meet up with her that weekend.

We went back to the apartment in North Spokane and Willmarth still wasn't around and we tried texting him again. We both got cleaned up and played several rounds of dice while we waited to hear back from him. He finally texted us back apologizing for not being around very much that weekend and that he wanted to meet up tomorrow to have breakfast at the Calico Kitchen. He and Mandy would meet us at the apartment before we went. I told him it was a plan and to see both of them the next day.

Ben and I got ready for bed. We were both feeling a little worn down.

Next Adventure: Spokane Trip:  Spokane to Lacey

Spokane Trip: A Visit to Pullman

We got up around 7 a.m. and got ready. We made some breakfast - scrambled eggs, toast, yogurt and bananas. Willmarth had limited stuff and we had to improvise. We cleaned up after ourselves. We put the food away in the tiny fridge and washed the dishes we used. There were some extra dishes that he had left in the sink and we did those too. We weren't sure when he was going to come by the apartment.

We packed up the stuff we would need for the trip down to Pullman and got ready to go. I was disappointed in the weather. It was cold for this time of year in Eastern Washington. We left around 8, headed down Division and merged onto I-90 west. I honestly did not see the meter and blew right past it. I hope we didn't get a ticket. I guess we will see if we get one in the mail.

It was a short drive on I-90 until we had to merge onto Hwy 95 south towards Pullman. I have driven down Hwy 95 so many times over the years while at college. The drive is pretty mundane surrounded by fields as far as the eye can see of wheat fields. However, this time of year they're green. It rained a little bit on the way down but went away as soon as it came down.

We rolled into Pullman just before 10 a.m. and immediately drove over to where my old place on D Street is and found a free parking spot by the soccer fields. We got out and grabbed what we would need. It was a bit chilly for a middle of June day in Eastern Washington. We walked up the hill and around the corner towards the CUB. 

There weren't that many people on campus which is my favorite time to visit WSU and Pullman. Any other time during the year it's insane and full of people and traffic. We decided to go into the CUB to go visit the Bookie. I needed a new sweatshirt, and we needed to get Ben a sweatshirt now that he is a Cougar husband, lol. We spent about 45 minutes looking through all the merchandise. I found the sweatshirt I wanted, and Ben found himself one as well as a T-shirt. We paid and used the restroom.

We walked down to the Cougar Pride statue to take a picture of us with Ben's new sweatshirt. Why? Because we absolutely had to! We walked back down Colorado to D Street to get back into the Escape. I wanted to drive to the visitor's center over by the city playfields. 

When I was a student back in 2002-2007, the now visitor's center, was a Pizza Pipeline. We parked the Escape and went inside. I grabbed a map and a free WSU football poster from the season that just finished. We took some fun pictures as well.

I took him down to the city playfields, where we used to practice and play games when I was on the WSU club fastpitch team...many years ago now and tried going to the Trailside Taproom but it wasn't open until later on that evening. Instead, we drove to Moscow to get some gas since it was $3.47 in Idaho vs $4.15 in Washington. I know, it's sad. It will probably get worse as time goes on!

I wanted to grab a virtual cache at the University of Idaho campus. I have been eyeballing this one for years and decided today was the day to go get it. We got as close as we could, parked, Ben stayed in the Escape while I jumped out really quick to go get the info we needed for Famous Trees (GCCDED). The answer was on a cement plaque in front of an old tree. I had to find out who planted this tree. President Theodore Roosevelt planted that Colorado Blue Spruce towering in front of me. Absolutely wild.

We got our gas at the Sinclair and headed back into Pullman. On the way there, we talked about getting some lunch and I knew just the place. Yes, it would have been Cougar Country, but Ben can't have food like that anymore. Instead, we parked downtown near the Paradise Brewery. I've wanted to go to this place for years. It was a winery while I was at school but glad it's a brewery and restaurant now. It used to be an old post office which is a registered historic building. We went inside to see what kind of beer and food they had.

I had An Amber of Paradise and Ben had one of the ciders. I figured, since I was in Pullman I had to have the Cougar Gold mac n cheese. Ben had a gluten free turkey club with the house chips. I have to say, the food was delicious. We will be coming here again whenever we find ourselves in Pullman in the future. We paid for our food, used the restroom and went back to the Escape.

I had promised Ben that I would take him to Sunnyside Park to play the disc golf course there. I remember playing disc golf years there years ago while I was in town visiting my friend Starrla while she was working with the WSU. We drove up the hill and parked in the small lot. We grabbed what we needed and made our way to the first tee pad. I noticed the disc golf course had been moved around.

It was very windy, we were full and it was hilly. We were there for a while enjoying the day. At hole 12, Ben threw his disc and it took a really bad roll. It rolled down the hill and into the pond at the bottom. We spent a good half hour looking for it. Sadly, we didn't find it. (*Update: Ben was contacted via text message that someone had found his disc in the pond. The guy mailed Ben his disc back.*) We continued on with the course. We also did the Adventure Lab in the park as we played.

Afterwards we used the restroom and while I waited for Ben, I went and found the only geocache in the park, Sunnyside (GCXKK3). It was a bison tub hidden on a small tree. I had to wait a few minutes until the people who go out of the car next to mine walked away before I could grab it. 

By that time, Ben was done, we jumped into the Escape and drove back down the hill into downtown. We took Hwy 27 north through the small towns such as Palouse, Oaksdale, Tekoa and Rockford. The highway dropped us right into Spokane Valley.

We continued over to Fitzy and Chaise's house. We parked and she told me how to get into the house and how much food each dog gets. Seamus was excited to see us, but Radar wouldn't stop barking at Ben. Fitzy had told me that Radar likes to bark at males. We gave them their food with a sprinkle of cheese on top. I had to feed Radar away from Ben so he would stop barking. After they were done eating, we let them outside to go potty. Sadly, I could not leave their house without Seamus sticking his face in my mouth. We gave them pets and treats before we left.

We made our way back up to North Spokane to Willmarth's apartment. We could tell he was there earlier because there was a new table in the living room. We checked in with him letting him know we were back. He texted us that he was still with Mandy making sure she was okay from the night before. He said he wouldn't be coming home that night. I was sad because I wanted to visit with him.

We showered, ate some snacks and played dice and Phase 10 before giving up and going to bed. Ben's allergies were kicking his butt. In the middle of the night, I woke up feeling terrible. I have never felt the sensation of my throat and sinuses being on fire. I was seriously worried that I might have to go to the emergency room that night. I took some Tylenol and drank a bunch of water...that seemed to keep it okay, but still uncomfortable. I was able to eventually fall asleep again.

Notes:

Tried a new brewery and a beer
Ben got his first Cougar sweatshirt and T-shirt
I've never actually been on U of I's campus until now
Had to go to Idaho to get gas because it was cheaper

Next Adventure: Spokane Trip: Caching with Brenda and Ray and Dinner with Fitzy

Spokane Trip: Lacey to Spokane

I started to plan a long weekend over to Spokane after we had chatted with Brenda and Ray on WhatsApp. They were coming over for their son, Matthew's, college graduation. They were going to be there for about two weeks, and it aligned with the Juneteenth holiday. Juneteenth fell on a Thursday so citations were cancelled. That meant, we could take a long weekend if we wanted to. I chose to. I used my personal leave day to take that Friday off. Ben's days off weren't free so he had to take the two days off.

I messaged Fitzy to find out if we could stay with her, but she said she wasn't available that weekend because she was going to be officiating Chaise's brother, Jake's wedding, in Newport most of the weekend. I messaged Willmarth to see if we could stay with him, to save a little bit of money, and he told us that we were welcome to. He gave us his address again just so we had it. 

The night before we got most of our stuff packed up and ready to go.

We got up around 7, ate a quick breakfast - I had a bagel and yogurt and Ben had some oatmeal - we packed up the rest of our stuff and put it into the Escape. We left around 8. We got onto I-5 and had no problems; it was slow around the interchange at Hwy 18 and when we got to I-90 there wasn't a huge back up like we thought it was since they were beginning to work on that interchange.

We stopped at North Bend at the Safeway so Ben could use the restroom. Ben got some coffee while I got a couple snacks because meat sticks and cheese sounded good, and some Kleenex for Ben since his allergies were kicking his butt. 

We got back onto I-90 and drove through the mountains, into Ellensburg and over the Columbia River towards Spokane. We did not encounter any traffic, but we always see some dumb driving. 

We stopped at the eastbound Winchester Rest Area to do the new Washington Apple Adventure Lab that I contributed to. It published a few weeks ago. To me, it looked more like a back end of a cat rather than an apple, lol! I started calling it the cat butthole series. We sat in the Escape and did all the waypoints. 

It took about 20 minutes to do all of them. Then we figured out the final coordinates to the final physical bonus cache, WA Apple - Bonus Cache (GCB7JHR). It was east of the parking lot about two hundred feet away from where we parked. It was an ammo can tethered to a the bottom of a large sage brush bush. It was a fun bonus cache. We put our names on the logbook and made sure everything got put back correctly. 

We walked back to the Escape and grabbed our food to make lunch. We found a vacant picnic table. We ate our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with some chips. It was windy but I am glad it was warm.

Once we were done eating, we threw away our garbage and put our stuff back in the cooler. We merged back onto I-90 and gave Trish a call to check in and let her know how we were doing. We lost here somewhere before Ritzville where the cell service is a bit spotty.

I wanted to grab a bunch of caches on the Frontage Road that parallels I-90. It should be quick since these roads aren't used as often. We got off at the nearest exit, and I had Ben get out and find them. We grabbed S Frontage #1 (GC9P9GW), S Frontage #2 (GC9P9GZ), S Frontage #3 (GC9P9H8), S Frontage #4 (GC9P9HF), S Frontage #5 (GC9PVYC), S Frontage #6 (GC9PVYP).

We continued down Frontage Road and grabbed whatever cache was available as we moved east. We nabbed Oreo's 3rd Cache (GC9P9HM), Oreo's 6th Cache (GC9QYEQ), and Cross Road (GC9PH1B).

We grabbed S Frontage #11 (GC9QYEM), Public Fishing and Hunting (GC9YHKP), S Frontage #9 (GC9QA4F), S Frontage #8 (GC9PW0M) and Oreo's 2nd Cache (GC9NYBM).

After the last cache, we followed the road and the geocaches ended at the Love's. This was exactly where I was going to stop anyways for gas. We pulled up to an available spot; I pumped gas and wiped the bugs off the windshield. We went inside to use the restroom and to grab some drinks.

We got back onto I-90 and continued until we got into Spokane around 4. I texted Willmarth that we made it to Spokane, and we were going to go play disc golf somewhere then get dinner if he wanted to join us. Ben looked for a disc golf course that had some good ratings. That took us over by the Spokane River between North Spokane and Spokane Valley at a course called Jamboree Park.

We didn't realize they were getting ready for league play soon but the guy told us we can play ahead to get at least a round of 9 in. We thanked him and started in on the course. As we approached the end of our disc golf adventure in the pine trees, I was getting hungry. I had looked up earlier where the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings was and there was one in the Northtown Mall, which wasn't too far from where we were.

We grabbed our stuff, walked back to the Escape and hit the road. We found out what side of the mall the restaurant was on, parked and went inside. I'm glad it wasn't busy for a Thursday night. We ordered our drinks and then our usual. We didn't get as many as we normally would because we didn't have the capacity to store leftovers. Just before our food came, I got a phone call from Fitzy. She asked if we could do her a favor the following evening. Because she and everyone she knew in Spokane were at a wedding, no one would be around to let their dogs out and feed them. I told her we would after we were done down in Pullman. She said that was fine, gave me the info and thanked us. We ate our food.

We paid and headed up to North Spokane to Willmarth's tiny apartment. The drive seemed familiar and when we pulled into the apartments, the apartment complex seemed familiar. Isn't this where Brenda and Ray lived before moving to Portugal? Why, yes, it was! Such a small world. Willmarth had given us the code to get in just in case he wasn't there when we arrived. We took a couple trips and settled in upstairs. His place was pretty much empty, and he didn't have a bed.

We drove to the Walmart, which was less than a half a mile from the apartment complex to pick up a few things he didn't have in his apartment. We headed back and tried getting a hold of him with the various phone numbers I had for him. He did eventually get back to us because his girlfriend, Mandy, who lived in Deer Park, didn't feel well and had to have the paramedics come to her house and evaluate her. They ended up going to the emergency room for a few hours. 

We showered and got ready for bed around 11:30. Ben's allergies were kicking his butt. We were hoping to hear back from Willmarth, but we never did that night. He did tell me that he would be at work most of Friday and that we had to find something to do. I knew exactly what we were going to do most of the day.

Notes:

We found 100 AL waypoints and 15 caches
We played at a new disc golf course
Ate at a new Buffalo Wild Wing location

Next Adventure: Spokane Trip:  A Visit to Pullman