Everett, Geocaching, Firefighting Exams and the Diamond Knot Brewery

Ben had scheduled his firefighting exams last week so we had to drive to Everett this week.  These exams, if passed, would give him a better opportunity at more stable and permanent firefighting jobs.  He would also be getting paid more.  Upon completion, his test scores would be sent to the various departments he applied for.

I got up around 7:25 that morning and started getting ready.  He pulled in shortly after.  The night before I got food, drinks and snacks together and put it in the cooler and set it in the fridge to keep it cold.  I got gas the day before to make us that more ahead in the morning.  We made a quick breakfast, started the car, packed up the car and made sure the house was locked.  We left my driveway about 8:05.  We had to be in Everett before 10:45.  Did we give ourselves enough time?  Were we going to make it? 

We actually worried a little bit.

For some reason traffic was awful on a Wednesday at 9 a.m.  Why were there so many people on the freeway?  Do people not work?  We made it through Dupont, Tacoma and Fife.  It was a little slow around Federal Way and Burien.  Ben looked on his phone and said that the 405 through Bellevue was a better choice than on I-5 through Seattle.  We chose the 405 and got in the carpool lane and breezed right through.

We were really surprised when we reached our destination 45 minutes before his written exam.  We pulled into the parking lot at exactly 10:00.  We were expecting to arrive at least by 10:30 or so.  We got out and he signed in at the desk.  We went back out to the car so he could get is stuff together.  A few minutes before his exam, he gathered the stuff he needed, left his phone and wallet with me.  He said to come back around 12:45 so I could watch the physical part of the exam.  I wished him good luck and I would see him after a while.

I started my late morning by driving to the South Everett Goodwill.  I spent a good half hour or so scanning the books, t-shirts and other randoms.  I found some cool books and some stuff for Christmas presents.  All together it cost me $10.  They had some cool little wheel baskets.

I went and found a few geocaches in the area.  The first one took me near a small neighborhood.  It was called Cynophobia (GC1B3NJ).  Cynophobia is an abnormal fear of dogs...which made sense because I found the nano on a fire hydrant.

Then it started sprinkling lightly.  I really hate the rain.  The next closest one took me less than a quarter of a mile down the road.  Green Hockey Sunsets (GC4M20B) was a green micro hanging from a tree on the backside of a auto store.  I quickly signed it and put it back before anyone saw me.

I took a wrong road and had to drive almost a half a mile out of the way to get to the next cache, What's Your Hobby?  (GC3DTTM).  It was at a Hobby Lobby, a place I've heard of but have never gone inside one.  I found the cache first.  It was a fake sprinkler.

I went inside to check it out.  I found some great deals and not so great deals.  I went over to the scrapbooking area and found some stuff for 40% off plus some clearance items.  I wandered over to another section of the store and they had all kinds of signage and cool firefighting stuff.  I bought Ben a gift from that section because I knew he was going to pass his exams today.  I found my Route 66 sign so I didn't have to order it online.  It was time to go find a few more caches before I had to be back at the testing center.  I only spent $40.  I was actually surprised, I thought it would be more.

I solved a few of the 12th man geoart near the airport and only had time to grab one of them, Orange Crushed (GC4PHH5).  It was inside a rock wall off of the Mukilteo Speedway.

I had to find one more for an even 5 caches for the day.  I stopped by one that I couldn't do because I didn't have a gallon of water to retrieve the cache.  So I found the next one that I could do.  That one was called Facing Your Fears #3 (GC4JCZ0).  It was on the fence line of a business that has security cameras on at all times.  Based off of the smell and the signage, I knew the business, Northwest Patients, was a pot store.  The smell was strong.  You could get a contact high just walking past it.  I finally found it after a few short minutes of looking.  It was a fake electrical box.

I knew I was going to be a few minutes late at the testing place.  I walked in and he saw me and teased me that I wasn't going to make it in time becasue I was late.  He changed his clothes and got ready for his physical.  I sat down in the designated seats and watched the four other guys do their tests.  Ben was third.  Another guy from his department showed up, Alex, I've met him a few times, he was there just for the physical.  I talked to him for a little bit while Ben did his test.  They did an array of obstacles.  They had to do them all under 10 minutes.  Ben wasn't worried about it.

As I watched, I learned a little bit more about firefighting and I took a few pictures of him doing the stations.

After Ben was done a few more of the guys went and then Alex did.  He also finished under the 10 minute mark.  We loitered around for awhile, Ben changed his clothes and we found the nearest Brewery which was in Mukilteo, roughly 3 miles from the testing center.  Alex followed us while we got onto the Mukilteo Speedway which took us to the water front.  We turned left and found a parking spot.  The Diamond Knot Brewery was situated down by the lighthouse and the Clinton-Mukilteo Ferry Terminal.  We weren't sure what to expect as far as the beer and food goes.  We got seated and noticed the peanuts all over the floor.  We ordered our beers and ate some of the peanuts.    I ordered The Poop Deck Pale Ale mostly because the name contained the word poop.

We continued looking at the menu while discussing random things while we waited.  I ordered the standard burger and fries, Ben ordered the peanut butter burger and tots (yes, a peanut butter burger), and Alex ordered chowder.  We finished our beers and food and decided it was time to go before the traffic got horrible.  We told Alex bye and wandered over to the Mukilteo Light House.

We got kinda chilly so we walked back to the car and headed up the hill onto the 526 towards I-5 and we decided to take the 405 through Bellevue again to avoid traffic.  Once again, we chose wisely.  We got onto 167 and did some stopping and going for a while.  We merged onto 410 and headed up the Bonney Lake hill to go see his mom and sister for a while.  I gave him his gift before we went into the house.  When Trish got home, she shared more information about Jack, her new guy she was talking to.  Discussing it with her made me feel like we were 13 year-olds again talking about boys, haha!  We told them bye and we would see them again sometime soon.  We had to get Ben back to Rochester so he could go on shift.  It took us about an hour to get to my house and then about 40 more minutes for him to get to Rochester.  It was a long day but we got a lot accomplished.

Next Adventure:  Mom's Birthday, Corn Maze, Pumpkin Patch and Pumpkin Carving Night