Between Rainier and Tenino it poured down rain. I was not really happy to see this since I will be outside for most of the time. When I got to the backside of Tenino the rain magically went away and I was happy again. The event might be better than I expected it to be. I had no idea where the expo was being set up so I ended up driving around the entire camping area, which I was upset about, saw a park worker, stopped and asked him where the expo was being held. He told me over where the kitchen areas were, next to the lake. I thanked him and knew exactly where that was. It wasn't too far from my cache.
I parked in one of the lots and decided to check up on my cache first. It's gone a while without something dumb happening to it. When I approached the stump, I saw some people with it signing the log. I just waited until they put it back so I could go check on it. I stood there waiting and then got the courage to say something to them and I cam up with, "how long have you guys been caching?" They shared their answers, told me where they were from, where they started caching and their geocaching names. I told them that this was my cache and they said that this state park geotour series was really cool. I shared with them some of my stories on the geotour and then they decided to get going on the lab caches in the park. I checked up on the cache and added a pathtag.
I walked over to where the tents were and spotted our WSGA tent. I talked to Mc3cats, Sproutter, PhatBldGuy, Terrible T's, Winos, Frisky Biscuits and various other cachers I don't remember their names. I handed out a few pathtags to people that I knew didn't have one of them yet. Then I spent the remainder of the time talking with everyone and wandering the booths. There were a lot of groups in the Puget Sound I didn't know about. I took a couple of brochures and booklets for future endeavors...like kayaking the waterway trails and the scenic drives up in the north cascades.
I called Ben around 1:30 and he was still in his bed!! He was suppose to meet me at the expo but oh well he must have needed the sleep more. I forgave him. :)
When we got there we were issued a raffle ticket. I was really hoping they called my numbers. After a few tries and some disappointment, my number was finally called!! I was stoked! I haven't won a raffle in quite some time. My prize was a book called 100 Classic Hikes in Washington by Craig Romano. Now I have a book with updated hikes in it! Wooo!
As the expo was winding down, I stuck behind and helped Mc3Cats and Terrible T's break down the tent, the table and pick everything up and take it to their vehicle they came in. We wrapped up our conversation and I walked to the Escape and headed home.
Ben came over a while later and we went to Lacey to grab a cache, Just Another Light (GC6J7E0) found near our favorite sub place, Maconis.
Then we had sushi and teriyaki at Koibito's, then played laser tag, first time in nearly 10 years. It was subpar after playing at Laser Quest in Spokane. I had trouble with my gun the entire time. Both my hands were securely on the darn thing to fire it but it kept telling me both my hands were not on it. I struggled and ended up getting like 14th place.
We had some time to kill before we saw the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie at the mall, so we went to the Olympia waterfront to grab one of the heritage caches, WSHS 125 - Percival Landing (GC6HX4J). It was hidden inside some brush to keep it hidden from muggles. We found it in the evening to prevent a lot of people watching us retrieve it.
The original commercial steamship wharf, a well-known maritime landmark in the Pacific Northwest, was built by Sam Percival in 1860. It provided access for the steamboats collectively called the Mosquito Fleet that used the Sound as a watery freeway to move mail, products and passengers.
The Mosquito Fleet era ended as customers switched their allegiance to cars and paved highways and traditional steamers became obsolete. In 2004, a study of the structural condition of Percival Landing revealed that if nothing was done, the entire facility would need to be closed, resulting in the loss of a treasured recreational area and waterfront access.
We arrived at the mall and still had some time to kill. We bought our tickets and then had a beer and played connect four at Pints and Quarts.
The movie was awesome! It brought in Casey Jones, Beebop and Rocksteady and even Krang. It started to follow the old cartoons from the 80's and implied that there was going to be another movie at some point. I was excited. We went back to my house and hung out for a bit before he had to go back to the fire station.
Next Adventure: Swede Day and Fire Trucks
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