We were so upset when we got outside. It was beautiful the last five days and now when we had our days off it rained. So disappointed.
We packed the car and headed to Point Defiance, the south end ferry entrance, and got in line. There, we called the skydiving place and set a time and reserved our hotel. We planned on jumping Friday but because the weather was no good for that day, we moved it to Saturday. So we would be staying in our hotel Friday to Saturday. All of our reservations were set. We paid our $20 ferry fees and drove onto the dock. Within minutes we were on our way to Vashon.
We drive off the ferry and headed up the Vashon Highway. We weren't sure where we were going so we were going to let the geocaches guide us around the island. Our first stop was a pullout that used to be an inspirational point but because the trees all grew up. We looked for the virtual cache first, Vashon-History (GCCD06). The coords took us to a stone that asked us to find the three dates and send them to the cache owner and of course a picture at the location without giving anything away. Check and check.
Before leaving inspirational point, we found the Used to be an Inspirational Point (GC1BWA), the traditional cache less than 100 feet from the virtual. Ben wrote our names and I traded trackables. Then we switched our tennis shoes into our hiking boots. Our next stop was a tiny area of Vashon called Burton.
Burton is a historical waterfront residential area with a large park, a boat launch and some hiking trails...but mostly houses. We parked the car and headed into the forest to find Wind in the Hallows (GCK8CW). We went to the right tree just didn't find it right away. We checked other places and came back to the tree. I reached in and found the lock n' lock. We signed it and put it back for the next cacher.
We walked back to the car and attempted the next one from the other part of the road and found out we made an error. We went back, parked again and walked the quarter of a mile from the same trail we left, read the hint because the coords were bouncy and found the cache, Burton Acres We Are Here (GC17DCE). We walked back to the car.
The next cache on the GPS took us to a recreation park, specifically to a cache called Skate Park (GC1GPJF). I wish we had something this cool in my home town. It was just some land set aside with a building and hills. The building was an indoor skate park, there was a 9 hole disc golf course and a BMX course. The BMX course was very unique. Due to the island being known for their arbor-bound bikes, this one didn't disappoint. The entire area was riddled with bikes in trees, spokes in trees and even rims hanging in trees along with a wonderfully weird art display. We found the cache and then played a round of disc golf.
After our adventure in the park it was time for some food. I got my phone out and tried out my restaurant finder for the first time. A place called Zombies popped up. With a name like that we were so going. It was a quaint little hamburger place off of the main drag in town. After circling the block once, we found a place to park. We went inside and looked at the menu and decided what we wanted. Ben got the ZAT burger and I got the build your own burger. The food was awesome. They reminded me of Rain City Burgers in Seattle. If you like unusual go to Zombies on Vashon.
We decided we wanted to go to the lighthouse on the Maury part of the island...the south eastern branch of Vashon. We followed the GPS and the signs to Robinson Point Lighthouse. On the way there, we found some caches along the way. One was a guardrail key hider, This is Some of our Drinking Water! (GC39ZEG) and the other, If I only had a Brain (GC41YNQ). I added that one to my favorites list. It was made out of a 1990's Nerf Brain Ball and it was one of the most awesome caches on the island.
When we got there, there was an upper and lower parking lot and some people who rented the houses near the light house. We parked, used the restroom and then got our Go Pro ready. We walked over to find Elves Treasure Cache (GCQ8G7) within arms reach of the bench. It was a pill container hidden underneath a rock and it was really muddy.
We put it back and made our way to the light house and Ohjoy's earthcache, You Light up my Life (GC1DG1F). Where hasn't she been? Seriously. I've found caches in Vantage and by Neah Bay that she's hidden. But that was before the granfathered law that they put into effect not too long ago. Now, we can't hide anything more than 100 miles from our home location, unless it is a virtual (which we can't create anymore) or an earthcache. I read the information on what questions we would have to answer about this location. Basically it was about the tides and the Puget Sound and why the island may have different tides than the rest of the Puget Sound. We goofed around with the Go Pro, my phone and just enjoyed each other at the light house.
We decided it was getting late and the weather was getting yucky. We drove back to the main road and found the last cache of the day. It was one I've had on my list for a while. It was a puzzle cache called Vashon-???? (GCCCFF) and it took us to the legend of the bicycle in a tree. I've always wanted to come here. I've heard stories about it, news articles, saw it on the news one day, I just wanted to go see it before the vandals took more pieces off of it. We parked across the street in the park and ride, walked across the street and found the hidden entrance across a small bridge. We went inside the woods and there it was. All we had to do was tell the cache owner what it was and the color. There wasn't an actual geocache hidden. We took some pictures.
I saw a really hilarious mural in the middle of town that we had to go get a picture of. It was one of the best murals I've seen in a while...or maybe it was my sense of humor. It was a mural of two crows fighting over a Baby Ruth candy bar.
After getting the picture, we got back onto the main highway and headed north towards the ferry to get off at Fauntleroy/West Seattle. We didn't have to wait that long and this ferry was bigger than the other one. The ride back over to the mainland was cold.
We had dinner plans at 8 to eat at the Cheesecake Factory in Seattle but all of his friends bailed so we decided to do something else for the remainder of our time. Instead, we drove to Bellevue and went to Stone Gardens, a rock climbing gym, for a couple of hours. I conquered a couple of V0's and V1's.
It was getting late and we were getting hungry. We drove around the block a few times trying to figure out how to get into the gas station, haha. We got gas and then tried to find a place to eat. We eventually ended up in Tukwila and ended up using the Cheesecake Factory gift cards. I had a chicken Parmesan sandwich and Ben had a steak. He had his peanut butter cheesecake afterwards.
I got really tired and could not wait to go to bed. Sometime during the night I got up in a panic, stood over by the door and turned on the light, said some weird stuff to Ben and passed out on the floor. He got up, freaked out because I was not breathing or responding to his EMT procedures. Eventually I woke up, said more weird stuff and then used the bathroom. I'm guessing I ate something that really did not agree with me and stressed my body out. I really didn't feel good after I ate my food but then it could had been anything. My job stressed me out this month, I was tired, I could have been getting sick, etc. It was a weird experience and I felt terrible worrying Ben like that. Anyway, we had fun and here's to the next few days.
Next Adventure: Driving to Oregon, Hotel, Widmer Brothers and a Pool Party
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