Shelton Springs Disc Golf and some Geocaching

It was going to be a nice weekend so Ben and I decided to do some disc golf.  I haven't done this in at least a year.  I was definitely going to be rusty.  Ben arrived at my house early afternoon.  We drove his car because mine went up to Seattle the night before.  Neither of us had been to Shelton's disc golf course so we had to look up the address.

We made sure we had everything and headed up towards Shelton.  The disc golf course was wooded and right across the street from the high school.  They were having a weekend track meet so there were a lot of people in the area.  We also found out that the disc golf course shared a trail system called the Huff N' Puff. 

I like how they misspelled leash.  Haha!

There were several kids warming up for their races out here.  We grabbed our bag of discs, the selfie stick and tried dodging kids as we followed the signs to tee #1.

As we arrived, two other people (Connor and Roger, a son-father combo) were also looking for tee #1, they looked like they had no disc golf experience so they asked if they could join us.  We said sure and told them to feel free to ask questions if they had any.  We teed off from the elite pad, the black pad, rather than the beginner red pad.  They kept with us until about tee #4, then they decided to go off on their own.  We found a rogue disc with a guy named Todd written on it.  Ben called the phone number on the disc and we got no reply.

We continued on, taking turns teeing off and searching for our discs when they went off track and into the woods and bushes.  For a brief moment we thought we lost one of Ben's discs but magically found it in an area we didn't think it went.  We were either at par or under par.  There were a few occasions when we were over par...especially the ones that were over 350-400 feet.

Overall, I thought the course was very well marked and taken very well care of.  I saw that this course had hole sponsors and a disc golf club that kept the area neat and tidy.  I would have liked to see more obstacles besides trees and brush...maybe a small pond or something.

We finished our 18 holes and then walked back to the car.  We wanted to find a few geocaches together so I took him to the area around Walmart.  The first one, DVS Addictions (GC5GKZ2) was a bus stop cache.  I really hated these ones because everyone can see you looking for them and this one was near a Taco Bell and a coffee drive-thru.  I was hoping we could find it quickly but they are all different.  I tried looking for it and when that didn't work I started feeling for the cache.  Low and behold (literally) I came up with a fake piece of chewed gum with a nano inside of it.

Then Todd called us back and told us he could meet us over by the Walmart since that's where the next cache was.  Todd thanked us for finding his disc.  He really wasn't what I expected when he arrived.  He was in his 40's, kinda overweight and not the athletic type but with disc golf it doesn't matter.  All ages, sizes and shapes play.

We looked for Outskirts! (GC4BRGD) and it could have been anywhere along that fence line...it just depended on where you looked and where the GPS took you.  I overlooked it twice before Ben pulled it out of its hiding place.  I've found several over the years similar to this one but like I said it just depends.

We drove down towards the old part of Shelton talking about what we wanted for dinner.  We ended up grabbing one more cache at Kneeland Park (GC5HX78), we had to be extremely stealthy (lots of kids playing on the playground) while we looked and found the small Altoids can hidden in similar fashion along the fence line. 

We didn't want to stay in Shelton for dinner so we drove into the Westside to try our luck.  We haven't been to Outback in a while so we went there.  The last time we were here we had a free bloomin' onion.  Ben ordered a beer and I had the Wallaby Darned peach drink and it was delicious.  I recommend it to everyone!  We also got a bloomin' onion and decided if we wanted steak or not.  Ben was going to treat himself to the best steak on there rewarding himself for getting a firefighting job.  I got a small, cheap steak, a baked potato and a salad.  He got the same thing just a bigger and better choice of steak.  We gobbled it up.  It was sooo good!

From there, we just headed back to my house and hung out.  He had to go back to the fire station and get ready for his last Sunday at the casino.  I am so excited to be able to hang out with him on normal weekends again!!

Next Adventure:  Nisqually Wildlife Refuge

King Felix and Beard Hat Night

I usually try and make it to at least one Mariner game during the season.  This year it was sooner than I thought it would be.  I heard my boss was going to beard hat night and I wanted to go to beard hat night.  It's never worked out to where I could go during that promotion.  This year it might.  I got home on Monday and mom mentioned that we should go to a Mariner game soon.  We got on their website and noticed Felix was pitching that night and it was beard hat night.  Score!

Tickets were $35 and it included a Felix shirt and a K card for the King's Court section plus we got the beard hat promotion.  I say that was a pretty good deal.  We bought four tickets.  I still can't believe dad said he would go to a Mariner game.  I told Ben we were going to the Mariner game and he got excited.  We've never been to a Mariner game together yet and we've been dating for almost three years.  I knew that Friday was going to be a long, long day.

The night before I tried to have everything ready so I didn't have to do it at five in the morning.  I got my mitt, my Mariner blanket, a jacket, gloves and our tickets and put it out in the Escape.  All I needed to do now was to make sure I had my wallet, phone and what I was going to wear.  I had some extra cash I was saving for some fun money from my Seahawk art that I paint.  Up to that point I have accumulated $115. 

It was really hard to be at work.  I was so excited to go to beard hat night and it was Friday, which meant I could sleep in on Saturday!  Ben had the day off and so did dad.  Mom worked until about 12:30 so I had Ben drive over to our house and pick them up and bring them to L&I at 3.  We would leave my pass inside Ben's car and take the Escape to Seattle.

I got done, headed downstairs and they were here right at 3.  We traded some stuff between each car, made sure we had everything and we headed up I-5 hoping traffic wouldn't suck this afternoon.  I wanted to leave this early because of the potential traffic, finding a parking spot and I didn't want to be in a hurry when we were at the field.  Plus, we had to be there to get our beard hats and our Felix shirts.

We got onto I-5 and the only slow parts were through Dupont, because everyone had to look at the people on the side of the road, near the Tacoma Dome and not again until we were almost to our exit for Safeco Field.  We stopped at the rest stop in Federal Way so everyone could use the restroom and Ben could get some coffee.  We were back on the freeway in no time.  I still wanted to make it to Seattle before 5, plus I heard they were shutting down the viaduct so that could pose a problem.

We got off at our exit and headed towards the field.  I always try and see if I can park in my free place near Holgate, Massachusetts and 6th Ave before I pay for parking.  They've changed that area so much to where spots are limited during certain times of the day.  A lot more homeless tents have been put up since last time I was here.  We parked near the DSHS building, grabbed our stuff and locked the door.  We had a four city block walk...which was not that bad if you're not in a hurry, which we weren't.  I just wanted to be here so we could get our stuff, eat and see the people we knew who were at the game.

We entered through the left field entrance, our bags were checked at our tickets scanned.  We received our beard hats from two nice gentlemen and preceded up the stairs to get in line for our Felix shirt and K card.  I couldn't believe how long the line was!  I hoped we got a decent size by the time we got there.  Geez.  An Asian family was standing in front of us and they looked hilarious in their beard hats and asked why we weren't wearing ours.  Mom said because it was too warm to wear them.  Which was very true; I was pretty warm and I am sure everyone else was too.  The forecast called for some rain and cooler weather for tonight's game and I'm glad they lied.  It was a gorgeous evening for some baseball!

We got our shirts, dad, Ben and I had to have mediums because everyone took the larges and mom got an XL.  I only wanted a large because I had layers on.  We got our K cards and I gave mom some money and we all just kind of wandered around until game time. 

Ben and I looked for some food.  I wanted Ivar's and he wanted something different so we fed him some chicken tenders and fries and of course a beer.  I got my fish and chips and we found a good place to sit our food and watch the Royals finish their batting practice.

We walked over to where Annette said she would be.  She is an usher that stands at the top of the sections and directs people where to go if they have questions about their seats or don't understand their tickets.  We found her and chatted with her for a good 20 minutes.  She updated us on some of the things she and her husband were up to, her upcoming trip to Hawaii and of course geocaching.  We got a picture with her before we left.

My boss, Melanie, was also at the game with her friend "new" Mike.  I couldn't remember which section she said she would be in so I gave her a call and we met up at her seats for another 20 minutes or so.  She was excited to see me, we talked about traffic on the way up, I met "new" Mike, we took a couple of photos and she congratulated Ben on his new job.  We stood there for the Star Spangled Banner, said our goodbyes and headed to our seats in the King's Court.

For $40 bucks, a beard hat, a T-shirt and a K card the view was not that bad.  We couldn't see the scoreboard because we were right next to it and the left field foul pole was right there but it was still fun to sit in that section.

On April 23, 2016, Hernandez claimed the record for most strikeouts by a Mariners pitcher when he struck out Rafael Ortega of the Los Angeles Angels for his 2,163rd strikeout as a Mariner pitcher. The previous record of 2,162 strikeouts had been held by Randy Johnson.

 
Tonight, the King's Court was celebrating that milestone.

The game was pretty slow through most of the early innings.  Felix walked a couple and struck out a couple.  When they did get on base the defense kept them from scoring which was exciting.

We got up in the middle of the 4th inning for some popcorn.  We got an awesome souviner tub to go with it. I've never eaten popcorn at a Mariner game before.

We stood up with the rest of the crowd when Felix was on the verge of striking out another victim, K! K! K! K! K! K!  It was awesome!

Ben and I put on our beard hats again around the 8th inning and started being goofy.  Mom took some more pictures and we enojoyed the rest of the game.  A reliever came in and continued on Felix's shut out.  Then the last batter, in the 9th inning with two outs and 2 strikes, belted one to dead center field.  Our centerfielder did some Ken Griffey leaps and stole, what could have been the tying run to send the game into extra innings, but snagged it at the last minute, ending the game 1-0.  It was an epic way to end the game.

We tried looking for more beard hats but everyone took theirs with them.  We walked back to the Escape and headed back to Tumwater to take Ben to his car.  We traded stuff, got my pass back and we all went home.  It was a long day and I was tired.  We got home after midnight.

Next Adventure:  Shelton Springs Disc Golf and some Geocaching

Murder Mystery Game Night

My friends and I have always wanted to have a murder mystery game night and we planned it accordingly pairing it with Celeste's birthday.  Nicole took reins on the creation of the characters and the script.  About two weeks from the actual event, she posted our characters and personalities on our group page so we could get a handle on what we want our character to wear, act and be like.

The setting:
We are gathered at Celestina’s country mansion for her birthday party. Everyone knows Celestina somehow, and she has decided to invite all her oldest and dearest friends out to her house for a weekend of fun –

And MURDER.

The characters:
Celestina/Celeste: A southern belle CEO of a nail polish factory, who flirts with any and everyone

Nicolette/Nicole: a smug French winery heiress who scorns Americans and their inferior wine, became ‘friends’ with Celestina at a spa retreat
Lizzie/Lindsay: One half of a husband/wife acrobatic troupe, very bubbly and talkative, old schoolmate of Celestina’s
Jeff/Justin: The other half, quiet, surly, and likes to glower at people
Mallory/Valerie: A sports reporter and TV personality, likes to bring up her own fame a lot, spokesperson for Celestina’s nail polish
Dan/Ben: An Irishman newly come to the USA, wants to start his own pub and Celestina’s distant cousin… or is he?
Tegan/Megan: A homemaker from Minnesota who likes to skydive and bungee jump in her free time. Old schoolmate of Celestina’s.
Mark/Matt: Tegan’s husband, a lawyer who is always seen with his notebook in hand. Suspicious of everyone.
Isaiah/Isaac: Celestina’s boyfriend who was always bitterly jealous of her success, keeps venomous animals as pets.
Stacey/Lacey: Celestina’s VP in charge of marketing, absolutely devoted to the company, and Celestina. Or so it seems…
Vince/Lance: Male model who thinks he is god’s gift and every woman wants him. Former lover of Celestina’s.

The detective would be revealed during the event.


Lindsay and Justin could not make it this time so Kathy and Jim were their characters stand-ins.

Celeste wanted burgers on the BBQ so we all pitched in and brought hamburger fixins.  I brought the pickles and beans and she also requested that I bring that Oreo dessert.  Nicole brought a dip and some chips, Megan and Matt brought some of the burger, Lacey brought a couple of salads and the buns and Jim and Kathy provided the rest. 

Earlier that day I made the dessert while I waited for Ben to arrive then Ben and I tried to figure out what we were going to wear.  We went to the Goodwill and he found himself a green plaid shirt and I didn't find anything really.  Then we headed over to Walmart and he found an undershirt and a hat to complete the look he was going for.  I still didn't find anything and then I remembered I had an outfit from last summer I could wear.

I got cleaned up, did my hair and make up and put my outfit on.  We looked pretty awesome for last minute!  I had to go over to grandma's house to feed her cat so we threw everything in the Escape and fed Whiskers.  Around 6:50 we were on our way to Celeste's house.  I was pretty excited to see what everyone else wore.

We brought in our stuff and marveled at our characters.  We decided to eat first and then do our game.  I know it was a murder mystery dinner but we just weren't ready yet and we were all starving.

Nicole put a lot of time and energy into our scripts.  We printed them out and brought them with us and set them on the table to avoid being tempted to read it before we were suppose to.

We all ate our burgers and sides and engaged in our normal-weird conversations.  We talked about our new jobs, I got a permanent job at L&I, Nicole got one at OIC and Ben just napped a career firefighter position at his station and Megan and Matt just recently moved into their new house after a long time of waiting.

It was now time for the main event.  We all grabbed our script, reread our character descriptions and Ben turned the GoPro on so we could record it.  We started keeping in mind the characters body language, side conversations and clues in their words.

It went well and then Celeste's character died and then she became the detective.  We were all trying to accuse each other but maintain our innocence since Nicole was the only one who knew the outcome but remained in character and unbiased.  We took a quick intermission to get Oreo dessert and to use the restroom.

We read the rest of our screen play and then tried pointing fingers on who did it.  My three main suspects were Lacey, Kathy and Matt.  We were then given a small piece of paper telling us which one of us were the murderers.  It was Kathy's character because back in the day Celeste stole her idea in which Celeste made millions off the product.  She had pent up her feelings over the course of time and finally just snapped, killing Celeste on the stairwell with pieces of tent straps.

Afterwards, some of us stayed behind and played a party trivial pursuit game, in which I miraculously came back from behind and won.  We gathered our things and headed back over to grandma's house, since her and mom were at a quilting retreat.

Until the next one!

Next Adventure:  King Felix and Beard Hat Night

We've Never Seen an April This Hot Before, Let's Go Tubing!

The temperature yesterday here in the pacific northwest shattered a 40 year old record by four degrees.  The really unusual part is that it's April.  April here is not known for whether above the mid 50's to high 60's and we get a lot of rain as well.  The high for today was 84 and tomorrow is suppose to be 80-81 degrees which would be the first time in region history that we would have a three-consecutive days of 80 degree weather in April.

Lacey arranged a day and time for people, who were interested and had the time, to meet up at Pioneer Park in Tumwater to go tubing. This would be the first time in my life I would ever get into the river this soon.  We don't usually get into the river until about July and maybe June if the weather is decent.

The night before I made sure I had everything ready and found my cheap inner tube.  It's been in storage since the last time I used it...which was a while ago.  Come to think of it I don't think I even used it last summer.

After work, it was pretty hot.  I got all my stuff together and headed towards the park, which was like 5 minutes from L&I.  Lacey, Lindsay and Justin were already there.  They inflated all the tubes including mine while I went and changed in the bathroom.  It felt nice to get out of those jeans.

I had the GoPro bag but sadly not the GoPro.  I was going to video our adventure.  I hoped Ben had the camera because I hadn't seen it.  I really didn't want to take my cell phone with us just in case I got dumped in but I risked it.  We got a few good pictures.

Justin had been on this section of the river before so he told us a little bit about it as we walked to the bridge.  He mentioned that there were some spots depending on how high the river was, that we would bottom out or flip over and the current was going to be somewhat strong in certain areas.  We were prepared. 

We made it to the bridge and once we step foot in the water...ahhh!!  So cold!!  But it was hot enough out to where you got used to it quickly and none of us shivered the entire time we were out there.  Then when you sat down in your tube...brrr and then a bunch of weird noises.  My tube was the lightest so when I got in some of those currents I had to be going at least 20 m.p.h.  We tried floating down in a pod and taking a few pictures but that spot Justin was telling us about and the possibility of flipping...yeah, I got out because I was worried about falling into the water with my phone.  So I just stood up and walked to the deeper part of the water.

There was quite a few people on the shoreline enjoying the afternoon.  We got a couple of compliments, the second time through, from some onlookers about being the first group to pass a section without crashing.

Further down the river, there was an area that forked off into three different parts and we decided to take the right hand fork.  We all floated into the tree debris and Lacey ended up taking one of the left hand forks and floating away.  I stopped myself, grabbed a limb and gondola'd my way away from the danger.  Lindsay and Justin hit the pile hard, making Lindsay lose her flip flop and upon trying to reach for it, she fell out of her tube.  I think Justin lost his as well, he tipped himself in, or Lindsay grabbed his tube and pulled him in, and we still had no idea where Lacey went, haha.  We saw Lindsay's flip flop floating down the river but we couldn't get to it in time.  We hustled down the middle of the fork and that's when I saw Lacey launch herself off of her tube to grab something.  We were hoping it was Lindsay's flip flop.  We got organized, got back on our tubes and headed towards Lacey.

She had Lindsay's flip flop!

Everyone got all situated again and floated the remainder of the section before getting out and walking the short distance to the cars.  We all decided to do the float again but this time I left my phone behind.  We got in at the same place but this time we were prepared for the river obstacles ahead of us.  At the fork, we took the left side, just as Lacey did the first time and it was a lot smoother of a ride.  None of us fell in or lost any flip flops, haha!

Upon finishing the second round, we headed back to the cars and we all decided that pizza sounded good for dinner.  I didn't know Lindsay had a class that started at 6, so we were pressed for time.  Justin called an order into Dirty Dave's and we all tried to make it there now that it was rush hour.  I took a wrong turn and had to back track but we made it with time to spare.  The pizza came out immediately and Justin forgot to put his e-brake on so it rolled down the small incline and hit another car in the parking lot.  Upon further investigation the lady he hit really didn't seem to care all that much so it was resolved right then and there.  Lindsay had to leave so we said our goodbyes and stayed for about 15-20 more minutes before we all decided to leave.  We thanked Justin for the pizza and that we would see him later.

Lacey and I went to the Goodwill to look at some stuff and a possibility of a costume for our upcoming game night on Saturday.  Nothing looked promising so we walked to the Safeway next door and got some pints of ice cream to enjoy.  It was getting late so we headed home.

Fun Facts: 

• It was 30 degrees above the average temperature for April 18 of 59 degrees, the biggest departure from average for any existing record
• It broke the previous daily record of 77 degrees (from 1962) by 12 degrees
• It was 12 degrees hotter than the average high temperature during the warmest summer days (July 19-August 16)
• It marked only the third time on record Seattle hit 80 degrees on back to back days in April (the other times were April 23 and 24, 1905 and April 29 and 30, 1976.
• It was hotter than the hottest day during the summer of 2011 in its entirety.
• Temperatures in the PNW were as warm as anywhere in the nation, including southern Cal and south Texas.  It was eight degrees hotter in Seattle than in Miami

Next Adventure:  Murder Mystery Game Night

A Transition

I knew I would have to struggle to find a job at the state after my temporary work assignment ended.  I hated that I had a job but knew it had an expiration date.  The past six months were torture.  I worried all the time about what I was going to do after my job ended.  Was I going to get lucky and find something before then?  Would I have to apply for unemployment again?  I REALLY didn't want to do that ever again.  Would they keep extending it?

My temporary job was extended three times (people kept saying that was a good thing, which meant that they didn't want to give me up because I was a good worker) and I was really grateful for that.  I got a paycheck, I was able to save some money, I paid off two bills entirely and working on the others and I even got to do some fun stuff with Ben and my friends because I could pay for it.

Sadly, the last time it could be extended was May 13th.  I needed to find a job before then and I really wanted to stay with the state.  I enjoyed the work and I loved the benefits that are offered.  It is consistent and you could actually develop a routine.  My favorite perks are the sick leave and paid days off we accrual.  We have all holidays off and most of all I finally got my weekends back.  Oh glorious weekends!!

I applied for a buttload of various OA jobs, Secretary Senior and even an Admin job here and there.  I only heard back from a handful thus making March 11th one of the most busiest and nerve wracking days of my working life.  I had an assessment in the morning and two job interviews in the afternoon.  I barely got any work done because I was so nervous and full of anxiety.  I was uncomfortable because I was dressed up--not in my normal threads,  and I kept thinking about how much I needed a job I couldn't screw up.  I even went through some interview questions and answers in my head and reread the job descriptions of each.

I finished the assessment downstairs for an imaging job and I still have no idea how to answer the last question and I even got help from someone who worked there.  My two interviews I thought went well.  I was myself, I added some light humor into the mix and I answered every question the best I could with an example.  I thanked everyone and went back to my desk.  I was so amped up it was hard to focus the rest of the afternoon.  I had some hope.

The next two weeks I checked my email inboxes and phone messages like crazy.  I really needed a job.  You will not hear from imaging unless you were chosen--I was not chosen because I have not heard back from them.  I did get a phone call from the state parks saying that they chose another person but I was knowledgeable about the state parks system and I  should try being a ranger or something like that.  I guess that was good feedback?  I went into work feeling pretty hopeless because I haven't heard back from the third job yet.  Later that morning I got a phone call from my new boss asking me if I was still interested in the mail room job.  Of course I was even though it was 5.5 hours a day which is considered part-time but more than part-time because I keep my benefits however I don't get paid as much as I've been getting paid.  This was one of the reasons I hesitated applying for it in the first place but it was better than not having a job I suppose.  She "unofficially" offered me the job and I took it.

The job would start April 18th and I asked my boss since I was extended to May 13th if it was possibly to do both jobs?  She looked into it.

A week later my new boss "officially" offered me the job and I accepted it again.  It was now okay to tell everyone.  Everyone was rooting for me and all were pretty proud of me. 

I also found out that it was possible to work both jobs until May 13th.  Payroll said it could be done and that I was a special case because it's never been done before.  I will have two salaries and will enter them in our program that same as what I've been doing.

The Sunday before I started in the mail room was very hard to go to bed.  For years I've been going to bed after 11 every night.  This will take some time to get used to it.  I tried to tired myself out by doing yard work with mom and dad.  We had two burn piles which made my body hate me but it was necessary.

That Monday morning when my alarm went off I wanted to die.  No one should have to get up at 4:30 in the morning unless you were getting on an airplane to go somewhere fun.  I tried to have everything ready the night before to make my morning less busy.  It was a dark ride into Tumwater but no one was on the roads, which was nice.  When I got to the parking lot there might have been 6 or 7 cars parked.  I got a great spot.

I went into the building with my stuff and went downstairs into the lower level.  My badge didn't work yet so one of my new co-workers had to let me in.  I put my stuff on my desk and waited for the next task.  CMS brought the mail in late that day, around 6:15 instead of 6, and we took everything off of the cart and started putting it in its appropriate areas.  They were opened with the machines and sorted to the correct mail stops.  I can see myself taking a while to learn this process.  It is a lot of memorization and just doing it every day.  They had me open the flats with another machine.  My new boss got there and started training me in claims mail and claims bills.   I was basically opening the mail and sorting it to its correct piles so imaging can come down and pick it up.  I did this most of the morning until it was time for me to go to lunch. 

After lunch since this job is part-time, I went up to OHR to finish out my afternoon doing IDM.  It was really weird leaving at 3 that afternoon.  I will definitely have to find another part-time job or find another job within the state that offers a full-time permanent position.

Next Adventure:  We've Never Seen an April This Hot Before, Let's Go Tubing!

Hanging with Josh, State Parks and Heading Home

I tried to sleep in as long as I could but I just couldn't after getting up at 6:30 just about every morning for the past six months.  Bob was up bright and early and probably waited for all of us to get up so he could make some breakfast.  We all emerged at around 9-9:30 and took some time actually waking up.  Bob and Josh made some pancakes, bacon and fruit.  It hit the spot after drinking the night before.  We cleaned up and sat out on the back porch for a while soaking in the much needed sunshine.  It was suppose to be in the high 70's today.  This made me very happy.

We hung around the house for a while and I asked Ben if they wanted to go with me to get two state park caches within 50 miles of here.  They said sure but after the small burn pile Josh needed to do first.  He had a bunch of stuff he had to burn up or Sam would get mad at him if he didn't.  We ended up burning two bags of stuff while we visited and Ben and Josh went over potential interview questions. 

I gathered everything we might need, we put socks and shoes on and headed out to the first one just a little north of Chelan in Pateros, Alta Lake State Park.  But first we stopped by BC MacDonald's for some ice cream.  It was tasty.

Alta Lake State Park, was named after a jeweler's daughter in 1900.  The city of Pateros gave the property to the state to make it into a state park in 1951.  In 2014 the Carlton Complex fire destroyed most of the park, which forced it to close for about five weeks.  Cleaning it up is still on going.  Last year's fire just prolonged the clean up efforts. 

We followed the road up a hill and into a well manicured residential area and golf course.  I totally thought this place would be more isolated than this.  I guess not.  We parked the Escape and got out.  At this point we were already sun burned so we just went with it.  I gave the GPS to Ben and we followed him down to the shore of the lake.  There was a trail that followed the shoreline but we didn't realize the cache, WaStatePks100:  Alta Lake (GC4B7G0) was over near the dock, a place that wasn't black and crispy.  We had to tip toe over basically a river coming from a waterfall that probably isn't here most of the year, luckily there were rocks to hopscotch on.  I got to the dock first while Ben and Josh came up from the rear with a small family. 

When I arrived at the cache I had no idea where it was so I just started blindly looking in places.  I checked the dock first and there it was, the search was short.  I had it out of underneath  the dock, opened, signed and my passport stamped all by the time the boys got there.  I explained to Josh why this series was unique and showed him what exactly we do when we find a cache.  The view from the dock of the lake was spectacular.  I'd like to come back some day and camp here, granted that it hasn't burnt down all the way by the time we make it back.

We got back into the Escape and headed towards Bridgeport State Park just 20ish miles east of Pateros and Brewster along US 97 and Hwy 17.  It felt like it took forever because it followed the bend in the Columbia River, people entertained themselves on their phones and these were long stretches of highway.  I saw the Chief Joseph Dam and the sign welcoming us to Bridgeport State Park.  We followed the Nuvi to the parking coords.

WaStatePks100:  Bridgeport (GC4B4QN) gave us the run around.  The GPS could not decide which "haystack" to direct us towards.  It got frustrating and eventually we searched three of the rock formations until we found the cache.  Again, we signed our names and stamped our passport and headed back to the Escape.  We made our way back towards Chelan for dinner and it was going to take us about an hour to get back.  In the meantime Bob started burgers on the grill.

We got back just in time to help Bob prepare food.  We made beans, had potato chips and some of the veggies from the previous night along with the burgers.  It was tasty.  We relaxed a bit, got caught up with the TV, they were playing the entire Matrix trilogy that night and we caught the tail end of the second movie and started watching the third.  Ben wanted to leave Chelan around 8.  So I started packing up our stuff and putting it in the Escape.  He lost track of time and we ended up staying way past 10:00 and it was a four hour drive and we still had to get gas.

We thanked Josh and Bob for letting us hang out with them for the weekend and said our goodbyes.  We got gas at the Safeway before we left town.  We had a few discussions about our upcoming schedules and our new jobs.  Instead of being overwhelmed by the large trip we had ahead of us, I broke it down into smaller chunks, just to make it bearable since we were both tired.  I didn't trust Ben driving at night since he has fallen asleep while I've been in the car with him before.

We stopped in Cashmere to see if any convenience stores were open to grab a 5 hour energy.  I had forgotten most of these towns in Eastern Washington close after 5.  We continued on until we got to Cle Elum again.  One gas station was open so I sent Ben in with some money and he came back with a berry flavored 5 hour energy and a bottle of water.  We diluted the liquid and both took a couple of sips.  It helped.

The drive was pretty uneventful through I-90 to I-5 and the trip south.

We finally got to Rochester around 2:30 and I dropped Ben and his stuff off.  I helped him bring it inside.  We said our goodbyes and I headed home.  I got home around 3 and brought some stuff in, brushed my teeth and went to bed.  I was exhausted.

At least we got some sun!

Next Adventure:  A Transition

Car Maintenence, Liberty, Entiat, Wenatchee and Chelan

A few weeks ago I noticed one of Ben's two-days-off weekend was approaching and I wanted to do something with him before I started my new job on the 18th.  We knew he had an important interview for the fire department coming up next week and that took priority over anything else.  I understood that and I just went with the flow.

Ben heard back from Josh, who is being stationed to the Boston area and will have to leave in the next few weeks, to see if we wanted to hang out before he and Sam left.  Sam was already in Idaho hanging out with her friends and family so we weren't going to be able to see her before she left to go with him.  Ben mentioned that we needed to go to Chelan this weekend to hang out with him and his dad.  I said okay, let's do it!

I took half of Thursday off and all of Friday off to give us some days to spend together.  We were going to leave on Thursday but plans fell through.  Ben had a quarterly meeting with his fire department and he was also on shift that night.  So instead after work on Thursday I met up with Ben in Puyallup to get our oils changed in our cars.  We ate a late lunch with Trish at the Mongolian Grill just down the street from Korum.

It was delicious.

We tried to go get ice cream on the way home but we ran out of time due to traffic.  Ben headed to his meeting and I stopped by Ms. Hamel and Peg's house to visit.  It's been a while since I saw them.  I stayed for a few hours catching up on stories, family and my adventures.  It was fun to see what they were up to as well.

I went home and packed so we could leave right after Ben got off of shift.  I told him I would be there around 8:30 and to be ready to go.

The next morning I put my stuff in the Escape and headed to Rochester.  Ben wasn't even ready and hadn't taken a shower yet.  OMG!!  I started putting his stuff in the Escape to move things along faster while he showered.  We left around 9:30 via I-5.

We got onto Hwy 18 and headed up towards Tiger Summit.  When it merged into one lane at the top a van was in front of us and kicked up a large rock.  It hit my windshield with some force and put a big dent and a crack in it.  I was so mad!  I know I will have to get it fixed before winter shows up again.  Every time during the course of our trip I would look at it and get mad again.  At least Ben flipped off the driver of the van when we passed him.

Neither of us had any breakfast so we decided to stop in Cle Elum once we got onto I-90 and put some miles behind us.  We stopped at the Safeway to get toilet paper and some more wipies (since my container was almost out) we always seem to need them.

We always stop at our place the Country Cottage.  We've been doing this tradition since last year and we hope to keep it up when we drive past here on future trips.  We both ordered breakfast and enjoyed it immensely.

We picked up two caches in the Cle Elum area, Milkshake Stop (GC6EXQZ) and Teanaway River - Mt. Stuart Photo View (GC36KK9).  The first one was at the Dairy Queen and we really had to be sneaky because it was pretty warm and everyone wanted ice cream.  The lap post skirt was mangled but we found it, signed it and put it back as quick as we could.

The second one was off of SR 10 east of Cle Elum but what drew me to it was the view of Mount Stuart.  I had to grab the cache out of the guard rail because Ben is allergic to bees and didn't want to get stung.  We admired the view from the bridge and the river.

We got back in the Escape and headed towards Blewett Pass.  I wanted to stop in Liberty and Ben had one job as navigator; make sure we didn't miss the turn off.  We almost did because he was staring at his phone.  How dare he!  We followed the road into Washington's oldest mining town as of September 1873. 

It was an adorable little town full of old buildings and mining equipment and plenty of history to go along with it.  We took a few pictures and did the near by earthcache, Liberty Gold (GC1VXNK).  We went into the fire station to look at the old fire engine and the photos that were on display throughout the building.  I love stuff like this.

We decided to get a few more while we were here.  We still had to wait for Josh and his dad to leave Bonney Lake before we could meet up with them in Chelan so these little detours filled in the time perfectly.  We grabbed Liberty History (GC35CPT) which took us to an abandoned excavator.  We found it with ease.

Then we got into the Escape and drove to the next one, You Are at Liberty Here (GC5XZZC) and we found it in pieces.  The log is was hidden in was at least 30 feet away from the cache container near the sign it was hidden under.  We signed our names and reassembled the cache and placed it where it was suppose to go.  We headed back onto Hwy 97 and continued onto Hwy 2.

We stopped at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park, just outside of Cashmere, to see if Ben wanted to climb.  He just wasn't feeling it that afternoon.  I used the restroom and we moved on.  Josh texted us and let us know that he and his dad had just left Cle Elum.  They weren't that far behind.

I wanted to grab a cache in Wenatchee, mostly because it was a letterbox and we didn't have time to grab it last summer when we were here, but we did today.  Ben worked on his interview questions while I got out and searched for Super Job (GCY7HM).  IT was hard retrieving it from the trees without getting scratched up.  I got a stick and used it to pry and poke the cache out so I could just pick it up and stamp the logbook.  It was easier putting it back.

We started our way up the rest of Hwy 97 towards Chelan but I wanted to make one more stop.  Again, last time we didn't have time to stop here but I've seen it the last few times we've been up this way.  We pulled off the highway in Entiat so we could see the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretation Center, find the cache and learn something new.  Plus I just figured that Ben would enjoy this because he is a firefighter after all.

I handed him the GPS and he led the way up the hill, over the rocks and on top of the hill behind the center.  The view from up here was fantastic.  We found Trail of Fire (GCGKNM) tucked inside some of the crops of rock near the lookout.  You could see a great view of the Columbia River from here.

We heard that Josh and his dad made it to Wenatchee so we hopped back into the Escape and finished our trip to Chelan.  As we came down the hill the view of the lake was awesome.  However, during this time of year it was lower than the last time we were here.  I did notice a few burn marks of where last summer's fire reached.  It didn't look bad but you could still see some areas that were affected.  We told Josh we were in town and were going to head to Safeway to pick up a few things and if they needed anything.  There was some talk about going to the casino for dinner but both Ben and I wasn't too excited about that idea.  One, it was Ben's day off from the casino, why would we want to go to a casino and two, none of us really wanted to inhale smoke or smell like it.

As we were getting ready to go Josh and his dad arrived at Safeway.  We talked to them and decided that Bob was going to go to the casino to hang out with his old guys and Ben, Josh and I were going to make dinner and chill at the house for the evening.  We followed them through town around to the Manson side of Lake Chelan.  I couldn't remember how to get to the cabin but we followed them until we couldn't see them anymore.  Ben led us astray but soon figured out we were going the wrong way and turned around.  Josh and his dad made fun of us when we arrived.

We made steaks, potatoes and had some veggies.  Josh made us all mixed drinks that varied with Jamieson and Southern Comfort as we listened to metal music...not my favorite.  The food was delicious.  We played two games of messed up Scrabble and then turned it into a drinking game similar to quarters but we used the letter tiles to bounce off the table into a glass.  We had to drink the amount on the tile if that person made it into the glass.  It sucked when you made one with 3 or more on the tile.

We got a little tipsy, Bob made it back in one piece and we were all tired and went to bed.  Laying in bed felt so good after a really busy day.

Next Adventure:  Hanging with Josh, State Parks and Heading Home